Thanks for the info Guys. I think I may give the thumbhole stock version a try... it seems like so much of the stuff made in China is copied off established manufacturers. Is there a list anywhere of what models the chinese guns are copied off? I have a list printed out from years ago but it is way out of date now.
Not totally updated, but probably the best.
http://chineseairgunportal.brutuz.com/clonelist.htm
With nuts and strawberry sauce and not forgetting the flake
In all fairness if the 99 is about the same price (even if secondhand) then even I can see it's a no brainer, I spent another £150 making my 208TH shoot better (fair enough I did put a T06 trigger kit in it but had to as the piston rod was knackered), so if you want a better shooting rifle (not that I've ever shot one) with less work then the 99 will be hard to beat (according to Tony)
Pete
Far too many rifles to list now, all mainly British but the odd pesky foreigner has snuck in