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Classic Army M24 Millitary Fluted V2
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Reviews
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Date product posted
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18715
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Tue November 20, 2007
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Recommended By
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Average Rating
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No recommendations
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Description:
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Review: Classic Army M24 Military Fluted Version 2
Author: XxCREEPERxX
Published: 11/20/2007
Discuss this review in the Forums.
-Table Of Contents-
1. Reason For Review
2. Real Steel History
3. Ordering
4. First Impressions
5. Included accessories and features
6. Function
7. Magazines and Loading
8. Hop up Adjustment and Safety
9. Barrel
10. Quick Dissasembly/Internals
11. Shooting and Accuracy Overview
12. Poor Man's Chronograph Test
13. Pros/Cons Section
14. Final Thoughts and overall rating
-Reason For Purchase-
The reason I decided to review this gun was that I felt the other review on this site wasn’t in depth enough. I wanted to show people what the internals of this rifle were like, along with the externals. Let’s dig in.
-Real Steel History-
By the mid-1980s, the US Army's M21 Sniper Rifles, built on the M14 actions, were wearing out, and suitable replacement parts were scarce. The new world’s political situation moved the focus of the NATO and the US Army troubles from the Europe to the Middle West. The flat, open desert terrains produced the need for the rifle with effective range of up to 1000 meters. The US Army set the specifications for bolt-action, stainless steel barrel rifle with Kevlar-graphite stock. After final shoot-off between Steyr SSG rifle and Remington model 700BDL, the latest was standardized in 1987 as a US Army's Model 24 sniper rifle. The M24 has a 24" (609mm) stainless-steel barrel, with a bore specially cut for the M118 7.62mm NATO Match Grade ammunition. The barrel was rifled with a special Remington- developed rifling, called 5R. It had five lands and grooves that make one turn in 11 1/4" (286mm), and the edges of the lands were slightly rounded to reduce friction. The stock was a composite of Kevlar and graphite. The butt plate is adjustable through a range of 2.7" (69mm) to accommodate all shooters. The Leupold-Stewens M3 Ultra telescopic sight is a fixed 10X scope. It has range-finding reticule and built-in compensator for bullet drop.
(Picture and description obtained from http://www.world.guns.ru/sniper/sn11-e.htm , please note this is not my information, and they take the credit for it, not me.)
-Ordering-
This gun was supplied to be for review by Airsoft Extreme. Their communication was excellent, and I give thanks to them for sending me the gun to review. The shipping was great, and they are a great place to order from. Their site is http://www.airsoftextreme.com, and I encourage you to order from them. The price of the gun is $249.99.
-First Impressions-
After opening the cardboard box that AEX packaged the gun in, I saw a blue box with the words M24 SOCOM SNIPER – Military type on it. It was decently heavy, too.
I opened up the blue box, to find the sniper rifle, manual, and loader. There was a bit of cardboard supports thrown in there. I am disappointed that CA didn’t make a single attempt to make the gun safer during transportation.
When I picked up the rifle, I was amazed. I have never held an Airsoft gun that felt so much like a real rifle. It has a very nice heft to it, with a matte black receiver, and a textured black stock. I immediately made it my new favorite gun in my collection, before I even examined it and shot it. I was impressed with the detail on the gun, including the fluting on the barrel. The only thing that I can find that is made of plastic on the gun is the magazine; even the stock is a high quality polymer.
-Included accessories and features-
The gun doesn’t include lots of accessories, but it does include all that it needs.
Included with this rifle are:
Magazine
BB loader
Scope mount (mounted on the gun)
Manual
I have not yet used the included bb loader, since I like to use my deluxe UTG ones, which are much easier to use.
-Function-
Everything on this rifle functions great. Lets start with the bolt. The bolt is the smoothest I have ever used on an Airsoft gun. It glides like it’s positioned on ice. It is made of a shiny silver metal, and has no black, dirty grease, unlike some of the other sniper rifles I have owned.
The bolt handle is thick and heavy, and click in place nicely. It is a standard paddle type bolt, like other M24/M700 guns. The paddle itself is textured, ensuring that your fingers won’t slip on it.
The back of the bolt is the same as any other m700 or m24 gun.
Next, this rifle sports an adjustable butt stock. To adjust it, turn the knob left or right. It is perfect for a scope with a longer eye relief, or for a larger shooter who needs the extra length. On the back of the butt stock is a nice, thick rubber butt pad, the thickest I have seen on a sniper rifle. It is textured in a similar pattern to the stock.
The rifle has a standard weaver scope rail, perfect for mounting a nice scope.
The thick, strong, metal outer barrel comes with fluting on the military version. It is very sleek, and adds an awesome tactical look to the gun.
The stock is textured very nicely. It is perfect, because you can barely see how it is done, yet the texturing is very functional.
The trigger is made of metal, and is adjustable. The trigger pull is nice and smooth, not to strong, and not too weak. The trigger guard is also metal, which is a very nice touch.
