Reviews

LCT Airsoft Z-Series ZP-19-01 AEG

Master Chief

LCT Airsoft Z-Series ZP-19-01 AEG

The  ZP-19-01 is manufactured by Taiwan-based LCT Airsoft and part of the new Z-series of complete airsoft guns and parts that are based on the Zenitco designs. LCT makes all types of AEGs and EBBs but when I hear LCT, AK-type AEGs always come to mind. We have met the wonderful team of LCT during the yearly IWA outdoor classic at Nuremberg in Germany and I have always been impressed on how proud they are with their products and they should be because the quality of what they produce is really impressive.

The new LCT Z-Series AEGs are some of the nicest tactical AKs I have seen or what I call AKs on steroids. These things look great and are currently a big hit with younger airsoft players who don’t fancy the standard AK look but want something that is not an M4. The ZP-19-01 is based on the PP-19-01 or better known as the Vityaz-SN, a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun developed in 2004.

LCT Airsoft Z-Series ZP-19-01 AEG 02

 

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The ZP-19-01 by LCT Airsoft came in a standard LCT Airsoft cardboard box. The box seemed a bit small when I first saw it but then I found out that the AEG has a folding stock. OK, you might wonder why I’m even bothering mentioning the box. Well this AEG came all the way from the LCT main office in Taiwan. And that is in the other side of the world from me so the box is this AEGs first line protection. The box actually held well and the AEG came in one piece. My only concern with the way this AEG is packaged is the thin plastic mould that supports the AEG inside. This one is a bit damaged and to be honest it is not difficult to do that as the material used for this is not the best. My point is, this AEG is not cheap, costing around £325 so players or collectors spending their hard earned cash will want to make sure that the product they purchased will get to them in good condition.

LCT Airsoft Z-Series ZP-19-01 AEG 03

 

Now moving on to the ZP-19-01...

This AEG absolutely looks great. I expected something good from LCT but this one looks better than what I expected. This first thing I noticed when I picked it up is its weight, it is heavy. Everything externally about this AEG is metal. I think the magazines are the only plastic parts. The front end features a fully RISed up handguard which is attached solidly unto the receiver. The receiver is your standard AK style receiver with a rail on the top cover. The only difference that this one has from an AK is the magwell which accommodates the 9x19mm-style AEG magazine.

LCT Airsoft Z-Series ZP-19-01 AEG 04

 

LCT Airsoft Z-Series ZP-19-01 AEG 05

 

LCT Airsoft Z-Series ZP-19-01 AEG 06

 

LCT Airsoft Z-Series ZP-19-01 AEG 07

 

The rear AK style rear sight is fully marked, adjustable and aligns very well with the front sight. The hop-up adjustment is located behind the charging handle. You will need a small finger though to access the hop-up because the opening when the charging handle is pulled back is slightly small. But hope is not lost for all you sausage-finger people, the hop-up can be adjusted under the top cover. The top cover does not come off completely on the ZP-19-01. It is unlocked from the rear and simply flips upward. The top cover also serves as the battery housing which I will go into more later.

LCT Airsoft Z-Series ZP-19-01 AEG 08

 

LCT Airsoft Z-Series ZP-19-01 AEG 09

 

LCT Airsoft Z-Series ZP-19-01 AEG 10

 

The AK standard fire selector switch works well. My only issue with this one is that the fire selector is very tight and requires a lot of pressure to move it to full auto and semi and back. I hope it will loosen up with use constant use.

The Zenitco style folding stock is very nice. The length is fully adjustable and features an adjustable cheek rest and butt end. The stock is solid and has no wobble. Once the cheek rest and butt end are adjusted the rifle becomes very comfortable to shoulder. I would recommend that these be adjusted especially if the player will use optics.

LCT Airsoft Z-Series ZP-19-01 AEG 11

 

LCT Airsoft Z-Series ZP-19-01 AEG 12

 

PERFORMANCE

One of the things that I noticed about this AEG which I wasn’t a fan of is how tight everything is. I’ve mentioned the fire selector switch before and I also had difficulty opening the top cover and also locking it back in place. Another thing that I want moan about at is the battery compartment. I tried using some 7.4v Lipo batteries and the best one that we can fit in is the nunchuck style flat one. We had to insert one through the front end and one under the top cover. If you use a bigger battery it will jam the charging handle and it will also push the charging handle outwards preventing the fire selector from easily being pulled back to safe mode. A very thin lipo battery would be the best one to use.

LCT Airsoft Z-Series ZP-19-01 AEG 13

 

Once we got over the battery dilemma, we went off to try the AEG on an actual skirmish. The AEG comes with two 50 round low cap magazines attached together by a battery clamp. This makes it very easy to swap between both mags.

I enlisted the help of my good friend Ethan from ROE Airsoft to use the ZP-19-01 for the first warm up game at Airsoft Plantation. The performance of this AEG is pretty impressive. It measure at 280fps on the chrono using 0.25g BBs. The rate of fire is very decent on full auto and trigger response on semi is great. I tried the rifle myself on semi and I was pulling the trigger as quick as I can and it never misfired. Range is also very good easily shooting over 30 metres. BB flight is flat until it reaches the end of the hop effect.

LCT Airsoft Z-Series ZP-19-01 AEG 14

 

The hop-up is a bit tricky and I thought I would mention it. If you get the hop right, the range as I said is great but the hop-up adjuster easily slides back and forth. It stays in place once it’s there but it can easily be accidentally moved especially during battery installation. I would have liked the hop to be a bit more tight or clicks in its place.

The mags supplied are great. You do get 2 or 3 BBs fall when you change an “empty” mag so a BB follower would be useful. With the 50BB capacity for each mag, it gives you 100bbs in total which is a little bit on the low side but there are 200BB high capacity mags available.

LCT Airsoft Z-Series ZP-19-01 AEG 15

 

MY TAKE ON THE LCT ZP-19-01

The LCT ZP-19-01’s performance is impressive. I knew it was going to look good from the photos I’ve seen online but to use it in game just proved that it is not just a pretty face. It is not perfect and there are bits of it that I wish were better but we had a really fun experience using it. This is the first LCT AEG that I have used and if this is how great they perform then I might look into trying their other products.

Many thanks to LCT for providing us the ZP-19-01 for review, AP or Airsoft Plantation for letting us do the testing in game, and big thanks to Ethan of ROE Airsoft for helping me out with the testing.

The Latest News

Feature Story

Airsoft Guns and Gear Reviews