TM
MP5 RAS
by Arnie images taken with the kind help of Jeremy Morrison |
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Its been a busy week here, so what better to sit down and write up the latest delivery? Those kind folks at CombatClub (CC) sent me a small surprise, yup one of those darn ParcelForce couriers! ^_^
Now you'll have to forgive me here, because I'm going to go off on several tangents in the course of this review, but hopefully you'll find it entertaining, and I've given you fair warning so you can at least skip the 'tangenty' bits.
Now there are several ways I can write this review.
- I
can either write it assuming that you have all used a TM MP5, and just
list the differences.
- I can take the MP5 for what it is, and review it in great length.
- I can compare and contrast it to other variants that are available.
Well I thought I'd combine the last two options. If I just talked about what TM had done new on this model, it'd be a bit boring, I mean if we wanted to write the Reader's Digest version, we could just write a basic AEG review, and then tell you that all AEGs are basically the same except for the range, rate of fire, and their shape and size.. but that'd be boring.
It's also worth noting, that I'm going to review this as an Airsoft replica, not as a replica of a real armament. I haven't ever owned a real MP5, so it'd be silly comparing it to something I have no experience with. This is a replica intended for skirmishing (and collecting to some extent) so we'll merit it on that basis.
Tangent #1 Packaging: CC wrapped the parcel up well, sadly UK customs opened it all up again to inspect it when it got here (and charged me £37 for the privilege), but that's just life.
They did a couple of clever things, the TM box lid was turned inside out and refolded so that all the markings were on the inside, and then they re boxed the box in some more cardboard. This meant that after a good few hours abuse at Heathrow the original TM box was still in good nick. I know it's not that important to all of you, but I prefer to get my goods in good nick, and a box that looks like it hasn't been run over by a truck (there's more chance that the AEG survives the transit this way you see).
In
the box: Opening the box, the first thing I thought was
that TM had fiddled us and put the half length MP5 mags in with the RAS,
but thankfully the rifle merely sports one of TM's cardboard cutout 'you
can have this here as an accessory' models.
So what's in the box? - well more than I expected actually. You get the MP5 RAS (doh!), a cleaning rod, full length TM MP5 standard mag, standard mag loading rod, and your complimentary TM approved BBs (I have about 30 bags of these little things.. they'll be worth some money someday), a PDW QD flash hider, two TM red safety caps, one for the QD attachment, and one for the PDQ flash hider, oh and one of those rather cute 'hop-up' labels.
Strangely TM saw fit to ship the RAS with it's stock folded out, meaning it comes in a full length box, but I suppose that it's packaged up better like that.
First
looks: Well it looks gorgeous for an MP5 - and lets face
it your either an HK lover or you just hate them. To be honest I'm rather
indifferent about them, but they grow on you, and this one has. Just watch
a few reruns of Raw Deal, and you'll see what I mean. ^_^ (edit:
we sat and watched Raw Deal last night, curious point of note the
MP5 Arnold uses changes through the film from an original grip, to the
more modern one several times. Yup never sit Airsofters in front of a
movie with guns in it..)
The TM MP5 RAS comes fitted with TM's latest ProScope II reddot (an Aimpoint replica), a new style folding stock (that looks remarkably like the TM MP5 PDW version), a new scope mount, RAS grip (with two armour covers and a vertical grip), and a QD muzzle with PDW flashhider.
Internally, the new MP5 boasts erm.. well it's just a normal MP5 really. The only major difference is that TM have strengthened the cocking tube.
Stock specifications: The specs listed for the rifle are:
Gear
Box - Version 2
Motor - EG700
Magazine - 50 Rounds (low cap)
Length - 502mm folded / 732mm unfolded
Height - 229.5mm
Weight - 2300g
Muzzle Velocity - 83.6m/s
Battery type- Mini ( Not Included in the box)
Package includes ( AEG, Manual, Magazine, Loader, Cleaning Rod, 200 pcs
0.25 BBs, two safety caps, PDW flashhider)
The MP5 itself: The receiver is that found on the TMMP5A4 is made of very good quality 'black' plastic, and internally features the normal MP5 gearbox and EG700 motor. The receiver is not to be confused with that on the MP5-PDW or the MP5k, which have cut down gearboxes to allow a stick battery to go in it.
