This review was first published in Airsoft International Volume 7 Issue 8

With a reputation like that of Real Sword we expect big things from all their products, so does this quirky rarity of a compact assault rifle carry the tradition forward?

You don’t see many Real Sword Type 97s on the skirmish field; in fact, you don’t see many real steel ones although contrary to popular belief, they are actually a Chinese-made gun designed solely for export. This replica promises to be as faithful and accurate to the original as possible though, so let’s see if it lives up to the hype, and let’s see how well it performs.

The Type 97 is commonly misidentified as the gun issued to the People’s Liberation Army, or the armed forces of the People’s Republic of China and being fair, it’s an easy mistake to make, the weapon issued to these troops is in fact the Type 95 which bears many resemblances with the Type 97 aside from a few key points. The Type 95 is manufactured in a joint venture between Norinco and Jianshe Corp. for military issue; it was developed as a replacement for the Type 81, a weapon itself developed by the Chinese for their armed forces, but one which borrowed much from the AK family of arms. Although it had some significant improvements over its forerunner, the Type 81 still used the same 7.62mm ammunition and could not shed the few ergonomic idiosyncrasies it carried over, in addition to this the Chinese were keen to develop their own weapon using their own intellectual property.

The Type 95 (or QBZ-95) was developed prior to 1995 and first seen outside of China in 1997, presumably as a publicity stunt and demonstration to the world as the United Kingdom handed sovereignty of Hong Kong over to China. The weapon departs significantly from the Type 81 in its construction and appearance primarily through its bullpup configuration and synthetic, polymer construction. Not evident from an over view is the round the weapon fires. Gone are the days of heavyweight 7.62mm ammunition and in is an intermediate, high velocity 5.8x42mm cartridge developed by the Chinese that allegedly performs better than the NATO and Russian equivalents. The Type 95 represents an entire weapon system developed by the Chinese almost from the ground up, in fact the one hangover from the AK-based system, and of particular note to us, is the magazine. The Type 95 retains a magazine design that is both shaped and fitted to the rifle in a similar style to the AK (and Type 81) in that its leading edge is offered up and the rest of the magazine is “rocked” into place.

The Type 97, the weapon of which the AEG we have here is a model derived from the Type 95 but built for export. Instead of the 5.8mm round, it is chambered for the more abundant 5.56mm NATO standard ammunition and instead of the AK style magazine, the weapon is fitted with an alternative receiver with a deep magazine well able to accept STANAG type M4 magazines. Whether Real Sword chose to manufacture a replica of precisely this model for the ultimate level of realism, after all it’s unlikely that you’d see a Type 95 in the hands of anyone other than a member of the Chinese authorities, much less overseas, or they did it purely for reasons of practicality remains a mystery. We are quietly confident in feeling the reason is the former though, since no expense or attention to detail has been spared elsewhere in the manufacture of this replica.

Ultimate realism

The concept of “realistic” in the context of airsoft guns is something that is bandied around quite a lot, although there are only a select few that are truly realistic, for reasons mostly based on cost and practicality, many manufacturers make compromises. The most well known of which is the width and size of your average M4 AEG pistol grip, it’s significantly fatter than a real steel model since it has to house a motor that doesn’t cost the earth, but is also powerful enough to make the gun turn over. This isn’t the case with Real Sword, and in the case of this AEG it’s built from the ground up to be as exact a replica as possible.

The entire gun’s back bone is formed by the beefy receiver and a steel barrel that thanks to the bullpup design is deceptively long, long enough to house a 485mm inner barrel. To put that into perspective, a full length M16 only has a 509mm inner barrel as standard and at only 760mm in total length the T97 is decidedly shorter than the M16 at around 1000mm. This adds up to a weapon that should be accurate and efficient with being cumbersome. The receiver itself is CNC machined from a hunk of what Real Sword call “Duralumin” which in layman’s terms is a nice heavy and importantly, hard metal. It’s hard anodised in a dull matte black and left without any kind of lacquer which would add undesirable shine to a tactical weapon. Real Sword claim that this is the same anti-corrosion finish as the real weapon, not that it is produced in the same factory as some reports online have claimed, either way, it’s an impeccably high standard of finish that looks realistic and very business-like.

