WE MSK Review

[WTF?Shane]

Initial Review

 

Packaging

The gun is packaged in a molded soft foam insert within the cardboard box. The gun will come with the muzzle device separated from the barrel. However, airsoft gun replicas in the US need to have a permanently attached orange muzzle device, so they cut apart the foam to make it fit in the box. Included in the box is a instruction manual, the airsoft gun, magazine, front and rear flip up sights, 2 barrel washers, 2 different sized allen/hex keys (small is for hop adjustments), 2 small rail sections, 1 large rail sections and 6 screws to mount the rail sections.

 

Finish

The first thing that caught my eye was the flat dark earth color of the polymer components. I think it looks more pink compared to other flat dark earth colors. The metal components are painted a nice shade of flat dark earth, which I think is more appropriate. The metal components looks painted to a dark grey color or light black finish. I've already noticed the finish on some of the internal parts to be chipping away.

 

Disassembly

The hand guard and upper receiver pin both come off the gun, while the lower receiver pins are captured in the lower receiver. The hand guard pin is easy to remove and the rest need a little persuasion with a hammer and punch (or similar tools, which I used a chopstick and multi tool). Slide the hand guard forward to free the alignment pins and it should come off. The barrel assembly is easily removed by unlatching and turning the locking cam lever to unlock the barrel. Barrel assembly comes out.

 

Assembly

Assembling is reverse order of disassembly. Lower and upper receiver pins are a little difficult to get back in, but a good push and there in.

 

Outer Barrel

When I received it, the muzzle device was painted orange and applied with a glob of thread locker. I don't have the AAC muzzle device tool and I didn't have a wrench thin enough to go around the flats on the end of the flash hider. I was impatient, so with a heat gun and channel locks I manned up and worked the muzzle device off. I damaged the muzzle device trying to get it off, so no replica AAC Brakeout for me. I'm a little bummed out because it was a nice looking and unique muzzle device.

 

The gas block looks closer to replicating the ACR, unlike the knob style on the PTS version. It's a sometimes difficult to switch between the two settings, but it serves no purpose other than looks. The piston push rod is functioning, but it is non operating and merely for replicating the look.

 

The barrel locking cam does what it is supposed to. It is airsoft so do not torque it down overly tight. It came with a shim installed between the outer barrel and inner barrel hop up assembly. You can add another if you feel it is needed. It is C-shaped and you need to align it with the outer barrel and a corresponding notch on the locking block when installing the barrel assembly onto the upper.

 

Handguard

The handguard is cool looking. The bolt head of the alignment pin and bar gets in the way of attaching railed accessories when there is a rail section on the most forward 3 and 9 o'clock positions. I'm not happy with that design. If the rail sections were higher it might work, so I'm looking to see if Magpul MOE rail sections could work on this handguard. There is a small amount of play between it and the upper assembly. The retaining pin did seem a little short as the retention spring does not fully engage when inserted.

 

Upper Assembly

The charging handle has play in it. The charging handle is reversible up, down, left and right. It attaches to a sled type of system that pushes on the top face of the bolt carrier. Both the charging handle sled and bolt assembly ride on guide rails that are bolted into the upper receiver.

 

Lower Assembly

The magwell and pistol grip have a texture on it similar to what Magpul, BCM, Tango Down and US Palm puts on their grips, but without the extra pattern on top. The pistol grip has a detachable base with internal compartment and rubber lid. It is small in size, but can easily hold two CR123 batteries with plenty of wiggle room. I tried a MOE baseplate, and it is smaller in size, so a MIAD insert will not work.

 

The bolt lock/release works in a similar function to a BAD lever. Up to lock, down to release. Ambidextrous mag release is the same on both sides and is easy to find. The safety selector is tricky to use. A combination of it being a short lever and polymer components makes it difficult to cycle. I've been messing with it whenever I can and I've noticed that it is starting to wear in and a slightly easier to actuate. My short thumbs can't get it back to safe, so I have to use my trigger finger on the opposite side to switch it back.

 

Trigger

I've noticed that the trigger is similar to a WE M4 with a very distinct mushy feel and short single stage break that is noticeable when dry firing. With the safety selector on safe and the trigger is pulled, the trigger will come to a point where it slightly releases the hammer. Then when safety selector is put on semi, it will fire. A small design flaw that bothers me, but best thing to do is to keep my finger off the trigger and on safe until I'm ready to fire.

