I've played the role of a sniper for close to a year, with a 3 month break this year. I've built a ghillie suit and three bolt guns - an HPA powered APS2 (for sale!), a VSR-10 G-Spec, and this latest project rifle, the KJW M700P.
I started reading about the KJW M700 on Airsoft Retreat early in 2005. One of the regulars - was it Harenil? - posted a link to an ad for a soon to be released copy of the Tanaka M700 Police model being built by KJW. Street price was estimated at between 170 and 200 bucks. 200 dollars for a Tanaka copy?! How bad could it be? I'm not buying one, I thought, I'm happy with the G-Spec.
Well, fast forward to last week. I'd just come back to the game after a 3 month hiatus and was re-energized. I enjoyed playing again and wanted a new project. I read Harenil's review of the M700 on ASR and was sold. If it could be made to shoot better, I'd make it shoot better.
Ok, here's the part in every review where the guy arrives home to find a box with his gun in it, and he's super excited and can't wait to open it, and talks about the manual and blah blah blah. I bought the gun locally, drove home, and opened the box. It had a rifle inside. There was a manual. I was excited. Enough? I think so. Next!
LOOKS AREN'T EVERYTHING
Wow, from a few feet away it looks like the real deal. Unlike my VSR-10, it also FEELS like the real thing. The finish on the metal, while technically not a matte tactical black, is very nice. The rifle is very solidly built - much more so than the TM VSR.
Racking the bolt feels pretty close to that of a real rifle. The bolt feels a bit light as it slides back and forth in the receiver, perhaps more like a .22 weighted bolt than a .308/.300 Win Mag bolt. Nevertheless, it's close enough. The main thing is that there's no monstrous spring fighting you as you try to move the bolt rearward. Magazines load through the bottom of the stock just in front of the trigger guard. I suspect this thing could take a real steel Remington stock (H&S Precision, perhaps? Bell & Carlson?) with a little dremel work.
The finish on the stock leaves a lot to be desired, however. It feels like textured drywall, you know, the spackled treatment that nearly every wall in every US home gets? Like that. Weight wise, the stock is nice and hefty, definitely a departure from the creaky, toyish lightness of my G-Spec's stock. The grip is also too wide for my liking, and I have regular/average sized hands. It does have a nice wide forearm in case you want to bench rest it or shoot it from sandbags. The stock features double front sling studs (the front one is for the bipod, the rear one for your sling). Ok, well, enough about that. You guys want to know how it shoots.
SHOOTS HARD, BUT CROOKED
JungleToy's website says the thing shoots 400 fps out of the box on Green. Um...no. Add 150 fps to that, at least. It blew right through the top of a bud light can and spun and rattled around inside the can for about 4-5 seconds after that. Oh, it dented the hell out of the bottom of the can, too. Ouch.
I free floated the outer barrel as I've seen recommended by taking down the rifle and removing the aluminum stud that bolts the outer barrel to the front sling stud. In some guns, the outer barrel is held in place in such a way as to bend the inner barrel slightly. This has a great negative effect on accuracy. I also took apart the hop up and wrapped the hop up bucking with teflon tape to head off any air leaks.
The inner barrel is a direct ripoff of the VSR-10's breech design. I held the stock G-Spec barrel I have in my box o' barrels up to the M700's barrel, the breeches are identical. The bucking from the M700 fits perfectly on the G-Spec barrel. The hop up units are different, though, unfortunately.
I took the rifle out to my work to shoot after work and put about 20 SGMs through it. I found it was intermittently very accurate and completely wild and off target. When it felt like it, it'd shoot right on the crosshair out to 60-65 yards. About 4 out of every 10 shots however were 40 feet offline by the time they got out to the target. Some shots I didn't even see through the scope, that's how far offline they were. Overhop, underhop and crazy swerving don't do well with a single shot sniper rifle. Something had to be done.
HPA TO THE RESCUE!
I mentioned above that I'd built an APS2 with an HPA power source. I've had it listed for sale for a couple of weeks with no takers, so what the hell, I'll try to convert this thing to HPA - it'd be very simple.
I already had the HPA bottle, the regulator, the remote hose and QD fittings from the first rifle, so I wasn't going to have to spend an arm and a leg to get this thing going. When I bought the rifle, I picked up an extra mag. Man, am I ever smart.
Tanaka rifles (and this one, since it's a clone) store their Green Gas supply in the magazine. The fill valve is on the top of the mag as shown in the below photo. The fill valve is the blurry brass colored circle at top left of the blurry photo of the magazine :)
The mags only hold 11 shots, which is kind of a downer, but that's what speed loaders are for.
