Reviews

KART M688 M14 Enhanced Battle Rifle (EBR)

OptimusPrime

One of the most anticipated all China made AEGs discussed in airsoft forums, the KART M14 EBR (M688) was officially released in September 2007, to the great relief of many. While the G&P EBR Chassis kit for the Marui M14 has been available for some time before it got released, it is expensive, and only a few were able to muster enough courage and cash to buy it and chop up their beloved Marui M14 to use the chassis. The KART M14 EBR made having an EBR much more affordable at around US$150, to the chagrin of those who shelled out US$500 for just getting the G&P conversion kit alone.



But before we move on further into discussing the KART M14 EBR, let's have a short description of the M14 EBR. While the M14 has already been officially phased out of service in the US Armed forces, many infantrymen still prefer this rifle with its stopping power (7.62x51mm), accuracy, and durability. Its widest use was during the Vietnam War until it was replaced by the M-16. While phased out of service officially, it still is in service serving as the M21 sniper rifle. But its latest and awesome reincarnation is the Mk 14 Mod 0 EBR or the Enhanced Battle Rifle. Made by Sage International, this M14 sports the EBR chassis, as a product developed for the US SOCOM Navy SEALS. It basically followed the M14 SOCOM in which the chassis made by Sage International allows an operator to pop-in an M14 body into the battle chassis. It is front heavy, which was intentionally done to minimise the recoil or “kick” when firing an M14. Nevertheless, the EBR chassis allows an assortment of attachments, ranging from scopes, to laser sights and bipods, making the M14 very flexible weapon for the sniper.

The Package

As said above, the KART M14 EBR was released in September 2007 after much initial discussions that it was a hoax, a joke being played by someone who has some skills in Photoshop and presented a box package indicating a KART M14 EBR. However, the speculations ended when RSOV.com and Gunner Airsoft made the first announcements of its availability. I was able to get one of the units in the first batch at Gunner Airsoft. Luckily the package delivered to me contained a charger and a large nunchuck-type battery wrapped in yellow. The others who were able to purchase from the same batch were not lucky as me and just received the AEG with no extras. But I did get hit with a hefty customs charge for it to be released to me.

The package itself was really heavy and you'll suspect that the rifle is lead-heavy as you open the box. You'll see the rifle digging deeper into the styrofoam packaging through its sheer weight, that pulling out the AEG would shower you with lots of bits and pieces of the styrofoam. You could have wished that they should just pack this with cardboard and lots of paper. So the first thing you need to do is grab a broom and dustpan, clean up the floor of these pieces, and start inspecting the rifle to see if there are still pieces stuck inside the barrel and other parts of the body. This took more a little bit over fifteen minutes ensuring that there is none left. I needed to dryfire the rifle to push KART M14 EBR in Action out the bits that went inside the barrel.

Other than that, the rifle is a sight to behold. It is not the sexiest of the lot, but it is one of the AEGs that means business upon first glance with the way the EBR chassis is done. The whole rifle is made of metal --- pot metal that is, with  the hand guard, butt pad, cheek rest and pistol grip being the plastic parts of the whole thing.  Weighing almost 7 kilos even without the ammo loaded, it is not a rifle for those with smaller builds, which counts me in. But nevertheless, I love the look of this, and I would carry this into skirmishes, and perhaps build up my biceps with it.


KART M688 EBR (Bipod Grip is not included in the package, it is used here for photo purposes)

Inspecting the Rifle

I have read reports that those who received their KART M14 EBR had experiences with wobbles and squeaky parts and that they had to screw the parts tighter to eliminate these problems. Mine wasn't and it was solid enough. No need for tightening the screws here for me.

Overall, the KART M14 EBR is nicely built, the EBR chassis firmly holding the KART M14 SOCOM Body. Others have asked if a Marui M14 can be fitted into it, and I must say it can take it in, with some fitting job needed to be done in order for the Marui M14 to pop in. Those adventurous enough to do a little project with other M14 bodies can jorder the KART EBR Conversion kit  made available recently. This costs almost US$90 and only for the short barrel conversion.

