UHC SUPER-9 PRO

First Impressions

I got this gun from www.TheBackyardSafari.com and they were kind enough to give me a G3A3 springer free with it. At the same time I purchased a UHC MP5SD3, so I wound up with a huge box to open, plenty of those wonderful styrafoam peanuts, and another Christmas, this time in April. By the time I dug out the S-9 I had already been awed by the other rifles and I was slightly estranged by the fact that I would have to build this one. After opening the box I was confronted by about 7 major parts, and several screws and smaller pieces. The ABS stock and forestock was by far the largest of the parts, and looked quite good and seemed strudy. The barrel was made of aluminum, and the front sight (removeable) was made of plastic and both looked nice as well. There was also the bolt, trigger assembly, clip, dummy round (for use with the 30rnd mag) and a rubber O-ring. I was to find out the hard way what the O-ring was used for. assembly took about 30 minutes (even though it is mentioned that it can be done in 5-10 minutes, doing it for the first time takes some work) and after much deliberation I thought I had figured out where the O-ring went: In a hole for a screw, to give the screw something to grip to. How wrong I was; Later I dicovered that it had come out of the dummy cartridge (it was supposed to be glued) and it is what kept the ammo from rolling out of the barrel. I salvaged it and cleaned up the marks from the screw's teeth, and glued it into the dummy cartridge with RTV silicone. Anyway, it was still a good bargin at $95, especially with the G3A3 thrown in.

Appearance

Once you have the gun completely assembled it looks quite menacing, it is over 4 feet long, jet black/grey with silver (not chromed) aluminum highlights because of the bolt. It also wieghs roughly 7lbs and is balanced well. I equipped mine with a wide angle 4x .22 rifle scope to assist in sniping/scouting, and a sling from an M1 Garand (it fits onto the sling mounts perfectly) that really helps out if you go indoors and draw your sidearm instead of trying to take snap-shots using your huge rifle. Just be careful; Even with the sling you could easily catch your rifle on various things (doors, low ceilings, tree limbs, ect.) and knock it around a bit. With all these attahcments (well not all, just two) it really starts to look like a real sniper rifle, or at least a hunting or sporting rifle being used as one. *UPDATE* I have since equipped it with a TASCO 6x32mm scope and rings that allow me to see the front sight through them. I used a triangular file to cut the small indents for the scope to mount, much less dangerous (to the gun) than using a dremel tool.

Function

This gun uses two modes of fire, one is with a 30 round tube magazine that attaches to the left side of the gun, and feeds through the side of the gun directly into the dummy cartridge. This magazine has an on/off switch at the front of the mag, so you can load it, release the bb follower, and store it safely (as a backup mag) or attach it to the gun, then turn the switch to release the bb's. The second system uses the 5 round rotary magazine and the 10 plastic shell casings that come with the gun. A .2- gram round is loaded into the front of each casing, and when you cock the gun it loads one of them into the magazine. When you pull the trigger, it fires, and when you cock it again it ejects the first shell, and chambers the second. This method of fire seems to be the most powerful and accurate of the two, but for skirmishes the 30rnd mag is much better (no casings to find, 30rnds before reload, not 5), of course the shell-casing system is just fine for plinking, or target shooting. The gun has performed flawlessly in all of my tests, in both fire modes and there are only three quirks about it that I can think of. One: The safety does not engage. No amount of pressure will make the switch click into posistion, and when you pull the trigger it flips right back to fire; Definately not something you would want on a real gun, but since this is only airsoft which is pretty safe anyway, it is excused. (I should mention that this may only afflict my gun, others may not have this problem.) Two: On occation the shell casing rounds are ejected but bounce back into the gun. Since you are not apt to use that system in a battle you will most likely notice it, and extract the errant case by hand. Three: When firing using the tube mag fed system, pulling the bolt back very quickly will sometimes result in the dummy cartridge getting extracted, similar to what happens with the casings. The result is that the tube mag's spring loaded follower shoots all thirty rounds into the inside of the gun, and unless you don't mind wasting 30 rounds by dumping them in the dirt and then loading a new magazine, now it the time to pull out your sidearm. I should mention that this (more or less) catastrophic problem has only happened once, and I have only been able to re-create it soon after oiling the loading mechanism, and in a contained enviroment, where I was actually trying to pull the bolt as fast as I could. (Remember, you are fighting a rather strong spring, so it isn't all that easy to cock it quickly.) Oh, and as soon as you're done building it, apply silicone oil to the bolt, trigger, and down (and up) the barrel, otherwise the bolt squeaks when you cock it.

Performance

This is the most accurate rifle that I own. That should say alot, but then again, you don't know me, or what I own, so I guess I'll have to elaborate. Firing .20g rounds from shells, I can puncture a coke can, so I belive it fires at roughly 350fps This can vary quite a bit depending on how long you wait while it is cocked. It's strange, but is seems to be more powerful if you wait a few seconds between shots, perhaps to let the spring relax, or something. Indoors at 75' using shells and waiting a while between shots I can get all 5 in the target section of an NRA standard target. (Assuming you have the scope adjusted correctly.) More than sufficient for most airsoft games. Using the 30rnd mag it is just about as accurate, with a few variances in accuaracy, but looses some muzzle velocity. It can still punch through the aluminum from a coke can, but it needs to be cut and flattened first, it ricochets off the whole can, or the bb shatters and cuts the can without penetrating. Even so you should still use the 30rnd instead of the 5rnd one in skirmishes.

Bad Points

Some strange or unusually tranlated instructions make the assembly a bit more diffucult than it needs to be, the front sight is held on by friction, and can be knocked around if you aren't careful, but of course it's a moot point if you mount a silencer to it (there is a web site with plans and instructions for doing so somewhere out there). Did I mention that unless you are lucky enough to have a scope that has serreted clasps you will have to cut scope mounts with your trusty dremel tool? Not as big a deal as some make out, but it does make one more thing for you to do before you can use it in skirmishes.

Final Conclusion

This is an excellent first sniper rifle that is easily capable of going up against other springers (excluding other snipers with APS's, they probably outrange you and can hit you before you get within range) and with it and some tactics you can hold your own against AEG's. Just remember: Your advantages are suprise and accuracy; One Shot, One Kill.

Thank You.
-Viper (aka Viper50bmg)

[Editor's Note: I've done a bit of chronograph testing with this gun, and pitted it against my APS-2, and I must say that I would have to lean in favor of the APS-2 even more, especially considering the limited upgrade possibilities for the Super-9. However, after shooting and handling the gun, I am willing to believe that with a bit of luck and alot of skill, effective usage in AEG-dominated games is possible. But take it from an aspiring marksman: real sniping is harder than it looks. Check out my chronograph analysis in the articles area. Below is my APS-2 and M4 next to Brim's very nicely camo-painted Super-9 - Supergeek]