G&G SR16 Full Photo Review

08-15-2007: New Release G&G Knights SR-16 Full Photo Review

Okay, I've now received my newest gun for review, this time the G&G SR-16. Airsplat is bringing in the full G&G lineup, which is really good news for the airsoft community. You'll see why, but at any rate, Kent at Airsplat sent me a copy of the new SR-16 to review, and I've been anxiously awaiting my package. I want to mention that Airsplat had a pretty terrible reputation a while back, but I've been very impressed with their CS, and I would not hesitate to order from them again. The one experience I had that wasn't perfect, they actually called ME up and asked me how they can improve. That's a huge point in their favor. Okay, enough asides, let's go ahead and take a look at this new gun. Here's a beauty shot, so you know what you're looking at.



Alright, lets get to the reviewing. For clarity's sake, I'll as always give you a brief table of contents for what I'll be talking about:

Table of Contents

First Impressions
Real Steel History
Appearance/Feel/Build Quality
Internals
Function
Performance
Accessories and Modifications
Pros & Cons
Ordering
The Final Word

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First Impressions

I want to begin by saying that my first impression is very good. The gun looks very good and feels incredibly solid, and the attention to detail looks very good. G&G has emerged as one of the leading companies in skirmishable high-end AEG's, and to be quite honest, this gun proves why I consider Tokyo Marui to be at the lower end of high-end guns. Systema, VFC, and G&P are probably the best, with G&G and Inokatsu being the next best, and TM, CA, and STAR at the lower end of things. I might venture to toss JG in there, but that's for another story. Here's what we're looking at after opening up the box:



When I look at the various extras that are included (and what's not included, for that matter), it's clear that this gun is way better than the ACM's that I've been dealing with lately. It comes with the compulsory manual, a nice catalogue of the G&G line to drool over, a barrel wrench to remove those pesky delta rings (this is REALLY nice to have, and in my opinion, makes this gun worth buying if you are planning on dealing with a lot of AR style guns), a barrel clearing rod, the magazine, gun, and the front sight adjusting tool. Yes, that's right, this gun has an ADJUSTABLE front sight. That's a good sign for the attention to detail with this gun... It also, like other high-end guns, does not come with a battery or charger. The recommended battery for this gun is a 9.6v small-type battery, although it will work with an 8.4v. Here's some pics of the various extras that you get:



Here's the manual:



Delta ring wrench:



Front sight adjustment tool:



Well, if we're planning on getting a good idea of how close this comes to the real deal, we should take a look at the real steel background...

Real Steel History

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This information has been compiled from wikipedia and world.guns.ru. SR-16 stands for Stoner Rifle 16. It was designed by Eugene Stoner, and is another addition to the AR family. It's similar to the M16, and, in this case, is a carbine version of the M16. The M16 is one of the most famous assault rifles in the world. It was introduced in the early 1960's, and is currently used by over 15 countries as the standard assault rifle. It is a lightweight, 5.56 mm caliber, air-cooled, gas-operated, magazine-fed rifle, with a rotating bolt, actuated by direct impingement gas operation. It is constructed of steel, aluminum and composite plastics. More M16's have been produced than any other type of 5.56mm caliber assault rifle.

The M16 was designed during the Vietnam War as a replacement for the venerable, but well-loved (by me) M14. An updated version, the M16A2, came into usage in the 1980's. There was also an A3 version, which differs primarily in its fire select switch. This particular rendition is manufactured by Knights Armament for one, although there may be more manufacturers. Information on this gun is rather difficult to turn up. Okay, let's go ahead and look at the appearance and feel of this gun.

Appearance/Feel/Build Quality

The appearance of this gun is just great. It's made from muzzle to buttstock from high quality heavy duty plastic or metal, and has a serious heft to it. The receiver is made out of magnesium, and the selector switch clicks over nicely. The foregrip is made out of a thick plastic that feels as solid as can be--certainly way more solid than the plastic on the TM's that I've handled. The retractable LE 6 position stock is made out of metal, and feels very solid, and the finish on the whole gun is very superb. Attention to detail is the basic rule on this gun. Now remember earlier how I mentioned that G&G wasn't top-line in terms of high-end guns? The ONLY reason I say this is because it doesn't have realistic trademarks. In EVERY other department, including performance, these guns are superb, comparable to my Systema Personal Training Weapon. Let's go ahead and take a look at some pictures.

The stock is very solid, and can be screwed off nicely. It screws into the receiver by rotating the stock, and you can remove it by unscrewing a thin nut on the threaded part to the front of the stock. Here's some pictures:




The receiver is beautiful. It has G&G trademarks instead of real steel trademarks, which might be a downside in some books. Me, I'm interested in overall looks and performance, and this gun doesn't lose anything in that regard. The magazine well says on one side: G&G Armament, Capital of Greedy Island. I found that rather amusing (G&G is Taiwanese, so evidently Taiwan is "Greedy Island."):



The selector switch markings are clearly painted and very realistic:



The left side of the mag well has the G&G logo, and says: "G&G Armament, GR16 Carbine, 6.0mm Electrical, SER 0005140." I have no idea whether all of them have the same serial number, but if they're individually serialized, that would be amazing. It's a nice touch for realism, however:



The rest of the left receiver is cleanly painted, and the selector switch markings are again very clean. In front of the selector switch, it says "Complete AEG Series, Mfg. by G&G Armament, Capital of Greedy Island."