 

Stock

The butt stock is very difficult to release when folding because of the tightness between the polymer components in the latch assembly. Same with the release buttons to extend and collapse the butt stock. When folded, there is a compartment in the butt stock and there should be a rubber plug, but mine did not come with one. The compartment is small and can barely fit a AA battery. 

 

The cheek rest has two positions and you pull it back to unlock and push forward to set it in place. When firing, I noticed that the recoil will move the cheek piece into the unlock position. The QD point on the butt stock does not work with my Blue Force Gear QD VCAS. I have noticed various QD points on airsoft replicas to be off spec. Not sure if it will work with other brands of QD studs. Also included on the butt stock assembly is a single point sling loop.

 

Bolt Assembly

It's a big block of metal, has a plastic piston/loading nozzle and has a separate spring and recoil rod assembly. I haven't messed with it much except adding some lube to it. As mentioned before, it moves on a guide rail system that is in the upper receiver.

 

Magazine

The polymer magazine is nice. It is similar in shape to a PMAG, but the overall texture is smooth feeling. The fitment into the gun is a lot more secure than the STANAG mag, which contributes to a better seal between the mag and piston.

 

Function

Manually cycling the bolt, locking it and releasing it feels weak, but it is only an airsoft gun. When firing, there is a good kick to it. The recoil causes the barrel assembly to shake when firing. With an extra shim added it takes away a small amount of play, but it is still present. It does not seem to affect accuracy. Also as noted before, the recoil of the gun moves the cheek rest.

 

When shooting I noticed that sometimes it wouldn't lock back on an empty mag. I'm not quite sure if this is a gun or magazine related issue as both were new. Best I can do at the moment is keep using the gun and let everything wear in.

 

Accuracy

I haven't been able to do a controlled grouping and range test. I took it to the field, zeroed the windage on of my RMR and adjusted the hop after the first few games. While using .28g bbs, I was shooting a good 150ft+ before the bbs started to drop. There was some wind on the field, so tracking the bbs and a little bit of Kentucky windage, I was able to make some decent shots.

 

Overall Impressions

There is a lot of minor things that I pointed out, but in the end if the gun shoots good and is efficient and effective, then it is in my eyes, a good gun. Some tight tolerances within the polymer parts, but it should wear in over repeated use. I was using a set of STANAG mags when playing and it did good for semi-auto game play, minus some small leaks within the mags.

 

I apologize I couldn't take pics of the components, but I'm sure you can find it on the various Arms-Cool reviews. I'm sure there's something I jacked up while writing this and proof reading and editing and being stupid. Oh, well. It's late now and I have to get some rest for work. Here's a pic of my shoes:

 

[Theoutlier]

So I guess its worth the money? I'm planning on buying it too since I've owned like 3 WE GBBRs and hoping they might share some parts compatibility. Is it a trigger box like their M4 varients?

(Another thing I'm really curious about is whether or not it accepts PTS Masada furnitures, if so I would get this gun in a heart beat)

Edited September 16, 2013 by Theoutlier

[blam360]

One person in HK has fitted the PTS handguard onto his MSK, but he said it requires quite a bit of work

[WTF?Shane]

Played with it again this afternoon/evening. The gun is doing good, minus some cycling issues which I believe to be magazine related.

 

Another pic of it setup for night ops.

 

 

So I guess its worth the money? I'm planning on buying it too since I've owned like 3 WE GBBRs and hoping they might share some parts compatibility. Is it a trigger box like their M4 varients?

 

I think it is worth the money for a ACR replica. Not sure about compatibility with other WE AR trigger components.

Edited September 22, 2013 by WTF?Shane

[Dj_komodo]

 

 

AimPiont Micro T1: on
PMAG: on
Magpul RVG: on
Troy Iron sights: on
Acog 4x: off
Eotech 552: off
Docter sight on 45 degree mount: off
Peq-16a: off
Night evolution: off
Surefire M910A: off
Magpul AFG2: off
Silencer: off
WE m4 mag w. magpul: off
magpul ms2 sling: off

 

 

any requests?

