Ruger Impact Max

I purchased a Ruger Impact Max about a month ago, I had read some of the negative reviews but the price was right so I jumped on it, it has been way better than I expected, I've shot a half dozen different brands and designs of pellets out of it and it's not pellet fussy provided I use pellets in the same weight range, I don't think the rifle is broken in yet (only about 125 shots through it), but it's holding about 1-1/2" groups at 25 yds. and I'm not getting any flyers that I can't call.

The only complaint I have is (like most Impact owners) is the horrible trigger, I've searched the forums and U-tube but can't find a tutorial that's simple enough to follow to change the offending spring, a few suggestions and a couple of pretty much non descript pictures is the best I can find, can anyone here point me in the right direction, it would be greatly appreciated. 

Homer, I would be happy to help you tune up your Impact Max. I got extra springs and can send you one but I don't know how to get your information without it being posted to all.

If you know a way to share personal info. Let me know in this forum. Also, it can easily be done without removing the entire trigger assembly which will save you additional work.

Homer, I would be happy to help you tune up your Impact Max. I got extra springs and can send you one but I don't know how to get your information without it being posted to all.

If you know a way to share personal info. Let me know in this forum. Also, it can easily be done without removing the entire trigger assembly which will save you additional work.

I'd be happy with any help that you can give me, not having to tear the whole trigger apart would be even better, perhaps I could give you my e-mail address an we can discuss it via e-mail.

Thanks again,

HM

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I would like to see detail pics on the rugers trigger group tear down, or even a video. My online search's have come up empty

I would also love to see details on the trigger tear down without removing the full assembly. And would be willing to buy a spring if someone has an extra to sell. 

My Ruger Impact Max update, Thanks again to flexible flyer for his careful instruction and the care package he sent me that contained the right spring I needed to replace to tame the lawyer trigger on this otherwise great shooting highly affordable air rifle.

The rifle was shooting good out of the box, I shot it with the absolute horrible factory trigger for a couple of months before Larry helped me get it straightened out, I was pretty satisfied with the 1-1/4" ~ 1-1/2" groups that it was giving me at 35 yds. on my backyard range, I only got to shoot it for a couple of days before the winter weather turned really bad, well, it's the end of the first week of March, we'll be changing the clocks back to longer daylight time next week and the temps are climbing out of the teens and into the high 50's ~ low 60's, I can't wait to get my shooting bench set up again and get to sending lead down range.

I guess I've been very fortunate with my air gun purchases over the last year, all have performed great, they've been accurate, smooth shooing, and outside of needing a little trigger taming have been trouble free, and that certainly includes my Ruger Impact Max.

You guys with these tack driving Chinese springers need to come out to some field target matches and show us how its done. Apparantly we have just been wasting our money on these high end German and English guns. The Ruger Impact I tried wasn't even soda can accurate at 20 yards with any pellet I tried, I did a basic tune on it with no improvement and threw it in the garbage.

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Agree.... .5 inch at 50 yards my arse

I've been involved in the shooting sports ever since I got my first Hoppalong Cassidy Cap pistol long about my fourth birthday, now after over seventy years and allot of recreational, competitive, and work related shooting I can say that I have met and shot with some mighty fine people, but I've also come across more than a few arse wholes as well.

I'm sure most of you have as well, you know the type, the know it all's, the gear snobs, the haters and the braggards, or the Pre-Madonna's, those that think just because they shoot good scores and compete in elite matches with fancy European air rifles that cost more than your first used car that they have the right to criticize others scores, manner of shooting, or the make, model, and origin of your particular rifle, personally what ever they choose to purchase and shoot or what type of shooting they enjoy is none of my business, however I do wish them well, but in the same respect, what ever my choices are and why are entirely my own business and not open to criticism delivered by some self centered narcissistic know it all with a complete disregard for the feelings of others, I'm sure that those of you here who are the type will recognize yourselves, we do have a few on this forum.

Now, back to the discussion, I have expensive air rifles and some (being kind) not so expensive air guns, one of my least expensive air rifles is my Ruger Impact Max, it's a later version, first lets look at the Cons that aren't so great about the Ruger Impact, 1, it's got a really really really bad trigger, but for a dollar bill and 30 minutes of easy work it can be made into very fine 1-1/2~ 2.0 pound crisp trigger, 2, the bundled scope that comes with the rifle is junk, but we all know that bundled scopes on inexpensive air rifles are mostly junk anyway, no harm/no foul, and that's about it folks.

Now for the Pros that the Ruger Impact Max offers, 1, it's got a gorgeous wood stock, a solid steel barrel, all the metal is nicely finished and the fit of wood to metal is excellent, 2, it's a gas piston rifle, it is not a spring powered action, when it's cocked it compresses gas unlike a springer that compresses a large coil main spring, the cocking action is smooth and the lock up is perfect, the report is reasonably quiet for it's power levels, it shoots mid weight pellets at about 800 FPS giving it a FPE rating at about 21 ft. pounds, and from my experience with mine and from other owners that I have talked to after the break in period and a smoothed out trigger, with a good scope and the right pellets and a decent rest one can expect 1/2" groups or better at 20 yds. and 3/4"~ 1.0" groups or better at 35 yds., I'd say that was minute of squirrel accurate.

