Reviews

The CM16 ARP9 AEG By G&G Armament

Master Chief

G&G Armament is, I would say, one of the pioneers in the airsoft manufacturing business. When shopping around for a new airsoft replica, G&G is always one of the brands I always check out. Not only do they have superior quality external build but through the years have also vastly improved their internals at a very high and respectable standard.

9MM ARs?

9mm ammunition in SMGs or sub machine guns is not new. They have always been around and so are 9mm style airsoft SMG replicas. But when the AR style rifles started coming out with 9mm expanded magazines, they sort of threw a lot of players out of balance. I think the first 9mm AR replica that I saw was made by another well known brand but it did not look anything good to me. For me it was simply an M4 rifle fitted with a thin magazine.

Then in 2017, G&G armament released their own version of the 9mm AR under their Combat Machine Series amply calling it the ARP9. Others have hailed the ARP9 as the ultimate CQB weapon due to its compact design and programmable firing mode with the ETU or Electronic Trigger Unit.

EXTERNALS

The G&G CM16 ARP9 AEG is surprisingly a good looking 9mm AR. It doesn’t have that awkward look like other builds have. The 9mm extended Glock-style mag does not seem to look out of place and flows with the entire look of the gun.

Most of the material used in this replica is polymer and thus, the gun is very light. From the front, the flash hider is made of polymer and serves or functions as a sound amplifier making the gun sound loud particularly indoors. If you don’t fancy the looks of this, the flash hider can easily be swapped with a suppressor with a CCW thread of the right diameter.

Moving along, you will find the M-Lok front rail. The top rail aligns continuously with the top rail of the receiver. The front rail is metal and is well built and looks good and features the M-Lok brand logo. The attachment between the front rail and the receiver is very solid with no movement at all.

Both the top and lower receivers are made of polymer material and I find craftsmanship of the receiver to be very very good. I believe that the receiver design is unique to this particular replica and it looks very solid. The connection between top and lower is very good with no noticeable movement. The bolt catch I believe is non functional but can be moved about when pressed. The fire selector switch cycles very well into safe, semi and full auto mode. It locks well in place into the selected fire mode. The trigger is a competition style flat trigger with the pull travel being quite short and very responsive with the use of the ETU. There is no noticeable click as the trigger sets back but because of the pre installed MOSFET, the trigger response is very good and there is no misfire whilst doing very rapid single shot firing.

The magazine well or magwell is different on the ARP9. The magwell is designed specifically for the ARP9 magazine. The opening is slightly flared making it easy to do quick mag changes. The mag release is located on the rear end of the magwell and is enlarged. It locks onto the magazine and holds the mag in place with little to no play at all. The mag release spring is quite stiff so the magazine needs to be inserted with a bit of a force or a slight tap at the bottom to make sure that it locks into place.

The forward assist button is non-functional but again adds to the aesthetic design of the gun. The charging handle pulls the fake bolt back and flips the dust cover open, giving access to the hop-up adjustment. Too bad the bolt does not lock back but since the gun is short it is easy enough to hold the charging handle back whilst adjusting the hop.

On the top rail are the folding front and rear metal sights which are fully adjustable. The pistol grip features a slim-line design which feels very comfortable in the hand and is surprisingly slim even though it houses a normal sized AEG motor.

At the rear of the ARP9 is the PDW style retractable stock. The stock is well built and is comfortable to shoulder despite the butt plate of it being slightly small. The stock extends to a midway position and to a fully extended position. With the gun being short, it gives you a really closed up and tucked in feel when the stock is fully retracted in and when extended, it provides a comfortable shooting stance which are both perfect especially for close quarters battles. The only thing that I wished G&G would have added to the stock is make it spring loaded. As there is no spring to punch the stock out, you will need both hands to adjust its length.

There is a short stock tube which serves as the housing for the battery. It looks spacious from the outside but once you look inside it has quite a lot of stuff in it. Within the wiring inside the battery compartment, the MOSFET is connected and also you can find the fuse. These components make the space a little bit crowded just enough to squeeze in a short 7.4v nunchuck Lipo battery.

INTERNALS

The internal build of the ARP9 features the high quality build seen in the the new generation of G&G AEGs. The gears are metal and stamped with the G&G trademark. There a fair bit of grease on the gears and the shimming is just right. The motor is a G&G IFRIT 25k G&G Motor long type. I believe this is a high torque motor and can handle an 11.1v lipo battery. It has a rotary style hop-up unit and the hop-up housing is plastic. The inner barrel is 150mm in length. The piston is plastic with a metal 1st tooth. Compression is decent but is something that can be improved.

You’ll find the ETU which is a feature in new G&G AEGs, in the gearbox itself.

PERFORMANCE

As the ARP9 features the Electronic Trigger Unit (ETU) which makes the trigger very responsive. As mentioned earlier, it also has a pre-installed MOSFET which can be programmed to a  3-burst mode. To activate this, put the fire selector on semi and pull the trigger for 10 seconds. Turn the fire selector back to safe then turn it to full auto and the 3-round burst will be active. To return to full auto mode, just do the same steps all over again.

One thing about this rifle is that it is loud due to the design of the flash hider. I prefer a much silenced gun so I would probably be swapping a short suppressor just to muffle the sound a bit.

Semi auto fire is pretty satisfying due the awesome responsiveness of the trigger that will delight Speedsofters. But the best bit I think is the 3-round burst feature and how easy it is to switch back to full auto when needed.

Range is very decent considering the short barrel installed. Easily hits over 30 metres with flat trajectory. Muzzle velocity is very consistent at around 340-350fps.

CONCLUSION

If you are looking for a really decent light weight CQB weapon the maybe try the G&G ARP9. Even with the stock at its fullest length, the rifle is still short enough to allow you to manoeuvre through those tight spaces. It is very light at just under 2500g which is perfect for those long day skirmishes.

Pros:

  • Top build quality
  • Lightweight
  • Great trigger response
  • High quality G&G internals
  • MOSFET included
  • 3 round burst function
  • Very competitive price

Cons:

  • Proprietary mags
  • Stock not spring loaded - needs both hands to adjust

So, is the G&G ARP9 the perfect CQB weapon? I will let you be the judge.

Many thanks to G&G Armament for sending us this unit for review.

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