|
|
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Stock Specifications |
| Features |
-Systema Evolutionary
Design
-Authentic Scale
-Variable Hop-up
Adjustment
-Real Bolt Stop Action
-Metal
Body Standard
-One Piece Barrel design
-Excellent Rigidity |
| RRP |
1,200USD |
Owner's
Manual and Technical Diagrams
|
Introduction Have Systema made airsoft history? Only time will tell. However, one thing is certain: their recently released masterpiece will meet any of your expectation with room to spare. In my opinion, this rifle (with no reservation whatsoever) is the best-ever-made electric airsoft gun known to men. Its top notch construction quality, realism, and reliability far suppresses any other mass-production AEG out on the market, easily justifying it as the new king of all AEGs.
Background My relationship with the Systema AEG started at the 2003 Annual IACP Conference, where I first met Ms. Kumi Yoshida, CEO of Systema. My first hands-on experience with their prototype was excellent, leaving me with good impression on the quality and unique design.
Casual conversation
also reveled that Systema intends to market this
AEG as law enforcement and military training
tools, echoing with Pikachoad's 2003 Shot Show
report. However when asked about the
civilian market, it seemed to me that they were
not adverse to the idea of selling it to the
general airsoft skirmish community either.
Since then I've been keeping in touch with Systema
for their development progress, as well as
possible opportunity of importing it to the United
States.
Fast forward to 2004... after
numerous communications with Systema, on February 5th the long-awaited
Systema "PTW" (Professional Training Weapon) finally arrived at my office.
Communication from Ms. Yoshida indicated that this is a "pre-production
sample", however it is "complete" and will be pretty much identical
to their final production version.
In addition, she also
requested me to withhold any information until the
official release date (hence the delay on
releasing this review). Nonetheless, in my
best knowledge this is the only Systema PTW in the
United State as of this writing. However I
would expect US distributors to be getting their
shipments anytime now, probably right after
Systema fulfilled their commitments towards their
Japanese and far-east distribution network.
Construction and Build
Quality
The first thing you will
notice about the Systema PTW is its excellent
build quality. The moment I picked it out of
the box, I can already feel its body's rigidity
being so much better then Tokyo Marui or even ICS
M4s (the later comes standard with metal body as
well). Every piece of the gun fits together
so perfectly that they practically demonstrated
Systema's high level of commitment in quality
control.
In addition, Systema
seems to target many of the TM M16's weaknesses and specifically addressed
them with their PTW. The most obvious improvement has to be the
metal body: made of die-case aluminum, this is probably one of the best
metal body yet. Due to the new gearbox design (more on that later),
Systema was able to reduce the overall thickness of the body while still
maintaining a thick and study outer wall on the receiver.
Although I am not sure
why Systema used aluminum instead of steel as
material of choice, my guess is that they wanted
to keep the weight as close to the real-steel M16
as possible. It may come to a surprise for
you, but most of the terminally upgraded TM M16/M4
with metal body and upgraded gears weight MORE
then their real steel counterpart. For
example, my TM M4A1 (with battery but no magazine)
tips the scale at almost 8 lbs, whereas a real
steel U.S. Military M4A1 weights merely 5.9lb
unloaded. In comparison, the Systema M16-A3
weights about 7.5 lbs, the exact weight of the
real-steel M16-A3/A4. If steel is used for
construction they would've exceeded the weapon's
weight by a long shot.
The second noticeable
improvement is the one-piece metal barrel, likely designed to rid the
infamous "barrel wobble" problem so common on TM M16s - for good.
Most TM M4 owners will install a reinforced metal outer barrel soon
after their metal body upgrade (myself included), and in this case Systema
had done both for you already, straight out of the factory floor.
Although I am still hesitate to proclaim that Systems's solution "works"
(at least not until there is enough users field-test the PTW), it nonetheless
is a welcome improvement and seems worthy for the trial.
Finally, the plastic parts used in
the PTW is also of better quality then other AEG
parts. All plastic components in the Systema
PTW are fiber-reinforced, meaning they will take a
lot more abuse then traditional TM parts. No
more cracked stocks or lose/flexing front hand
guards! Kudo to Systema on making every
piece of the gun substantially more durable then
the competitions.
