Anybody have a new FAS 6004?

[bruce.van-deuson]

Newbie as far as air pistols are concerned, not a newbie as far as competition pistol shooting is concerned. My comment about benching the gun was for gaining whatever information about that particular gun I could get from doing so.

Bruce

[bassplayer]

Hi all! Just taken delivery of the new ambi grip (me being left handed) FAS 6004. Here is my opinion so far.

Handle was loose as supplied? Had to find a 3mm allen key. The rear sight was set too low and had to adjust. It was tight and seeing posts where the thread had stripped was very hesitant about moving it. Still, it had to be moved, so I soaked the whole rear sight in WD40 for a few minutes. I held the sight down to relieve the pressure on the thread, then with a coin tried to undo the screw. It was tight but suddenly let go and was ok after that. Where the barrel seals against the chamber has a wear pattern on it caused by the barrel itself. A magnifying glass showed a lip on the face where the seal fits, so I gently filed it off and re-blued the steel. I cocked the gun a couple of times to ensure no contact of metal to metal occured. So far so good, although a bit annoyed that these things had got through their quality checks. I used a 1000 grit wet and dry carbide paper to re-surface the marks breech seal face which turned out was not very deep at all (0.0002"?). The trigger is drilled and tapped for the adjustment screws and the burr raised had not been removed (stuck in your finger!). So again, I shortened a 90 degree centre drill to get into the trigger guard and chamfered the holes. Nice and easy to cock (much less pressure than my HW75), and very nice to hold. So, when I've had a go at 10 meter shooting I will return to progress the evaluation.

[william]

Hi all! Just taken delivery of the new ambi grip (me being left handed) FAS 6004. Here is my opinion so far.

Handle was loose as supplied? Had to find a 3mm allen key. The rear sight was set too low and had to adjust. It was tight and seeing posts where the thread had stripped was very hesitant about moving it. Still, it had to be moved, so I soaked the whole rear sight in WD40 for a few minutes. I held the sight down to relieve the pressure on the thread, then with a coin tried to undo the screw. It was tight but suddenly let go and was ok after that. Where the barrel seals against the chanber has a wear pattern on it caused by the barrel itself. A magnifying glass showed a lip on the face where the seal fits, so I gently filed it off and re-blued the steel. I cocked the gun a couple of times to ensure no contact of metal to metal occured. So far so good, although a bit annoyed that these things had got through their quality checks. I used a 1000 grit wet and dry carbide paper to re-surface the marks breech seal face which turned out was not very deep at all (0.0002"?). The trigger is drilled and tapped for the adjustment screws and the burr raised had not been removed (stuck in your finger!). So again, I shortened a 90 degree centre drill to get into the trigger guard and chamfered the holes. Nice and easy to cock (much less pressure than my HW75), and very nice to hold. So, when I've had a go at 10 meter shooting I will return to progress the evaluation.

Pardon my perhaps extreme reaction: This looks like an easy-to-cock, nice-to-hold piece of rubbish. Have they brought the FIAT circa 1970's (or is it Chrysler) quality control team out of retirement?

[bassplayer]

Nice one!! I'm disappointed, but glad I can do the refurbs to a better standard than they can!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (retired toolmaker) I would not like to read these things on the net about my product, but they could use it to improve.

A few more things. The sealing o ring is: BS ISO 3601-1-A0067. (1,78 x 6.76)

What a pain - why not use an easily obtainable size?

Trigger needed adjusting as usual to personal preferences. I found the second stage was creepy and not repeating, so I adjusted until there was no discernable movement after the take up. Trigger seems fine now (repeatable)

[Leon]

Sorry guys - my experience with the 6004 does not mirror yours.

My 6004 exudes quality fit & finish throughout - and is superior to the original FAS 604 that I also have.

I am also incredulous that someone would actually complain that the "rear sight was set to low and had to adjust".

Chiappa products are generally very well made and, like most, if not all firearms manufactured in Europe, are made to a higher quality standard than their American counterparts.

For example, the fit & finish of current S&Ws is appalling and I've seen a number of Performance Centre S&Ws where the factory could not even screw in the barrel straight. I'm on my second Colt Gold Cup now - I refused to take delivery of the first one as it's overall quality was atrocious.

And don't start me on Colt Pythons !

[bassplayer]

Sorry about that. I meant the rear sight was rammed down tight as far as it would go and I had to use a bit of force with a 1p coin to release the screw. When I took delivery of the pistol from the shop he said "I've had a go with it and it seems ok as some of these shoot high!!!" I was peeved that my property had been opened and used and messed about with! It may have been that person that tightened the screw down while he was having a "play" with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Finish of the pistol is great, I was just trying to give my opinion (which is worthless unless its your own).

[davidjohngoode]

I've had mine for about six months and like it very much. I use it at home for practice, not for competitive shooting. Nicely made, well-proportioned pistol at a price that's hard to resist.

My Italian friend tells me that "Chiappa" is slang for an arse cheek!

