Tokyo Marui Type 89 Review

[Dusk]

This is a review of the Type 89 rifle made by Tokyo Marui. I ordered this rifle a while back from poweredge USA($345 shipped from Hawaii) which was a screaming deal since redwolf had it for $340 plus shipping from hong kong. The package arrived in about 5 days, in good condition.

 

First impressions:

When I opened the box, I wasn't to amazed. The new standard for Tokyo Marui is a piece of cardboard, with a fabric covered Styrofoam support system inside covered by another piece of cardboard. Functional and fancy, however it's just a box. The cool part about it, was that the fabric used was the signature camouflage of the Japanese defense force. Included in the box was the gun, a magazine, a manual, a old style speed loader, a cleaning rod and a bag of bb's (put into a box deceptively made to look like a carton of Japanese 5.56 nato). Also included was a free bi-pod, which is totally useless for airsoft, but looks cool and works fine.

The gun:

Picking up the gun I was expecting the old creak and flex of any Tokyo Marui(With exception to the m14), however, I was wrong. This gun is one solid piece of engineering. Being a multiple piece gun, one could expect some play in furniture and what not, like on any ar15, however it is ROCK solid. Another new feature on the Tokyo Marui is a full metal receiver. The receiver is well finished aluminum, and is one of the most solid jobs I've seen in a long while. The furniture is an ABS composite which has maximum support structures for the most rigid feel possible. The stock is very very rigid, and reminds me much of a real steel m16 stock. The fore-grips, are still quite solid, however I would rate these at a medium grade airsoft reproduction; meaning they are adequate however not superbly strong(This is due to the battery being placed here). The Selector switch has 4 positions, on the RIGHT side of the receiver(This is lame for those right handed people because it takes a while to switch fire modes). The sights are nicely placed, and are easily usable. Overall, a very solid and relatively ergonomic gun(Disregarding the selector switch)

The magazine:

The magazine of this gun is quite unique. Not only is it fully detailed, but it also feeds all the bbs out of the magazine. This is accomplished with a longer magazine follower. Cool feature.

 

Performance:

This is where the gun begins to a dive. With great expectations coming from the exterior of the gun, I was astounded when I was only getting stock tm range(I know this sounds silly, however the m14 shot superbly). Range is a perfectly skirmishible 125 feet, however the groupings are not too good. With a 3 shot burst 1 out of 3 would hit a 10x10" target. Also, once in a while the gun would mis-feed, resulting in a wacky shot going into the ground. The FPS was around 275-290(Chronoed) with .20s, and it seemed to be relatively consistent.

 

I figure with a tightbore, an m100, and a new hopup bucking I should be able to gain much range and and accuracy. Hopefully the easily 8.4v battery can pull the m100.

Unique features:

This gun has a few cool features. One of course, is the 3 round mechanical burst. This mode of fire is so great for airsoft, that I wish that all guns came with it instead of semi-automatic. Another neat feature is the ability to retain a spare battery in the stock, this allows for on field changes. I swapped from a stale battery to a fresh one in a little over 30 seconds. The third cool feature is that with the turn of a knob, the iron sights duck down enabling you to get an obstruction free sight view(For red dots and what not). The gun is also compatible with any m16 magazine on the market.

Not so fun stuff:

Low battery capacity, and its quite expensive. Nothing more than that really.

Ratings:

Externals:9/10(good ergonomics, good durability, funky selector switch)

Performance:7/10 (Not bad, but I've had better)

Features: 10/10 (Very unique gun, very neat features)

 

Video exhibiting 3 round burst:

[Rob15]

/random comment mode

 

i like how you say the bipod is totally useless, then in the second picture i see it being usefull

 

EDIT : why not get some 9.6v stick packs made up for it? 3/5af cells or whatever they are again

Edited May 7, 2007 by Rob15

[Dusk]

I was talking about skirmishing it.

 

Why is it useless?

