Category Archives: Fun

A&K M16A4 STW/PTW review

Seeing as how the A&K STW/PTW series has been discontinued, perhaps this review is moot but I decided to publish it anyway because it’s “new to me” and you can still buy them new in Canada, at least the M16 model.  While I was browsing Airsoft Depot, I was looking at a different gun but then saw that the A&K was on sale and couldn’t resist.

I found it rather funny that the box said 2015 VERSION PCB DESIGN on the side of with the handle, I wonder how long this thing has sat at the store.  The box came with the rifle itself, manual, a packet of 0.2g BBs, cleaning rod, front sight adjustment tool, screwdriver (not sure what it’s fore there are no Philips screw heads anywhere on this gun), small speed loader with a PTW magazine adapter, one 120rd A&K PTW magazine, two rail covers and an old school KAC style foregrip (not pictured unfortunately). The gun itself is pretty hefty at ~4.6kg, the initial impression of the build quality is good, no creeks or rattling sounds from the gun & the body looks and feels the same as my Systema PTW.

The only thing I don’t like are the ugly Marines trademarks and the fact it says M4 instead of M16.

Here are some photos comparing the A&K side by side next to my Systema MK18 Mod 1 though note the Systema has a real AR 15 upper milled to work on the PTW platform.  The A&K M16A4 STW breaks apart like a Systema and the supplied stainless steel cylinder shoots 398-400 fps with 0.2g BBs quite consistently.  The A&K also comes with a rotary style hopup unit instead of the older Systema one that needs a tool to adjust and the inner barrel goes the entire length of the outer.  I had a Systema M16 in the past and that had a M4 length inner barrel so this is a pleasant surprise.

It’s important to note that the A&K M16A4 upper does not fit on the Systema PTW lower.  The milled AR15 upper on the Systema does fit on the A&K M16A4 lower however it’s loose and you can definitely feel a slight wobble.

The gun comes with a large tamiya battery connector and after taking off the stock, I have to say the MOSFET looks to be the old 2007 Systema style.  I don’t remember what my old Systema M16 had for a stock tube but the A&K comes with a lower receiver stock plug adapter that allows use of AEG airsoft stocks.  Looking at that, I knew it’d be a weak point immediately and I was not wrong but more on that later.  A real M16 would have the buffer tube go almost all the way back into the stock and that adds a lot of rigidity to the system.

The A&K M16A4 PTW comes by default with a repro Knights Armament M5 RAS which looks great but adds to the bulk.  It’s not quite to spec either, some of my real steel accessories would need shimming in order to hold onto the rail tightly and the foregrip came out of the box broken.  The repro KAC 600mm flip up rear sight is one of the better copies out there, it felt solid and the windage & height adjustments have nice positive clicks.

The A&K rifle also comes with an “upgraded” magnetic bolt catch, I remember seeing that on some Systema guns near when I stopped playing airsoft for the first time.  Unfortunately it’s very sensitive and engages quite easily, wasn’t an issue with the supplied metal magazine or when using Systema metal magazines but it absolutely hates my Magpul PTS PMags and the bolt catch would enable itself in the middle of firing it.  After gaming it on the weekend I decided to take it out and replace it with a FCC bolt catch & spring that I had laying around, older tech but this works much better.

The area for a battery in the stock is huge so I picked up an 11.1V 50C 3300mAh lipo battery from a local RC store to pair with the gun and it’s perfect.  The trigger is not as responsive as my Systema PTW with 2008 electronics but it’s faster than a regular AEG.  I did not take the electronics or gearbox apart as I’m lazy and didn’t want to go that far but if I have troubles in the future I will and will note that in this review.

