cinstone posted on July 11, 2009 16:14
Update 1, 11/07/09;- Well it's not really an update of the Ruger as such, but as there is much rumour about the Ruger being a Chinese copy. I'm still waiting for a reply from Umarex, but today, in the window of my local gun shop was an almost direct copy made by or for SMK. The price was £125, without a scope.
I gave it a look over and the first thing I noticed was that the dayglow sights are exactly the same. The barrel seemed a little shorter, but the finish of the action was not as deep/rich a finish. The stock looks exactly the same as the Ruger, but on closer inspection, the finish of the stock is not as good as the Ruger as there are moulding marks here and there.
This rifle was a .22" and on cocking the rifle I was surprised how smooth and easy it was, but this was probably aided by the fact that the spring was not as strong, the rifle being a .22". The shop let me have a go with the rifle at the back of the shop and this is where the main difference is. Yes the rifle cocks smoothly, but on shooting the rifle it is twangy. It's not the most twangy rifle i've ever shot, but it's quite a bit more twangy than the Ruger and just by shooting the SMK you can tell that it's well down on the power of the Ruger too. The SMK is probably putting out around 7-8lb.ft at best.
I would have liked to check the inside of the butt to see how it is made, but time was short this morning, so perhaps next time. I did feel that the trigger blade on the SMK was a little smoother in feel/comfort than the Ruger, but the SMK's cocking lever link seems to be thinner.
The short story is, the Ruger is the better rifle in my opinion and well worth the extra £39 quid.
Shots upto;-
20/07/09 = 375.