In my effort to sample every (cheap) breakbarrel on the market, I found that buying the refurbished rifles from Umarex is an easy way to try several models on the cheap. Unfortunately, sometimes one gets what one pays for.
Or less.
The Cometa-built RWS94 has generally gotten good reviews, so when I found out that Umarex had ONE left in .22 I told 'em "SEND IT"! Well, they sent it alright - and proved that even Umarex's gunsmiths make an occassional boo-boo. The stock was severly beat up, the barrel and compression tube had rust and pitting on them - and, worst of all - the barrel was BENT. Despite these flaws, the rifle itself seriously impressed me with its smooth firing cycle, decent power, and nice trigger. I returned the rifle, with instructions to replace it with another '94.
The only other ones they had were in .177, so that's what showed up at my door several days later. One side note about how Umarex fixes their mistakes - They got the returned gun on a Friday and had its replacement out the following Monday. The replacement rifle was a marked improvement over the previous one. There were few cosmetic flaws this time around, the most blatant being the "R" stamped into the stock above the forearm screws! Best of all, though, the barrel was straight.
So now that I have a decent example in my hands, I can give the rifle an honest evaluation. In general, the RWS 94 is very close in size and weight to the Gamo 440, being almost 3 ounces heavier and about 1 1/2" longer. Pull length is virtually identical, again with the 94 being a smidgen longer. Generally speaking, the woodwork and metalwork is generally comparable to the Gamo, with the stock having a shinier finish and more a pronounced grain. The only checkering is on the grip, and it is rather nicely done. While the gun balances well enough, one is aware of the extra weight over, say, the Quest or even the Shadow. It's not a major bother, and to my hands it doesn't have the ponderous feel of the Model 34.
One thing that I always try to spot are design similarities between different rifles, and as soon as I saw the front sight I thought "AH-HA! Norico!". The front sight looked identical to the one on the Beeman S1 I had, complete with replaceable insert. So, I figured Cometa (who makes the 94) must have some sort of tie with Norica. When I popped open the breach, I also noted that this gun has a staked ball-bearing detent like the ones found on the old S1 and GS1000 series Beemans, but when I measured the breach block dimensions it became apparent that they were not identical. And on closer inspection, the front sight was not the same either - the '94 has a small machine screw and embedded nut that clamps the front sight onto the muzzle, but the Beeman (Norica) sight was one-piece plastic with a fake screw head molded into it. The clincher was the trigger - completely different from the two Norica mechanisms I'm familiar with.
So I'm concluding that this gun ain't no Norica clone. Which is fine with me, since I'm so-so on the Norica's in general. The construction of the rest of the gun is relatively typical... it has a single cocking link (not an articulated link like the Gamo) and a standard pivot bolt arrangement. Oddly enough, though, this gun uses a nice feature often found on the lowliest Chinese breakbarrels - a locking screw for the pivot bolt. This consists of a small screw that sits close to the pivot bolt head so that it overlaps it. There are reccess cutouts in the pivot bolt that the head can fit in to - when the lock screw is in place it prevents the pivot bolt head from rotating. There are 10 cutouts in the head so the bolt can only be tightened in 36-degree increments... coarser than, say, the locknut arrangement on a B26, but an acceptable compromise.
Cocking the gun is a bit stiffer than a Gamo, but like its fellow countryman it has a long cocking pull to maximize mechanical advantage. So why is it stiffer? Why, more power, of course! This gun is pretty consistent in tossing CPL's at over 970fps, which is over 16 ft-lbs of energy. Pretty good for a .177, and in the same ballpark as the IZH MP513 or the Powerline... both of which make you work a lot harder for the power. Cocking the rifle also sets the automatic safety, which is located at the end of the compression tube and reasonably convenient for your thumb. And although I dislike automatic safeties, most seem to have something in common - they allow the gun to be de-cocked, as does the one on the 94. Unlike the B20/B26, however, this safety can be reset without cocking the gun.
The firing cycle on this example isn't quite as pleasant as the one I returned... there is a touch of buzziness about it, but it's fairly mild. Certainly better than any stock Gamo I've tried, but oddly enough worse than some Quest variants I've shot. And better than the RWS34 that I had.
The trigger pull, however, is quite a bit different from the usual fare. Although it does have some 2nd stage creep, I do suspect that this can be adjusted out. It does have moderate pull to it, but I think that the balance between weight and travel are just about ideal. This is no hair trigger, it takes a wee bit too much effort in the 2nd stage to pop it off accidentally, but not enough to upset your hold. Reminds me very much of the trigger on my RWS48, so much so that I wondered if Cometa cloned the TO5 trigger. I popped both actions out of their stocks, and no. Cometa uses their own mechanism.
The sights are solid enough, and the rear sight has solid detents and no horizontal looseness (thankfully). I found adequate elevation adjustment for everything from 10 to 60 yards without hitting the limits of travel. As mentioned earlier the front sight does have a replaceable insert, and frankly I found the one it came with to be a little too narrow.. Neither sight has a fiberoptic insert, which is a good thing under some circumstances and not so good under others. This certainly rates as one of the better airgun sights I've seen, but still not quite up to the Mendoza 2003 or even the fiberoptic sights on the B26 (which works better under more diverse lighting conditions.).
It can be said that no gun is better than its accuracy, so how does the accuracy on this thing fare compared to, well, anything else?
Here's were I usually announce my "bad eyes-unsteady hands" caveat to all accuracy comments to follow - so consider it announced! In any event, the gun is obviously not as easy to shoot well as a CFX or a model 48 (but easier than a 34). My initial groups were a bit disappointing, to the tune of 1/2" at 10 yards with open sights with CPL's. Since I was having some trouble with the sights, I decided to slap a scope on it and see what happens.
Well, the CPL's didn't really do much better.... but another pellet that I also tested with the scope did a more respectable job - .3" over five shots. As I've said before, that's (sadly) about the best I can do, and I was glad to see the rifle do that well. And the pellet it liked the best? RWS "Diablo Basic", which used to be known as the Geco, and which can still be had for $3.00 or less per tin of 500.
Talk about your cheap dates...
I doubt that the Geco would prove to be a good 50-yard plinker or hunter... lightweight wadcutters launched at transonic velocites generally don't. Regardless, this demonstrates that the rifle is quite capable of shooting well enough... and I don't have a lot of different pellets to try out at the moment. And I do suspect that the Premiers will perform better once I get more used to the gun - heavier pellets do spend more time in the barrel, giving the shooter more time to mess up the shot! And one thing I can guarrantee is that if I get a chance to screw up a shot, I will certainly do so!
So, in summary, the '94 is another pleasant surprise from RWS (Umarex). In absolute terms it's probably not a better shooter than the typical Gamo breakbarrel (which is pretty darned good). It might even be a little more difficult to shoot well. But the added power, smoother firing cycle, and very nice trigger are appreciated bonuses, and shows that it definitely occupies a niche that's a notch or two higher. The slightly harder cocking, the added heft, and extra length makes is feel a little less svelte than the various Gamo models, but it does not come off as overbearing by any stretch. A very nice rifle indeed, and the SHIPPED price of $120 (for the refurb variant) makes it one of the best breakbarrel deals out there, rivaled (in my opinion) only by the $120 Gamo 440 that is still available - for the moment - at Natchez.
Frankly, I'm glad I bought one of each...