The vast majority of the remainder of the gun is constructed from a high strength polymer material, which again is produced to the standard of the real steel weapon, according to Real Sword. It’s all a dulled, matte black finish again and if you’ve been put off of “plastic” guns in the past, taking hold of this one could well sway you, it’s incredibly solid feeling. This sturdiness is aided by the fact that the outer of the weapon is produced from very few parts; in fact, the entire user interface area (the pistol grip and forestock) is formed from one large piece meaning no creaks or other off-putting movement. The plastic pistol grip and trigger guard (which is of ample size to be easy to use with even thick gloves) are moulded as one piece, with an accessible storage area inside the grip. One concession to total realism though, is the fact that this space is used to house a custom type battery to power the AEG.

The sights are still metal though, the front being on top of the gas parts that are mounted to the barrel, which is all also made of steel and the rear being formed by a part of the receiver that braces the rear of the integral carry handle. The front sight is an enclosed post that is adjustable for elevation, and the rear is a revolving multiple aperture design, with three different sized peepholes and one open post, an unusual combination but true to the real weapon.

The gun terminates at either end with a steel birdcage type flash hider that screws on to the usual 14mm thread in a counter clockwise direction, and a rubberised butt plate for comfort. To field strip the weapon, it’s simply a matter of removing two pins with your bare hands and taking apart the exterior which is well explained in the accompanying literature. Even though the battery lies deep within the gun, it’s easy to get at thanks to the realistic take down.

The user controls however, are a little awkward, no fault from Real Sword though since they have only replicated the real weapon. The fire selector is inconveniently place in the firer’s armpit when aiming, so a concerted effort is required to switch from safe to one of the fire modes. The mag release is also in an awkward position behind the magazine well on the right hand side of the gun. Sure this is likely a compromise on the original designer’s behalf, since this is a modification of the Type 95 design, but it sure takes a little getting used to. Strangely, these quirks remind us a little of our very own L85, another ergonomically challenging bullpup!

Internals

As individual as the Type 97 looks on the outside, it all pales into insignificance when you take a peep under the hood. An entirely unique gearbox shell holds the steel gears which run on 7mm bearings ABOVE the piston and cylinder assembly. Also incorporated into the shell is the motor which sits above the cylinder pointing backwards along the length of the gun, it’s all very unusual and to be frank it would be hugely off-putting if the quality of the factory fitted components wasn’t so high. When disassembling AEGs you learn to get a feel for the quality of the factory build and nothing within this AEG made us think anything but stringent attention to detail has gone into this product. The reason for such a proprietary gearbox is to maintain the external realism to the furthest extent possible and it’s been designed cleverly and implemented well here.

Another major part of the internal portion of the gun is the hop unit, another unique design that is screwed firmly to the chassis of the gun, something that encourages consistency when firing by stabilising the inner barrel and keeping the seal between the air nozzle and hop unit tight from shot to shot. It’s adjusted using a wheel accessed through the ejection port of the gun and has a solid, slack-free feel, with a huge range of adjustment to allow you to squeeze maximum range out of your chosen ammo. It is possible to choke up the barrel with the hop on full, so take care when adjusting to avoid damage to the hop rubbers or gearbox.

Performance

Satisfied with our analysis of the gun as a whole, it was time to put it to the test on the chrono to find out how all these parts worked together. Given this gun’s origins, it’s no surprise that the velocity it was spitting out BBs was a little lacklustre compared to some. Over ten shots it ranged between 296 and 307fps on a .2 BB but thanks to the quick change spring design, high quality internals and readily accessible gearbox it’s quite literally a 5 minute job to throw a stronger spring into the gun. The included magazine also fed flawlessly at 682 rounds per minute when using a 7.4v Lipo and Excel .2g BBs, although we did encounter a couple of jams with G&G branded BBs.

Summary

Whilst the Real Sword Type 97 isn’t exactly a “go to” choice in terms of what it replicates it’s a very, very high quality AEG. It’s not going to appeal to many airsofters, perhaps taking influence from what can be seen in the media, the news and in movies, and since it’s not technically a military gun (remember, that’s the Type 95) it might not suit the die-hard re-enactor type.

