Guys, just a little more info....
Remember that the factory was closed for almost a month for their summer holidays. I ordered a bunch for South Africa just when the factory re-opened 2 weeks ago, and there's a 4-5 week lead time, plus shipping time, so it's not available "daily"
We had a "champion of champions" shoot this past weekend - a LOT of fun. 20 shots benchrest, 10 shots grouping over bench at 50 meters, 10 shots grouping sitting FT style also at 50 meters, 20 silhouette targets at various distances and 20 targets FT.
After the shoot, I gave the AR20FT to a number of guys wanting to try it out. All were shooting at 50 meters in a mild breeze.
3 guys managed to shoot 5-shot groups of under 12mm at 50 meters (side-side) or 7.5mm centre to centre.
I also gave it to 2 of our National team members to try out. Hennie (he had 3rd higest score at the FT Worlds held here in 2009, and ended 5th after a shootout with Mark Basset and Dave Combrink also from SA) was very pleased with the AR20's incredible accuracy.
Lukas Richter (the other member of our National team) also shot an incredible 12mm group. I had a 14 year old girl shoot a ONE HOLE 5-shot group in the FT sitting position with the rifle at 38 meters. That was something special to see.
Anyway, as I have stated on here before - it should be noted that although this rifle is incredibly accurate, it IS being marketed by Umarex as an ENTRY to MID level rifle, and is not supposed to compete (sales wise) or fiinsh quality wise with a Walther Alutec Dominator, Steyr LG110, or Anschutz. Those more expensive rifles with better finish and looks, will always have a place in the market.
What this AR20FT does well, is give many people an entry into FT with a REGULATED FT rifle, unlike an S200 or S400.
Yes, the trigger blade is not that great, and fortunately can very easily be changed to whatever floats your boat. I didn't even like the trigger blades on my Dommi, my Steyr LG110 or my Anschutz, and replaced all of them with TEC-HRO trigger blades, so "pick your poison".
Also, yes it doesn't have a DOMMI regulator, but the Walther LG1250 reg supplied, is very very consistent, and on the demo rifle I have here, gives only a 4fps spread over 20 shots. That is quite awesome in my books. It comes with a fairly heavy 750 gram medium size 300 bar Walther STEEL cylinder, which is good for 150 shots. I had to buy an aluminium short cylinder for my Dommi, as I hated the 950 gram MAXI STEEL cylinder on my Dommi too.
I put the Aluminium cylinder of my Dommi on the AR20FT, and MAN, what a difference it makes to overall balance. Alu cylinder is only 400 grams. BUT, it costs almost EUR200 extra - for that extra price, not really worth it. The AR20FT cannot yet be ordered with ALU cylinder in place of steel YET - but hopefully in the future, you'd be able to order with ALU cylinder instead of steel, and pay in just the difference in price.
Cocking lever is NOT great at first - it's very stiff indeed. My demo's is still very stiff and relatively hard to cock, BUT the one I handled at the IWA show in Germany in March, had been softened up a lot, and was actually very easy to cock "one-handed", so I suspect with some time, it will become a lot easier to cock.
Yes, rail is a cheap one, but costs nothing really, and a lot of guys will shoot without the rail, as many shoot the LG110 without the Steyr rail. And, the supplied rail is not that bad at all.
Lastly, laying out only GBP600 (for you guys in any case) is NOT expensive for getting a rifle as accurate as this. It will certainly make AA and some other manufacturers take note - a full Ft-ready, regulated 300bar, fully adjustable trigger and fully adjustable stock for not much more than an S400....
Good luck to all of you that bought them. For those that are still wondering - just buy it. It's THAT GREAT for the price you're paying!!!
Cheers
Robbie