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The VSS Vintorez is a mysterious suppressed full-automatic sniper rifle from Russia, which is issued primarily to Spetsnaz units for undercover or clandestine operations. It is only recently discovered by the other nations through recent wars. Therefore, VSS has only now begun to show up in the entertainment industry, such as movies, video games, and airsoft.
Trivia
VSS stands for Vintovka Snayperskaya Spetsialnaya or "Special Sniper Rifle".
That's right, there has never been an airsoft replica of the VSS Vintorez in the past. Commercially, anyway. And Echo1 has now produced the first commercial airsoft replica. In this article, we will be experimenting with the Echo1 Red Star IGOR VSS Vintorez airsoft sniper rifle.
The Echo1 Red Star IGOR comes in a cardboard package. It has a nice faded designed of the Echo1 logo on an American flag (see photo below). Other than that, there is nothing particularly special about the outside.
Inside, you'll find the content well padded. It's a box that you'll want to reuse to store your gun. If you plan to use the iron sight, you can even use the padded box as a gun bag.
The box content includes the VSS Vintorez rifle, two high-capacity magazines, a 9.6v NiMH stick battery, a battery charger, and a warranty registration card. Strangely, the user manual is not included. Good thing that the user manual is available as a PDF on Echo1's web site.
There is a yellow warning label: "Must USE High Grde BBs ONLY! Failure to do so WILL VOID WARRANTY. Ask Your authorized Echo Dealer."
Cross-Reference
How does the Echo1 Red Star IGOR compare to the real VSS Vintorez? Take a look in our "VSS Vintorez Comparisons" article.
The package includes two high capacity magazines. Each magazine holds 150 rounds. They are made out of polymer and are quite light. The construction is quite study and robust. At first glance, I have thought it might be full metal. Even after picking it up, I have wondered if it is full metal or not. The texture is matte and has a metal feel. It's only after careful examination that I have concluded that it is plastic.
Typical of high-capacity magazines, there is a winding wheel at the bottom of the magazine (see photo above. It is, however, slightly indented. Because of this indention, it is not as easy to rotate the winding wheel as other high-capacity magazines (M4 and MP5) I have tried. It's easier if you use your finger tip.
The top of the magazine is typical of a high capacity magazine. Photo below demonstrates the hatch, for loading BB's, opened and closed position. There is a BB unloading switch, making it easy to unload left over BB's.
Inserting the magazine into the Echo1 Red Star IGOR is not the easiest thing in the world. If you are new to the mag and the gun, then you'll likely insert it wrong and it will pull out easily. The correct way is to inside the front end and hook it into the receiver. Then rotate the magazine back and upward until it clicks into place. Tuck on it to make sure it is locked in. If it pulls out, then you have not inserted it correctly. With some practice it will be no problem.
At this time, the Echo1 Red Star Igor has been released without any mid-cap or low-cap magazines. Echo1 claims that mid-cap mags are in the works.
Cross-Reference
Stay up-to-date on the mid-cap release for the Echo1 Red Star IGOR: "Mid-Cap Magazine for the Echo1 Red Star IGOR VSS Vintorez?".
In the mean time, the only way to practice real cap MilSim is to load multiple high capacity to real capacity and swap between the mags. I have tried winding up the high capacity magazines and have been able to fire off 46 rounds without winding. Therefore it is possible to figure out how many rounds to load, before hand, to simulate 10 rounds, 20 rounds, or 30 rounds. You can then load them that way and wind them up in the staging area before entering the field.
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