G&G GR-16 Blowback Sportline Model

Table of Contents:
Introduction
Ordering
First impressions/Packaging
Included
Gun Specifications
Externals
Trademarks
Magazines
Internals
Performance
Modifications
Skirmish Results
Pros/cons
Conclusion

Introduction:
Hello everyone! This is my first review here at ASR, so I am open to any kind of criticism. Also, thanks to booligan for providing this format of reviewing. Anyways, I was looking for an AEG that would suit my needs and I had always been interested in a gun from G&G. Now, I was trying to stay away from the M4/M16 series, but after looking at what came with it, I figured it was a great deal. Not only that, but with G&G''s pneumatic blowback system, it made it even cooler. By the way, to see a bigger picture, just click on the thumbnail. So let's get started with the review!

Ordering:
Evike.com was having a Memorial Day sale and as I was browsing through I noticed the GR-16 Blowback was on sale for $130 (regular $170). As much as I didn't want to have one of the most common guns out there, I figured it was a steal and ordered on May 30th and it arrived a week later.

First impressions/Packaging:
The gun comes in a very nice OD box, which had a sticker on it and a description of the blowback system. I was surprised at this because usually people get the extremely flashy box. Once I opened it, the whole thing screamed quality. That is... except for the plastic casing that held the gun. It is extremely cheap plastic and I was surprised it held everything in place. But nothing was broken and everything belonged where it needed to be.

Included:
After opening the box, you will see a cleaning/unjamming rod, a poster-like instruction manual that gives great instructions and explains the blowback, a grey 450 round metal hi-cap magazine, a red barrel cap, a bag of 1000 G&G .20g BBs, and the gun itself. This gun does NOT come with a battery or charger, so you will have to provide those on your own. Also, you DO get a 30-day warranty from G&G.

Everything included with the gun.

Gun Specifications:
Weight: 5.5 lbs
Length: 29.8" (Stock retracted) - 33" (Stock extended)
Height: 8.75: (From bottom of grip to the top of the iron sights)
Type of battery: Small type

Externals:
The gun is made out of high-quality plastic, some metals (not pot metal), and some ABS plastic. The nice about the gun is that the high-quality plastic is nylon-threaded, so not only is it more durable than ABS plastic, but on a cold day, the plastic nearly feels like metal! I will start from the stock to the flash hider.

The stock is a standard 6-Position LE stock made out of ABS plastic. It has a slight finish to it and contains a sling mount on the bottom. My only complaint is that the stock wobbles a little, but then again, so do most collapsible stocks.

Stock retracted to the first position.

Stock extended to the sixth position.

The buffer tube is made out of metal and has a black finish to it.

The M4 pistol grip houses the motor and is made out of the nylon-fiber plastic material. The grip is fairly comfortable to hold.

Note the heat sink and adjustment screw.

The trigger and trigger guard are made out of metal. Not too much to complain about.

The selector switch is made out of metal and gives a very positive "click" when switched. Not only that, but it stays in place and won't become loose on you.

The upper and lower receiver is made out of the nylon-fiber plastic and surprised me at first. When I picked it up, for a split second, I thought it was metal. The plastic is very high-quality and has a nice, smooth black finish to it. Other metal parts on the receiver include: the magazine catch, the magazine release, the charging handle, the non-functioning bolt-catch, the dust cover, body pins, and the forward assist.

The entire receiver of the gun. Trademarks can be seen. Be careful, because the plastic can easily scratch (as you will see later).

The carrying handle is the same high-quality plastic and can be removed to reveal a 20mm picatinny rail for optics. It can be removed by unscrewing the screws on the side. There is a hole in the middle for putting an AR-15 riser mount on it. It fits very snugly on the top rail and doesn't wiggle at all. The iron sights, adjustment knobs, and screws are all metal. The nice thing is, you can actually carry the gun by the handle and it won't fall or break.

Picture of the carrying handle removed from the top rail.

The mag well doesn't seem to let magazines fit snugly. When a magazine is put it, it wobbles a little. However, this is something that can be fixed with electrical tape.

The iron sights are your standard AR-15 sights with adjustments for windage and elevation. There is a precision sight and standard sight that can both be adjusted.

View through the standard sights.

View through the precision sights. Not quite needed for airsoft though.

When pulling the metal charging handle back, the dust cover will flip down and the fake bolt will be pulled back, revealing the hop-up. Also, it makes a very cool "clack!" when the dust cover flips down. Be warned, don't go too happy with it or it may break. The fake bolt is silver, which surprises me since the real thing is actually black. If I paint it, I will post an update and picture with it.

