MikeG Posted November 12, 2007 Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 Review - Boomarms G&P XM177-E1 History The XM177 was designed by Colt as a part of the CAR-15 program that aimed to create a carbine based on the M16. The main differences from the XM16 and M16A1 were that the XM177-E1 featured a 10" barrel, a 3 position rubber coated aluminum collapsible stock, and round handguards. The XM177-E2 was designed with an 11.5" barrel. Testing showed that with the gas port so close to the muzzle the weapon would not cycle reliably in some conditions, not to mention that firing an intermediate cartridge with such a short barrel created a blinding and deafening muzzle blast. To help compensate for these problems, Colt designed a large 'flash and sound moderator' to be attached to the tip of the muzzle in place of a standard flash hider. While it helped, it did not completely eliminate any of these problems. The XM177 saw most of its use in the Vietnam war. The Army issued XM177s to infantry (it is seen frequently in photos from the war), but the Air Force was the only branch of the military to officially adopt the weapon. It was dubbed the GAU-5/A and given in small quantities to guards on airbases. The Replica This replica's lineage is a bit odd. While all the parts were indeed made by G&P, it was assembled by the Hong Kong retailer Boomarms. For whatever reason, this keeps the price of this replica extraordinarily low. For only $230 you get a full metal gun with very high quality external parts and a pre-upgraded gearbox. Some other overseas retailers, notably WGC and Redwolf, also sell self-assembled G&Ps, but not quite as cheaply as Boomarms. On to the gun. I have been very impressed by every G&P AR I've had experience with. The XM177 is no exception. It has a tight fitting body and very little play in the fit of the charging handle and bolt catch. The entire gun is very solid, with no movement whatsoever between the receiver, barrel and stock tube. Most of the external parts are made of some type of pot metal and are finished with a very dark gray or black paint. The barrel and handguard retention ring appear to be made of milled aluminum and anodized. The flash and sound moderator on the muzzle is made of steel and is finished with a light parkerization. For this type of finish, it is wise to apply a light coat of gun oil to avoid developing any surface rust. The plastic parts on the gun, the stock, grip and handguards are all constructed of and finished as the parts on the XM177's real counterpart would be. The heft and balance of the gun are extremely close to that of the real thing. Especially so when a battery is inserted into the handguards, helping to compensate for the aluminum (instead of steel) barrel. Some of you may be wondering how this gun is different than any other short AR, or the M4A1 in particular. First, it has different trademarks. The XM177 has authentic Colt "AR-15" trademarks. They are deeply engraved rather than a shallow image where the receiver paint has been removed by a laser, as you would see on many other manufacturer's full metal replicas. You will also notice that it does not have the removable carry handle of the M4A1 or M16 A3/A4. On the other side of the receiver, you will notice that the XM177 is drastically different than most other AR rifles. It has no shell deflector, no forward assist and no 'fence' (the raised rail that surrounds the mag release and runs under the ejection port). Many real XM177s did have a forward assist and fence, but early examples lacked them. The lack of these features is very similar to the XM16 (or M16 Vietnam, as it is known in airsoft.) In fact, G&P's XM16 and XM177E1 are built on the same receiver. Looking further up the receiver, we can see that the XM177 features the original 'windage only' rear sight. Unlike later models, this sight requires a screwdriver to adjust, but still has the different sized day and night apertures. The grip of the XM177 is also different; it lacks the finger nub and rear serrations seen seen on later ARs. Personally, I find this style more comfortable. The stock is standard collapsible design but is running on a 3 position stock tube, rather than the 4 or 6 position used on later rifles. The stock butt is heavily checkered and stays in place well when shouldered. Moving on, we see that the handguard retention ring is not flared, a change that was first made in the M16A2. While a flare is nearly necessary to remove the handguards on a real AR, in the airsoft version, it makes little difference due to the weakness of the springs. The lower receiver lacks the front receiver tab reinforcement of later models. Also of note is that the G&P receiver uses actual pins instead of screws (as with most other manufacturers) to keep the upper and lower together. Continued in the next post... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MikeG Posted November 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 The continuation! The handguards are of the early slim round style. While this makes it more difficult to fit a battery inside, it is doable. Generally, the XM177 requires a 'V shape' battery constructed with 4/5A or A size cells. Finally, we have the 'Moderator' muzzle device. The XM177 was the only gun to use a moderator of this particular design. I've got to admit, I'm a sucker for cool looking muzzle devices. It's often a tipping factor for deciding between two guns for me. Performance As mentioned earlier, the gun is built with G&P upgrade parts giving it a muzzle velocity upwards of 350 feet per second (it easily shoots BBs through both sides of a Coke can.) It has a metal loading nozzle, G&P M120 motor and the gears spin on 7mm bearings. The rate of fire on a 9.6V battery is around 900 rounds per minute. The only letdown on this gun so far is the hop-up. The adjustment wheel does not move smoothly and consistently. Even when the hop-up is turned on fully, the BBs don't have enough backspin. This may just be due to over lubrication of the hop rubber, but as I have not had a chance to put many rounds through the gun, I don't know. If G&P has a bad reputation for anything, it's their hop-ups. While sometimes they work well, often they do not. I'm sure the hop-up could be fixed relatively easily however. A new hop-up rubber and bucking would probably improve it greatly. Failing that, whole new hop-up units are not too expensive. Notice in the photo below that the ejection port cover is usually sprung closed. There's no hokey looking fake bolt inside either. Overall So far, my impression of the gun has been overwhelmingly positive. I feel it was well worth exchanging my Classic Army M15 SPC for this gun. Not only is the body tighter, better made and much more realistic, the gun's performance exceeds that of the CA with exception of the hop-up. The sound of the gun is also excellent. It makes an amazingly loud muzzle crack due to the short barrel and the moderator which acts as a reverberation chamber. It's one of the loudest airsoft guns I've heard. Performance: 4/5 Only the poor hop-up is holding this gun back. Externals: 7!