Received the A2 today, first impressions are:
The body feels absolutely amazing, it feels like it's one solid mass with no creaking at all. Assembly is easy as can be, literally slide in, push a button and done. Admittedly I'm not a fan of the M-Lok handguard but that's just personal preference. What drew me to the SSR over others was the metal upper rail, and the modernisation of the platform.
The trigger, oh my, the trigger 😩
It has a very smooth trigger pull, unlike the snow wolf aug I had prior (Although to be fair, may have just been a bad one?) and a very nice break between semi and full auto giving you a subtle indicator that you're about to go into the realm of brrrt. On top of this, the ability to spam the trigger (On a 7.4v, it recommends an 11.1v but I don't have any) on semi is beautiful. The safety bar is also incredibly smooth with a nice "thunk" when you're in safe/not safe. It chrono'd at roughly 242 on .25g BB's with the hop not adjusted at all from factory, didn't have the time to really mess with it too much so I'm assuming the hop may be nearly off.
Magazine comparability:
Snow Wolf magazines are a bit of a squeeze and need some gentle persuasion to go in, but they do fit and feed fine in the A2. The included mid cap goes in super smooth as expected, however both magazines look to be identical. I don’t have any other brands to test though.
I'll be taking it out to a game with me next weekend, but I'm blown away by the absolute beauty and feel of it. I think it may replace my RPK as my go to pew for now... 👀
Edit: I forgot to mention my main gripe with the replica. The battery goes into the rear, like a normal Aug. However the “plate” seems to sit further back than I remember the snow wolf I had did. Making this rather awkward for slightly longer or thicker batteries. Not the end of the world, but worth taking into consideration!