FAC conversion?

[foxbuster]

My renewal is up soon as was wondering whether to add another .22 air rifle to my license. I already own a mk2 Rapid, but due to the amount of hide shooting I do, I would like something more compact/shorter to use in the hides. 

I have a very 'low mileage' BSA scorpion multi shot that is great to use in the hides as its a lot smaller. The only draw back is as its sub 12ft/lbs its less forgiving at non pre determined ranges. 

Couple of questions:-

 

Firstly, I've never gone down the road of converting a sub 12 to FAC, (this would have to go to gun dealer to get it done and put on license?). Is this an easy thing to do paperwork wise?

Secondly, what kind of shot count would I be looking to get running at approx 30 ft/lbs-20 shots?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Ultrastu]

Yes your bsa scorpion .Will convert to fac relatively easily .

I've converted a scorpion se  .177 and an ultra  se .22 

With a 15 .5 inch barrel you will probably  get 20 shots at around 28 fpe .

But you can easily run 13 .4 grn pellets at around 900 fps for around 25 fpe and get the same flat trajectory and a few more shots  

I use them at 22 fpe for  870 fps and they work very well  . 30 - 35 shots from my ultra  .

As for the conversion - through your rfd /local gun Smith is the best /recommended route the police prefer .

 

 

[oldypigeonpopper]

Hello, at 12 ft llb they average 95 shots per fill so 30 ft llb I would say approx 2 1/2 times less so between 20/30 , saying this I would look at a dedicated FAC air rifle,

[Ultrastu]

Virtually every gun pcp made , is made to be able to operate at 12 fpe and fac levels with a few parts swapped out for the new power .

Bsa sell the scorpion in America and other counties that have no power limit imposed . These are known as export models  the  guns do tend to have longer 18 inch barrels and even 24 inch ones  this makes achiving over 900 fps easier and saves air increasing shots .

But even the short 12 inch ultra barrel will achieve 900 fps in .22 

And I presume in .177 also though I haven't tried that  .

[Longbower]

I have a Scorpion Se .22 Factory FAC, . I fitted a longer air tube and a Huma regulator, and dropped the power back to 20ft /lbs

to give me roughly the same trajectory as a .177 Sub 12.  I find its enough for most applications up to 50 yards.

The 2 inch longer tube and the Huma Reg , give me approx  50 shots 

 

[enfieldspares]

14 hours ago, foxbuster said:

My renewal is up soon as was wondering whether to add another .22 air rifle to my license. I already own a mk2 Rapid, but due to the amount of hide shooting I do, I would like something more compact/shorter to use in the hides. 

I have a very 'low mileage' BSA scorpion multi shot that is great to use in the hides as its a lot smaller. The only draw back is as its sub 12ft/lbs its less forgiving at non pre determined ranges. 

Couple of questions:-

 

Firstly, I've never gone down the road of converting a sub 12 to FAC, (this would have to go to gun dealer to get it done and put on license?). Is this an easy thing to do paperwork wise?

Secondly, what kind of shot count would I be looking to get running at approx 30 ft/lbs-20 shots?

 

Thanks in advance.

I've a Scorpion T10 in 177 and had one in 22. It'd be in 22 that I think you'd see the most benefit to uprating over 12 ft/lbs (both mine were sub 12 ft/lbs). I had the 177 regulated by Rat Works in Leicestershire. The 22 I left as was because in sub 12 ft/lbs I don't think a 22 benefits at all from being regulated. Phil Crampton at Rat Works could do it AND if requested put a longer air cylinder on it to give greater shot count. 

[foxbuster]

Thanks for the answers guys I think the scorpion would be good as a dedicated hide/truck rifle offering reasonable shot count (20 or so). The ultra or another small carbine wouldn't offer enough shots. My rapid gives around 50 shots per charge but weighs a ton and is very long, its a right chore in a hide. A good quality bull pup would probably be great but are silly money!  Not sure what my county firearms dept are like issuing same calibre slots- hopefully they will be ok with the reasoning, we shall see.

[Ultrastu]

Say it will be a dedicated night vision gun  (which I can be if needed ) this is usually  regarded as good reason for a second cal .

[foxbuster]

I don't want it stipulated as an nv rifle on my cert as i still would like to use it whilst not in the hides during daylight hours

[udderlyoffroad]

Eh?

That isn’t a “a thing”, surely?

A dedicated NV rig might be sufficient grounds for a second slot, but surely there shouldn’t be any stipulation about when precisely you can use it? Sounds dangerous to me if you’re inhibited from zeroing during the day

[foxbuster]

25 minutes ago, udderlyoffroad said:

Eh?

That isn’t a “a thing”, surely?

A dedicated NV rig might be sufficient grounds for a second slot, but surely there shouldn’t be any stipulation about when precisely you can use it? Sounds dangerous to me if you’re inhibited from zeroing during the day

totally agree, this is what I was informed by a local rfd though? The renewal is going in next week so I'll soon find out.

[Dave-G]

When a 12 ftlb rifle is changed to FAC and registered its very unlikely to be allowed to 'go back' to 12 ftlb. Non FAC rifles fetch much better money so it might be prudent to consider an already FAC one... such as mine which is nice and compact. lol.

 

 

[Longbower]

It may depend on your Police force, but when I asked Cheshire Constabulary, they confirmed by letter that a FAC Air rifle 

can be taken off FAC , subject to conformation by a Registered Gunsmith. 

[Ultrastu]

I'm of the mind that .

I'd rather have converted a known reliable accurate gun into a fac rifle than take a chance buying a new or sh gun that could be a lemon and now you have it " stuck " on your ticket .

Your scorpion will like the same pellet at 30 fpe as it does at 12 fpe .

 

[Dave-G]

3 hours ago, Longbower said:

It may depend on your Police force, but when I asked Cheshire Constabulary, they confirmed by letter that a FAC Air rifle 

can be taken off FAC , subject to conformation by a Registered Gunsmith. 

That's useful to know thanks. 

[Andy H]

13 hours ago, Longbower said:

It may depend on your Police force, but when I asked Cheshire Constabulary, they confirmed by letter that a FAC Air rifle 

can be taken off FAC , subject to conformation by a Registered Gunsmith. 

That is what Leicestershire police used to say , I used to offer 2 solutions 1 was I do the work to lower the power level's and put it through my Rfd register or option 2 was you the customer does the work and give the gun to me and I do the paperwork and return it as a sub 12ft/lb rifle .

[Dave-G]

2 hours ago, Andy H said:

That is what Leicestershire police used to say , I used to offer 2 solutions 1 was I do the work to lower the power level's and put it through my Rfd register or option 2 was you the customer does the work and give the gun to me and I do the paperwork and return it as a sub 12ft/lb rifle .

That is very interesting, thanks for posting and I may contact you soon about the latter option for my BTAS FX Cyclone carbine: currently FAC registered.