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Volante-airsoft Merlin Blow Back Unit (BBU) review.


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This is my review and thoughts of the Merlin BBU that Volante airsoft released

http://www.volanteairsoft.com/?product=merlin-blow-back-unit

 

To be honest I’ve read a few things about that engine, I had steel and brass guns but I was reluctant on whether if I really needed it! Well now I know for sure how wrong was I!!

Well I received the engine in a nice small package saying on the outside with big letters

“VOLANTE-AIRSOFT  MERLIN BBU SERIES”. Well that was a first! The box itself made me think  “something wonderful and with attention to detail is in there”!!

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When I opened the box there were 2 plastic bags in there. One with the Merlin in and one with 5 dedicated to Merlin gas route seal gaskets for the mags.

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Taking out of the plastic the Merlin BBU the first thing I thought was how solid and heavy it felt !! The BBU itself it’s made out of steel, the  nozzle has zero play right or left, there’s nothing lose there, the return nozzle spring is in the BBU itself. So nothing falls if you flip up side down. Well that was a first for me!! That nozzle spring on the regular BBUs gave me some nerves on some builds!

The BBU itself is really really nice, personally I haven’t seen anything like it and for the first time I can see clearly who was the manufacturer of that thing!
'Mine is a v 1.8 Merlin and had a black plastic front cap but as Volante told me now it is replaced into stainless steel!

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A few numbers before I continue just to have an idea what I’m testing..
These are the weights of a few other BBU’s I had and a weight comparison of the steel and an exactly the same aluminum slide.

The BBU’s had the nozzle and return spring on.

Stock Marui Hi Capa BBU w/stock nozzle:  48.5 grams

Airsoft Surgeon BBU w/ AS nozzle:  28.3 gram

UAC BBU w/ aluminum UAC Nozzle: 26.7 grams

Merlin BBU: 49.1 grams

 

The Steel  IMM slide : 215.5 grams

ProG4 Alum IMM slide: 80.0 grams

 

Installation

Well this was the gun I wanted to test it… A Open class steel SV IMM..

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The installation was pretty strait forward, the only thing I did was to sand down the 2 side tabs of the BBU cause it was going in the slide really really tight! 5 mins with a file, I took it slow and it’s steel … Takes some more time to sand it down than aluminum.

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The other thing I did was to sand down the rear screw, the one that hold the BBu on the slide, the screw was about 1.5mm too long and was pushing the nozzle forward. This gave me sluggish recoil and action.

 

The other thing you really HAVE to replace is the magazine’s gas route seal gasket.  This is required cause the Merlin has about to 2mm forwarded gas inlet port.

 

I didn’t do anything else to the slide or the BBU, the slide moves back and forth freely, without catching on  something.

 

Next stage … Shooting!!

Well.. What can I say now! That thing transformed! Well I don’t have proper equipment to take a nice video but I used my cell phone camera to capture the second  gas fill of the mag!
That thing has massive recoil and really crisp and smooth action and still shakes my camera, that I hold with my other hand!! It’s really impressive! The sound is about the same but that thing  has now an increased recoil, I know not exactly you’re after a open class race pistol but I’m not going to take part to AIPSC race with that gun!

This is the short video I did

I reassure you I’ll take some more video’s !!


The Merlin BBU is something you don’t see everyday, it’s really cool looking piece that certainly improved a lot my steel gun. The recoil is massive and yet can empty the entire mag when rapid shooting.
I highly recommend this piece, sure it’s not for AIPSC but you will love the sound and feel it give you.  I will take this gun to a CQB skirmish later next month! I always wanted to skirmish a open class gun!! I think it will be fun!
I will update this thread with videos and other experiences along the way!

TheMerlin and the other BBU I own

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Wolf

 

 
 

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This is my review and thoughts of the Merlin BBU that Volante airsoft released http://www.volanteairsoft.com/?product=merlin-blow-back-unit   To be honest I’ve read a few things about that engine,

I recommend you to take out BBU and lub its side rails and front cap.   All Merlin BBU is shipped after lubrication and working test but as you mentions 'friction' of nozzle, it can be problem of lu

Good review, just bought one to see for my self. Been using aip bbu on all my builds found it to have a tighter air seal with guarder loading nozzles then any other brand of bbu in combination with an

Yes the gas routes are required cause the inlet port on the Merlin is towards the front 2 mm and the Marui gas routes will give you sluggish recoil.

 

I want to try it in an alum slide.. I'm sure it will go just as great. It will increase the recoil. But the temps are really really low here.

 

 

Wolf

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Good review, just bought one to see for my self. Been using aip bbu on all my builds found it to have a tighter air seal with guarder loading nozzles then any other brand of bbu in combination with any other loading nozzle. But Iv been thinking of using the merlin bbu with a nova kitted 1911. I think a light aluminium slide with all the weight to the rear should give great results.

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It's too damn cold to test it out.
Wait for a few more days!

I've never used the AIP but I have the UAC w alum nozzle and Airsoft Surgeon with the AS nozzle.
All are good but they are designed for IPSC races, this is designed for pleasure! This BBU increases the recoil and makes the gun more efficient, I don't think the FPS will drop, it consumes more gas per shot so I guess it shoots harder!

Wait a few days and for my 1911 test, will post the results soon.


Wolf

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Yea to be honest the only reason I use light weight bbu's in my builds is for aesthetic reasons, I like how they look when the slide is off. I also use 150% hammer springs and highflow valves so any thing that's going to improve gas efficiency is a help, with this set up I can only shoot 10 bbs before the gas in the marui 1911 mag runs out, but those 10 shots are epic!!

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Well firstly the V10 uses a shorter mag the mag capacity is 21rnd the pressure stays the same till about the 15th or 16th shot.
But again the slide is really heavy and the mags are short, I haven't tested the regular 1911 mags .. Well I sto it with long mags but didn't count the shots.

 

 

Wolf
 

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Wolfgeorge I'd be very tempted to try this BBU for my PGC Kimber Warrior set build, I'm optimising for a higher fps setup for solely skirmish use, can you please give some refence if this set increased the fps rating of the gun compared to the other BBU-s you are using? Please also share what kind of springs and valves do you use in this build of yours. :)

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