FX Maverick Standard Black - Top Gun

When it comes to innovation and pushing the boundaries of airgun development and manufacture, Swedish gun makers, FX Airguns, must be one of the leading names in the business. For those who know the internal workings of a PCP, they’re even more popular due to their tunability and versatility. On test here is the Maverick.

Bare bones

The stock is very much trimmed to the minimum, with just the necessities needed for hold and shoulder fit. It has an extended butt section that ends at the rear with a rollover synthetic cheekpiece and height-adjustable butt pad. The height is simply adjusted by using the finger-friendly knob that is positioned on the right-hand side. As no tools are needed, you can easily re-adjust in the field when required. Just below the cheekpiece is the regulator gauge, but this will be explained later, along with the magazine housing, trigger safety, and power adjuster dial.

Moving forward, we come to a now familiar, AR-style rubberised pistol grip, plus the action has an integral trigger guard. The grip affords a superb hold and makes a fine platform for operating the trigger from.

The action block shows a raised Picatinny rail for scope mounting. Moving further forward, you will also find some Picatinny accessory rails on both sides of the action, as well as an underslung one that can used to mount a bipod.

On the right-hand side, where the front-mounted 480cc carbon bottle attaches to the airgun, there is a gauge to indicate the air status. For those with long arms, the bottle can serve as a forend, should you not want to grip the natural balance point, which is right underneath the lower accessory rail. Although many will feel it a travesty to criticise the FX, I found my forward hand naturally wanting to grip the underslung rail, which resulted in me having to rest the rifle on my fingers. I would certainly purchase a drop-down hand grip for the accessory rail, as it would supply a far superior hold at this point.

Connecting up & dialling down

The foster-type connector is protected by a cap and is positioned on the left-hand side of the rifle, close to the neck of the bottle, which, incidentally, is removable. The rifle states a fill of 250 bar, but as with most FX PCPs, many fill to a slightly lower pressure. Even so, you can expect up to 600 shots in .177 and .22 calibre (on test).

For non-FAC shooters, the regulator is set within the 12 ft/lbs legal limit. However, the power adjuster dial (as mentioned earlier), which is positioned at the rear of the Maverick, immediately forward of the height-adjustable butt pad, can be used to reduce the power for ratting in enclosed areas. It has eight settings marked on the outer face so that you can see exactly which level you’ve set the rifle to. It works by reducing the hammer spring tension and the settings allow the power to be adjusted from 6 ft/lbs to 11.6 ft/lbs (approximately). Dialling down a couple of numbers to level six, for example, would also be useful for close-range feral pigeon shooting, giving a power level of approximately 8.5 ft/lbs. This is a handy feature should this type of shooting be a usual scenario for you, as it will help negate ricochets or through-and-through shots that could cause damage to corrugated roofs and the like. All this adds to the rifle’s versatility, and FAC shooters will find it just as useful in tuning the rifle up or down depending on the species and circumstances of the shooting situation.

Cocking

Of course, as expected, the Maverick uses a biathlon-style side-lever to cock the action, which in turn runs the unique, high-capacity magazine. The perspex-fronted rotary magazine houses 22 pellets in .177 calibre and 18 in .22. It is a very well-designed unit and though loading will at first seem a tad unusual, it’s very user-friendly.

In the centre of the magazine cover plate is a curved, arc-shaped cover plate lock. When this is turned clockwise (approximately half of a turn), it unlocks the cover. This can then be lifted off (removed) from the main body of the magazine. Next, you turn the now exposed inner rotor anti-clockwise against spring tension and drop in the first pellet. This holds the rotor in this position so you can then fill all the empty chambers that are facing you. Finally, replace the cover plate, turn the lock mechanism back to its original position, and the magazine is fully secured and ready to be inserted into the right-hand side of the rifle.

I noticed that in order to insert the magazine, you needed to slightly angle the flat section up to engage with the centre breech boss, then it could be slid in as per normal before coming to its natural stop point.

Tasty tube

The Maverick boasts one of FX’s match-grade, free-floating, Smooth Twist X Superior tubes. The name obviously indicates that it’s the latest design, but it still uses an interchangeable barrel and barrel liner system, which is found on many other FX rifles. All this means that the calibre and barrel length can be changed, plus you have the option of different twist rates, depending on the core liner fitted. For the perfectionist, this barrel system allows you to configure and optimise your barrel to suit the specific calibre and pellet type you prefer. The shroud is threaded at the muzzle to accept a standard ½ UNF female threaded silencer, but it is already a very quiet rifle straight out of the box.

Making the grade

The Maverick has a 2-stage fully adjustable match-grade trigger unit which follows the familiar post and shoe format. The first and second stages of travel, plus the pull weight, can be altered. However, the let-off was crisp and clean straight from the box. Unusually, the manual trigger safety is positioned at the very rear of the rifle, on the right-hand side.

The rifle has a raised rail for scope fitting and boasts a Picatinny rail with a dovetail on the outer for standard scope mounts. After scoping, the rifle soon begins to impress with its super-smooth cocking cycle, and even without a moderator upfront, the report is certainly quiet enough for general hunting. Use quality ammo and the accuracy is clinical, with ragged pellet-sized groups achievable out to 40 yards+ when shooting from a rested position.

AMP it up

The rifle uses a dual regulator system which FX devotees will take to immediately. It will definitely be of use to FAC shooters. AMP stands for Adjustable Match Precision. Most will be happy to shoot the rifle as it comes set from the factory but it’s no secret that FX airguns are bought by people who do like to tinker and tune so to speak. If you don’t know what you’re doing, I’d say leave it all well alone.
The first regulator reduces the pressure directly from the bottle, so the second regulator isn’t under as much stress, allowing it to work more effectively and efficiently. As well as aiding shot-to-shot consistency, the system also makes the Maverick very air-efficient, hence the very high shot-per-fill figures. It’s adjusted on the same gauge by two gold-coloured screws on the rifle, but the second regulator should generally be run around 50-60 bar.

Conclusion

There’s no doubting the capability of the FX Maverick, as it’s an extremely accurate and efficient rifle. It is available in different formats, such as Standard, Compact, and Sniper models. Additionally, there is a VP variant that features an aluminium bottle instead of a carbon one. It’s also worth noting that there are FAC models specially designed to shoot heavy .30 calibre slugs at very high power levels, reaching up to 80 ft/lbs, which is the reason why the rifle features the largest power plenum (89cc) yet on an FX air rifle.

In use, I found the position of the safety lever a bit strange, as you’re continually reaching way back to operate it. However, let’s not get overly upset over the safety, as in one sense you could say it does make the shooter more aware of using the safety more diligently and deliberately.
Despite appearances, the Maverick is a very comfortable gun to shoot, and the balance and handling are superb. Finally, its performance will far exceed anyone’s expectations.

Thanks to T & J. J McAvoy LTD for supplying the rifle on test.