Aside from it being a replica of a somewhat obscure gun, which when we gather some perspective on the matter, is the only real downside, the Real Sword Type 97 is a beautifully made piece of kit. Real Sword haven’t got sidetracked by adding bells and whistles, they simply made one of the best AEGs I’ve handled, in terms of build quality, design and faithfulness as a replica, it’s copied 1:1, warts and all.

Vital Stats

FPS average: 301.2fps on .2g BB – Moderate but sensible!

ROF average: 682rpm or 11.3rps on 7.4v – Going Steady!

Overall Length: 760mm – Positively stumpy!

Weight: 3.5kg – A solid heft!

Extras: 1x mid-cap magazine, multi-piece cleaning rod, dummy oil can – Just the basics.

Colours: Black

Price: Around £410 from Landwarrior Airsoft

At a Glance…

Scores

External Parts = 5

Internal Parts = 5

Performance  = 3

Field Testing = 3

Good Stuff – Beautifully made, accurate replica, easy to work on gearbox, very unique.

Not-so-good Stuff – Awkward ergonomics, restricted battery space, may be hard to find spares.

This review was first published in Airsoft International Volume 7 Issue 9

Here’s one that’s sure to be a divider of the masses. AK purists will be chundering into their ushankas and the Magpul fan-boys could finally be ditching their M4s. Perhaps it’s the beginning of the end, after all its 2012, or perhaps it’s just another AEG on the market. Whatever happens it’s going to cause a bit of a stir, something tells me Beta Project knew this though. After all, what did they think would happen when they painted a Magpul stocked AK in tan and put a rail on it?

To some, it’s desecration but to others it’s a necessity. Ever since Call of Duty: Modern Warfare came along and rammed an M4 stocked AK into your eyes, more and more users have been “tactical-ing” their AKs. These users have a fair point though, as pure and simplistic as an unadulterated AK is, it’s still a design that’s about as old as your oldest relative. Those dodgy palette wood handguards and stocks might be regarded as a work of art in their context, but they are nigh on useless if you ever want to attach a weapon light or foregrip.

The idea of a “tactical” AK weapon complete with rails is not a new one. Ever since its arch nemesis, the AR family of weapons sprouted rails, attempts have been made to follow suit with varying degrees of success. Replacement polymer furniture with rails, bolt-on scope mounts and all manner of other just less than 100% coherent solutions have been used and those that have employed them have done so with varying degrees of success. Aside from risking exile from any group of hardcore AK users, these brave pariahs have had to make do with custom fitting all manner of aftermarket components just to get their rail fix. Is this all going to end with the advent of the Beta Project Tactical AK?

What in the world is it?

Everyone knows that according to the current laws of airsoft, anything bearing the badge of “tactical” must fulfil certain criteria. It must have rails itself or be rail mountable, it must be compatible with or be in some way “Magpul’d” and it must be available in some form of tan/flat dark earth/putrid beige. So does this AK qualify? In short, yes. It has rails, lots of them, the whole front half of the gun is one whacking great 4 sided rail system. Is it Magpul’d? Check… Out back we have a genuine Magpul PTS CTR stock sliding on an M4 style buffer tube and yes, it’s only available in tan. It’s tacticalisation doesn’t end their though, it goes above and beyond by employing not one, but two charging handles, an aftermarket style M249 type pistol grip and even a Beta Project semi-transparent, polymer AK magazine. It’s reasonably departed from the standard AK-104 style weapon it’s based on.

Externals

The first thing that strikes you about the Beta Project Tactical AK, when taking it into the hand is the considerable heft it has. From the all metal barrel, RIS and body, down to the burly metal buffer tube assembly that the sliding stock runs on, it’s got some weight. The centrepiece of the gun, a stamped style AK receiver is powder-coated in a tan tone, with a front sight post and an AK47 style top cover finished to match. The receiver itself appears to be slightly different to  the VFC/LCT or Marui type of AK AEG body in that a sliding polymer block (located inside the mag well) stabilises fore end of the gun in the receiver, this is opposed to the Tokyo Marui design with 4 screws and the VFC/LCT type with 2 screws, and only really pertinent if a RIS scope mount is required to be mounted, not something that this gun particularly needs given the substantial RIS front. It is of interest though, because it simplifies assembly and disassembly.

