Tag Archives: DonnyFL

Reflections After Owning and Using an Edgun Leshiy 2 for Six Months

This is my last post about my Edgun Leshiy 2 in this series. I’ve now had it for just over six months (I bought it in February and it’s now September) and have some thoughts to share on it and the various accessories I stuck on it – some stayed on and some are now gone.

Engineering and Assembly of the Leshiy 2 Short Wolverine (REPR)

Let’s start with the core airgun itself. The design, machining and fitment of the base Leshiy 2 are superb. I’ve put hundreds of pellets through it and not one jam and it is definitely as accurate as I need in my 30-60 foot typical pest control zone. I don’t recall trying for anything further away as of yet.

The trigger is set and not adjustable but it is a very good trigger so no real complaints there.

The internal regulator is adjustable but you have to disassemble the rear buttstock to get to it. I wish it was externally adjustable so I could more readily fiddle with it. With that said, Edgun West set it to 130 bar and it works exceptionally well. It hits hard and is accurate.

I really like the trigger safety. The first airgun I had with a safety located where the trigger finger can easily get to it was a Hatsan Gladius. GIven the location of the safety on the Leshiy 2, I find it very fast and easy to turn the safety on or off or to check the status without needing to see it.

I really like the position of the safety. It’s the silver toggle switch right in front of the trigger and you can instantly turn it on, off or check the status all by touch.

At first, I viewed the folding rear stock as a space saving feature only. It’s actually a superb safety as well. If the stock is open, then there is no air supply to “fire” a pellet. As soon as I start heading to the house, I open the stock to reduce the odds of an accident.

One tip that I will stick here, the magazines come out really easy if you wiggle them ever so slightly clockwise and counter-clockwise. If you try to pull them straight out they can be really stubborn. Feeding is amazingly reliable so I wouldn’t want anything changed – this is just a tip to share with you.

You can see the rotary magazine. The .22 model holds eight pellets. You can see how many you have left right away – there are four in the magazine. Also, with the stock open, there is no air supply so the Leshiy 2 can’t fire.
The pellets are inserted from the rear and the black ring is magnetic. You put that on top of the rear of the magazine and it holds the pellets in place. So, no deformation of the pellet in the mag and they are securely held in place. It’s also easy to load or unload by removing the ring – I virtually never unload – I’m always loading them.

Comment on the Mini 2-3/4″ Picatinny Handguard

First off, this is M-Lok-ish. The slots are per M-Lok spec but you need shorter srews or you will dig into your suppressor or adapter underneath. I initially used a quality Magpul aluminum picatinny rail section and the screw dug into my Behemoth moderator and I gouged it when I went to remove the can. I wondered why the moderator wouldn’t turn and rather than stop and think I went “Mongo turn moderator” on it. Sure, it came off but I gouged the aluminum and it was bright and shiney, I used some Birchwell-Casey Aluminum Black to cover up my mistake. So, either buy their rail section or use your section but realize you will need to shorten the screws. I bought one of their sections.

This small handrail segment covers the barrel and elegantly fills the gap between the end of the Leshiy 2’s frame and where the Behemoth starts. The shiny silver you see through the slot is the trilug adapter for the Behemoth. Because the moderator is right there and the gap between the M-Lok slot and the adapter is too short, regular M-Lok screws will dig into the behemoth if it is installed so either buy their rail section or grind down your screws as needed. Also, you can’t tell it from this photo but the bottom rail was out of spec. The top wail was ok so I removed the button head hex screws and inverted the handguard to have the in-spec segment on the bottom.
This is an Edgun brand picatinny rail section. Note the really short screws.

Second, the bottom fixed rail machined in the handguard was not done according to the Picatinny spec probably in error. I could get a Holosun laser designator to mount on any rail execept for the bottom one. My solution was to remove the handguard and rotate it 180 degrees so the top rail that worked fine was in the position I needed and the out of spec section that was originally at the bottom was on the top where I didn’t need it. I mentioned what I had to do to Edgun West and they didn’t offer to replace it so oh well. Not sure why they didn’t offer unless it was a known problem. I had a workaround and that was good enough for me but I am passing it along in case you run into the issue – the handguard can be easily removed and inverted – it’s symmertical.

After I flipped the handguard I could mount the Holosun designator on the bottom an d the pressure switch went on the side rail section that is still open. We’ll come back to the Holosun a bit later.

Replaced the Behemoth With a DonnyFL Ronin

The Behemoth with extra sections installed (I think I had 4-5 modules installed towards the end) was really long and didn’t quiet the Leshiy 2 down enough for its size. Some of the noise is likely the air powered semi-auto action bleeding off air and not a moderator design issue. In watching videos of the reflex system Behemoth’s those things are amazingly quiet and I may experiment with one of those in the future but they are expensive and not something I need to do right away.

