Tokyo Marui XM-177E2
Table of contents
1) ----------------------------- First impressions
2) ----------------------------- Look/Handling/Features
3) ----------------------------- Performance
4) ----------------------------- Durability
5) ----------------------------- Upgrades
6) ----------------------------- Conclusion
Side Note: Before I begin I would like to make a quick note: Throughout this review I will be using the abbreviation “XM” quite often so as to shorten its title, (XM-177E2) thus saving time and space. With that out of the way I will begin.
1)
First Impressions: The first time I saw this gun I was immediately determined to own one someday. After doing hours of extensive research, I dove in and bought one. This being my first Tokyo Marui I was very excited, and the nine days it took to get to my house felt like an eternity. But it did come, and when it did I was ecstatic.
The gun came with the following: magazine, manual, Tokyo Marui product catalog, cleaning and clearing rod, and grease for the charging handle.
Upon opening the box I was very pleased with the gun – it was a very nice looking piece and it was much heavier then I anticipated. Overall I was enthralled with the gun.
First impressions rating: 10/10
Pros:
● Good look
● Good Feel
● Good proportions
2)
Looks: Well, I would say the XM looks very cool. Though I am not able to post a picture of the "real steel" XM (due to copyright issues) I have compared the Tokyo Marui to the real version of this gun and found there to be little difference in looks. For a picture of a real XM-177 visit
http://www.world.guns.ru/assault/as50-e.htmThis gun does have trademarks but they usually get covered up. My trademarks came with little stickers over them. I can still see the trades anyway so I don't know why they bothered covering them up, but oh well that’s how my gun came. The plastic on the XM has a very appealing look, its nice and matte black and not too shiny. This is a very pleasing gun to look at.
Looks rating: 10/10
Pros:
● Good mach. up of the real XM
● Nice paint job
● Overall a good-looking gun
Cons:
● Trades usually come covered (Not TM’s fault)
● Orange tip kind of ruins the effect of this gun (Again, not TM’s fault)
Handling: This gun feels desirable for tall and short. The fore grip forms pretty nicely to your hand, and the flip down charging handle balances out the gun just as well if not better. This gun is actually heavy compared to other TM spring guns. As far as cocking the gun it is very easy to do with either front charging handle or rear bolt. Trigger pull is similar to that of the Ruger 10/22. The trigger snaps back like a 10/22 but the initial pull is much more soft. The trigger shouldn't bother you. It does not have a harsh pull like a 10/22, just a snappy one. The selector switch isn’t bad, not as crisp as I would like it to be but is still sturdy. The sights are decent and work good for shots without a mask on but with a mask on it can be difficult to aim.
Anyway this gun handles smoothly and maneuvers very easily. The only complaints I have about the handling is that the stock is a little slippery, the magazine release is a pain because it is too easy to accidentally press the button, the front sling swivel is made of plastic, and lastly the pistol grip has an interesting creak to it. Other then those minor cons this gun handles superbly.
There is probably no better time to bring this up so I will now tell how to operate the gun correctly. This gun is known for its funky magazine design so I will walk you through slowly
Step #1 Loading the gun:
I. Put the included funnel at the top of the magazine,
or open the top of the magazine manually by pushing
the button like I do.
II. Pull down the stick at the bottom of the magazine.
(now refered to the “plunger.”)
III. Load the magazine fully.
IV. Put the magazine into the gun.
V. Shoot the first 16 shots.
VI. When you are out after 15-17 shots, push the tiny little
button on the bottom of the magazine and you will have
15-17 more shots before the magazine is completely out of ammo.
I hope that was understood. Now I will show how to simply operate the gun.
Step #2 Operating (shooting) the gun:
I. After the Magazine is loaded into the gun you can shoot it
by either pulling back the front charging handle, or pulling
back the “bolt.” (The bolt is behind the carrying handle.)
This is not rocket science but I am doing this for the “noobs.”
Note: Do not attempt to: slam fire, (hold trigger and pump at the same time) double cock, or dry fire rigorously as this may cause damage to the piston, trigger etc.
Handling rating: 8/10
Pros:
● Comfortable to hold/maneuver
● Easy to cock
● Trigger pull isn’t bad
● Selector switch is good
● Pleasant to hold
● Decent sights
● Has some weight to it
Cons:
● Slippery stock
● Creaky handle
● Annoying mag release
● Plastic sling swivel
Features: To sum the features up:
● Adjustable front sights
● Front sling swivel
● Removable foregrip
● Fold down charging handle
● Carrying handle with weaver rail compatibility
● Ejection port for added realism
● Trademarks
● Fully functional selector switch
● Adjustable rear and front sights
● Two position stock
● Rear sling mount
● Fixed hop-up (set for .25 gram, .23 gram will work as well)
This gun has some nifty features. My favorite is definitely the fold down charging handle which gives you an rof of about 1-3 shots per second.
