First off, I’d like to say that UTG makes real-steel parts for AR-15s/m4s, so they know what they’re doing when they make a firearm. Obviously it’s easier to make an airsoft gun than a firearm and UTG does it right.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
REAL STEEL HISTORY
ORDERING
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
GUN SPECIFICATIONS
THE BASICS
FEATURES
SLING
BIPOD
HOP-UP
SCOPE
SPEEDLOADER
MAGAZINES
PERFORMANCE
ACCURACY
PROS & CONS
CONCLUSION

REAL STEEL HISTORY(from Wikipedia)
“The Accuracy International PM (Precision Marksman) rifle was entered into a British competition in the early 1980s as a replacement for the Lee-Enfield derived sniper rifles then in use by the British Army (e.g. L42A1). The Accuracy International rifle was selected over the Parker Hale M85. The British Army adopted the Accuracy International PM into service as the L96A1 and outfitted the rifle with Schmidt & Bender 6x42 telescopic sights. In this configuration the rifle is capable of first shot hits with a cold, warm or fouled barrel. Tests with 10.89 g (168 gr) ammunition provided sub 0.5 MOA ten-shot groups at 91 m (100 yd) and the rifle was supplied with a telescopic sight, bipod, five magazines, sling, cleaning kit and tool roll, encased in a fitted transport case.[3]

A few years later, the Swedish military were also on the hunt for a new rifle, and Accuracy International entered an upgraded version of the PM, now known as the AW or Arctic Warfare. This was the start of the Arctic Warfare name, which would become the primary name of the rifle family despite its earlier names...

It has since spawned an entire family of sniper rifles using the Arctic Warfare name, and has been adopted by a number of other countries, including Australia, Belgium, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Latvia, Malaysia, Norway, The Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Other AI rifles descended from the L96A1 include the AI AE, and the AI AS50....”

Now, onto the review.

ORDERING:
I ordered this gun from PyramydAir.com for a total of $179.95 plus
5000 .25g Air Venturi CQBBS Pro,$11.80. In total I paid $191.75 because they had free ground shipping.
The gun promptly arrived in a large box safe and sound with bubble wrap instead of those annoying packing peanuts. On top of that the gun’s box had sturdy styrofoam inside. It is extremely doubtful that your package would get damaged if you ordered from PyramydAir.com.


FIRST IMPRESSIONS:

When this gun first arrived in the mail I was ecstatic. The box art is sexy and sleek, while the heftiness of it is your clue there’s something special inside. When I first opened the box I let loose the maniacal laugh of a child on Christmas morning! I pulled the pieces from the box and eyed them like a predator eyes his prey. I thought, “This is what I’ve been waiting for!”

When you open the box you will find:
the gun itself (in two pieces),
a pair of allen wrenches,
a speedloader,
two magazines,
a manual,
and a sling.
Also included with this package are:
a Leapers Tactedge 4x40 Red/Green illuminated scope,
and 1000 TSD precision BBs.

READ THE MANUAL. UTG has done a very nice job making it and it explains how to put the gun together. If you don’t follow it’s instructions you may damage your rifle.


GUN SPECIFICATIONS:
Weight: 8 lbs. (3600g) without bipod
Length: 48.4” (1230.0mm)
Magazine Capacity: 23 rounds
Hop-Up: Adjustable
Type: Bolt Action Spring Sniper

FEATURES:
Once you piece the gun together it is extremely comfortable! One of the first things I noticed was that this gun is almost entirely designed for a right-handed user. The bolt, safety, and elevation knob on the scope are on the right side of the gun.

Nowhere on this gun does it say Mattel or Playskool. When you pick this thing up you have to convince yourself that it ISN’T a real firearm before you shoot at a living person, even if they’re wearing protection.
At just over four feet long, this gun was clearly designed to be a sniper rifle. This gun is incredibly sturdy and is nearly full metal.The only plastic on this gun is the ABS stock. The weight also adds to the great feel.

Now here’s and interesting tidbit for all of you out there: since the cheek rest is fully adjustable with these allen screws you can remove it entirely in order to use full face masks.

This way your eyes line up with the scope perfectly. Just remember not to lose the screws!
When you pull back the bolt for the first couple of times it will be a little sticky, but the action will smooth out after a while. If you pull the bolt back too fast, it will mis-feed, but you’re trying to be quiet anyway, aren’t you?

