The FX Leopard is a highly versatile bullpup airgun that lends itself very well to pest control. Packed with handy features, and boasting the impressive build quality and engineering we have come to expect from this acclaimed Swedish airgun maker, the Leopard comes in bottle and cylinder powerplant options and offers several choices of barrel length.
The model featured here is the Compact Tube version, which retails for around £1,270. Although that’s not cheap, I think it is very good value for this quality little Swedish made bullpup. Styled for functionality is has a distinctly tactical aesthetic and is small and light. The FX Leopard Compact is just 690mm long and weighs a shade over 2.8kg unscoped. Not only do those proportions make it very pointable, they also mean that this little bullpup feels great in the shoulder and is no burden to carry on long roving forays.
The Leopard’s air cylinder – or Tube – is actually wrapped around a barrel, which assists with barrel rigidity. With the bottle version, you get the extra air capacity of a carbon wrapped bottle plus the tube around the barrel for a total capacity of 860cc. The Compact model has a 500mm superior STX barrel, and up front you have a half-inch UNF thread for silencer attachment.
The larger Tube models have a rail type setup at front that serves as the forend. It is absent from the Compact and rather than use the cylinder, I actually used the little section in front of the trigger guard for my leading hand and it was perfectly comfortable. There is a retro-fit composite kit available that gives you a bit more of a forend and actually shaves off some weight.
In terms of scope attachment, the Leopard has a really sturdy 30 MOA Picatinny rail. It feels rock solid and provides more than 200mm of clamping space – plenty of room to accommodate pretty much any optic that you might want to pair with this little PCP.
Below top: The FX Leopard composite kit offers a different colour options and reduces weight
Below bottom: Scope attachment is via a 30 MOA Picatinny rail
The Leopard is fitted with FX’s UG1 pistol grip. It is an AR15-typre setup and is very easy to swap out but I don’t see any need to. The UG1 is really nicely sculpted, fills the palm very well and is nice and steep. It set me up brilliantly for the trigger and its stippled hard rubber finish felt great in the hand.
Moving back, the Leopard has a fairly basic polymer cheek support. It offers no height adjustment and has a slight right-hand bias but has a nicely curved profile that makes for a comfortable contact point for right-handers. The butt pad is also fairly simple, though it feels good in the shoulder and is height adjustable. Just turn the locking knob and you can shift it up and down to achieve correct eye alignment with your scope of choice.
Below top: Mat got on very well with the UG1 grip
Below bottom: Adjusting the height of the butt pad is quick and simple
The Leopard runs FX’s tried and tested magazine system. This gun is available in .177, .22, .25 and .30 calibre. The test gun is .177 and its magazine holds a very substantial 22 pellets or slugs – the larger calibres holding 18, 15 and 13 respectively. This magazine has a reputation for being kind to ammo and it is pretty simple to load. Turn the inner locking clip to remove the clear face place, then rotate the inner drum until it stops. Pop a pellet nose-first into the first bay to hold the drum under spring tension and then go on and load the other bays. When its full, return the face place, lock it in position and you’re good to go.
The magazine is driven by a sidelever action which, unlike on some bullpups, is very sensibly positioned quite far forward just above the grip – which makes for very comfortable operation. It’s got a large, notched dropdown handle and a very positive action which snaps it securely back into position at the end of each forward stroke. It is smooth, fast and – judging by my weeks of testing – is utterly reliable, so you’re always assured a swift follow-up shot.
Below top: The Leopard's magazine has sufficient depth to hold longer slugs
Below bottom: A large drop-down handle assists with fast and reliable sidelever cocking
I am very fussy about triggers and could find no obvious faults with the one on the Leopard. It has a curved blade with a wide face which gives plenty of contact and can be adjusted for height and angle. In terms of the two-stage mechanism – it’s certainly better than the standard on most bullpups. You can adjust the first and second stages, but I tested it on its factory setting. The first stage was fairly short and light, as was the second stage. There was a discernible stop point between them though, and the final break was creep-free and easy to predict.
I really like the positioning of the safety catch on the FX Leopard. It is just above the trigger blade but still a sensible distance away from it. You can easily operate it with your trigger finger – and there are switches on both sides. It is in the safe position when the arrow is pointing up, and you simply flip the switch back and up so the arrow is pointing forward when you’re ready to shoot.
Below: The FX Leopard's adjustable two-stage trigger delivers crisp shot release
The FX Leopard is equipped with an AMP MKII regulator, which makes it very consistent. The gun featured here is a sub-12ft/lb model, running at around 11.4ft/lb. Muzzle velocity variation remaining within 5fps over a ten-shot string, which is more than acceptable. Regulator pressure is displayed on the gauge on the left side of the stock. You also have the FX Quick Tune System but being sub-12, you only have the rear wheel on this one.
Overall pressure in the tube is displayed on the gauge on the opposite side. As explained, the cylinder on this gun is actually wrapped around the barrel and, on the Compact model it has a capacity of 210cc and a maximum fill pressure of 230bar. I must confess that I didn’t actually have that much pressure in my bottle during testing, so I was not able to check shot returns from a full charge. However, stated shots per fill for this model is 150 at over 15ft/lb, so you should be able to expect more than that at sub-12, more still from the longer barrel models and significantly more from the bottle version. When it is time to refill, just pop the cap off the inlet and snap on the supplied connector.
Below top: The FX Quick Tune System makes for fast and precise power adjustment
Below bottom: Pressure in the AMP regulator is displayed on the gauge next to the tuning system
I paired the Leopard with my trusty Element Optics Helix scope – which I popped straight off my Panthera. That made for a very nice combo and, running on 10.4-grain .177 JTS pellets, it was very, very accurate – 30 metres was no test for it at all. Off the bench, it was still single-holing at 40 metres and sub-20mm groups were perfectly achievable at 50m. This airgun will make easy work of pest control shooting over typical sub-12 airgun ranges.
The FX Leopard is a very capable bullpup airgun, and I really enjoyed shooting the Compact Tube model. This highly versatile platform offers loads of different options in terms of air reserves and barrel specifications – the Standard and Sniper models which have 600 and 700mm barrels respectively have the Superior Heavy Smooth Twist liner which, combined with the Leopard’s potential for extremely high power output, simple regulator adjustment and easy tuning, should deliver awesome performance with slugs. In its Compact Tube guise, it’s a great little sub-12 hunting bullpup at a very competitive price, which even includes a lined hard case.
MAKER: FX Airguns, Sweden
MODEL: Leopard Compact (Tube)
RRP: £1,270
WEIGHT: 2.8kg (6.2lb)
LENGTH: 690mm (27in)
MAXIMUM FILL PRESSURE: 230bar
Article first published February 9th 2026
