Text only (there are lots of BIG pictures in the other version so I thought I'd do this for the Modem users)
By Misklin

Foreword
I have read a few reviews on the big 60's and hope to cover any holes in the info they have.

I've been through more than my fair share of Airsoft weaponry over the past, going through the Marui range. Well, I finally decided to live out my Rambo dreams and get myself a nice big M60 DX. I picked the DX over the other for a few reason, firstly I wasn't too keen on the look of the E3's, secondly the shorty was too small to be a REAL big gun, thirdly the STD had a little to much plastic and finally, what would RAMBO get?

Note: all picture of the M60 except the top were take by me after I done work on it

I had spent a while searching for a second hand one with no success, then a shorty came up. I threw caution to the wind and started bidding, it wasn’t a DX, but it was an M60 and after half a year of waiting that was enough. I was eventually out bid on a shorty, as I could not justify the price it reached, it had come up on forums.ukairsoft.net. Finally resorted to putting a "Wanted" notice in the forums. I was stunned when the very next day Wardie (very nice Airsofter and owner of a very nice M249) Pm'ed me with details of a brand new DX he was going to sell. So after a bit of haggling we agreed on a price, that week I went to pick it up. The deal went very smoothly (cheers Wardie :) ) and I took my new M60 home, on the train, got a few strange looks as people read the box, but what do you expect (at least it was in a box!). The history of this M60 is that it was bought by Team 2 Sexy’s Guvnor then sole to Wardie after about 4 weeks, Wardie sold it to me after 2 days, so it is in mint condition.

On opening the box I had mixed feelings. The first thing I saw was the VERY plastic looking fore grip which was disappointing, then I took in the scale of the thing and how the rest of the M60 look. I found a smile creep across my face, this soon turned to a maniacal grin, I couldn't believe how good the rest of the DX looked! So I whipped it out of the box, screwed the flash hider on (this has to be removed to fit the M60 in the original box) and took a look at the beast. And what a beast it is! The DX is everything I thought it was, BIG, MEAN and HEAVY. Cue maniacal laughter! Mahhhahhhahahahhhhhhhhhh!

It took a few days to calm down and think objectively about a review, so here's the objective bit:

Looks

What can I say, it's stunning. Well, it is an M60 so how else could it look? The things that really strike you are the size and fact that it looks like a really BIG GPMG. The DX is mostly metal and extremely sturdy metal at that. The only real problems are with the plastic parts though but I’ll get to those later. It is only a little longer than the G3SG1 that I have but when compared together there is a huge difference in pure bulk rather than length. It really feels like a true support gun.

My feelings about the DX are that if you every want to intimidate your opponents at an Airsoft meet, use this! You can actually see their nervous expressions when you get it out of the box :)

Weight
Very heavy, no, sorry, VERY,VERY HEAVY. Now that does it justice. To give you an idea of how heavy this thing is, the day after I carried it home I woke up and my arms felt like I’d done a full-on workout at the gym for 10 hours! I’m not sure of the exact weight but one thing I am sure of is that if you are going to carry this thing fully loaded, with battery and a mag full of BB’s you will NEED a good sling! (mine came from a nice laptop bag and is perfect)

Firing
Amazing considering this is a stock M60 with no upgrades. I had read all of the horror storeys and expected the worst, but what actually happened was a very different storey. It actually outranges my fully upgraded SG1! I have to emphasize this, it did out shoot my SG1, a "just on the site limit" type SG1. I don’t own a chronograph so couldn’t test it exactly but will when I can. The accuracy is also very good with a nice tight cluster on the target. You can check Sniper’s review for these details.

The Mag is great to and holds 1200BBs that are fed through a tube to the barrel. The mag is actually the top of the receiver. The plastic top of the receiver lifts up to get to the mag reservoir, when filled you put the top down and clip it closed with a tiny handle on the side. The size of the mag is fantastic and not having to remember to wind anything or press and electric mag button is great. You can fire 1200 BBs in a SINGLE burst! One thing to remember though is that due to the way the barrel is fed it is not very easy to get all the BBs out, you have to unscrew a fitting to open the tube and get gravity to give you a hand to get them all out.

