Definitive Guide to FX Streamline

The condensed streamlined design of the FX Streamline has resulted in an incredible air rifle that simply gives you much more than what you pay for. The Streamline comes weighing in at just 5.75 lbs (6.2 lbs in walnut or laminate). The rifle is incredibly light partly due to the all aluminum construction outside of the stock, but also to where the gun got its name, it?s streamlined internals. The Streamline comes in the three common FX stock options that it has been offering lately on all their rifles. A soft-touch coated synthetic stock, a Minelli walnut offering, as well as the Minelli black-pepper laminate wood stock. All stocks are ambidextrous though note that the cocking side-lever is positioned on the right side of the breech and cannot be moved. The Streamline comes from the newly redesigned breech block that completely incorporates the air cylinder directly into the breech block in one more seamless fitted piece. This one-piece block removes connecting pieces found on most breech blocks that often lead to air inefficiencies, leaks and adds additional weight to the gun. This also provides substantial savings in manufacturing cost which is why the Streamline is priced so much lower than previous FX rifles. All metal parts are coated with a special fingerprint resistant finish which is a very nice touch (get it?). The sidelever cocking handle is buttery smooth and is slightly smaller than the levers found on the FX Royale and FX Bobcat. The FX side levers are precision engineered which results in a truly smooth cycling action without getting hung up or becoming sticky. On the left side of the breech block opposite of the side lever is a 3-step power adjuster. This allows you to decrease the velocity of your shot when high power isn't needed. You can extend the shot count of your air cylinder by doing so and on the lowest setting you should be able to obtain double the shot count of the full power setting. Speaking of shot count. The .177 & 22 caliber Streamline comes with a 190cc aluminum air cylinder that can be charged to 230 bar (3,300 psi). This will result in 60 full power shots in .22 caliber. The .177 caliber is a forthcoming caliber (due early 2017) but we would expect over 100 full power shots in .177 caliber. The .25 caliber Streamline has both a longer 23.6? barrel as well as a larger 250cc air cylinder. We appreciate that FX does this as it provides the more hunting oriented .25 caliber more power as well as still obtaining around 45-50 full power shots. The only downside is that the .25 caliber is also a longer and heavier gun coming in at 43.25 inches in length and adding another half of pound in weight. Though all things considered 6.25 pounds unscoped is still an incredibly light gun! The air cylinder is filled via an FX air probe at the top of the cylinder. This is the same air probe used on other FX airguns like the FX Wildcat. The probe opening is covered by an integrated dust cover to keep debris from causing problems. At the top of the cylinder is a manometer to show the air pressure found within the air cylinder. Like all FX airguns, the FX Streamline features an internal regulator that is as efficient and consistent as any regulator we?ve tested. This consistency means every shot has almost identical air released and fps obtaining for every shot until your air runs out. This consistency is important as it really aids accuracy. As you can imagine a substantial drop or rise in fps can drop or raise the impact point, especially at longer distances. Though the internal regulator aids in accuracy, the pinpoint accuracy obtained by the Streamline is mainly due to the FX Smooth Twist barrel system. A revolutionary barrel design that bucks traditional full-length etched rifling. Instead the majority of the barrel is actually smooth allowing for the maximum amount of velocity to build before the pellet hits aggressive pressed rifling at the very end of the barrel to introduce stabilizing spin. The results are phenomenal as you will read below in our accuracy section! If you talk to any owner of an FX air rifle and ask them why they love their rifle so much, certainly one of the items they will mention is the FX match grade trigger. This two-stage adjustable trigger is simply one of the best triggers you will find on any rifle, let alone an air rifle. The reason we call it a match grade trigger is that it?s entirely comparable to triggers found on high-end Olympic grade air rifles. And it comes from the factory tuned very light at right around a pound with a nice clean break. The whole reason that famed YouTube reviewer .22 Plinkster even started exploring PCP airguns is because he got his hands on an FX and exclaimed: ?Holy cow, that?s a great trigger!? The best part is that now with the FX Streamline and a more friendly price, more airgunners will be able to experience one of the best triggers in the world. The Streamline