M16VN - ArniesAirsoft - Review Archive

Author

Pendra

Surprise and Terror!

Registered: April 2005
Location: The other side!
Posts: 787

Review Date: 28/9/05

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 9

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	High quality outside, Extremely reliable inside, High-Cap mag
Cons:	Difficult striping, compatibility issues

I'd considered every factor I could think of, when I picked this gun for my very first AEG. And it fulfilled most of my expectations Smile

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As a total beginner
- First of all I looked for RELIABILITY (all in capital letter). I didn't want it to die misteriously after 2 games.
- As my arms are long I wanted a long gun.
- I wanted a CLASSICAL looking RIFLE.
- And I wanted it CHEAP.

After these points, the AK was the winner and the M16A1 (with the triangular foregrip) right behind it. Both had some distinctive pros and cons, like the problematic mounting on the AK or the barrel wobble on the M16A1. When I was told that the VN is almost immune to the barrel wobble I decided to get one.

I ordered it from the Italian ArcoEFrecce. The shipping was no exactly problem free, but I received it eventually.
The outside and inside of the box is elegant and nice, like on all TM boxes. However I don't use it at all, since I would need to take down the sling and the mounting before I put the gun into the box.
The gun is big and heavy, that is good. But creaks where the barrel and reciver meets. Mainly because big pieces of metal placed inside the foregrip to add weight. This extra weight stresses the joint, thus creaks sometime. The metal content is also higher then found on other TM M16s.
The whole outer barrel section, the foregrip holder ring, the mag catch, the fire selector, the trigger, the ejection cover, pins and the sling catches are made of metal. They are excellent quality. The paint does not wear off and they are made of stainless metal. The foregrip, pistol grip and the the stock are made of black plastic. They are very well painted and look like metal from a distance.
For some reason, the receiver is not black, but a version of grey. It may be apropriate historically, but the more you see full metal/full black M16/M4s the more you wish it was black as well.
It comes with a short type High-Cap mag. It is metal and has the capacity of 180 BBs. It has no feeding problem whatsoever.
You can fit a standard 8.4V large battery to the stock without problem. For a beginner it would be enough for a while. If you later plan to fit an 9.6V then you may have a problem. As the VN has a slightly shorter stock than the A2 you will need to mod it a bit. No need to worry, it is possible, just requires some work. This is the first sign that the VN is almost an A2 but not exactly :|.
The quality of the standard internals are flawless as on any TMs. The hop-up does not wander, the BBs does not stuck into the barrel, no missfire/double fire... It can take the punishment of any skirmish and keep on ticking.
The performance is the same as any stock TM. Around 100-120 feet aimed and 150 feet ballistical range. I used it in more than 30 skirmishes + lots of plinking and yet to produce a stop.
After about half year, the barrel wobble appeared. I was pretty dissapointed at first. Then I found a review on AirSoftRetreat. The guy mentioned that you can add spacers to reverse the wobble. He was right! The VN is designed is an unique way. If you take down the delta foregrip (easy to do) than you can see a wide brass ring. If you remove the ring you will see the metal barrel sticked into the plastic receiver. You need to put some thin spacers between the metal and the plastic. Insert the brass ring back (you may need to use a small hammer) and voiala, the wobble reduced considerably. This way the gun creaks more often, but it is fine for me, as long as it doesn't wobble.
And now about the internal upgrade ability. After about a year I decided to make a massive upgrade. The striping of the gun is awfull. If you are not carefull enough, you can break the receiver (one of my friend did break it). Right now I can take it apart and assemble it in les than an hour, but I still hate to do it.
I mentioned that there are more compatibility problems between the VN and the A2. Here you can find 2. The Hop-up unit and the nozzle is different. It is not that easy to come by a replacement hop-up unit in case you need one. The gearbox does not have windows on the side, but it makes no difference. You can use windowed V2 GBs.
Remember my friend who broke his receiver? He bought a metal body for replacement. It turned out that the fore section is not compatible with the given receiver (I can't remember which brand he used), so he had to buy a complete fore section as well!

As you can see, a stock M16VN is a good first gun. It will not fail you. Lately you can find CA/ICS M16 variants that looks better and comes close in reliablility. However none of them produce the delta foregrip or the VN style flash hider. These add character to the gun over the other (circle foregripped) contestants.
One more funny thing about this gun is that you can easily convert it to M16A1, just replace the flash hider and add a long mag Wink

The Bushman

6mm HUNTER

Registered: June 2005
Location: in your shadow
Posts: 2,169

Review Date: 28/9/05

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �210.00 | Rating: 6

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	great accuracy and performance, lightweight, high cap, big battery
Cons:	long creaky, mainly plastic, hard to strip, weak carry handle

Well I bought one of these way back in 1995 (a whole decade ago). It was my 3rd AEG. I had already bought a FAMAS and XM177e2 way before. The VN was released at 350 pounds in the UK. (I bought it for a bargain 210 including P+P + battery).

The review above is very accurate and covers nearly all of the points. Although it hardly has any extra metal parts really compared to other M16's or M4 series.