Externally the fire selector gives you (from the top) fullauto fire, single shot, and safe. As is typical, with 'safe' selected the trigger cannot be physically moved backwards.
You'll find a a full length low-cap (standard mag) in the box - to be honest I'd prefer if it came with a 200 round hi-cap, but lo-caps do have their place in skirmishing so it's not a complete waste. I just don't use them that much, that's all - the same may not be true for you.
On the left side of the receiver/magwell you'll find a metal clip. I have yet to find out exactly what it fits to, but I gather that on the real steel it is for the military slings.
Trademarks on the replica are up their normal TM standard, with only the TM ***** and ASGK **** logos additional to what you'd find on the original HK.
The metal sleeve can't be more than 1mm thick but it certainly does it's job. In the inserted photo you can just see the edge of the metal pipe inside the cocking tube (towards the top of the hole that the cocking handle slides in). Because of the additional part the front section seems a lot more sturdy and rigid than any other previous TM MP5.
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Now my hands have been compared to that of a yeti, and my other half has complained in the past that the bathroom taps really don't need to be closed as tightly as I leave them, as she doesn't usually carry the much need 3 foot spanner to untighten them again - and I still can't get it unthreaded. I don't know what the workshop elves & pixies at TM used to tighten it up, but it's surely a device not of this Earth.
The QD silencer Tangent (yup I'd get it in somewhere): Now the great thing about this MP5, was that I could actually fit my Guarder MP5 silencer on it. Pleas folks take it from me, if you buy an MP5 RAS, get the Guarder MP5 QD (quick detachable) silencer at the same time, sell your granny or a spare kidney if you have to, honest - it's worth it. It fits like a glove, and has about 2mm play at the end (it's a very good fit), more than that it looks great!
I tried to fit the same silencer to my CA MP5 many moons ago, as it came with a spare QD muzzle. Unsurprisingly, the CA muzzle is merely for show, and is not even close to the right dimensions (plus it looked like it had been carved out of PlayDough). The fact that the CA MP5 muzzle needed to be removed with the use of a hammer, two bags of sand, a pulley, the lounge sofa and 6 meters of rope is an aside that I won't begin to get into here...
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To fit the batteries, unscrew the forward cap, of that strange pipe looking thing slung on the top of the scope, and place the two batteries in the pipe with the flat sides (+) pointing towards the front of the scope. The build quality and looks of the scope are really great, but being plastic, it won't stand up to huge amounts of abuse. It's a 1x zoom scope (i.e. zero magnification), which is to be expected as it's a reddot. The only major let down (in my view) here was that the reddot has 3 brightness settings and an 'off' position, this off position is marked out with a sticker stuck on the back of the dial. Not a huge complaint really, but it'd look a heck of a lot better if they had painted in the markings like the fireselect switch. The even bigger downside is that eventually this sticker will go walkies and you'll have to be doubly sure that you turn your scope off to prevent flattening the batteries.
TM recommend that you use setting '1' for night use, '2' for daylight, and '3' for direct sun. I'd recommend that you use the lowest light setting you can get away with, and a re comfortable using. That way the batteries will last longer. As the lenses are plastic I highly recommend that you fit protective lense caps to this scope, as close range fire will almost certainly smash the outer lense, much like the original TM P90. If you are feeling particularly loaded you could buy some real Aimpoint scope caps as they should fit.
You'll come across a rather odd issue the first time you look through the scope, as the centre of your viewpoint looks straight over the MP5's stock foresight. This means that the foresight ring pokes up into the bottom half of your sight picture. Sadly a few mill higher and you wouldn't see it, and a few mill lower and you'd actually be able to us the stock sight and look through from the backsight to the foresight through the scope.
