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Meatball's Featured Reviews |
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Airsoft Core |
By Meatball
Published: December 7, 2003
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Real Steel
The real steel SG 552 Commando assault rifle is made and used in Switzerland. Inscribed on the gun is “Made in Switzerland” which kind of makes it obvious and is also present on the Tokyo Marui airsoft replica. The gun uses 5.56 caliber bullets, just like the US army and their Colt series. The gun holds 20 or 30 rounds (depending on the type of magazine) in translucent see through magazines. This allows for the user to be able to determine how many rounds he has left with out emptying the magazine. This can be very useful in combat situations with the real steel weapon. The magazines also have an easy clamping feature where you can attach the magazines together for easy reloading, and this requires no extra parts.
Here you'll see the SG 551 with the larger 30 round magazine in it.
The gun weighs 3.0 kg, has a 226 mm inner barrel, 730 mm length with the stock extended, and 504 mm with the stock folded in. As shown in the last comment, this guns stock has the unique folding option which makes this gun very small, and easy to move with. There is however a downfall to the stock being folded in, if you attached magazines together, the stock doesn’t allow them to switch since it is in the way. Since the gun is so small even with the stock extended, these would be rare situations.
The SG 552 Commando is in the same class as the Russian AKS-74U, German HK53, and German G36c. SG is an abbreviation for Sturmgewehr, or assault rifle. The SG 552 is the latest version of the SG’s which started with the SG 510, and then went to the SG 540 / 542 / 543, and now the modern SG 550 / 551. The later two the SG 550 and 551 are also Marui replicas. The SG 550 is the longest of the three with an overall length of 998 mm extended (772 stock folded), and the SG 551 is in between the other two at 833 mm extended (607 folded). Also the SG 550, and 551 have a rate of fire of 700 rounds per minute, while the SG 552 has a rate of fire, of 780 rounds per minute. The three have similar design, the same magazines, and the same ammunition.
And here is the real steel SG 552...
Pictures courtesy of http://world.guns.ru/.
First Impressions
I received the gun in a very small box from Combat Club, which is $195 there. The box was smaller than any box from a Marui AEG I have received. But of course I have only gotten bigger guns before and no MP5k’s, UZI’s, or P90’s. The gun was a little smaller than I expected, but this is coming from a guy used to using an M16a2 in combat, but I quickly got used to the small size. The gun has a considerable amount of weight to it even though the build is mostly plastic like nearly all Marui’s out there. The weight is a respectable 2.2 KG without the battery and everything in it. But if you begin to add magazines to it, than it just gets heavier and heavier =)
This gun is equipped with Marui’s new trend, and has the dummy 5.56 dummy bullets seen in the see through magazine. This gives the gun a very good luck, but at the same time a dangerous one. Showing this to people that were not accustomed to airsoft got some scary responses. But of course people familiar with guns and airsoft thinks it’s the best thing since sliced bread… The magazines are very small, and only hold 42 rounds (standard) and 220 rounds in their hi-cap. This does cause some trouble for most airsofters out there, but means nothing to those few who take airsoft to the next level and will only put the same BBs in the magazine as in the real gun. So they would only put 20 BB’s in these magazines. Now as you probably read above they are either 20 or 30 rounds will fit per magazine… Well Marui as far as I know only makes the smaller of the two types. The second larger type resembles the G36c magazine in size and design, and would probably only come out for Marui guns if the SG series gets more interest.
The gun comes folded so my first task was to unfold it. This requires a significant amount of force that will not damage anything. You simply pull it off, and you don’t have to hit any buttons, switches or anything. I of course read the manual that says to apply force, but not too much. So just tug on it and it will come apart, there is no need to do anything special. The magazine was a bit difficult to adjust to from the Colt’s since the drop is by the trigger guard, and you need to stick the magazine in perfectly (more on that later). Another neat feature on the gun is the selector switch on both sides to make it convenient for both left handed, and right handed shooters. The of course it has the rotating H&K sight, that I will describe in detail later on in the review. Metal parts are the outer barrel, and front sight, entire rear size, trigger, and internals.