All in all, don't take
my words for it and try to hunt one down and see
it for yourself. I am sure you will be
pleased with its quality just as I do. Last
but not least, once I field-test the sample (its
still cold in Ohio...) I will update with more
information as to how it stands up to everyday use
and abuse.
Realism Ok
finally we are getting to the guts of the review. For all these
time you've probably heard enough rumors of it, and you've probably
asked yourself many times already: What does it gives me that
I CANNOT get from upgrading an TM M16? Well, good question and
I once asked myself the same over and over again. And when I found
my answer, it was quite obvious: realism.
Realism is easier
said then done, and its even more difficult to
define. As real as the current generation
AEGs get, they've always left something to be
desired. Granted airsoft can never be "real"
(after all it wasn't designed to kill), but we
embrace their similarities in physical properties
and operation. To nobody's surprise, the
Systema PTW gives you more in both aspects then TM
had ever offered.
On the physical property
side, beyond the weight similarity with its real-steel counterpart,
it is most noticeable that Systema has produced a rifle that is much
closer (if not identical) in dimension and design as compared to the
real steel, even down to the retention mechanism of the receiver pin.
Case in point, TM (and hence ICS or CA) M16s are notoriously "fat" -
that in order to accommodate the gearbox/motor they have to use a wider-then-real
receiver and pistol grip on their AEGs.
In comparison, the
Systema PTW's width is of much closer resemblance
of the real M16. You can clearly see how
much wider an TM M16 is from this picture.
It may not sounds like a big deal to you, or you
may even prefer the wider pistol grip of the TM
variant; however when your life could be on the
line and you are practicing to ensure your very
own (and others) existence, every detail
counts. Exact handling characteristic is
critical to law enforcement and military
trainings, as enough comments had been made
regarding TM M16s "felt different" then the
officer's actual duty weapon.
Back to
physical properties, there is another piece of
dimension that is worth mentioning: the
magazine. In case you haven't noticed yet,
all TM magazines are shorter then their real-steel
counterparts. However, the Systema magazine
is almost exact in dimension with real-steel
mags. The picture on top of this page is a
perfect illustration: On the bottom lays a
loaded 30-round real-steel M16 mag, then comes
Systema's version on the middle, and finally my
battle-proven TM hi-cap stacked on top. If
you ever got annoyed by TM mags being "lose" on
your black hawk vest, this is your answer.
Again you may not think its a big deal, but for
professional training it is critical that
everything handles and feels the same, and the
magazine is no exception.
Finally, it is also
worth mentioning that all accessory mounting points are identical to
real-steel M16: True mil-spec flat top receiver and full interchangeability
with real-steel hand-guards. That means any real-steel rail-based
accessories like the ACOG or cantilever mount for AimPoints will fit
right-on, as well as all the KAC hand guards such as the RAS-II and
RAS floating barrel conversions kits. That's just excellent news
for all the hardcore airsoft enthusiasts!
Operations
Well, enough about physical
similarities? Here comes the part that I
personally think was the biggest improvement on
the PTW: operation. To kick it off, this is
the first AEG that stops firing after last round
leaves the barrel, and the only AEG that always
cycle the gearbox when you pull the trigger.
Impressed? I
was. In detail, each Systema magazine has a follower that triggers
a switch in the body to cut off power to the gearbox whenever the magazine
is empty. Because of the follower design, it doesn't matter if
you load 5 rounds or 50 rounds into the magazine (which is rated at
120rd by the way), the gun WILL stop firing after you clear the mag.
This is of particular
importance on training because you cannot expect
the trainee to use the dry-fire "sonic signature"
as an indication to change his/her magazine,
particularly for professional training facilities
where a police department might schedule to come
in only a few times a year. In addition,
instructors can choose to pre-load only 30 rounds
of BBs into each magazine to simulate the actual
weapon's capacity, and together with realistic
rate of fire it even mimics how fast one might run
out of rounds and needed to reload in a stressed
environment. Beyond that, once you've
inserted a fresh magazine you will also have to
hit the bolt-release button, which resets the
circuitry, to ready the weapon - again just like
the real-steel. Can you say mil-sim??