The scope is based on an Aimpoint CompC reddot scope. The only discernable difference is that TM haven't put the 'Aimpoint' lettering on the left side of the scope, which is a bit of a pity. I mean if you are going to copies someone's design to such an extent why not at least put their name on it? Thankfully I'm glad to say that the TM replica works identically to the Aimpoint, if a little 'cheaper'. There are two dials on the scope, one on the top for height adjustment (turn anti clockwise to raise the grouping), and one for on the side for 'wind' (turn anti-clockwise to move the grouping right). Basically you should turn the dials anticlockwise to move the grouping in a positive axis direction. If you want to try the scope out, you can find a funky 3d demo thingymawotsit here. There's also a rather comedy diagram in the manual that basically explains that you will get parallax between the scope and the grouping, but to be honest I'd hope that most people would understand that right away. |
FreedomArt
make some RIS mounted protectors for scopes (image to the left from
The lowmount is an ingenious (yet not that original design). When I first saw the first promo pictures of the RAS, I thought that the scope mount was bolted to the frame/receiver. This isn't the case. The scope mount comes in two halves with the lower half of the scope mount is bolted to the top half. As the two halves come together they pinch and grip the upper receiver's mounting points. If you look closely in the photos you'll see that TM have greased and sprayed the mounts before shipment, which is a welcome sign of good quality control. Scope addendum: Humorously TM have got their own illustrations wrong. If you check the box it comes in, you'll find that the illustration for the scope is shown, as looking at it over the backsight. Look closely and you'll see that the adjustment knobs and battery back area are on the wrong side of the scope. Doh! One issue that crops up combining the lowmount and the reddot is that with the scope being mounted as low as it is, the front sight protrudes into the sight picture thus reducing the useful image picture. The annoying thing is that is that if TM had mounted the scope a few mill lower, you'd be able to look through the scope using the stock metal sights. If they'd mounted it a few mill higher you'd be able to use the fixed sights and look under the scope (assuming the scope ring had a hollow base). |
Now this has good and bad points. Even though it's hollow the stock is very strong - I swung the MP5 around on the stock to see if it'd flex, warp or snap at all, and there wasn't a creak. I just really don't like the hollow feel to it at all. It's very difficult to say what the long term longevity of the stock is, suffice to say it'll probably hold up to average skirmishing. The other advantage to this hollow composition is that it's very light, which adds to the balance of the whole replica. I would be interested to know if the new model PDWs from TM come with the same stock, as the last ones that I used myself came with a solid polymer stock, that you could beat an elephant to death with.
It looks great, but it's the weak point of the rifle in my opinion - I can see 3rd parties releasing replacement folding stock parts for this in the near future (Smokie's maybe?). To unfold the stock you just lift it and twist it away from the body of the rifle until it clicks into place. To fold it back, you simply do the same.
There are three minor downsides to the stock - it's not that comfy, as it's unpadded, and when folded it rests against the right RIS armour plate and obstructs the right hand fireselect switch (it will also get in the way of a double mag clamp). |
RAS grip: Much as with the rest of this rifle, the grip looks great, and comes with a RIS vertical grip fitted to it the bottom rail. The vertical grip is of course detachable from the rails, but comes attached in the box. The grip has three rails in total fitted to it, one either side, and one below. The left and right rails come with RAS armour fitted to them - again it comes fitted in the box, but can easily be removed and swapped around.
The battery for the MP5RAS fits inside the grip, and there is only room for a mini 8.4 600mAh Nicad pack, this has some further ramifications, but I'll get into those slightly later on in this review.
The only disappointment in the grip is it's build - the 'U' shaped piece that makes up the grip is metal, but for some reason (most probably budgetary) the RAS rails are plastic. Thankfully they are only bolted on, so they can always be detached and replaced with some metal ones in the future. Again I'm fairly sure some 3rd party manufacturers will spring in here, as G&P have already made and released a complete copy of the grip section to make your own MP5 RAS.