So, if your needs run toward one hole groups at 50 yds. a butter smooth trigger out of the box, and a high end logo stamped on the receiver the Ruger Impact Max is not for you, however if you are a backyard plinker or a small game hunter who appreciates good looks, reasonable accuracy, and decent quality, all at a very affordable price give the Ruger Impact Max a serious look, you could do allot worse and for a higher cost. 

I'm sorry if I hurt some feelings and also for the long post, but sometimes people need to hear the way it really is, I just felt this was one of those times

Thank you Homer, you expressed perfectly what I was thinking. You would think these individuals would welcome anyone into the sport regardless of the price tag on their airgun or country of origin but that appears not to be the case. Very discouraging to young shooters (or any shooter) that can't afford the fancy designer airguns. The thought of being sneered at and mocked would discourage me. Then again, maybe that is their intention...

Airgun2021, Are you still in need of info.to tune the trigger on the Impact Max?

Another update on my ,22 cal. Ruger Impact Max, Well, I've got a couple of hundred shots through it and cleaned the crud out of the bore again (first time when I got it and before first firing it), it must be pretty well broken in because my groups have tightened up considerably, I had been getting 1-1/2 ~ 2.0" groups with it out at 35 yds., but after shooting it over the last couple of days (I had the range set up at 20 yds.) it was giving me consistent quarter size groups with zero flyers using 14.3 gr. H&N Target Trophy pellets, later in the week or the beginning of next week I'll be moving the range back to 35 yds. and hope to keep the groups under an inch.

This inexpensive little rifle has really surprised and pleased me with it's great looks and performance, for the money it's hitting way above it's price point.

Just bought a Ruger Impact Max Elite on impulse today. Was wandering through Wally World while Wife did her thing and saw a couple sitting in a case behind the sporting goods counter. I have been researching air rifles for a few weeks and watched a couple of videos on YouTube with the Ruger Impact. So I was there and I figured for the price, what the heck. I grabbed the rifle and a couple tins of pellets.

This is my first foray into the world of air rifles looking forward to some plinking and maybe some squirrels in the freezer next season. I’m taking it out to pop some cans tomorrow.

Good choice WillieB. You will find the included scope and trigger will need some improvements. Don't let the rough trigger discourage you. To make it smooth a very inexpensive modification will tune up the trigger which involves replacing one of the springs. I found the RWS Superdome 14.3gr. pellets work quite well in my gun. I replaced the scope with a Tasco 3X9 AR.. With that combination I can easily hit a squirrel at 70'. 

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You guys with these tack driving Chinese springers need to come out to some field target matches and show us how its done. Apparantly we have just been wasting our money on these high end German and English guns. The Ruger Impact I tried wasn't even soda can accurate at 20 yards with any pellet I tried, I did a basic tune on it with no improvement and threw it in the garbage.

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Agree.... .5 inch at 50 yards my arse

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If you stop and think for a moment, I'm sure you would figure out he made a mistake. I can clearly see he meant 50 feet. 1/2" at 17 yards is doable and not bad for an air rifle at this price point. 

And I'll say it again to those that are spreading misinformation...... the Impact max is not a springer. It is a gas piston.

Good choice WillieB. You will find the included scope and trigger will need some improvements. Don't let the rough trigger discourage you. To make it smooth a very inexpensive modification will tune up the trigger which involves replacing one of the springs. I found the RWS Superdome 14.3gr. pellets work quite well in my gun. I replaced the scope with a Tasco 3X9 AR.. With that combination I can easily hit a squirrel at 70'.

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I don’t plan on using the scope as I’m a fan of iron sights. I shot it a few times today at some old diet cola cans and the trigger didn’t bother me too much but it could be better. I will definitely look into spring mods. The iron sights definitely need set. Gonna take it to the range soon and shoot at regulation targets to see just where this thing is hitting. However, the GOOD news.... when it does hit what I’m aiming at, it definitely hits hard. Full soda cans are probably the best reactionary target ever. I don’t think this thing will have any issues with small varmits once I get it sighted in proper. 

Good choice WillieB. You will find the included scope and trigger will need some improvements. Don't let the rough trigger discourage you. To make it smooth a very inexpensive modification will tune up the trigger which involves replacing one of the springs. I found the RWS Superdome 14.3gr. pellets work quite well in my gun. I replaced the scope with a Tasco 3X9 AR.. With that combination I can easily hit a squirrel at 70'.

Click to expand...

