armoury
CYMA 132S
supplied batteries into the cavity below the
barrel, connect the cables via mini Deans, tuck
them out of the way and refit the slide. It takes
just seconds.
I normally eschew bundled chargers and prefer
to use my trusty Imax, but in this instance, I had no
choice. Without instructions, it seems that the battery is
charging when the light in the USB end of the cable flashes,
turning solid green when fully charged.
Those little LiPos lose charge faster in storage than
batteries with more cells, so you might need a maintenance
regime to avoid them going flat and rendering them
obsolete between games. CYMA recommends topping
them up every three weeks, but they go flat so fast I almost
feel like I need to put them on life support.
The battery might be really easy to fit, but access to the
hop wheel is also under the slide and while it’s similarly easy
to adjust, it’s also easy to knock out of position whenever
you refit the slide – i.e. at least once every game day when
you connect the battery.
SAINTS AND SINNERS
For its relatively budget price, the mostly plastic 132S is
actually quite solidly built, with less creaking than you
might expect. The rail under the barrel will happily take
standard lights and lasers, albeit with a touch more side-
to-side movement than we’d like. But we do mean just a
touch.
This is not a pistol for Southpaws though. As you might
expect from an M9, the mag release is only to be found on
the left, but at least it looks like you might be able to swap
the button and the blanking plate from side to side.
Less conventional is the fact that the traditionally
ambidextrous safety at the rear of the slide is not all it first
appears - the operational safety is actually a slider above
the right of the trigger guard that physically restricts the
trigger’s movement. Dare I say that it’s actually easier to use
than the real thing? At least it falls within easy reach of a
right-handed index finger.
The conventional safety lever to either side of the slide at
the rear is now just a moulded extrusion on the right, but
there
are hidden
surprises on
the left too.
All is as you
might expect in
its upper “live”
position but
rotating the lever
down to obscure the
usual red dot in the traditional safe position has another
effect entirely… Full auto, baby!
Not gonna lie; I had so much fun using this pistol in full
auto. Of course, there are other full auto pistols such as the
Glock 18C or the Beretta M93R, but with none of the usual
cool-down issues associated with gas systems, the battery-
driven 132S was quite happy to dump entire magazines
flatout without skipping a beat.
We also enjoyed the fact that just unscrewing the barrel’s
thread protector means that you can easily fit a suppressor
or a tracer unit, such as Acetech’s Lighter S, without an
adaptor. It sounds silly, but just adding the Lighter S also
added a lot to the experience of handling Cyma’s AEP.
And with the fact that the 132S is also AEG quiet,
it could be a great choice for an unconventional sniper
sidearm.
SLIP OF THE TONGUE
It’s just a shame that instead of using a full-sized magazine
for maximum ammo count, the 132S uses a stick mag.
The fake magwell makes it comfortable for larger hands,
but the shorter stick mag means that you’ll need to use
a thumb or finger to ensure the mag is properly inserted
within its recess, instead of the usual palm-bump. It’s a
small detail, but it detracts from the overall experience.
“ALL IS AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT IN ITS UPPER “LIVE” POSITION BUT ROTATING THE
LEVER DOWN TO OBSCURE THE USUAL RED DOT IN THE TRADITIONAL SAFE POSITION
HAS ANOTHER EFFECT ENTIRELY… FULL AUTO, BABY!”
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