FX T-12 Whisper with the new Smooth Twist barrel review
FX T-12 Whisper with the new Smooth Twist barrel in .22
I recently read a post on a forum talking about FX and the new Smooth Twist barrel by Ben Taylor. I also found a link to an article talking about and describing the Smooth Twist barrel. I immediately forwarded the acticle to my friend with the title, “looks like another gimmicky attempt for the manufacturer to save money”. I didn’t beleive all the hype as I’ve found over and over again that reviews from magazines and professional reviewers to be exaggerated and more like an advertisement for the company. It just sounded too good to be true but I couldn’t help but be curious about this new barrel and decided to take the risk when I stumbled upon a great deal. Ironically, I went from being a skeptic to a believer and I just cannot wait to give people the news because it is quite exciting! The FX Whisper is the real deal! The Smooth Twist barrel is the real deal! I am not easily impressed and I am not a fan of exaggeration and hype and this air rifle has me excited!
I think the FX T-12 Whisper is the new contender to be crowned with the title, “King of affordable PCP air rifles”. Some regard the Crosman Marauder as the best PCP air rifle for the money but I have always felt the best air rifle for the money is the Air Arms S410, that is until now. I have no idea if the price is permanent or if this is a temporary special, but Airguns of Arizona has decided to sell the FX T-12 Whisper at an irresistible price of $599. The rifle I bought and tested is the .22 model. It rests on a lightweight synthetic stock and I was very excited to see how this rifle would perform as it also sports the new Smooth Twist barrel designed by Ben Taylor. This multi-shot comes with a 12 round magazine, adjustable buttstock, bull barrel shroud to reduce the report, and a fill gauge on the front of the air tube. I didnt weigh it, but its advertised at 6.2 lbs for the synthetic model. It feels light! It is filled by using the supplied fill probe and the recommended fill is 200 bar or 2900 psi. I decided to fill it to 2800 psi and shot an impressive shot string but quickly learned that this particular rifle likes a high pressure fill. Normally the power curve on a PCP air rifle will start off low, climb to a peak, and then descend back down. At a fill of 2800 psi, I was already close to the peak and I decided to try another shot string with a fill of 3200 psi. Here are the results:
2800 psi fill using JSB 15.9 gr. pellets
The numbers are in feet per second or fps.
876, 877, 883, 881, 880, 880, 880, 880, 881, 877, 881, 878, 881, 877, 877, 877, 875, 871, 871, 870, 870, 870, 867, 863, 862
3200 psi fill using JSB 15.9 gr. pellets
The shot string was impressive and I couldnt help but get even more excited to see how it would perform where it really counts, in the accuracy department. I was once again pleasantly surprised to find out that the new Smooth Twist barrel is not just another gimmicky attempt for the manufacturer to save money through a simple and cheaper way to produce barrels. I first heard about these smooth twist barrels from one of the posts in the Yellow Forum. I have been curious ever since and this was a big factor in me deciding to purchase the Whisper. Ill be honest. I was really skeptical about this new barrel. I read an article about it and it just seemed like another ploy to mislead and attract people into spending their hard earned money. I was wrong! The FX T-12 Whisper with the ST barrel is a tach driver! I didnt measure these groups but you can see for yourself that they are small. These are unsorted pellets and I used a Caldwell Tachdriver shooting bag to rest the front of the rifle while shouldering the buttstock in the prone position. My breathing, heat beat, and trigger pull were still factors, so just think of what the groups would look like if I were shooting indoors and using a vise to keep the rifle fixed and steady. This is for everyone who has been waiting for some groups from the new Smooth Twist barrel by Ben Taylor.
