I got frustrated yesterday while bench-rest shooting a gorgeous .22 British PCP rifle at 50 yards that just won't average less than 3/4" five-shot groups, so decided to shoot some groups with Ol' Reliable- my .22 Sumatra rifle (380CC model). What a joy to see each SIX-shot group make a cluster with all shots touching; the worst group in light winds (.68" c-t-c) tighter than the best FIVE-shot group the British Prima Donna could muster.
I got in six groups before losing shooting light; and as is my habit, couldn't resist measuring each group and calculating the average group size. The average SIX-shot group was .54" c-t-c; the worst measured .68" and the best just .31".
This accuracy comes with 18.1 JSBs at 988 FPS, making the Sumatra an extremely flat-shooting laser-gun! No wonder the laser-rifle holds the club record for our monthly Benchrest Silhouette matches (33/40), where we shoot 1/10 scale silhouettes form 60 to 100 yards. Here are four consecutive SIX-shot groups shot at my 97 yard plate.
On entering that accuracy-testing information in my shooting record (ongoing since the mid 1980s), I was slightly surprised to see that was the SECOND best average I've gotten with the Sumatra rifle. The best average so far has been .51", and the worst has been .68" (in gusty winds). Suffice to say this .22 Sumatra rifle is what I grab when I need a little "group therapy", and my light-equipped .22 Sumatra CARBINE is my go-to small-game/pest rifle for things that go bump in the night. The carbine averages 3/4" six-shot groups at 50 yards, and works very well for offhand shooting.
With a flood of more "exotic" PCPs being constantly being introduced, it's easy to overlook the Korean-made Sumatras that ALWAYS shoot like a house a'fire. Just sayin'...
Agreed. A career carbine in .22 with some trigger work, a big scope, and the most effective LDC I've seen made by I don't know who that I sold over 15 years ago is still the sale I regret most.
I've been shooting my 25 and 22 cal Sumatras tethered and it will stand up to any of my guns in accuracy. Sumatras have been some of my favorite guns for a while.
Sumatra power would have been pretty much of a "waste" without the EunJin pellets (22.5grains), so I collected what may turn out to be a lifetime supply of them (considering previous use, there's enough to keep me going for a few more years). So far as I know, there has not been anything heavier in 5mm.
First thoughts were that nothing this complicates is going to be reliable. I was wrong, it's been a pretty trouble free PCP for all the years I've owned it (can name several "simpler" PCP's that haven't been trouble free).
Often think about the Sumatra when I hear how airguns just have to have free floating barrels (is there any with LESS of a free floated barrel?) and how barrel bands are horrifle things (isn't that front part that links the airtube and barrel about the largest barrel band of them all?) and how 5mm's is the orphan-caliber (really...we aren't allowed to like orphans?).
Anyway, wound up to max, it's an honest 80 yard hunting rifle....no more than 2" high or 2" low from zero to 80yards. Really simplfies pest bird or squirrel shooting.
For that matter, haven't collected an EunJin 5mm pellet from inside a critter yet...even 20 pound nutria. Are pretty long pellets (as long as the .22's and longer than the .25 EunJins) with a good bit of weight, so they tend to shoot though things.
Airgunning (at least PCP's) seems to have little sense of history.
Give Sumatra/EunJin it's due. Were (and are) quite powerul airguns, and becasue of them, the first really heavy weight pellets for each caliber were introduced. Years later, we're catching up with heavy weight .177'sa, 22's, and 25's...but the Koreans recognized that need years ago.
I got frustrated yesterday while bench-rest shooting a gorgeous .22 British PCP rifle at 50 yards that just won't average less than 3/4" five-shot groups, so decided to shoot some groups with Ol' Reliable- my .22 Sumatra rifle (380CC model). What a joy to see each SIX-shot group make a cluster with all shots touching; the worst group in light winds (.68" c-t-c) tighter than the best FIVE-shot group the British Prima Donna could muster.
I got in six groups before losing shooting light; and as is my habit, couldn't resist measuring each group and calculating the average group size. The average SIX-shot group was .54" c-t-c; the worst measured .68" and the best just .31".
This accuracy comes with 18.1 JSBs at 988 FPS, making the Sumatra an extremely flat-shooting laser-gun! No wonder the laser-rifle holds the club record for our monthly Benchrest Silhouette matches (33/40), where we shoot 1/10 scale silhouettes form 60 to 100 yards. Here are four consecutive SIX-shot groups shot at my 97 yard plate.
On entering that accuracy-testing information in my shooting record (ongoing since the mid 1980s), I was slightly surprised to see that was the SECOND best average I've gotten with the Sumatra rifle. The best average so far has been .51", and the worst has been .68" (in gusty winds). Suffice to say this .22 Sumatra rifle is what I grab when I need a little "group therapy", and my light-equipped .22 Sumatra CARBINE is my go-to small-game/pest rifle for things that go bump in the night. The carbine averages 3/4" six-shot groups at 50 yards, and works very well for offhand shooting.
With a flood of more "exotic" PCPs being constantly being introduced, it's easy to overlook the Korean-made Sumatras that ALWAYS shoot like a house a'fire. Just sayin'...
That is great shooting. So I guess that is at full power. How much slower is the pellet if you put it on low power. If I remember they have a power wheel
With every Sumatra and Career I've owned I've either shortened the hammer springs a lot or replaced the factory springs with muck lighter springs. Installed a much lighter spring in this Sumatra rifle, and the current power is with the power wheel adjusted all the way to max, so I can back the power off from there with the wheel (but don't). As it came to me used (with factory spring), it was shooting 28.5 grain Gun Jins as fast as it now shoots 18.1 JSBs; so you can see the current power is WAY reduced.
Always liked the Sumatra's and Careers too. I had a couple . 22 carbines a .25 carbine and a .22 rifle. Also had a couple .22 Career carbines. All of them were as accurate as any gun out there but i always sold them for one reason or another. I just rebuilt a nice Career carbine for a local guy and it kinda gave me the fever to get another one for myself.
+1 on the Sumatra. Even before Will Piatt tuned it, I liked my .22 the best of all the PCPs I've had (many!). After Will's work, the thing now is absolutely dead on. The only characteristic that might be a problem for some is that it is louder than the other .22 PCPs I know.
Not sure I agree with the "build quality" part of your post, E. While I readily admit the Korean guns "don't hold a candle to British and German" AESTHETIC quality, in thinking about it I've personally experienced some 'issues' with Brit and German guns that shouldn't have been. For instance, virtually every German "magnum" springer I've owned has suffered main-spring fatigue or breakage within the first 2000 rounds; that including at least a half-dozen purchased brand-new. I consider that a "build quality"... "problem".
And I've had some very expensive British piston rifles with sadly lacking trigger-actions. Especially considering the price of those guns.
That said, I also readily admit many (most?) Korean PCPs sorely NEED "tuning" to realize their incredible potentials. That relates to their apparently voluntary place as some of the most powerful mass-produced airguns on the market, since that issue could easily be corrected if they simply used lighter hammer-springs on the production line (probably with smaller transfer ports too). I consider the Korean PCPs similar to some airguns coming out of China lately; fantastic potentials, but not usually without some (and sometimes MUCH) tinkering/tuning!
Anyway, some matters boil down to individual priorities and preferences; how much emphasis is placed on form vs function. As pertains form, the Euro guns have it all over Korean airguns. But as pertains function, if One's priorities include long-range performance and accuracy, several Korean PCPs are unbeatable. This is not speculation; rather, based on SERIOUS accuracy testing at 50 and 100 yards of literally hundreds of airguns over the last 3-1/2 decades.