The other thing to comment on about firing is the sound; it is noticeably different from the Marui’s. Where as the Marui’s sound like 50cc mopeds the M60 sounds like a full-on Harley! I just couldn’t believe the noise; it really did make it sound like a support weapon.

Practicality
Well, this is where it falls down a bit. Due to the weight and size it becomes quite an impractical Airsoft weapon. It does work very well in the support role. Fully loaded it is too big and to heavy to bring to bear in a standing position and use properly (or am I just pathetically weak). However with the bipod out and in the prone position this AEG really comes into it’s own (well, that’s what it is designed for). The M60 DX is a very tough beast and has no flex or wobbly bits to worry about; it’s built like a tank! One trick I did find worked was to remove the bipod, which cut the weight considerably and made the M60 usable in a standing position, also very handy was using the sling and firing from the hip (make you feel like Rambo for sure!). On the whole I will use it but only when I’m feeling strong.

The M60DX in detail

Flash hider: all metal and a lot larger than any flash hider I’ve seen, also weighs quite a bit. It actually holds the bipod on.

Bipod: What a masterpiece! All metal with adjustable height legs. One thing I did really like was the way you pull the legs out of the groove in the top part of the bipod to fold or unfold them. I thought it odd, until I took the M60 out and used it, I then realised that any other mechanism wouldn’t have been able to cope with any rough handling. The bipod is also easily removed which helps a lot to keep the weight down. The only problem with the legs is that they rub against the gas tube when retracted which marks the soft plastic of the tube.

Front Sight: All metal. Sturdy as a rock and actually works very well for sighting but I’ll go into that when I get to the back sight.

Barrel: The barrel is huge and very solid metal. This is very nice never makes you worry about breaking it if you hit a tree.

Gas Tube: All plastic construction that is "strapped" to the barrel. This is a strange thing, it stops just inside the fore grip and actual holds the front of the fore grip on. It Looks very odd with the fore grip removed but serves its purpose well. It is made of the same shinny plastic as the fore grip and does need spraying to look good.

Fore Grip: This is the big one! My main gripe! The one thing I hated (Yes HATED) about the M60 the moment I first laid eyes on it! The fore grip is all plastic. However the plastic is nowhere near the Marui standard and sticks out like a sore thumb. It’s made of nasty shiny plastic and looks horrible against the perfectly done metal. I couldn't deal with the nasty fore grip and gave it a spray with Halfords Satin Black paint, now it looks perfect, very real and fits back in with the rest of the finish. The fore grip also houses the normal large battery and is held in place by the gas tube; to Barrel Guard and a large screw on the bottom that screws into the front of the receiver.

Barrel guard: All metal, very solid and very nicely done. This holds the top of the fore grip in place. It is screwed into the barrel very securely.

Carry handle: Metal with plastic moulded grip and a rubber O-ring to stop it "flopping". Initially I didn’t think this was up to the job, it feels a bit flimsy where it connects to the front of the receiver. However after playing with it for a while I realised it’s a lot stronger than it looks and actually turns out to be quite a star part of the M60 DX. Whether this is fluke or not I don’t know but it is perfectly positioned and weighted. With no battery or BB’s it is at the central point of weight making it very easy to carry the M60 around with just the carry handle. With battery and BBs it is also central but this changes as you fire the BBs ;). The carry handle can also be swung left or right over the Barrel Guard so you can use the sights.

Barrel Lever: All metal. Move up and down but has no practical use (I think?) So if you like useless wiggly levers then this is the lever for you ;)

Hop-up screw: All metal and sprung. A really nice feature as you can actually alter the hop-up level while firing and sighted! Great for zeroing.

Back Sight: All metal. This is an odd one, the actual sight is great but the way it fixed to the receiver is not so good. The fixing is by a screw that tightens a block against the sight. This would work well but the block wobbles a bit, so the sight can wobble a lot. I fixed this by putting some cotton between the block and it’s fixing. The biggest problem the back site is that it is made from a soft metal and bends easily. I’ve also been told that the paint used can change colour over time, but a quick spay should be all that is needed to rectify this. The actual sight itself it the best I’ve seen in Airsoft. It has an AK style button that will move the V bar up and down in big jumps. It has a winder that will move the V bar in smaller increments for fine adjustments. It has a range marked slide that is held in by a small screw for adjustment when zeroing. No windage adjustment, but hey, it’s a Medium machine gun not a sniper rifle ;). As sighting a target the V bar and long front sight make it incredibly quick to aim (if you can move this weight beast fast enough;) ). All in all I love the sights, best I’ve used on a stock AEG, and most fun to tinker with.