Dust cover down and bolt pulled back. This is how you would adjust your hop-up.

The forward assist is, as I said, metal and it IS functional. When a battery is hooked up to the gun, pressing the forward assist will reset the gears, decompressing the spring. This allows for a more consistent FPS, less stress on the gearbox, and a longer lifespan.

G&G also included a fake gas tube that runs along the barrel. This was to add more realism to the gun. The delta ring is metal and performs very well. It is so tight, the handguards barely wobble (we're talking near ZERO wobble). The handguards are made out of the high-quality plastic and probably won't break unless you run over them with a car. This is also where the battery is housed, so only a small type or nunchuck battery will fit without modification. To take off the handguards, pull down on the delta ring and simply pull on the bottom of the handguard. I will say, this takes a LOT of practice to takes these of quickly since they are held so tightly. This could be a disadvantage on the field for changing a battery.

Picture of the gun with the bottom handguard off. The fake gas tube can be seen along with the battery connectors.

The barrel is a metal one-piece barrel and doesn't wobble at all. The front sight is metal and includes a swivel sling mount. By the way, the front sight on this gun can NOT be taken off since it is welded onto the barrel. So if you want to take off the front sight, you will have to get a completely new barrel assembly. The flash hider is blazing orange and is made out of cheap plastic. Not only that, but it is glued on AND has a tiny screw on the bottom of it. The chip is also on purpose because that's how some of the real flash hiders are.

The entire front assembly. You can see why the flash hider continues to mock me.

Overall, I was impressed by the quality of the externals, especially for a sportline model. There were a few faint seam lines, but they are hardly visible.

Trademarks:
The gun doesn't have any real steel trademarks, but I prefer some trademarks over none. I was a little disappointed because you could either get the Marines Logo, Special Forces Logo, Combat Machine Logo, or G&G Logo. I was hoping for the Special Forces, but I got the G&G Logo instead.

On the lower receiver is a G&G logo. Right under it, it reads, "6mm Pellet AEG. Semi/Auto System."

Near the bolt catch, it says "COMPLETE A.E.G. SERIES MFG. BY G&G AIRSOFT MADE IN TAIWAN." The standard "Safe, Semi, and Auto" are visible. Right above the trigger guard is (I believe) a unique serial number.

The trademarks are a plus in my opinion since it gives the gun personality. Like I said, I was hoping for the Special Forces Logo, but you can't always get what you want.

Magazines:
The magazine it comes with is a standard M4/M16 metal hi-cap mag. It holds 450 BBs and is colored grey. It feeds well, but due to the wobble in the mag well, it sometimes won't feed the last 5 BBs. On the side, it says "5.56mm x 45."

On the bottom, it has G&G trades.

(Sorry for the bad quality) As you can see, the G&G magazine is slightly longer than normal M4/M16 mags.

I've tried using JG, Echo 1, G&P, and MAG magazines and they all fed pretty well with a few misfeeds here and there. On all, there was some slight wobble, but again, nothing some electrical tape can't fix.

Internals:
I haven't opened up the gearbox yet or taken out the motor and I won't until something breaks. But I will list what is supposedly inside.

For starters, the gun has a 6.04 tightbore barrel that is 363mm long. Not only that, but it isn't that cheap brass you mostly find on Chinese clones. The hop-up is plastic and it holds its adjustments very well. It performs a little above average, but I would recommend replacing it.

Inner barrel and hop-up. Note the barrel is aluminum and much more higher quality than brass. Also, the hop-up unit is plastic, so you may want to upgrade it.

The gearbox is a reinforced Version 2 gearbox wired to the front. It has metal gears and standard G&G parts. The gun has 8mm metal bushings, so no replacing will be really be needed there. The shimming seems to be good and the spring isn't overpowered. Nothing really needs replacing until something breaks. The motor is a long type (I think it might be a high-torque) and it isn't loud, but it isn't quiet. I would upgrade it to get better performance.

Now the cool thing about this gun is that it contains G&G's pneumatic blowback system.

As you can see, there is a secondary piston on top of the gearbox. When the air is leaving the nozzle, some of it also pushes into that secondary piston, pushing the bolt back and simulating the real thing. For those of you wondering, it does NOT reduce FPS nor put any more stress on the gearbox. Since it isn't mechanical blowback, things won't be breaking faster. Not only that, but unlike mechanical blowback, the bolt returns to the right position every time. For information on this, just go to G&G's website.

I myself don't recommend putting a Li-Poly battery into this gun unless you have seriously upgraded it.