In search of a quick, I-have-no-more-money-for-this-project fix, I realized I had a spare DonnyFL Ronin moderator that I could use. The DonnyFL was threaded 1/2-28 so I had to get an adapter to convert from the Leshiy’s 14Mx1.0 thread to that. The Ronin was just as quiet and a heck of a lot shorter.

Here’s the Behemoth and I think I added one more section after this was taken. Note, that was the Midas Tac scope that was subsequently returned when it failed during early testing of the Leshiy
With the Ronin, the Leshiy 2 is 17-1/2″ folded and only 29″ overall. The body of the Ronin is 6-1/4″ and you can’t see the thread adapter. By luck it fit really nice relative to the handguard.

There was a second benefit to the move to the Ronin moderator – it stays put. The trilug system the Behemoth uses does not secure the moderator in a very firm “it’s not going to move easily” manner. The trilug system was meant for easy and fast installation and removal of the moderator.

My use case is different – I store the Leshiy 2 folded in a Savior gun case with the moderator attached and pull it out to use as needed for rapid pest control use. I found out the Behemoth could come loose from repeated insertion and removal from the case. I don’t want to take the time to install the moderator every time.

For me and my use, the use of a standard threaded mounting method worked out better. When I need the Leshiy 2 for pest control, I can grab it out of the case and not worry whether the Behemoth is coming loose or not.

If you need an airgun with a rapid takedown moderator, I don’t think you’ll find a competitor to the Behemoth. If you want compact, you might want to do some experimenting. If you need it to be as quiet as possible, do some digging before you buy. I watched a video of a .30 Leshiy 2 with the reflex version of the Behemoth and it was amazingly quiet.

Last comment – when I need the shot to be really quiet, I use my .25 FX Impact Compact Mk II with a Behemoth moderator. That combination is amazing.

The 300cc @ 300 bar carbon fiber air cylinder was worth it

I am very happy with the bigger carbon fiber bottle on the rifle. It still balances and handles nicely – but it has 123% more air than the original resevoir. I fill it direct from the GX CS4 compressor so I can top it off at 300 bar.

The original reservoir is at the top and the new larger carbon fiber bottle as at the bottom.

American Defense AD-Recon-30-Std mount worked great as usual

As usual the American Defense mount has been superb. It returns to zero when you remove and then attach the mount to the Leshiy 2 plus it holds the scope securely – two thumbs up. Definitely my favorite quick detach single piece scope mount.

Athlon Helos BTR Gen 2 4-20×50 Scope has been great

After a bumpy start with the Athlon Midas Tac, the Athlon Helos BTR Gen 2 4-20×50 Mil-Dot scope has been great. It has reliably held zero despite many magnification changes. I’m pretty happy with it and have no plans to change at this point.

The Holosun Green Laser Designator was removed

I’ve seen so many gun magazine photos with laser designators that I figuredit was time to try one. I did some research and ordered in a Holosun LE117G green laser designator. The LE is the better made law enforcement model.

So, I mounted it on the bottom with the pressure pad switch on the right side rail where the finger tips of my supporting hand could actuate it and sighted it in at 12 yards.

It looks great right? Oh wow – look he has a laser designator on a high-end air gun… well, I tried to find a use for it other than tricking out the gun for photos and I couldn’t – not really. I am so used to scopes at this point for precision work that I am bringing the rifle up and lining up the reticle. If I turn on the laser, it sits at a different height and shows a different point of impact than the scope as I move away from the point of impact I zeroed them both in at – 12 yards.

It looked slick but didn’t help me with precision shots plus it was adding weight and taking off space so off it came.

The LE117G is now sitting on shelf for potential use in the future. I’m not saying it’s bad – I’m just saying it didn’t fit my planned use for the Leishey 2.

Switched from JSB dome to hollow point pellets

I was talking to another Leshiy 2 owner and he recommended that I try the JSB 15.89gr Hades hollow point pellet. He was having great success with it at close ranges – I think he said he was using them up to 25 yards – but the Diabolo domed pellets were better at a distance.

Well, I ordered in a couple of tins and sighted the Leshiy 2 in using that ammo at 12 yards. It’s definitely accurate enough for me at my close range pests and it does appear to do the job faster. There is a different impact sound when a Hades pellet hits a squirrel though I can’t quite figure out how to describe it.

