12 minute read
ARMOURY: MODIFY M24 SWS
CONTINUING HIS LOOK AT BOLT ACTION RIFLES, BILL TURNS HIS ATTENTION TO A MODEL THAT HAS BEEN AROUND FOR A WHILE BUT WHICH HE BELIEVES IS A BIT OF AN “UNSUNG HERO” WHEN IT COMES TO AIRSOFT SNIPER RIFLES, THE M24 FROM MODIFY. WILL IT LIVE UP TO HIS EXPECTATIONS, OR IS IT JUST ANOTHER “BOLTY” IN AN EVER-GROWING HERD?
Over the past few issues I’ve turned my focus onto Bolt Action Spring Rifles, an area that has become of increasing interest to me during the C-Virus lockdown. As I’ve said before, the “bolty” is an airsoft platform that is almost purpose-designed to be enjoyed in isolation and one that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed re-embracing during the latter part of 2020 into 2021.
Whilst AEGs and GBBs are undoubtedly the very lifeblood of airsoft, especially in a game situation, when there are no games and you can’t even meet with your friends, then a rifle designed for “solitary use” can honestly become your friend. I know that I am massively lucky to have my own range set up in some private woodland owned by friends, where I do the majority of my testing for Airsoft Action and that many of you will not have this luxury. However, where you have space to shoot safely then I can only recommend to you that you get yourself a 6 mill bolty and have fun honing your shooting skills!
But games are returning thankfully, not only in the UK but around the world and I’d like to take a moment to look at what being an “in-game” sniper really means, as it’s not what many think it is and for this, I’ll look at the role of the military sniper in a bit more detail.
The fact is that a military sniper is rarely the “lone wolf” that we see so often on an airsoft game - “that guy in a ghillie” who just disappears at the start of the game and you never see again until ENDEX. Yes, they may be superb shots and their fieldcraft may be on a par with an Amazonian tracker, but if all you feel of their presence is a BB hit at random times throughout the day with no other purpose than to tickle their own fragile ego in the videos they subsequently post online, then they are not, to me at least, a “real” sniper.
There are parts of the sniper’s role that can be absolutely vital in a team setting that a “lone wolf” can never replicate effectively and, over the years, I’ve come to know airsoft sniper/spotter combos that fully embrace their role and actively work as a “force multiplier” for their team-mates. Fully immersed in the arcane arts of stealth, camouflage, infiltration and observation, a good airsoft sniper and his spotter can fulfil a variety of missions in game and, just as in the real world, their first (and primary) mission should be reconnaissance, providing their command element with information about the enemy’s size, strength, disposition and movements.
Of course, when the time comes, that same sniper can rattle the OPFOR with a single, surgical shot. Instead of engaging opposing players like their team-mates, a sniper and their spotter will single out opposing team leaders, support gunners, grenadiers, DMR users and, of course, other snipers on the other side. Using precision shots, a good airsoft sniper can send the opposition into disarray and hold up an avenue of advance. During my time leading teams I’ve often made the call “Sniper Up!” and when I have I’ve expected them to be ready, willing and able to take that longer-range shot effectively but, sadly, on many occasions I’ve found said “sniper” sorely wanting!
Sometimes though, there will be no call and no specific objective, so a good sniper and their spotter will look for “targets of opportunity” whilst carrying out their reconnaissance missions. When getting “eyes on” the opposing team a spotter may see an opportunity, such as a support gunner “taking five”, a team leader giving a field briefing or shouting orders, or an opposing sniper setting up a hide. All of these (and more) may be “targets of opportunity” that the sniper can then engage at will, using their judgement and discretion, knowing that taking out these players may ultimately make a difference in the overall game. And lastly, of course, there’s the “sniper v countersniper” engagement and, as famed USMC Sniper, Carlos Hatchcock, once said:
“The most deadly thing on a battlefield is one wellaimed shot.”
One story that to me illustrates the “sniper v sniper” scenario is that of Hathcock in Vietnam - and I quote directly here from an article written by Larry Slawson…
“One of Hathcock’s most famous kills involved the clash with an enemy sniper known as “The Cobra.” Near Hill 55 (just southwest of Da Nang), Hathcock and his spotter, John Roland Burke, stalked the Cobra for several days after it was learned that he had killed several Marines in an attempt to lure Hathcock out of hiding (sources point out that the Cobra was sent to specifically kill Hathcock). After countless hours in the jungle, Hathcock caught a quick glint (light reflection from the enemy’s sniper scope) nearby. Already in the Cobra’s crosshairs, Hathcock was forced to rapidly take a shot. The shot became one of the most famous sniper kills of all time, as Hathcock’s bullet went straight into the Cobra’s scope, killing him instantaneously.”
Now THAT is truly “one shot, one kill”!
THE M24 SWS
I realise that the Modify Bolt Action Airsoft Sniper Rifle MOD24 is by no means a new airsoft sniper tool, as it was actually launched back in 2013 but then again, the real M24 has been around for some considerable
time too! The M24 Sniper Weapon System (SWS) is the military and police version of the Remington Model 700 rifle and the M24 and
M40 military sniper rifles, used by the US Army and USMC, were both based on the Model 700 design.
The M24 was the model adopted by the US Army as their standard sniper rifle in 1988 and was referred to as a
“weapon system” because it consisted of the rifle, a detachable telescopic sight and other accessories, namely the Leupold Ultra M3A 10×42mm fixed-power scope, which came with a circle- shaped mil-dot glass-etched reticle. This was later replaced in 1998 by the Leupold Mk 4 LR/T M1 10×40mm fixed-power scope with an elongated- shaped mil-dot wire reticle.