My own gun was amazingly accurate and long ranged for a stock TM AEG (in the top 5 best performing stock guns I have ever seen). 0.20g pellets fly straight and flat a long way. I guess around 25m. With a max range of 50m.

Weight was low, for such a huge gun (over a metre long), only 2500g same as the shortest variant the CAR15. This lightweight is great and allows the gun to handle really easily even if crawling.

Stripping the gun is indeed a real mare compared to most other AEG's. The main problem being removing the gearbox from the reciever.... it has to be lined up just right and can take a while to avoid damage to the lugs as mentioned above.

I have seen many M16 variants and they have all suffered from damage to these lugs eventually, once stripped, even if not damaged during the procedure. I don't know why....

I hate stripping M16's even though I have lots of experiance with them and used to run a service centre. Although the front wiring on an XM or CAR 15 make them even worse.

The pins in the main body (there are 3) can also fall out if you are not careful. We always tape over these parts of teh reciever to avoid this. Although better replacements that will not fall out are available cheaply.

Sights are good and adjustable. Made from metal. Controls are good with metal fire select and mag release unlike the XM and M16A1.

The muzzle and front barrel assembly (including distinctive front sight)is all metal and much nicer than the plastic used on the XM and M16A1 variants.

The 3 pronged muzzle is really nice, however, in the field, it suffers from the same problem as the real steel version.... if you get this near the ground it is perfect for scooping up a nice clob of mud. To remove it do not fire it out. Instead unscrew the anti clockwise muzzle and poke it out.... then check the inner barrel is not dirty....

Incidentally this reason is why the REAL STEEL muzzle was redesigned apparantly.

The barrel appreared fine but yep after a while and obviously some stress, it began to wobble a tiny bit. I attacked this differently from the above reviewer by getting a common JUBBILEE CLIP and fitting it over the top of the brass ring. If positioned at the correct angle, this can be added without any modification at all. This quickly makes the front barrel assenbly secure once more and I had no further problems with it.

I never fitted a sling as it was obvious to me that it would cause stress. These guns are fragile and can snap in half if you fall on them, so be careful with this plastic toy.

A large battery fits in the stock. The butt is a rubberised version that snaps on not unlike an AK version. This is different from the M16A1 butt that is plastic with a locking hinged door for battery fitting.

I fitted an M16 butt over the VN version to avoid losing it, as it will not fall off. Plus the door is just better in my eyes.

I found the carry handle to be weak and mine eventually cracked after placing too much stress on it with a big scope. I find this an issue with all COLT M16 variants from TM. See my CAR 15 review.

This gun is great left bog standard.

The high cap that comes with it is amazing. It may hold the least of ALL high caps out there. Only 190 rounds, however this is more than ample if you are not a support specialist. The mag only protrudes a small amount and allows you to get lower when prone and still keep the mag wheel off the floor. The door is large and allows easy filling and secure closure. Out of all teh mags I have ever owned these are my favourite and I have 4. very very easy to fit them in any pocket or best is a BRITISH ARMY BANDOLIER. These mags never miss a shot.

I had spare round carbine grips left over from fitting an M203 with custom built anodised handguards to my XM177e2. I sawed down the thick outer barrel (this is far more substantial than the XM or CAR 15 outer barrel.. fitted a tighter XM inner barrel and bob was your builder....

I basicly had an M655 CARBINE. This was great.

yet, I removed the carry handle with a sharp saw after it cracked and got parts custom made in a CNC shop to clamp a WEAVER rail flat along the top of the reciever. It bolted through into a replacement cocking handle that was made. This allowed the scope to be fitted straight on top of the reciever and far more comfortable than the craned shooting postion that is normal on scoped M16's.

Therefore with the carbined barrel and weaver reciever, I had made an SR16. The funny thing was that I did not even know that a REAL STEEL version of my conversion existed.

I loved this AEG and used it for several years. However 100,000 rounds later the gun was not performing so well and the gearbox had cracked. I have seen a fair few of these version 2 boxes crack over the years. Dry firing can be a major cause of such damage though. I never dry fire my guns.

When MARUI released the M4A1 and then SR16, I was gutted.... you could buy my custom gun off the shelf. Plus the new one has better motor and can field strip. I sold this off to a friend cheap and last I heard, it still worked.

OVERALL:

Great for a Vietnam Fan, too long for dense or close terrain. Very instinctive to shoot due to massive length. I have owned all of the TM M16 range (M16A1, XM177e2, M16VN and CAR15) and this ranked second behind the now out of production CAR15.

I recommend this for a beginner looking to skirmish in woodland. This gun is viable in open terrain. However, personally I prefere something shorter (hence why I carbined it).

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StigmataTickles

Registered: July 2005
Location: Everett, Washington USA
Posts: 46

Review Date: 26/7/06

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 6

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Hi-Cap, Durable, Accurate Markings.
Cons:	f Metal Body or other aftermarket parts, Difficult Stripping,

Tokyo Marui M16A1 Vietnam Version

Before I bought my M16 Vietnam Version my friends and I would play around our neighborhood with $20 pistols. We quickly got sick of our guns constantly breaking and decided to upgrade to the more expensive rifles. I was originally going for a FA MAS F1 but then I decided to take a chance on a long time favorite of mine the M16A1. So this is my first AEG. I still intend to buy a bullpup style gun, but I�m holding out for a STAR L85A2 or a JAC AUG A1.