The grip is made out of textured solid plastic, and is very comfortable to hold. Being a lefty, it's nice enough that I wouldn't dream of getting a replacement grip, because the stock grips are better than upgrade grips, which are all designed for right-handed people, plus I find it useful to be able to shoot ambidextrously.



The carry handle is also very well made, and features full metal construction. The rear sight is fully adjustable for windage and elevation, and looks much better than the TM carry handles that I've seen. It also supports a carry handle mount, or scopes like the Leapers T167 Reticle Intensified 6x scope, which is designed to fit a carry handle, although it comes with a Picatinny mount also:




The only thing I don't like about this gun is that the charging handle doesn't release the dust cover to reveal the hopup. I hear it does on other models, but not on mine, nor does it seem to support that feature, since the spring forces the cover closed, not open, and there's no latch. That was disappointing, although both the charging handle and the bolt clearing button move; they're not just molded parts or something:




Here's a quick shot of the adjustable hopup through the ejection port. Nothing super special here, although I'll cover that in more depth later.



Here's a shot down the sights (ish). As I mentioned before, both front and rear sights are adjustable, so you can zero them to fit your groupings nicely. Mine shot a little high, so I raised the front sight a smidge, and now it shoots dead on.



The front sight is metal, and holds a swing swivel, which moves nicely and doesn't squeak. There's a set screw underneath the swivel that allows you to remove the sight, after you've removed the sight pins.



The foregrip houses the battery, and is very nicely made out of solid plastic:



The gas tube is nice and shiny metal, and fits into a little hole on the receiver (which was absent in many of the clones I've upgraded). The outer barrel is a one piece, three section metal barrel which feels very solid, although from the lighter weight, it's clearly mostly aluminum. The front portion is steel, the latter two are anodized aluminum. Very solid. The flashhider was a real pain to deal with, and doesn't have a set screw. Mine was incredible difficult to take off, to the point where it bent a steel allen wrench, and made me think it wasn't removable. It is, however, a 14mm CCW threaded steel flashhider, and the best way to remove it is to take a solid screwdriver and a hammer, insert in the holes, and go at it. It was a really huge pain the first time.



The barrel fits much more solidly than the Marui barrels typically do also. On the RIS models, this is even more evident as it has dual locking collars that make for a very secure fit. After screwing off the delta ring with the included tool, I discovered that the barrel is a real pain to remove also. It feels like it's really solidly in there, but there aren't any set screws. The secret to removing it the first time is to hold the barrel and put some tape on the receiver, then bang on the receiver a bit to remove the barrel. But it does come out, and is compatible with aftermarket barrels, should you want to swap front ends or something.

The foregrip also houses the battery and fuse, since the gearbox is wired to the front. If you want to install a different front end that can't hold a battery, you'll need to do some rewiring. The foregrip can support at least a 9.6v small-type, and maybe an even larger battery. Here's what you're looking at:



Finally, let's talk about the magazine. It's a 470 round hi-capacity magazine, which is a bit longer than the standard M-series magazine. It feeds perfectly, and winds nicely too. No complaints here. It also looks really good; it's a dark grey, and overall is very pleasant to look at. It DOESN'T come with the thermal magazine seen in some of the pictures, just to warn you.





With the Star 30 round realcap magazine below it:



At any rate, this gun looks and feels amazing, and aside from the trademarks and non-functional charging handle, attention to detail is superb. The build quality of this gun is truly impressive, and really puts Marui to shame. It feels solid as heck, and is very maneuverable too, which is good for a carbine. It really doesn't feel much like a toy. Okay, so let's take a look at the internals.

Internals

I believe I mentioned earlier that this was one of the best skirmishable guns I'd seen in a while. The internals of this gun are great. First, let me mention that the front receiver pin doesn't come out all the way; just enough to remove the receiver, so no worrying about losing it. Also, it doesn't fold up like a plastic receiver gun, it slides forward. Be sure to detach the wiring from the fuse, leaving the fuse in the foregrip, before you try to remove the receiver. Once you've removed the front receiver pin, you can pull off the upper receiver and access the hopup and inner barrel. Here's a shot of those:



The inner barrel is made out of brass, and has a stock inner diameter of 6.035mm. Yes, that's right, it comes with a high quality stock tightbore. No need to upgrade the barrel. The hopup bucking is actually pretty good also, and seems right for the stock power. More on that later. Suffice it to say that this gun is pre-upgraded, for the most part at least in terms of the barrel. Here's a closeup on the hopup:



Okay, so now let's turn to the gearbox. This is where Inokatsu starts to go wrong, since their gearboxes are usually decent, but not great. But G&G has done a great job. First, the gearbox is a REINFORCED gearbox, which means you don't need an upgrade replacement shell. This one is great. Next, it's got 7mm ball bearing metal bushings, which means you also don't need to replace the bushings either! Okay, this is a GREAT start. Here's the outside of the gearbox:





Okay, so now we unscrew the 8 Torx screws and open up the gearbox. The internals look great too. It's perfectly shimmed, and comes with high quality steel gears, a metal bearing spring guide, and what appears to be a polycarbonate piston. It's clear that G&G has gone to great lengths to ensure that you don't need to do much, if anything in the way of upgrades. This gun is basically perfect out of the box, and can probably support spring upgrades without much else either. The motor is a good quality 25000 rpm high torque motor, and works great also. Here's the internals, if you're curious:



Basically, I'm incredible impressed with this gun. It shines in just about every category, and doesn't require much in the way of work. Maybe an occasional regrease, but it's a gun that will last you for a long time. So, how about performance?

Function

You guessed it, it's pretty straightforward. Insert the (filled) magazine, making sure that it locks nicely into place. Work the charging handle (you don't have to, but it's cool). Remove it from safe, point at target, and pull trigger. If you're set on semi, keep pulling the trigger until you hit your target (hopefully that means you only fired once). If you're on full auto, hold down to rock and roll. But you better have known that already, plus, it's in the manual. When you're done firing, set it to safe, and remove the magazine. You may want to unsafe it and fire a few times to clear the chamber, and then re-safe it, especially if you plan on disassembling it. Okay, so how does it perform?

Performance

I'm going to begin by testing the FPS. My first chrono result was a whopping 380 fps, which is way higher than I was expecting, since the manual says only 90 m/s, which translates to around 300 fps. The advertised power is 330, and I'd expect it to settle to about that, maybe closer to 350 or so. Here's the PMC test:



As you can see, it penetrates both sides, but it only dents the bottom, which puts it under 385 fps. I'm going to put this gun through heck Week, so we'll see how it goes. As it turns out, 10,000 rounds later, it's chronoing in at 356 fps on average, so it's hitting much harder than advertised. That's nice for a change! Only one problem, and that's that after the next mag, the gearbox stopped working. I opened it up to discover a broken anti-reversal latch, which is unfortunate. The rest of the parts show virtually no signs of wear, so it's really nice quality. You might consider getting a replacement anti-reversal latch, however, although I'm at a loss as to why this one broke, since it looks to be good quality. I'll replace it eventually. Anyways, the good news is that I did do an accuracy test before breaking the gearbox, so we can see what kinds of results we're looking at.

I fired a couple 10 round groupings from 100 feet, sandbag stabilized, and used a zeroed scope and adjusted hopup. These results are indoors with .23g bb's, which I find to be ideal. Here's the target, with labeled groupings:



As you can see, the groupings indicate that the tightbore does indeed work well, and the hopup floats the shots out nicely. This gun is very accurate, and outdoors, you can expect effective range to be at least 150 feet (8/10 torso shots). ROF is very fast, although I'm using a crappy battery, so only around 12 rps, although I'd expect it to get much higher with the recommended battery (9.6v). I'd say this gun should be good to go for CQB out of the box, and can easily be upgraded to be an effective woodland weapon as well. I'm certainly very pleased with it, and I think Airsplat made a great choice bringing these in. Okay, so what can this gun support in the way of accessories and modifications?

Accessories & Modications

First off, the SR16 doesn't have much in the way of rails, although you can detach the carry handle to install various things like rear sights, scopes, etc. You could also install new foregrips, or basically anything. It's an AR, so there are TONS of upgrades that you can buy to support whatever accessories you want. If you're getting an SR16, you probably want it pretty clean, so probably just an RDS or 4x scope will do you fine. But the possibilities, as they say, are endless.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Basically everything
Magnesium Receiver
Metal Stock
Metal Barrel
Stock Tightbore
Reinforced 7mm Gearbox
Metal Bushings
Metal Spring Guide
Steel Gears
Appearance and Build Quality

Cons

Charging handle on this model doesn't open the dust cover
Anti-Reversal latch broke after several thousand rounds
It's not free

Ordering

Airsplat will be stocking the entire G&G line, and they always have good prices. The SR16 appears to be 170 there, which is just ludicrous. For a gun this good, I can't believe they're offering it for that cheap. It might be a typo, so expect it to be more like 270. Otherwise, buy it IMMEDIATELY. In fact, buy it immediately anyways. You won't find another high-end for this kind of pricing anywhere else, especially not one that comes pre-upgraded with the goodies that these have. Here's the ad that they're putting up:



The Final Word

The final word is that this gun is just amazing, especially for the prices that Airsplat is offering them for. I find it unlikely that if you buy one of these, that you'll ever want a TM again, unless it's for the trademarks. As a skirmish weapon, these can't be beat by much, if anything, and aside from the fluke anti-reversal latch problem, they're sturdy as anything. Heck, mine survived a drop from a second story balcony onto grass with no visible damage internally or externally, and also spent 2 hours underwater in my bathtub, and came out shooting like a champ. Keep it maintained, and it will last you for a long long time. After reviewing this gun, there's no doubt in my mind that G&G deserves it's spot on my list as one of the top high-end AEG manufacturers.