Furthermore, Systema had designed a
circuitry that will always complete a "cycle"
whenever you tap the trigger. Besides the
realistic aspect (when have you seen a real gun
half-draw the piston but didn't fire if you tap
the trigger too lightly?) this is quite
interesting to me as it is well-documented that on
TM AEGs, "tapping" on the trigger trying to
squeeze out only one round (especially in
full-auto mode) can be hazardous to your
gearbox. In many occasions this had forced
me to switch to semi before I want to "sharp
shoot" someone from a distance; although its only
a minor annoyance I like the fact that now I can
leave the PTW in full auto and still squeeze out a
single round EVERY TIME I wanted to, without any
worry of gearbox damage! Moreover, this
design feature also eliminates the
"spring-compression syndrome", whereas depends on
how you fire the last round your TM AEG's piston
could be half-way pulled back leaving the spring
compressed. If you store your gun without
firing it in semi-auto at least once, prolonged
compression of the spring will effectively weaken
it and cause performance degradation. ICS
combat this problem by making their forward assist
button as a "release" switch (which basically just
kick off the anti-reversal latch), Systema combat
this problem by never allowing it to happen to
start with. This really shows that they've
put a lot of thoughts into designing this gun, as
well as their "no-expense spared" mentality in
making it.
Performance
You might be asking this question by now:
as good as it may have sounded so far, how does it
performs? This is probably one area that
will stair the most debate in the close
future. I think if I have to sum it up in
one word, I would say "better". If you look
at pure performance indices, the Systema PTW does
not present a quantum leap in performance as
compared to properly upgraded TM AEGs.
However it does brings some noticeable area that
"up the ant" on TM quite a bit.
Before I
get into the detail, please keep in mind that this
is based on a pre-production
sample. Final production version
WILL have different statistics, and once I get my
order I will update this. So, with that in
mind lets look at some vital statistics:
| Weapon Model: |
Systema M16-A3 |
| Modeled after: |
Colt M16-A3 |
| Trigger Group: |
Safe / Semi / Full
|
| Muzzle Velocity: |
385FPS / 0.20g BB
|
| Rate
of Fire: |
760RPM / 7.2v
2400mAh
860RPM / 8.4v 1300mAh
|
| Magazine Capacity: |
120rd (rated)
142rd (actual) |
| Barrel I.D. |
6.1mm
|
A couple notes: I was told
that the production version will comes with a "1J
spring" which means anywhere between 280-330
FPS. There is rumor that Systema will ship a
different version for overseas consumption however
communication from Systema suggested
otherwise. Until retailers on the state-side
receives their order its hard to tell which is
true. However one thing is certain: this
pre-production sample had clearly indicated that
the gearbox design can handle substantially more
then the "1J spring" - there is noticeable wear
and tear on a few parts of this sample I received,
but even so and with close to 400FPS output there
is no sign of wear on the gears at
all. The gun also sounds very "clean"
and "effortless" with its current setup, unlike TM
guns where you can feel and notice the
gearbox/motor working overtime to handle an 400FPS
spring. Not to mention all this was only
powered by a 7.2v battery pack. With that in
mind, along with the solid construction I would
not be surprised if the gearbox is designed to
withstand 500-600FPS full-auto continuous firing
out-of-the-box.
Secondly, it is quite
amazing to have such a high rate of fire using
only a 7.2v battery pack. As you've noticed
a 8.4v 1300mAh battery pack will push the ROF up
to 860, and by guestimate a 8.4v 2400 pack can
probably reach the 900 RPM mark using this current
setup. One can only imagine the insane ROF
using a 9.6v 2400mAh pack, which will fit in the
stock... Granted this is no "BB hose" as
I've had a 1200 RPM M4 using a 12v battery pack,
but compare to a similarly upgraded TM gearbox the
new Systema design shows to be quite a bit more
efficient
Finally, for the skirmish
community it is definitely a good thing to learn
that Systema adopted the "mid-cap" design and
offers 120 rounds "rated" capacity on their
magazines. The cost of their magazine is
also very reasonable as well, with estimated
street price around USD$40 each. Although I
was able to squeeze in 142 rounds before it
refuses to accept any more, I am not sure if there
is any adverse effects on the magazine this way
(over-compress the spring??). In addition,
my magazine seems to prefer "smooth" surface
finish as compared to the sand-blast type - the
Excel and Maruzen BBs I have tends to jam inside
the magazine whereas TM BBs feed smoothly and
perfectly. This is probably something that
can be easily fixed by a quick spray of silicon,
however for as "dry" as my magazine looks (i.e.
