Jump to content

Tokyo Marui l96 AWS


Recommended Posts

Today the Tokyo marui l96 aws arrived, I will be comparing it to the vsr 10 gspec and pro sniper I used to own.

 

 

The rifle comes packaged in an olive drab box with the usual assortment of speed loaders etc and a box of bb’s that will probably never get touched.

 

rifle.jpg

Stock

 

Removing the Aws from the box you will be reassured by solid bodywork, you’ll also notice it has more weight to it than the vsr does and feels nicely balanced. A tap of the stock reveals its still hollow but structure wise its still strong, looking along the body you’ll notice it has sling points on both sides of the rifle which is handy.

 

There has been mention of a discolored joint piece under the thumb hole grip of the rifle, I too have this, though mine isn’t as bad as some photos have shown, It don’t think its that horrific but I will be sniper taping this rifle up regardless

 

The rifle is comfortable to hold and as said before its balance aids in shooting posture, especially when you take into account its adjustable stock. The adjustable cheek piece is plastic but is comfortable and solid, its height is adjusted via two allen bolts into the left hand side of the stock and to my surprise once tightened keep the cheek piece in place extremely solidly, much better than for instance a well known m40a3 stock.

 

Metalwork

 

The bull barrel and the breech on the rifle is clearly metal (along with all relevant parts that should be) and the finishing is smooth, certainly a testament to marui’s quality. It comes with both a bipod nut and the l96’s unique bipod attachment piece; as of this moment i've attached a Harris bipod that does the job.

 

A part worthy of note is the cylinder itself which is a darker finish than the vsr 10’s and a considerable improvement over the original which was far too shiny for most people, lifting the bolt handle is a pleasant experience and is free of slop, the handle is solid and is much improved for glove users in the field.

 

To the right of the bolt is the safety, it performs as expected and nicely locks the bolt in place to prevent someone working the action without first intentionally removing the safety catch.

 

Working the action although not quite as smooth as a vsr (I presume from the new feeding mechanism) is very pleasant and doesn’t feel forced or clunky. The less smooth action is a worthy price to pay for the new magazine system that whilst being visually appealing and more realistic, is more worth its weight in gold for facilitating quick magazine changes.

 

The magazine itself is quite lightweight, similar in design to the marui m14’s, it does its job but I do find it harder to load with a speed loader, I expect it will get easier as the spring wears in, but loading by hand is a lot easier than it was with the vs., its crisp and can be done with the flat of your thumb rather than using your nails.

 

I would have to say this is an improvement over the vsr in build quality and function, I prefer the hop, I prefer the magazines and I much prefer the finish, there is zilch barrel wobble, I attribute this to the increased threading on the barrel itself, and the additional screws to secure it in place.

 

IMG_5476.jpg

 

Hop up

 

The hop up feels more solid than the vsr’s which I am certainly impressed about, and its location under the rifle gives me confidence it cant get knocked whilst stalking through the undergrowth, even in the event it did come into contact with branches or hard surfaces.

 

I have faith it wont move as its certainly more sturdy than the visor’s; Twisting the hop dial gives a nicely spaced, satisfying click, whether there are more adjustment points I have yet to discover, but it feels like there’s more scope than before.

 

 

Here and there you find some brilliant touches, such as the spring loaded tabs located inside the hop up that guide the cylinder nozzle into the hop cleanly.

 

 

 

Shooting the rifle

 

Inserting the mag is an easier affair and it slots straight up and locks firmly in place, no wobbles which is a good thing, not just for feel, but because a misaligned mag can cause erroneous results.

 

Cocking the rifle, you can feel the bb being chambered nice and gently, then squeezing the first shot off the trigger pull weight is very light. The Aws despite its origins does not carry over quite so well to airsoft, the aws is a touch louder than the pro sniper and noticeably more so than the gspec, I remedied this with a suppressor on the end, although this does make the rifle noticeably longer.

 

Accuracy wise, I would say this rifle is on a par with the vsr, those worried about the new feed mechanism shouldn’t be, I only had one stoppage, and that was probably user error whilst working the bolt, it hasn’t double fed or failed to feed any rounds, the bolt simply stopped whilst closing the action and was remedied by tugging back and then forwards again.

Link to post
Share on other sites
  • Replies 85
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Got mine today, my gunsmith is having a play with it upping the FPS ready for its first skirmish this sunday.

What beautiful guns they are! (and to think i was contemplating buying an ARES AW338... cringe!)

 

Expect a action report soon guys

Al

 

Ps; apparently Laylax are releasing spares in about a months time (source Zero One airsoft)

Edited by Rogue Trooper
Link to post
Share on other sites

Anyone wanting to upgrade the FPS from the standard 300fps will have to wait for upgrade parts to become available,

The reason being is that the cylinder is a bit shorter than a VSR's and quite narrow, also the plastic piston has a very narrow opening for the spring and the spring itself is only 11mm in diameter,

Neil at Zero One spent quite a lot of time today trying to upgrade mine, he thinned down a metal VSR spring guide (TM L96 one is plastic) and tried to put in a heavier spring of the right diameter, the problem is the extra thickness of the wire in the heavier spring adds to its length when compressed and makes it too long to allow the piston to latch onto the sears... Gutted!

 

Until the Laylax parts are available she is a wall hanger!