The receiver differs elsewhere too, notably right at the back. Instead of the usual solid stock mounting points on most standard type AKs, a cylindrical buffer tube mount is in place. Into this is threaded a metal buffer tube that is held fixed in place by a hardened steel lock-ring which will be familiar to most M4 users. Theoretically, you could fit and AR pattern stock to the back end of this gun, but Beta Project have saved the majority of users a little hassle and put a genuine Magpul PTS CTR stock in place. As common with Magpul PTS parts, it’s a high quality piece of polymer furniture and its locking adjustment system functions just as well here as it does in any other application. It does wobble a minute amount of the buffer tube, but to be honest, I’ve not encountered many weapons short of a Systema PTW that this DOESN’T occur with. The essential thing here is that the buffer tube is absolutely rock solid and allows 4 points of adjustment.

The aforementioned M249 style pistol grip is another polymer part and for me feels like a massive improvement over the traditional AK style grip which is sometimes a little small and short. The one we have here is nice and chunky, giving a positive, secure feeling grip, particularly good given the weight of the gun as a whole. The gun does retain the basic AK trigger guard/mag catch combo which could be criticised for not being “tactical” enough, but it does the job nicely here. Perhaps it could be on the hitlist for a user upgrade should you decide to pick one of these up?

The fitted fire selector is also standard AK fare, and in my eyes one of the more awkward feeling parts of an AK, but I guess it’s the quirks that make the gun, huh? It is possible to pick up some aftermarket parts to trick this area up, so perhaps another think on the list for uber-tactical owners? Something else that IS spruced up is the ambidextrous charging handle set-up, it’s not massively important or effective on this AEG, since the only time you ever need to touch it is when you are adjusting the hop (more on this in a while), but the gun doesn’t have just one switchable handle, but two fixed ones! To achieve this, a modified top cover and mock bolt is fitted with an additional charging handle protruding from the left side as well as the right, the handles themselves are styled just like the ones fitted to the Magpul PTS ACR and protrude much further than the original AK ones. Looking from the top down the gun looks a little like it has wings or perhaps ears! I’m sure this will earn it some skirmish-field nicknames as time goes on. One thing it certainly does do though is make the whole thing a damn sight harder to store and transport thanks to the additional width… A minor niggle.

So, on to the bit you’ve all been waiting for, perhaps the biggest single “tactical” enhancement on the whole AEG, the front end and RIS unit. Since the weapon is based on an AK104 platform, its CQB length barrel terminates in a combination front sight post and mock gas block onto which the conical steel flash hider threads. It threads on in a clockwise manner and to enhance the tactical appearance of the gun, and perhaps reduce the length marginally I’d be tempted to fit an AR birdcage type affair. Then there’s the RIS. It runs the entire length of the barrel and gas tube with the lower half clamping to the barrel via an allen bolt system, the upper rail clamps to the mock gas tube via a similar clamping system. This results in a surprising amount of rail space and possibly the most solid feeling system we’ve felt fitted to an AK. The rail components themselves are of the crisply cut, anodised black aluminium variety and are perhaps let down only by the “Made in Hong Kong” marking, indiscreetly emblazoned in white down one side.

This Beta Project AK comes with a Beta Project AK magazine. It might look like the same mag that comes with the recently released Magpul PTS Masada AKM, but it isn’t. The AKM uses its own proprietary mag. This one is the same fitting style as most other AK AEGs.

Internals & Performance

Taking the cover off of this AK, we can see a black finished gearbox shell housing reasonable quality metal gears and other generic V3 parts are abound including a set of metal 7mm bushings, and essentially it all seems to work well together. It’s not groundbreaking but it gets the job done. Interestingly, the motor cage bears a small marking that reads “CM028” which leads us to believe the ‘box may have been sourced wholesale from CYMA. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though, CYMA branded AKs have a great reputation with some users who are certainly not shy about telling their story online and first hand, we’ve seen them function well with just a spring change to bring them under site limits. This theory was bolstered when firing through the chrono. Over 10 shots the gun recorded a variety of readings ranging from 342fps all the way up to 355fps on an Excel .2g BB, a little too hot for many UK sites.

