S&T Arisaka Type 97 Bolt Action Airsoft Sniper Rifle w/ Scope

"Firstly, this rifle is gorgeous. All wood and steel, I don't think there's a single plastic piece on here except the magazine and the BB's themselves.

That being said, fit and finish 10/10. All metal parts are metal. Sling mounts are heavy duty. Fun fact, the bayonet lug will fit an Arisaka Type 30 bayonet (designed for type 38, which this is a derivative of, and type 99 rifles.) Has the correct curved bolt handle for the type 38, the knurling pattern on the back of the safety like all Arisaka rifles. The safety on this weapon functions just like the real thing.

The wood parts are gorgeously shaped and consistently stained. My only gripe about that is two stickers from the manufacturer leave a sticky residue that require cleaning to remove.

The scope is correct, even the reticle is correctly tilted (due to the rifle's optics being off-center to the bore.) The "zero" is actually to the right of where the lines cross and is marked with a 0.

The spring is stiff, this rifle is intended to be cycled with the stock to your shoulder. You see people trying to bring the rifle down to cycle the bolt, due to the stiffness of the spring, it's easier still doing it point shoulder. A stiff spring is never a bad thing when it comes to and springer gun.

Monopod is functional, iron sights are functional. The rear sight is adjustable for elevation.

FPS is consistly in the 410-420 range.

If I had to make a complaint, it would be two things.

1) The magazine is plastic and is sometimes difficult to seat. There's a spring loaded tab that needs to be lined up perfect with a notch inside the magwell to lock in. I've never had it spontaneously fall free, but it's not 100% seating every time. This may improve with repetition. The magazine will drop free if you push open the spring loaded tab, but it's recessed enough this won't happen accidentally. This point is more of a nitpick than anything, I'm sure I just need more practice.

2) The hop up adjustment (under the folding rear sight) requires a small hex key that isn't included. If you plan on adjusting the hop up of the rifle, you'll need one.

The barrel of the airsoft gun is set far back from the muzzle. If you intend to use this rifle for any type of movie or reenactment, the smaller bore of the airsoft barrel isn't visible unless directly in front.

Compared to a real Arisaka rifle, other than the orange tip and visible airsoft mag on the bottom (that is flush with the stock) you would easily mistake this for the real thing.

If you're on the fence, get it. When it goes on sale, it's $389. It's worth buying.

"This gun is fantastic, you can either use the iron sights or the actual scope which works well. I would definitely recommend at least .25 bbs at a bare minimum. There is one con to be well aware, is that you may have quite a difficulty acquiring spare magazines for this, as it is propriety. At the time of this review you will most likely not see any spare magazines available for purchase for both this gun and the Type 38 as they are the same except for the scope attachment.

"this gun is amazing! love the real wood i am a die hard fan of bolt action rifles the more the merrier hoping to get the m1903 and a lee enfield from g&g when it comes out as well