Home Reviews Tm G36c
by Arnie

TM
G36c
review
by S.
Knight (aka MadeInAustria)

Stock
Specifications
FPS
298fps
/0.2g (stock fps may vary)
Length:
500/718mm
Barrel
Length:

247mm – this is the same as is used in the FN P90
Weight: 2700g

Ammo
capacity:

50
/ 470 BBs


Tokyo
Marui Heckler & Koch G36C AEG
I
came relatively late to the G36C; it had already been out for
about 4 months when I made my order to Airsoft
Armoury
. Nether the less a couple of days later and the
courier was at my door with a large familiar shaped box. I am
a little surprised that TM package folding stock guns with the
stock extended, surely it would be cheaper to store and package
if it was folded, but I digress. Asides from the gun itself,
you get a Lo-cap, loading rod and tube, cleaning rod, 200BB’s
and manual.

I
chose the G36C because I was looking for something with a European
feel to match my Flecktarn load out. Also the allure of something
compact with large Hi-caps was too tempting to resist. (If you
don’t like Hi-caps then replace that sentence with the “allure
of those incredibly cool transparent mags with fake bullets”
? ).

First
Impressions
My first impressions when lifting it free of
the polystyrene were that it feels very solid, no doubt courtesy
of the metal “backbone” inside the upper part of the receiver.
There is also no discernible creak or flex that is usually apparent
with plastic models. Again this may be due to the strength of
the backbone, but also down to the short length of the weapon.

The
finish is very good – on a par with TM’s other recent offering,
the FN P90. The receiver and stock is finished in a very dark
matt grey / black plastic, whereas the grips and magwell have
a slightly more shiny stippled black effect.

As
in the “real steel”, there is an extensive use of plastics.
External metal components consist of the flash hider / outer
barrel, lower RIS rail, rear sight, fire selector and trigger.

Size
wise it is similar in size to that of an MP5, and shoulders
well and feels very natural and instinctive. The vital statistics
are:

Length:
500/718mm.
Motor: EG700.
Gearbox: Version 3.
Weight: 2700g.
Magazine Capacity: 50 / 470 BB’s.
Barrel length: 247mm – this is the same as is used in the FN P90.
(The above as quoted on Den
Trinity’s website
).

A
Little Tour
The stock is plastic with a rubber “shock” pad
at the shoulder, and is folded to the right by pushing a release
of the left. It then hooks rather neatly over a hook on the
spent shell deflector.


The hook can be seen just behind the ejection port.

To
bring it back to full length all that is needed is to lift the
stock slightly and swing it straight until the lock engages.
It feels very sturdy, but the skeletal design makes it look
like it won’t take huge amounts of punishment. Indeed on UKAN
I have noticed that someone has broken theirs after dropping
it stock first from around 80cm. Damage from this is not too
suprising, but it’s worth remembering, be careful…


Showing stock extended and folded.

As
standard the G36C is supplied with a short RIS rail under the
foregrip and a rail along the top of the carry handle for mounting
optics to. The foregrip one is made of metal while the carry
handle rail is made of plastic. There are also provisions to
add another 2 RIS rails to the side of the foregrip. Also on
the carry handle are the iron sights. Front post and rear peep
sights are provided, the rears with windage and elevation adjustment
via Allen screws. The rear sight also has 2 flip up settings,
one marked 100/200 and one marked 300. Obviously the differences
are fairly superfluous in Airsoft.

There
are 3 sling points on the gun, one at the front of the foregrip
rail, one on the receiver just before the stock hinge, and one
to the rear of the stock itself. These are the familiar Heckler
and Koch ring design.

Another
familiar design is the mode select, sporting the pictorial bullet
representation of each mode – Safe, Semi and Auto.


Some nice detail markings can also be seen to the left of this
pic (inset left), so far as I can see, the same as “real steel”.

