WhiteFeather Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 Since Arnie is overwhelmed with work and life ill just post the review here for now. So you want to reach out and touch someone, crawl through the high grass and take that one important shot. You’re going to need an M24 for that son. Produced by Classic Army, the M24 Socom is one of the many Bolt Action Sniper rifles out on the market today. With a 515mm barrel accuracy is not a problem, but you’re going to need a good sling to carry this 3.603kg rifle all day. Based off the Remington M700 the US Army adopted the M24 for its military snipers. Issued with a Harris bipod and Leupold M3a 10x42 power scope the M24 has an effective range of 800 meters, or 875 yards. With the advanced cylinder upgrade and stronger m170 spring installed the max range is over 200 feet. Stock the Classic Army M24 puts out 310fps, just under the UK Law. But with the advanced cylinder kit and new spring, this little beauty is pushing 490fps with .20g bb’s. The M24 comes in a nice big Classic Army blue box with big white lettering “M24 Socom Sniper.” At first sight the gun looks like your average sniper rifle, but once you pick it up the feel is amazing. The stock made of Polymer with an aluminum receiver and barrel the feel is incredible. I knew it would be a disaster to carry it all day with out a sling. It’s not worth it to go out and spend a fortune on a nice leather sling when you can go down to the local Wal-Mart and purchase a leather hunting sling for $12.99. The Hop-Up is located in the mag well behind the piston head. It is fully adjustable with an Allen wrench. Using Maruzen .29g bb’s with the hop-up adjusted and shooting from one corner of the yard to another at 80 feet the groupings can be covered up with a silver dollar coin. For those with long arms like me the adjustable butt plate is a nice feature. You simply adjust it by turning the large nut on the back counterclockwise. Since the rifle is by no means short with an overall length of 47 inches, the adjustable stock comes in handy. The 1 inch rubber pad is a nice touch; instead of banging a hard metal butt on the ground the rubber makes a nice cushion when leaning up against the wall. You can extend the butt plate a full 4 inches out, but it becomes less stable. To service this rifle you don’t have to be a genius. The barrel is held down with two screws located on the underside of the stock, one behind the trigger guard and the other in front of it. Once they are unscrewed the barrel can be lifted out of the stock. Instead of the magazine normally sitting in front of the trigger, it sits further forward in front of the mock mag well. Although unrealistic it has some use, there is just enough room to place a small bag of bb’s. The trigger unit is held in place by two screws, one in front and the other in the back. Once you remove them the entire trigger mechanism can be removed and lubed if needed. Behind the trigger is a small set screw that allows you to adjust the amount of trigger pull required to send your round down range. The bolt can be slid out of its chamber to reveal the cylinder attached. The new versions of the M24 have a black cylinder, but because I bought a new reinforced cylinder kit it’s now shiny silver. The cylinder head unscrews to reveal the vacuum piston, spring, and metal spring guide. And you though GBB were easy to take apart, the M24 is even easier. The entire gun can be striped down in about 5 minutes. If you do have a problem in the field chances are you’re not going to have a set of Allen wrenches with you to fix the problem. To remove the barrel you need to unscrew the small screw on the bottom of the barrel, Classic Army really did a great job on this one. The barrel slides out the rear of the barrel with the hop-up unit attached. At the end of the outer barrel the cap can be unscrewed to reveal 14mm counter-clockwise threads on the inside for a silencer if desired. I personally did not keep the M24 stock for very long, being that US Limits are a lot higher then UK Law. I personally have a Classic Army M24 Advanced Cylinder Kit installed with a First Factory M170 spring. With the upgrades I can engage targets well over 150 feet. At the moment I choose to use Maruzen .29g bb’s over the Straight .30g bb. For some reason the Straight .30’s are a lot less consistent then the Maruzen Super Grand Master .29g bb. Overall this is a very nice rifle, but for a beginner I wouldn’t suggest they drop the cash right away. Before you take it out and put some shots down range, the screws need to be tightened also. Once everything is set in its place the rifle holds up very well. The barrels aluminum is tough, but I have already managed to put a nasty gash in the front. The rifle it self costs $325 USD, but with the amount of external and internal accessories that I have put into the gun the price tag comes to just under $700 USD. Becoming and sniper is by no means cheap, be prepared to drop a lot of cash if you intend on using your rifle to its full potential. Model – M24 SWS Length – 515mm Weight – 3.603kh Build quality – 10 Appearance – 9 Performance – 9 Potential – 10 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HaVoC Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 Great review, and a lovely rifle too Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WhiteFeather Posted May 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 Yeah, to bad its leaving the armory soon. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guges Mk3 Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 What the screws where the trigger attaches to. They are screwed into cheap steel and heavy springs will deform it...keep us informed on whether this deforms on the newer models. Up until last November...these CA M24's were still have reliability issues. The 5 that went through the MAA were total POS! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WhiteFeather Posted May 22, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 so far they are fine, and the rifle has a good amount of rounds put through it so all looks good. The rifle will no longer be mine soon, so i wont be able to get you updates. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
knutti Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 Great review Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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