JSB is my favorite pellet company. Normally I swear by the 18.13gr Exact Jumbo Heavy Diabolos but the Hades have impressed me so far. The Leshiy 2 has no problem feeding them and accuracy has been just fine.
Here’s a close up of the Hades (left) vs. Exacts (right). The Hades pellets have an interesting head design – slightly domed but with the reliefs in the top to aid with mushrooming.
Eight rounds (one magazine) of Hades pellets at 12 yards easily fit in a one inch diameter circle. I was using a Bog carbon fiber Death Grip tripod to hold the Leshey so there was a bit of movement due to my tremor.

Last Batch of Photos

Here are some more photos of the Leshiy 2 as currently configured:

Summary

I use this airgun a few tmes every week – literally. It’s gone through hundreds of pellets and a lot air. Along the way, it has dispatched quite a few squirrels.

If you are looking for a semi-auto airgun that is very well engineered and made plus modular and can change as your needs change – I don’t think you are going to find anything equal too or better than a Leshiy 2.


Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.


FX Impact Compact .25 PCP Powerhouse – Initial Findings

In the last post, I covered my journey leading up to the purchase and arrival of the FX Impact Mk.2 Compact. The rifle performed beautifully right out of the box. The trigger was definitely very nice and the action was smooth.

For the price though,I did find some features, or lack thereof, annoying and ranked them in order from biggest pet peeve to the least:

  1. There is no “cocked” indicator and it will let you double-cock the rifle thus loading/stacking multiple pellets on top of one another. I have learned over time to carefully pay attention to the feel of the cocking handle about a 1/4-1/3rd as the absence of the spring compressing tells me it is already loaded. I also try to make sure I put the rifle immediately on safe as another flag. While mistakenly double-cocking the rifle has decreased, it still happens. When it does, I open the bolt, remove the magazine and use a cleaning rod to push them out. Come on FX, my $800 Gladius disengaged the cocking lever once cocked to avoid that user error. This my biggest beef.
  2. The owner’s manual is a bit vague. It is concerning that it says changing the power wheel when charged will damage it and void the warranty. WTF. Maybe you should fix your design instead. Putting the blame on the operator is a total cop out. Dear FX, I reached out to your customer service group asking what the power level numbers and letters correspond to with no answer.
  3. The distance from the Foster high pressure quick connect fitting to the trigger guard so long that the purchaser must go out and buy an extended length female fitting? If you find your common length female fitting below human reach once it clicks into place, remove the screws from the trigger guard, remove it, remove your coupler from the rifle and then promptly order a longer one. Tony sent one with my rifle that I wasn’t sure I would need – turns out I sure did. I later ordered an even longer knurled one that DonnyFL sells. Not the end of the world by any means but it is annoying.
  4. Your decocking feature would be nice except it leaves the pellet in the chamber and unless you pull the magazine too and remember that one is in there and shoot it before re-installing the magazine, you will double stack pellets. I’d tell anyone reading this to shoot a pellet into the ground or any other suitable stopping surface vs. using the decocker.

That’s it in terms of things I dont like and I had time to reflect on this list. All in all, it’s a pretty wicked PCP air rifle.

The DonnyFL “FX” Moderator

DonnyFL makes quality sound moderators exclusively for airguns in Oviedo, Florida. While the FX moderator that Tony included did reduce the sound levels, it wasn’t enough. I had a “Ronin” series moderator that could absorb more gas and reduce sound levels even further so I installed it on the special adapter that was already on the rifle. It definitely reduced the sound even further but was still too loud. I added in the 6″ extension and it was quieter but I want even more. I plan to purchase their biggest moderator the “Sumo” and will post about that later. So it’s not really a knock on the FX series moderator but I would tell you to at least get a Ronin of the right caliber and the correct adapter to install it.

This is the DonnyFL Ronin moderator on the left of the seam just above the end cap that is keeping the assembly from rolling. On the right is the optional extension that lengthens the moderator. It was a cheap experiment to see if ot lowered the sound level when firing and it did. I am betting the Sumo will lower it further because the extension is just a hollow tube that serves as one large expansion chamber whereas the Sumo is designed to absorb the compressed air blast the whole length.

Element Optics Helix 6-24×50 Scope

Element Optics is a sister company to FX and their goal is to make quality scopes for airgunners and even firearms. I will say that the glass is remarkably clear but I will also tell you that one day I got my air rifle out and missed the squirrel I needed to dispatch and then I missed another and another. I set up a target and the impact point had shifted almost 1.5-2″ to the right but it was consistent. My best guess was that I had accidentally turned the non-locking windage adjustment knob quite a bit. How? I have no idea.

