34 minute read
RED CELL: PLAYING THE LONG GAME
RED CELL
PLAYING THE LONG GAME
WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR WHEN IT COMES TO A “PRECISION AIRSOFT RIFLE”, AND WHAT DO WE MEAN BY THAT? WITHIN THE RANKS OF RED CELL WE HAVE MEMBERS WHO HAVE SEARCHED LONG AND HARD FOR THE BEST “LONG GUN” THEY CAN LAY THEIR HANDS ON, AND SOME OF THOSE RIFLES ARE VETERANS OF NUMEROUS GAMES WITH A HEALTHY “KILL COUNT” NOTCHED ON THEIR STOCKS! THIS MONTH, IN LINE WITH OUR THEME, RED CELL TAKE A LOOK AT SOME OF THEIR FAVOURITES, MANY THAT HAVE ALREADY UNDERGONE SOME RIGOROUS TESTING, BOTH IN-GAME AND ON THE RANGE!
Ah, the lure of the “Precision Rifle”! Virtually every airsofter I know has at one point or another looked at either a bolt action or semi-auto “sniper” models and thought “I’ll have me some of that”, but inevitably many hopes and dreams are dashed on the rocky shores of underperformance, leading the majority of players to walk away from platforms that don’t give them the vicarious and immediate thrill that an AEG or even a full-auto GBBR does!
Of course a minority stick with their beloved “long”, and put in the hours and hours of testing and development necessary to build a REALLY good rifle, marrying up upgraded internals (and even HPA systems) with a reliable optic, bipod, and other accessories to turn their stock rifle into an absolute tack driver at engagement distances that most AEG users can only dream about! They build a custom summer ghillie, again spending many hours getting this just right so that they can melt into the foliage of their favourite site, and then they create another to take into account changing foliage conditions in the winter months. They scour the interwebz for tutorials on camouflage, fieldcraft and stealthy movement, and some I know even delve into real, old-skool paper books to research the tactics used by real-life snipers over the ages.
Not only do they hunt for other players, but they constantly hunt for knowledge and an edge, that extra little bit of performance from their rifle, or that extra scrap of know-how that will allow them to ply their trade even more effectively!
I’ve known many airsoft snipers over the years, and some have been truly exemplary; when playing pick-up games in Florida I remember my friend Kyle (and his late father Scott, RIP old friend!) would simply disappear into the palms and mangroves at the start of the day, and the only thing we would see of him until game-end was players holding their arms up and crying “HIT” as he added another notch to the stock of his simply-amazing Maruzen L96. In larger games, Kyle was a real “force multiplier” for our team too, as he would range on our flanks, dealing with threats we never even knew about. If our advance was bogged down by a talented gunner or, lawd forbid, another good sniper I would call Kyle up to our line and simply say “deal with it”… and he would!
Thankfully I’ve known a few outstanding and talented airsoft snipers like Kyle, but like you I’m guessing, I’ve also known the ones that are either lone-wolf glory-hounds more interested in filming
their “killstreak” on their Go-Pros for some kind of weird and needy self-aggrandizement, or those that simply are inept!
I won’t mention the site, but at one game our advance was bogged down by an OPFOR gunner and as usual I made the call “Sniper Up!” Said “sniper” arrived with his tricked out VSR, spent a couple of minutes fiddling and settling, and then took his shot… and hit nowhere close! He took another shot and I actually watched the BB drift and curve lazily over the OPFOR position… again, NOWHERE close! Eventually I became so frustrated that I simply stood and loosed a burst from my AKS74U which by sheer chance nailed the opposing gunner, and I’m sure the look of disdain I gave that “sniper” remains with him to this day… but probably not, such are airsoft egos...
To me the success of a true airsoft sniper is not measured by the amount they spend on their rifle, but rather the effectiveness of their actions in game. Whilst by nature a sniper IS a bit of a “lone wolf” they can also be a hugely valuable member of any team if they are good at what they do. It should come as no surprise to you then that some of the rifles that Red Cell have chosen are not super-expensive, but instead are good, solid models that with minimal “fettling” and a good optic will let a GOOD shooter with the requisite mind and skillset get to business… and business will be good!
