Tanaka Redeemed - M700 A.I.C.S. FTW dudes...
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Good things come to those who wait, and I've waited long enough. I figured a good thing or two was on the cards and my prayers have been answered (thanks, Satan) and the M700 AICS was finally re-released by Tanaka. Thank *fruitcage*. Now I don't have to buy an APS2 Type96 bloody spring rifle and throw another £250 at it just to make it almost as good as this 
Incidentally, I'm actually writing most of this up from an internet cafe for which I am paying by the hour just to bring you the wonderful news. I may've had to find something to do in the 2 hours after work between my driving lesson and my date tonight anyway, but I hope you nonetheless appreciate the effort
So: how good is this A.I.C.S McDoobrie then? Pretty *fruitcage* ing sweet actually; I have never held an airsoft gun that feels as real. Seriously. Its as solid as the proverbial rock, a misnomer used almost as cringe-inducingly often as the word `classic` *shudders*, yet this time it really is that strong. I am loathe to pick it up by the barrel and swing it about just in case my £350 rifle does incurr some damage - it would be pretty bloody stupid to end up damaging such a beautiful gun by trying (and failing) to prove that you can't damage it like that (ooh, the ironing ) so I wont bother this time. As it happens, I really can't see any actual problem with doing that, and thats perfectly good enough for me!
The feel of the thing - ye gods - maybe its just the pistol-angle grip or the novelty of a thumbhole stock (next gun is the STAR SL-8 so I will have another thumbhole to compare it with soon) but this baby just feels Right. I mean Proper. Correct. 100% Appropriate for whatever it is you happen to be doing. I can see myself making dinner for someone and having this to hand, I can see myself writing on holiday with this by my desk, I can see the AICS beside me as I surf at Bournemeouth beach, and I'm finding it impossible to stop imagining myself sat in a bush at Ground Zero training it upon a camp, building or base as the hapless occupants fall to my BBs one by one 
The big question of course is: how well does it perform? Well as usual I've failed to get much in the way of technical data 
but I'll tell you what I know.
The PCS (Power Control System) within this gun is designed, as you would imagine, to control the power of your shots. At the moment it is turned to the lowest setting. The gun seems to shoot about 150 feet with .23s pretty much *perfectly* on target (okay my scope is off, but the shot placings are consistent.) using green gas with the hop on full. I haven't even used about 2/3rds of its power yet. Oh boy oh boy oh boy.
I'm expecting, after possibly a tightbore barrel and new, higher scope rings and scope adjustment, and tweaking the PCS, hop and toying with BB weights, to easily be on the site limit at GZ of *ahem* *cough* 328+172fps *cough* and hitting people at ranges of up to 250 feet 
One funny thing is, though, that when you first look at the gun the whole stock/frame is made from 2 pieces and the joins, or rather, the failure of the 2 halves to cohesively join, is shockingly bad and frighteningly noticeable. There are parts of the stock at the rear that show gaps of up to 3/4mm between the halves and no indication whatsoever that they might one day seat together as on would expect they should. Does this matter much? Does it hell. Pick up the AICS for any longer than a dozen nanoseconds and all is forgiven - not only can you not see the gaps as they are on the underside of the stock (although seam lines are blatant all around it) but also that unequivocally pales into insignificance once you have this thing in thine bless't paws; shouldering it again produces further schoolgirlesque squeaks of delight because it simply feels like the coolest toy known to man, woman or child.
And lets face it; It is
Goddamn I want some pictures up here to show it off, its so nice. I sat it up on its Versapod (big props to G&P on the Versapod while we're here in fact, I'll have to see how it stands up to use & abuse in games but its really, really good so far. For only HKD350 - £26.25 - it is fantastic value for money as a solid adjustable bipod that has enough swing/tilt/pivot movement for anyone. Strong springs on the legs and firm ratchet mechanismss on the extendable legs as well - plus you can snap it on & off the bipod adaptor in less than a secong making it ideal for use as a scout/sniper's weapon, which for me is just perfect.) and with the Marui proscope on and the stock pads & cheekpad adjusted for me, its a true thing of beauty and awe. I even said to Shard when I got it "the best thing is; it looks like its not mine. Its that cool."
I find that, after I buy any gun so far apart from this, it feels like something I've had for ages, years, eons; after about an hour of ownership it becomes something I have become aclimatised to completely and the novelty has totally worn off (The TM M14 and CA M249 are the only ones that had that novelty for more than about a day).
This gun still has the halo of the unattainable, the sheen and shimmer of that which we long for but secretly believe to be too good for us, to be out of our reach, and rightfully so: my Tanaka M700 A.I.C.S still feels like I don't even own it yet
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