Looks
This gun really looks pretty awesome. Especially with the standard magazine and its dummy rounds in it. It looks kind of plain with the hi-cap in there, but that’s because I got used to the magazine with the dummy rounds. The gun body is a gray just like the bodies of the M16’s, with white lettering saying “Arms inc. Exeter-NH” on the left side above the magazine, and below that is inscribed “SG 552-2 Commando 0531”. Farther back still on the left side is white lettering saying “Made in Switzerland Cal. .223 Rem”. Below this is inscribed “0531” for the second time. On the right side in white lettering is “Restricted for law enforcement/Government use and/or export only”. Then just above the pistol grip is Tokyo Marui’s trademark stating “Made in Japan” on line one, and “Tokyo Marui co. LTD.” on the second line. Nothing on the gun was covered up with tape or putty, and nothing scratched out when I got the gun, so there aren’t any trademarks that are supposed to be covered up.
In the left picture you will see the left side of the gun (from the firing perspective) and on the right you'll see the right side of the gun and all the markings, trademarks, etc.
Another picture of the right side...
The stock and handguard are all black. The stock of course has the gap in the middle, as well as a loop to hook a sling. The front handguard has the holes on the top of the handguard, as well as the ridges and rails which are identical to the real steel versions. The selector switches show a white S for safe, a red 1 for semi automatic, and a red 20 for fully automatic. 20 being the amount of rounds in the magazine. The outer barrel is made entirely of metal, and is a dark gray color. The gun overall has some great, and unique looks. I love the looks, and the feel, and I think anyone else would feel the same.
Accessories Capability
The SG 552 does not have a plethora of companies designing different parts, magazines, etc. for it but it does have two 20 mm rails on the front handguard that come with the gun. There is one rail on the right side of the handguard, and longer rail is on the bottom of the handguard. They get sort of uncomfortable when there is nothing on them and you are just rubbing the rail. These mounts can be taken off, but you have to unscrew them, and make sure you don’t lose any of the pieces. These two mounts save anyone looking to get a laser or flashlight $25-40 for buying mounts, and it may even make it impossible to have them since I have never seen them for sale.
This picture shows the two mounting rails on the front handguard. One on the side, and the other on the bottom. You also can see the screws that allow them to be taken off.
As for scopes or optics it I’m pretty sure there are a few of your more basic options out there. However I have not looked into it that much…
Magazines
Well as mentioned above, these magazines are a translucent plastic that look as though they are brownish black. You can see 14 5.56 caliber dummy rounds inside the magazine, as well as the spring at the bottom, that in the real steel magazine would be pushing to rounds up towards the gun. The only magazines sold for the SG’s are the smaller ones that hold 20 rounds. There are real steel version magazines that hold 30 rounds, and in airsoft would probably be capable of holding much more in both the standard and hi-cap and I hope that some day Marui or some other company may produce this product. The magazines have a good sturdy feel, despite being completely plastic. They are a bit difficult to get in after getting used to other guns (particularly with guns that have long chambers for the magazine to slide into). I usually use Colt guns so this was quite a change. You have to take the far end of the magazine, and put it in first at the far end of the magazine slot. Then conclude the action by sliding the back into the slot. This becomes simple after awhile, and you will get used to it. The other thing to get used to is that the magazine drop switch is in front of the trigger guard rather than the traditional on the side of the receiver. This is hard to get used to going from SG to another version.
Another feature that I did not notice at first was that the magazines will hook together with no extra parts or modifications. If you have 3 SG magazines than you can connect all three. What I really look forward to doing is getting a few extra magazines just to be able to take a picture of 5 or 6 magazines lined up and in the gun =) Not to use in combat of course. This magazine clamping option is very simple to attach and detach.
In the left picture you'll see the hi-cap magazine with the two circle sides with the top part locked into the standard magazine. The second picture on the right is the hi-cap magazine swung around to complete the magazine clamp/coupler.