OPFOR GOLD
Bill: I’ll start the ball rolling with a righteous choice for the OPFOR players out there, and although Dan and Stewbacca have already sung the praises of the awesome Real Sword SVD I’ll offer up my own choice for this platform in the shape of the WE ACE VD GBBR.
The Dragunov (or “Snayperskaya Vintovka sistem’y Dragunova obraz’tsa 1963 goda (SVD-63), or Sniper Rifle, System of Dragunov, Model of the Year 1963” to give the rifle it’s full name!) is a unique rifle for several reasons. First, it was not meant for highly trained and specialised sniper teams, but rather for designated marksmen in an infantry support role…. So it fits airsoft perfectly! After the introduction of the rifle, the Soviet Army deployed designated marksmen at the basic motorised infantry rifle platoon level. Such marksmen were estimated to have a 50% probability of hitting a standing, man-sized target at 800m/875 yards, and an 80% probability of hitting a standing, man-sized target at 500m/547 yards. For distances not exceeding 200m/219 yards the probability was estimated to be well above 90%.
There are numerous airsoft manufacturers who make a Dragunov replica, and they are all, in the main, very nice indeed; a friend of mine still has a spring version which is great but of
course loses the flexibility of the semiauto function if you need it. I’ve had a chance
“THE DRAGUNOV (OR “SNAYPERSKAYA VINTOVKA SISTEM’Y DRAGUNOVA OBRAZ’TSA 1963 GODA (SVD-63), OR SNIPER RIFLE, SYSTEM OF DRAGUNOV, MODEL OF THE YEAR 1963”...) IS A UNIQUE RIFLE FOR SEVERAL REASONS. FIRST, IT WAS NOT MEANT FOR HIGHLY TRAINED AND SPECIALISED SNIPER TEAMS, BUT RATHER FOR DESIGNATED MARKSMEN IN AN INFANTRY SUPPORT ROLE…. SO IT FITS AIRSOFT PERFECTLY!”
to play around with electric versions too which have been great airsoft guns but somehow lacked character; most of the electric versions also require at least some major upgrading to get true performance from them, but thankfully this is an area where a good gas rifle can shine!
The ACE VD GBBR with the laminated wood suits me perfectly, and from word go I was thoroughly taken with this elegant yet functional battle rifle. I’ll get this out of the way first; the Dragunov is at 1215mm/48inches long a big rifle! That said, of course what that also means is that it does have an exceptionally long inner barrel too, coming in as it does at a whopping 620mm/24.5inches! When you’re talking about an airsoft rifle one of the things which helps with accuracy and range is barrel length (think smoothbore musket) and they don’t come much longer than this.
Although it is a long rifle it is far from ungainly; weighing in at 2900g/6.4lbs it’s really not that heavy and is a rifle you can happily carry all day. The construction is metal throughout, and the finish is absolutely first rate, a semi-matt black. The heavy, full-travel open bolt is finished in brushed silver which looks particularly attractive, and the laminated wood of the stock and handguard also looks spot on. The 22 BB gas magazine is also metal and finished the same as the receiver. Now let’s talk performance; when
I got my Dragunov I immediately handed it off to my “gas man” and asked him to do two things. 1) I wanted it as close to my local fields semi-auto 1.87 Joule/450fps DMR limit as possible, and 2) I wanted the trigger fettled for as smooth a break as possible; when he returned it to me I was getting a consistent 1.79 Joule/440fps on a .20g BB and the trigger broke like glass. What you need to consider here is that the trigger, unlike a battery powered AEG, can be worked on just like the real thing! You do also need to replace the stock hop-rubber as it’s awful, along with the nozzle as the “factory” one is made of cheese, and a very delicate soft cheese at that!
