PureSilver

I don't have any familiarity with MP5 gearboxes - are you saying you find switching from a single bar with a selector on each end to the gear-and-transfer-axle assembly an upgrade? I've used systems like that before and even on high-end guns (Scorpion EVO3A1s, NGRS HK416s etc.) you end up with horrible slop between the two selectors because of the slop inherent to the transfer gears. I'd much rather drill a divot into the end of the transfer bar to help a grub screw stay located than deal with selectors that can be in burst on one side and auto on the other...

I mean... It looks like a decent aftermarket set of gears would solve this particular problem. At $360 this gun is now $10 cheaper than the Scorpion EVO3A1, which is wildly popular despite post-2018 models shipping with pretty crappy (albeit very easily changed) gears. I love my EVO, which has been the best out-of-the-box airsoft gun I've ever owned. However, if I were less heavily invested in the EVO as a platform and the MP7 had better aftermarket support and an MP7A2 variant, I would probably swap the ASG for the VFC, expensive magazines be damned. It does all the same things the EVO does while being even smaller, and that's a big priority for my CQB guns. Much cheaper, but the AEPs are ABS and only about 90% of the size they should be. Both are fairly serious disadvantages for a gun you'd be spending $750ish on, given that the solenoid engine ($360 alone), chassis and harness assembly is $520 and a TM MP7 AEP is about $225. I would hazard a guess that any solenoid conversion for the VFC will be even more expensive, given that it will need to tie in the stop-on-empty and bolt release features. If I was going to invest $500-600 in upgrading a gun, paying an extra $135 to have the 1:1 GFP VFC instead of the 0.9:1 ABS TM as the base would be a total no-brainer, especially if the VFC would have stop-on-empty and the bolt release tied in.

Where the hell did you find it?!

Even I am cautiously interested in these - is there any information on release date and price points?

Nah - they're similar but not the same. However, the external dimensions are sufficiently similar that this should be doable. Catgutt already did this with the regular Flux (the airsoft one wasn't even announced when he did his) and a WE (TM-clone) Gen.3 17. He says it required a lot of work, most likely because of using the Gen.3 Glock - which is expressly prohibited by Flux - instead of a Gen.4. Since WE (which are TM-compatible) have since released Gen.4 (and Gen. 5) Glocks, in theory at least the WE and Umarex are sufficiently similar that the Flux should fit fine.

Assuming you're talking about the airsoft version hitmanNo2 linked, you don't need to - it'll take Umarex Glocks. If it'll take Umarex Glocks, it can be made to work with TM-pattern ones, although it's specified for Gen.4 guns so you might be better with a WE. The VFC (the only licensed P320 AFAIK) staggeringly enough does use a drop-in FCG (which the WE doesn't) so in theory this is possible. I think it's a lot less likely than the already-improbable release of the Glock one, because it's clearly a much more complex mould, but we're living in an improbable era. How many of the airsoft Glock ones they sell versus real ones should be a good indicator of the likelihood of that happening - for all we know the market is just itching to spend $200 (minimum) on accessories for their VFC Glocks. What I don't really understand is why the airsoft one is a brace rather than the SBR version. Despite increasingly horrible offerings from Ares there's no need for airsoft guns to obey SBR laws.

The AK 'boxes definitely do have metal pistons: I have one. I'm reasonably sure the piston is steel - it's under incredible stress from the off-axis loading of the recoil spring, which is very, very stiff indeed. I bought mine used and only shot the gearbox outside the gun - they're both with a machinist at present so the latter will accept the former - but it sounded good. Given that the EBB AK gearboxes don't have those features and there's no mention of the soon-to-be-released EBB AKs coming with them either, I think it's likely that those features won't be included. AFAIK PTWs, DASs, NGRS, ERGs, and EVO3A1s are the only AEGs with that functionality. The majority of EBBRs (BOLT, G&P, G&G, ICS, CYMA, ARMY, not to mention NGRS G36s and every NGRS AK except the newest one) don't have it. Honestly, if I had to choose between a TM NGRS MP5 that did stop and had a working bolt, but was ABS and aluminium, and an LCT MP5 that didn't and didn't but was all-steel and GFP, I would probably take the LCT. I can enjoy steel construction and decent plastics on every shot and in between them too, whereas the bolt stop only activates every 70rds. The LCT will likely kick harder, and if I really wanted to I could probably find some way to tie the charging handle into the gun's electronics. The work required to get an NGRS into a different shell is so prohibitively expensive and difficult that I've only seen one ARES reshell of an NGRS G36 before. The 'box has (obviously) a proprietary open-topped shell, a metal piston I'm pretty sure is steel, and from what I can recall a wider tooth engaging the piston.

This. The LCT MP5 looks absolutely amazing: From the categories on their website it looks like the EBB G3s will be the first to be released. If you can hold off (maybe buzz their Facebook to see if they have a projected release date?) I definitely would.

What's the gas efficiency like? How sturdy are the moon clips?

They're TM-based, but as you say they have different routers. I think you can just switch the router, though.

You can find his Facebook fairly easily, but the best way to get in touch is probably Instagram.

They're TM clones. If you're interested in offloading your busted APS mag(s), drop me a PM - I need some parts.

PreFired is going to be your best bet. You can also use the ZeroIn and AKUK Classifieds. You can put them on here, too, but the forum is (sadly) lightly trafficked and adverts here don't seem to get much interest. You don't need a defence (UKARA) to sell guns, but you need to check that the person buying them from you has one.

A pistol I'd really like to check out is the heavily modified KJW (Ruger) Mk.IIs built by FOW. These have a billet upper receiver and a ton of internal modifications made by one of the most respected designers and manufacturers of SRS-A1 upgrades. They're supposedly as quiet and as accurate as an upgraded TM Mk.23, but a much more manageable size.

Sold.