FAC Bullpup’s……are they any good?

[Westley78]

I have some areas of land where a FAC air rifle would be very useful however a shorter rifle such as the Galahad HP Rifle would be much easier.

Therefore I would be interested to know if anyone has any experience of FAC Bullpups and whether they are any good in terms of accuracy and reliability?

TIA

West

Edited February 13, 2022 by Westley78

[Ultrastu]

Yes .

They can have the longer barrel they need to make the power /shot count .while still being a reasonable over all length .

If you go for one with a aluminium  /titanium  air cylinder they should also be light enough .

All steel  pups are too heavy .

If your after .25 or. 30 cal a bullpup is DEFINITELY  the way to go .

.177 and .22 you can get away with a rifle format  as obviously  they use less air than their bigger brothers .

What cal are you thinking of .? And why 

One of my fave rifles is a fac .22 bsa ultra .

I use it in the hide to decoy pigeons .due to the short length  it's great in the confines of a seated hide position  .

Also the rifle format lends it's self better to fast action shooting (than a pup) which decoying pigeons  really is .

[Rimfireboy]

My impact has a 700mm barrel but it’s still a fairly short gun overall as the barrel starts just in front of the buttpad. Brilliant shot count even at 40ft lbs, and so accurate. I was going to buy an fac crown, but went for the impact because of its design practically in fac and I don’t regret that decision. I’d still like a crown as well though. Call me greedy😂

[villaman]

Imo FX mk3 wildcat sniper .22 would be the way to go  . Running @ 950 FPS  with ZAN 21 gr slugs or H&N slugs or 940 ish with 18 gr pellet 

These setting are what I run my .22 FAC crown 500mm barrel on 

Yes definitely a impact as well . Mine .25 impact is running @ 975-980 FPS with 33gr ZAN slugs or 34 gr H&N slugs 

will be doing a variation for mk3 wild cat as well sniper version 

[villaman]

7 minutes ago, Rimfireboy said:

My impact has a 700mm barrel but it’s still a fairly short gun overall as the barrel starts just in front of the buttpad. Brilliant shot count even at 40ft lbs, and so accurate. I was going to buy an fac crown, but went for the impact because of its design practically in fac and I don’t regret that decision. I’d still like a crown as well though. Call me greedy😂

Go for the crown . My most used gun out of all fourteen I have 

[Hull wolf]

If you want an FAC bullpup look at the AGT Uragan it has a 530 cc carbon cylinder.

[Rimfireboy]

34 minutes ago, villaman said:

Go for the crown . My most used gun out of all fourteen I have 

I’ve been hanging my nose over them again. Wouldn’t mind one in .25 but haven’t got a spare slot for another fac air at the moment and variations are taking ages apparently. Don’t know if it’d be worth having one in .177 12ft lbs? All those adjustments available and the only way you can go is down😕

[Westley78]

2 hours ago, Ultrastu said:

Yes .

They can have the longer barrel they need to make the power /shot count .while still being a reasonable over all length .

If you go for one with a aluminium  /titanium  air cylinder they should also be light enough .

All steel  pups are too heavy .

If your after .25 or. 30 cal a bullpup is DEFINITELY  the way to go .

.177 and .22 you can get away with a rifle format  as obviously  they use less air than their bigger brothers .

What cal are you thinking of .? And why 

One of my fave rifles is a fac .22 bsa ultra .

I use it in the hide to decoy pigeons .due to the short length  it's great in the confines of a seated hide position  .

Also the rifle format lends it's self better to fast action shooting (than a pup) which decoying pigeons  really is .

Thanks ultrastu 👍🏻
 

I want it for bunnies in and around houses/paddocks where the rimfire is too much and sub 12 not enough 

[Ultrastu]

So .if you have a fac air .22 or .25 shooting  slugs .you should really think of it like a .22lr  .those little, heavy smooth pills  will just keep going and going with the same risk of bounce and ricochet as a .22 lr bullet .a pellet though sheds its energy better and is more likely to tumble and deform on impact than a slug .

I use .177  .22 and .25 air .

And shoot slugs in non of them (I've tried them ofcourse ) as I feel they give away 1  big advantage  that pellets have .the low risk element .

The .25 cal pellet (25 grns ) is also a heavy lump and tends to plough onwards so you really have to watch your back stops .