It turns out there is a zero stop you can easily adjust to return to zero – I wish I realized this up front. It was my fault for not reading the manual up front. What I should have done was to confirm my zero, set the zero stop and then if I had any question, I could immediately return to zero. Live and learn.

Air Source

In December 2020, I invested in a GX CS3 high pressure air compressor off Amazon and it is still going strong seven months later. I run an inline filter to my 18 cu ft Omega tank and use the tank to fill the Impact Compact – I still put a filter between the tank and the airgun just to be safe – quick connects make the plumbing and moving things around real easy – I use all Air Ventury quick connects to avoid compatibility problems – I’ve had to swap out a few generic fittings along the way. Click here for various posts about the compressor and tank.

The GX CS3 compressor is geat. Here it is in refillying my Omega 18 cu ft tank. The small blue cylinder in the air lines is a high pressure air filter. I have a bigger one that I need to replace the generic male fitting with one from Air Venturi and once I do, it will be filtering the air for the tank and then the small blue fiter will filter the air from the tank to whatever airgun I am filling.

Some Photos For You

This is the Impact Compact with the DonnyFL Ronin moderator sitting directly in front of it.
Here’s another angle.
Here’s the power adjuster that I still don’t fully understand. “3” seems like a nice middle of the road setting that works on squirrels without a lot of over-penetration at 14 yards. You can also see the trigger – it’s definitely sweet and contributes to the accuracy.

In Summary

Most of my shooting is within 50 feet and the rifle is an absolute tack driver, It will takke a squirrel or rabbit out with no problem. I’m using the JSB 25.39gr pellets and with the excellent trigger, where ever I put the crosshairs the pellet follows. I’m going to stick with this base rifle for a while but I did replace the scope with an ATN X-Sight 4K that I will write about next.


Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.



FX Impact Compact .25 PCP Powerhouse – Doing The Research

Over the years, I have slowly upped my game when it comes to airguns. My first bb gun was an old Daisy that I shot with my dad and from there I progressed to a Crosman 766 that was my trusty companion — until I got old enough and my dad let me buy my first .410 shotgun and I moved to the world of powder burners (firearms) until about 10 years ago.

For pest control reasons, I moved up from the entry-level airguns and bought a .22 caliber Diana 34P. It did the job but being a break-barrel springer, you had one shot and then had to divert your attention from the critters and reload.

From there I bought a .22 caliber Hatsan Gladius Long and Hill Mk.4 hand pump. I’d started blogging at this point so I wrote a number of posts. The rifle was relatively quiet, had a decent trigger, was accurate enough and packed a punch.

I then added a Hatsan AT-P2 that was smaller and interesting but didn’t hit squirrels hard enough. It’s still sitting in my closet in it’s case. The one thing they don’t tell you about airguns until after you get into them is that the resale value sucks – you have to practically give them away so … the AT-P2 is in the closet.

Getting back to the Gladius, it was and is a solid airgun however, I wished it was quieter so I bought an adapter and DonnyFL Ronin moderator to reduce the sound level. Turns out the barrel wasn’t true in the shroud so the pellets would hit the adapter and accuracy just disappeared so I removed the Ronin and saved it for a future airgun. It was also longer than I wanted and not regulated either meaning whatever pressure was in the tank, that affected the velocity and shot placement at the target … in short, I started to get more and more disappointed because while the Gladius is a good PCP airgun, it’s not a great airgun – at least not in terms of meeting my needs as I learned and changed what I wanted from an air rifle.

I was really leaning towards a bullpup design so I could get a longer barrel in a compact design with a relatively short overall length. I also wanted it to be regulated, have an excellent trigger, accuracy, power and to be quiet. It’s a tall ord to get all of these so I was looking at vendors like Airgun Technology, Daystate, FX, Kalibr, LCS and Taipan. I was really torn between the Vulcan, Cricket and Mutant models so I was reading everything I could – these air rifles were/are expensive and I honestly could not afford to buy one that didn’t deliver.

I usually prefer to read first hand accounts on the web and watch videos on Youtube but due to the level of investment and I am not some guru in the airgun space, I decided to call the Some airgun vendors allow people to take calls who are just order takers – they have nowhere near enough experience with the products they are trying to sell to make a credible recommendation. I’m not going to call any groups out by name but let me just recommend that you call more than one and you do your research before you buy anything – especially a higher-end air gun.

After the disappointing calls, I decided to call TalonTunes and Tony, the owner, picked up the call. Tony is an interesting guy – he has a ton of knowledge and is direct — no BS. I found it refreshing after my other experiences.

