Airsoft AEG KWA G36C Airsoft Rifle Review
By Allizard

Part I - History and KWA G36C Specification

HK G36C History

The Heckler und Koch G-36 assault rifle had been born as HK-50 project in early 1990s. The reason behind that project was that the Bundeswehr (the German army), after the cancellation of the G11 and G41 projects, was left with outdated G3 rifle and no modern rifle, compatible with the current NATO standards at hands. So, the famous company Heckler & Koch was set to develop a new assault rifle for the both German army and the export. The new rifle should have been a flexible, affordable and extremely reliable design. And a modern of cause. It seems that the HK succeeds in every respects with the G36. The new 5.56mm assault rifle had been adopted by the Bundeswehr in the 1995, and in the 1999 the Spain adopted its slightly different, export version, G36E as its standard infantry rifle. The G36 also found its way into the hands of various law enforcement agencies worldwide, including British police and some US police departments. So far I've heard very few complaints about this rifle, and a lot of good revives and opinions. In fact, the only complaints about G36 that I know are the overheating of the handguards during the sustained fire, and the loose of zero of built in scope on some G36KE rifles, used by US police. Otherwise it is a really fine rifle, accurate, reliable, simple in operations and maintenance, and available in a wide variety of versions - from the short-barreled Commando (some even said that it's a submachine gun) G36C and up to a standard G36 rifle and the MG36 squad automatic (light machine gun).

KWA G36C AEG Specification

Overall Length = 28.5in (20" with folded stock)
Barrel Length = 247mm
Magazine Capacity = 470 Rounds
Caliber = 6mm BB
Velocity = 380+ FPS
Weight = 3120g (with battery)
Battery = 11.1V 2000mAh

Standard Features

- An external magazine stud locking system allows magazines to interlock together (perfect for extra magazine capacity & quick re-loading)
- Skeletonized side-folding butt stock equipped with rubber recoil pad
- Under barrel and sides standard steel rails provided easy access to attach tactical accessories, tactical light, laser point, fore-end grip, etc.
- Adjustable Hop-Up system
- Functional Selective Fire and Safety Lever

KWA Advantages

- Fiber Reinforced Plastic Body for realistic look and feel
- 9 & 8 mm steel ball bearing bushing for ultra smooth operation
- Large Hand Guard accommodates large 8.4v 2000mAh battery
- Reinforced metal gearbox engineered for rigidity and reliability
- Hardened metal gear set for longevity
- 120 spring 380+ FPS
- 1000 RPM motor

Part II - First Impression

With the airsoft market flooded with G36C from various manufactures (Tokyo Marui, Classic Army, Stars, JG/Echo1, TSD/SRC) I wonder why KWA decided to add another G36C to the mix. However, ever since I saw KWA G36C up close and personal at USairsoft Expo back in June 8th 2007; I have been itching to get one for a hands on review.


Box packaging, I didn't receive a user manual. However, you can download the user manual here.
http://www.kwausa.com/downloads/KWA_KG36C_manual.pdf


Close up shot on the fore grip, those metal side rail looks pretty solid.


Close up on shot the mid section and folding stock. You can clearly see KWA marking on where the HK logo is suppose to be.








A closer look at the KWA markings, also notice the magazine is using a clear type mag so you can see the amount of BB's inside.


KWA Airsoft G36C AEG in the folded position.


Comparing the fore grip between a KWA G36C (Top) vs. JG G36C (Bottom)

As you can see, the JG's body finish seems to be a bit shinier than CA and KWA. In fact, the KWA body material is pretty close to CA. It matched up very well with a CA fore grip and the top Rail. And for the record, JG is ABS Plastic, KWA is Fiber Plastic, should be the same as CA.

The fire selector switch is ambidextrous, meaning you can selected it on the left or right side. Definitely a plus if you are a lefty. The switch feel solid flipping ups and downs and you can hear a clear audible 'Click' when you turn the dial.

The over all body is excellent quality. There is no body flex, no loose parts. The butt stock is comfortable against my shoulder. I would like to compare it with a TM G36C but I don't have access to one at the moment. However, since the KWA G36C body material is close to CA G36C; I think it's probably better than TM as the majority of the users agrees CA G36C have the best feel.

As for the large fore grip, this is something I have to get used to. I already tried installing a JG G36C fore grip and it fits perfectly so I can safely assume it will take CA G36K or G36 parts. ** More details and pictures are in Part VI.

Part III - KWA G36C Performance
FPS - using a Guarder Chronograph, I got an average 387 fps after the piston head is been warmed up. And the very last 6 shorts I got the following result.

386, 379, 387, 389, 388, 393 using Tsunami .20g BBs




And for those who's using .0.25g Airsoft BB, I used Airsoft Elite .25g and I got 365 fps on average.

* ROF - I used two methods to measure the Rate of Fire. First one is just counting the amount of bb's shooting to a BB's traps in 5 seconds full auto in 5 succession. Then I calculate the average BB's per second in each session and average them from all 5 times.

Second method is using Audacity on my Powerbook to record the the sound for 8 seconds and count the mount of "SPIKE" shown on the sound graph.

Using a 9.6v 1200mAh Mini battery (not fully charge). The result is 15.4 bb's per second using method 1. Using second method I got 15-16 SPIKE per second on the graph. That match up the result using the first method.

As KWA claim the motor is 1000rpm, I think getting 924 bb's per minute is close enough. Bare in mind this gun is pre-upgraded shooing at 380fps. The spring obviously have higher tension and will slow down the motor. Further more, I'm using a low mAh battery. The result will change if the battery is full charge and using a bigger mAh rating battery. As soon as I obtain a large 8.4v I'll do another ROF test.