For rabbits the humble. 22 pellet is a hard act to beat .giving a nice balance between range .power  .shot count . Risk and obviously  pellet choice  .

 

[Rimfireboy]

1 hour ago, Westley78 said:

Thanks ultrastu 👍🏻
 

I want it for bunnies in and around houses

Are they pet rabbits ? 😂

[Westley78]

Sorry meant to say in paddocks and around houses 🤦🏼‍♂️

1 hour ago, Ultrastu said:

So .if you have a fac air .22 or .25 shooting  slugs .you should really think of it like a .22lr  

That’s was my thinking so was planning on using pellets to mitigate ricochet 

[Ultrastu]

I use my 177 fac firing 8.4 grn jsb exact at around 975 fps .

This has a very flat trajectory  and you can effectively aim bang on out to 50 yds .

Accuracy drops off a bit after around 65 yds ,with 70 yds being about the max distance  I've reliably  head shot  bunnies .

Great thing is these pellets at this speed are as just as " safe" as they are from a sub 12 .

Now 70 yds isn't that far compared to what a .22 lr can do or even a .25 cal air 

But its a fair distance and certainly drops bunnies .and can be used around horses .or in your house  .( nah just kidding on that last bit 🤣)

[Sweet11-87]

fac air rifles seem really popular atm am i missing somthing?. i just cant seem to think of a senario  where you need more than sub 12 air rifle  and less than  just using 22 longs or 22 shorts in a 22lr.

decent air rifles are not cheap by any stretch and then you have to fit it with optics and have charging gear. just seems a little redundant just to fill the gap between 12ibs/ft and 45 ibs/ft.

whats the crack?

[Ultrastu]

How about tree top pigeons or crows .blowing about in a breeze ? 

A sub 12 .177 wouldn't be able to buch the wind reliably  and a .22 lr would be out of the question. As 40 grns of lead coming down a mile away isn't an option .

The .22 fac air with a 16 grn pellet should hold better in the wind and give a wider kill zone on the bird .

Also the 16 grns coming back to earth within a few hundred yards is easier to calculate the risks .

 

[Westley78]

38 minutes ago, Sweet11-87 said:

fac air rifles seem really popular atm am i missing somthing?. i just cant seem to think of a senario  where you need more than sub 12 air rifle  and less than  just using 22 longs or 22 shorts in a 22lr.

decent air rifles are not cheap by any stretch and then you have to fit it with optics and have charging gear. just seems a little redundant just to fill the gap between 12ibs/ft and 45 ibs/ft.

whats the crack?

For me it sits in the middle of the sub 12 and the 22lr, giving extra range but with less risks with regards to ricochet and backstop when used with pellets

[Ultrastu]

A LOT  depends on the ground you have permission over  .

I have some permissions that are just big gardens . And a sub 12 is great but the .177 fac enables me to reach the far bank from a hide 60 yds away . Without breaking cover .

It's all about the correct tool for the job 

And as shooting is all about safety and consideration of others , sometimes we need a very specific gun and calibre and projectile .

I believe  in having just the right amount of gun for the job and no more  if avoidable. 

Example .who would shoot rats at 10 yds in a barn at night with a 12b shotgun ? Way too much gun -  over  kill .

Why use a .308 on rabbits in a field at £1 a bullet ? 

There are more suitable  tools and sometimes the parameters  make it very specific  . That's my opinion  anyways  .

 

 

 

[Longbower]

I find a.22 FAC Rifle running at 20ftlbs with 14.3 g pellets(800 ft  per second) , sort of copes with most things, and is a good compromise between 12ft/lb and a Rimfire. 

So a Hatsan Flashpup, BSA Ultra or something, along those lines should suit you requirements.  Just my humble opinion.

[Sweet11-87]

fair enough clearly they do have a place. i just still think  using shorts that run at about 45/ftibs fills the same slot as above but without a place in the safe, a slot on the ticket and a hole in the wallet

[Ultrastu]

I've never shot  .22lr shorts how do they perform and what sort of speeds and weight are they ? 

[Rimfireboy]

35 minutes ago, Ultrastu said:

I've never shot  .22lr shorts how do they perform and what sort of speeds and weight are they ? 