1: It adds un-needed wieght

2: Airsoft guns don't have recoil

3: Its not front heavy

 

A 8.4v barely, and i mean BARELY fits into the gun. A 9.6 will not fit unless i gut it out.

Edited May 7, 2007 by Dusk

[Rob15]

I was talking about skirmishing it.

 

Why is it useless?

1: It adds un-needed wieght

2: Airsoft guns don't have recoil

3: Its not front heavy

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That doesn't mean its useless though, i've always found bipods on longer guns to be very usefull, and point 1 and 3 contradict eachother a bit, if its not front heavy then the extra weight doesn't matter

 

A 8.4v barely, and i mean BARELY fits into the gun. A 9.6 will not fit unless i gut it out.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A custom made 9.6v with the right cells should fit in without mods.

[Dusk]

Nonsense.

 

You find an 9.6 with above 1100 mah that will fit(Custom built or what not) and i will pay you $100. It won't work. There is no room.

 

The gun itself is not heavy in the front, meaning I don't need a bipod to support me in the prone position, I have arms. The bipod adds a lot of weight to the gun.

 

Stop analyzing and take it for what it is. It's not like I'm lying or don't know what I'm talking about. This is not the first gun i've owned, its more like the 100th AEG(Not even kidding) I'm not being ignorant of the situation.

Edited May 8, 2007 by Dusk

[Ace of Spades]

Does anyone know what kind of after market upgrades are available? A quick search of WGC only shows a tight bore barrel.

[The Crunchy Bunny]

There is a scope mount out for it. Check WGC, Redwolf or unco.

[mrblah]

biggest battery i could fit in it was a 8.4v 1200 mah intellect stick battery.

 

as for accessories? there are ambiswitches, scope ris rail, and short barrel conversions out there.... Thats about it.

Edited May 8, 2007 by mrblah

[nuclear_darkness]

Hes right about the 9.6v mate, there isnt a hope in hell of getting one in there, the biggest you can fit is a n 8.4v1300 (well biggest i can get in mine) and thats a bloody snug fit at that, i have heard some people say putting the battery in and getting it to fit. Thats half true, if you have a battery with a decent length of wire before the connecter its fine and easy, can do a abttery change in seconds.

 

As for the performance, mine is on par with the tm m14?!?! on semi auto anyway and the groupings with the 3rd burst are almost as good. Funny that. I do agree however that youll probably need a 1j spring and a good tightbore, i skirmished mine few sundays back in UCAP cqb, it chronoed at 258fps using .23s if anyone cares to work that out but it was a beautiful rifle in cqb format with an m3 using a TRS barrel mounted RAS. First game alone i counted 16 kills, all using 3 round burst, i think my average was 3 mid caps per game.

Edited May 8, 2007 by nuclear_darkness

[L4byr1nth]

Was thinking of getting one of these. I have been looking at CA guns, for the full metal recievers, but everyone has either an Armalite, an MP5, or an AK, and I want something different.

 

Any good for woodland?

 

Ben.

[FarEast]

Performance:

This is where the gun begins to a dive. With great expectations coming from the exterior of the gun, I was astounded when I was only getting stock tm range

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Erm this is probably due to the laws in Japan regarding strength of the gun o.98 joules to be exact. Remember this is a Japanese company producing for Japanese market.

[Boba_Fett]

It is a great weapon though. Accuracy is outstanding. Think about a M14 some feet shorter, pistol grip an burst...that´s the 89. And it´s using standard mags nearly anyone has. I´m using an 8,4V 1.200 mAh Intellect stick type lasting nearly 3000 rounds.

 

And there is a tuning handguard with metal heatshield out there for the baby.... I love mine. Here´s my review. Written in german but the pictures count http://www.6millimeter.info/joomla/index.p...id=30&Itemid=62

[Crazy_Harry]

Dusk- with regards to the performance out of the box- I assume you're referring to an inadequate hop unit (at least in comparison to the scary good m14 one)- is this sassumption correct, or is the barrel more the issue?

