Icon Logo Gun Mart

G & G Combat machine Raider

G & G Combat machine Raider

In the past the market for budget airsoft guns that are suitable for skirmishing has been largely dominated by offerings from China, but we have increasingly seen other manufacturers look at the sector and take it seriously. The latest batch of Combat Machine models from G&G Armament from Taiwan are aimed right at the centre of this market.

The original Combat Machine model that the test gun is based on has been out for some time and is branded as the Raider GR15. The GR15 has a metal RIS (Rail Interface System) system and blow back operation, and they have sold well, proving themselves within the budget market-place. So how does this even lower priced Combat Machine Raider CM16 stack up against the competition?

Basic But Efficient

The Combat Machine CM16 Raiders come in 4 ‘flavours’, black or desert and long or short, so a good mix of lengths and colours. It’s nice to see a desert coloured gun pitched at the more affordable end of the market

So to the externals. The RIS is made of ABS, but I’ve yet to see one break, so I don’t believe there is an issue with using the material but anybody using it needs to be aware that sticking handles on it and using them as a lever imposes more of a risk for breakage than a metal system. It is well moulded, well detailed and from a distance you can’t tell it’s not made of metal. What is particularly good is there are no sharp edges – which you sometimes get with RIS systems - and more importantly it is light, for those less beefy players out there. Weight of guns can often be a real issue.

The front ‘A’ pillar sight and outer barrel is attached in a unique way and is moulded in one. This is obviously one of the ways they have managed to keep the cost down and is not a problem at all, unless you want to mess about with outer barrel lengths. The flash hider has a negative m14 fine thread, so most Airsoft silencers will fit. The rear sight sits well on the top rail and has easy to use windage and elevation controls.

Moving on to the body, there is a good smooth finish with crisp selector and detailed safe, semi and auto markings that look like they are engraved, better than just sticking on a paint marking.  The ejection port that reveals the hop adjuster is sprung closed, an excellent way of dealing with the problem catches cause. If more manufacturers adopted this as an idea it would be a good thing; simple is often best.

A welcome addition is a rear single point sling mount. Often even high end guns are missing sling mounts but G&G have not skimped on what is a very important feature. It only has one loop on it, but left hander’s could easily switch it over to the other side.

story continues below...

The stock is a crane stock and has room for up to a 9.6v 1600mah nun chuck style battery. I have a personal dislike of PEQ boxes and the crane stock is a much more fluid answer for holding batteries with the added advantage the weight is kept more into your shoulder than forward. There is a 6 hole adjuster on the stock so you are bound to find a suitable position.

So How Does It Fire?

Very well is the answer, over the chrono it registers at about 1 joule out of the box, so no downgrading is needed for the majority of UK sites. The flight of the BB’s is good and true and the hop is effective. I easily hit chest size targets on our range at 45 meters, so very capable for skirmishing. The fire rate on 8.4v batteries isn’t too sluggish, but for a higher rate you can easily fit a 9.6v battery and even with that you are not looking at stupidly high fire rates.

So it looks good, feels good, fires well and at less than £150, how do they produce it for the money and are there any horror stories waiting to catch you out? The only way to really find out is take it apart and look in more detail.

Value For Money

On stripping it down you can see that the barrel is one place that money has been saved. The hop unit is straight out of a G&G M4 parts bin, as is the hop rubber but the barrel is aluminium. It works just fine but to keep the price down something always has to give. If a purchaser wants upgrades, this is one area I would spend money on.

The gearbox is nicely finished, has good quality components including metal bushings and steel gears, so no skimping here. Yes it lacks the blow back mechanism of the Raider GR15, but the quality of components is top notch and I can’t see any major differences between the Raider CM16 test gun and G&G guns costing twice as much.

It almost sounds too good to be true, a gun that is well made and looks good and shoots this well should be more expensive, but when you look closely you can see how they have done it. G&G have concentrated on what people want, RIS, crane stock, rear sling swivel, good colours, markings and a choice of lengths. They have put in all these features and kept the quality of everything else high but kept it basic. No frills, no blowback, no super high speed motors or gimmicks just good reliable quality. You also get the gun, mag, cleaning rod and a packet of BB’s in the package, but you will have to budget for batteries and a charger, as they are not included. Nevertheless I think that’s better than including a cheap battery and charger, as most players will want to buy batteries with a bigger mah capacity.

Priced at around £145, the G&G Combat Machine Raider CM16 is a cracking gun that sits well in the budget sector of the market - snap them up quick if you want one… they are flying out of the door.

  • G & G Combat machine Raider - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • G & G Combat machine Raider - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • G & G Combat machine Raider - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • G & G Combat machine Raider - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • G & G Combat machine Raider - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • G & G Combat machine Raider - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • G & G Combat machine Raider - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • G & G Combat machine Raider - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • G & G Combat machine Raider - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • G & G Combat machine Raider - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • G & G Combat machine Raider - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

Arrow