Marvin,
I had a .20 R-1 that I had converted to gas strut operation. This R-1 already had some very extensive tune work done to it. After the conversion, the firing cycle felt quicker and a tad more refined. It wasn't quite as hold sensitive as it was previously. Velocity went up, but not enough to get excited about. In return for that, I got a lighter wallet along with increased cocking effort, snappier recoil, and unreliable cold weather performance.
Were it not for that last bit, I would have thought the conversion to be well worth it. Down to 32 degrees there wasn't any issue. But on really cold mornings, with the temperature below 20 degrees, it proved tempermental with the seals in the strut cartridge failing to do their job.
Most airgun people don't shoot in the extreme cold that I often do, and if that is true for you, then I think you'll find a strut conversion to be well worth the price if you can live with increased cocking effort. This is especially true if you're doing the conversion on an essentially box-stock rifle. You'll notice a huge difference in manners. In my case, the before and after differences were more subtle because the rifle that "got rammed" already had some pretty high falutin' stuff done to it.
I know that if I didn't hunt in some really cold places in the dead of winter, I'd have kept my .20 Crusader and wouldn't have much of a need for my pair of R-9s. In my view, the benefits of gas struts are as claimed by Theoben and folks that use them.
A gas strut conversion doesn't make a rifle more accurate, in my view, but it DOES make it less obnoxious and tempermental and therefore easier to shoot accurately. Both my strutted R-1 and my Crusader were very forgiving in terms of hold and would allow a bit of sloppy shooting technique and still deliver the goods. The Cursader would turn in 5 shot 1/2 groups at 50 yards with CPs all day long, assuming relatively calm air and little to no wind. Pretty darn good for a barrel cocker, I'd say, and I reckon the gas strut operation has something to do with it. Again, I don't think it makes the rifle more accurate than it would be with a well-sorted metallic mainspring system but it did make it easier to shoot accurately than the typical metallic spring rifle usually is.
And that right there is why I think they're worth it and why I hope that the technology advances to the point where I can get a strutted gun to RELIABLY and CONSISTANTLY discharge in subfreezing temps.
JP
http://www.uplandhunter.net