I had the mag drilled and tapped to take an NPT fitting, then disassembled it and cleaned out all of the shavings left from the metal work. While the mag was still apart, I installed the quick disconnect NPT fitting into the tapped hole:
Conversion done. That was it. And the best part is, the process was so SIMPLE. No requirement to buy some crazy bolt part for 80-160 bucks and wait a week and a half (like I did with the APS2), then wait another week while my buddy did the metal work (like I had to with the APS2), then do constant leak chasing on the thing because it won't stop friggin blowing air (like the APS2 did) then screw around with 3 different hop ups and barrels because it won't shoot worth a d**n (like I did with the APS2). Sure, the APS2 was a monster on the field once I got all of its fifty million kinks and quirks worked out, but easier is better, don't you think?
So, to recap, I just had to buy a couple of fittings and have a hole drilled and tapped, then do some minimal wrench work and take it out to shoot it. Yay simplicity.
'ACCURATE GAS RIFLE' IS NOT AN OXYMORON
Drove to work again to do some test firing. Holy crap, this thing shoots nicely on HPA. The wildly swerving, nose-diving, stratosphere-seeking craziness of earlier in the week is gone. Not just better, but completely gone. After dorking around with the hop up (adjustment knob is at the front of the scope rail) for a minute, I was shooting a head-sized dirt clod at 60 yards with pretty good results - say half the time or a bit better. I didn't record the results because I was shooting into a 10mph headwind that was from the left as well. Despite that, the rifle kept the .29g Super Grandmasters on line very nicely. The shots that missed the dirt clod were close enough to hit a man-sized target, even in the wind.
I bumped the regulator up a bit and added some hop up and tried shooting at a eucalyptus tree that I've walked off at 80ish yards before. More hold off was required for the wind, but the rifle reaches out that far with ease. At that distance though, hits get sketchy because of air movement.
I'd say that effective range is probably 70 yards at the moment with optimal conditions, 60-65 is realistic. Could I make 250 foot shots? It's quite possible, but I don't like to boast.
Submitted by Denis.
When I first held the gun it was much more solid then my G3 SG/1 and I was very impressed. Later on after a few skirmishes I found that it too like so many of the M16 variants gets barrel wobble. So I threw some locktite on a couple key places and it seemed to help a bit. As far as accuracy out of the box it was acceptable for a stock gun. As far as stock AEG's go there isn't much difference in any of them in performance when they are stock out of the box.
Finally I got around to upgrading the gun and this is where it truly outshined and out performed anything and everything on the field. I installed a systema M140 spring, Spring guide w/bearing, 7mm ball bearings, a reinforced mechbox and super torq up gears. I later installed an extended tighbore barrel and a silencer to cover it. I threw in a 9.6V battery to bump the ROF and get that M140 rolling. It performed beautifully I was able to hit quarter size targets from 10-15 ft away and human size targets from hundreds of feet away. The upgrades took the gun to 450fps. Even with those extreme upgrades the gun performed flawlessly and only jamming problem or any problem I had for that matter was when we got a bad batch of bb's.
Reliability: 9Upgrade ability: 10
Accuracy: 8-10 (8 being stock and 10 being upgraded)
Versatility: 10
Durability: 9
Submitted by Blake G.
At first when I shot the gun I was impressed at its extreme accuracy for a stock gun which would probably be due in part to its long barrel. Having one of the longest barrels of all the AEG's, having only been beaten by the PSG-1 and the SG/1 and possibly the AUG. So naturally the first thing to do with this gun is a tightbore barrel. I tried to put a silencer on the end but found that where the flash hider attaches it not very sturdy and allows enough sag in the silencer to make the bb's come in contact with the top of the opening on the silencer and put some extreme hop up on there :p
Having dropped the gun numerous times in a skirmish I found it to be very durable almost never jamming even when dropped in the dirt. If your on a budget and you need a gun that performs good stock, not having much separation as far as ROF and FPS this gun will get you the edge. Having great out of the box accuracy and great durability. With only light upgrades I was able to compete with some of the other guys that pumped theirs up a bit more. So definitely a gun that is worth you time and your respect. Now one more thing I painted all my wood parts a nice flat black with just simple spray paint and man oh man did that ever give it a face lift. I was getting compliments every where I went. Also due to the lack of rails and attachment points for lasers and lights and what not. I installed my own rails 2 on the sides and one on the bottom so I could put a vertical grip on there for indoor use. All in all a great gun for almost any application.
Reliability: 9Upgrade ability: 8
Accuracy: 9
Versatility: 7
Durability: 10
Submitted by Blake G.
