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Reviews
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Date of last review
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1
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12686
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2/1/10
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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Average Rating
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No recommendations
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£26.00
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3.0
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Description:
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Double Eagles tri shot shotgun designed after the Benelli M4 shotgun, used by the USMC as the M1014 and the British Military as the L128A1.
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Keywords:
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M4 Shotgun Marine MEU US USMC L128A1
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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: 2/1/10
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Would you recommend the product? No |
Price you paid?: £26.00
| Rating: 3
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Positive aspects of the product (pros):
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Decent Power, Decent, Range, Sights are very adjustable for what it is
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Cons:
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To light, Wobbly everything, Very brittle, Slide a bit finicky
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Double Eagle M1014 M4 Shotgun
Introduction
Airsoft shotguns… that phrase dregs up a lot of things to me. I should start out with saying I love shotguns. To me pistols are worthless, both in realsteel and in airsoft. I’d rather have the extra weight and sling a shotgun on my back then carry a worthless little pistol that won’t even down something at the same range a shotgun will tear it in half.
That said in airsoft shotguns are a hit or miss (no pun intended) thing. Some act more like pump action rifles and the few that actually shoot more than one bb have real pro-con issues. I’ve long had a dream for an AESG (Automatic Electric Shot Gun) which given the various methods for airsoft shotguns, the one design that would lend itself best to this idea is the venerable Tokyo Marui tri-shot design. About the only flaw in the TM tri-shot design is the fact TM only makes it in two designs, the SPAS-12 and the Super 90, both fine weapons but if you’re not a fan, you’re SOL.
Well that’s half true, you were SOL, now our friends in China have kindly made, and seem to be continuing to make, various renditions including the recently adopted Benelli M4 as the M1014 shotgun or L128A1 in use by both the U.S. and English militaries respectively. Being a popular shotgun and needing a base to work towards my AESG design, I picked one up off of eBay. I figured before I tear this thing apart though I’ll give it a fair review first.
Real Steel History
*Taken from Modern Firearms a.k.a. world.guns.ru with minor spelling errors fixed
Benelli M4 Super 90 is developed in Italy by Benelli Armi Spa., and imported in the USA by Heckler & Koch USA, Inc.
In early 1999, US AARDEC (Army Armament Research and Development Center), awarded contract for XM1014 Joint Service Combat Shotgun to Heckler & Koch USA, Inc. Initially, some 20.000 units will be shipped to US Marine Corps.
Technically, Benelli M4 Super90 is a gas operated, smoothbore, magazine fed semi-auto shotgun. Barrel locking is achieved by rotating bolt with two lugs. M4 Super90 has dual gas cylinders, gas pistons and action rods for increased reliability. Low-power rounds, such as less-than-lethal rubber slugs, may be cycled manually. Gun is field stripped without any additional tools. The telescopic stock may be replaced by pistol grip or hunting-style stock without any tools. Barrel has internal screw-in choke system for increased versatility. Standard sights are ghost-ring rear and blade front. Accessory weaver-style rail is installed at the top of the receiver. This rail may accept scopes, laser illuminators, night-vision sights etc.
Gun is so designed that it can fire 3" and 2 3/4" (70 and 76 mm) shotshells of different power without any adjustments and in any combination. All surfaces are covered by non-reflective, wear and corrosion-resistant finish. Gun is very reliable in any weather conditions.
First Impressions
Good thing I wasn’t expecting much as I didn’t get much of a positive feel on first impressions. First of all this gun is light, very light. Almost disconcertingly so.
The shotgun comes in a simple box with a speed loader, some crapb’s, one of those useless slings, shotgun shell, and manual.
The packaging is nice, for those that care, and comes very secure so no worries about damage in transit, although as you’ll see that won’t matter much…
Appearance
To be honest I’m not the biggest fan of the M1014 shotgun as is, I much prefer the old style pump-action shotgun lock. Still, this is growing on me the more I look at it in person.
This being a rare time where I’ve never actually seen the real steel version in person I don’t have much to compare it to but I can say that it does look quite real. Now I know that can be said of almost any airsoft gun, but the DE in the same vain doesn’t look great either. It’s clearly plastic. To mistake this gun as anything but plastic would say nothing of the gun but something curious about the observer.