5 shot groups at 50 yards using JSB 15.9 gr pellets
Distance was measured using a Leupold RX-1000 rangefinder
A target analysis of my 5 shot group from 50 yards .31 inch ctc
I have owned several great shooters over the past year including the FX Royale 400, the Daystate Airwolf MCT, and the Edgun Matador; so I am not easily impressed. Honestly, I am usually disappointed to find out something has been hyped up and have a hard time believing anything I read anymore; especially when reading it from a magazine or from some famous reviewer. I am so tired of being lied to whether is it how quiet a particular air rifle is or how many shots to expect from a fill. It seems as it is quite common and even somewhat accepted for the manufacturer to exaggerate. Although I am very happy with the Whisper, it didnt start off well.
You would expect this air rifle to be whisper quiet right? Well, I wouldnt say its loud but it isnt whisper quiet either. The Crosman Marauder is noticeably quieter but that is about the only thing the Marauder does better. This is the only thing that disappointed me with the Whisper but I was very impressed with everything else so Im not going to complain too much. I really wish the Whisper sounded like the Marauder but that is easily accomplished by adding some baffles in the Whispers barrel shroud. It is just a tube with no sort of baffling, just an end cap, and the barrel is held in place with the use of barrel bushings. The barrel and shroud setup is very similar to the Airforce Talon SS.
Although this rifle is not perfect, I have to give it a thumbs up and it is without a doubt the new king of affordable PCPs. Out of the box the FX Whisper would give any air rifle, at any price, some serious competition. I do prefer the walnut thumbhole stock and side lever cocking of the FX Royale, the high shot count and incredible trigger of the Daystate Airwolf MCT, the compactness, shot count, and consistency of the Edgun, and the power of the .25 Daystate Air Ranger. All of these rifles have their own niche but at the current price of $600, the FX Whisper can shoot with the best of them! It is leaps and bounds better than the Crosman Marauder that my friend Joel was testing right next to me. Joel will do his review of the Marauder soon. I am sure he will have time while his new Marauder goes back to the dealer he bought it from for either a repair or a replacement. I on the other hand will be holding on to my FX Whisper and encourage anyone looking for a great PCP air rifle to get one soon.
Bobby Escay
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[/quote]I´ve called today to AoA. They said that the price is $599 without the extended tank and the manometer. If you want those extras you’ll have to pay $679. It’s still a great deal I believe.[/quote]
Same thing I was told but I guess I wanted one bad enough that it didn’t make too much difference.
Mine should be delivered by next Friday, March 12th, I hope.
Carl
Great Deal!
Do you know if they are offering a deal on the Royal?
Thanks,
Lorrin
I´ve called today to AoA. They said that the price is $599 without the extended tank and the manometer. If you want those extras you’ll have to pay $679. It’s still a great deal I believe.
Okay, more good information and this morning I am not quite so emotional. So now when I call AoA I will be better equipped to talk with some sound knowledge in my arsenal.
Thanks for the update on my Whisper purchase.
Carl
Thanks for the info. I didn’t know any of these things. It makes me appriciate my Whisper that much more. The gauge is useless where it is located but if you want more air, and you factor in the additional cost into your total purchase, it is still a great deal considering the next step up would be a few hundred dollars more for a AA S410. If you can afford the S410 I would pick it over the Whisper due to the better build quality and the sidelever cocking but I know it won’t be any more accurate than my Smooth Twist barreled Whisper. At $600, I really don’t think this rifle has any real competition. I think the FX Whisper with the new ST barrel is the most accurate air rifle for the money.
My unsderstanding, from talking to AoA last week, is that they had a special batch of Whispers that came configured with the optional 45cc extension tube and the optional guage. The standard air tube on many FX rifles, including the Whisper, is 180cc. The Whispers air tube IS removable (although the specifications on the web indicate that it is not.) So with the additional extension tube the Whisper would have 225cc air chamber capacity.
This can be seen in the pictures…on the web (i.e. the AoA site) the air tube is about 4 to 5 inches shorter than the barrel…however, if you look at the picture of the Whisper in the 1st post of this thread…you can see that the extended air tube is only about an inch shorter than the barrel. (I don’t know for sure if the special batch actually included the “extension” tube or just a larger air tube…what I have reported above is what I was told by AoA).