Systema never really sprayed any silicon on it
when they were testing this gun), I have a feeling
that if the right BBs are used the magazine will
never needs lubricant. Last but not least,
I'd also like to mention that the final 2 rounds
of BBs will NOT feed into the gun - the follower
will trigger the cut-off after the third-last BB
leaves the barrel. So if you want to
simulate the 30rd-per-mag setup of the real-steel,
you should load 32 rounds into each magazine
instead.
Take-down Procedures
It probably comes to no surprise that one
of the major benefit of the Systema PTW is the
ability to field-strip / field-upgrade the
gun. However, to be honest Systema might be
a little late to the party - with substantially
less money you could've get an ICS M4 with similar
upper/lower receiver and two-piece gearbox
design. However where Systema shines above
ICS is that they've completely redesigned the
gearbox and personally it is a much more elegant
solution as compare to ICS's "saw a TM gearbox in
half" solution.
In simple terms, breaking
down the gun involves removing the rear receiver
pin, pull the upper receiver up, and voila.
Once the receiver is opened, you can remove the
cylinder unit by simply pulling the charging
handle. Sadly this also represent one aspect
that Systema could not mimic the real steel's
operation - with the receiver closed the charging
handle only pulls back about 1 cm before it
stops. However I suppose nothing is perfect
and some compromise has to be made...
Furthermore, the Systema
design has a few other improvements over the ICS version. First,
there is a heavy duty ball bearing on the lower receiver that locks
on to the cylinder when the receiver is closed. That means even
after the receiver pin is removed, their upper and lower receiver
will NOT separate by itself like a real-steel or ICS M4.
Also, after you close the
receiver, the ball bearing will lock the
upper/lower receiver in place making the job of
re-inserting the receiver pin a piece of cake.
Second, Systema's new gearbox design allow them to changed from the
"dual-tab" design of the TM/ICS guns to a much more solid and reliable
single-tab design. In detail, all 
TM and ICS guns
have two "tabs" on each side of the upper receiver. These tabs,
after inserting into the lower receiver will have their holes aligned
for the receiver pin to lock them in place.
If you are a long-time AEG smith,
you will know how many people had broken these
tabs, mostly on plastic TM bodies (but I've also
seen numerous occasions that even the metal body's
tab had broken off). Even the new ICS
two-piece gearbox cannot be excluded from this
issue. However Systema has taken the
real-steel approach, and allocated some really
beefy chunks of metal around the receiver pin
locking points so it will be pretty damn hard to
break these.
Finally, since Systema's new
gearbox completely eliminated the need for a
tapplet plate, there is no fear of breaking that
either. On the ICS M4, the tapplet plate is
the "weakest link" in that if you do not release
the spring tension by using the forward-assist
before you crack the upper receiver open, its
piston will fly forward breaking the tapplet plate
right off. This is a non-issue with Systema
because... in the Systema PTW, there is no tapplet
plate!
Upgrade Paths As
of this writing there is yet an official
announcement how Systema will handle
upgrades. As I had mentioned before, the
gearbox is clearly designed to handle a lot more
then the stock "1J spring", but it is unsure what
it takes to get the gun to your preferred level of
performance. Ideally one would only need to
take the cylinder unit apart and replace the
internal spring with your preferred unit, since
everything else is already up for the task...
however as hard as I've tried I CANNOT unscrew the
cylinder cap!