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Now here's the strange thing - the Guarder grip is very tight (it slides on with some persuasion) to get onto the TM RAS rails, which I take to assume that TM have made their plastic rails ever so slightly wider. Battery: Unfortunately you are limited to the standard 8.4v 600mAh mini battery as it's the only one that I know fits in the grip. The split twin types that are available for the ClassicArmy M4 don't fit, and I emailed several dealers yesterday to see what they had available for it, and they all came back telling me that the 8.4v 600mAh is the only one that will fit. |
Some questions I've been asked: I've been asked a few questions about this rifle by a few folks, so I thought it best to bung them in here.
Does it shoot any different from a standard A5? Well it's a TM replica, so limited in power (under ASGK legislation). As such the power is almost identical. Muzzle velocity is 83.6m/s (275FPS) and it uses an EG700 motor.
The stock MP5A5 is quoted as shooting 80.46m/s (264.66 FPS) and the MP5 A4 is quoted as 82.56m/s (271.59FPS) So it will shoot the same as any other full barrelled (un silenced) TM MP5 replica.
How comfortable is the forward grip compared to the MP5K's? I'd say that it's pretty much on par with the K in terms of 'comfyness'. I had no complaints about it
How well could pressure switches (eg taclight, lasers) be attached to the front grip? If you like gaffer tape, PVC electrical tape or elastic bands, then it's not a problem. But seriously I found it easy enough to quickly fit my CA laser unit to the RAS and elastic band the pressure switch to the grip.
When the front grip is removed, does it look as if the RIS rails would make it difficult / painful to hold? AS the rails are plastic, they are quick comfy to hold. Don't forget that you get two RAS armour panels with this replica. So if you plan to use it without a vertical grip you might want to place one of them on the lower rail if you have delicate pinkies. ^_^
Does
the front sight post obscure the scope picture if a magnified scope (eg
4x40) is used (rather than the propoint)? As you can see from
this image scanned in from the TM manual, you can fit larger scopes. The
ones shown are the (rather overpriced) TM scopes. BUT, there's not much
room, you will need to remove the backsight, which looks bad, and the
scope picture will have the foresight right in the middle of it.
Future MP5 RAS owners looking to fit a large scope might want to look into getting a replacement foresight part (MP-51) the figure '8' foresight, and cutting the top loop off it. With a small amount of cutting and filing it's look quite good.
Is the scope any good? It's rather a subjective opinion that really. As far as I know this is the only replica available of the propoint, so that's its real advantage. It's certainly good enough for skirmish, as the sight picture is good, and the 'reddot' brightness is very impressive. My personal choice would be to go for a metal and glass Walther reddot, but that's just me.
How susceptible will the scope be to being buggered by a BB smashing the front lens ( ala P90s)? These scopes will almost certainly break or smash if fired directly at with AEGs. I'm not going to try it with this one, but I'd put money on it the lense is plastic after all. My advice would be to get some lense caps to protect it, or to mount a piece of clear plastic vertically onto a RIS attachment in front of the scope.
MP5 RAS + CAW mini Moscart launcher == Ultimate CQB weapon? Hmm I'd say so. We really need to figure a way to fit at least 1200mAh of battery somewhere in there though.
Is it better than a P90? Well on paper the P90 carries more rounds, and has a longer inner barrel. Off the paper the P90 can be modified to take a much larger battery, but then again, so can the MP5 RAS if you sling a Guarder LTH on it. It's a close call, but I'd prefer the MP5 RAS over the original P90, as it's more conventional, but that's just my personal opinion.
Is it worth the RRP (roughly £280 in the UK)? The TM MP5 RAS is certainly a very complete rifle, separately the scope sells for 90USD, and the rail mount goes for about 30USD. If you want a rifle that's suited to urban use, the MP5 is quite hard to beat.
