Full MP7 Review

[FarEast]

Ok as some of you are aware that the 1st thread had alot of pictures missing due to bandwidth and due to the rush to get this out to you guys somethings were either missed out, spotted later in the review or simply wrong.

 

This is the rewriten review with the added photos, tests and more details on the Tokyo Marui MP7.

 

Well the long wait is over and the Oasis is definitely worth drinking from!

 

I picked the Tokyo Marui MP7A1 up from Frontier for an excellent 17,980 JPY along with a spare battery and some magazines. (That’s right TM finally managed to release the Mags and Batteries on the same day!)

 

TM has done an excellent job packing the MP7A1 up with a great cover picture of the MP7A1.

 

 

 

The internal layout really does give you a nice surprise.

 

 

 

Straight away you aware of the effort TM has put into making the MP7 a complete package for the buyer. And you really feel it when lifting the MP7 out of the box! This is in no way like the toy feeling I got when I picked up the AEP 18c this has some weight to it and a familiar feel for those that have used MP5's, G36 and the G3 ranges.

 

Apart from the weight of the weapon you also notice the ergonomics and balance. It feels totally natural to fire the MP7 from either a pistol grip position or a more firm firing platform using the fore grip and shoulder stock, but more of that later lets look at the weapon itself!

[FarEast]

Let’s take a look at the trades, As some of you remember I took a lot of photos at the 'Blackhole Show' earlier this year of the MP7 and its trades and I have found a few more that you will all be happy with.

 

Nothing around the selector area has changes and still supports the Navy style options of fire along with the calibre markings

 

 

Also on the pistol grip it still sports the 'HK MP7A1' markings on both sides.

 

 

On the right side of the gun you have the Tokyo Marui stamp, now never fear as I know for a fact that some one on these forums could possibly making a plastic pressed foil to go over this with the Heckler and Koch trades.

 

 

Now one of the new finds is serial number plate found on the lower receiver next to the retractable stock, this is a beautiful touch! Unfortunately these are not individual for each gun as I inspected the 3 I have and they all carry the same markings, possible the second batch might have a different serial number but we will have to wait and see!

 

 

The magazine is a low-cap and will hold 50 rounds of ammo. In my opinion it’s made to a lower standard than the rest of the weapon, I know it's only a magazine but they do add to the feel of the weapon.

 

 

The magazine is released by pulling down on a latch located on the bottom of the trigger guard exactly like that of a Walther P99

 

[FarEast]

The magazine only carries two marks and that is a calibre marking and capacity but still it's a nice touch and one that TM normally leaves out.

 

 

And also the one on the dust cap found on the bottom of the magazine.

 

 

Moving on to the sights, Now these are excellent quality and many of you might not realise but they are two in one sights. The first is your standard pistol style sight

 

 

The front sight is not adjustable but the rear is by using the thumb dial seen on the right hand side of the gun.

 

Obviously these are used if your holding the gun in the pistol style grip position using the dots to align your target, but when shouldered using the collapsible stock it's impossible to align them or see them, this is where the flip up sights some into their own!

 

 

 

This time the front sight is adjustable using the dialled disk in the middle of the site to raise it up or down, the rear is again adjustable by using the thumb dial on the right hand side. Both are very easy to use and don’t require a tool to adjust them.

[FarEast]

The Iron sights are of a very high standard with no wobble at all both the front and back sights are spring loaded so they snap up and down with a little pressure. One thing I did notice about the sights is the fixing screw it uses a 'Philips' type head which I feel detracts from the overall aesthetics of the weapon and it would have only taken a little effort to replace these with 'Hex' bolts.

 

 

The fore grip is made of the same high quality ABS as the body of the weapon and is mounted to the body of the MP7 as one piece, meaning if you don't want it you will need to cut the body of the lower receiver to remove the hinge joint.

 

 

Once in the ready positioned its very sturdy with no play either forward or backwards or from side to side. The design of the fore grip is excellent as its locking feature prevents any unwanted play or sudden movement.

 

 

To replace the fore grip to it's collapsed position you will need to pull the catch on the bottom of the grip down, trying to return the grip to its standby position without pulling the catch will probably result in a damaged weapon but it the latch is strong enough to withstand enough pressure for you to realise what you are doing might not be the right way about it!

 

[FarEast]

Moving to the rear of the gun and the collapsible stock. The stock is locked like all other H&K weapons when in the standby position and it's released by the small latch seen here between the hex bolt and the bolt lever,

 

 

Unfortunately the stock has only two positions fully extended or fully collapsed.

 

 

On the left side of the stock plate there is another latch pulling this down disengages the stopping pin allowing you to remove the stock completely

 

 

[FarEast]

Now a very surprising thing is the Cocking lever, like all TM's it opens the ejection port giving you access to but more on that later. The cocking lever just like the real steal counterpart is ABS! I never knew this until now and a few seconds research, also the lever is in two parts that clip together. To operate it you must pinch both sides together while pulling it back in the standard fashion. This unlocks the lever and unable the ejection port to open. Again like all TM's it will not lock back so it's very fiddly to get at the Hop-Up unit.