Right now all I can think of
is two possibilities - the threads of the
pre-production sample could be glued tight (red
loctite?) for unspecified reason so it cannot be
removed, or that Systema would rather make you buy
an entire cylinder kit (with pistons, nozzles,
etc. pre-assembled) for each velocity you
want. On a pure business sense, the later is
highly probable because it represents a major
continuous revenue source for them. However,
as badly as it may sounds, if you think about it
their approach actually make a lot of sense -
anyone who can afford this rifle will most likely
want to keep a complete cylinder set for each
velocity level anyway, so they can simply swap out
the cylinder on the field to bring the rifle from
CQB to woodland to sniping. If they are
willing to price the cylinder kit reasonably, I
would think most owners will be happy to avoid the
trouble and rather buy the "drop-in"
replacement/upgrade and be done with it.
However all these are purely my conjecture that
will need to be confirmed and verified from
Systema.
Finally, another point worth
mentioning is that in order to access the gearbox
you would need to remove the bolt release first,
and the pin that secure the bolt release onto the
metal body is next to impossible to remove.
Again this might echoes with Systema's claim that
their PTW's gearbox is NOT designed to be
user-serviceable, and if the very unlikely
situation of broken gears arises you will have to
send the rifle back to Systema for repair.
Again until I receive the official response from
Systema this will be yet another unknown.
Compare To...
Before we round up the review, lets look
at some direct comparison between the Systema PTW,
a real steel Bushmaster AR-15, and the TM
M4A1. I am sure you would be interested in
the result...
Note the "enlarged" size of the TM
pistol grip. As far as I know of, the
Bushmaster has a slightly wider grip then mil-spec
M16, and that Systema's slightly narrower grip is
in closer resemblance to the mil-spec M16.
Most people who had handled the Systema rifle also
told me that it feels identical to the military
M16 grip. Furthermore also notice now the TM
body is considerably wider then both; as a matter
of fact a TM mag is so thick that it won't fit in
either the real steel nor the Systema's mag well,
not to mention people had had a lot of problem
fitting the real steel "Redi-Mag" onto a TM
body. However these are both non-issue on
the Systema rifle: the Systema magazine will even
slide perfectly into the real steel mag well,
although it will not lock in place caused by the
extruding BB feeder on the top of the magazine.
Here is a closer look
of the collar with the front hand guard
removed. Notice the attention of detail here
and the exact replication of the real-steel
collar. Even the gas tube is faithfully
replicated, the only thing Systema didn't have is
the heat-induced discoloration on the front tip of
the gas tube. Excellent jobs here. In
addition, the butt stock is, for all intensive
purpose, identical to the real-steel part.
The Bushmaster stock seems to have a lighter gray
finish to it, as compare to a black military
stock. However Systema's external dimension
on the stock is dead-on.
Here comes one
disappointing sight - literally. Systema's
front sight assembly looks practically identical
to the TM front sight (I wonder if that is
actually a TM part), as compare to the much more
rugged real-steel front sight. However their
size, shape, and finish on the metal body is
another dead-on perfect replication. Picking
up the two gun one after the other, their surface
finish on the receiver is so close that I can bet
you even an experienced rifleman could mistaken
the Systema as being a real-steel M16.
Finally, a look at the rear
receiver pin - Systema even puts in the exact
retention mechanism from the real steel so you
can never lose your pin while field-striping
the gun. There is a small spring-loaded pin
that keeps the receiver pin locked when closed, as
well as preventing it from falling out of the gun
entirely. Excellent design from the
real-steel manufacturers, and excellent
replication from Systema!
Drawbacks?
By now you might be asking "hey how much
did Systema pay you to write this review??"
That being said, even though it is indeed an
excellent rifle there is nonetheless some
shortcomings. One major disadvantage of the
rifle is obviously cost, for every Systema rifle I
can purchase 4x TM M4 or 3x ICS M4. For many
people it is just not worth the high admission
price.
In addition, it is instantly
noticeable that the selector switch is being very
"soft" and uncommunicative. You wonder a lot
if the gun really is in semi or not. I hope
they will fix this problem in the second
production run, as it really distracts from the
high-quality feel of the weapon. Moreover,
the fact that the charging handle does not extend
can be consider a step backward from the TM AEGs
design, even though it is the most logical
"integrated" tool that can be used to remove the
cylinder.
