Tokyo Marui G36C Part 1

[redphoenix14]

Tokyo Marui G36C AEG Review

by Airshark

Introduction

I ordered the G36c, my first AEG, from Poweredge Usa for $245. With three bags of 4000 ct. KSC BBs, a discharger, a charger, connectors, an extra magazine, a NiCad battery, plus shipping, the total came to be around $425. It was a great deal considering how much stuff I got.

The G36C is an AEG, which stands for Automatic Electric Gun. Tokyo Marui, a company famous for its high quality Airsoft Guns, manufactures it. Because it is produced by Tokyo Marui, I was expecting great quality. After my experience with the G36C, I can tell you that my expectations were met.

First Impressions

The first thing I noticed when I took the gun out of the large box...

...was the size of the gun. It was a little bit smaller than I expected, but while holding it, it certainly didn’t feel tiny. “Compact” is the best way to describe the size of the gun. Well, I’m a small guy, and the size felt like it fit me perfect. I shouldered the stock to find that it felt very natural. I knew that I made the right choice buying this gun over the AK-47, which is what I was considering. The gun just fits me perfectly.

I was also impressed with the weight. Even without a magazine loaded and no battery, the G36C has a good weight to it. This weight gave the gun a realistic, solid feel.

After a few seconds of fiddling with the switches and inspecting the body, I instantly fell in love with the G36C.

Build Quality

While holding the gun I noticed the excellent quality that went into it. The seam lines are finished off extremely precisely. There is a lot of plastic on this gun, but metal isn’t exactly liberally used on the real one either, so Tokyo Marui’s really not to blame for that one.

There are several metal parts, most noticeably the lower RIS rail, rear sight, flash hider, trigger, stock collapsing button, and selector switch. The metal is high quality, as is the plastic. I was worried the excessive plastic would make the gun feel like a toy, but the plastic felt fine. The gun is quite sturdy, as well. There’s a tiny bit of creakiness here and there, but it’s nothing I can’t live with.

While holding the G36C, I was surprised at how solid it felt. Despite the plastic construction, the gun feels durable and hefty. There is no body flex on it whatsoever. Durability wouldn't be an issue with this gun, because it feels like it would take considerable force to damage or break it. In short, the G36C feels solid as a rock.

Stock

Most surprisingly, the stock felt very sturdy. The stock is a skeletal design and is collapsible, both of which could have contributed to making the stock a weak area of the gun.

Luckily, Tokyo Marui managed to make the stock very well, and while there is the slightest amount of wobble present, it is not noticeable at all when the gun is shouldered. The stock can collapse against the side of the body, where it snaps onto a plastic hook. This system appears as though it can be worn out with excessive use, but this does not bother me because I rarely fold the stock.

I absolutely hate the way the gun feels and looks with the stock folded, so the system will go unused for me.

Foregrip

Another surprisingly sturdy part is the foregrip. This area is detachable for placement of the Mini battery, so because of this, this area had the potential to be a weak area of the gun, but again, Tokyo Marui managed to make it exceptionally well.

To remove the foregrip, you tap out a pin and it slides right off, ready for battery placement. When on, the foregrip has no movement at all, though it was a bit of a struggle for me to get it on with the battery in place. Just follow the instruction manual, and you’ll be fine.

Just like the rest of the gun, the foregrip feels quite solid and sturdy. It is plastic, but the quality of the foregrip is very good. There is a little bit of flex involved with this part, but I believe it was intentionally made that way by Tokyo Marui, because the flex assists when placing the foregrip back on the gun after the battery is installed.

Trademarks

Trademarks are present on the G36C, but it'll be difficult to get one into the US with the trademarks intact. Luckily for me, Poweredge Usa just put removable black tape over the trademarks. When peeled off, the appearance is flawless.

Besides the "HK" trademark, it also says: "G36C 5.56 Kal." Tokyo Marui felt the need to cut down on the realism slightly, because while all the necessary trademarks are there, they also added, "Electric Air Gun" and "Warning: Refer To Instruction Manual." For maximum realsim, these will have to be removed by the owner. Personally, it doesn't bother me, but it might bother some.

Charging Handle

The charging handle it plastic, and wobbles a bit. This is personally my least favorite area of the gun. I haven’t heard many complaints about this, so it may just be my gun, but my charging handle has a little bit of wobble to it. It does feel quite satisfying to pull back though, and doing so reveals the adjustable Hop-Up knob. Personally, I really would have preferred a metal charging handle, but this is one of my only pet peeves with this gun.

RIS Rails

There are RIS rails abound on this gun. Virtually the whole top of the gun is one giant RIS rail, where you can mount scopes, red dot sights, lasers, or whatever else you want. This rail is plastic, but the plastic is extremely good quality.

The only way I found out it was plastic was because it didn’t get cold like the metal parts did when I went outside to test the gun. The bottom rail, however, is metal, and is shorter. This rail makes a prime attachment point for a vertical grip, which are available for quite cheap.

Sling Mounts

Like RIS rails, the G36C is also abounding with sling mounts. There are two on the foregrip, one on the stock, and one on the left side of the gun. Most of them are set in plastic, but I’m sure the mounts are good enough to stand up to the usual wear and tear. Unfortunately, there is no rear right-side sling mount present. With the amount of other sling mounts, a rear right-side mount probably wouldn't be used often, but some owners might find it annoying that Tokyo Marui neglected to add this mount.

Sights

I next examined the sights of the gun. The sights utilize a mechanism similar to the MP5, in which you look through the hole in the rear sight and line it up with the front sight. The rear sight has two different settings, one for close range (labeled 100/200 Meters for maximum realism) and one for long range (labeled 300 Meters). The rear sight is adjustable for windage and elevation using a small hexagonal tool that comes with the gun. The sights are very well constructed, but they are hard to aim with using a paintball mask. Because of this, and the fact I hate peep sights, I’ll probably be buying a good red dot sight.

Selector Switch

I then examined the selector switch. It is made of metal, with a highly visible white mark displaying which mode the gun is in. There are 3 modes: Safe (the trigger cannot be pulled), Semi-Automatic (the gun will fire one BB each time the trigger is pulled), and Fully-Automatic (the gun will continue to fire BBs until the trigger is released). Switching from one mode to another causes a noticeable “click” allowing to operator to know what mode the gun is in without looking directly at the switch. There are two switches: one on the left side (for right handed operators) and one on the right side (for left handed operators). It should be noted that if the stock is folded, this makes the right side selector switch inaccessible.

This is the 1st Part of my review, for the 2nd Part go here:
airsoftcentral1.proboards31.com/index.cgi?board=reviews&action=display&thread=1109795522
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