Remove the flash hider from the barrel, then flick it with your finger, and you'll hear a familiar sound that you think the flash hider is made from a tuning fork. The front part of the EBR is the most striking feature as it is the heaviest part of the rifle, much the same as the real steel EBR. It has rails at all points of the clock (12, 3, 6, 9) that can allow you to put attachments to any part of the front of the chassis. While I placed a grip bipod for it, you might consider using a Harris-type Bipod so it can be much steadier when using it on a prone position. The plastic grip bipod from JLS might get crushed under its sheer weight after several skirmishes.

The paint may just chip off a bit, but it's painted better than a DBoys M4 replica.

You can install the provided battery into the foregrip area. I do not have the specifications of the provided nunchuck-type battery but it's a tight fit into it. I don't know why wrapping is yellow, perhaps so as not for you to lose it in the field, but I could've preferred that this came wrapped in a darker colour, say black or olive drab. But if you intend to use the battery, just wrap it in black electrical tape to hide the yellow colour, but it will make installing the battery a little bit more cumbersome due to added thickness caused by the extra electrical tape wrapping.


The heaviest part of the EBR

Going into the receiver part, you'll see again most parts of it as metal, with the grip being the plastic part of it. The bolt catch actually works so try to pull the charging handle and lock the bolt catch. It's actually nice to hear the “CHA-CLACK!!!” sound once you release the bolt catch but it does not actually serve any purpose. But who cares? It gives you something to do and feel like you're using a real steel EBR by doing this once you enter a firefight.


Bolt Catch Engaged

There are no significant markings, with the exception of a “Made In China” engraved on the left part of the body. The gearbox is an exact copy of the Marui version 7 gearbox.


No Markings Here with just a “Made In China” Engraving on the Upper Rear Body

The package comes with a 400-round magazine and for those who are used to the M14 and the AK-47, the operation in using the magazine is the same, so no need to worry about familiarising yourself with a new magazine insertion method. You'll need to release the magazine by pressing the mag catch/release mechanism just between the magazine and the triggerguard.


Magazine Release

You'll need to mount the M14 Stripper Clip Sight Base with Picitanny rail section which comes along with the package. It was not installed when it was delivered and there's an allen key provided for you to install it. If you have a sniping scope with a longer base then this sight base is useful for you.


M14 Stripper Clip Sight Base Mounted

The rear sight actually works and you can adjust for windage and elevation. But I would strongly recommend putting a sniper scope or a red/green dot for it as it is almost useless. Turning the knobs won't give you those clicking sounds and the knobs don't respond properly requires that you have to put extra effort for these to turn.


Rear Sight

The right side of the body is where you can find the charging handle and the firing switch. The charging handle, when pulled back does not show any hopup area and nothing else. The firing switch is located at the upper right rear of the body, just right below the rear sight knob on the right. The safety switch is the adjustable metal in front of trigger.

The plastic pistol grip is narrow and hollow as it does not contain the motor. I wasn't able to find anything in the package that can serve as a base for the grip and at the same time cover the bottom.


Hollow Pistol Grip

Going into rear part of the rifle, the telescopic stock is tad tight to extend to its fullest length, together with adjusting the cheek pad. What you'll need to do is lube the stock and cheek pad areas with silicone oil to ensure smooth adjustments. In adjusting the stock, you'll need to press the button at the back of the receiver and find the the most comfortable position for you. As for the cheek pad,you'll need to adjust this by pulling the lever on the right near the butt pad, pulling the cheek pad up or pushing it down until you are satisfied with the position you want. Lock the lever once done.

If you think that the telescopic stock is not sturdy enough, I can tell you that it is, even if it looks thin that it will be snapped into two by the weight of the front. Having said this, the make of the stock and cheekpad completes the overall look of the KART M14 EBR as an airsoft replica of the MK14 Mod 0 Enhanced Battle Rifle made by Sage International.

Now, it's time to test this out.


Telescopic Stock and Cheek Pad


Rifle Operation, Chrono and Accuracy

Firstly, you'll have to insert the battery into the foregrip area by removing the three screws that fix the plastic handguard into place with an allen key. Remove the plastic handguard to reveal the battery connector and connect the battery before closing the compartment. I usually had to put back into place just a single screw back in during skirmishes in case I need to make a quick battery change in the middle of a firefight. You can just put the rest of the screws back in when you'll need to pack up and go home.­


Remove the screws of the plastic handguard


Lift the handguard to reveal the battery compartment


Fit the battery in

Installing the nunchuck-type battery is tedious as you'll need to carefully insert everything in before you can fit the handguard back in and the screws able to properly insert into the holes. This is actually not a helpful thing for me since I consider speed in installing batteries. I decided on installing a 9.6v volt 1500mah mini battery and tape it to the metal in the middle, and found out that I have extra space for putting in something. This can be an extra mini battery that you can tape to the first one.

