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.