The internals go above-and-beyond your standard sportline model. You save about $60 buying this instead of something like an Echo 1 for the same price. G&G didn't go cheap on these models and instead put quality parts inside. Of course, there's always room for upgrades and this can be a great base gun for projects.

Performance:
I went down to my local airsoft field and used their chrono for this (don't know exact model, but it was a Madbull). This was after a 500 round break-in and using an 8.4v 1600 mah battery and the G&G BBs it came with.

Highest FPS: 348
Lowest FPS: 317
Average over 15 rounds: 331

ROF (Again, 8.4v battery): 18 BPS.

As you can see, this gun is made for CQB. It doesn't shoot too hot, but some players might not like that. Also, the ROF with an 8.4v is very high. With a 9.6v, the gun could probably fire at least 21 BPS without upgrades.

I wanted to take pictures for this, but my camera died before I had a chance. I'll just have to describe it for you.
Range-wise, the maximum distance this gun will shoot accurately (with hop-up adjusted) is about 130 ft. with .20g BBs. Accuracy-wise, this gun will perform better in CQB. At 50 ft, I was getting 1.75 inch groupings on Semi and 3.5 inch groupings on Auto. At 100 ft, I got 3.2 inch groupings on Semi and 5.75 inch groupings on Auto. However, 150 ft seems to be the limit with only 5.5 inch groupings on Semi and 7.75 inch groupings on Auto.

This gun will dominate in CQB, but I can imagine someone bringing it to a woodland game and still perform well.

Modifications:
This gun is an M4. As we all know, the M4/M16 is so popular there are always parts for it. You can change just about anything on this gun internally and externally. You can attach grenade launchers, rail systems, optics, mock mock mock mock mock mock suppressors, lasers, flashlights, vertical grips, and the list goes on and on. A list of things I would recommend upgrading is below. However, don't feel pressured to go out and buy everything.

Externally:
RIS System
Vertical Grip
PEQ2 Box (To store a bigger battery)
New front assembly
Reflex, Red Dot, or Holographic Sight
Magpul Pistol Grip
Magpul PTS Stock
One-Point Sling Adaptor
One-Point Sling
NEW FLASH HIDER

Internally:
9.6v battery
6.01 Tightbore Barrel
Systema Hop-Up
Systema Bucking
M110 Spring
G&P M120 Motor or Deans Connectors

Again, don't feel pressured to buy everything listed. This gun passes with out-of-the-box skirmish use. Since it's aimed more for players just getting into the sport, G&G has already put quality parts inside. But for those of you who think upgrading is necessary, go ahead and upgrade.

Skirmish Results:
After I adjusted everything, I finally brought it to my local airsoft field. There are two sections; one of them is more field designed while the other is aimed more for CQB. Our first game was in the CQB area and after the game started, I got the first kill. People immediately started turning their heads to the sound of the blowback on my gun. After that game was over, I came in second with 13 kills. Then we went to the field area. I tried to be a little more sneaky and engage in closer combat. However, at some times I had to go long-range. After aiming a little higher than usual, I was able to get the BBs down range to the target, but by the time they got there, the guy would have already moved aside.

Overall, no upgrades are really needed for CQB. But for woodland or field, a longer and tighter barrel and a stronger spring will be needed.

Pros:
Relatively cheap price for what you get ($170)
6.04 Tightbore Barrel installed
Trademarks
Functional Dust Cover
Hop-up is consistent
Accurate up to 130 feet
Great ROF
Functional Forward Assist
Comes with 1000 High Grade BBs
450 Round Hi-Cap Mag
Made out of great quality plastic
Delta ring keeps handguards in place
Doesn't feel cheap.
It's a G&G. What more do you need?
The blowback is very impressive
A little more individual than your standard M4
It's an ArmaLite, so parts are easy to find.

Cons:
No battery or charger included
Stock is a little wobbly
Magazine wobble
Low FPS is great for CQB, but some players may want something stronger (remember, the objective is to hit the person, not make them bleed)
Can't remove the front sight
Body scratches easily
Handguards are hard to take off, making battery replacement a pain
It's an ArmaLite. Everyone and their grandma has an ArmaLite.

Conclusion:
Overall, this is just a great gun. The pros certainly outweigh the cons. For those who are just getting into the sport, this is a great purchase without breaking the bank and saves money in the long run. For those who are more experienced, it provides a great base gun for projects or those who need a great backup. With its great internals and superb performance, this definitely beats buying a Classic Army Sportline, Echo 1, or any other Chinese clone. I recommend this gun to anyone that needs a good weapon without spending a lot of money.