I don’t plan on using the scope as I’m a fan of iron sights. I shot it a few times today at some old diet cola cans and the trigger didn’t bother me too much but it could be better. I will definitely look into spring mods. The iron sights definitely need set. Gonna take it to the range soon and shoot at regulation targets to see just where this thing is hitting. However, the GOOD news.... when it does hit what I’m aiming at, it definitely hits hard. Full soda cans are probably the best reactionary target ever. I don’t think this thing will have any issues with small varmits once I get it sighted in proper.

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Don't let the elitist bother you, I think they actually feel dirty every time someone mentions an air gun that wasn't made in Germany or the UK, or that didn't cost seven hundred bucks, their favorite saying is "bla, bla, bla, and I threw it in the trash".

I have a few cheap (aka affordable) air rifles, and they all share a common failing, the bundled scopes are junk, and the lawyer triggers are horrible, but, you can either put a good scope on it or shoot it with the open factory adjustable sights.

So far two of my more expensive air rifles came through with excellent triggers, but my Ruger Impact Max and Crossman Vantage both came with terrible triggers, one of our great members here took pity on me and instructed me on how to turn a sow's ear into a silky smooth trigger without being a heart stopping project, today it's shooting with a two pound trigger, and giving me 3/4" groups at 35 yds. 

My Crossman Vantage was also a pain in the finger, that one also was easily fixed by removing a small pin, a wire spring, and the trigger adjustment screw and adding a 1/8"x 5/32" plastic washer in the trigger, brought it down from seven pounds to 1.5 pounds, and closed up my groups considerably, cost, 30 minutes of my time and a piece of the barrel of a junk ball point pen.

So, all you need to do is change the sear spring in your Impact Max and it'll be shooting with the big dogs, and probably be looking better than many of them while doing it. 

Congrats, and welcome to air gunning.  

Good choice WillieB. You will find the included scope and trigger will need some improvements. Don't let the rough trigger discourage you. To make it smooth a very inexpensive modification will tune up the trigger which involves replacing one of the springs. I found the RWS Superdome 14.3gr. pellets work quite well in my gun. I replaced the scope with a Tasco 3X9 AR.. With that combination I can easily hit a squirrel at 70'.

Click to expand...

I don’t plan on using the scope as I’m a fan of iron sights. I shot it a few times today at some old diet cola cans and the trigger didn’t bother me too much but it could be better. I will definitely look into spring mods. The iron sights definitely need set. Gonna take it to the range soon and shoot at regulation targets to see just where this thing is hitting. However, the GOOD news.... when it does hit what I’m aiming at, it definitely hits hard. Full soda cans are probably the best reactionary target ever. I don’t think this thing will have any issues with small varmits once I get it sighted in proper.

Click to expand...

Don't let the elitist bother you, I think they actually feel dirty every time someone mentions an air gun that wasn't made in Germany or the UK, or that didn't cost seven hundred bucks, their favorite saying is "bla, bla, bla, and I threw it in the trash".

I have a few cheap (aka affordable) air rifles, and they all share a common failing, the bundled scopes are junk, and the lawyer triggers are horrible, but, you can either put a good scope on it or shoot it with the open factory adjustable sights.

So far two of my more expensive air rifles came through with excellent triggers, but my Ruger Impact Max and Crossman Vantage both came with terrible triggers, one of our great members here took pity on me and instructed me on how to turn a sow's ear into a silky smooth trigger without being a heart stopping project, today it's shooting with a two pound trigger, and giving me 3/4" groups at 35 yds. 

My Crossman Vantage was also a pain in the finger, that one also was easily fixed by removing a small pin, a wire spring, and the trigger adjustment screw and adding a 1/8"x 5/32" plastic washer in the trigger, brought it down from seven pounds to 1.5 pounds, and closed up my groups considerably, cost, 30 minutes of my time and a piece of the barrel of a junk ball point pen.

So, all you need to do is change the sear spring in your Impact Max and it'll be shooting with the big dogs, and probably be looking better than many of them while doing it. 

Congrats, and welcome to air gunning.

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I plan on doing the seer spring sometime in the near future. I've just got to find time to do it. I will likely be doing a lot more air gunning in the future if regular ammo doesn't start coming back down to normal prices soon. I'm just starting to become a halfway decent gunsmith on regular firearms. Now it looks like I'll have to start figuring out airguns as well.

 WillieB, Air guns can be pretty intimidating to work on if you haven't had any experience working on them, but in real life they aren't any more difficult than conventional firearms UNLESS it's on a break barrel or lever type air gun and you need to take the power plant apart, if you aren't that adventurous (like me) I'd leave that to the experts, but most of the time you can find u-tube videos or get a forum members help for doing minor repairs and mods. 

The Impact Max has been a good air rifle for me, it is accurate (in spite of what the haters say) and shoots smooth once you get the trigger pull weight down, and it hits hard down range, I'm sure you'll grow to like the more you shoot it.

I think I must be channeling WillieB... Just picked one up from WM (w/o pellets so far) I too, would like to change the trigger sear spring with as little disassembly as possible. All references and video links joyfully accepted! PS: where to find manuals and parts list