TM TRACER vs. JG/ACM TRACER

[GoLgO 13]

Hey Guys.

 

One of the first things that I purchased in Japan, as far as airsoft goes, was a Tokyo Marui Tracer unit. It costed me 9800Yen about $92USD at the time. If I had to rank the top 3 coolest airsoft gadgetsIt would go like this [1] TM Tracer unit and bb's [2] 40mm bb showers [3] Gas blowback anything.

 

It is so much fun to shoot with a tracer unit. TM BB's in particular are made of a brittle plastic that shatters on impact, scattering micro glowing bb fragments everywhere. An onlooker would swear you just fired a star wars Blaster.

 

The main thing that kept me from buying the TM unit in the past was price(and at first the plastic construction, but they are now aluminum).

 

Ebay Banned released their All China Made TM Clone Tracer Unit. At $38.50 shipped I figured I can't go wrong. At the very least I can duel wield my AEP's while shooting Tracers(I know I am a nerd)

 

I got mine today and I decided to compare the two, just in case anyone else was thinking about picking one up.

 

First of all here they are...(Marui left, ACM right)

 

The main thing that I noticed right off of the bat with the ACM was the ###### poor finish. It was incomplete and inconsistant and rough around the edges. Not a huge deal or anything a spraycan couldn't fix, but next to the Marui it just looked bad.

 

 

Looking in from the top, The ACM unit wasn't lined up properly compared to the Marui. Again what did I expect? But, it does work so whatever...

 

The outside was knurled similarly to The Marui but was again half assed and misaligned at points. It still serves it's purpose so this is nitpicking if you will but it still shows the difference in quality.

 

Here they are opened up, The threading and finish on the ACM are lacking once again, but again it is still functional

 

The battery compartment, pretty on PAR with each other with the only visible difference being the plastic casting and the copper quality.

 

Looking at the switches you can see the difference in external quality and finish. The O-ring on the ACM is not colored nor does it sit deep enough to protect the inner switch from dust and debris. Pushing the ACM button is scratchy and course where as the Marui clicks in and out positively and as smooth as butter. But once again, they both function.

 

Ok Golgo, have you bitched enough about the externals? It was only $38 bux right? Right! So the real test, How well does it perform?????!

 

Test subject, TM VZ61 using .2g marui tracer bb's...

 

Here is a stream of ten bb's from the Marui. Well lit and easily kept up with the 20 RPS ROF of teh Skorp.

 

here is a stream of about 10 bb's from the ACM unit. Obviously the Marui one is brighter, but it was able to keep up with the 20RPS ROF.

 

Here is a video of the ACM firing.

http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y284/mean...nt=MVI_0884.flv

 

Final verdict!

 

Is it as good as the TM? No way. Is it worth $38.50 especially to someone who doesn't use it all the time? Absolutely.

 

 

[TwinTurboCH]

Thanks for the review I was always interested in seeing how the ACM compared to the TM. Glad I kept all 4 original TMs now, but the ACMs seem lik a good cheap alternative.

[Glock18Monkey]

Nice one, I was kind of hoping someone would do a TM vs Clone and you have done just that, in an Ideal world I would except no substitutes and get th TM, but realistically I will not use a Tracer unit loads of times in a year, so for £20 odd quid I may just give the clone a try.

 

Thanks for the write up Golgo.

[Sgt.Griff]

I got the clone and had a go with it down at UCAP. Worked really well for me.

[GotQi?]

That was an excellent review. I was kind of looking for this type of thread and you did a very informative test. Now I have an idea which one to get. Thanks Golgo, nice job.

[LordElpus]

I got the clone and had a go with it down at UCAP. Worked really well for me.

 

What brand tracers and batteries were you using? I normally used Energiser Lithiums and AW's Extreme brand tracers with my old TM V1 tracer unit but for the JG tracer i only had Madbull Dark Knight 0.2g and Duracell standards and i was very disappointed at the lack of brightness.

Edited September 28, 2009 by LordElpus

[TeowneD]

i kinda hate my jg trace,it broke after a week. it wouldnt make the bbs glow. its supposed to make a bright flash when the bb passes through it. mine just makes i really really small red flash, so small that i have to switchoff the lights in my room and hold the tracer beside my eye (with no gun of course).

 

not happy with it.

 

but......maybe its the fact i used it with a gbb rifle and shook the internals up and broke it

 

cheap, it works, but dont use it with a gbb,

should work better with an aeg.

 

go get it and try it out!