comes in the three standard airgun calibers: .177 cal that is favored by field target competitors, and the larger .22 & .25 calibers favored by those wanting to shoot at farther ranges (as a heavier pellet tends to buck the wind) as well as offering higher muzzle energy for those using the Streamline for pesting and hunting. Due to the internal regulator, the shot count on our .22 caliber test FX Streamline air rifle produced a very smooth and consistent shot curve. We were able to obtain just over 60 shots on a full 230 bar fill. The .25 caliber has a larger air cylinder so even though it uses more air per shot, you will still be able to obtain 45-50 shots per fill. Very impressive and a smart move by FX to have the higher .25 caliber rifle have not only a larger barrel but a larger air cylinder. Certainly catering towards those who want to hunt more than just plinking. The longer barrel of the .25 caliber FX Streamline certainly produces when it comes to muzzle energy as well. Our test rifle obtained foot pounds upwards of 48 in .25 caliber. And interesting to note that the new .25 cal Predator GTO Lead-Free pellets, though lighter in weight, still were able to produce respectable muzzle energy. Certainly enough to consider as a viable hunting pellet (as they are incredibly accurate as well!) In .22 caliber you should expect around 32 ft/lbs of energy fairly consistently between most standard weights of .22 caliber pellets as you can see in the chart below. FX builds all their rifles to use the standard JSB Diabolo pellets. Meaning that although you can find other pellet sizes and brands that will work with your FX Streamline (or other FX air rifle), the best performance will almost exclusively be with JSB pellets. The testing below shows the best pellets we found to group (usually testing upwards of 10 different pellets per caliber). That said, part of the fun with any air rifle is trying different pellets and shapes to get the most out of your rifle. True to other FX air rifles, the JSB Exact Jumbo 15.89 gr pellets, and the JSB Exact Jumbo Heavy 18.13 grains provided incredible groups at 50 yards. In fact, the ⅜? group from the standard JSB Jumbos is the best group we?ve been able to obtain a Definitive Guide review yet! Outside of the standard JSBs, the next best groups were obtained using H&N Baracuda Hunter Extremes and JSB Ultra Shocks. Both are hollow point designs that many will favor for hunting, though the Ultra Shock packs a larger punch coming in at 25.4 grains. Both obtained just 1? groups though showing that the JSB Exact Jumbo and Exact Jumbo Heavy really are the way to go with this rifle. When it comes to accuracy, we?ve found time and time again that FX airguns consistently produce some of the most accurate airguns we?ve ever shot. And that means something as we shoot a lot of airguns here at Airgun Depot! The Streamline is everything that the FX Royale, Wildcat & Impact have when it comes to accuracy. So much so that we just had to take our Streamline out of the indoor 50-yard range and pushed it out to 100 yards to see what it can do. Conditions were cold (Utah in the winter can be a bit frigid) and wind was blowing over the left shoulder moving slightly to the right at about 10 mph. Unlike the indoor range, there was no luxury of having a bench rest and bag outside. The results were rather surprising with a solid 1 ⅝? group (keeping in mind shots were being taken quickly due to the low temperature). If you remove the one shot that was pulled high, you have just above a ? group! Certainly with a bench rest, bag and better conditions, ? groups at 100 yards are easily obtainable! This is one fantastic air rifle. The FX Streamline comes with a fully shrouded barrel that does a very effective job at reducing the sound of the shot. Particularly in .177 & .22 caliber, no need for further silencing seems to be needed to make the Streamline more than backyard friendly. With that said, expandable suppression moderator sections can be purchased separately in order to further reduce the report of the rifle. The FX stackable moderator is the Lego of sound suppression. Unlike traditional firearms that need the ejecting air to be cooled, air guns really rely on volume of space to reduce rapport. So FX has created a simple system where you can fine tune the amount of volume you add to your Streamline section by stackable section. If you?re interested in furthering your sound suppression the chart below shows the reduction in decibels for each added stackable moderator added. We would suggest that out of the box, the reality is you may not even need to suppress the FX Streamline as it?s already incredibly quiet. But if you want to further suppress the sound, we would suggest picking up the needed moderator sections for the Streamline. If you have any questions or comments about the new FX Streamline. Just post them below and we?ll quickly get you answers and feedback.