Even though A&K calls this rifle the M16A4, the gun has the ability to shoot full auto instead of 3 round burst, minor detail I know but something I laughed at.  Here’s a brief gaming report with the M16A4, it shot well for a stock gun and 0.28g bio BBs (I would normally shoot 0.3s but couldn’t find that weight in bios) and at no point did I feel out ranged; it’s just that this gun is damn heavy and I’m out of shape. I shot maybe 500-600 rounds between 2 games, I was heavier on the trigger than normal because I wanted to give the gun a good work out.  That’s where I discovered that the metal mags would not cause the bolt catch to enable but the Magpul PTS Pmags would even though they weren’t empty.

What was worse though was that the stock plug adapter (I don’t know it’s official name) had been pulled out of the lower receiver!  I had proper rifle sling on the M16A4 and noticed on the way to the safe zone that the stock was a bit loose.  Initially I thought the screw holding the stock in place had come undone but upon closer inspection, i saw the threads that screw into the lower receiver looked to be stripped, which later were determined to be true.

It’s important to note that the lower receiver itself is just fine and I could screw in a mil spec carbine length buffer tube into it but this contraption on the A&K M16A4 STW failed.  Its better that the stock plug adapter’s threads give way, rather than the lower receiver as that piece would be much more expensive to replace but now that the A&K STW/PTW line has been discontinued I don’t know where to get a replacement.  I’ll probably get a real A2 stock kit including the buffer tube and dremel what I need to work with this gun.

Unfortunately the review is getting cut short here, I wish I had more but I didn’t game the rifle enough to give it a good or bad rating.  I probably wouldn’t recommend this gun to people unless they have experience with the Systema PTW platform and keep in mind that the A&K STW/PTW line of guns have been discontinued so despite it’s attractive price, any replacement parts may be hard to find, or expensive if you have to shell out for Systema parts.

For me though I’ll continue to game it and I’m happy that I have a M16 length rifle to pair with my shorter Systema MK18 Mod 1 again.

Barrie Paintball

Yesterday I went to Barrie Paintball to play my first outdoor game in like 12 or 13 years, along also came Brandon, Eddy, Mike, Mario, Tom and his two boys.  The field is nice, though very hilly and I was already tired walking up a large hill to the first game area.  Unfortunately we were playing a walk on game and the person who was very familiar with the place took up hosting duties, putting us & all the newbs on one side while the regulars played on the other.  Everyone was wearing green camo and we were differentiated with arm bands.

Needless to say I believe we lost every game, losing is not a big deal but things were definitely very unbalanced and not enjoyable.  At one point I was in a small structure and had my pistol out since it’s easier to manipulate in those tight quarters, I saw my BBs bounce off an opponents thighs as he was entering only for him to come in and then shoot me afterwards.  Generally I don’t like playing against HPA players mainly because every HPA player I’ve played against has always been a jerk and well my opinion still stands.

The heat and humidity was definitely difficult, I started out wearing my LBT 6094 but quickly changed to a chest rig.  Brandon was ok using the Eagle vest the whole time and in the safe zone I made sure he drank a lot, even if he wasn’t thirsty.

I brought a new gun to the range, I recently purchased an A&K M16A4 STW which is a Systema PTW clone.  It was cheap, I’ve always liked M16 type rifles and wanted to see how it would perform.  Overall it shot quite well, trigger response is a bit slower than the Systema but the A&K M16A4 is very heavy!  After a little, I quickly changed back to my MK18 Mod 1 PTW and that thing is much easier to handle.

While the A&K M16A4 STW performed well the sling on the stock pulled the buffer tube plug out of the lower receiver.  Thankfully the receiver threads are just fine, it’s the threads on the buffer tube plug that were soft and got damaged.  Unfortunately it uses a plug that allows an airsoft A2 butt stock to be installed instead of using a a full length rifle buffer tube, the A&K STW is discontinued so I’ll have to figure out a way to secure it.  Maybe I’ll just buy a real A2 stock set and Dremel where necessary.  Annoying but not the end of the world and I’ll post a review on it later.

It’s not a great way to introduce airsoft to new players, Tom & his boys did enjoy themselves but not as much as they did at Urban. I think my next outdoor game I’ll try and get enough people out so I can host something private so we can introduce new players to a more friendly environment.