Moving
to the front end and there is the G36 family 4 prong flashhider.
This is screwed onto the outer barrel (14mm- thread) and also
secured by a grub screw in the bottom. Be sure to loosen the
grub screw before removal if you want to fit a silencer / tracer
unit.

The
fore grip houses the battery (mini as standard) and is removed
by pulling out the pin at the centre of the grip, then pulling
the grip forward away from the magwell. The fuse is also accessible
here. Battery changes can be done in seconds, which is compensation
for using mini batteries. I’m not a great fan of mini batteries,
as I like to fit a battery in the morning and forget about it
all day. There are a few larger mAh batteries on the market,
which I may consider at a later date.


The battery sits neatly here, fingers not included with the
gun! The fuse holder is situated on the reverse side.

The
standard mags are of similar appearance to the FN P90 ones in
having a transparent design with fake bullets visible through
the sides. These hold 50 BB’s, and are loaded with the familiar
loading rod and plunger technique.

The
Hi-caps do not have the fake bullets unfortunately, but can
hold 470 BB’s. These are loaded via a folding cover located
in the top of the magazine. The winder, as always is in the
base.
The magazines are bulkier than those found with G3’s, M16’s
etc. This could lead to issues finding suitable rigs to carry
spare mags.


In this pic you can see the difference in styles between the
Hi-cap (far left and centre left) and Lo-cap (centre right).
Also shown is a M16 Hi-cap to give an impression of the difference
in size (Far right).

Luckily
for me I have a genuine KSK Tac Vest, which is capable of holding
2 clipped together mags in each of its 4 mag pouches. This vest
is in the currently vogue Flecktarn camo style (being German)
and suits the German load out perfectly.

For
interest it was bought from Flecktarn.co.uk
who have lots of pouches / vests / webbing etc, including individual
pouches for G36 mags. If you haven’t tried them give them a
look-up.

Both
types can be clipped together to allow quick reloads during
a firefight, or just handy storage if you don’t have suitable
pouches. Hopefully Marui have learnt from the fragile nature
of their SIG magazines, and have beefed up the clips. It should
also be noted that with a spare mag clipped to the RHS, the
stock cannot be folded as the spare mag gets in the way.

Performance
Out of the box, my G36C gave 298fps. The range is respectable
given the length of the barrel once the hop is set and bedded
in. Pulling back the cocking handle to open the ejector port
accesses the hop, which is adjusted in the usual manner.


The hop adjustment is accessible here.

Rate
of fire is also good, benefiting from the EG700 motor and Version
3 AK-type gearbox.

In
the field its compact size makes it very manoeuvrable. I play
at a mostly woodland site (www.teamkgb.co.uk)
so being able to fit between trees is always a bonus. In this
role I thought I would prefer the stock out so that I can shoulder
it for shots. But at a recent game I spent more time with the
stock folded than out. In this configuration the small size
comes into its own – very pointable.

One
unfortunate mishap occurred at its first use. The white mark
on the fire selector is obviously a water transferable decal,
as in the typical rainy summers day both marks washed off. It’s
a small thing, and easily fixed with a flash of Humbrol, but
it’s just a little annoying to have to do such a trivial thing.



Look Mom, no markings!

Other
than that it performed as expected.

Bolt
Ons
Being so new there aren’t as many as there are for the
M4 / MP5 series yet, but thanks to its modularity, there are
a few.

Externally:


  • RIS rails for the fore grip in both long and short lengths. A
    whole plethora of Lasers, Flash lights and Grenade launchers can
    be mounted with these.
  • Complete
    replacement RIS fore ends, from Supreme Co.
  • Replacement
    scope rails, which allow the removal of the carry handle.Replacement
    front sights with red fibre optic inserts – these should aid fast
    acquisition times if you don’t want to fit optics.
  • Complete replacement
    carry handle with built in 1.5x optics, from Supreme Co.
  • With it’s 14mm-
    thread there are different Flashhiders, Silencers and Tracer units
    that can be fitted.
  • Larger Fore
    Grips that allow the use of larger batteries. Not accurate to the
    real steel, but still in keeping with the overall look.
  • There are also
    a couple of silencer adapters on the market. Now I am a little confused
    as to the use of these, as they are not needed to fit a silencer
    or tracer unit to your G36.