Features rating: 10/10
Comment: All features above are basically the pros. I don’t think there’s any cons except maybe that the hop-up is fixed, and the sling mount is plastic.
3)
Performance: When I bought this gun I wanted it mainly for performance and durability. Well, this gun definitely scores high on the performance rating. My initial test was shooting at a 3" pole at approximately 90ft away. After hitting the pole eight out of ten times, I determined it was very accurate. In later tests I was able to effectively score a 6-18 inch grouping at 130 feet away. This gun has an effective range of close to 130 ft. but you can get the bb to go about 150-180ft.
As far as FPS goes I do not know how much FPS it has -- there is no place to chronograph it where I live. But It is able to go through one side of a coke can in two shots every time and one shot sometimes. And I have given people some nasty welt’s hehe. I’d say the FPS could be anywhere from 220-260. Two-hundred and fifty would be my guess.
As mentioned before, the ROF of this gun is a major factor on the performance ratings. It is probably the fastest firing spring gun on the market giving you 1-3 shots per second.
In a skirmish this weapon can take on any spring gun and put fear in the hearts of its opponent. I have even taken on AEG’s and beat them with this thing. But it all depends on the player. Bottom line, this is an all star performer when it comes to performance.
Note: Testings were all performed with cybergun, tokyo marui, and matrix 0.25 gram bb’s.
Performance ratings: 10/10
Pros:
● Good range
● Good power
● Good accuracy
● Good ROF
Cons:
● The sights can be a little hard to use with some masks
4)
Durability: The durability of this gun was flawless for the two years I had this thing. Unfortunately my friend and I have come to conclude there is a major flaw in the internals that just makes me cringe every time I think about the gun. Please read on and don’t just simply say to people, “the XM is crap! It is not durable, blah blah blah.” Educate yourself, and come to an honest conclusion before you go flaming this gun.
So for two years I owned this gun, two years of flawless reliability. There was not a thing I could think of that was really unreliable on this gun. Then one day I was out in the field skirmishing with it, and everything was performing perfect as usual. Then it happened. I shot it and it dry fired. So I go “no big deal, must be out of ammo.” So I look in the mag and I’m completely full. Now I’m thinking “its probably my first jam.” Well I run the rod (included with the gun) down the barrel and there is three bb’s in there. After I get the bb’s cleared out I pop the magazine in and shoot... it dry fires again. At this point I have two hypotheses’ 1. My gun is broken. 2. My piston mechanism is sticking and not sliding back fully. (A known problem with TM xm’s.) The best way to fix problem #2 is to oil the heck out of the piston through the ejection port. So I oil the heck out of it (with 100% silicone oil) and then put the magazine back in, cock it, shoot it, and still the gun is dry firing and is also making a notable sound that sounds like the guts are gonna blow up. And just to check to make sure I wasn’t having a misfeed problem, I manually put the bb in the chamber, cocked it, and was still getting the same result. So I had ruled out hypothesis #2 now the only hypothesis left was #1 “my gun was broken.”
Feeling rather shocked I put the gun down and let it sit for two weeks. Then one day coming back to it out of curiosity I had the idea of taking the gun apart. So I started taking it apart, and the detailed description of the dissection process will be in the “XM guts” section. Anyway, once I got the thing apart I discovered very quickly what had happened. The piston head was completely separated from the rest of the piston. So my friend and I epoxied the head back on and to this day it is still down in my basement just waiting to be puzzled with on “how in the world am I going to get this gun back together.”
But this was not the last of the exploding pistons! About two months later my friend and I went to a skirmish and after a round he came back saying “my XM is misfiring.” Immediately I got that same gut wrench feeling as when my XM busted. And sure enough, after a few minutes of tinkering and examination I determined his gun had suffered the same fate as mine.
So if you haven’t gotten the idea yet I’ll spell it out for you – THE TM XM177 PISTON HAS A MAJOR DESIGN FLAW. THE PISTON HEAD CAN AND WILL FALL OFF.
