Airsoft Action - November 2021

Page 80

RELOADED G&G CM16 RAIDER 2.0

G&G CM16 RAIDER 2.0

WHEN YOU WANT TO SHOW NON-AIRSOFT FRIENDS A FUN TIME, OR HAVE A RELIABLE BACK-UP FOR FRIENDS HAVING A BAD DAY, THEN YOU WANT A SENSIBLY PRICED BUT COOL LOOKING AR (… OR TWO) DON’T YOU? BILL LOOKS BACK ON A MODEL THAT’S JUST MORE THAN A LITTLE DIFFERENT FROM THE HERD, IN THE FORM OF THE RAIDER 2.0 FROM G&G, A CARBINE THAT HAS EVERYTHING GOING FOR IT AND HAS STOOD UP WELL TO THE TEST OF TIME AND HARD USE!

A

s somebody that has been reviewing airsoft replicas for a considerable time, I have to admit that I do sometimes give a little shudder when I hear from one of the manufacturers that they have a new model they would like me to take a look at, especially when asked they use a phrase something akin to “…well, it’s basically an M4 but…”. If you have even the most perfunctory of glances at airsoft models online, or indeed even in your local shop, you’re going to see a lot - and I do mean A LOT - of “AR/M4” carbine replicas. In one way you can view this as a positive, as it means that there is a plethora of accessory upgrade parts, both internal and external, for the AR as it is such a popular choice for players but bolting aftermarket parts into and onto your AEG or GBB means that you can soon run into spending more than the gun cost in the first place. Once upon a time this was the way you would have to go if you wanted something even vaguely unique, but as time moves inexorably onwards manufacturers are adding more and more parts to “out of the box” airsoft replicas than ever before. A couple or so years back I decided to buy a couple of reasonably priced ARs to put into my armoury as friends who had not played airsoft kept asking me all about it and wanted to have a go. As much as I have quite a collection (which is STILL growing!) of ARbased rifles and carbines (and don’t get me started on AKs!), I thought it easiest just to buy in a couple as “loaners”, carbines that I knew would perform well 80

NOVEMBER 2021

that would give “non-‘softers” a taste on the range before I introduced them to the game as a whole. These could also act as “loaners” for friends having a crisis of one kind or another on “game day” and these “soon-to-be-very-abused” carbines were the G&G CM16 Raider 2.0! I chose this model because I’d had good experience with G&G in the past (apart from the odd, easy-torectify glitch in their very earliest models and some Mosfet hi-jinks which I’ve come to expect from time to time with any manufacturer in fairness) and the Raiders were robust but not overly heavy (2,200g), were sturdily made of polymer but with an alloy outer barrel, charging handle, buffer tube and had both a singlepoint sling plate and flip-up sights fitted as standard. They also had pretty robust internals based on a good V2 box, meaning that they were easy to work on and fix should things go awry - and also there was a big (HUGE!) range of aftermarket upgrades and replacement parts that would be available if I wanted to do anything with them at a later date. I also actually liked the fact that they still had a simple inline fuse to protect things, and a minimum of “fancy parts” to go wrong. The fact that the battery compartment was in the stock/buffer tube (so, easy and fast to change) and that they worked with just about any and every “AR” magazine I owned was a bonus too!


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