Moving up to .40g BBs to get a more solid trajectory the Dragunov hurtles them downrange with a huge “crack” which certainly turns some heads! Once I’d dialled the iron sights in I was easily hitting “hub-cap” targets at 50m, which is exactly what I’d hoped for. I’ve not invested in a “real deal” optic for mine as I’m perfectly happy on the “irons” and on those alone I’ve even hit a moving player at just over 100m… thankfully witnessed by my team-mates! All things considered I’m really, really happy with the ACE VD “Dragunov” and it’s exactly the kind of “reach out and touch somebody” rifle that I hoped it would be. Retailing iro UK£400 it’s a fabulous bit of kit and I keep it well-tuned mainly for MilSim events… mainly!
Dan: Airsofters seeking a reliable semi-auto airsoft sniper rifle outside of the conventional would do well to take a hard look at the CYMA OTs-33 SVU. This AEG is essentially a bullpup variant of the venerable SVD Dragunov design. Here, CYMA has made an excellent replica of this unusual looking firearm, and IMHO, the SVU and SVD are among CYMA’s best made AEG’s.
Unusual appearance aside, the bullpup format creates a nicely condensed length when compared to the full sized SVD, with a rear-biased center of gravity that makes the whole gun quite comfortable to shoulder and manipulate. Externally the SVU has a full metal steel body and fittings fitted with a modern polymer handguard, pistol grip and buttplate. The sheet metal dust cover is also fitted with a polymer cheek riser that extends over the top of the cover and makes aiming the rifle more comfortable. A beefy looking mock suppressor is affixed to the outer barrel as would be found on the real version. The polymer handguard can be separated to reveal the battery
compartment space, and below that is a folding bipod, which is attached to a long tube that extends the pivot point for the legs past the gas block area. As bipods go, this one is useable but more akin to something found on an LMG and not a precision rifle. It’s not especially rigid as the tube has some flex when “loading” up the bipod, and the legs do not rigidly lock into place when extended either. This is a removable assembly, though, and users wishing to shave a little weight might opt to remove it.
The pistol grip is hollow and does not contain the motor, as one might surmise. Some users with large hands might find it a bit short in length, but it’s otherwise serviceable. The actual safety is found here in the form of a crossbar style safety that prevents movement of the trigger linkage when the switch is in safe mode. Pushing it to the left will allow for firing.
A set of flip-up iron sights sits atop the rifle, with the rear being a peep style aperture that allows for elevation adjustment only. The front allows for windage and elevation changes. Most will never really use these as the rifle is intended to be used with optics, so they exist more as a backup than your main aiming source. The SVU features the same scope rail interface as the SVD series, so it has compatibility with SVD optics and optic rails that use an SVD mounting interface. Other SVU variants made by CYMA feature M-LOK rails and full length picatinny top rails for mounting western-style optics.
Aft of the pistol grip is the receiver proper, which has the mock bolt carrier, behind which is the hop up chamber and where you would adjust it. The traditional SVD style selector switch is also found here, but in this case, the SVU has a 3-position switch that also allows for firing in full auto. While a helpful feature for rectifying gearbox lockup (where rapidly operating the trigger in semi-auto and inadvertently short-stroking it might induce a gearbox jam), most fields require DMR’s and snipers to be locked to semi-auto only, so this will likely have to be disabled.
Just behind the motor grip is the magazine well, which can be fitted with either 120 round hicap or 80 round midcap SVD magazines. Presuming one can find them, Real Sword SVD magazines can also be fitted with some mild modification to the locking interfaces. The magazine release will be eminently familiar to anyone who’s handled an AK, and thusly is truly ambidextrous in operation. This design also works excellent for the bullpup format, and changing magazines is a breeze.
Moving over to the internals, we have the exact same gearbox as found on CYMA’s SVD, which is itself a clone of Real Swords “T3” gearbox design. There are some minor differences with respect to the requirements of the bullpup design, specifically the trigger linkage and selector gears. This uses an elongated cylinder design with a 19-tooth piston. Unlike the Real Sword, however, these are not
bore-up style compression parts, and are similarly sized to that found in the SR25. Thus, attempting to swap in a Real
Sword cylinder, cylinder head and piston will require a lot of modification. Generally speaking, I have found that with a little proper tuning and some AOE correction the stock
compression parts are quite strong and will handle more FPS than the rifle comes equipped with. The main weak points here are the air nozzle, which is regrettably made from clear polycarbonate and lacking an O-ring, and the piston head which is a crude and inelegant design. Both of these can fortunately be replaced with quality aftermarket options.
