Have you ever been caught up by an OpFor in a corner somewhere while changing mags? You feel helpless innit? It happened to me lots of times. Or have you ever staged a brave assault into the enemy’s den and whilst in the middle of it all you realize that your mag is empty? Painful innit? Did you ever feel the need to play support gunner but can’t be bothered to carry a heavy rifle like the 6.5kg M249? Or your hicap manual winding magazine just can’t cope with the need for continuous/sustained firing? Well don’t fuss no more my dear comrade… the answer’s here: the Electric Driven Box Mag for M4/M16 by A&K.

The package:

This gadget is boxed in the original manual driven box mag packaging, I guess the manufacturer is just trying to save a little by doing this. When you open the box you’ll see just two items: the box mag and the remote switch. Where’s the manual? Forget it coz there ain’t any. You will have to figure the whole thing up yourself.

The Box Mag:

Externally, it looks like the usual A&K manual winding box mag. It’s made of plastic but by all intents and purposes, this stuff is made of a tough material. I have proven that when I dropped my first box mag which was full of BBs and it did not break. There is no external battery port. Common sense will just dictate you to open the box by unscrewing 11 screws that hold the cover--- and then all things will become clearer. On the left lower part of the mag is the motor and gear compartment. On the right lower part is the “reserve” compartment. It can accommodate 2000BBs- one that will be useful if ‘ever’ your finger got stuck pulling the trigger and you finished 3000BBs on the upper compartments… whew!. The upper compartments house the “active” BBs (approx. 3000BBs). By gravity, BBs fall into the gear assembly (the box info says this is the ‘bullet supplying assembly’). The motor is then activated by a supplied pressure switch which will then turn the gears and push the BB’s up into your M4/M16 rifle.

The test:

I tested this with my CAM15A4 with a fast ROF and my Dboys SOPMOD with helical gears (slower ROF) and and I must say I AM VERY IMPRESSED. Minimal if not unnoticeable misfires, it feeds well even in simultaneous pressing of the trigger and the remote switch. I felt the need for the “go guys, I’ll cover you” kind of action when I tested this. It will definitely add a support gunner function in any team.

The result:

Pros:

• Cheap as electric mags can go. No arguments.
• Can deliver continuous flow of BBs
• Uses X2 9v square batteries (3 for £1 at poundland), no charging needed
• Has a reserve chamber of 2000 BBs just in case the 3000 BBs are not enough

Cons:

• Rough workmanship, plastic debris all over, BBs getting into the Motor and Gear compartment.
• No real steal counterpart, unlike the C-Mag, minus pogi points
• Heavy. Imagine a total of 5000 BBs in one mag. That can slow me down

My thoughts:

Okay, it’s getting obvious I am an easy prey for cheapsoft products. If you ask me is it worth it? At GBP19.99what did I get? I got a box magazine that is not purposely built but rather “converted” from manual to electric driven. IMHO, this is like a DIY project from a student in china. Does it do it’s job as expected? Well… not right out of the box. You have to open it, clean it (f***ing plastic debris all over), seal and protect the motor and gears compartment and then…. This baby will ROCK! It will be an awesome, relentless ass kicker! Your M4/M16 can now stand toe to toe with any support weapons out there… could be better. Would I recommend it?… YES! NOT all cheapsofts are up to my standards, but MOST of them do exceed my expectations as per price tags. This one included.

I hope all this will hold true after I use this gadget in a skirmish.

MD

Pictures:

Dont judge this baby by it's cover:



The cover removed, exposing the 'truth' which might be difficult to 'handle'.



Here's the motor and gears assembly... some guy with a chainsaw probably did this bit here.



Here's what to do: DIY somebody's DIY project. here. I used a flexible plastic - cut-out from a packaging and superglued to areas where BB's are likely to enter the Gear/Motor assembly (highlighted in red).


As you can see here, BIG gaps where BBs pass thru. It can cause an obstruction and ruin the whole mechanism.


Barebones... dirrrty.