I did quite enjoy playing with Brandon, we were on the same side and played together a lot which was great and I’m glad that this game didn’t turn him off on outdoor play.  Ahh well they can’t all be good, the locals at Barrie aren’t the nicest so I don’t think we’ll be playing with them in the future.

Soon!

While I’ve played airsoft twice now indoors, it’s been forever since I last wore camo and the team patch.  Weather permitting, it’ll come out on Sunday and I can’t wait!

It’s a day game so I’m not actually bringing my binos or COTI, it’s just for the picture and I think it turned out pretty well.  Those old excited feelings I use to get before every game are coming back and it feels pretty damn good.

ASG Storm Apocalyse Impact Grenade Review

With my son interested in airsoft, I recently got back into things and have played 2 indoor games so far.  One thing I always love having around are tossable grenades, so handy for getting people in difficult positions.  When I played previously, well before the pandemic I’d run around with 6 Airsoft Innovation Impact Tornado grenades but seeing as how they’re now 12-15 years old, 2 are permanently out of action, leaving me with 4 to split between Brandon and I.  After the first game, another one of my Tornado Impact grenades went down and with Airsoft Innovations out of business, I don’t think I’ll be able to to resurrect the dead units.  That’s alright it’s been a long time and they’ve served me well, I’ll keep the broken grenades as a memento and for spare parts for my remaining grenades.

Looking around I saw that Action Sports Gear (ASG for short) based out of Europe had a few different models.  There’s the slightly older Storm Apocalypse and the D-Tonator series, well my local airsoft store had the older unit in stock so I bought 2.

The retail package comes with the grenade itself & a small brief instruction manual.  Physically, the grenade is 10 x 4.8 x 4.8 cm in size and is slightly smaller than the AI Tornado Impact grenade.

Since the dimensions of the ASG Storm Apocalypse is close to the AI Impact Tornado (minus the pin), it fits in all the same pouches I used back then like the Eagle Smoke grenade pouch.  The ASG grenade has a bit too much girth to fit in the 40mm grenade pouches that I have though it’s possible it could fit in others where the elastic is more stretchy.

Setting up the trigger on the AI Impact Tornado Grenade was not difficult but time consuming if you had a bunch of them like me but resetting the ASG Storm Apocalypse is much easier.  There’s a switch at the top that says ON & OFF.  To load the BBs, set the grenade to the ON position load up 155 in the lone BB port, once that’s done move the selector switch to the OFF position (moving it to OFF pushes a nub down that stops BBs from rolling out which is handy), gas up the grenade and you’re set!  To use when you’re in game, simply flick the selector to ON and toss.

When the ASG Storm Apocalypse grenade goes off, the spread of the BBs is very good, well over 15′ (don’t have the capability to test in a larger area) which is similar to my experiences with the AI Tornado Impact grenade.  I have no way to test the power of the grenade but subjectively when I drop the grenade right in front of me, the BBs ejected hurt slightly less than when I do the same with an AI Tornado on my bare legs & feet.  Sorry, I know that’s not an exact science but the best I have at the moment.

When I played CQB at Urban Ops Airsoft in Toronto, the grenades were very effective and I had no problems with people not calling hits after tossing a grenade into the room.  I’ve never had a grenade disappear but I did mark mine with my made up rack number in case one goes missing.

I haven’t used the ASG Storm Apocalypse in an outdoor setting yet but I did drop the grenade in the grass in my backyard, if the grass is tall it either doesn’t go off or gets bogged down by the softness, when freshly cut or on compacted dirt the grenade works a lot better.

The ASG Storm Apocalypse is a pleasant evolutionary step up from the AI Tornado Impact grenade in usability and a great CQB/indoor tool, if you haven’t tried using grenades yet you should get one as it’ll open up a new avenue of gameplay for you.

