Tokyo Marui KSG Gas Shotgun: First Impressions

[aznriptide859]

After years of wanting Tokyo Marui's newest releases and then not having enough money to actually buy them, I finally put my money where my mouth is and preordered their new KSG gas shotgun. I honestly wasn't hyping this up as much as their previous releases, mainly due to it being another gas shotgun, and a low shot capacity due to their shells (plus a really weird reload system/area). However, I love the KSG's look, and I wanted something unique to use; plus, I haven't owned a TM shotgun in years, so it was time for me to get back into the shotty game.

I preordered from Echigoya Guns in Japan; total cost was around $460 or so (there was a slight premium for preordering, so costs should be down if you're buying after release), and got to me from Japan in 4 days.

 

 

Box as ordered. So nicely wrapped.

 

 

It's like Christmas in September.

 

 

The whole box. I'm amazed how well they wrapped the box. I will be definitely ordering way more from them in the future, rising shipping prices be damned.

 

 

Inside. Comes with the shotgun, one 30rnd white shell, gas tank, BB's, a barrel plug, and manual (under the lid). I also ordered a spare gas container, just in case.

 

 

Out of the box, first feeling that is the gun is lighter than I thought, but it is decently rear heavy (maybe 60 to 70% rear weight bias). Note this was even with no gas cartridge loaded.

 

 

I'm a sucker for bullpup designs, so I think this is one of the most attractive bullpup designs to date. Hnngh. The KelTec RFB is also up there with this gun. 

 

 

Trademarks (don't know if these are real). I wonder if Willy Wonka was from that part of Florida - it'd would explain an awful lot though. Other side has the default "Made in Japan/ASGK" trademark.

 

 

Ambidextrous control for safety button. This thing is VERY hard to press in and out. Safe mode is when it protrudes out the left.

 

 

Fire mode is when it protrudes out the right.

 

 

Trigger pull is mushy , almost like an M&P. There's a lever in front of the trigger guard that doesn't do anything.

 

 

Top rail for optics, comes with fold down sights with both a fold down and fold up sight aperture (similar to MP7 sights). The sight quality is bad; entire sight body is made of plastic, and only the mounts to the rails are metal. Also the tips for the folded down sight aperture were way too low, so my fat cheeks wouldn't let my eyes come down low enough. Folded up aperture is fine though, but I'll definitely be replacing these sights.

 

 

Folded up. Reminiscent of Troy BattleSights, but are not a complete clone of them.

 

 

Front barrel, 3 barrels visible inside. I remember reading the inner barrels were 340mm, but I wouldn't know for sure unless I took them out and measured them. Also, the whole front barrel tip and shell tube covers are a single piece of metal, so RS door breacher/spiked muzzle brakes probably won't fit

 

 

The grip. A good reason this front end is light is that the plastic is...well...plasticky. Not as bad as their older Glock frame plastic, but something about it feels off. Texture is nice, but honestly it feels a bit cheap.

 

 

Grip while pumped. Distance is short, but noise is satisfying (lots of moving parts, though I guess that's a bad thing for when things go bad).

 

 

Removing the barrel cover to get to the 3/6 shot adjuster. Didn't realize I had to push forward THEN lift back, so I was trying to just pinch it up and almost broke it :/

 

 

Button for selection. 6 shots forward, 3 shots back. It was set to 6 by default.

 

 

Ahh, the ejection port, where most of the "who made this decision" arguments comes from.

 

The shell selector switch (where on the RS you'd select which tube the shells are feeding) doesn't do anything, it just clicks and is for aesthetics only. The right tube feeds the actual shell for firing; the little latch below the tube releases the shell, and the empty shell will spring back and fall down.

The tube on the left holds extra shells. I say shells, because when I put in one shell, it FEELS like there is extra room/space to allow for multiple shells to be stored in that tube, kind of like through the front on the old TM Super 90 shotguns. I can't confirm this feature unless I get more shells though.

 

 

Gas cartridge. This thing is tiny (I'm tall, but my hands are small for someone of my stature).