 

 

 

Once the cocking lever is pulled back the ejection port is revealed, now as you can see the selector is slightly in the way which mean you'll need to take it off safety to adjust the 'Hop-Up' which is a little worrying.

 

 

The rail that runs the length of the gun is of a very high standard along with the two side rails the only problem is that the two 'Hex' Bolts aren't flush with the bottom of the rail thus preventing you from mounting anything on these two points.

 

 

While seeing if they would screw in any further I checked the other hex bolts on the weapon and found out they are all in need of a tighten.

[FarEast]

Now to the front of the gun, To remove the front cap you'll need to flip the MP7 over and push down on the square button just before the front cap

 

 

Once the front cap is open it reveals the battery compartment and inner barrel.

 

 

The battery is slid inside very easily and then pushed home using the tab that sticks out. There is an arrow on the battery telling you which way it needs to be inserted.

 

 

 

To remove the battery you pull back the tab that you used to push home.

 

 

One of the other features of the gun is that you must have the weapon on safety before the battery will slide home, if it’s not in the safe position the battery will stick out a few centimetres.

Edited February 9, 2006 by FarEast

[FarEast]

The new 7.2v EX battery is a lot bigger than your ole AEP 7.2v battery and also the connectors differ which means you won't be able to use the standard AEP battery in your MP7 and vice versa.

 

 

 

The Ex Charger is of the same style as the previous AEP charger.

 

 

I have taken a picture of the charger specs for European buyers that want to chop and customise it to fit a fast charger.

 

[FarEast]

Once replacing the front cap we notice the Flash hider, this again is made of high quality metal and screw into place.

 

 

No to attach any silencer/suppressor you’ll need to attach the barrel adapter that comes with the MP7.

 

 

1st you’ll need to remove the flash hider.

 

 

Then screw the adapter into place, thus giving you the 14mm thread needed to take a silencer.

 

 

 

or can be removed for the sleek sexy look!

 

[FarEast]

The only accessories or extras available on the day of release were batteries and low-cap magazines.

 

 

Now For the Tests!

 

First of all the FPS tests. These where done in an indoor range using SIIS BB's.

The weapons where held in braces to prevent movement.

 

 

The Joules were worked out using the program available through Arnies Airsoft

 

As you can see the initial Tokyo-Marui trials were obviously done with 0.12g BBs to exaggerate the power of the MP7 but when compared to the 18c it is clearly obvious something is very different to the internal workings of both guns.

 

The second test was the Rate Of Fire test. This was conducted by timing from the 1st shot to the 1st dead mans click, due to the need of special equipment this is a rough basis to gage the rate of fire.

 

 

Again the MP7 clears an average of 11 BB's a second over the Glock's 9, Over all I would have to say that the internals of the MP7 are probably of either a totally different nature or utilise them better than the 18c. But only the striping of the two will yield the truth.

 

Let’s take a look now at the groupings and range.

 

The target was set up 15 meters away using 0.20g SIIS BB’s while the MP7 was set up again in the braces to prevent movement. This is to make sure the gun does not move during the test, thus affecting the groupings between shots.

 

 

As you can see from the semi-auto groupings they are very close together, the first two landing almost in the same location while the third is slightly off by 5mm. Not bad at all at 15meters.

 

The second test was done in fully auto mode depressing the trigger for around 1 second.

 

 

 

Again you can see even in fully auto the deviation is only around 23mm at 15 meters. To say this is a stock weapon I’m impressed with the groupings. Needless to say as you increase the range of the target the groupings will drift further apart.

 

The effect range of this weapon is within the 20 meter area possibly to around 30 meter for indoor games or our door games with good weather. Using 0.23g BBs really makes no difference to the ranging within the 20 meters though.

[FarEast]

Comparisons, a lot of people are interested in the sizing of the weapon compared to others and also that of the magazines. Following are a few pictures that might help you scale the size of the MP7 and bring to the forefront just how much they have packed into such a small space, while still maintaining a skirmishable weapon.

 

 

Top to bottom: TM MP5A4, TM MP7, and KSC G19

 

Left to Right: TM M16, TM MP5, TM MP7, KSC G19

 

MP7 Low Cap Magazines in Eagle Industries Drop Leg Mag Pouch.

 

Conclusion

 

I would have to say that the new TM MP7A1 will not disappoint the harden fan boys nor the serious collector looking for an almost exact replica, as for skirmishers you'll know as soon as you pick this weapon up that it will be a very efficient tool in your arsenal.

 

There was a few things I wasn't happy with such as the 'Philip's Head Screws' on the flip up sights and also the quality of the magazines but these are minor things and the screws can be switched over very easily by even the most inexperienced techs’ among us.

