The FX Tarantula is a repeating, pre-charged pneumatic rifle operated by a bolt action. Precharge AB of Sweden manufactures it. It weighs a little more than 6 pounds (2.7kg) without a scope. It is 39.5 inches (1meter) long. It is also available in .22 caliber.

It has two stock options, a standard (grade 3) and an optional Sport stock. The test gun was a 'Standard' stock. The 'Standard' stock is Turkish Circassian walnut (grade 3) with an oil finish. It is a Monte Carlo stock with a fairly straight grip and an Schnaubelled fore end. It appears to be cut-checkered at 16 lines per inch. The best description for it would be a fine hunting Mauser or perhaps an English shotgun. It will shoulder quickly and is near perfect for stalking. The Sport stock is a standard walnut with a more vertical grip and cut checkering and beaver-tail style fore end. It is very similar to the FX Timberwolf's stock.

The action is constructed from aircraft grade aluminum. The finish of the machine work is excellent. The bluing is also excellent. The only odd bit of work on the action is the unfinished brass fill port plug. It's fairly easy to forget to replace it. It is held in place with an o-ring. The 4 magazines that came with my rifle are also aluminum with an o-ring to hold the pellets in the magazine.

I was in awe of the gun when I first opened the box. The stock has beautiful figure in the grain with a good oil finish. Like many rifles made in Europe, it is has great shooting ergonomics. The grip is slim but still has enough meat on it to fill my hand. Trigger reach is longer than I like because of the grip angle. The grip angle does make the gun easier to point when stalking. When I returned home, I topped off the gun with a pump to a 200 bar fill.

I mounted my Bushnell 4200 32x scope with Beeman medium mounts on the gun. The gun was set at well below the 12 foot-pounds from the factory. I removed the stock and I adjusted the power restricting screw out until it was flush with the outside of the valve body. After reassembling the rifle, I was pleasantly surprised after firing it through my chronymeter. The test pellet was the 10.5 grain Crosman Premier.

Top velocity was 870 to 890 fps range after reaching the optimum fill pressure of 2300 psi. Shooting it down from 200bar fill to 100bar took about 90 shots! Velocity at 200bar was about 820 fps. Velocity readings were somewhat erratic from 200bar and took about 20-24 shots to reach a stable velocity curve, which started at 860 fps. From the start of the 2300 psi /160 bar fill, velocity was about 870 fps. From the bench, it would shoot 40+ shots at the same point of aim at 50 yards. This is good enough for my limited shooting skills.

While I had the stock off, I adjusted the sear spring to a much lighter setting. The adjustment screw is located on lower half of the rear end of the action. The Tarantula has a fairly loud crack when firing at full power. The muzzle cap protecting the barrel crown is threaded to allow the mounting of a moderator. You'll need a moderator for backyard shooting.

At the risk of contradicting myself, the weakest point of this gun is its beautiful stock. It's handy for stalking and some off-hand shooting but it's not well suited for field target and other forms of competition. Its very round fore end doesn't lend itself to shooting stability off the knee especially when you're sitting on a bum bag. The stock's fore end is too narrow and the cheek rest is too short to allow a good weld with my medium scope mounts. The stock's look is what sets it apart from other similar PCP's and if you're primarily a hunter, it will suit you well.

The eight-shot rotary magazine is well designed and functions superbly. It will hold any diabolo pellet that I could find. It will hold Korean Dae-Sung .177 pellets but they aren't fully supported in the magazine when flush with the front. The o-ring that holds the pellets in the magazine should be lubricated before you load it. Installing the magazine into the rifle is fairly simple: pull the retaining bolt out until it stops, insert the magazine (flat face forward) and push the retaining bolt in until it stops. The cocking bolt must be withdrawn from the magazine to remove or install the magazine. This rifle lacks a safety, so you may want to leave an open chamber ala single action six-guns.

The only recurring problem I've had with my gun in particular is that of blowing breach seals. I've not heard of any .22 blowing seals but it seems many of the early .177's had this problem. If you blow a breach seal, you'll know it almost immediately. Your shots will sound louder and the air blowing by the broken seal will dislodge the unfired pellets in the magazine. I was recently given a newer replacement barrel and breach assembly from Airguns of Arizona which should fix this problem.

Accuracy from my Tarantula with Crosman Premier 10.5 and Kodiak is outstanding especially off the bench. At 50 yards I shot sub 1-inch groups easily and many were less than .75 inches. There was a slight left to right breeze and temperature was about 80 degrees F. I haven't seen any major point of impact change with temperature change. My FX seems have the same point of impact whether it's the low 40's or 100+. If you're going to use a higher magnification power scope, I recommend a two-piece mount with the front one being a cantilever-style (BKL) mount. You'll need medium height mounts to provide adequate clearance for the rotary magazine.

The FX Tarantula was my second PCP that I have owned. It is an accurate lightweight sporting air rifle that has great accuracy. It is competitively priced with other multi-shot guns in the sporting category. If you're looking for a multi-shot PCP for general purposes, I can't see how you could go wrong with buying an FX Tarantula.