Top Receiver: Plastic with metal catch. The plastic on the to receiver isn’t too bad compared to the fore grip (but I sprayed it anyway). The detail isn’t as good as I would have liked, but it’s good enough. The top receiver is also the top of the mag and flicks up on a spring loaded front fixing. It’s held down by a small metal catch, which is another oversight by TOP. The catch is designed to slot into a hole in the receiver but you have to pull the catch out a bit to get it into the slot. This is not a huge problem but it could have been so much better. I have solved this problem with a small block of plastic under the top receiver cover and the spring of the catch, works fine now.

Bullet Guide and Inlet: Metal guide and plastic inlet. This is just a cosmetic thing and has no practical function. The inlet moulding could have been a bit better but it doesn’t detract from the look unless you are looking very closely. You can hang a belt of fake rounds from the inlet and over the guide for that added realism. And of cause for the Rambo effect!

Main Receiver: All metal. Built like a tank and houses all the important inner workings. Very nice piece of work.

Charging Handle: All metal. This is sprung and makes a suitably nice Curchink noise when pulled and released, not the best I’ve heard but good enough. The actual handle is very solid and not going to break off in a hurry.

Pistol Grip: All Plastic. This is another let down. It feels very plasticy and seems strangely small. In fact my little finger does not actual fit on the grip when I’m holding it. This is not TOP’s fault. The real steal M60 is designed like this, I think it’s so that when the gun it used with the bipod it can rest on the bipod and stock without putting pressure on the grip. It does take a while to get used to, but feels fine after a while (even if you do secretly wish for a G3 grip;) ). However the plastic is TOP’s fault and is not that nice to hold, the trigger feels plastic and "squishy" (only term I could think of). But hey, when you pull the trigger and the BBs start to fly you totally forget about it!

Safety Lever: All Metal. This is another unexpected star part. Built into the top back of the pistol grip. It only has 2 settings, Off and Kill Everything!, sorry, full auto. There is no semi-auto on this baby, it is a support weapon after all. The selector level is PERFECTLY PLACED! Selector placement has always been a problem with every AEG I’ve used (even the M4), it’s just not that easy to change one way or the other, or your finger catches it and changes by accident at just the wrong time. Well none of that for the M60. It is very easy to change from safe to full auto to safe again with the flick of a thumb, and you know it has locked in place when it is set (unlike a few Marui’s I’ve used). Very nice, the best I’ve ever used!

Stock: All plastic. The metal receiver parts extend into the plastic stock and are a very good fit. The upshot is that the stock although being plastic is sturdy as the metal parts. There is no movement at all. It fits very nicely into your shoulder and also fits well fired from the hip.

Sling Rings: All metal. There is one on the top of the stock and one on the fore grip. When slung it surprised me. Seeing the way the fore grip was attached I didn’t think this would work well but it did and feels surprisingly sturdy to boot.

Other Opinions

I have talked to a few people who have had M60’s and used them for a while, their comments were that the screws that help the Sling rings in can come loose but a bit of thread tight works well on them, The barrel needs cleaning regularly and the M60 internal problems seem to be a bit of a myth. Only time will tell I guess.

Conclusion

Now I’ve had time to get used to it and taking all it’s good points and bad points into full consideration, what do I think?

I LOVE THE M60DX

Sure there are a few things I wish TOP had done different and the plastic parts aren’t that good. But the rest is great even if it isn’t the most practical AEG in the world, and I’d only recommend it to people that want a BIG gun.

I have talked to a few people who have had M60’s and used them for a while, their comments were that the screws that help the Sling rings in can come loose but a bit of thread tight works well on them, The barrel needs cleaning regularly and the M60 internal problems seem to be a bit of a myth. Only time will tell I guess.

I think when you buy an M60 DX your not just getting the metal and plastic in the box, your getting a piece of history, your getting a huge solid BB hose, your getting an AEG people say "WOW" at, but most of all your getting the chance to be RAMBO!