The trigger switch is a standard Ver. 3 setup, and would benefit from one wiring in a inline style MOSFET to help protect the contacts from burning out over time. On the gear side, we have an arrangement of four gears and CYMA’s 7mm crosshatch sintered bushings. The gears are a torquey 28.7:1 ratio gearset, with the 4th gear simply being a transfer gear, or idler gear, as it’s otherwise known. Paired with this setup is CYMA’s 22 TPA Neodymium motor, which provides good trigger response. Ideally, the SVU should be ran with 11.1v LiPo’s to obtain the best responsiveness out of it. The battery compartment is large enough to house normal buffer tube length LiPo’s and some larger stick styles in addition to a MOSFET.
The stock barrel is a 6.05mm bore diameter and comes equipped with a nice rotary style hopup chamber that has a true top-down-center hopup arm. Coupled with the secure mounting interface and rigidity of design, this makes it an ideal setup for eking out accuracy; especially with upgrades.
Despite the air nozzle lacking an O-ring, in my experience, most of these have rather good compression out of the box and will typically shoot in the nature of 1.8J / 440 FPS. For the money, the CYMA SVU is a great value for the user looking for something different in appearance and mannerisms that sets it apart from the usual plethora of bolt-guns on the field and the rank-and-file SR-25’s. It requires only minimal upgrades to reach its true potential and if so outfitted can be an excellent longrange suppression tool in the right hands.
Bill: Okay, it would be remiss of us not to include a dedicated OPFOR bolty, and of course the one that immediately springs to mind is the SV-98. Although there are now a couple of different airsoft models of this military rifle out in the wild now, along with some truly excellent custom versions, but I wanted an AS-98 and didn’t want to spend the earth, so I went for the Specna Arms version, and I’m actually pretty glad that I did!
The SV-98, or “Snaiperskaya Vintovka Model of 1998”, came about due to the need for Russian units to replace their aging stock of SVDs for the true “sniper role”. As good as the SVD is, it is essentially still a DMR in nature, and even though some models were accurized beyond the norm, specialist units still felt the need for a dedicated precision rifle due to their own changing roles. Developed in 1998 by a group of IZHMASH designers, led by Vladimir Stronsky and produced by JSC Kalashnikov Concern, the SV-98 is based on the design of the Record CISM full bore target shooting rifle series also made at Izhmash.
Thanks to the Specna Arms mantra that their CORE-series replicas will have “an attractive price in combination with good performance straight out of the box as well as high-quality materials” their SV-98 comes in at just UK£115 (UK£223 for the rifle/scope/ bipod package) which makes it an affordable choice. But that’s not to say that the price in any way relates
WE ACE VD GBBR
Price: iro UK£450.00 Age: Six Years Weight: 3400 g Length: 1220 mm Magazine Capacity: 22 BBs, Gas Cold Chrono: 1.79 Joule/440fps Hot Chrono: 1.87 Joule/449fps Supplied By: www.nuprol.com
REAL SWORD SVD AEG
Price: iro UK£750.00 (as new) Age: Many Years! Weight: 4800g Length: 1225 mm Magazine Capacity: 96 BBs Cold Chrono: 1.37 Joule/385fps (as new) Hot Chrono: As Per User Setup Supplied By: You’ll be lucky to find one!
