Range Review!!!
Ok guys - so I took the Type 97 out to the range on Sunday. I put 180 rounds of various brands of .223 and 5.56 through it. It digested everything without a single failure to feed, fire, or eject. Recoil was light and muzzle blast/ noise was not bad at all. The rifle pointed naturally and the sights worked fairly well though I think for my eyes a red dot is needed. The trigger, like I've reported earlier, was surprisingly light, though it had a fairly long mushy take up.
It launched the Brass forward right at about 2:00. It didn't treat the brass well
25 yard, near rapid fire, offhand group. I messed up and forgot targets so the only I could find were these scope sight in targets. One 9mm hole in there for good measure...
75 yard group. The rifle weas nearly dead on at 25 yards (I only had to make a slight horizontal adjustment to get it right on) but it was about 10-12 inches high at 75. I wanted to keep the sights on at 25 so I had to aim at an old target below the one I put up to hit the paper. Needless to say it wasn't an ideal set up for shooting for groups. I was able to nail our 125 yard gong offhand consistently so I'm pretty comfortable with the way the sights are set up, though if someone has another suggestion on how they set their rifle up I'd like to hear it. This is a CQB gun so 25 yards is about right I think. I also think I could have done much better with optics, but more on that later....
Bolt after 180 rounds...wasn't too dirty....
Gas booster after 180 rounds...
Now some gun ####!!!

Some pics of my Glock and my buddies Guage, HK, and SKS....
Ok - I also got my realsword scope rail today. It is well built (CNC Machined Aluminum). It dovetails onto the existing rail and two screws on the top of the unit pressure fit it solidly onto the rail. I'd be a little worried about durability if the set up was on anything other than a .223. I don't think I'll have any issues once I locktight it in.
I put my trusty Bushnell red dot on it, which has been on everything from a .22 to my Guage. I hope to buy a better optic sometime soon. I'm thinking of an Aimpoint Micro, Zeis Z-point, or one of the new Leupold Prizmatic Gunsights. If anyone has any opinions on this I'd Like to hear it. Because the mount is so high I want something that will mount low, like the Bushnell I currently have installed.
Lastly- overall impressions:
I LOVE THIS RIFLE. It's my hope that more people buy the Type 97 so that it opens up the accessory market. I'd love to see an ambi mag release produced and a better designed scope mount. As it is, it is the most fun I have ever had with any rifle I've shot.
That's it guys! Enjoy!!!!