Ahead of the gearbox, inside the gun is the hop unit, in this instance it’s a cast metal number just like you would expect to see in any other AK AEG. It’s easily adjusted using the slider that is conveniently marked with number to allow you to gauge just how much backspin you will be applying. It’s a little stiff to get moved, but that’s a good thing, as the lateral movement in this design does mean it has a tendency to creep if loose, especially with the vibrations caused in use. One of the hidden benefits of the ambidextrous charging handle is that it’s much easier to hold the mock bolt open to access the adjuster compared to the normal bolt handle, especially since AKs lack any kind of bolt catch.

Summary

There’s no denying that this AK is going to have as many haters as it has lovers, it’s a brave release from Beta Project but I think it’ll certainly get some looks and cause some conversation on the skirmish field in 2012. Sure, it’s not massively ground-breaking internally, and externally it is just a modern pattern AK with a rail and AR stock bolted on. It isn’t that far removed from what could previously be achieved with a careful selection of aftermarket parts and the right AEG to begin with, but it saves a lot of work for the prospective tactical AK owner. The fact the internals of the gun are readily and simply available V3 parts mean that upgrades and repairs should be easily sourced with minimum fuss. No more do AK owners have to make the choice between the modularity and practicality of a modern weapon system and the kudos of, well owning an AK! It’s all here in one solid package that shoots great straight out of the box, although maybe a little hot for some.

Vital Stats

FPS average: 355fps on .2g BB – Too hot for some sites!

ROF average: 655rpm on 8.4v – Going Steady!

Overall Length: 815mm – 895mm – CQB Friendly!

Weight: 3.5kg – A solid heft!

Extras: 1x mid-cap magazine, cleaning rod, instruction sheet – Just basics.

Colours: Tan

Price: Around £370 from Fire Support

At a Glance…

Scores

External Parts = 4

Internal Parts = 3

Performance  = 3

Field Testing = 4

Good Stuff – Rails on an AK! Solid build, unique looks.

Not-so-good Stuff – Rails on an AK! Heavy weight, too powerful out of the box.

The following Review was first published in Airsoft International Volume 7 Issue 7.
It might look like the results of H.R. Geiger and the guys at Magpul getting together to design an M4 variant, but the G&G GR4 G26 has a host of interesting features that could make it an ideal choice for a new airsofter looking for something to last them a little while. Weighing in at less than £220, it also represents a great choice for the budget conscious.

First things first, let’s take a look at the outside of the gun, which, since the whole things runs on an M4/V2 style gearbox are going to be the most likely to set it apart. Being part of the “intermediate” or “Combat Machine” range, the GR4 G26 comes with a Nylon Fibre receiver, but don’t let that put you off at this early stage, it’s actually very well made, with sharp, defined edges and barely a mold-line or seam in sight. The upper and lower portions of the receiver mate together perfectly too, with no gaps, creaks or wobbles. The receiver itself is probably the most understated portion of the entire gun, it’s a simple “armalite” style receiver bearing a white G&G “crest” logo, printed on the mag-well, the upper is equally familiar, being a flat top, RIS offering.

The controls fitted to the receiver are made from a combination of steel and what we expect is the commonly used aluminium alloy mazac. The body pins hold in firmly, the bolt cover is sprung, with a catch allowing you to store it in the closed position and the mag release is positive. The feel of the fire selector itself is exceptionally good, solidly and definitely locking into Safe, Semi and Auto positions smoothly and without any slop giving the gun a feeling of quality far outside its price bracket. The trigger guard is also a custom-style design not dissimilar to the Magpul or perhaps Knight’s Armament products, it’s far more comfortable than the flat, angled mil-spec style one and has a slight “loop” shape to give more room inside the trigger area, all good stuff.

Also attached to the receiver and a slight break from the usual AR fare is the pistol grip, instead of the commonly seen mil-spec grip this one is strikingly close to the HK416 type. It’s made from a comfortable textured, Nylon fibre material and combined with the enhanced trigger guard, offers a great interface area for the user, again belying the price of the gun.