 

i want the marui one, but its freaking expensive

 

 

 

 

[LordElpus]

i kinda hate my jg trace,it broke after a week. it wouldnt make the bbs glow. its supposed to make a bright flash when the bb passes through it. mine just makes i really really small red flash, so small that i have to switchoff the lights in my room and hold the tracer beside my eye (with no gun of course).

 

not happy with it.

 

but......maybe its the fact i used it with a gbb rifle and shook the internals up and broke it

 

cheap, it works, but dont use it with a gbb,

should work better with an aeg.

 

go get it and try it out!

 

i want the marui one, but its freaking expensive

 

Did you use green gas or propane? If you used green then the internal tube is probably covered in silicon oil and it can't detect the bb.

[galactica]

LordElpus, you make a good point. I must clean my TM out, it will have got a thorough coating at the weekend

[A Tobias]

its somewhat hard to tell how much dimmer the jg is at night

is the difference significant or is it just nitpicking?

also is an adapter needed to attach this to a kwa mac11?

 

[LordElpus]

its somewhat hard to tell how much dimmer the jg is at night

is the difference significant or is it just nitpicking?

also is an adapter needed to attach this to a kwa mac11?

 

When I had a TM V1 I used to use Engergiser Lithium batteries and the Airsoft World Extreme brand Tracers and brightness was awesome. With the JG with Duracell Alkalines and Madbull Dark Knight .2g the brightness at night was pretty naff. I doubt the batteries would make that much of a differance other than lifespan so it is either the tracer unit or the tracers. I will attempt to get some more Extreme tracer soon to check but I I suspect that the V2 style tracer is not as good as the old V1 and that the JG is even worse.

Edited September 29, 2009 by LordElpus

[KWP]

ACM = All China Made? Does the brand Golden Eagle qualify as ACM?

 

If yes, here are some vids:

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmaXbtKhUf4

[GoLgO 13]

Golden Eagle is JG which I just throw in the same category of All China Made.

[ranger-arg]

Damn! the summer is comming... so also the night ops... i will need one... or two :oP

[LordElpus]

Damn! the summer is comming... so also the night ops... i will need one... or two :oP

 

Then i would suggest looking for a TM Version 1 if you can find one second hand or a TM V2 if you can't. Steer clear of the SRC and use the JG as a last resort.

[Clot]

I picked up the ' Bigdragon ' Silencer from ebaybanned, It is instantly different than the TM, and ACM.

It is completely different in build style. Works well tho

 

I shall post pics later tonight with a quick review.

[LordElpus]

I have found 2 things that impacted on the JG's performance. Firstly was the ammo. The Madbull .2 tracers do not hold their charge long. Secondly, the unit does not work at 100% using std alkalines. When i placed some energiser lithium AAA batteries the BBs were coming out much brighter than before.

[The Crunchy Bunny]

Quick tracer question, is the "AMP" tracer a overpriced JG, or is it a totally different manufacturer?

[yee245]

The AMP and SRC ones are different in design from the TM and JG. I don't know about the Big Dragon one, which looks more like the TM/JG, but has a different outer tube.

[LordElpus]

If possible could a owner of the TM V2 tracer take a photo of the internals? Just curious to see if the V2 is a single or twin bulb design. THe JG is single which would explain the poor performance compared to the V1

[DigitalJE5U5]

Noob question, but I am signed up for 24 long match this weekend and this would be super sexy for the nighttime battle.

 

Question: how do these attach to the gun. I just got a m4 with the standard orange tip flash suppressor on the end. Do you have to get a completely new barrell for the gun that has a threaded tip?

 

Thanks for the review and the help.

 

/digital

Edited January 20, 2010 by DigitalJE5U5

[Jamanyar]

I've had 2 SRC tracer units. They both suffered from the same internal problems, in that they would not charge. Every time I placed the unit on charge the light would come on and suddenly disappear. I only got the second one as a replacement for the first courtesy of the Hong Kong supplier. When the second one showed the same fault I just asked for a full refund and thankfully received it from the same said supplier.

 

Simply put stay away from SRC tracer units, they're expensive and crud (from my experience)

 

I now own a JG (TM clone). I've used a mixture of BB and found that unit has worked well enough for me. I played at Excite bunker in Epsom and it was a pleasure watching those little green glowing ball of death do their magic!!!!!

 

For the occasional use (and it is very occasional) it presents the best bargain/value for money. If you must have the best I guess you could pay almost 3 times the amount on a TM version.

 

J.

Edited February 24, 2010 by Jamanyar