I have the RS2 dual caliber from Walmart (1073). You might as well throw away the rings that come with it and get yourself a Leapers one-piece mount (or something similar) or you'll just frustrate yourself. The scope in the combo isn't
bad, its just not what I'd call good - I guess you could say its decent enough for a combo scope but you'll end up wanting to replace it sooner or later as well. I put a Leapers 3-9X32 AO on there and I've been very pleased (over 1000 shots and the Leapers setup hasn't moved). Switching barrels does change POI, even removing and re-installing the same barrel will change POI. After about 500 pellets through each barrel it turned into a really accurate shooter. On mine, either barrel can put pellets into nickel sized groups at 25 yards if I do my part, but it is pretty hold sensitive. I had to train myself to shoot it well, its quite different from my powder burners, but once I got the feel for it I was surprised at how accurate it is.
Being my first springer, my initial impression was that the RS2 was a good gun right out of the box. It cocked relatively smoothly and fired with very little vibration or twang. I was pretty pleased until I chrony'd it and found that the velocity was low with CP-series pellets (850's in .177 and 670's in .22). From reading posts on GTA I knew it was capable of more and I determined to find out why it was weak. (You can search for RS1, RS2, SS1000, AR1000, Hammerli Titan, Force 1000, to find out more info - these are all the same basic powerplant) I built a spring compressor loosely based on the design found on
Charlie Da Tuna's site and then made a tool out of a dowel rod similar to what GTA member
dank shows
in this thread (scroll about 2/3 down the page for pictures). I then proceeded to tear the gun down using the
teardown guide from the Kermit Airgun Club website. The finish inside was pretty nice, only needed a little deburring and the seal was in good shape - no cuts or nicks and the edge was nice and smooth. Also, the fit in the compression chamber was nice and tight, not loose like is reported in many of guns of this family. The only issue I could find was that the whole inside of the receiver was coated with some kind of heavy gray grease. I degreased the whole thing inside and out with goo-gone, took some 2000 grit wet/dry sandpaper and polished the spring ends, tophat, and thrust washer on the spring guide. I coated the inside of the receiver, compression chamber, the rear of the piston seal and the area behind the seal, inside of the piston, the tophat, spring ends, and thrust washer, and the cocking slot with TS70 moly paste that I use on my powder burners. I used some Lucas 5th Wheel and Slider Lube on the spring and spring guide (in place of spring tar - since I can get the Lucas stuff locally and I'd have to order the tar) and put it back together. My first springer and my first home-tune! I'm really surprised at how much smoother and quieter the cocking stroke is, and how smooth it fires now. You wouldn't think that a polish and lube job could make such a difference! I guess not having anything to compare it to, I didn't realize how much better it could be. My velocity with CPHPs is up to 940 fps now as well. Mission accomplished.
Another thing I did was to add a dash 011 o-ring behind the shoulder of each barrel. If you look into the barrel block you will see that there is a chamfer intended to guide the barrel into the block. The o-ring provides a little extra seal in this area and removes the reponsibility for sealing around the barrel from the breech seal (I'm not sure if its needed or not, but I can't think of any drawbacks).
To summarize my experience, its a nice gun right out of the box but it can be really great with a little (or a lot, depending on your luck) TLC. The Walmart special was my first springer and is responsible for my ongoing battle against airgun addiction.