Working from the receiver down towards the business end of the gun, we get to the handguard which is held on using a proprietary delta ring design. The ring isn’t actually sprung like with most designs, instead, part of the false gas block further down the barrel serves to hold the lower half of the guard, the top then slots into place. The design is similar in shape to the Magpul MOE guard, a rounded, vaguely triangular shape that’s actually rather comfortable to take hold of, and despite the unusual locking mechanism, pretty solid.

Along with slots along the sides and bottom, the guard has an integrated rail and backup sight built in to the top, and interestingly, a flip out LED torch powered by a single CR123 battery within the lower half. It’s not particularly bright or easy to use, but it does carry a certain cool factor! Not only this but the front portion of the barrel is removable via a grub screw, and a second one, included in the box, incorporates a laser sight with batteries housed inside the top portion of the handguard. Of course, all these batteries and extras do take up a lot of space, which would otherwise been used to store the main battery since the gun is front wired, but fortunately, G&G supply an extra front-set if you don’t want to use the torch, lazer or both. Of course, you can still fit a battery in the space left, but you’ll be restricted to the one supplied, an 8-cell split-pack, 9.6v, 1500mAh, NiMh with a mini-Tamiya connector. Spares or replacement batteries are available in a similar configuration, but they will be tougher to come by than “standard” configurations of cells, for that reason, it might be prudent to opt for a simple 7.4v LiPo to power the gun, should you need to replace the original.

As we mentioned, the outer barrel of the gun is segmented, fixing together by means of grub screws but it’s also made from turned metal adding much needed weight and rigidity to the AEG. At full length, the outer barrel is long enough to accept a 233mm inner barrel, and it terminates in an aggressively pronged and oversized flash hider, not dissimilar to the PWS DNTC designs. It is VERY aggressive and although it’s a plastic material is still quite sharp, so anyone that playing at very close quarters may want to switch it out for any other anti-clockwise flash hider to avoid any kind of poking injuries to fellow players!

Back out at the rear of the gun, G&G look to have taken a little more influence from the Magpul line of aftermarket weapon accessories. Mounted on a finely machined metal buffer tube is the multi position, locking and sliding stock. It has a shape and design largely similar to the MOE or CTR stocks available, with a very similar locking mechanism to the CTR. There are a few important differences though. Firstly, the top of the stock where you rest your cheek features an over-moulded, rubberised pattern that’s both grippy and slightly squashy, adding a little comfort and luxury. There’s also the storage compartment built into the lower brace of the stocks skeletal design. Simply pushing a button allows you to swing out the bottom portion, revealing a void space perfect for storing CR123 batteries… Just the ticket for powering that torch/laser combo up in the hand grip!

Between the rather nice machined stock tube and sliding stock assembly to the receiver sits a useful and durable feeling single point sling plate, perfect for hooking up any kind of sling. In its factory position, the plate allows the user to hook up the sling to the left hand side of the weapon, best suited to a right handed shooter, although it doesn’t look too difficult to simply flip the plate over for a left-handed user. Finally, to finish up the outer of this AEG, a compact flip up rear sight is perched atop the receiver to compliment the front sight built into the handguard, a useable and unobtrusive set-up right out of the box, especially when you consider the laser aiming device built into the front end.

Internals

Since this G&G gun uses a tried, tested and proven design, the V2 gearbox with large 8mm oil less bushings, we think it’s wise that they’ve not tried to reinvent the wheel. V2 boxes are not without their faults, which only really show up after extended use, or when you a really trying to push them hard, but this simple, reliable ‘box should be firstly, solid and dependable to use in its standard guise, and secondly, easily fixed without spending large amounts of cash should anything go wrong.

With all that said, it should be noted that the gearbox shell at the heart of this AEG isn’t actually totally standard, it comes with a few little extras in the shape of G&G’s new “pneumatic blowback system” which is actually rather exciting. Previous electric blow back designs as in, guns that had bolts or mock bolts that moved when you fired, relied on rudimentary and inefficient piston “hook” designs to pull back the bolt when the gearbox was working. G&G have done away with this basic design, since it’s known and proven to reduce the working life and performance of the ‘box, and have come up with a far more advanced design that uses a secondary air cylinder to mimic the bolt movement of a real gun, without adding undue wear and tear, great news!

