I'm still on probation so I can't post pictures or use the Classified forum until I've made a few posts and a couple of weeks have past. I hope to be able to contribute something to this site eventually, right now I'm really just getting into the sport. I'm semi retired and have an small construction business I'm still operating in the warmer months here in the NE. At 67 I'm looking to make air gunning one of my hobbies when I fully retire. Until then I'll mostly be lurking and learning. I will be posting my Ruger Impact when I can use the classified I'm looking to get parts for it or get it into someone else's hands that can use it for parts. I know it's just another Chinese air rifle but I wouldn't mind fixing it It was my first. More on that later.
First off, welcome to the forum, I got back into air guns a little over three years ago when the prices of powder burners and their ammo went through the roof, then went missing, if that wasn't bad enough Covid 19 came along and shut down most clubs and shooting ranges, air guns were the practical way to inexpensive shooting and the backyard air gun range solved the where to shoot problem.
I started with my vintage Sheridan Blue Streak that I purchased in the late '60's ~ early '70's, my first purchase in air guns since the Sheridan was a GAMO Swarm Bone Collector .22 cal. gas piston air rifle, my next was the Ruger Impact Max also in .22 caliber, both guns shot well, but they both had really bad triggers, I ordered a custom trigger spring from John at Air Gun Detectives that lightened the pull to about 2-1/2 pounds and improved the accuracy by allot.
The Ruger Impact Max turned out to be a major disappointment, the trigger pull was about 8 pounds and the accuracy sucked, but the gun itself is beautiful as far as fit and finish, and the action is very smooth, lucky for me I ran into another member here that had just done a trigger job on his, we talked and he sent me a new spring and instructions on how to change it, I took me about twenty minutes (most of it taking the action off the stock, with a little magic I got it done a put back together and just changing that one little spring tamed the trigger and allowed me to shoot consistent groups of about 3/4" at 35 yds.
I put UTG Bug Buster scope on it and it's a great shooter, my next one was a Crosman Vantage NP in .177cal., again the trigger was robbing the gun of it's accuracy and handling qualities, and again a half hour on the bench replacing a spring with a small bearing turned a POS rifle into a real gem of an air rifle.
So, the point of this post is to tell you that just because you bought a low end air rifle doesn't mean it's junk, with a little research and a little bench work they can surprise the hell out of you, If there's something wrong with your Ruger then it may be relegated to a parts gun, but if you like the gun but don't like the way it shoots it can most likely be made to shoot the way you want, so don't junk it until you try to remedy the problem, at the very least you'll learn something about air guns from the experience, I know I did.
One more thing to think about, I have a Hatsan mod. 95 in .22 cal., mine is a Springer but the action and trigger groups are the same on both the Springers and the gas piston guns, the only difference is in the power plant, I have about a dozen friends at my club that own Hatsans, the mix between Springers and Vortex models is about evenly split, so far the only problems encountered on the Hatsans has been with the Vortex piston guns, the Springers are all running great, something to keep in mind if buying another one.
Another thing about Hatsan Mod. 95's is that they have a really violent shot cycle, so using the Artillery Hold (light hold) is a must if you want consistent and repeatable accuracy.