CYMA SVU AEG
Price: iro UK£200.00 Age: Three Years Weight: 3500g Length: 920mm Magazine Capacity: 200 BBs Cold Chrono: 0.92 Joule/ 315fps fps Hot Chrono: 1.01 Joule/331.8fps Supplied By: www.iwholesales.co.uk
SPECNA ARMS SV98 SPRING
Price: iro UK£115.00 Age: Two Years Weight: 3755g Length: 1210mm Magazine Capacity: 65 BBs Cold Chrono: 1.58 Joule/413fps (as new) Hot Chrono: 1.58 Joule/413fps Supplied By: www.gunfire.com
APS M40A3 SPRING
Price: iro UK£106.00 Age: 18 Months Weight: 2920g Length: 1140mm Magazine Capacity: 45 BBs Cold Chrono: 2.77 Joule/547fps Hot Chrono: 2.77 Joule/547fps Supplied By: www.taiwangun.com
EVOLUTION M40 SPRING
Price: iro UK£100.00 Age: One Year Weight: 2900g Length: 1140mm Magazine Capacity: 30 BBs Cold Chrono: 1.01 Joule/330fps Hot Chrono: 1.01 Joule/330fps Supplied By: www.evolution-airsoft.com
SPECNA ARMS SA-S02 SPRING
Price: iro UK£100.00 Age: Three Years Weight: 2815g Length: 1135mm Magazine Capacity: 20 BBs Cold Chrono: 1.73 Joule/433fps Hot Chrono: 1.73 Joule/433fps Supplied By: www.gunfire.com
ASG STEYR SCOUT SPRING
Price: iro UK£440.00 Age: One Year Weight: 2950 g Length: 1000 mm Magazine Capacity: 32 BBs Cold Chrono: 1.8 Joule/440fps (as new) Hot Chrono: 1.8 Joule/440fps Supplied By: www.landwarriorairsoft.com
ARES MS338 (M40A6) SPRING
Price: iro UK£560.00 Age: Two Years Weight: 4700g Length: 860mm/1090mm/1145mm Magazine Capacity: 78 BBs Cold Chrono: 1.47 Joule/401fps Hot Chrono: 1.47 Joule/401fps Supplied By: www.iwholesales.co.uk
ARES STRIKER AS-01 SPRING
Price: iro UK£170.00 Age: Two Years Weight: 4100g Length: 1085mm Magazine Capacity: 45 BBs Cold Chrono: 1.08 Joule/336.7.9fps Hot Chrono: 1.08 Joule/338.1fps Supplied By: www.iwholesales.co.uk
to “out of the box” quality and performance though!
I’ve been working with the spring-powered SV98 for a couple of years, and their SA-SO2 boltaction for significantly longer, and thus far I’m still extremely happy with both models. The Specna Arms SV-98 replica features a simple and reliable boltaction mechanism fed from a detachable 65BB box magazine, and I’ve found the bolt to be smooth and simple to operate in all conditions. Internally the SV-98 is put together with parts compatible with the “TM standard”, and I’ve found that many small upgrade parts just drop right on in, although I’ve done nothing significant to it.
In terms of construction the SV-98 is made of metal and reinforced polymer; metal parts include the entire external barrel along with the chamber, trigger and charging handle as well as RIS accessory rails and all assembly elements such as screws. The chassis with the stock, stock pad and the magazine are made of solid polymer and rubber; the use of Specna’s own NCore reinforced polymer makes the construction very durable and the matte finish of the chassis gives the rifle a striking and unique look; oh, that green (you can have boring black, tan, or olive if you wish)! The stock has three adjustment points as the cheek pad and the comfortable, profiled buttpad can be adjusted for height and length. At the bottom of the stock, there is an adjustable monopod that improves that helps stabilise the rifle when shooting prone.
The SV-98 is at 1210mm/48-inches long a big rifle! That said, of course what that also means is that it does have an exceptionally long 585mm/23 inch inner barrel too! From the box the SV-98 chrono’d nicely at 1.58 Joule/413fps with .20 BBs , but I’ve tweaked that higher but still comply with the “sniper” limits found at most sites. Set now at 470fps with the hop set correctly (easy to do, it’s a big dial on the bottom of the chassis!), the long inner barrel, and that amount of power I can easily hit accurately to 7580m using a .40g which is perfectly fine by me! I may still make some further improvements to the internal operation in the future, but for now though, all things considered I’m really, really happy with the Specna Arms SV-98.
MORE MIL!
Bill: If you’re looking for a more BLUFOR “Mil-style” precision rifle, then once upon a time I would have immediately said “go for an L96”, but times move on and this venerable platform has largely been superceded. What I look at personally in a “Mil” rifle now usually find me picking up some form of “M40” rifle, and one of my favourites of the last few years is most definitely the APS APM40A3!
