Tokyo
Marui Walther MPL GasGun (stubby review) |
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Intro
Ever since I got into airsoft, and I'm certainly no skirmish veteran, I've
searched for that holy-grail: the perfect airsoft replica. To my mind this
means a collectors piece that is functionally skirmishable, but the thing
I really craved was a realistic action i.e. ejecting shells. I'd seen old
shell ejecting springers before, but never a semi-auto, let alone a full
auto shell ejector 1None of the
current airsoft manufacturers seem to want to go down this path, primarily
because they are targeting skirmishers and no-one wants to run around after
themselves picking up cartridges. Of course, the ideal would be a gun that
combines skirmish practicality with high-end amusement value. Ladies and
Gentlemen, from the mists of time I give you the Tokyo Marui WALTHER
MPL 2…
Construction
Ahem. If you're familiar with the Marui range of springers you'll get the
idea: practically all ABS in construction, the MPL is not going to astound
anyone. The trigger and bolt handle are metal, as are some of the innards
and the gas tank. All told, functional but disappointing. One (IMNSHO) of
the prettiest SMGs around, though, and as tough as most AEGs. Mags are straight
and made of plastic. TM have shown uncanny insight when designing this piece:
the BBs loading into the front of the magazine and the dummy shells loading
into a column in the back. No hop. The bolt handle moves but is purely cosmetic
Operation
Selective fire semi/full auto gas non-blowback.
Now this is the bloody marvelous bit. The gun has three modes of operation.
Because of the flash split column mag you can:
1. Load both shells
(30) and bbs (30-40) for the total experience.
2. Load just the shells so you can arse about in the kitchen without wrecking
everything 3
3. Load just bbs so you can skirmish without having to pick up shells every
5 minutes.
The
other option you have is how you feed it gas. There's a refillable aerosol
cartridge that pops into the grip for short term use (about two mags worth)
or you can fit an external feed for serious skirmishing. Both the cartridge
and the feed adaptor come in the box with the gun. Basically this makes
the piece perfect for the CQB skirmisher and in-house plinker/collector
alike.
The mechanism itself operates on a fixed barrel NBB system. The nozzle moves forward against a spring to "chamber" a round and then releases the propellant gas. As the mech. moves back again any shell case in the ejection area is thrown out. This is not a true gbb as the gas serves only to reciprocate an arm inside the mech. Rate of fire is pretty realistic and the reciprocation of the mechanism gives a satisfying report, but little recoil
Performance: Lack of hop and generally low power mean that this is a strictly CQB-only skirmisher. The refillable cartridge is fine for backup gun purposes but as a primary it is imperative that one use the external feed. Fortunately this simply screws straight on to the nozzle of any hf134a can. The piece is light and extremely pointable, arguably more so than other smgs like the MP5. There are no high-caps available for this piece so ammo watching is essential.