As for sling mounts on this gun, there are two, or should I say three. This is the rear sling mount.
At the front of the rifle, there are two of these studs that look exactly the same. The point of that is you can use one for a bipod, and the other for a sling.
This section has not yet been completed.
-Magazines and Loading-
The magazine that is included with this gun is made of a fairly cheap plastic, which I don’t like much. It holds approximately 25 rounds. Even though it is plastic, I still consider it an excellent magazine. It feeds very well, and goes in and comes out smoothly. It has a spring eject assist, so it comes out even better. You can buy spare magazines at Airsoft Extreme, but you can also use APS-2 magazines.
The magazine with the spring being held down.
A shot down the magazine well.
-Hop up Adjustment and Safety-
The hopup adjustment is located in the magazine well. To expose it, cock the gun and leave the bolt pulled back. Doing so will expose a small hole. You need a small allen wrench to adjust it. Unfortunately, I don’t have one small enough at the moment, so my gun is going to have to stay at whatever it has been set to in the factory.
The safety is a standard safety, and is located behind the bolt handle. It works well, and clicks into place very well. This is again, made of metal.
-Barrel-
The barrel in this gun is made of brass, and is very accurate. I am not sure how tight it is, but I would recommend replacing it in the future, which is a good idea to do in any gun. The gun takes regular 509mm M16 AEG barrel, and you can also use standard buckings. At the end of the outer barrel is a cap that you can screw off, for adding a silencer adapter. From this end, you can see the tip of the barrel.
-Quick Disassembly/Internals-
For starters, you need to remove the stock. Use an allen wrench and unscrew the two screws on the stock. One is located just behind the trigger guard, and the other in front of the “magazine cover”. Just pull the receiver away from the stock after you remove the two screws. Note that the rear one is longer than the middle one, so don’t switch them up when you put the gun back together.
Now you can see the inside of the beautiful stock. It is solid as a rock, and has no flex at all. This tells you that it is very high quality.
We can also now see the trigger assembly. From hear, you can adjust the trigger.
Ok, lets move onto the internals. First up is the trigger box. The trigger box in this gun is made of a high quality metal, and feels very sturdy.
Next up is the bolt. The bolt is silver with a brass head. It wasn't loaded with grease like some of the other bolts I have seen from other companies. The spring guide and pistol are both made of metal. Coupling this bolt with the metal trigger box makes the internals of this gun very strong.
The bolt handle is one of the trickiest parts of this gun. It has a nice click to it, that is when it comes from the factory. To take the bolt handle off, screw out the screw in the back of the bolt.
Now, inside are 3 springs and 3 ball bearings. After figuring out how to put them back in, I lost the nice click and smoothness of the bolt. Anyhow, the bolt handle is metal, and very strong. One minor downside is that the part where the bolt handle attaches to the bolt is made of plastic. However, in a spot like this, I wouldn't think anything would crack.
Finally, we get to the hopup and barrel assembly. The barrel as you know is made of brass. The hopup is also made of brass.
-Shooting and Accuracy Overview-
It does shoot very well. There are some fliers, but the bullet trajectory is excellent. It is a quiet gun, and doesn’t have any annoying clanks to it. At 50 feet with my scope not even sighted in properly, I am hitting targets about the size of a ping pong ball. It doesn’t have the power of some of the other guns I own, like my UTG MK96, but it is one of the most accurate guns I own. In the future, I plan to upgrade the gun with a more powerful spring, I would like to have it around 425-450 fps, which is ideal for an Airsoft sniper rifle. I did the test below at 75 feet using .2g TSD bb's.
-Poor mans chronograph-
The gun went through both sides of a can, it's not a regular coke can, so the measurement may not be the say, but according to Red Wolf Airsoft's Poor Mans Chronograph test, that puts it at about 350 to 370 FPS. I am sure it will calm down once it is broken in though. It does not penetrate the bottom, but leaves a dent.
Entry hole:
Exit hole:
Bottom Dent:
Pros:
Amazing quality
Semi accurate
Quiet
Thick stock
Fluted barrel gives it a great tactical look
Includes a scope mount
Can easily mount a bipod
Lots of potential for upgrades
Cons:
Magazine is made of a cheaper plastic
Not the most powerful gun on the market
Upgrades are pricey and hard to find
Reports of a finicky hopup
Not the best grouping
-Final Thoughts-
The quality of this gun is outstanding. It is the best quality Airsoft gun I have ever owned or used. It shoots well, feels great, and is an all around awesome Airsoft gun. I would like to thank Airsoft Extreme for supplying this gun to me for review. They are a great company with nice people and excellent communication, and I encourage everybody to order from them.
I encourage any serious Airsoft sniper to purchase one of these Airsoft guns, you can’t go wrong.
XxCREEPERxX
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Review Administrator
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Posts: 2,539
Registered: February 2004
Location: Wisconsin
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