Another not-entirely-standard feature of this gun is the functional forward assist, positioned on the right hand side of the receiver. Although in an AEG, the forward assist works in an almost opposite fashion to the real steel, allowing the spring to return to its most relaxed state by disengaging the anti-reversal latch, it’s still just as useful and adds peace-of-mind for the user.

Aside from the gearbox, the other vital part of the AEG is the hop unit. G&G have opted for an all plastic, one-piece design in this gun, which is no bad thing, considering it’s well molded and achieves a good airseal with the surrounding components. The hop is adjusted via a wheel that turns a set of cogs to apply pressure via an arm to the hop nub, nothing groundbreaking there, just proven, solid designs manufactured and assembled to a high standard. In use we did find the hop perhaps a little too effective though, with such a large range of adjustment available, it was actually possible to jam the barrel, so caution should be exercised when dialling on the hop!

Unfortunately no information was provided with the gun about the bore diameter of the standard inner barrel, but upon inspection it appears consistently machined and free from burs or debris so should provide reasonable performance provided you use it with good quality BBs.

Accessories & Extras

It’s fair to say this gun comes packaged with an almost unprecedented amount of extras in the box, which can sometimes raise a few eyebrows with doubts about the quality of what you do get, but that’s not the case here. G&G generously package a quality battery, a bag of 2000 BBs, a 300 round high capacity magazine, a spare front handguard set, a battery charger, a set of stick-on decals, some G&G playing cards and even a Velcro G&G patch! The only item that perhaps wasn’t up to scratch was the basic charger, since we’d always advise using a high quality aftermarket model to get the best from your batteries, but other than that everything was of top notch quality.

Of course, the most essential extra, aside from the battery, is the 300 round high capacity magazine. Featuring an overmolded grip design, in fitting with the other parts of this gun, the mag is comfortable to use both in reloading and also to use as a grip, but it is pretty bulky and impossible to use in mil-spec mag pouches. That’s no big issue though, since any other brand of M4 type mags fit just fine in the receiver. In use, the included mag fit and fed perfectly though, so it’s fair to say it’s perfectly useable.

Another extra that isn’t always included, but should be, is a well printed, well translated and well illustrated instruction sheet. Covering everything from battery installation to hop adjustment, the A3 full colour sheet helps even the freshest newcomer get up to speed on their new purchase, and goes a long way to preventing disappointment and damage through misuse or misunderstanding, bravo G&G, a huge plus.

Summary

Its looks aside, the G&G GR4 G26 DST Blow-Back is undoubtedly a cracking gun straight out of the box,  perhaps not for the seasoned player or avid collector, but for a newcomer to the sport or youngster looking to make their first purchase, it’s perfect, and won’t leave you falling short on the field.

High quality manufacture, great performance and all importantly, well implemented added features all add up to make an exciting finished article. It’s not a huge thing for those well used to getting new guns, but G&G have gone to the lengths to package this AEG beautifully, with a full colour box and the aforementioned added extras, making it an ideal option as a gift package. There are even enough BBs in there to get through your first skirmish!

If you think you are going to want to upgrade your gun much, especially externally, we have to be honest; there are probably better guns out there, within G&G’s extensive range and beyond. As a reliable, exciting gun straight out of the box, we can’t fault it, even though the cynic in us initially wrote it off as a gimmicky plaything. All told, the G&G  GR4 G26 Blowback is a solid choice,  especially because of the package it comes with, provided you can handle its unique looks!

Vital Stats

FPS average: 331.9fps on .2g BB – Skirmish Friendly!

ROF average: 850rpm – Solid performer!

Overall Length: 700mm – CQB Approved!

Weight: 2.4kg – Nice ‘n’ Light!

Extras: Battery, Charger, Electric Blow-Back, Functional Forward Assist, Integrated Light & Laser, Spare foregrip, BBs, Velcro Patch, Playing Cards, Stickers – Feature Packed!

Colours: Black, Tan or Two-Tone

Price: Approx £220

At a Glance…

Scores

External Parts = 3

Internal Parts = 4

Performance  = 4

Field Testing = 4

Good Stuff – Usable straight out of the box. Plenty of fun features. Lightweight and easy to carry.
Not-so-good Stuff – “Marmite” looks. Difficult/Expensive to upgrade.