 

Unfortunately, I was unable to test fire the gun, because the fill valve is so recessed that the thickened portion of my propane adapter won't fit into it. I will either have to get a new, thinner tipped adapter or find somewhere that sells a green gas can.

 

And yes, I want to test if this gun works on GG. It's the most available gas here in the states, and I never got HFC134a to work well on previous guns, so I would ideally like for this gun to work on GG/propane. Guess I can't find out until later

 

 

Rear compartment for gas cartridge, with buttpad removed. This is an open area that's continuous with the ejection port. The silver lever you would push up to release/eject the gas cartridge.

 

 

I found out later that there were two push pins on the trigger area. Turns out you can remove the trigger pack/lower.

 

 

Removed. Not sure what the point is, though you can see the trigger components in the back.

 

 

With my spare Eotech EXPS-3. Best looking optic for this gun IMO, although honestly the sight picture is a little too high.

 

I have more accessories coming for it, mainly a new set of MBUS2's and a Esstac 6 Shell Card that I will be putting on one side of the cheekrest. Magpul RVG should come in as well sometime soon.

 

Final thoughts:

Gun looks great, feels great, checks all my boxes for a sexy gun.

Plastic is slightly disappointing. Not as bad as past TM plastic, but not as great as glass polymer filled plastic.

Pump is satisfying, easy to operate.

Gun is mostly rear heavy, until you add optics or accessories to the front.

(Hopefully) shotgun mechanism is as reliable as it was in the M870 series

 

Overall, I'm decently satisfied with the KSG. So far it's not everything that I wanted, but it has enough to where I would love and use it very often. I'll report back once I can actually test fire it, but for now, I will use it to fuel my John Wick murder rampage fantasies.

Any questions/comments, feel free to ask and I'll respond as best I can.

Thanks for reading!

[renegadecow]

Understandable that the little lever forward the trigger does nothing as the one on the 870 only opened the shell door. And the gas tank looks already reinforced from the get go judging by those screws on the sides. For the plastic, I've said it before and I'll say it again: TM needs to start using glass filled polymers.

[NonEx]

Yeah my first reaction was how bad the plastic looks. I haven't seen a real one up close or anything but the texture of the plastic looks too pronounced somehow.

 

Is the pump grip not uncomfortable with the exposed rail on the bottom?

[Skarclaw]

Great write up, thanks.

 

I'd be interested to know whether the pump arms(?) are metal, and how long the inner barrels are. Appreciate that you might not want to strip it like that - not sure I would either! (me an airsoft guns is like that the skittles advert)

 

Cheers 

[renegadecow]

Put a stick down the barrel and show at what point it bottoms out against the inner barrels?

[Honzo]

I hope it holds up with the propane/green gas. I've had to resort to duster for my current one. A lot of the 870s I've owned eventually had a leak from the body or an expanded gas that after prolonged use. Breacher had a leak from the body that needed maintaining, not sure if it was entirely caused by propane use though, could be an overall maintenance issue. Hopefully this holds up. A TM gas shotgun on the higher pressured gas is just mean for CQB, it's so fun I love it.

[aznriptide859]

Understandable that the little lever forward the trigger does nothing as the one on the 870 only opened the shell door. And the gas tank looks already reinforced from the get go judging by those screws on the sides. For the plastic, I've said it before and I'll say it again: TM needs to start using glass filled polymers.

 

I actually got some green gas inside by using the duster adapter extension with my propane adapter. Looks like it's holding up so far.

 

Yeah my first reaction was how bad the plastic looks. I haven't seen a real one up close or anything but the texture of the plastic looks too pronounced somehow.

 

Is the pump grip not uncomfortable with the exposed rail on the bottom?

 

Not yet it hasn't lol. Actually helps with the grip, but a VFG is definitely on the order list.

 

Great write up, thanks.

 

I'd be interested to know whether the pump arms(?) are metal, and how long the inner barrels are. Appreciate that you might not want to strip it like that - not sure I would either! (me an airsoft guns is like that the skittles advert)

 

Cheers 

 

I will eventually take it apart, might be after whenever tightbores come out.

 

Put a stick down the barrel and show at what point it bottoms out against the inner barrels?

