ASC,
About 3 weeks ago I finally made up my mind on which airsoft gun I wanted to go with. I originally was thinking of going with an M14, but because of the version 7 gearbox, and lack of upgradeable parts I went with the g&g m16a3 max.
Not really knowing too much about the max series, aside from the boastful reviews on websites about the "480fps" they are suppose to shoot I was a bit concerned that these guns had a 140 or 150 spring thrown into them so they could sell them faster because of their admirable fps statistics. My worry being great, they shoot near 500 fps, but can the internals handle all that? After much research, and not finding really too much I figured someone had to start the trend. I went down to my local airsoft shop (forest city surplus London Ontario) and bought the gun. It came close to 600 dollars with taxes, which is alot to pay for a gun you are unsure about.
My first impressions were good. The box was amazing, one of the nicest boxes I've ever seen on an airsoft gun, and all the parts were securely packaged inside with no room for risk of damage. When I picked the gun up, it was alot heavier then I thought it would be, but it was a very balanced weight, not too barrel heavy. One of my concerns were the plastic stock and handguards, because from experience (one of my ICS M4's) plastic stocks don't survive through much beating around the bush, I will start by saying you don't have to worry about this gun breaking any time soon. I can easily say it has the best and strongest plastic I've ever felt on an AEG (and I've felt many) and I could even go as far as saying it is better then any TM plastics I've felt.
The gun comes with a very nice manual, which clearly shows basic cleaning skills and how to care for the gun. It also includes a 9.6v 1600 ma battery, smart charger, cleaning rod, a 450round high cap (very durable all metal) a pair of g&g safety glasses and an M100 spring to lower the fps if desired. I charged the battery until it was full, grabbed some ics .20's I had laying around and took it out back for some shooting. The first shot I took said it all, without any hop up engaged, this gun shot at least 100 feet, and you could tell there was some power behind it. After adjusting the hop up, I could hit the fence at the back of my yard, after measuring that my fence is about 260feet from where I was shooting, not accurately, but I could hear then ping off the wood. Amazing, is the word I could use to describe it.
I decided it was time to chrono the gun. With .20 bbs, it shot an average of 483 fps, with .25's it shot around 436 and with .28's it shot close to 407. After putting a scope on it, sighting it up and getting some paper targets made up, I found I could hit a 14 inch group at 180 feet, and I hot about every other shot at 200. After that, I could hit a target at 230 feet one in every 5 or 6 shots. That is some serious range for an airsoft gun. Much further then the TM L96 I have, which maxed out around 200feet. Being a curious one, I wanted to open this gun up, to find out what G&G has done to make this gun so much far superior then other guns I've used. What I saw what the most upgraded and well built gearbox I've ever seen and the best quality parts I've seen in a gun. Upgraded piston, piston head, cylinder, gears, motor, barrel you name it g&g upgraded it.
As a final sum up, if your a CQB player, the max series is not for you. Just because if you downgrade it to the m100 spring, your missing out on its true potential, and there are many other guns that would suit CQB better. If you play alot of outdoor games like me, need the best range and power you can find, a G&G max series gun would be the best choice for you. I have external parts coming in the mail right now to upgrade this rifle to a DMR, and then hopefully to an SPR (when I win the lottery... lol)
Appearance: 10 the guns full metal, solid construction shows no sign of ever wearing out.
Performance: 10 shooting targets at 200feet before they even have the chance to react can change the tide of a firefight, if you could even call it a firefight when they can't even fight back.
Value for money: 9 the only reason I give this gun a 9, is because G&G guns are not compatible with all upgrade parts, meaning some parts may not fit where others will. Other then that, in my opinion there isn't any other gun I would have spent 600 dollars on. I now call G&G my favourite brand, and if you don't have the money for a max series, save. Its worth every penny to not have to worry about upgrades or operating issues.
ps. the tape on the stock is a cheek rest, and the paper is windage and range references, they did not come on the gun
as of AUGUST 20th
I fielded the gun for the first time today, and was blown away. I played for 8 hours at adrenaline paintballs field in melbourne. After that 8 hours I have a few things to say about the gun.
To start, its accurate and can still shoot as I said it could, reaching 200 feet with some accuracy, using IRON SIGHTS ONLY. With a scope could have changed things, a little at least being able to track your BB's better. I put about 1000 I would guess BB's through it. The mag it comes with feeds great, no issues there and doesn't take a hell of a lot of winding like other high caps seem to. I also realized that the mag itself is much bigger then most high caps, and hold 600 rounds! A little much for me, but whatever! Back to the point, the gun does not however shoot as they say it should... after playing today I took the time to chrono it again to see it dropped about 20fps, so watch out for the fact that the spring does need to relax, and the fps ratings they provide are on a brand new spring. One other issue I can across is that I was changing my battery, and left the connectors hanging out, but when I bumped the door of the battery compartment when it was open it pinched the wires that were hanging out. It didn't do any serious damage, but I wouldn't doubt that if you were to hit the door hard enough it would close and cut your connecting wires right off! WATCH OUT FOR THIS! I would assume I will have to replace my wires someday now because of this...
Aside from those small issues, I can't really say much more. It shoots accurate, and well, just not as fast as they preach. It seems to be very solid so far.