G&G SR25 SPR Review

NakedDex

This is only a provisional review until it sees a full skirmish (should be in the first couple of weeks of the new year)


So the package arrived conveniently on my day off, not to say I actually woke up when the postman called. So eventually when I did wake up and found the little note in the postbox, I naturally became rather excited. So I hauled my weary ass off to the depot to collect it. 20 minutes later I had a rather understated brown paper covered box on my apartment floor. I stripped the box of it's clothes to reveal the naked glory of it's artwork. I can, with some serious conviction, say that this box is the most pretty of anything I've ever had. And a stark contrast to the last AEG box to enter my abode (Star don't seem to have an art department).


First Impressions

My first impressions had my hopes raised for the boxes hallowed contents. The SPR. The daddy of marksmans rifles for the new age. The box felt heavy. This was good. Very good. I slid the styrofoam innards out to reveal, in almost comical slow motion, the beast from within.
It's long body seemed to take an age to end as it's cocoon was opened for the first time since it met the wonderful and highly regarded Shiva. Eventually though it's far from smooth lines ended and I saw the beast for what it was.

The solid stock perfectly formed and leading the eye into the full metal reciever, marked with the standard G&G lettering and markings. The eye is drawn across it and onto the massive RAS rail leading the entire way down the body, again in full metal. There was a sort of, singing, noise as I ran my finger along the rails. I love that noise, it's rare to hear, but oh so very, very sweet. It's up there with the ping from an M1 bandolier, the sound of frosted grass crunching underfoot and the sound of a Challenger 2 MBT at full throttle. The RAS eventually gave way to the flash hider, and what a flash hider. Still full metal when clearly this is a place they could have cut a corner, it's a piece of art to behold. I had intended to purchase an SPR silencer later but I'm no longer sure if I want to hide it.


The Unit

Time to get to grips with it I thought as I picked it up out of the box. It was cold. I like that. I like that a lot. It adds a sense of realism to it. Holding cold metal in your hands early(ish) on a Wednesday morning when you hadn't expected to is a fantastic feeling. And it's a feeling that hasn't lost it's appeal since. I'd nearly leave the RAS in the fridge before going skirmishing, but that might be taking things too far.

Apart from the cold, the first thing you realise is how heavy it is. At 2.8kg without the battery, a plastic springer this is not. In fact with the battery it hits the 3kg mark before bb's which isn't a huge amount away from the read deal. Incidentally, even the mags are metal (annoyingly they're not STANAG, so don't expect your M4/M16 to be able to swap in and out).

The next thing you notice is there are no sights. While G&G have created a fantastic rifle you would have expected them to throw in some standard flip up iron sights for it. Yes I know this is a marksmans platform and therefore you will most likely be sticking a scope on it within seconds but the SR25 comes with iron sights by standard from every other manufacturer and in the real format. It's not an desperately important thing but when you realise they're the guts of 60 bucks for a set then you begin to be a little peeved with not having it included.


Operation and Performance

Let's stick some sights on it, load the battery, a mag and see what this baby can do.


Wow


Noone puts this baby in the corner. The battery loads into the solid stock (large type battery) and once it's in there, it doesn't move. It's a dream to fit and the quickest to change of any AEG I've used apart from the MP7.

The hopup is located, as you would expect, behind the bolt cover. Pull back the M4 style cocking lever (which is a little loose in it's seat but still feels solid) to open the dust gate and the bolt at the same time, draw the whole way back and hit the bolt catch to hold in place (nice touch). Hit the catch button again to release once set. It all sounds, very standard but it's easy to mess up the easy stuff and the attention to detail is shown. G&G obviously had their Weetabix the day they made this.

I latched on the only scope I had available to me this week (an aimpoint, regrettably but I won't need anything mag'd until I skirmish her properly anyway). My aimpoint usually sits on my MP7 (shush, I like making small things big...) and is dialled in for 10m, but it didn't take long for the SPR to get friendly with it. In fact they quickly went from being friends to being booty calls.

The accuracy is simply breathtaking. Chrono'd using .2g bb's with a fresh battery indoors it registered between 284 and 311 over the 10 shots fired all reaching a grouping inside the inch and a half targets I was using at 10m. Not a single shot deviated. This is without any proper scope or magnification. Thinking of the accuracy with which it could dispense rounds using a bipod and a scope makes me feel all warm and mushy inside. Either that or the prospect has made me wet myself. Whichever of the two is the case, I'd stand well back.

It should be noted that the trigger response is excellent. As this is a semi only rifle, you would expect it to be slightly faster than a basic semi on your M4 or G36 etc. Well you'd be right. And then some. The speed of response would put Michael Schumacher to shame and when coupled with the balanced trigger pull makes for a smooth and frighteningly easy trigger pull. The response though also makes rapid tapping at a target a wonderfully easy and accurate affair for all those times when "shoot 'n' scoot" means "oh my god they've spotted us, lets run away and panic fire".

The tightbore 6.04mm barrell coming as standard was a smart move by G&G, it compliments the Version 2 gearbox rather well and the hop up is clearly very stable. At 1010mm this is not a CQB rifle but clearly this has also made an impact on stability, fps and accuracy. I haven't yet tested the range to it's limit, which is criminal given that I've had it for a week now. It's like owning a Maserati and never taking it above 30mph. Something which I will rectify when I take it to HRTA. The spr I mean, not the Maserati.


Conclusions

This is a fantastic rifle with flawless finishing. The metal is quality (Mainly magnesium and aluminium) with the only ABS on it being stock and handgrips. Both of which are solid and quality too. The RAS grips are a little loose but nothing you wouldn't forget about after a minute and there's a wealth of RAS grips available anyway to suit yourself.
The RAS itself is hardy as heck and if you ever run out of space on it, you clearly have way to much on your rifle.


The only things I can see wrong with the G&G SPR is it doesn't come with iron sights and all of the parts that are compatible only with it (SPR silencers are specific, the mags are specific etc) are the price of parts. A 50rd mag will set you back 25-30 bucks, the silencer being another 80+. But given how excellent the rifle is, these cons are farrrr out weighed by the pros.



Quality of finish - 5
Performance - 5
Adaptibility - 5
Value - 4
Overall - 5

I'm only knocking a mark off for value because of the price of mags, silencers and the like. But you get what you pay for, F430s don't cost the same as Fiestas for a good reason. I couldn't recommend this rifle more. I had been coveting this on WGC for some time but when I saw Eirsoft had it for a price so competitive and could have it with me as quickly as that, I could no longer resist. And it can be best summed up by my flatmates reaction.

"Somewhere in a warzone an M14 and an M4 had a horrible accident, got smashed with some JP-4 together and created a beautiful child. It's like an EBR that makes sense."