I'm glad to see that someone else has one of these.I have the wood stock version, not the black plastic stock model. I paid $364 OTD for mine. I'll put some photos up later for those who might be interested. I've posted my impressions before, and I really think that this rifle is a sleeper.
I looked mine over thoroughly before I bought it, and even more so after I got in home. It seems to be well built and functions flawlessly with every brand of ammo I've tried. I know that I'll eventually have some feed problems, but that's to be expected now and then. I have not tried subsonics, but I have some 60 grain Aquila's that I am going to try next. One thing about ammo...if you read the owners manual, you'll see that GSG recommends high velocity ammo only. I have not found that to be 100% true, standard velocity works just fine for me.
I do have a few complaints...one is that the rear sight doesn't have any windage adjustment, however I guess i got lucky in that mine didn't need any windage correction.
Another complaint, only on the wood stock model, is that there isn't a butt plate. I'm going to make one for mine as soon as I get around to it. Lastly, they did not put a rear sling mount on it. I did that myself, in just a few minutes, but still I wish it had came from the factory. The front sling attachment is part of the molded fake gas chamber. I guess it would be strong enough, but I installed a 3 point rail mount and used a rail mount sling attachment. I think the rail mount was less than $10, and works great. I found a light at the John Deere place that would fit in scope rings, so I installed the light under the barrel, for night
One thing that may be a problem for some is that the rifle weighs 9 1/2 pounds. That's pretty heavy, but it hasn't been a problem for me.
Regarding the magazines...as far as I know the reduced capacity magazines are all the same physical size, they just put a pin in it to prevent loading more rounds. The magazines are well built, and extras are readily available although a bit pricey. I bought my spare from Midway, I think the cost is a little than $40 dollars, although I have heard that you can get them a little cheaper from other places. Since I really don't need a 24 round magazine all the time, so I have taken one of mine apart to see how it's made, and I think I can easily cut it down to a 10 rounder. A side note, I have some of those action proving dummy rounds, and I tested both magazines. I worked the action slowly, and I worked it as fast as I could, and never had any kind of a failure. Of course this isn't a perfect test, but firing live ammo worked just as well, even hollow points fed fine.
I would definitely buy it again, at the same price. If I was limited to one rifle, then I would buy a SIG522, if I had the extra money to do so. I will eventually buy a SIG, but I don't feel at all handicapped with the GSG.
I would advise anyone who is interested in this rifle, to do a search and read some of the test reports and reviews that are out there. I bought mine without knowing anything at all about it, and at first I was afraid that I might have a bad purchase, but I found several tests. And other than the points I mentioned, they were uniformly positive. One exceptionally interesting test report was a 1000 round in one range visit. Funny thing, and I've seen this on other products, I never found a negative report by anyone who actually owned one. Some could be out there, but I couldn't find any.
So, it's heavy, it's ugly, it's not going to appeal to everyone, and it works great for me. My opinion only, and worth every penny it cost's. I'll get some pics up soon. I have to see how one posts photos before I can do it.
