Airsoft Action - 10th Anniversary Edition

armoury
TOYKO MARUI AKM GBBR
flip the gas tube catch up and remove the gas tube…
and that’s it, just like the real thing!
The bolt itself is beautifully crafted, metal again
with the gas piston being a separate piece fixed in
place and made from a shiny piece of aluminium.
The whole thing is very well made and houses the
blowback unit that is the heart of the Marui gas
blowback system. The lower receiver houses the
trigger, hammer, safety and fire control components
as well as the hop unit, which is neatly housed in the
left hand side, a small wheel adjuster type, that can be
easily reached when the magazine is removed.
On the right hand side, the opposite side to the
hop unit, there is a useful catch that allows you
to “dry” fire the AKM without BBs loaded in the
magazine. You simply use one of your fingers in the
right hand side front of the magazine well and pull
the catch and down, you can then fire it as much as
you like without the gun stopping shooting because
you’ve run out of BBs. You can deactivate this feature
by pulling the catch back and pushing it back up; this
is a bit fiddly but it actually works very well.
DOWNRANGE
Right, onto my shooting impressions! Loading the
magazine is straightforward; first put gas in it just like
any other GBB and then you can use the loading tool
that is in the box to bomb up. It’s pretty small so you’ll
need to fill it three times, then insert the magazine
front first and rock it back to lock it in place. Safety
off, first click down is full auto, the second is semiauto
(which still taxes poor Jimmy!), then pull back
the bolt handle, release it and you’re ready to go! Put
the sights on target and pull the trigger you will get
a very satisfying sound and a sweet little push in your
shoulder from the recoil - and on full auto the recoil
and the fun just keeps on coming! The dedicated
magazine feeds smoothly and chrono’ing at 1.12
Joule/348fps on a .20g BB it’s got some of that old
TM magic - and shoots straight as a die!
The overall feel of the AKM is such that there’s
no wobble at all and all the fake woodwork is well
fitted and is strong enough to cope with long-term
gameplay; the only thing is that the plastic woodwork
is just TOO nice, it’s actually TOO smooth! It’s too nice
it really needs to be a bit rougher to make it just that
bit better but you can’t really fault TM for making
something TOO nice, now can you?
The AKM handles really, really well! The grip feels
good in the hand, although a bit small for me. The
recoil impulse is good and strong and I had three full
mags of BBs out of one fill of gas, which is great,
typical Marui efficiency. It’s the same gas system they
use in their “M4” series of GBBR that works so well,
so no surprises there! It’s a joy to shoot and the price
makes it very competitive as it retails at around the
UK£500 mark and the extra magazines will be around
UK£50. Do make sure you buys some extra mags
at the same time as the gun though, as these have
proved hard to get at the time of release (although no
doubt this will change in time).
When it comes to accessories, any standard 14mm
CCW suppressor or tracer unit would fit (although if
you fit one you’ll want undoubtedly want the correct
PBS-1!) and I’m sure soon someone will release a
full real wood kit that would make it an even more
beautiful piece of kit! Any AK sling will fit and will set
it off nicely too. When it comes to optics there’s no
mount fitted so you would have to get a side mount
post-purchase. This would need to be either riveted or
screwed in place just like the real thing, or you could
remove the rear sight and fit a small mount in the
recess, but other than that you’re pretty limited on the
sight front. However, as it’s an absolutely beautiful,
classic AKM, why would you want a modern optic
anyway?
This is most definitely a GBBR to love and cherish,
with all the looks, quality and performance we take
for granted from Tokyo Marui these days! I’ve bought
this particular one, so it’s all mine and, apart from
loaning it to Bill for some additional test firing and
photos, it’ll take pride of place on the wall at All Ages
Airsoft in Dover… Who knows, if you come and visit I
may even let you fire it yourself! AA
12
OCTOBER 2021