Airsoft Action 04 - Xmas 2011 | Page 12

CELCIUS M4A1 MX2 TRAINING WEAPON (CTW) AIRSOFT ACTION Is the Celcius M4A1 MX2 a Systema beater – at half the price? In this exclusive review, Ratty takes a close look at the updated CTW Y ou’d need some serious visual impairment not to notice that the most popular style of airsoft AEG is an M16/M4 design – and the most popular of all is the M4A1 Carbine. They come in all shapes, sizes and configurations from a host of different manufacturers, using various real steel manufacturer licenses. Perhaps because of this choice, built by so many companies, they are available to suit any budget. If you’re on a tight budget you still have a large range of brands and models to choose from. But the most hotly 012 Xmas 2011 contended area is mid/upper cost M4s, with manufacturers like Classic Army, ICS, King Arms, G&P and G&G all making fantastic, robust and good value M4 variants. That said, there is one area that, until now, has been dominated by one name: the Professional Training Weapon. Developed by Systema as a real training aide, it just so happened the PTW fired 6mm BBs. Systema has improved its PTW year on year and all hardcore MilSimmers I know either dream of owning one, are saving up for or indeed already have and swear by their trusty PTWs. But what if another training weapon system was available – and carried a price tag half as hefty? Could it possibly be a sensible alternative to the much-loved PTW? Well, enter Celcius Technologies’ M4A1 MX2 Training Weapon. Celcius launched its initial CTW a while ago but it suffered from a few issues which reflected in poor sales. So the company returned to the drawing board and has come back with a much-improved version. The MX2 is the second generation of the CTW, so let’s see if they’re now up to scratch and worth the price. My CTW arrived in its box along with a 120-round magazine, a pistol style BB loader, a barrel cleaning rod with brush head, a small Allen key to adjust the hop, a CD with the user instruction guide and an exploded parts diagram. It also comes with a warranty card from the UK distributor, which is a very nice touch. You fill this in and send it off to validate your one-year internal parts warranty. Terms and conditions do apply, but at least you can read through it beforehand so there can be no misunderstanding. Having a warranty with a UK distributer gives some peace of mind, certainly when spending this much money. Getting the M4A1 out of the box, initial impressions were very positive. The CTW is a real steel copy of the M4, weighing in at 3.4kg. This makes it noticeably heavier than its rival manufacturers’ counterparts. Both