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Reviews
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Date of last review
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1
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33064
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14/4/08
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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Average Rating
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100% of reviewers
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£3.00
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7.0
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Pissin' people off one post at a time
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Ranger_Captain
Pissin' people off one post at a time
Registered: July 2005
Location: West Point, New York
Posts: 1,229
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Review Date: 14/4/08
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: £3.00
| Rating: 7
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Positive aspects of the product (pros):
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Small, lightweight, quiet
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Cons:
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Short range, very weak
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Steely Airsoft Pen Gun Review
Introduction
If you’ve read a spy novel, seen spy gear, or seen any spy flick short of James Bond sooner or later a super tiny, very concealable gun. We’ve all seen the classic glove gun, cane gun, and the belt gun, but the be all, end all showstopper is always the ubiquitous pen gun. Finally, airsofters a replica for their own concealed kills.
Cane Gun, Circa 1950
Belt Gun, circa 1850
Glove Gun, 1962
Real Steel History
There isn’t much to say on the real steel history of pen guns. They fall under the classification of “zip guns” or improvised firearms that generally do not have the appearance of a normal firearms. Pen guns are almost always custom made and, obviously, are illegal (one more reason why this pen gun is an oddity).
Modern Pen Gun
First Impressions
I ordered my pen gun off of ebay *pause for gasp* and received it about a week later. It comes in a simple, off the rack packaging which to me says you can, in certain areas, find this in a dollar store or something of the like.
Opening I find the pen gun. It weighs in around half a pound, about six inches long and about as wide as a large highlighter. It overall feels surprisingly nice for a $0.99 gun. It’s nowhere near plastic quality of a Marui but I’d say it probably would be out a UTG.
Anyway moving on.
Appearances
Pending on what version you get the pen will either be blue, black, florescent yellow, or orange. It has the look of a very oversized ball point pen. There are no markings on it other than the MiC moniker and, ironically, the words “Fountain Pen” written on the side.
On top of the clip on the top of the pen is the trigger and yes, those are frogs straddling the side.
Operation and Shooting
You load the pen gun through the small hole on the underside. Once loaded you pull back the frogs, which because of the streamline shape of the pen is actually fairly hard, then you push it all the way back to seat the bb. Now it’s quite literally point and shoot.
As you expect, it’s very underpowered. Sitting at my desk I can just about hit my closet door which is about 7 feet away and even at that range I have to arch it ever so slightly. I doubt I’ll ever chrono it but I’d wager under 150 FPS.
Under three feet this little sucker stings. Left a welt that I’d compare to a UHC pistol at the same, pointblank range. Any farther than that though it feels like a fly landing on your arm. Just enough to let you know something hit you, but not enough to make you realize it’s a bb.
Also, it’s horribly inaccurate. I have found a way to make up for this, and that is after you’ve loaded the bb you place two more in the barrel, turning into a mini shotgun (FPS seems about the same too) and you seem to consistently get a triangle spread.
The one nice thing about this pen is that it is very, very quiet. The first time I shot I was worried it didn’t fire, and the bb striking my door was the only indication otherwise. This feature makes it practical for the office/classroom prank.
I opened it up (no pics required for this) and what I found was a miniature spring pistol assembly. I would like to say it’s upgradeable (I know it’s only a 99 cent pen gun but I cant help it) but you’d have to do it completely custom (spring length, piston head ect.) but in the end, since there is no “barrel,” just a membrane (like those found in a UHC revolver’s rounds or a Super 9 shell) that holds the bb in place, any gain in fps from the “piston” will likely have little effect in the end.
Conclusion
Needless to say, this pen gun is a novelty at best. But a fun novelty it is. I have thought of a few practical applications (short of giving a student a surprise in the classroom) but are mainly limited to the event you play the part of someone captured or a hostage.
I suppose it can function as the ultimate, last chance, hold out gun, but in the end I think it’s just a cool little toy worth owning for the novelty and the occasional prank.
Pros:
Small, if you get the neon yellow it will definitely pass off as a highlighter.
Super simple design, makes it feel nearly unbreakable
Quiet
And lets all admit it, it’s kind of a fun idea to carry around this thing
Cons:
Three Foot effective range
Can only use .12g, .25’s literally fall out of the barrel
“Silly Frogs” on the side make you feel manly (but then if your carrying around an airsoft gun maybe you don’t care)
In the end, I give it a 7/10, CONSIDERING what it is. Of course I wouldn’t say it’s on par with a UTG MP5 or something like that, but then I’m not grading this pen against oh say a TM M4A1. Considering what it is, and what you’d expect out of an airsoft gun pen, this pretty much is exactly what you’d want. Only thing better would be a way to make it have longer range but then, for those special kills when grabbing an airsoft pen is your only action, range probably isn’t a factor…
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Never argue with a gun, it may argue back...
United States Corps of Cadets, USMA
Cadet, United States Army
2012 "For More Than Ourselves"
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Registered: July 2005
Location: West Point, New York