If the new Whispers come in from FX…WHITHOUT these options already in place, then it makes since that they would have to be added at AoA at the additional cost.
I agree with Varminater, that the 180cc air tube size was my biggest concern, but when I learned that the gun would include the extension tube, I ordered one on the spot…it is scheduled for delivery today.
The smaller air tube would bother me more than the gauge but they didn’t reduce the size by that much. Call and see how many shots you’d be losing per fill. It would be silly not to get this rifle for the sale price If the difference is only 5 shots. To be honest, the gauge isn’t very useful where it’s located and it’s more of a nice to have and not a must have. On something with a high shot count like the MCT or a front bottle rifle like a Rapid or a Royale I can see how a gauge can be useful but on the Whisper, it won’t serve much of a function. You should always trust the source when filling and when shooting, you can’t see it because it’s in front of the air tube plus how hard is it to remember to fill back up after shooting through three magazines. If it’s a shooter like mine is, the price is still great and I would still choose this rifle over the Marauder. Ask AoA which rifle is better and I’m guessing they’ll tell you the Whisper. They sell both rifles so they really have no reason to lie. The reason this rifle got me all Excited wasn’t because of the rifle’s accessories, what was exciting was how this $600 rifle was able to compete in accuracy with rifles I have owned that cost 3 times as much.
I got mine today, I had to work late and couldn’t shoot it. I’m hoping to give it a whirl tomorrow night. The gun feels great and is very light.
Hmm, the changes do not sound quite as appealing and now I think I will need to take another look at my purchase. Darn, I hate when there is a bait-and-switch tactic used.
Guess I will talk with Robert tomorrow and get the inside scoop.
Carl
I just wanted to let everyone know that the future Whispers will be a little different. I just got off the phone with Kip and it’s the first time I’ve heard about this change so I’m posting asap so no one is disappointed. If you were one of the lucky ones who got one of the Whispers that AoA had in stock, they will have the gauge and a slightly bigger air tube. The Whisper will will no longer come with a pressure gauge and the air tube will be reduced to 170cc instead of what was originally around 200cc. The gauge and bigger air tube will now be considered as an upgrade and i was told, will cost an additional $60. They will still have the Smooth Twist barrels.
“Smooth Twist”
Sounds like the dump I took this morning
The newer barrels seem to like the Crosman Premiere Domed or Magnums pellets as they get good accuracy. JSBs and CPHPs were not so good.
I think I would have sent it back and got a refund… That is just rediculous…
I would have sent it back and never look back but it is my friend’s rifle and he really wants a Marauder. It’s back in the mail today and another one will be sent out to him. It was disappointing and sad. We both got our new rifles, are testing them side by side and I’m shooting tight groups while he’s spraying the targets with pellets. I really hope this second one is a good one. I know they’re out there. I felt really bad for him and even offered to sell him my Whisper for my shipped price of $620 but he really wants a Marauder.
Before you sent it back, you guys should have removed the shroud just to see if it solved the accuracy issue…Hopefully that is all it was. Did your friend crony it? If so, did the numbers verify that terrible grouping? I want to get mine out so bad, but I am in the middle of putting laminate wood flooring down in my house via income tax refund…so I don’t know when I’ll get some trigger time…may be at least a week 😥
I don’t think the deal applies to the wooden stock version
Varminter, thanks for the information on how to go about getting that price. I think I will be calling today and putting one of those on order. I really do like the looks of the Whisper and will also probably get the wooden stock. It just looks classy.
Carl
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Remember you need a foster fitting for the fill probe with a female threaded end. I have to get one tomorrow. I did fire the gun a few times tonight. It sounds different than any pcp I’ve ever shot, its still got 150 bar in it. The trigger feels great, I can’t wait to get it on the bench and shoot some groups.