With this in mind I looked upon the Modify MOD24 with a view to game use, rather than solitary shooting on the range, as a “Mil” rife rather than a “Civvy” mode and my personal requirements for this were good power, a smooth action, a decent barrel as standard and a light weight… You don’t want something big and heavy when you’re crawling through the bushes now, do you - and all the modern “uber-chassis” have a little too much going on for my taste!
Modify themselves are no slouches when it comes to lightweight, precision performance parts. It’s said that some sixty years ago, Mr. Sun, a tinkerer, made the first watch hand in Taiwan and with the technology passed through generations, Modify have used that self-same watchmaking expertise to develop high-end airsoft guns and parts. In 2001 they started producing custom parts for airsoft guns and five years later the Modify brand was created for upgrade parts. In 2007 they launched the first Modular Gear Set in the market that shorted the time to install a gearbox from half an hour to sub-1 minute, and this was swiftly followed with the introduction of the Quantum Gear Set that
DOUBLED an AEG
ROF from 15 RPS to 30+ with a standard motor and 8.4v battery (Yup, an 8.4!
How times change!)! The creation of the MOD24 in 2013 was followed by the showcasing of the XTC-G1 at IWA 2015, showing that Modify could efficiently turn their expertise to all areas of airsoft and more recently we’ve seen their PP-2K GBB, which takes them in yet another direction! As I would therefore expect from a company like Modify, their MOD24 is an elegant rifle, with classic lines and a good, adjustable length of pull (sometimes abbreviated as LOP, this is the distance from the trigger to the part of a rifle which fits against the shoulder) and precision quality in evidence throughout. It weighs in without any accessories at just 2,800g, with an overall length of 1,100mm (min) and a respectable and “extremely straight” 6.08mm precision inner barrel length of 485mm. The bolt pull is minimal and exceptionally smooth - and them we come to the trigger, which sings to me as it offers adjustments for both travel and weight of pull; this is simply adjusted using the two hex screws at the top of the trigger, so you can set it just as you like it! The trigger is also wider than the norm and textured to give more sensitivity.
The MOD24 is really built for shot-to-shot consistency and reliability of accuracy and other features include a larger trigger guard (so you can use it in the winter with bulkier gloves), a removable milspec Picatinny rail to fit most optics, a steel cylinder and strengthened, metallic internal parts, easily (just turn the big screw) adjustable buttstock and two sling rings with an additional QD stud for a bipod. To top things off, the entire package is finished with a nonglare, anti-reflective coating.
One other feature (that is a bit “quirky”) is that the
MOD 24 comes with a 30BB magazine, complete with parts and batteries for an LED system inside so you can use Tracer BBs! Now quite why a sniper would wish to advertise their presence by using tracers is a little beyond me but (should you wish to in a night game) the magazine does mean that you don’t need to fit a tracer unit onto what is already a long rifle! The LED magazine only activates when it’s loaded into the rifle and full instructions are included in the manual, along with three small batteries to power it. Modify also offer a standard, non-LED 30BB magazine for the MOD24 as an accessory though.
“BOLT ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS”
Yup, I’m using another quote here, this time from the book “Crosshairs on the Kill Zone: American Combat Snipers, Vietnam through Operation Iraqi Freedom” by Craig Roberts but, to me, this quote puts everything into perspective about the role of the sniper! However, does the MOD24 live up to all the promises it appears to write technically?
Thankfully, my answer to that question is “Yes!”
I’ve been working with the spring-powered MOD24 for about a month now and, thus far, I’m extremely happy with it. The MOD24 features a simple and reliable bolt-action mechanism fed from that detachable 30BB box magazine and I’ve found the bolt to be smooth and simple to operate in all conditions, with a positive safety. From the box the MOD24 chrono’s nicely at 1.91 Joule/455fps with .20 BBs, but I am sure that could easily be tweaked higher and still comply with the “sniper” limits found at most sites. However, even at 455fps with the hop set correctly (easy to do), the long precision inner barrel and that amount of power there is a profound effect on range and accuracy.
Going up to the .30g Precision BBs kindly supplied in the box by Modify (in a funky little bottle to boot!) I was able to get a more solid trajectory and the MOD24 hurtled BBs 50m downrange with a huge “crack”, which was very satisfying! Once I’d dialled the 4X32 IR NP optic in, I was easily hitting the “dinner plate” targets at the furthest extent of the range, which is exactly what I’d hoped for from a new, un-bedded rifle. When I returned home, much as I hate numbers, I performed some basic calculations which told me that with a slight power-tweak, a .30g BB should, in principle, be able to haul ass way beyond the 50 metre mark, even when the rifle is “stock” and it would appear to me that the MOD24 is fully capable of hopping even heavier BB weights!
Delayed from last year for obvious reasons, this summer I’m finally setting up a new range to give more distance to shoot over and soon I will have 140m to play with, so I’m keen to see what the MOD24 will be able to achieve as it is. Once that has been tested, I believe that this beautiful rifle may be in line for some work to see just HOW FAR I can get a .30g to travel accurately! For now though, all things considered I’m satisfied with the Modify MOD24 and it’s exactly the kind of “reach out and touch somebody in game” rifle that I hoped it would be.
Bottom line, if the sniper role takes your fancy and you’re looking for a great quality, consistent bolt action rifle that’s good to go from the box and fully supported by the manufacturer, then the Modify MOD24 should most definitely be on your list to check out. You can easily get this in game without shelling out on a truckload of expensive custom parts and immediately have fun practicing those precision shots. Just make sure that you TRULY know how to use the MOD24 before you do though and to check in with “higher, higher”, get your mission and then stick to it. If you do this, then your team-mates will want you and your MOD24 with them at every single game!
Thanks to NUPROL for providing the test model. You can check out all the models from Modify and their many distribution brands by visiting www.nuprol. com AA
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