Appearance � The M16 VN comes in a nice blue and black box. It came with a 190 round Hi-cap but because of this, no loading tool. So if you plan on buying standard magazines with it you�ll need to buy a separate loading tool. It also comes with a cleaning rod and 250 .25g BBs. The three prong flash hider was removed on mine and replaced with a red plastic birdcage model instead. I still have the original flash hider but (being from the U.S.) I don�t want to risk not having the red tip on the gun.

The M16A1 has a triangular fore grip, when I bought the gun I loved this, but about a year later and I now know why they switched to the ribbed version. The colour of the receiver is lighter grey than the real thing and scratches a bit to easily for my liking. The outer barrel is prone to scratches as well and will need paint touch ups occasionally. The stock and fore grip looks a little shiny but has a good texturing to it. Putting in the battery is an incredibly tight fit. Anything more than 7 cells are NOT going to fit unless it�s some sort of custom battery. The battery cover is easily the most annoying part of this gun. It doesn�t like to slide on or off like it should. It sometimes gets caught on the battery wires if you�re not careful. All the right trademarks are there which came covered up with some black easily removed textured tape. Funny thing, all the trademarks are crossed out on the box and the manual too. Putting a metal body on the gun is nearly impossible due to a strange barrel design. G&G makes a metal body for it but you also need to buy a G&G barrel group adding about $250 US to the total making it about a $500 kit.

Overall the gun looks great and the plastic is nice and solid. The barrel, mag release, trigger, trigger guard, Charging handle, sights, and dust cover are all metal. Unfortunately it doesn�t have a take down upper and lower receiver, nor do the charging handle or forward assist actually work. The dust cover doesn�t flap down like the real thing when the gun is cycled, which is fine because this is where the hop up is located. Marui could have built in a few more features. Taking the gun apart for maintenance is the most annoying process I can think of. To separate the upper and lower receiver you have to take off the stock, outer barrel, fore grip, pistol grip (and subsequently, the motor), and a vast array of pins and screws. Which, compared to the A2 is just unnecessary and ridiculous.

Performance �The hop-up on mine was rock hard the first time I adjusted it but after some fidgeting it moves easily but firmly. The hop up is just a little dial in the dust cover and it adjusts noticeably from slight movement. It fires perfectly straight for about 50-60 yards (I�m really terrible at guessing distances but I had a few other peoples opinions also). The gun is perfectly accurate to my liking. Its range is much farther than I would even bother firing at someone. But for now it�s working without a hitch. About a month after I got it that barrel wobble everyone talks about started to kick in. I found it incredibly easy and effective to fix this problem with a hose clamp though.

Directions for fixing the barrel wobble:
Just slide the Slip ring towards the receiver and look for the little buttons on either side of the grip and push them in and slide the grip out one side at a time. Then slide the little brass piece off. Put a hose clamp where the brass piece used to be and tighten it down. Then you may want to tape the brass piece to the barrel to prevent that clanking noise. Then put the grips back on and it should be nice and solid.

Note- After about three months I noticed the power, range and accuracy decreased sharply. Me and my Dad took off on a two night adventure to take the thing apart. You literally have to take everything off the gun minus the gearbox to get t the barrel and hop unit. When we finally got it apart a little black piece of hard plastic fell out of the hop rubber. This is worrisome, it wasn�t in a place things could get in from the barrel. So it was already there when it was made or something broke and fell in. But we put it all back together and it fires alright, its power is back but it�s accuracy and range are shot now.

The first day I brought it home me and some of my friends tested it out. At about 40 yards it�ll leave a little red circle on your bare skin. My friends, being the strange people they are decided to test it on each other at about 2 yards and left a line of about 10 nasty looking red lumps running up one of their backs and 3 blood blisters on the palms of one of their hands. It�s got more power than I really need. It punches through a Coke can at three feet and leaves a dent at the other end. The gun is lengthy which can pose a problem at times but not to often.

Note- The power decreased as the spring wore in a little. It no longer causes my pals unbearable pain. It�s lasted longer than my friends TM G3 SG1. We still have to buy replacement parts for that.

The 180 round Hi-Cap the gun comes with is reliable. However when I�m up against my friends G3-SG1 with 500 round hi-caps it seems like I only have a standard clip. So I�ll be buying some G&G 450 round magazines to compete later on.

I�m fairly satisfied with it for a first gun. But now I plan on moving onto bigger and better things just a year later. Overall I�d say an A2 would be a better more manageable gun or even a FA MAS if that�s your thing. This is an okay gun but there are better, more reliable guns in the same price range.

Stock Specs �
Length � 984 mm
Fps � Somewhere around 280, never got a chance to chrono it.
Weight � 2,900 g
Ammo capacity � Standard - 68 rounds
Hi-Cap � 300 rounds
Vietnam Hi-Cap � 180 rounds

Rating-
Appearance 4/5
Build Quality 2.5/5
Performance 3/5
Value For Money 3/5
Overall Potential 3/5