[Dj_komodo]

Btw WTF?Shane. Do you know were to put this?

[NonEx]

Those are spacers for the outer barrel to tighten it up in the quick-lock mechanism.

[Dj_komodo]

Are they necessary? Or is it just when/if I feel that the barrel is a little loose?

[WTF?Shane]

Add one if you want to decrease the amount of barrel movement . It goes between the outer barrel and hop up assembly. When shooting there will still be some barrel movement.

[Dj_komodo]

Cool, thanks for the tip ... 

[kagami]

when you swapped the flash hider do you know what threading the outer barrel was?

[WTF?Shane]

when you swapped the flash hider do you know what threading the outer barrel was?

 

Counter clock-wise, 14mm negative threading.

[calbur20]

What's the FPS out of the box?

[Dj_komodo]

Around 410-420 fps

[kagami]

good to know! I tried to look up the threading on other WE platforms and all I got was an even mix of CCW and CW. glad to know I ordered the correct flash hider. I'm currently talking with WE right now about getting extra rails/barrel assemblies but they just want me to talk to a distributor...like any distributor would have extra parts at the moment for this gun..

 

I'm also asking about extra shims. do you think if you put enough in that it would eliminate all barrel wobble?

Edited September 27, 2013 by kagami

[WTF?Shane]

 

I'm also asking about extra shims. do you think if you put enough in that it would eliminate all barrel wobble?

If you were to get a higher torque on the barrel nut, it would make it more secure and lessen the movement. I'm weary of tightening it down a lot because of it breaking. The shims help some, but mainly to center the locking lever for stowage.

[glitchm249]

Where are you guys getting your MSK's?

[Theoutlier]

You can order it at either Ratech's website, EBairsoft, BBdragon (the latter is the cheapest I found)

[glitchm249]

Cool, thanks.

[calbur20]

Got mine this week, just skirmished it today. Right out of the box, the FPS on this thing is ridongculous. It chronoed at the shop at around 450-460 which is a big no-no for my site (430 FPS max) so I downgraded it right away. Put a Maple Leaf Hop unit in there, and man, this thing shoots far, and straight. I hit the playing head marshal with .36 bbs at around 100 feet (could've been more, I suck at estimating distances), and he was convinced that the gun was over the limit because of how hard the BB hit him and how straight the bb flew. 

But damn this thing is heavy. With the Aimpoint + Docter combo I estimate it to be as heavy or heavier than my WE M14. 

 

Regarding the wobbly barrel, my gun's outerbarrel didn't wobble at all, even after pulling it out and reinserting it again multiple times (god that sounded dirty). 

 

Here's some pictures from my potato phone:

 

 

[kagami]

Airsoft GI is stocking them in the us for a great price, 190 for each half of the gun with a 20% discount puts it at around 320 before shipping. Regarding the rails/shims/extra barrel assemblies, WE emailed me back and gave me a excuse of "we're sorry, this product is not supported in your country yet so we can't locate a distributor to supply you with after market parts."

 

I've also borrowed my friend's PTS ACR. the stock looks of similar dimension and shape (albeit with the buffer rod that sticks out of the WE to increase cycle rate times) I would like to have a slightly slower rate of fire, I think at the moment the gun's RPS is a bit high...

[Fox62]

I would like to have a slightly slower rate of fire, I think at the moment the gun's RPS is a bit high...

 

Ah, gotta love GBBR users

 

 

Fox.

[WTF?Shane]

Kagami, thanks for the heads up. I ordered some MSK mags earlier this week and got them in today.

 

Adding to my review, I was testing my only PMAG the other night and was getting slow cycling and sometimes no cycling and letting all the gas out. It was doing good with the STANAG mags. Took apart and lubed the seals on the PMAG. Took apart my bolt and the pistol seal was dry. Lubed it, put it back together and it shot good.

 

I also noticed that the paint finish is wearing off on the bolt carrier contact points and on the sling point. The hand guard is also starting to wear on the mounting points as well as it has a small amount of movement. Small things to point out, but does not affect performance or function of the gun.

[NonEx]

I got mine yesterday.

 

Overall first impressions are;

 

It's big and heavy, I expected it but was hoping it would feel lighter.