Oh I do have ASG D-Tonator impact grenades too but I’ll talk about those in a separate review. 😉

Video action

I forgot to turn my helmet camera on for most of the airsoft games on Saturday but I did get some good footage of the first & last game.  Unfortunately I left the camera on while in the safe zone earlier in the day so it ran out of battery just before the end of the last game.  Too bad because we were able to push pretty deep into enemy territory but you’ll have to take my word for it. 😉

Not bad for an old Contour ROAM action camera, footage is only 1080p but with good light the video quality is decent.  I prefer the form factor of the Contour cameras over the boxy Go Pro style, too bad Contour went out of business…  Debating if I should try and snag one of the Contour 4K cameras on eBay but they’re pretty expensive.  I also wish the thing had some sort of image stabilization but I mean the thing is like 14 years old so I’m lucky it even works.

I did have a Contour HD on my rifle but that thing is even older (released in 2009), again the footage was decent but there wasn’t any good gameplay footage unfortunately.

Maggie watched the videos and said it looked like fun, that she is thinking about playing again and that’d be really cool if we could go out as a family!  She doesn’t want to do indoor play because it hurts more and can leave marks (as you can see from my face wounds in the previous post) but she said she may come if we play outdoors which is fine with me!

We already have our next game pencilled in for June 28th, an old friend wants to get out too so I’m trying to boost numbers enough so that we can get another private session. 🙂

Back at it?

I stopped playing airsoft soon after Brandon was born and always told myself that when he’s old enough, that we’d try it and see if he likes it.  Well we played some CQB at Urban Ops Airsoft with some of his friends, his friend’s dad, some of their friends and yeah everyone loved it.  Also tagging along was Mike, Mario & Eddy, all in all there were 14 of us and I booked some private games so the newbs didn’t have to worry about getting slaughtered by random players.

The habit of me packing heavy in the past was true again lol…  I was running my Systema PTW & VFC HK VP9 while Brandon was using a CA MP5A3, the boy didn’t have a side arm as I didn’t want to blow a lot of money kitting him out if he didn’t like it but since he did I guess I have to.  I also carried 3 Airsoft Innovations Impact Tornado grenades while Brandon had 1.

We had a ref but I basically ran the games, not that the ref was bad but when I host games I actively load balance and like to change up scenarios.  I don’t have any in game photos but I did capture some video with my Contour camera, will edit and upload that later.  Brandon was much more aggressive than I thought he’d be (and way more aggressive than the other kids) often rushing the enemy and it was a lot of fun playing with and against him.

We all got shot up, I probably came out worse for the wear as there was a small gap between my eye and lower face protection and happen to get shot between that and another just outside my eye pro.  The boy had an Eagle vest that a friend gave me many years ago and that kept his torso safe but said he has lots of arm & leg wounds.

So I’m going to have an airsoft renaissance and have Brandon join me on the field.  I wonder if I can get Maggie to play again too, that might be asking too much but hopefully this marks some more quality time with the boy. 🙂

Fun weekend

On Saturday I took Brandon to have lunch at Gyi-Kaku, a Japanese BBQ restaurant close to my work.  On the odd occasion I have to go into the office, I almost always go there to grab a bite to eat because it’s just so damn good.  Should have known but the lunch special is not available on the weekends, no matter we ordered a bunch of food and it did not disappoint.

Brandon enjoyed cooking on the grill and yeah it was amazing, my favorite meat option are the angus beef cubes mmm…  Cooked well, they’re very juicy in the middle and absolutely delicious!

Brandon, his friend, friend’s brother and father are interested in playing airsoft which is great because I kind of wanted to get back into playing and would love to share the hobby with him.  Last year I bought Brandon a CA MP5 A3 but didn’t end up playing because some health issues and the accident but this year looks like it’s a go!  About 10 years ago when I stopped playing, I gave my friend Jason a VFC MK18 Mod 1 AEG airsoft rifle and he mentioned he still had it when I asked if he had any guns I could borrow to help Brandon’s friends out so it kind of came back home since he no longer plays now.

