RED CELL
PERSONAL DEFENCE WEAPONS
I really liked was the spring-loaded stock , with the touch of a button the stock would shoot out from fully closed to fully open , this I loved !
Being lucky enough to have a long garden , I can utilize this by putting up a target at 45m away . So , I connected the only battery I had with a Mini Tamya fitting , which was an 11.1 stock tube type . This gave me a good excuse to try out the longer battery box which fitted in behind the body . Rate of fire was good and so was the trigger response , I couldn ’ t complain . With a few quick adjustments of the hop I had this little number dialled in ; four mags worth of the finest RZR . 20g BBs were all sent down range with good grouping . Now this should not surprise me , as this AEG is sold with a pre-installed Maple Leaf bucking . I ’ ve run Maple Leaf nubs and buckings for many years and rate them highly . So fresh out of the box , no new buyer would be unhappy . I run a Platatac Badger plate carrier pretty much without fail in all the airsoft games I go to and I use this particular PC because its slim shoulder straps allow me to really shoulder a butt stock and this was no exception with the Avalon PDW . Its stock is not very tall and sat snugly into my shoulder - that made me very happy . On the whole I really liked this RIF and what it offered .
Now , where are the “ but ’ s ” I hear you asking ?? Well , there are only a couple . Firstly , the battery box , be it the small or large one didn ’ t fit tight enough for my liking and I feel that they could have possibly been made to sit a bit tighter into the clips . Second gripe was the trigger , I ’ m just not a fan of the straight-cut triggers but that is more of a personal thing . The last being the magazine quality , it was poor , at one point of filling I could see it flexing in a way that I wasn ’ t happy , it was far too malleable when compared to the likes of a PTS magazine and if I was pay the £ 389 for this Avalon , I think I ’ d like a magazine with much better build quality . One last thing I should point out , that in the instruction booklet it states you should always drain the battery before charging but now we know this to cause irreversible problems , that ’ s a nono ! On the whole though , very well done VFC , keep it coming . Marcus : As I work as full-time tech in my shop in Dover , I ’ m used to seeing many makes and models come through the door for me to fix and upgrade and as CQB / CQC is popular in Kent ( with the likes of the . 308 Sniper Killhouse just up the road ), “ PDWs ” seem to be regular visitors to me , so I can comment on a number of them !
The NUPROL Freedom Fighter has a nice solid construction , and really the main issue that I have to deal with is the micro switch gearbox , which has a nasty habit of locking up on semi-automatic ; the only remedy for this is to go to full-auto ! Other than that , this is a solid AEG that ’ s well made and performs well . The NUPROL Special Ops ( read “ Amoeba ”) is again a nice gun , a great performer as it has the Electronic Fire Control System ( EFCS ) gearbox that ’ s supremely programmable ( I have the programmer in the shop for just this reason !). It has a great trigger , a rigid polymer body , and the the only downside to this AEGs is the battery compartment , as it ’ s quite small .
The G & G ARP9 is also a fine AEG , with a well-built body , a good gearbox and fire control unit but you have to run 11.1v batteries on them as the fire control unit is set up for this , although it does also have a low voltage cut out built in . Again , the biggest problem with this AEG is the battery compartment as it ’ s very small , but I like the straight 9mm mags and for people that like really big mags , there ’ s a large 2500rd drum mag that has a really great and smooth winder on it . Overall , not a bad AEG at all ! The G & G ARP556 is more or less the same as the ARP9 but uses a standard AR mag that ’ s more convenient for most , but it has the same same problem with batteries though .
When it comes to the Saigo Defence RONIN , this is a really great little AEG that sells well and players like ! It has a nice strong body and a good gearbox , which shouldn ’ t be a shock as it would appear that all the Saigo ’ s are basically Specna Arms with new party clothes on ! Internally the gearbox and the majority of the working parts , along with other body and grip parts are identical to Specna Arms , which is strange but not bad news really . The only downside to this gun is again the battery compartment but at least you can run a 7.4v battery in this . Overall a superb AEG for the money , even if the internals are a bit of an “ eyebrow raiser ”!
Now I do like the BOLT B4 PDW , as it has an exceptionally strong body and gearbox and a nicely set up recoil system that actually provides some “ recoil ”! This AEG is not for everybody as it ’ s an expensive gun and not everybody likes the recoil but if you do , it ’ s a great performer ! The battery compartment at the front is a great solution , although you obviously can ’ t run a minimalist rail system and as you have to run 11.1v batteries in this ( that ’ s just for the recoil system ), it ’ s a great AEG when it comes to ROF and trigger response . Finishing up , the Classic Army X9 Nemesis is not bad either , with a good solid body and rail , a good gearbox , and I particularly like the fact you can program “ burst ”. Again , as with all the “ PDWs ”, the battery compartment is too small but that ’ s the nature of the beast with these models ; overall a good allround performer in a CQB environment !
44 MARCH 2021