An airsoft M40 for just 105 Great British quids though, there had to be a catch… but a few years down the road I’m yet to find one. The first name to catch my eye here was APS Limited (best known for their CAM 870 shell-ejecting shotgun system, and closely followed by that name was another, that of Hakkotsu, they of the “Hades Arrow Mortar System” fame! So, with all this under my hat I was convinced that I’d found a bit of a “hidden gem”, and it has proved to be that I was totally right!
With the M40 no major introduction is required other than to say it’s the 7.62mm NATO boltaction sniper rifle used by the
United States Marine Corps. Built from a Remington 700 bolt-action rifle, and modified by USMC armourers at Marine Corps Base Quantico, it has had five variants, the M40, M40A1, M40A3, M40A5, and the M40A6/7. The M40 was first introduced way back in 1966, and the changeover to the A1 model was completed in the 1970s, the A3 in the 2000s, the A5 in 2009, and the A6/7 in 2016. Covering many different timelines, and featured in both “Jarhead” and “Sniper” it’s a well-known and much-loved rifle both in real and airsoft form.
Externally the rifle is very neatly achieved. All the black metal parts including the above-chamber rail are very nicely finished
with a matt effect which gives the rifle a classy look. The furniture is available in plain black, plain desert tan and Multicam Black (for a bit more money of course!). Throughout the moulded furniture is very precise with no gaps or prominent lines present, and both the grip area and the forestock are nicely stippled for ease of retention.
The action is super-smooth and precise. With a short lift and sharp pull to the rear there is a little resistance due to the power (oh, the power!) but you soon get used to this. Internally you will find a 6.03 Stainless Steel Inner Barrel as standard; the M40 actually has six built in inner barrel stabilisers and APS/Hakkotsu have ensured that there is perfect alignment of the inner barrel as it is installed in the rifle. It appears to me that they wanted to make sure the accuracy of this rifle is outstanding from the get go, and it is.
APS/Hakkotsu don’t call this rifle the “EXTREME POWER VERSION” for nothing! This thing came out of the box at a whopping 2.77 Joule/547fps on a .20g, and at this power level you may find some sites that won’t be happy with it as a skirmish tool.
I however got mine purely for use as a
“precision target rifle” and it will never be shot at another player, so I’m more than happy. Thus far I’ve been feeding the beast .40g BBs and it seems more than happy with these!
Bjorn: I’ve had fun getting the EVOLUTION M40 on the range, fitted with a Harris-style Bipod, and a Vortex 4-16x50 Crossfire II optic, and so far I’ve kept things down to 50m. The rifle itself is certainly capable of more though; I test fired a few shots to dial in the hop up and then chrono’d it (that’s the way over here in Sweden) and it chrono’d in at just below 1 Joule which is perfectly acceptable for a “stock” bolt-action spring rifle.
To start with I tried some 0.32g BBs as my other guns tuned to 1 Joule are set up with them. I continued to shoot, and soon figured out 0.32g was just too much for the rubber to handle at this power, and I found that actually 0.28g and 0.30g gave a better result range-wise. So after clearing that up and adjusting a bit back and forth, I went to the range for some target practice!
We have an old shooting range nearby that I was able to access for testing and to take pictures; it’s a kinda old military range with huge numbers set up in the sand, and goes out to 200+ metres, more than enough for an airsoft rifle!
First off I set up three plate targets of medium size, (300mm x 300mm approximately) at 30, 40 and 50 metres, as I figured it was what I could expect with this amount of power and a newer rifle. At 30m: no problem! Hits every time! At 40m, still okay, maybe hits about every second shot. At 50m: okay… now it got a bit challenging! I was hitting the plate about every fifth BB, but remember that this is a brand-new rifle, and the size of the target at 50m was… small! So, maximum range out of the box I would say is just above 50 metres for a player-size target, but again, the stock rifle as new I got for testing was only at just below 1 Joule! However, the look of the rifle? It screams tactical and awesomeness right away. Assembling it is very easy, just some screws basically. I did notice the rifle is rather heavy, much heavier than my TM VSR
rifle, but for a potential precision rifle this is not a bad thing as you want a solid shooting base for consistent accuracy.