Using a 8.4v 1500mAh Large battery and method 2, Audacity shows 13 SPIKE per second. I definitely would get a higher mAh or stick with a 9.6v to achieve better RoF.

Using a 7.4v 2200mAh Lipo battery, Fuse removal and mether 2, Audacity shows 17.5 SPIKE per second. This is the best record I have.

* Range & Accuracy - The inner barrel length is 247mm. I don't have a precision caliper so I e-mail KWA for more information. They said the barrel diameter is 6.05mm with a +/- .03mm allowable margin and the end products rarely deviates that much. That is very close to a tight bore measurement. And for the record, most AEG have 6.08mm stock inner barrel. To perform the test, I used a camera tripod to stabilize the gun, using Tsunami .20g BBs and shoot Six rounds from 20 feet, 30 feet, 40 feet and 50 feet.

- 20 feet, no optical assist, grouping is less than 2 inches.


- 30 feet, no optical assist, grouping is 3.5 inches.


- 40 feet, no optical assist, grouping is 3.5 inches.


- 50 feet, no optical assist, grouping is.... I can't hit anything!!! WTH?! I then remembered after 40 feet, the hop-up kicked in and it's over shooting the target. So I re-adjust hopup to almost zero and test it again. This time I'm using a optical assist.

- 50 feet, optical assisted, hop-up adjusted, grouping is 3.5 inches.


I was disappointed with the initial test. However, after the hop-up dial in correctly shooting at 50 feet and still get 3.5 inches grouping; I don't even think I can do the same with a TM P90(also a 247mm inner barre)l. However, I am still expecting more from a 6.05mm barrel. Maybe after the gun past the break in period I'll test it again.

Part IV - KWA G36C Airsoft AEG Internal
The KWA Airsoft G36C AEG has a modular design and taking it apart is a piece of cake. To get to the gearbox, you only need take the mag well off. Then unscrew two screws on either side of the body and a long screw behide the receiver when you folded the stock. Push the hopup unit forward and the lower receiver will just come out of the top receiver. Don't forget to disconnect the Tamiya connector.




Pushing up the lever in front of the trigger and you can push the body pin out. After that the entire gearbox with motor will come out as a single unit.





The gearbox are definitely re-enforced, steel gears, large bearing bushings, good quality bearing spring guide. The piston head is the weirdest thing in the gearbox. Looks like a aluminum piston head but without any vent holes. And with that note, the Cylinder head is Polymer. You really don't want a metal piston head hammering on the metal cylinder head anyway. Gears have plenty of grease, and it's shimming seems to be done correctly. I didn't feel any moving left and right when I spin the gear. I didn't notice anything I don't like except the odd metal piston head without vent holes. That's something I might change somewhere down the road. But the moment I want to keep everything stock and keep using the gun for the next six months and see if anything breaks.









The hopup unit is also very easy to take out and replace the inner barrel and hopup bucking. While I got it out, I replaced the stock inner barrel with a Deep Fire 363mm tight bore barrel. I'll do another range test soon. One thing about the hopup unit, seems like I cannot turn it off completely. I have it turned to the minimum setting but I still can see a little bump when I look through the inner barrel. I'm not sure if it's the design of the G36 hopup or only happen on this gun. The hopup bucking itself is a soft Tokyo Marui like rubber bucking.






Part V - Airsoft KWA G36C Upgrade
I have installed a Deep Fire Tight bore 363mm barrel. A Teflon mod to tighten the seal in the hopup and replace the stock cylinder with one that's matched the 363mm length (non ported). I tried keeping the existing stock cylinder but I'm only getting 300fps. The reason why is the barrel isn't getting a full compression because the inner barrel is now longer. Replace with a non-ported cylinder solved the problem.

As for the power, I removed the fuse and rewire it with Deans connector and now using Lipo 7.4v 2200mAh battery. The result is 17 - 18 BB's per sec. RoF improves quite a bit.





Part VI - Airsoft G36C External Accessories
As I had mention I had a CA G36K parts that's installed on my JG G36C. Those parts have no trouble installing on the KWA G36C. And if you look closer between the KWA body and CA foregrip and rail, the color and texture pretty well match together.











It will even work with Private Parts, M4 mag well converter. It feeds flawlessly as well. Picture shown a G&G 450rd hi-cap.








Part VII - KWA M4 AEG Conclusion

Summary
During these few weeks of ownership I really get to learn quite a bit of the design of the G36 airsoft gun and now I understand why it's so easy to work on them. KWA G36C version certainly got my thumbs of approval. It offers CA like external, coupled with a top notch reinforced gearbox mechbox. I've never thought of bearing bushing is so good looking until I looked at this gearbox. And the gun is shooting consistancely over 380-390 fps stock. Besides it's too hot for indoor CQB, it's perfect for outdoor skirmish.

On a final note, do not assume this is the same as the KSC G36C version. I am aware that KSC also have a G36C and in fact, the KSC version have the HK trade mark. However, this version is release exclusively for USA airsoft market only. I am not able to tell you what are the differences on the Taiwan version and KSC version, but rest assured this airsoft gun AEG is an awesome gun for any player.

Pros
* Solid construction
* CA (Classic Army) like external
* 380+ FPS without upgrades
* Large fore grip for bigger battery
* Comes with metal rails
* Lipo Battery friendly

Cons
* More expensive than regular AEG's, but worth every single penny
* A little too hot for CQB
* Accuracy is acceptable within 50 feet.