Lastly (and some will argue with
me over this): Systema moved the hop-up
adjustment from the TM design (easily accessible
via the ejection port) to a set-screw style that
requires you to remove the magazine and use a hex
key. Many hard-core airsofter will tell me
that a set-screw design is much more accurate and
consistent that they will prefer it more then the
TM's hop-up design (which, tends to work its way
lose all the time). However, considering the
"quick swap" feature of their cylinder, such
difficult-to-access hop-up does seems to defeat
the purpose. Why give you the ability to
change the cylinder in less then a minute, only
then to force you to remove the magazine, grab
your tool, make hop-up adjustments, insert the
magazine, test fire, then repeat until its
done? I hope they would be able to
eventually update their hop-up unit so it can be
easily adjusted via the ejection port.
Conclusion So,
have Systema made airsoft history? Well, as
I said earlier only time will tell. Should
you go out and buy one of these today?
That's up to you but I hope my review can help you
make that decision.
In my opinion, the
"best bang for your buck" airsoft gun will
definitely have to belongs to something else - for
example, one of those shinny-new ICS two-piece
gearbox full-metal M4, even with full Systema
internal upgrades and TN barrel, should only set
you back no more then USD$600 and will go a long
way for your airsoft needs. However, if you
want the best of the best, or requires hard-core
level of realism, there is nothing in the world of
airsoft that can even approach the uniqueness or
faithful reproduction this rifle offers.
From the excellent design and build quality to the
replication of every fine detail of a real-steel
M16's operation, Systema has definitely set a new
benchmark for every electric airsoft guns to look
up to.
Pros
|
¤ |
Excellent Build
quality |
|
¤ |
Exact replica of
mil-spec M16 in all aspects (dimension, weight,
operations etc.) |
|
¤ |
Fully compatible
with most real-steel accessories |
|
¤ |
Extreme realism -
e.g. weapon stops firing when magazine is empty,
bolt
release must be pressed, etc.
|
|
¤ |
Circuitry design
ensures every trigger pull results in a full
cycle |
|
¤ |
Simple take-down
procedure |
|
¤ |
Quick-removable
cylinder set for field-upgrade and repair
|
|
¤ |
Minimized future
investment needs and upgrade messes
- comes
with top quality gears; no need to get
reinforced body parts
- no major disassembly
needed to upgrade, e.g. no more flying
spring-guides.
- still highly upgradable as
internals are designed to handle much higher
stress |
|
¤ |
Comes standard with
"mid-cap" magazine design (120rds) |
|
¤ |
Efficient new
gearbox as compared to TM
|
Cons
|
¤ |
High admission cost
- estimated street price in excess of USD$1,000
|
|
¤ |
Selector switch
feels "soft" |
|
¤ |
Charging handle does
not operate |
|
¤ |
Front sight looks
and feels cheap |
|
¤ |
Hop-up adjustment
difficult to get to |
|
¤ |
Limited selection
(Only M16A3 and SR-16 is offered initially)
|
|
¤ |
Limited user
sevicable parts inside |
Outlook Now
that Systema has entered the AEG race, what and
how will it really affect us? One thing that
instantly comes to mind is the pressure it puts on
other AEG manufacturers - what if Systema's
product is vastly successful hence allowing them
to produce in larger quantity thus lowering their
production cost?
If the Systema PTW can be offered
at a more competitive pricing (say $600 to $700),
it will seriously invade TM's market share
especially in the mid- to high-end skirmish
community - where durability, performance, and
cost are often valued together and are equally
important. On the other hand, even at its
current price point I believe Systema's
class-leading design and functionality can still
create pressure and competition within the AEG
market, and the end result will only benefit the
skirmish community. Finally, at the very
least, it truly is exhilarating for me to learn
that someone is finally willing to think outside
the box and is brave enough to re-invent the AEG
formula, bringing us such an exciting
product. Knowing that more models are in the
work (SR16-M4/M5 and even MP5), there is really no
telling how much Systema will be able to push the
airsoft technology curve. However one thing
is certain: it is definitely heading to the right
direction.
written by Wallace
Buy this Systema AEG Rifle at AirSplat
Systema Japan
Original Review can be located at http://www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/?filnavn=/reviews/systema_m16/systema_m16_review.htm
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