I want to start a disclaimer stating that I realize that this isn't a "real airsoft gun" but for someone that's just starting out... I think it's a heck of a steal and wanted to post a newb's review of my first experiences, in the interest of hopefully saving a lot of headaches/noob threads about it. *If we only knew how to use the search button lol*
I had typed this all out on the Atlantic Airsoft forum, so I'll just link there. If anyone wishes, I could probably import it into this forum for ease of access however.
Hopefully, this will be a help to SOMEONE anyway.
I haven't seen many Warrior 1 reviews, and I don't think any here at all, so I'm going to post my own with the hope of helping someone else decide if this is the rifle for them or not.
Also, if anyone wants me to try tests with this rifle, I'd be more than happy to do what I can with what I have.
Before I start, there's a couple of things I'd like to mention:
I purchased this rifle from A&A Airsoft. The guy that was there was very very helpful, honest, and quick to respond to e-mails. I appreciate that his customer service was so prompt and helpful - great guy.
Also, I'm still a noob to airsoft, so quite honestly this review might be biased with my lack of experience. That being said, I tried to offer as much factual information as opposed to opinion that way you all have the ability to create your own judgment instead of relying on "how I feel" about things.
Ok - On with the Review.
Service - awesome. Mentioned above.
The shipping took a little over a week, but I didn't pay for faster shipping so I got exactly what I expected lol
The packaging was entirely adequate, and did what it was supposed to (It made it to me safely)
Instead of just letting it sit there, I decided I wanted to see what was inside ;-)
"WTF" Was my initial thought: I ordered the Well Warrior 1... not this Mauser SR thing. (Honestly, I was a little put off by it... ) I didn't quite know how I felt entirely though, and it looked exactly like the Warrior 1 so I decided to open it up and take a look.
Well, it LOOKS like a Warrior 1... so I took a little closer inspection to see what details would lead me to believe it is.
I didn't take pics of when I took the trigger assembly apart, but I did shoot this:
After closer inspection, I was relieved to know that it actually is the exact same 3rd party/china replica. Didn't actually SAY Warrior 1 on it, but everywhere I check has the *EXACT* same parts and labeling, so I'm satisfied that I am getting what I asked/paid for.
In more detail of what actually came with this rifle:
The only thing I'm not showing there is the mounting clamps for the scope (at this point I didn't realize that I didn't have them there until I went to mount the scope and couldn't find them anywhere.)
What we're looking at is 1 Mag, (Capacity say 23, I can get 25 in but haven't really pushed it beyond that), cleaning tube (plastic rod), barrel assembly, stock, scope, bipod, allen/hex keys, speed loader with L96 mag extension, strap.
My thoughts on these items:
Mag: Metal, solid, and works. Simple, I like it.
Cleaning tube: It's a plastic rod. I'll probably get an actual cleaning rod or pipe cleaner or something that will do a better job, however it'll get stuck bb's out of there if I ever get any (here's to hoping I don't)
Barrel assembly: Metal. Heavy Metal. I'll talk about it more later.
Stock: It's plastic which is fine... It's a very solid plastic which I like. I think I might prefer a metal one, but it's heavy enough as it is, and I do find that it's well balanced so it's pretty easy to carry.
Bipod: I have an opinion on that later too
Allen keys: Yes - they're metal too lol (They work, whatever)
Speed loader: Nice - I didn't have one of these before now - holds around 90 rounds and seems to work well enough on all of my guns
Strap: Wow - the strap is awesome! BUT: The metal brackets are garbage. They're a thin, cheap metal and look like they could come off at any time. Honestly, the straps nice, but I wouldn't trust the mounting clips whatsoever. I could see the gun go flying in the middle of a game... My advice: "File 13" it. (Throw away)
BB's: Yeah - no markings... no weight, no way to tell if they'd jam up the gun. I saved them for my handgun, but I doubt I'll even use them for that. (Toss away for most of you I imagine)
So here it is, fully assembled.
Initial thoughts:
HUGE. I didn't expect it to be this big. I mean, I knew it was a larger rifle, but this is really massive and pretty heavy too. Around 8-9 lbs... very solid feel honestly.
What's metal: The entire internal trigger assembly is metal, just the external casing is plastic. The trigger itself is also metal, except the dual inner trigger which needs to be pressed to allow the actual trigger to be pulled. (It could be metal, and I just can't tell, but it looks and feels slightly different than the rest of the materials. I could be just crazy though)
The entire barrel itself is metal, and so are the scope mounts. The scope is also metal, and seems to be pretty good... Standard 3-9x40 scope that came with the rifle. The stock is plastic, with very solid rubber parts, and doesn't feel flimsy at all. I wouldn't want to drop this rifle, but I feel confident that if I did, it would be totally fine.
The BiPod is also metal, though I'm not very impressed with the quality of the bipod. I mean, it works, yes, but it's just very... flimsy? Once it's attached to the front stock of the gun, it's well in place, and as I understand it, it's supposed to be able to flex a little so you can aim, etc... Maybe I guess I'm not used to what a good-quality one is like so I can't make a direct comparison. I just thought it would be more solid than it is.
I did take this rifle apart and one of the issues that other people have had is that the barrel spacers are often misplaced (slide around) which can have a negative impact on their accuracy. I did disassemble the barrel and removed the brass barrel (noticing several things along the way that I'll mention) and the spacers were definitely misaligned. I used some tape to make sure they don't slide along the inside of the tube, and put everything back together:
Success
(I was able to hit stuff just fine)
So far my initial thoughts were good... but I was having this nagging issue: I couldn't set up the scope for the life of me - I just couldn't get it to sit properly or aim right.
Well - here's where I'm going to fully admit my "noobness" for airsoft. When I assembled this rifle, the accuracy was horrible. I started troubleshooting, trying to find out why:
I took apart the entire gun and discovered a few things (The barrel spacers being the first issue, but I fixed that)
The hopup, which sucks by the way, was just a little piece of rubber, being pushed down by a round clamp that is adjusted with a female hex screw.
Does it work, sure, but not very well - it's quite inconsistent and I couldn't figure out why!
After more searching, I realized that it was actually crooked! So I took apart the hopup and did my best to straighten things out. I have a Taurus 24/7 springer that uses "V-hop Technology" and it seems to work really well... I don't know why they didn't use that instead, but I DO know something that I'd like to upgrade later on... that before using this one, I didn't think makes any difference.
Anyway, I fixed the hopup the best I could, adjusted the spacers, cleaned out the inner barrel of any grease/grime/debris, and put things back together.
So it started shooting VERY straight... I was extremely impressed.
**Message truncated due to size**
**Continued in following post**