 

Don't think I have a stick long enough lol.

[renegadecow]

Use the supplied cleaning rod?

 

Edit:

Just to be clear, this is to determine just how much of the outer barrel isn't filled in by the inner barrels to give a rough idea how long the inner barrels are.

Edited September 23, 2016 by renegadecow

[aznriptide859]

Haven't checked if there was a cleaning rod or not lol, guess I will later.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Safeword]

Great stuff man, love the pictures. I believe the lever in front of the trigger are a action bar lock, on the RS it locks the pump automatically when pumped and unlocks after you pull the trigger and it can be pulled down manually to pump without having to pull the trigger, dont quote me on this doh, I only held the RS for a minute at Shotshow a couple years back 

 

 

Edit: Saw Redwolf posted a review of this now, you can fit two shells in the left tube 

Edited September 24, 2016 by Safeword

[Dimitri MdP]

Great review, thanks! Hope to see some fielding reports soon

Looks like Tokyo Marui is starting to lack behind even of Chinese cheap OEMs when it comes to plastics..  Don't get me wrong, they are one of the most innovative airsoft companies (perhaps the most innovative), but they should really consider upgrading their plastics.

[Skarclaw]

Why the short inner barrels? The full size m870 has the same length as the breacher right?

 

Is it a TM volume sweet spot thing?

Edited September 25, 2016 by Skarclaw

[mrsevenstars]

Its to keep the power low, the have a 1j limit there.

 

Ive noticed TM gas powered guns come low enough under on 134a even if its warm day.

[aznriptide859]

Much better with MBUS.

Also, the canister does hold propane without issue. However, it seems like when it's plugged in sometimes, the gas will leak out the front. Not sure how this works, and it also doesn't happen every time I do it.

[renegadecow]

Out the front as in out the muzzle?

[Gunmane]

I assume he means out the front of the canister around the port where it plugs in (assuming he is hearing it or some other indicator).

[bankz5152]

So its pretty decent? I think ill hold off until ehobby or wgc do a sale, im sure they will soon enough!

 

On my phone, my spelling will suck

[aznriptide859]

No, out of the front of the muzzle. There didn't seem to be a leak coming from the stock.

[renegadecow]

Yeah, that's good ol' Marui alright. The 870 is known to do that too, but only more noticeably with the Angry Gun AR stock adapter on. Problem them (as I assume what's also happening now) was that the main valve is actually reversed: it opens with the gas flow and the only thing keeping it shut is the spring. Put too much pressure, like anything more than 134a and it starts bleeding out. You'll want to check the 870 review page on details about the modifications I had to do to keep it vomiting propane which is actually pretty simple: you stretch and re-temper the spring so it increases pre-loaded tension. The hard part is actually getting to the damn valve/expansion chamber having to take down a fair number of parts and small springs that like to jump out.

[chas]

Please let us know about range when you get a chance to shoot it outside. Redwolf's video said it has no hop up?

[renegadecow]

Nishiyan's video review clearly negates that statement.

[Dimitri MdP]

Please let us know about range when you get a chance to shoot it outside. Redwolf's video said it has no hop up?

Redwolf review was wrong about that, and later they acknowledge it, apologised, and rectified the information in the comments and the description box.

 

The gun has non-adjustable hop ups, that seem to be pre-configured for .25s

[chas]

Nishiyan's video review clearly negates that statement.

 

 

Redwolf review was wrong about that, and later they acknowledge it, apologised, and rectified the information in the comments and the description box.

 

The gun has non-adjustable hop ups, that seem to be pre-configured for .25s

 

Ah, I was worried for a minute. Cheers!

[DeltaZero]

So its pretty decent? I think ill hold off until ehobby or wgc do a sale, im sure they will soon enough!

 

On my phone, my spelling will suck

 

Ironically eHobby are throwing a 10% sale right now.. unfortunately it excludes Tokyo Marui, unless you're an eHobby member then you only get 5%. 

Edited September 27, 2016 by DeltaZero

[bankz5152]

Typical! Haha

 

On my phone, my spelling will suck

Edited September 28, 2016 by bankz5152