 

Rating:

 

Packaging 10/10

Quality 9/10

Ergonomics 10/10 (Very very nice in the hands)

Realism 9/10 (but I have no idea what to look for having not handled a real MP7)

FPS 7/10 ( I would have been much happier if the weapon had been around 0.7J and I’m sure a spring upgrade will rectify the problem)

ROF 9/10 (Not 100% accurate but close enough)

 

Overall 8/10

 

A few niggling things that were very simple to rectify yet weren't and the slightly lower than expected FPS, but apart from that the MP7 is a great little weapon, sure it’s not going to compete with your full size AEG’s but it’s another benchmark in Airsoft that will hopefully inspire other companies to push the boundaries and limits of the current technology.

[rather]

if you have had experience with the mp5k or tm uzi how would this compare?

 

Very nice review.

 

you made me have second thoughts about buying a mad bull gearbox for my m15a4.

[ph03nixflame]

Wow, this review really makes me want to buy the MP7a1!!

 

Amazing review/10

[Sledge]

Great review, and nice to see it in one uninterupted piece as well. Small note, on the last-but-one picture (comparison of magazines), you've got the MP7 and G19 mags the wrong way round.

 

So, when you going to crack her open?

 

[FarEast]

Great review, and nice to see it in one uninterupted piece as well. Small note, on the last-but-one picture (comparison of magazines), you've got the MP7 and G19 mags the wrong way round.

 

So, when you going to crack her open?

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

LOL I realised that at the last moment and by that time it was to late in the morning to retake another ( I was up at 5am finishing this review off for you guys and girls!)

 

Im flying out to Okinawa this evening so i won't have time to open her up until i get back on Sunday, So i will probably have some internal shots for you around Tuesday.

 

As for the UZI and MP5k comparisons, I would have to say that it is far better quality than the Uzi, I'm not a big fan of the TM uzi as i think it feels too toy like. The MP5k on the other hand is a full size AEG and to be honest in power the MP5k will win hands down, on the other hand the MP7 is far more ergonomic and when handling in CQB situations the MP7 is a far more versertile weapon.

 

I would certainly choose it over the MP5k for indoor gaming.But the MP5A range is one of my favourites for this game type so it won't be seeing itself outdated yet.

 

The role i see for this weapon is a serious sniper backup tool when relocating or when forced back from your position. It will certainly give you an edge over any of the current AEP range or other CQB weapons if you are burdened with kit.

 

Another role would be recon or fast response players who move through the terrain at high speed. As the MP7 is light and very easy to bring to quarters when needed and provides a stable firing postion.

Edited February 10, 2006 by FarEast

[Brucken]

So it looks like pistol mag pouches will work, then?

[Gary_Scott]

Great review! The MP7 looks really, really good - and extremely well made. Do you think, given the size, it's probably more reliable than taking just a pistol in as a backup weapon? Maybe just take your primary, say a G3 or M15, and the MP7 instead of a GBB? It looks like you could cope with it pretty easily, and given the accuracy and range you said it gets, it might well be worth it - especially because you can take the stock out altogether to reduce size and weight.

[staticzero]

Nice work, FarEast. Glad the hosting is working out. Don't forget about that list of questions I posted in the other thread though. Lots more to do when you get back...

[onizuka-gto]

mmm...i think by the time you come back to "crack" it open, hopefully all the MP7 would be winging it's way around the world!

 

[Five-sEvEn]

Very nice review! Although, I'm slightly dissapointed that you said it only has about 30m effective range. On what terms would you define "effective?"

[FarEast]

Very nice review! Although, I'm slightly dissapointed that you said it only has about 30m effective range. On what terms would you define "effective?"

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

My definition would be hitting a player mid game with a force that will register. Although the actual range is much further I can't promise that the hit player would register it as a hit. ( I had the wife shoot me at this range in all my gear)

[Bloodhound]

Now insted of buying my M249 I should have bought 2 of these with tons of mags, batteris, 2 of TM's tiny mp7 silencers and the other extras. Oh yea, Great review

Edited February 10, 2006 by Bloodhound

[scatter-shot]

Great review! Im actually thinking of picking one up instead of replacing my GBB that i sold.

 

Although the FPS is a bit disappointing, i think this gun would make a great indoor and CQB backup which has more firepower than a pistol... How does it compare in size to an MP5K i wonder? It has a much nicer profile though, so easier to stash in a backpack or maybe a buttpack.

 

Im wondering how long does the battery last on this one? Is it anything compared to TM AEP's?

[bestbrett]

Is it just me or is that g18c chronoing a bit low? Makes me wonder if the chrono could be off......

[lloydkristmas]

Great review and pics! Quick question....could you comment on the durability/solidity of the retractable stock? Does it wiggle around when fully extended (TM MP5 like?) Thanks!