Shooting the FX Royale 400 At Long Range

Many people have asked for HAM to conduct some test reviews shooting at long range. So here’s what we find when Shooting the FX Royale 400 at long range.

We set up some targets at 30, 40 and 50 yards on HAM tester Paul Manktelow’s beautiful home range in Up-State New York.

The FX Royale 400 was zeroed – approximately – at 30 yards. The aim was just to be “on the paper”, as we were looking for group size, not specifically on the bull. I shot from a rest – actually a rolled towel on a shooting bench. So, the gun was rested, but not held solidly in a vice.

We chose to make this test shooting the FX Royale 400 at long range using the pellets that performed best in our regular HAM test review. This meant that we used 21.14 Grain H&N Baracuda Match. This gun is .22 caliber.

The pellets were unsorted, taken straight from the tin.

Because weather conditions obviously make an impact on accuracy at long range, we planned the test for a bright, Sunny day with low wind. Well, that’s how it was until shortly before I arrived at Paul’s range in the evening. The sky clouded over into dullness, making aiming more difficult. However, the wind remained very calm – almost non-existent – so we decided to go ahead with the test.

Here’s the first target shot at 30 yards. The 5-shot group measured 1/8-inch x 1/4-inch CTC for 5 shots. Not too bad, considering I’m not a great shot.

Next, we moved out to 40 yards. Same thing: 5 shots. No attempt was made to re-zero the scope for the different range, so the point of impact was a little lower, as expected.

This time the group opened-out to 1/2-inch x 3/4-inch CTC. Good but not great. Blame the shooter! As you can see, the stick-on orange bull was shot off of the target.

Then we moved back to 50 yards. Same technique. This time the results were really outstanding! The 5-shot group measured 1/8-Inch x 3/8-Inch. Looks like the FX really does have laser-guided accuracy!!!

So what did we learn from shooting the .22 caliber FX Royale 400 at long range?

• This gun can really shoot! But we expected that, given the reputation of FX airguns and the numbers you see on the firing line at long range competitions such as Extreme Benchrest.
• Real, consistent long range accuracy requires good, predictable weather conditions. These do not often occur in Up-State New York…
• The gun either needs to be held in a vice, or shot by an excellent shot. We had neither, but the results from the FX at 50 yards were strong confirmation of the outstanding accuracy found in our regular FX Royale 400 HAM Review.

We’ll try this again with another rifle soon!

BUY FROM AIRGUNS OF ARIZONA

This entire article including scoring, test targets etc is Copyright Hard Air Magazine and may NOT in part or in whole be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the publisher.