No
doubt there will also be kits to modify the G36C into different
members of the G36 family. Indeed both AirsoftClub and 2A productions
have beaten Marui to it:

AirsoftClub
stock a G36K conversion kit (made by Dragon Arms), which is bound
to be popular – especially as it’s limited to 100 pieces at time
of writing.

2A
Productions have produced a G36E
conversion kit
(a G36K without the built in optics).

Internally:

  • The
    gearbox is based on the Marui version 3 AK gearbox, so most
    of the FTK parts can be used. One point to note is the air
    nozzle – on the G36C there is a spine along its length, but
    this is not shared on the standard AK. I’m not sure if its
    absence will affect performance, but I will be waiting for
    a specific replacement before I upgrade.

  • Tighter
    barrels are available.

  • Batteries.
    There are a couple of upgraded batteries on the market at
    the moment. One a 9.6V 1100mAh pack and the other a 9.6V 1500mAh
    pack. Both offer greater longevity in play than the standard
    8.4V 600mAh pack, and both 9.6V packs will raise the Rate
    Of Fire a little too. In both cases modifications must be
    made to the inside of the foregrip to accommodate them. Standard
    mini batteries fit fine, but Marui also state that their SD
    type battery is a perfect fit.

Summary
The G36C is a very nice piece of kit, compact enough for CQB
/ FIBUA, but capable of pinning players at range. The quality
of the gun is also very good – everything is good and tight
and mouldings are good quality too. In this form the G36C makes
a suitable step up from the MP5 range for those who want higher
capacity mags in a compact package. It is also a more modern
alternative to the MC-51, but with less body creak.

The
downsides are the use of small batteries (I don’t mean to
keep coming back to it), but this is not unsurpassable in
some way. The relatively short barrel also affects accuracy
at extremes of range. But this is not what the “C” is designed
for. When the G36 / G36K is released (which I’m sure it will
in some way or form), those who need this accuracy will get
it (along with better battery storage – I had to get that
one in ;) ).

I
had hoped to find a few more negatives so that the review
didn’t come out praising the G36C up to the nines, but in
truth, when looking at what the piece is designed to do, it
is difficult to fault it.

Is
it worth it? For use in CQB / FIBUA and unabashed yes. Players
may find it a little below par for long-range engagements, but
that’s not what the ‘C’ is all about. That’s the job of the
G36 / G36K.

Upgrade
Potential

8/10.
Lots of bolt on goodies are already available for RIS
systems. The custom battery will help with gearbox upgrades,
and the large foregrip will allow a big enough battery
for all but the most extreme power hungry airsofter.

Build
Quality

9/10.
It feels really solid, and it is, but due to the skeletal
nature of the stock it should be handled with a bit of
care. It is mostly plastic, but so is the real one (externally
at least), and the moulding is of very high quality.

Value
for Money


8/10. At around £220 it is comparable to
most other Marui guns of this size. But it feels more
expensive due to its high quality.

Overall
Potential

7/10
for the G36C as – is. This is down to the small battery,
and relatively short effective range, making it a pure
CQB weapon.
However as a project to build on – 9/10. Get those
G36 or G36K foregrips on, slap on some optics, and will
someone PLEASE manufacture an AG36? (see
news article here
)

Spanners
at the ready!
Well that’s it for the standard model, but
I can never leave anything standard for long. Over the coming
month I have a small plan fermenting that should improve the
basic ‘C’ whilst retaining its original feel. This I hope to
cover in another article.

by
S. Knight (aka MadeInAustria)

Comment
on this review in the forums


Last
modified:
Monday, May 5, 2003 7:09 PM
Copyright 2003 ArniesAirsoft




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