With that said I am moving on with the rest of the guns durability. There’s really not much to say as far as the rest of the gun goes. The charging handle is sturdy, the selector switch has never failed me, and I don’t think there are any problems with its durability other then what was sated above.
Durability rating: 6/10
Pros:
● Good external quality
● Held up for two years
Cons:
● All plastic internals
● Junky piston head (design flaw)
5)
Upgrades: This gun can be slightly upgraded externally but I wouldn’t mess with the internals.
What I did to upgrade it was simply get a rail and red dot for it to improve its accuracy during skirmishes. I also got an extra magazine for it because ammo runs out in a heart beat if you are using this for assault. Other upgrades that I did not do for this thing are getting a, bi-pod, sling, and making a mock silencer.
Again I wouldn’t put any internal upgrades in it because the piston might blow up even quicker. Of course if you want to spend the time and money trying to figure out how to get a reinforced piston, and spring guide and a more powerful spring in the gun, be my guest! As far as I know there has been no one who has upgraded this gun successfully.
Note: The red dot I put on the gun is a BSA 30mm, (the BSA I found at Gander mountain) the rail is a 7/8 weaver, (found on
www.shortyusa.com) and the mag was an original TM XM177 magazine (Which I found on paintball-x.com which is now closed. You can get an original mag. From performanceairsoft.com) Rumors have boasted that cybergun AR-15 50 rd magazines are compatible in the XM. And it has been confirmed that the Classic Army spring M-15A4 has interchangeable magazines with the TM XM.
Upgrade ability rating: 7/10
Pros:
● Weaver compatible
● Sling compatible
● Can fit a homemade mock suppressor
Cons:
● Cannot take internal upgrades
6)
Conclusion: The Tokyo Marui XM177 was all that people said it was. It is very unfortunate that it has a bad design flaw. Some day I am hoping to fix the XM because this gun was an amazing performer. Almost every skirmish I played the leading role on the team.
As far as a comparison between other spring guns, I know the XM beats the cybergun AR-15 series. Because cybergun AR-15's tend to break down quickly and aren’t as powerful as the XM. When compared to the new Toystar M4's, I believe the Toystars won the battle in range and power. However, I am not sure if they are better in quality. There is also a new HFC sniper rifle out that sounds like it could possibly take on the XM but I would have to study up on that. Lastly, the gun I almost bought over the XM is the Maruzen CA870. Supposedly the CA870 has good upgrade potential and shoots good out of the box.
Keep in mind I am only dusting over the surface of contenders to the TM XM-177. All information is being based on what I have observed for the past few years I have owned high grade airsoft guns.
Of course there are spring sniper rifles that can beat the XM’s range, power, and durability, but they are usually more expensive then the XM-177.
So my conclusion: This gun looks awesome, performs awesome, and held up for two years. But for $130 bucks I was kind of disappointed at the internal quality upon opening it. So if you can find this for cheaper than $100 dollars it might be worth it to you. Just remember that if you buy it, chances are your piston will end up breaking. One last thing; this gun has been discontinued. No one knows if it will ever be reproduced again. Once a store sells out of this gun, its likely it wont be coming back.
Ratings:First impressions rating: 10/10
Looks rating: 10/10
Handling rating: 8/10
Features rating: 10/10
Performance ratings: 10/10
Durability rating: 6/10
Upgrade ability rating: 7/10
Overall Rating 61/70
Pros:
● Weaver compatible
● Sling compatible
● Can fit a homemade mock suppressor
● Good external quality
● Held up for two years
● Good range
● Good power
● Good accuracy
● Good ROF
● Comfortable to hold/maneuver
● Easy to cock
● Trigger pull isn’t bad
● Selector switch is good
● Pleasant to hold
● Decent sights
● Has some weight to it
● Good mach. up of the real XM
● Nice paint job
● Good look
● Good Feel
● Good proportions
● Adjustable front sights
● Front sling swivel
● Removable foregrip
● Fold down charging handle
● Carrying handle with weaver rail compatibility
● Ejection port for added realism
● Trademarks
● Fully functional selector switch
● Adjustable rear and front sights
● Two position stock
● Rear sling mount
● Fixed hop-up (set for .25 gram, .23 gram will work as well)
Cons:
● Trades usually come covered (Not TM’s fault)
● Orange tip kind of ruins the effect of this gun (Again, not TM’s fault)
● Slippery stock
● Creaky handle
● Annoying mag release
● Plastic sling swivel
● The sights can be a little hard to use with some masks
● All plastic internals
● Junky piston head (design flaw)
● Cannot take internal upgrades