[nuclear_darkness]

I havent actually been able to dissasemble mine as of yet lol

 

The quick take down thing doesnt seem to want to play ball for me... or am i doing it wrong? (it pains me to ask this question as ive never had this problem before not even with RS lol)

[mrblah]

Dusk- with regards to the performance out of the box- I assume you're referring to an inadequate hop unit (at least in comparison to the scary good m14 one)- is this sassumption correct, or is the barrel more the issue?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

The hop mechanism is actually very good (its not a m4 hopup). Fps is decent, range is good. I never had a problem with grouping with mine (its no different than any other stock gun shooting in FA).

 

I'm assuming its in the barrel or gb movement/barrel movement when shooting in 3rd burst. Again, its only an assumption.

[Dusk]

I'm a performance junkie, and I've had many an m14.

 

The TM type 89 has inferior range and accuracy compared to the stock TM m14. I say this with flat out sincerity. This gun uses all version 2 parts, with exception to the gearbox shell, and the 3 round burst deal of course.

 

Mind you again, all of my guns are upgraded to insane performance standards.(My hi-capa 4.3 shoots farther and harder than the type 89, for instance.)

 

Erm this is probably due to the laws in Japan regarding strength of the gun o.98 joules to be exact. Remember this is a Japanese company producing for Japanese market

Thanks for the reminder, but I know the japanese law. Also, all of my current guns are Japanese made, and all of them when received, met that requirement. Yet, I've seen better performance out of the box.

Edited May 8, 2007 by Dusk

[Crazy_Harry]

so what do you put it down to then? just a crummy gearbox?

[Dusk]

A new bucking(Improving range), a new Tightbore(Improving accuracy) and a m100 spring(Improving power and range)

 

Its not a problem with the gun really. I attribute its performance to an average hopup system(Unlike the TM m14 which has a stellar one)

 

Since both the m14, and the type 89 share the same power, and barrel(off by 10cm, but thats it) I can only see it being a hopup issue(Even going this far is harsh, i mean its not that bad)

 

10"x10" is quite the small target at 100 feet, however the m14 can place round after round in the same place.

[Jagdraben]

Bipods do ###### for recoil. Bipods are intended to add stability and also help in keeping the rifle pointed in a menacing direction when you have to sit in one position for a long time.

[Dusk]

Whatever.

 

In my opinion I DO NOT NEED A BIPOD TO HOLD A 7 POUND GUN.

 

Useless weight, I can have 2 more mags for the same weight.

[Jagdraben]

Then don't use it. Simple as.

[Crazy_Harry]

I'm pretty sure that's the solution he's going with.

 

anyway, moving on...

[screamin_weasel]

is the 3 rnd burst actually much use ?

 

surely its just putting an extra 2, wasted bb's, in the same spot you would have put one, and it would have done the job?

[iamwozza]

i got one a week ago and upgraded it straight away for woodland i have it now firing at ***nice one, mate- two posts in and you're already discussing upgrades of aegs over the limits as laid down by Arnie. Tell me, did you READ THE DAMN RULES when you joined, or not? acquaint yourself with them, before you post again*** all im waiting for now is a new set of gears to come out so i can fit the custom 12v battery in the stock after a bit of drilling and rewiring and when fitted with a larger battery the 3 shot burst is magically turned into a 5 shot burst in the same amount of time .after skirmishing with it on sunday i am over the moon it ran on a 9.6v battery no problem (albeit it was taped to the foregrip ) but it has awesome range and accuaracy sometimes outranging the lower powered snipers . it does like 0.28 bbs though,range is farther than with 0.20 but just gets there a little later.all in 9/10

Edited May 9, 2007 by Crazy_Harry

[iamwozza]

i just found the rules that is why this is edited all though it clearly states 1 joule it does not state it in fps i was not aware that 1 joule equalled 328 fps and i apologize for my error but i think you should add the fps limit to the rules to reduce confusion

Edited May 17, 2007 by iamwozza