M82A1 - ArniesAirsoft - Review Archive

Author

danyboy

Registered: August 2006
Posts: 3

Review Date: 29/8/06

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 9

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Wow Factor \| Cheap \| Accurate \| Powerful
Cons:	Flaws in magazine and hop in early versions \| No Blowback

world.guns.ru says :

The Barrett Firearms company was founded by the Ronnie Barrett for a single purpose of building semi-automatic rifles chambered for powerful .50BMG ammunition, originally developed for and used in Browning M2HB heavy machine guns. Barrett began his work in early 1980s and first working rifles were available in 1982, hence the designation M82. Barrett continued to develop his rifle through 1980s, and developed improved M82A1 rifle by 1986. The first real success was the purchase of about 100 M82A1 rifles by the Sweden Army in 1989. Major success followed in 1990 - 1991, when US Military purchased numbers of the M82A1 during the operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm in Kuwait and Iraq. About 125 rifles were initially bought by US Marine Corps, orders from US Army and Air Force followed soon. The M82A1 is known for US Military as the SASR - "Special Applications Scoped Rifle", and it was and still is used as an anti-materiel weapon and EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) tool. The long effective range along with high energy and availability of highly effective ammunition such as API and Raufoss M213 allows for effective operations against targets like radar cabins, trucks, parked aircrafts and so on. M82 also can be used to defeat enemy snipers or criminals from standoff range or when targets are behind the cover, but the anti-personnel work is not a major application for Barrett M82 (or any other .50BMG rifle, for that matter).

Other info:
Though the effective range of the rifle is 1,800m US Marines have had confirmed kills out to 2.4Km.

Here is a clip of the M82 featured on Future Weapons

VFC's M82A1

Calibre: 8mm
Length: 1448mm
Weight: 9 kilos
Power: Gas / HFC134a
Magazine Capacity: 40

When the rifle finally arrived from TMC I struggled to get it through the door, the box was nearly as tall as me and probably weighed 15 kilos. Inside the two-tiered box were the two sections of the rifle in its correct field-striped configuration. The top frame holds the whole barrel and is secured using a large clamp. The clamp in turn is connected by two large springs which allows the barrel to recoil mimicing the real rifle. Both rifle sections are secured using two pins at either end.

The large magazine (itself weighing a kilo) holds 40, 8mm BBs and secures to the rifle with a satisfying clunk. It takes practice to insert the mag correctly without BBs falling out.

I've attached a 3-9* scope onto the rail which is probably more magnification than needed. The bipod folds out one leg at a time though much of the rifle's 9 kilos is still at the shooters end. I find myself proping the rifle up with my free hand in the rear buttstock handle.

The sheer size of it hits you again when you come to fire the thing. Yes it really is that big! 1.4 meters from muzzle brake to buttstock. You really need to be prone to fire it and preferably on higher ground than your target, else you have to prop the rear of the rifle up. Trying to fire the rifle on day one from inside my house was difficult - lying prone added with the rifle's length meant i couldn't strech my legs out.

Initial zeroing-in was quite easy, there was no real variance in hop. It was either too much or on target. This is a problem in the early M82s from VFC and I think the 2nd generation have tackled this.

One other problem to note was the magazine when fully filled jammed after the first 5 rounds went through - the cause was the magazine's spring and ball bearing getting stuck due to a bump inside the spring channel. A quick file and lubricant sorted that out though.

Refilling the magazine is helped by an added extra in the package - a replica .50 cal round unscrews to reveal a hollow tube you can use to funnel the BBs into the mag, using the central rod to push them in.

The last feature is the set of ironsights, front and rear sights flip-up if you have no scope. Though if you're buying this rifle there is no way you wouldn't have / wouldn't buy a decent scope.

I've had the rifle for a couple of months now and the most obvious problem is that of storage. I've only just found a rifle case large enough, which wasn't a Pelican 1750 (costing �250). In my quest to find a hard case I have also decided it would be better if the bipod and handle were detachable. Though the rifle is modelled on the mid-term M82 the M82A3's picatinny rail allows for a detachable carry handle. So, I am in the process of ordering a bipod pin from Barrett to make at least the bipod detachable and possibly allowing a greater choice of firing positions.

Sadly there is no secondary function in the rifle. Smokey's M82 variant had a shell-ejection system that would expend an empty cartrige per shot, it's a shame the recoil spring wasn't put to use to create a nice bang for each shot. Perhaps a gas piston to push the barrel inside then being returned by the two clamp springs.

Conclusion

This is truly a special rifle and GB-Tech have produced an exceptional replica. Previously only Smokey's Gunworks made them and they were $2000~ so an M82A1 for less than half is a bargain (ish).

Though this rifle may not have the obvious beauty of a Walther WA2000 or a H&K SL9 the M82A1 is a unique rifle that sets itself apart by being a BFG. I recommend this rifle primarily for the reaction this thing gets. Even paintball and Airsoft nuts are left speechless when they see this.