/5 This is one of the most realistic and impressive airsoft replicas you will ever handle. Value: 5/5 For $285 shipped from Boomarms, this gun is an spectacularly good deal. Overall: 5/5 This little gun has quickly become a favorite in my collection and I would not hesitate to recommend a Boomarms Custom G&P to anyone looking for an AR style rifle. PS: So what made me decide to buy this gun? Well, I was dissatisfied with my M15 and loved the novelty of having a direct counterpart to my VFC AKS-74UN. Two compact 'commando' weapons developed during the same period by each of the Cold War powers, both firing an intermediate cartridge with special muzzle devices intended for making the gun more reliable and usable. If they weren't pitted against each other they would be best friends: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EvilCookie Posted November 12, 2007 Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 Nice review I have the M16A1 version of the boom arms custom and I also had trouble with the hopup. I replaced it with a prometheus bucking and a king arms hopup set and everything is running pretty fine now. I also replaced the metal nozzle as I've read it can damage the BBs and mess with the accuracy. Not too sure if thats true but its a simple replacement and I don't see the need for a metal nozzle anyhow. I'd definitely recommend if you purchase one of these G&P varients to go with boom arms (they won't destroy the trademarks like WGC and accept paypal) and replace the hopup bucking/set as well as the nozzle. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guinness Posted November 12, 2007 Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 (edited) Very nice review Mike! I'm glad you took my 'hint' Although, now that I think about it, I suppose it's not really a "Boomarms Custom", they just walk over to G&P and pick it up- WGC has a 'custom' line that ends up being pretty much that same However Johnny at Boomarms is a great guy! I love that place! Slainte! Edited November 12, 2007 by Guinness Quote Link to post Share on other sites
UrPeaceKeeper Posted November 12, 2007 Report Share Posted November 12, 2007 Very nice review Mike! I'm glad you took my 'hint' Although, now that I think about it, I suppose it's not really a "Boomarms Custom", they just walk over to G&P and pick it up- WGC has a 'custom' line that ends up being pretty much that same However Johnny at Boomarms is a great guy! I love that place! Slainte! Guinness recently WGC has opted to dremel revmoving trades from their Customs if they have authentic trades when coming into the USA. A friend emailed them concerning this matter and they will not do any other method to get it through US customs. It seems that US customs has hit their line into the US hard for trademark infringment. In which case Boomarms is the better option for people looking to keep the trades. Nice review. I'm curious to see what the internals look like especially if they contain the typical G&P "Enhanced" sector gear with the fatty nub for the tappet plate. If it still does then I'd replace that ASAP as it tends to snap tappets very easily. The same guy who emailed WGC shop had similiar issues and tried everything but finally changed the sector gear and all is normal again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guinness Posted November 13, 2007 Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 (edited) Guinness recently WGC has opted to dremel revmoving trades from their Customs if they have authentic trades when coming into the USA. A friend emailed them concerning this matter and they will not do any other method to get it through US customs. It seems that US customs has hit their line into the US hard for trademark infringment. In which case Boomarms is the better option for people looking to keep the trades. Nice review. I'm curious to see what the internals look like especially if they contain the typical G&P "Enhanced" sector gear with the fatty nub for the tappet plate. If it still does then I'd replace that ASAP as it tends to snap tappets very easily. The same guy who emailed WGC shop had similiar issues and tried everything but finally changed the sector gear and all is normal again. Roger that Peace- That's why we have been using Johnny at Boomarms exclusively . I've been saying that for a while now and hence MikeG, who is from Colorado also is another convert WGC used to be my 'go to guys' but sadly success has ruined all that I guess But hey- let's don't tell the others about Boomarms ok? let's keep this our little secret Edited November 13, 2007 by Guinness Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MikeG Posted November 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 26, 2007 Update (11-25-2007): Earlier today, I installed a Guarder Improved Hop-up Rubber & Bucking (The clear silicone version). The improvement in performance was drastic. Before, even with the hop-up fully 'on' the BBs were still dropping, but now, with the hop-up only 1/6th 'on', the BBs travel with a straight trajectory. Not bad for a $4 replacement part. Now that the hop-up is working properly, I can finally gauge the accuracy of the gun. Like any other short barreled replica, it's not extremely accurate. Firing from a crouched position, the XM177 seems to be able to make fist sized groups at 40 feet. For a short gun with no accuracy upgrades like a tightbore, I'm more than happy with this performance. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
srpg Posted November 28, 2007 Report Share Posted November 28, 2007 Hi, how much was the shipping charge for this? thanks Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MikeG Posted December 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2007 The shipping was about $60. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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