[jerber]

I have been reading this thread and I'm just curious about who uses this AP?
Do you compete with it? Or is it just for training?
The price is very attractive and it looks more like a 22lr pistol
As far as power goes can it shoot at 25 metre?
This would be a nice addition for me to train at home

[bassplayer]

Ok, now for a further review of my new FAS 6004! Very frustrating trigger. I cannot get the timing right for my optimum "still" time due to trigger release variation. First you touch the trigger, it goes off, next you have to squeeze hard to release the shot. Trigger weight variation was between 425 grams and 610 grams. Here are a few problems I found.

1). Trigger blade was not in the middle and was catching on side plate.
2.) Adjustment screws were drilled off centre in the trigger twisting the trigger plate.
3). The trigger plate where the adjustment screws contact is soft
4). The adjustment screws has scored a groove into the trigger plate damaging the smooth surface.
5). The adjustment screws are sharp fronted and high tensile

SO!!

I took all the screws out!

Inserted a screwdriver at the side of the trigger and levered it into the centre.
Domed all the screws and polished them.
Wet and dry on the soft trigger plate to remove damage
Put screws back and greased the contact points

Much, much better, (all shots inside the 8 ring) but deteriorated after a while (scoring of the soft trigger plate again!

SO!!

Ordered some 3mm nylon point grub screws as a refit - still waiting to arrive - will review after fitting.

[SPPcoach]

I purchased a FAS 6004 in August with reasonable expectations, good accuracy and reliability. It is not a replacement for the Steyr LP 50, it is just a fun addition. I am not going to hand some of the kids on the team the responsibility for a $2,500 airgun, so I let them start with the FAS. I have less than 500 pellets thru it and I am experiencing the same problem as another contributor. When I pull the trigger I hear the gas released 'pfffttt' but the pellet does not discharge from barrel. I will re-charge the gas ram up to 20 times before I loose patience with it and knock the pellet out of the barrel with a cleaning rod put it away. The first 200 rounds were totally reliable. Now, it will not fire four consecutive times.

It was purchased from Airguns of Arizona but I can never get thru to them by phone for assistance. I wait in the queue for :20 minutes and then the system re-directs me to their voicemail.

The piston rod is well lubricated, the 'O-ring' at the barrel breech appears intact and the breechface is lightly oiled to ensure a good seal with the barrel. I use Meisterkugeln pistol pellets and make sure the skirt is round so it can form a good seal and not allow air to leak by the pellet when discharged. The owners manual offers no assistance to troubleshooting.
http://www.chiappafirearms.com/sites/de ... EP2014.pdf

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated?

[kevinweiho]

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated?

Did you also try lubricating the internal compression cylinder from the air intake hole? One or two drops of pellgun oil is sufficient, work the piston so the oil is spread evenly and lubes the o-ring. Dry fire the pistol (with air and without a pellet) a couple of times. If this doesn’t help, return the gun to AoA.

[Wynne G Oldman]

I've never used Meisterkugeln myself, but if they're a little bit tight in the barrel, as are RWS Hobby, lower power pistols may struggle with them. Try Geco's or R10 Match and see if that makes a difference. I am a recent convert to Geco's, very cheap, and just as accurate as R10's as far as I can see.

[Jra1953]

I have had the same issue with pellets. Crosman premier and Miesterkugeln pistol 7.0 g work reliably.
Miesterkugeln 8.7g don't work

[Cricman]

I can't believe all of these negative reviews, considering these words from the Airguns of Arizona website:

" The FAS 6004 by Chiappa Firearms. This single stroke target grade pistol has won many International championships with its recoilless action and superb trigger. "

It sounds like I should just get some 6061-T6, a chunk of walnut, and a Walther Barrel and make one myself, thus saving me time and aggravation!


cricman

[j-team]

... considering these words from the Airguns of Arizona website:

" The FAS 6004 by Chiappa Firearms. This single stroke target grade pistol has won many International championships with its recoilless action and superb trigger. "

I would challenge them to name just one "International championship" that has been won with a Chiappa 6004 (or even a FAS 604 for that matter). It's dishonest marketing.

[Rover]

No one who is playing the game believes that stuff anyway.

RWS Diabolo Basic pellets are the way to go. Cheap...accurate.

[bassplayer]

I have a new FAS6004 (bought in May 2015 I think). Wish I had not bought it. Weirauch 75 is a much better pistol. Cheaper, better made, better trigger, better everything, although much harder to cock. (makes my elbow hurt!). I don't use the FAS anymore, it is too underpowered.

[David Levene]

From all of the negative comments here it sounds like Chiappa have taken the well proven design of a good basic pistol and turned it into something that is less than desireable (being polite).

That's a hard trick to do.

[SamEEE]

Ah the old Pilkguns mantra: "Quality has no regrets.".

Buy a SSP; ...wait.

[kevinweiho]

All comments point into the direction of poor quality control. Even my cheapo Beeman P17 can beat the pants off the 6004, now it has more than 800 shots without a hitch.

Are you guys going to:

1.) keep complaining on the forum.
2.) keep the remorse purchase as a safe queen.
3.) It’s time to take action to the corporate level and boycott the product until the problems have been fixed?

I bet once the beehive has been molested, someone is bound to do something...