Secondly, you'll need to fill up the 400 round manual wind-up magazine with bbs and insert the magazine into the mag well (don't forget to wind it up). To prep up the rifle for firing, you'll need to adjust the safety switch at the trigger guard into “fire” mode.


In "Safe" Mode


In "Fire" Mode

As the rifle is ready to be fired, you'll need to adjust the fire selector switch in either “semi” or singleshot mode, or fully automatic. The default setting of the rifle is always in “semi” mode. You will need to adjust the switch fully clockwise to go into full automatic, and vice versa to go back into single shot mode.


Single Shot Mode


Full Auto Mode

To adjust the hop-up, you can locate the hop-up in the mag well area, thus you'll need to take out the magazine first before you can make any adjustments. This is a procedure that I consider to be much of a hassle, apart from changing the battery as you'll need to remove the magazine, adjust the hop-up, insert the magazine back in, and fire and you'll need to repeat this procedure each time you'll need to make an adjustment until you are satisfied.


Hop Up in the Mag Well

Using a Guarder Chrono, this rifle clocks at an average of 343 fps (347, 339, 345), making this a little bit over the limit in the United Kingdom to be considered an assault AEG. But this will be allowed as a sniper rifle, but you're limited to using limited ammo and single-shot firing.



Now to test its accuracy, I placed it at 20 meters, installed a Star 1-4x20mm Tri-Rail scope, which you think it may not be a good choice for a sniping scope, but for airsoft it does. The first shots went far below the target area, and with this beautiful English weather of strong gusts of wind, I made adjustments and compensated until almost spending almost a quarter of my magazine's capacity, I was able to hit the mark at full auto. On a good day, it is fairly accurate enough and with a tight bore 6.04mm upgrade, this can be a good contender against the sniper rifles that have full auto capacities.







Field Test

This one already had its first taste in a skirmish field, which it admirably performed well without any misfeeds or breakdowns for the whole day and going through 3,200 rounds. Its weight really makes it tough to bring it around that I had to change from a tactical foregrip to a grip bipod during  the game. Then by lying prone each time I take a position or rest the rifle with the bipod, allowing me to properly shoot those on the opposing team.











Having taken its initial skirmish with a load of bbs passing through it, it was time to open it.

Opening the AEG, you'll see the Marui Version 7 – type of Gearbox, which is the same as what is in the Kart M14 SOCOM AEG. The upper half is coloured in black and the shell is die-casted but needs better work. The grease inside is fair enough as compared to other ACM airsoft guns which are overgreased when shipped which is not exactly welcome if the AEG is used in cooler climates.  It uses XYT gears and plastic bushings.

There were some bits of pieces of metal in the gearbox that not cleaning the insides of the gearbox will cause havoc in the near future, ripping all the gears, and of course another expense at fixing the gearbox by replacing all damaged gears. This is where I am disappointed as I am already impressed with the build quality of the external parts.


Overall Conclusion

Is the KART M14 EBR that great? In the looks department, it is absolutely stunning. In the price category, it also hits the mark as one of the better low-cost AEGs in the market these days. Performance is fair, and its internals can do better.

You might insist that its heavy weight is its biggest lowdown in getting this AEG. But I strongly beg to differ on this. The real steel EBR from Sage International is one of the heaviest battle rifles out there, and it is in this area that KART tries to be faithful to the real version of this AEG.

I cannot give both thumbs up for the KART M14 EBR considering all these facts, but I'd definitely recommend this to be included in your shopping list. The EBR chassis itself is its greatest point in considering a purchase of this as you can fit any other M14 body on this with some minor modifications.

Furthermore, if I want to retire this rifle, it won't be going to the scrap heap. It'll be up there in my collection area of AEGs for me to look at when I'm relaxing. Just looking at it is already a treat.


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