On the magazines is inscribed “10-“ which is a mark for the real steel magazine telling that there are ten bullets left. Then farther down is “20-“ showing where the magazine is full. On the other side of the magazine is a “15-“ in the middle of the “10-“ and “20-“. This of course is to give you an idea of how many rounds are left in your magazine on the real steel weapon. Also on the same side as the “15-“ is the mark “SG” which was destroyed on the magazine with the dummy rounds in it. This is probably to avoid some kind of seizure, or it’s because it’s a trademark.
On the left you will see the hi-cap magazine with the "10-" and "20-" inscribed on the magazine. On the right you see the standard magazine with dummy bullets, and the "15-" on it. On these magazines you can also see the pieces that allow them to connect to one another
The Battery
The SG 552 holds a mini battery in the front handguard. It is kind of complicated to open the handguard. You pull out the front pin (which is very easy to pull out). Next you slide the bottom handguard back, and simply pop the top handguard off. The handguard being off reveals a small compartment with a little connector sticking out. The battery fits a certain way. You first plug in the battery, and then slide the two pieces connected down towards the end of the gun. This will lock them in place. Then you take the bottom of the battery and fold it back towards the stock end of the gun, and it will fit perfectly. This is great since there is no rattling or anything, but it does not allow for too much creativity to get larger batteries. The largest battery from what I hear from retailers is a respectable 9.6 volt 1100 mAh battery. I don’t have any to test, but I’m sure it would be a tight squeeze.
In this picture you can see the battery compartment, with the top handguard removed.
Performance
Now this is what everyone would like to hear, right? To start off the guns performance is much like my M733 in range, rate of fire, and accuracy. Which is quite good for a gun with a small barrel and designed for CQB. I used this gun in a few skirmishes and it performed amazingly. The magazines clamping feature proved to be very useful in more than one situation, and I even used the newly designed loading rod a few times in combat with little difficulty. The gun was quite accurate, and I racked up quite a few kills with the gun. It was very maneuverable around corners and such, and the guns small size was perfect for CQB. I never even bothered folding the stock, there was never a situation where it would have helped. I have found that in most situations the stock folded will hurt you.
This gun sounds very smooth, a lot like the M733. It has the usual amazing rate of fire, as all Marui guns do. The gun has an affective range of probably 120 feet, with a maximum range of 150 feet. A standard magazine and hi-cap clamped together turned out to be a decent scenario, however I would prefer a third magazine attached. I was fine with the 250 or so rounds that both the magazines had to fire, but a couple times I had to reload in the middle of the battle. Loading in battle was simple with the loading rod. I would load the standard, and then using that magazine to hold people off I could load and wind my hi-cap. This was a surprisingly quick, and effective process that didn’t get me hit once. If you prefer only standard magazines this loading rod would be a very good investment. It works with M16 magazines and it appears that it would work for all magazines.
Little Knick Knacks
Let’s start with the hop up. You simply slide back the charging handle, which reveals the hop up. It is simply adjusted by pushing it upwards for the BB to go up, and downwards for the BB to go down. Simple, and so far no difficulties or problems with the system. It has a few weeks on the same setting with no problems, and is easy to adjust.
Next we’ll go to small features on the gun that is unique. First off it has the trigger guard that will fold up, to allow shooters with gloves on to shoot with little hassle. This is simple, and can easily be switched in battle. You simply slide it up, and no excessive force is needed. Next small feature is the magazine release. I like this system a lot since you can reach for the magazine with one hand, and use your thumb to hit the magazine release while pulling the magazine out. This is different from most guns where you have to use one hand to hit a button on the side, and the other to catch the falling magazine. This magazine release also makes it so that the procedure is the same for left handed shooters, and right handed shooters. Another feature to allow for the same action for lefties and righties is the select fire switch being on both sides of the gun.
In the left picture you see the trigger guard down, and a clear shot of the magazine release on your right. On the right picture you see the trigger guard folded up
Also to speak a little more of the fire options, Marui decided not to add the three round burst option on the SG 552 as they had on the 550 and 551 versions. From what I hear the burst option was not a desirable option and did not work very well. This is a possible reasoning for the decision not to have the burst option on this model. The real steel guns are semi and fully automatic, and it requires an additional modification to make it three round burst, and that’s only if you desire it.
