Airsoft Action 04 - Xmas 2011 | Page 14

Charge options: Celcius CTW showing battery options achieving 317-325fps through a Madbull Version 2 chronograph. The hop is easy enough to adjust with the Allen key supplied. If I had one of these myself I would definitely run it on high-quality 0.25g ammunition. So what’s it like to fire? Well, somewhat like Systema’s PTW to be frank. The selector is precise and clicks into the required setting nicely; it has excellent trigger response so using it on semi and double-tapping people (sorry, I meant targets) would not be an issue. A quick flick to full-auto and letting loose a burst shows the gearbox feels smooth and delivers enough BBs to esnure no one could deny being hit! I was hitting a man-sized target accurately at just over 100ft. The distributor advised me that nothing more than a three-second burst should be used, but given the rate of fire, combined with the weapon’s accuracy and the fact the mags only hold around 100 rounds, any longer on the trigger would be considered overkill. When the magazine ran out of rounds the MX2 stopped firing. I lent it to a Systema owner, who was mightily impressed with the performance and his first question was “How much are these again?” There was another MX2 CTW owner there this day. He had been looking at Systema PTWs for some time and had used one just two weeks previously. This was his first outing with his new CTW and, after a couple of games and a load of kills, 014 Xmas 2011 his verdict was: “Yeah, it’s better than the Systema and exceeded my expectations!” Verdict I suppose I, like most of you MilSim players, had always wanted a PTW. The main thing stopping me from getting one was the cost: cost of rifle, cost of upgrades to make it work better and even the cost of accessories. So does the Celcius M4A1 MX2 compare favourably against such an airsoft icon? The answer is a definite yes. It’s not just that the M4A1 retails for around £649.99, less than half the cost of a PTW – it performs just as well too, so what’s the point in shelling out the extra cash? I am sure die-hard Systema fans will dismiss this revelation, but Celcius’ newest offering really is as good. When you tot up all the things you need to get you going – gun, couple of batteries, eight mags (for the sake of argument), upgrade spring and cylinder – it still comes to less than a PTW on its own. There are still things that can be done to make it better (waterproofing the ECU and such) but with that initial saving, these things aren’t quite so financially daunting. Look out Systema: there is a new kid on the block, and with performance like this your dominance is under severe threat! Now to work out how to get away with not sending the test model back… ■ WIN! WIN! AIRSOFT ACTION HAS ONE CELCIUS MX2 CTW TO GIVE AWAY IN THIS ISSUE! FLICK TO PAGE 28 FOR DETAILS! SPECIFICATIONS Weight: 3,400g Build: CNC steel upper and lower receiver and outer barrel, military/law enforcement grade ABS handguard and crane stock Inner barrel length: 374mm (6.00mm sniper grade polished stainless steel inner barrel) Internals: Advcned ECU-2011, with thicker wiring, faster trigger response, faster rate of fire, low battery indicator, dimmable LED light Gearbox: CTW Planetary Type (semi- and full-auto) Motor: Celcius 495 Motor Magazine: 120-round steel cased high speed mag Battery: 11.1v Lipo Velocity: 317-325fps Price: around £649.99