Features
The finish on the Bushmaster M4 receiver I chose is a lustrous semi-flat black. The trades are intact and are etched with an off-white paint fill. One feature I really like is the deep selector switch detente that really let you know that your weapon is in safe, semi or auto mode.
The forward assist knob is spring-loaded and functions nicely (well, obviously it doesn’t do anything, but it doesn’t do anything in a very nice fashion).
The kit includes a new charging handle, spring, bolt cover retraction arm and a screw that threads into the upper receiver. The HurricanE kit is one of the handful of metal body kits that retains the charging handle feature that exposes the hop-up. A plastic one-piece hop up unit is included as well, although it’s disassembled in a baggie. The included one piece hop up does not include the bucking (at least mine didn’t). You may or may not be able to use the bucking from your current hop-up, the included unit is a plastic copy of the Systema metal part.
Prep and Disassembly
Before I started disassembling the gun, I did some research on the various Airsoft fan sites looking for guides on installing a metal body kit. HurricanE doesn’t include instructions of any kind in the box (it must save them on shipping charges!). I’m new to the sport and have read the various horror stories where grinders, dremels and various other power tools had been required to complete the installation. This kit, I am pleased to report, required none of that. It’s also worth noting that I have a reinforced mechbox and clearances, although tight, were manageable.
I made sure to have a clear space to work on the gun and used my benchrest and sandbag to support the gun. To do the installation, you’ll need the following tools (or equivalents):
2 Wide, Flat Blade Screwdrivers
#2 Phillips Screwdriver
Metric Hex Head Wrench Set
Hammer
Punches
Flat, fine file
Using a disassembly guide I found at Uncompany.com, I got the gun down to a gearbox and a pile of other parts. PLEASE, if you’re going to do this yourself and are unfamiliar with the parts of your gun, take the time to stop and make notes of what parts go where, what screws go with what part(s), how the wires feed from the mechbox to the motor and so on. Take special care to keep track of the little circular plate that fits into the butt of the pistol grip plate.
I taped parts and screws together when I got past the RIS assembly (I’d taken that off numerous times and remember where things go). I also took notes on the items I listed above so that I’d have minimal problems reassembling the weapon.
All of the stock parts I had fit into the new receiver flawlessly. If you have a solid stock weapon, be sure to pull the plastic ring off of the old receiver, set it on the little slot where it fits, then install the stock. I looked like an idiot trying to figure out where that piece went (it was still sitting on the old receiver, heh). Don’t be like me, kids.
Aside from the upper/lower receiver mating, the selector switch was probably the biggest pain to get right. The little metal plug that ‘clicks’ into the détentes didn’t seem to want to stay on top of the spring while I installed it. Eventually it went in and loc-tited the selector switch screw in place. Use a very small bead of crazy/super glue to fit the little plug that covers the selector switch hole on the opposite side of the receiver. I managed not to dribble any glue on the receiver, but it might be wise to put masking tape or something around the hole to avoid getting glue on your pretty new receiver.
Getting the gun back together was relatively simple once I figured out I had to insert the mechbox into the upper receiver FIRST, then mate the upper to the lower. Before that I spent an hour or so cursing and trying to get the upper receiver tabs to slide past the mechbox screws and selector plate. Not going to happen, so do it the right way and save yourself lots of time. Be sure to use a thumb and forefinger to hold onto the tabs on the upper receiver. Although they’re made of metal, they will break if you’re not careful during the process of putting the receiver halves together.
One of the features lost in the upgrade is the quick takedown feature. Your gun will now employ a one piece hop-up and you’ll need to remove all of the things that hold the mechbox into the lower receiver to be able to work on the hop-up, replace the barrel or other similar jobs. I think it’s a great tradeoff.
Once the gun was reassembled, I needed to file VERY SLIGHTLY the guide ribs in the magazine well. I recommend fitting your mags before reassembling the gun as there is the likelihood of introducing metal filings into the gearbox. I used a shop-vac to (I think) remove all of the filings, but it’s better to work with the file on an empty receiver.
Conclusion
I’m very happy with the appearance and balance of the SR after installing the metal receiver. The gun is now rock solid at the barrel mount where before it wobbled slightly even with reinforced receiver pins. Installing the metal kit moved the center of gravity slightly rearward toward the stock, getting rid of some of the front-heaviness of the weapon. You will notice the added weight after several hours of lugging the gun around a field, so a sling is highly advisable. Aside from the looks, it adds a great deal of rigidity to the M4 weapons which, frankly, are pretty frail in their stock condition.
Submitted by Denis