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LOCKDOWN WOES
SPRINGTIME
FOR THE M16A1
FRENCHIE GETS TO GRIPS WITH WRITING ABOUT AIRSOFT DURING THE UK’S COVID-19 LOCKDOWN AND FINDS
INSPIRATION FROM THE MOST UNLIKELY QUARTER…
One of the problems with lock down, one of the
many, minor problems, is that it is really difficult
to get hold of gear to write about, so I have been
casting around my much diminished collection of airsoft
guns to see if there was anything worthy of comment. This
search was only interrupted by the sudden and spectacular
disintegration of my chair back, which spilled me onto the
floor and launched my desk skywards. That took care of
yesterday afternoon…
However, I do have something and it is something that
I have warm, fuzzy nostalgic feeling for, so without much
ado, let’s chat about the Tokyo Marui M16a1 rifle. “What?
That old, wobbly thing!” I hear you cry! Oh, it’s much
worse than you suspect, because the M16a1 I have sat
beside me as I type is, in fact, one of Marui’s spring rifles,
an airsoft gun that should never be used on a skirmish field.
Unless you’re me.
It is entirely possible that Marui still make this rifle, at
least occasionally, Marui manufacturing being what it is,
however, their website would suggest that of the original
line-up of spring rifles, only the G3 and the Xm177e2
survive. Hardly surprising really. The full line up used to be
the M16a1, Xm177e2, G3 and the Uzi, and I own, or have
owned, all of them. I have also skirmished with all of them,
albeit a long time ago. Like all of Marui’s spring replicas
(sniper rifles and shotgun aside) I have to assume that the
guns were produced for customers who maybe wanted to
do a bit of plinking, or just wanted a replica, since as soon
as Marui released the FAMAS, these things were obsolete.
I don’t have my chrono any longer but if memory serves
muzzle velocity was somewhere in the region of 200 –
230 fps, on a good day. Thanks to the fixed hop, range
was “ok” but really didn’t go much further than pistol
distances. It has a magazine capacity of about 30 rounds,
is naturally single shot, it’s made almost entirely from ABS
plastic and it emits the most raucous “boing” every time
you pull the trigger. Ah… Perfection!
No, no it isn’t! At the time I started playing, it was just
about acceptable for a cash-strapped chap staring down
the barrel of a divorce. That’s to say, I could afford it and
with some effort could just about hold my own on a
small airsoft site. Unlike the G3, of which I have written
previously, there was limited scope to do much if any
upgrading here and I’ll come to why that was so shortly.
Spare magazines were available and they could be carried
loaded as they released the internal spring once they were
inserted into the gun, unlike many other spring magazines
which would fountain BBs if there was a “Y” in the day.
There was even a convenient integrated funnel stored in
the top of the magazine to make it easier to load, although
sadly mine is missing that. Sights were a two-position flip
sight at the rear, adjustable for windage (believe it or not)
but the foresight was a fixed plastic affair with no elevation
adjustment. In fairness, given the gun’s limitations, this was
hardly a handicap since if you couldn’t quickly master holdover
you were unlikely to hit anything beyond about 30m.
The three-position safety was basically Safe – Fire –
Fire since (obviously) there was no full-auto option and
cocking was by the well-loved T-piece behind the rear sight.
However, the M16 had one trick up its sleeve: like the
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JUly 2020