They kick funny. I too have an RWS model and also owned a Beeman rifle and pistol. The Beeman rifle and pistol are long gone but the RWS is still one FINE gun that I have fired thousands upon thousands of rounds through. The model I have was imported by RWS as the "Diana" model 36 carbine in .177 cal. It is now over 20 years old and was hundreds of dollars when I bought it. It shoots well into the supersonic range. You had to use special silicone based lubricants or it would diesel fire the round - you would both hear it and smell it. I was hard on the mechanics so if you accidentally used the wrong oil it took some cleaning out to get it back to normal. 20 years ago about the only place to get good ammo for it was mail order. Even so It was still real cheap to shoot.
Never had a scope on it but it has very fine sights. According to the manufacturer normal rifle scopes would not handle the vibrating kick so you were urged to only use air rifle scopes that were specially designed to handle the vibration. And i would never sweat the accuracy issues of the break-over barrel as it was built with such precision that after 20 years it locks up without a thousandth of play in any direction. The forward sight plane (all sights on the barrel) made it really easy for me to shoot. And now that I'm in my 50s my eyesight really likes it when all of the sight elements are at arms length.
Now back to that kick thing. The forward motion and inertia of the piston and subsequent deceleration of the piston as it squeezed out the airmass made for a very strong vibrating kick which was nothing like the clean backwards acceleration of a normal rifle. In fact, this thing out-kicks a .22 rifle. I never had much luck off of the bench but offhand I was a crack shot with this thing. No matter how I bean-bagged it it just did not like the bench.
You might not like the kick at first but quickly learn to appreciate what the mechanics are up to and learn how to really maintain a very consistent but light grip and form when shooting it. As soon as you get your head around the consistency thing it starts to group really well. Offhand I use to love tossing a golf ball out about 25 yards and shooting it until it was too far away to get that last lucky hit in.
Keep in mind that after 20 years thy may have resolved some of these issues with newer lightweight piston materials etc. Even 20 years ago they were toying with two opposing pistons as well as counterweights etc. Back then it was understood that it would take some practice to get the accuracy you would see out of a pump type or CO2 powered rifle but if you put in the practice it could be done.
Anyways, I still love this thing and consider it one of my favorite guns. Worth every dollar I paid for it then some. Hope you enjoy your choice as much as I have mine!