My Systema MK18 Mod 1 PTW is ready to go and now that I have the VFC I feel the urge to accessorize it lol…  I already bought a handgrip (which I use as a handstop), had an extra repro Surefire M300 flashlight and now I want to buy a set of backup iron sights (don’t know where the original went).  I don’t think I’ll put an optic on it, it’s a loaner and even if Brandon wanted to use something in the AR platform he’d use the other PTW but still it’s fun.

Sunday afternoon I went to Hero Army Surplus, a store in Oshawa to pick up a spring and when I was swapping it out, I couldn’t help but feel some nostalgia from working on guns in the past. It now shoots a solid 350 fps, up from 300 and all of us are scheduled to go play at Urban Ops in Etobicoke on June 7th.  Hoping to drag a few more friends out so we can get a private session but yeah this is going to be f un and I can’t wait to play airsoft again!

Long weekend

The May long weekend is always nice, weather is finally decent and everything is starting to bloom.  I was off on Friday so i went to get a trailer hitch installed on my Lexus RX, then went to pick up a trailer hitch cargo carrier.  We like road trips and previously we found the space in the car a bit tight (though we had smaller cars) so this can be useful.  I also needed a trailer hitch installed so I could use my bike carrier.

Saturday we did a bit of yard work but took the day light, Sunday we did a day trip up North.  I look on Google maps for fun roads to drive, so we went to Sundridge then drove West on highway 124.  From there we went to Parry Sound for lunch then took highway 518 East to highway 11 then back home.  All in all it was about 7 hours of driving, highway 124 is ok quite scenic and pretty but highway 518 is so much fun with its twists and turns.

Today Brandon and I took the cover off the pool and performed a bunch of pool maintenance.  We’ll need a new cover in the fall as ours tore in multiple spots which allowed pollen and other plant materials to get into the pool unfortunately.  Frankly the water looks like diarrhea right now but that’s how it goes and in about a week and a half, it’ll look great.  I need to call a few places tomorrow to get quotes on replacing the sand in my sand filter so I’ll do that in the morning.

Sad my weekend is over but I mean I WFH and enjoy my job so I’m lucky there. 🙂

Enjoying the sun!

Brandon, a friend of mine and I went to Silverdale and what an absolutely beautiful day it was, I love sunny light jacket weather!  My friend Andrew got his license last year and I helped him zero the optic on his Ruger 10/22 at 10 then 25 yards.  Even with bulk ammo, it was shooting very well and he was happy with everything.  Brandon enjoyed shooting the handguns and our Ruger 10/22, sigh I wish I could shoot my AR15s but that doesn’t look like it’ll happen anytime soon. 🙁

Love capturing the brass eject out of the handgun!  Brandon prefers the Glock 19 over the HK SFP9, bah what do kids know lol…  If handguns are ever unbanned (not looking good with the Liberals leading in the polls but we find out tonight) I’ll get a full size Glock 17 again in the future as well as bunch of other guns.

Quality time with the boy is always  good. 🙂

Get out of here

These types of articles drive me nuts, it’s been well known for decades that criminals get their guns from the US and don’t bother with the licensing system we have in Canada yet the only solution the Liberals ever have is banning guns from legal owners.

The data from GTA police is in line with what research has shown for many years, says Jooyoung Lee, a professor of sociology at the University of Toronto who studies the underlying causes and long-term consequences of gun violence.

“One thing we’ve known for many, many generations is that the U.S. is a global exporter of firearms and the vast majority of crime guns in Canada are originating in a very small kind of handful of U.S. states that have much more lax and porous gun laws,” he said.

Source: CBC

If our news organizations were truly objective, they’d question the powers that be why they’re enacting policy that doesn’t do anything and is all for show.

There’s no way I’m voting Liberal (probably ever again) but I take a lot of pleasure to see all the candidates in the leadership race to replace Trudeau are running as fast as they can away from his stupid policies.