SLING
I’d like to get this out of the way first: you can use the provided sling with this gun if need to. If you attach the sling to the sling mounts like this,

instead of this.

If you mount the sling using that method you’ll be utilizing the stronger part of the sling to carry the weight of the gun.
There are four sling mounts, two on either side of the gun.

BIPOD
The bipod folds up easily and can be turned around for what UTG calls ‘stealth mode’ without tools.

However, when folded in ‘stealth mode’, the bipod blocks the magwell.

The legs extend out using threaded rings.

I have heard people complain about the bipod being wobbly over and over again. But, as stated in the manual: “The bipod pans for easy aiming adjustment” . So, it’s supposed to do that, and I for one, having used rigid bipods before, prefer this bipod over anything else that I own.

HOP-UP

The hop-up is kind of hard to get at, as it is in the gap between the magazine release and the body of the gun. You use the smaller of the two silver allen wrenches that came with this gun to adjust it. I however, don’t use it. I’m happy to have the scope zeroed in to the factory setting.

SCOPE
This gun package comes with a Leapers Tactedge 4x40 Red/Green Illuminated scope. When I pulled this out of it’s box, I was shocked at the quality of what I found! I thought “Holy @#%&! This can’t possibly be for an airsoft gun!” . Later on when I read the manual for it I found out that it was designed for use with real-steel weapons as well as airsoft guns!

It’s fully adjustable, and also comes with flip up lens covers that really help protect your scope.

SPEEDLOADER
The speedloader uses a pistol adapter that has an annoying tendency to fall off.

One way to take care of this problem is to use adhesive backed tape to latch the adapter to the speedloader.

You really want to make sure that you don’t lose the adapter because loading the mags by hand while you’re under fire is not an option.

MAGAZINES
The Magazine well is forward of the bolt. 

The magazines are made of metal and ABS plastic. 

To release the magazines you pull the metal tab towards the butt of the gun. The mags have a heavy weight that screams durable.

PERFORMANCE:
This gun was chronographed at PyramydAir’sPyramydAir’s range and here are the results:
450-480 fps with .20g BBs
410-420 fps with 0.28g BBs
310-320 fps with 0.43g BBs

I did some tests of my own to prove this. I shot at the bottom of a soda can and WHAP! It shot straight through and managed to dent the top of the can as well!
This means that you can reach targets up to 230 ft away while in concealment, and your enemy will have to run at least fifty yards to get close enough to shoot back.
ACCURACY
I did two tests for the best comparison.

The conditions for both tests were:
85 degrees fahrenheit
Slight winds with strong gusts
Uphill at a 2-3º slope
Muzzle 25 yards from the target (75 ft)
Using .25g Air Venturi CQBBS PRO

For my tests I shot at paper plates to show you scale.

In my first grouping you can see a few strays that were caught by the wind.

I fired a total of eight shots here. If you see other marks on the plate, those are from when I hung it on my backstop with thumbtacks.
My first grouping wasn’t that impressive for two reasons,
1. I had stored the weapon inside and the barrel was warming up
2. My timing against the gusts of wind was bad

Once both the gun and I had warmed up, I took another eight shots at a new plate. The wind gusted pretty bad for the first three and caused strays, but in-between gusts I did this.

Now, I’m no marksman, but if you are, you could surely do better than I did. So, while your enemy is trying to get a shot off while running, you can pick a soft spot and make it EVEN HARDER for them to get you back!

PROS & CONS:
PROS:
Nice Packaging
Hefty
Excellent Replica
Powerful
Quiet
Included Scope and Bipod
Price
Accuracy
Size
FEEL
RANGE
FUN
CONS:
Adapter piece on speedloader
Mis-feeding of BBs if the bolt is pulled too fast
ROF
CONCLUSION:
If you are an airsoft sniper and want range, accuracy, power AND feel, I highly recommend the UTG l96 Green KIT from PyramydAir.com.

This gun is terrific fun, I’m so glad I ordered mine! Now, I’ll be out back with it laughing maniacally...

-CJ 

Have any questions or comments about this review? Ask in the forums!

http://www.airsoftcore.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=51117

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