Al

Edited by Rogue Trooper
Link to post
Share on other sites
PDI parts are already out: cylinder sets, tightbores, and now springs...

 

I see PDI's highest FPS spring is rated at 450FPS, i wonder if thats the maximum possible due to the limited cylinder size??

I am waiting to see what Laylax have to offer then decide if theirs or the PDI is the best option.

 

How are you getting on with yours Trasher, have you skirmished with it yet?

Edited by Rogue Trooper
Link to post
Share on other sites

I skirmished mine last Sunday and despite rather gusty winds found the l96 to be on a par with my vsr, my only quibble being it is not as effective at hopping .3's, this could be due to the low fps as i didn't spend much time with my vsr at stock velocities.

 

it performed nicely with marui .25's throwing them very accurately out to 40m (zeroing against a 6 inch tree i was getting next to no misses) but at stock velocity that was really the maximum effective range, i didnt check its grouping at 50m but i had no real issues to mention.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hi Gerkahn

 

I tried mine properly for the first time today.

I was firing in a friends garden at a range of 35 metres, accuracy was all over the place, grouping was about 2 to 3 feet at that distance. Vertical grouping was good, about 6 inches but horizontaly was where the 2 to 3 foot spread was

This is probably due to it being a little windy, the hop needing bedding in and the fact that i grabbed a bottle of .2g BB's by mistake... Doh!

 

Also doesnt it sound strange as the BB is fed up the feed system, i guess its a good way of telling if you have run out of BB's.. no rattle!

 

Does your bolt handle flop around/rotate when you pull it back? it caught me out a few times today as i tried to close the bolt with the handle in the wrong position, care will be needed there when rattling shots off under fire!

 

Lastly have you cleaned your barrel yet? I cleaned mine and was very surprised to see just how much crud was in there... Probably the dirtiest barrel i have ever cleaned! (worse than any chinasoft!!!!) surprising for a Marui!?!?

I will dissasemble her in a bit to properly clean/inspect the hop chanber/barrel and see if this is causing the fliers

 

Disassembly guide curtisy of RedWolf;

http://www.redwolfairsoft.com/redwolf/airs...il?reviewID=238

 

I am taking it to Ground Zero on sunday, probably just to fire on the range but i might take it out and see if i can get her first kill!

Mind you at 310fps im gonna be out ranged by most everything out there so its sneaky tactics time!

 

Al

Edited by Rogue Trooper
Link to post
Share on other sites

Sorry to double post guys (mods feel free to merge)

 

I have disassembled my hop chamber and here is what i found

 

post-42259-1255130726_thumb.jpg

 

Hop Rubber & barrel are not standard to AEG types

 

post-42259-1255130744_thumb.jpg]

 

L96 barrel top, normal AEG below for reference

 

post-42259-1255130757_thumb.jpg

 

Hop assembly

 

post-42259-1255130775_thumb.jpg

 

The hop nub is held in a follower (between nub and hop arm in photo above) which is in turn pushed down by the hop arm in a channel in the hop unit shown in the photo below

 

post-42259-1255130786_thumb.jpg

 

It sure is an interisting system!

As this hop system supposedly takes influences from the VSR would anyone care to comment on their similarities?

 

Thanks

Al

Edited by Rogue Trooper
Link to post
Share on other sites
I see PDI's highest FPS spring is rated at 450FPS, i wonder if thats the maximum possible due to the limited cylinder size??

I am waiting to see what Laylax have to offer then decide if theirs or the PDI is the best option.

How are you getting on with yours Trasher, have you skirmished with it yet?

- PDI 450fps spring: I guess this is what the trigger group can take with the PDI 2nd sear installed. I ordered a 570fps PDI VSR spring of the same ID/OD, so we will see.

 

- Cylinder size: the piston is also shorter, so I think air volume shouldn't be a problem. Spring size? Maybe.

 

- I'm not skirmishing with a 270fps sniper rifle. I think the rifle is fine in stock form (210mm groups at 40m with .29 SGMs), but nothing exceptional. I ordered the PDI cylinder HD set, 2nd sear, barrel spacer, VSR endcap, and a VSR setpin, plus 2 springs (450fps and 570fps).

 

- My pics of the internals:

 

http://www.shooter.hu/L96/

 

 

Link to post
Share on other sites
-- I'm not skirmishing with a 270fps sniper rifle.

 

I dont blame you sir! I took mine out today and got totaly hosed!

I fired off a good few hundred rounds and the accuracy is getting better as the hop beds in, that said it was too windy to do any meaningful accuracy tests today.

 

I hope you have success with the 570fps spring, as i said we had problems due to the extra thickness of the coils in the heavier spring making it too long to use in the stock TM piston/cylinder ect, but if your trying it all in the PDI setup maybe you will have better luck than me!

I eagerly await the results of your experiments Trasher and Good Luck!

Al

 

Ps; I love the scope you have fitted to yours in the photos Trasher, which type is it?

Edited by Rogue Trooper
Link to post
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...

Hi guys

Have a look on this thread (towards the end). There is a lot of discussion about upgrades and a review of trashers PDI upgrades and the problems he had with his gun afterwards.

 

http://www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/forums/inde...howtopic=173081

 

I am waiting for the Laylax parts to be released before i decide how im going to upgrade mine

Al

Edited by Rogue Trooper
Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use and the use of session cookies.