Bill: Okay, time to get real! I do love the classic M40 style of rifle, but of course then something comes along that is all “Gucci and shiny” that turns your head and makes your plans go slightly awry, and I’m as guilty of that as any of you! For me that moment came at IWA when I first laid eyes on the ARES MS338/M40A6 MSR on the iWholesales display in 2019!
The Modular Sniper Rifle, or MSR, is a bolt-action sniper rifle developed and produced by Remington Arms for the United States Army. It was introduced in 2009, and was designed to meet specific United States Army and USSOCOM Precision Sniper Rifle requirements. In 2013, the MSR was declared the winner of the Precision Sniper Rifle competition. This was followed by a $79.7 million contract for 5,150 rifles with suppressors, along with 4,696,800 rounds of ammunition to be supplied over the next ten years according to MilitaryTimes. com.
In 2013, the USMC released a solicitation for the M40 Modular Stock Program. Upgraded features included a folding stock, compatible with current M40 actions and barrels, to make the rifle more compact for transportation inside confined spaces like vehicles and a full-length rail to accommodate optics and accessories; the M40A5 has only a few inches of rail space beyond the scope for a night vision optic, so extending the rail length would allow more accessories to be attached, enabling snipers to put rounds on target under any conditions. The resulting weapon from the program was originally to be re-designated the M40A6.
Officially licensed by Remington, the ARES MS338 spring-powered boltaction sniper rifle is a faithful replica of the MSR/M40A6; as well as being a real-world tack-driver, this rifle gained a popular following from video games like Call of duty Modern Warfare3 and Ghost Recon Future Soldier! Of full metal construction and weighing in at 4758g, this is a precision rifle that you can actually carry easily. At just 890mm with the stock folded it’s easy to strap on a pack in addition to your primary, but at 1100mm with the stock extended it becomes a thoroughly usable beast. Ergonomic features include an adjustable riser/cheekrest, and a fully adjustable butt for a perfect fit that is entirely tailored to you. Mini RIS rails on the butt allow you to attach accessories or a monopod on the rear for a more stable shooting platform.
The upper receiver on the MS338 is CNC aluminium, while the lower receiver is die cast aluminium alloy. The fore-grip, barrel, flash hider and rail are CNC machined as well for greater authenticity. I understand from “sniper friends” that the spring cocking system is compatible with the TM VSR-10 system, which means that you can use after-market performance parts designed for the VSR-10 in this rifle.
The MS338 chronos on a .20gat a very tidy 1.47 Joule/401fps; I’d hoped for more, but “400” is in my mind more than adequate to get cracking with! At 50m on .40g with very little error I was soon able to hit an A4 sheet of paper, and then working slowly but surely I was able to pull the grouping of the BBs in towards the centre of the cross drawn upon it. As it was spot-on at 50m I saw no reason whatsoever that it would be a no-brainer reaching that 70m mark, and this proved to be the case once I got an optic up top!
The whole feel of the MS338 is absolutely lovely, and the action of the bolt is silky smooth, meaning that you can easily stay on target between shots. The trigger is crisp with almost zero take-up. The pistol grip is sublime with a great shape and some super texturing, and that butt… oh boy! You can fiddle with this to your heart’s content to get it absolutely perfect!
GOING “CIVVY”
Bill: Now for many airsoft snipers out there the TM VSR-10 is king, and it’s undoubtedly a cool base rifle; however, reams and even volumes have already been written on this rifle so we’re not going to bore you on OUR thoughts too! However, if you want something that doesn’t really scream “Mil” at all then there are some fine crossover choices on which to base your bolty!
My personal choice for this is the Specna Arms SA-S02 CORE as it’s inexpensive (the basic S02 comes in just under €100!), easy to work on and upgrade, and even comes as a “package” if you want to get into the sniper role on a budget! In terms of looks the SA-S02 CORE still closely resembles the M40 rifle design, but in a pared-back way. Up top is a standard Picatinny mounting rail, so it’s again easy to fit an optic, and the S02 also features a short section of rail for the bipod, along with two double-sided swivels for the attachment of a QD tactical sling; if you prefer you can mount the bipod to the swivel stud which brings it closer to the chassis.