TalonTunes & The FX Compact Impact

As we talked and he understood more what I was looking for he steered me towards the FX Impact Mk.II Compact – a short barrelled design I was not familiar with and he explained he could sell me a “tuned” model for $2,499 wherein he would modify the transfer port and pellet probe plus he would dial it in for accuracy with the proper regulator pressure and sight in the scope – provided I bought the scope from him. It also came with a DonnyFL FX moderator to reduce the sound when it fired.

I wrote down the details and told him I would consider it. The answer that really sticks me months later was that I asked him if I should go with .22 or .25 for squirrels, rabbits and a rare racoon. He told me that he had plenty of customers who went with .22 who later told him they wished they had gone for the larger .25 pellet but he did not have a single customer who opted for .25 who later said they wished they had bought a .22. I’d been going back and forth in my head about which to move with and that pretty much sealed it – I would move with a .25.

Again, for this kind of money, I wasn’t going to leap on anything until I researched both the FX Impact Compact and the reputation of TalonTunes. Let’s start with the base air rifle.

FX Airguns is a Swedish company known for making progressive airguns and they seem polarize people into either being fans or not liking them at all. In general though, they are known for quality airguns and you can readily get parts for them.

The Impact was revised in 2020 with an enlarged “power plenum” located before the transfer port. The compressed air is held in it until the trigger is pulled at which time it rushes forward and propels the pellet forward. The speed is a function of the volume of air and the pressure in the plenum. Combine this with an excellent barrel and you have a powerful accurate air rifle.

It also sports a fully adjustable trigger and it uses an AR-15 grip. By using an AR grip, this opens up a world of grip options for you.

It is a bolt action repeater feeding from a 28 round removable magazine. The one thing to look at with these rifles is the magazine – the design that the Impact uses is proven and not a headache to load. Also, not all magazines are removable for quick reloads.

The Impact Compact is fully regulated too. If you aren’t familiar with regulated airguns, this is a critical accuracy selling point. The air tank “bottle”) on a PCP air rifle holds are at whatever the maximum rated working pressure is and then the pressure slowly goes down as shots are fired and air is used. The Impact Compact has a 250 bar (3,625 PSI) fill pressure. Now the regulator is governing the air pressure that makes it to the plenum so that it is a constant – in the case of my rifle it was set to 120 bar (1,740 PSI). As long as the bottle is about 120 bar, the pressure will be about 120 bar at the plenum making the shot velocity much more consistent – for a variety of reasons there will be a bit of give and take on the pressure and the resulting velocity.

In general, a regulated design is far better than an ungoverned PCP airgun that will have a sweet spot somewhere for X number of rounds and then drop rapidly. For my Gladius,it was rated at 200 bar but I would only fill it to 190 and it was pretty consistent for the first 10 rounds and then I would pump it back up to 190. It was a bit of a chore but it served me well for almost four years so don’t get me wrong.

So, for the Impact Compact, it was getting solid reviews with guys amazed at the power and accuract of the small rifle. I was pretty much sold. The only shortcoming I could foresee was the lack of a moderator but the TalonTunes package included one.

In terms of TalonTunes, Tony gets very good reviews. People posting on airgun sites mentioned that there might be a wait but what showed up was as-described and quality. I didn’t turn up any significantly concerniing reviews so I decided to move ahead.

I Placed The Order

I called Tony and ordered the tuned .25 FX Impact Compact, an Element Optics Helix 6-24×50 scope and the requisite mounting rings. Yeah, I did have to wait for Tony to tune and ship it – I think it was about 4-6 weeks but what showed up was pretty wicked and worth the wait.

The rifle arrived in two boxes. One had the FX Impact Compact and scope in a cool cust hard case.The other had the pellets and boxes for the scope, and documentation.
Tony also included a chronograph receipt tape and a grouping in a cool little pamphlet. Yeah, this speaks volumes and that group is real – let me tell you that right now.

In Summary

I’m writing this six months after getting the Mk2 Impact Compact and I was impressed then and still am now. They have now moved on to a “M3” and it’s getting good reviews with an even bigger plenum, twin transfer ports and improved ergnomics. At any rate, in the next post I’ll tell you more about my experiences hands on because there are things I like with my Mk.2 and things that I don’t.


Note, I have to buy all of my parts – nothing here was paid for by sponsors, etc. I do make a small amount if you click on an ad and buy something but that is it. You’re getting my real opinion on stuff.

If you find this post useful, please share the link on Facebook, with your friends, etc. Your support is much appreciated and if you have any feedback, please email me at in**@ro*********.com. Please note that for links to other websites, I may be paid via an affiliate program such as Avantlink, Impact, Amazon and eBay.