One of the things that excited me the most, was the front pin that holds in the handguards. Yeah, that’s right, a pin excited me. The reason being that I have lost three of my M16 pins in games, so it’s a hassle when you have to continue to buy new pins. This new pin if put in on the right side of the gun (the way it’s supposed to) has a locking mechanism to keep it from coming out, but making it easy for you to pull out. There is a problem to this however. If you incorrectly place the pin in, it will be easily lost.
You can see the pin with its regular form, but you also see the two small pieces that stick off of the pin.
The stock is the last thing I will discuss. The stock is very sturdily built, completely out of plastic with a rubber butt pad on the end. It is quite a comfortable stock and the gap in the middle seems to make the gun lighter, which is a good thing. However the gun is a little front heavy, but not too much. It’s mainly the battery that causes this. The clamps to the front handguard, and as mentioned you simply have to pull it off, using only force. It does not require much, but when I first got the gun I was cautious since I didn’t want to break anything. The folding options prove most useful in storage, and is hard to use in combat, since you can clamp the magazines if you do this.
The two pictures above show the stock folded on the SG 552, and it shows both sides of the gun
The Loading Rod
All I can say about this is it’s about time that the loading rod was improved upon. The loading rod was completely unable to go into combat, very hard to package, fragile, high maintenances (you can’t lose the two end pieces, and pretty difficult. Now they have a loading rod that holds over 100 rounds, and is the size of a pistol clip. You simply pop open the hatch on the top just like a hi-cap and pour your BB’s in. Then you pop out the little rod with the button on the side, and begin pushing the rod down. Each push is quite simple and loads 4 BB’s into the magazine per press. The push is simple with little to resistance, the BB’s can’t spill out unless you open the hatch, and you can fill the magazine entirely very quickly. They seem to work on all Marui magazines, but I have only tried SG, M16, AUG, and G36c magazines. This also worked very well with my G&P mid caps. It was so much easier than the rod. With the rod you would have to fill it up twice, and the second rod full was very difficult to press down. This completely solves that problem for me. I just hope Marui sells them separately soon.
Why Would You Get This gun?
I have decided to let you know what exactly this gun could be used for. This gun does perform decently in the woods, but of course it’s not as good as the guns with the longer barrels and/or upgrades. It is small and maneuverable which is great for people that like to move around a lot in the woods, or who play in dense woods. This gun is considered an assault rifle as implicated in the abbreviation ‘Sig’ but it is definitely more of a CQB weapon. It is very small, and is very capable for CQB, and very qualified. The following features adds to its CQB compatibility; the ability to fold the stock, magazines can clamp with no additional pieces allowing for quick reloads and no dropping of magazines, the outer barrel is very small to allow for turning corners (much like the M733’s short outer barrel, which is an improvement from the M4’s outer barrel), and finally the double selector switch allows for quick firing change no matter what position your holding your gun in.
Also it has the accessories factor. The rails on the gun are definitely designed for CQB accessories such as lasers, and flashlights. But you could go out and get a mount and red dot/scope if that is what you are looking for. But these rails already save someone at least $30 for buying mounts for the flashlights and lasers.
So overall this is great for someone doing CQB, someone who moves a lot in woods battles, someone who has a very dense woods, someone small who needs a smaller gun to handle, or anyone who just likes small guns. This gun does make it difficult for those planning on getting serious upgrades, mainly since the battery compartment is so small. But I’m sure you could mount a battery box to on of the rails to get a bigger battery. Just more hassle. Also for those people who plan to do woodland and CQB a silencer may be a good investment to use in woodland battles.
Conclusion
Tokyo Marui has made yet another great airsoft model. This one has mastered a few minor problems such as the pins falling out, very limited plastic on plastic squeaking, and a very sturdy build of the gun with everything designed to last. This was a very good model for them to decide to replicate, and this is also one of the few guns that comes with mounts already for the gun. I recommend this gun to any airsofter out there due to its great looks, good build, neat features, great performance, and its capabilities. The only downfall is the mini battery which is impossible to avoid, and is in a lot of the more popular replicas out there. I hope anyone who gets this gun, enjoys it, and I hope everyone at least takes a look at it.
- Meatball
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