The furniture itself is made from metal and reinforced polymer; the use of “Ncore” reinforced polymer makes the construction very durable and adds a nice matt finish to the chassis. In addition, metal elements feature a Nano Coating finish that prevents scratches, and metal parts include the entire external barrel along with the chamber, trigger and charging handle as well as RIS accessory rails and all assembly elements such as screws, with the bolt carrier featuring laser-engraved Specna Arms markings. The chassis with the butt, butt pad and the magazine are made of solid polymer, and the butt has a comfortable rubber pad, the thickness of which can be adjusted using a set of exchangeable overlays. In combination with the adjustable cheek pad it allows
adjusting the butt to user preferences. A neat safety is located next to the bolt and can be operated with your thumb.
Internally the S02 (apart from the Hop-Up chamber and the magazine) is fully-compatible with the everpopular VSR-10, which enables easy power tuning and means that spare and upgrade parts will never be an issue! I have to say that it looks the business, and power testing as standard on a .20g BB gave me a very consistent mean of 1.65 Joule/423fps which is brilliant straight from the packaging! Range is also solid out to 50m using a .30 BB, and I can still punch out to 65m accurately if I try hard enough! This rifle from me gets a big “thumbs up”.
Chris: I have to admit since buying the Steyr Scout at the tail end of 2021, I’ve only fielded it a handful of times (four maximum) being only able to play once a month due to “adulting commitments” and wanting to use my AUG. But, what little experience I have with this replica is all extremely pleasing. It’s first game was at full stock strength and innards, which I may say is extremely impressive, I did however paint the stock a nice OD to match my AUG; okay I have a thing about Steyr guns in OD/ black! Since first game the only parts I’ve changed/added are the main spring, to bring it down, yes… down... to 345fps with a .20; why would I want to use a bolty at low power? Several reasons, but chiefly, it’s a scout rifle. The whole scout rifle doctrine as described by Jeff Cooper is something I have subscribed to, having an accurate bolt action rifle that can engage at close range quickly makes airsoft very fun for me, I’ve been playing for so long now that these little challenges keep me going! Aside from downgrading, I have installed the Modify H Nub (blue), and this has made an already very accurate replica even more so; I’m not talking real rifle subMOA accuracy but using a 1.5x scout scope it’s putting a .36 on a figure 11 target’s centre mass at 50 meters every time. It may not sound amazing but some users are reporting they are putting .40+ upwards of 90 meters with the same accuracy using stock internals and just the H Nub added.
Pretty impressive for a toy!
Overall, I’m still massively impressed with a replica I’ve waited 20+ years for, and my only single gripe is that it doesn’t feed from the proper mag well… always something to work on, isn’t there… it’s airsoft!
Bill W-R: What to say about the ARES Striker? Well, in its various iterations it has something to suit everyone, from the standard AS01, the upgraded AS02 to the bonkers AS03 “knee capper”! My AS02 had a short but fruitful time with me following spring, piston and hop upgrades. A raft of add-ons are available and there is a great facebook community for owners which is mature and non-toxic for a pleasant change.
As for my AS02 I loved the adjustability at the stock-end and the built in holder for the spare magazine is a wonderful touch. I feel that some more could be done by ARES to up the performance and quality to bring it line with competitors hitting the market like the Scout. It has always surprised me that some manufacturers just sit back and concentrate on volume rather than evolution.
With the range having now been out for quite a few years now it would be good to see the next generation of these come out. Overall a good platform that needs some money to be invested in it including the aftermarket hop adjuster which ARES should really have included in the rifle.
Bill: So, there you have it, the Red Cell meanderings on what we ourselves use and why! Being an airsoft sniper doesn’t mean you have to throw gazillions of buckeroos at your preferred platform, but it does mean that you need to put time in both in terms of making that platform as accurate as possible, and in learning ALL the skills that make the sniper a truly useful, and valued member of any team!
See you out on the field… but then again, maybe not, if you’re doing it right! AA
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