dEFCONAirsoft Tokyo Marui VSR Pro Review

Sniping was something that never really appealed to me throughout the 7 years I’ve been playing Airsoft. I've encountered many snipers on the playing field in that time, I’ve been hit, and I’ve had a few near misses, but I’ve often thought how did they manage to get that shot? Was it just luck, or pure skill?

So, earlier on in the year I decided to buy myself a Sniper rifle and see how difficult it really was. My weapon of choice? The Marui VSR 10 Pro...

The VSR 10 has been Marui's first and only venture into the spring Sniper range, with several variations available, but internally all pretty much the same. The G-Spec seems to be a very popular gun, with its sleek tactical looks, fluted barrel with integrated silencer. They also do a real-shock version, which is supposed to give you a little 'kick' when firing, a bit pointless if you ask me, but hey, if realism is your thing. Then there is the standard VSR 10 Pro, which is the model that I settled on. This has a few advantages over the G-Spec... 'What advantages!?' I hear you scream. Well, the two most basic are the barrel length, and the iron-sights. The G-Spec, although it sports an integral silencer, has an overall shorter barrel length of 303mm and this will affect your accuracy. It also comes with a scope rail, which means you HAVE to get a scope in order to use it. Plus it's also a little more pricey too.

Now the VSR 10, has a longer internal barrel of 430mm, and an overall length of 1075mm, which means better accuracy over range, and it also comes with iron-sights so you can use it straight out of the box. Not that you'd want to however, as all of the VSR range shoot at around 280fps from new, nothing over your average AEG which negates the whole point of having a sniper rifle in the first place!

The first thing you should do is have the gun upgraded to whatever your site fps limits are for spring sniper weapons, and then you can fully appreciate what you can do with this gun. I had mine upgraded to 400fps (my local site, Urban Assault, sniper limit) which required a full internal upgrade. Don't be tempted to have just the spring changed (I have a 150 in mine), as the internal mechanism will not stand up to the stresses put upon it. You will need to have the cylinder head, trigger sear, spring guide and piston sear replaced also, which can be expensive initially, but well worth it.

The next thing to consider is your choice of ammunition. Once you have upgraded your weapon, there is no point in continuing to use 0.2g BB's, as although the range will be excellent, the accuracy will be very poor. The gun will be far too powerful for this light ammo, and the slightest breeze will ensure your shots stray from their target. 0.25g ammo you may get away with, but if you're really serious about the sniping role settle on something a little heavier. I have been using 0.28g Guarder BB's in my VSR, and it loves them. At 55 yards, I can hit a paper dinner plate almost every time, which is about head sized. Anything bigger, within the chest region is a bonus. A skilled sniper will still have to compensate for wind speed and direction whichever brand of ammo you choose, but the heavier you go, the less you will have to worry about it - and sniping is about skill, not taking your shots from 100yards away and hoping they hit!

So with 0.28g ammo, how does the gun perform in terms of velocity? Well I mentioned before it was tuned to 400fps, this was with a 0.2g BB. With a 0.28g BB, the VSR is still spitting them out at 335fps, which for such a mass, at that speed, is going to hurt.. lots. How much? Well, put it this way. I took a shot through a broken window, at the garage towards the bottom of my garden, I was 35 yards away. I missed the gap in the broken window, and hit some of the remaining glass... It shattered. I took a second shot, and this time managed to get the BB through the broken window pane, but it struck a fluorescent light bulb, which shattered instantly. So, pretty powerful then!

So let’s take a look at some of the other features of the gun...

The magazine capacity is 30 rounds, which for a sniper rifle, is more than enough. I would recommend purchasing a 2nd magazine and it's worth mentioning that some skirmish sites have a limit as to how many you can take with you into the field. The magazine sits flush in the bottom of the gun and is ejecting by pressing a small button towards the front of the housing. It is fairly easy to load the magazine by hand, but very time consuming, so I would recommend anyone to invest in a speed loader!

The gun is cocked by lifting up the bolt handle, pulling back on it firmly; sliding it forward and locking it back down. The gun, even in its upgraded form is very easy to cock once you've tried it a couple of times. I can now fire off about 5 shots in about 10 seconds, hitting a man sized target. Obviously to get serious accuracy, you need to take your time a little more.

There is a manual trigger safety which is a lever located on the right hand side of the rifle, activated by your thumb. I have found this can sometimes be accidentally engaged when cocking the rifle, especially if you're wearing gloves. The trigger pull is very smooth and precise, and is also adjustable. (although you do need to remove the receiver from the stock, and use an allen key). The rifle also has very little recoil, perhaps a slight 'twang' like a low-powered air rifle, but nowhere near as loud. We mentioned earlier that the G-Spec comes with an integral silencer, but is this really needed? In my opinion no. The standard VSR is quiet enough that at 55 yards and perhaps beyond, you will not hear it. All the target would hear is the thud of the round hitting them, and all the shooter would hear is the scream to let them know it was a direct hit!

The hop-up adjustment on this gun is found on the left hand side, just before where the fore-grip ends. It is a lever type, with a positive ‘clicking’ action that does not move accidentally. It also includes behind this a sticker with scale markings so you can adjust your hop-up and remember where it was last set. Using 0.28g BB’s, I have the hop-up set 3 clicks away from fully on, with 0.2g BB’s, you hardly need it engaged at all.

Another nice feature is the stock cap on the butt of the rifle. It is (with a little prying) removable, exposing a very handy storage space for spare ammo, tool-kit etc. The actual body of the rifle is made from high-impact plastic, which makes the gun very lightweight indeed. Your arms would certainly not tire from carrying it round all day. It has a low-shine tactical black finish, which I think looks quite smart, although people have mentioned it looks a little on the plastic side. The outer barrel, trigger, trigger guard, cocking bolt, safety catch and fake ejection port (which is where the cylinder is located) are all metal. Should you need to, there are two mounting lugs on the underside of the gun for sling swivels, something else I invested in (but eventually took them off).

As discussed previously, the standard VSR comes with iron-sights (which are removable), and to mount a scope you will need an adaptor rail. This is something I invested in, as at 55 yards and beyond, it is difficult to locate your target with the iron-sights. I opted for a 3-9x40 scope, which is perfectly adequate for most scenarios. A word of advice here, don’t use the scope on 9x zoom, as it makes it difficult to see where the shots land as it recreates a sort of optical illusion. I found 4x zoom to be the best setting for myself, but it will vary with each shooter.

There are a whole host of accessories and upgrades you can purchase for this gun. Overall, including the gun, I spent £316 on mine. Which included, a full tune and upgrade to 400fps (using the parts mentioned earlier + labour), spare magazine, speed loader, scope rail, 3-9x40 scope, swing swivel mounts plus a gun bag… oh and a bag of ammo. Am I pleased with my purchase? Yes I am, it certainly adds a new element to the game, requires patience and skill – and I’m still learning!

The Marui VSR Range is available for purchase at fire-support.co.uk. Click the image to be taken to their pages.

Please mention dEFCONAirsoft when ordering, thank you.

All material within is copyright dEFCONAirsoft 2007. dEFCONAirsoft is kindly sponsored by Fire-Support. Some of the views expressed within these pages are not necessarily the views of dEFCONAirsoft or any of the sites affiliated with us.