 

Feels good when shouldered though after I added a MAGPUL RVG on the front.

 

The grip is fat, almost cylinder like. Does not feel like an RS MOE style grip, disappointed but expected.

 

Magazines are awesome IMO. I have a couple of RS PMAG shells with WE internals, and for the price and hassle it was to get vs. the WE ones, I favor the WEs PMAG for sure. Looks and feels good. No leaks on the six I got either.

 

I like that they replicated the quick barrel change and disassembly of the gun, however I fear that the quick-release for the barrel will be a weak point that wears out quickly with barrel changes.

 

Lower polymer feels pretty good, upper finish is nice so far.

 

 

The flash hider is cool, but I don't like that it is secure with a grub screw, at the bottom. Feels like it will come out and be lost with recoil. Loctite needed for sure.

Speaking of the flash hider, I thought my PST AAC silencer might fit on it, but it does not. I think this flash hider is longer and also the locking groves at the base or not the same as the PST AAC flash hider. Shame. My threadings did not match between these flash hiders so I couldn't install my PST AAC on the MSK.

 

I like that you can switch the gas piston from supressed to unsupressed, just for looks. I thought it would just turn by itself at first and almost broke the thing trying to flip it with a wrench in the front hole. Then I found the little button you had to depress first

 

Selector switch is seriously stiff. No way in hell I can operate it one handed, let alone with my thumb or any other finger for that matter. I litteraly have to use both hands to move it. Hopefully it loosens up over time.

 

Same can be said for the stock folding button. Requires hulk strenght to push in to flip the stock. As much as I like a solid folding stock, this is almost too much. Again, suspect it would wear in over time.

 

My magazine release on the right hand side is kinda stiff and iffy as well, but that is true for other ambi mag releases like this as well. It works, but the left side feels much better than the right side.

 

Bolt lock and release work decently, but the internal design of it had me do a "da fuq?" reaction to it. That raised up thin cylinder bar that is the bolt lock mechanism just looks shady.

 

My bolt travel is sluggish when racking the handle. In both directions. If I rack and lock the bolt and then manually push the handle forward the bolt moves much better in battery, so I think it's a problem with the charging handle retention tab. Again I think it will wear in. I would have liked a little stiffer recoil spring but I think they went with this for a specific ROF.

 

Speaking of sluggish. Mine was pretty much lubricated with vaseline and operated like *suitcase* out of the box. Took it appart, cleaned and lubed it with R/C silicone oil and it feels much better now.

 

Trigger is mushy and "hollow" feeling, hard to explain, but not as crisp as a WE M4, even if that isn't great.

 

Lack of brass deflector makes me sad

 

Now, these things I guess is more about the ACR itself rather than the WE MSK. For a rifle that is advertised as the next century battle rifle and being ambi and modular, there are a few things that had me bothered.

 

First is the stock extension buttons. What the *fruitcage*, having to depress both sides to move the stock ? Not very smooth at all. Why not a single button on the bottom ? :0

 

No locking-nub feature for the stock when folded. Just a half-arsed spring having it hold on for dear life. I think if you run around or jump or whatever there is a risk of it coming loose.

 

Charging handle feels poorly placed. Might switch it over to the other side and do AK style charging technique, might work better for me. Training issue I guess, but when first operating it my left hand blocked the handle from going into battery. I also managed to cut myself on the top rail when trying to charge the handle due to it being a bit stiff and stuck, so my hand slipped and I cut one of my fingers.

 

Again, touching on the selector. I think the switch is too small. The little tab that you are suposed to flip it with is too short to give you enough torque, at least for me.

 

Included sights feel like pooh. Depressing a button to fold them down, what the.

 

Bottom rail of the handguard doesn't go all the way to the body due to some thingy in the way at the back, slightly annoying.

 

That's my initial impressions so far. Have not fired it yet, as is usually the case with my stuff

Collecting FTW!

[calbur20]

NonEx, you might want to put a Maple Leaf hop in there. Mine has the 70 degree one I think, and oh god, does it raep. Combined with a properly zeroed magnified optic (mine was an Acog) and some .36 bbs, it can consistently get headshots, near-ish, probably around 100 feet (I suck at judging distances) with the stock inner barrel. I swear, this thing is a laser.