They vary, some are around 35ft lbs up to around 70-80ft lbs. I currently have some s&b .22 shorts that run at the lower end and are ok in my anschutz up to about 30 yards accuracy wise. The rws shorts I was using previously were faster at around 900fps if I remember correctly and they shot about an inch at fifty yards. Like most rimfire ammo, they’ll work better in some rifles than others. High velocity shorts are available as well, might be hard to come by though these days.

[Walker570]

21 hours ago, Sweet11-87 said:

fac air rifles seem really popular atm am i missing somthing?. i just cant seem to think of a senario  where you need more than sub 12 air rifle  and less than  just using 22 longs or 22 shorts in a 22lr.

decent air rifles are not cheap by any stretch and then you have to fit it with optics and have charging gear. just seems a little redundant just to fill the gap between 12ibs/ft and 45 ibs/ft.

whats the crack?

I was just about to ask the same question. I looked at FAC but decided for what I needed my 22RF with subsonics and then my 17HMR filled the gaps.   The HMR being much safer around farm yards than the 22RF or maybe even an FAC Air.   I have a 12ftlb bullpup and it's one advatage is it is handy in tight situations. I have a single seat popup blind and have a purpose made tripod which it sits on because it is heavy and feels heavier than my AA S200 .22.  At the end of the day it comes down to what you need it for and if it will fit the bill. I have a friend who was just about to spend nearly £2000 on an FAC air rifle but sat back and came to the same conclusion as me.

[villaman]

FAC air is more versatile than rimfire 

my FX crown .22 is running at 41.5 ftlbs with 21g ZAN slug , accurate as hell with 5 slugs with in a inch (25mm) @ 130 yards and not far of the same @150 yards . 
with in seconds  including adjusting the scope I can turn it down to shoot sub 12 with pellets  and still accurate at 60+ yards . Can’t do that with .22lr !!

 

[Sweet11-87]

16 minutes ago, villaman said:

FAC air is more versatile than rimfire 

my FX crown .22 is running at 41.5 ftlbs with 21g ZAN slug , accurate as hell with 5 slugs with in a inch (25mm) @ 130 yards and not far of the same @150 yards . 
with in seconds  including adjusting the scope I can turn it down to shoot sub 12 with pellets  and still accurate at 60+ yards . Can’t do that with .22lr !!

 

well you can really. you can load a 22lr with anthing from 22 short at 44ft/ibs  up to hyper velocity 200ft/ibs. and you can pick up an old cz 452 for a fraction of the price of a pcp  and id argue it will last decades longer with half the maintenance

dont get me wrong ive had many sub 12 airrifles and theyre great and very accurate i was just wondering if i was missing somthing but it seems its just a prefrence thing becasue other than the shorter length of a bullpup they dont seem to have an edge over the old .22 powder and brass. avaliblity of ammunition maybe?

Edited February 14, 2022 by Sweet11-87

[Walker570]

1 hour ago, villaman said:

FAC air is more versatile than rimfire 

my FX crown .22 is running at 41.5 ftlbs with 21g ZAN slug , accurate as hell with 5 slugs with in a inch (25mm) @ 130 yards and not far of the same @150 yards . 
with in seconds  including adjusting the scope I can turn it down to shoot sub 12 with pellets  and still accurate at 60+ yards . Can’t do that with .22lr !!

 

Yup, but I can with a 17hmr.  Horses for courses.

[villaman]

Yep, I can with my 17 hmr

1 hour ago, Sweet11-87 said:

well you can really. you can load a 22lr with anthing from 22 short at 44ft/ibs  up to hyper velocity 200ft/ibs. and you can pick up an old cz 452 for a fraction of the price of a pcp  and id argue it will last decades longer with half the maintenance

dont get me wrong ive had many sub 12 airrifles and theyre great and very accurate i was just wondering if i was missing somthing but it seems its just a prefrence thing becasue other than the shorter length of a bullpup they dont seem to have an edge over the old .22 powder and brass. avaliblity of ammunition maybe

more choice with ammo with FAC air from 13 3 gr pellet all the way upto 40 gr slug . FAC air has more advantages over .22 rimfire that’s for sure and I have FAC air .22 , .25 , 17 HMR and .22lr  and my most used gun is .22 FAC FX crown