armoury
KWA QRF MOD1
PISTOL CALIBRE
CARBINE - KWA
STYLE!
HERE IN THE UK, PHIL BUCKNALL HAS LOOKED AT A NUMBER OF PCC RELEASES FROM
KWA BUT HADN’T GOT HOLD OF ONE THAT REALLY FLOATED HIS BOAT …UNTIL NOW!
I
f you haven’t already noticed, there
has been a trend in real steel shooting
for Pistol Calibre Carbines, or PCCs.
They are kind of like a cross between a
dedicated submachine gun and a short-
barreled carbine for a larger calibre round.
The benefit of this additional weight from
using a bigger chassis, is obviously “recoil
control”, thus making them easier to use.
As the vast majority are based loosely
around the AR receiver groups it makes
training and use far more natural, as most
people who have one will invariably have
an AR as well!
In the airsoft realm there is little need
for recoil mitigation; heck, we go out of
our way to spend silly amounts of money
on guns that simulate recoil - I’m looking
at you Mr. Mk46 NGRS! But the style
and handling of these PCCs means they
do lend themselves well to airsoft guns,
especially if you are looking for a perfect
little CQB gun.
If a PCC does grab your fancy then
there is a veritable smorgasbord of
different models from a wide variety of
manufacturers - G&G’s ARP-9 is probably
one of the most widely used from what
I have seen on sites but KWA has been
steadily releasing their take for a while
now. They started with their TK45 Ronin
range, which featured a full-stocked ERG
recoil version and a shorter non-recoiling
tanker-stocked model. Whilst these both
performed really well - I was lucky enough
to review both a while back and found
them to be excellent little guns - neither
really jumped out at me as ones I would
like to personally own.
A FIRST IN EUROPE
A little later KWA released the T6 Ronin.
This was in the same vein as the TK45
with regards to styling but it was more a
short-barreled rifle/pistol AR, rather than
a PCC. Now the T6 really tickled my fancy.
Its aesthetic appealed to me as soon as
I saw it and I got one via John of JTAC
Custom, as he is a bit of a KWA specialist
and a good friend. He managed to really
pull it out of the hat this time, as I have
the second of only six in the whole of
Europe, as the QRF Mod1 isn’t going to
be available on general release until April.
I’d get your preorder in ASAP as these are
going to sell out fast and so will the boxes
of three midcap mags!
Skip forward a bit and KWA announced
they would be releasing two PCCs, the
“Mod0” and the “Mod1”. Both were in
the same style as the T6 but with “9mm”
magazines. The Mod0 coming with
straight mags (the TK45 ones I believe) and
the Mod1 with curved polymer mags. The
stocks were also slightly different but more
on that later.
It was the Mod1 that appealed to me
the most, being as it used the same upper
as the T6 and that just looks great from
the shape of the upper itself, to the Ronin
specific MLOK rail and old school surefire-
style flash hider. Obviously, as it uses
curved 9mm magazines versus AR mags,
the lower is different and very reminiscent
in places to the venerable HK MP5. In fact,
it looks like a reimagined modern take
on the MP5, which is no bad thing as it
was a style icon and probably one of the
few guns Joe Public could usually identify
(thanks mainly to John McLane and the Die
Hard franchise).
Starting at the rear of the gun, there
is a small convex stock - again a nod to
“…THE LOWER IS DIFFERENT AND VERY REMINISCENT IN PLACES TO THE VENERABLE
HK MP5. IN FACT, IT LOOKS LIKE A REIMAGINED MODERN TAKE ON THE MP5, WHICH
IS NO BAD THING AS IT WAS A STYLE ICON AND PROBABLY ONE OF THE FEW GUNS
JOE PUBLIC COULD USUALLY IDENTIFY...”
38
APRIL 2020