Lacking any trademarks, metallic sheen, and boasting horrid seam lines, this shotgun doesn’t look all that great. There is very little metal on this gun, limited to the outer barrel, stock tube, and the sights, and these few pieces of metal are the lowest quality, especially the paint used on them, which has begun chipping off less than two days after opening the box!
Interestingly the RIS rail is plastic and looks like it will chip rather easily but having mounted a scope on it already I believe it will hold up no worse than the gun itself… carefully chosen phrase…
That all said from a distance in someone’s hands it looks cool. The M1014 has a very unique shape and less of a comment on the DE but on the gun itself I like the way they look and is a special appearance among combat shotguns.
Look Grade: 6/10
It’s a bit below average in looks due to the horrid paint and very plasticy look.
Feel/Aesthetic
Most of the time I start off this section with a phrase that sounds about like, “Well it’s fun to hold.” Well that’s not the case here. Holding this gun bothers me as I keep fearing just holding it will cause it to fall apart. That may sound a bit hysterical but it really isn’t that much of an exaggeration. This gun is delicate. The barrel and receiver feel fairly firm but the stock, pistol grip, and pump action feel very brittle and as if a good knock will kill the whole works.
The plastic used in this gun is of such a low quality I can’t think of anything to compare it to. In my review of the Galaxy MP5K PDW, I noted a few stress fractures near the receiver pins. While that is a not a good thing, it is at least somewhat understandable given their location. On this gun I wouldn’t be too surprised if a random crack happened across the whole of the receiver.
Features wise this gun is somewhat lacking, and what it does have are sorely low quality. The retractable stock is the most noticeable feature and by far the most poorly designed. It wobbles, along with the pistol grip, wildly. I have tried multiple times to reinforce the whole system, including epoxying the whole area, and still there are various creaks and wobbles. With the stock fully extended there is so much play that you can aim around corners with it still braced against you’re shoulder… not exactly the plus one would think.
Additionally, and I’m honestly not sure why, the stock rotates to the right about a quarter turn and then springs back on it’s own. Now obviously this was a design feature but for what I do not know. It is not how the stock is adjust in length, this being achieved by a small button on the side of the stock, and it forces you to be careful when shouldering it so as not to rotate it unwillingly. If this is a feature on the realsteel I doubt it has as much play or is as weak as it is on the DE.
The sights are okay, as they are actually fairly adjustable and do in fact allow for careful zeroing based on what weight ammo you use.
That’s about it for positives. I won’t even list all the negatives, but another note on the slide. The pump action has a habit of not catching when pushed forward and you have to be careful on trying to get it catch or you risk a double feed.
As one final nail in proverbial coffin, the rubberized features that’s present on the both the TM shotguns and many real shotguns is simulated on this with a paint of sorts but it hardily recreates it in any real way.
Feel Grade: 0/10
Aesthetics: 3/10
This gun is the absolute pits in feel. Those free spring pistols you get with large airsoft orders are truly sturdier. Aesthetics is not much better due to the creaks and lack of really anything interesting to play with other than the sights and that really doesn’t say much does it?
Shooting
Shooting is about this guns only saving grace. This gun is fairly accurate and has decent range. I lend this to the TM tri-shot system DE copied and while it doesn’t fair exactly as nicely as the Marui, it does come close. One thing I do like even a bit better than the TM is the spread.
The TM at times acted like a three barreled sniper, with the shots not really spreading until about 50 or so feet. The DE, while not having the same range as the TM, does have a much wider spread and thus lends itself as a more true “shotgun.”
Range wise I would say this has about 100 man sized torso shot, at least one of the bb’s should hit. With the intent being a CQB weapon and a shotgun after all this is about the only thing on the DE I would rank as good. Power wise is about the same story, with no working chrono to test this with my general feel for this would say around the 330 FPS mark. I’ve heard the CAW/Echo 1 is much more power, teetering the 400 FPS range but that is most definitely not the case with the DE.
Unfortunately the very poor design and build of this gun limits its use. While I would intend to use this as an indoor backup, I would be too nervous that one of those inevitable bangs against a door or wall would totally destroy this gun so it does limit its overall use. Additionally the creaking and bendy body and stock can cause you to have a harder time aiming, despite the decent sights. So using this gun outdoors can be problematic as well, compounded quickly changing position which can cause you to put the gun down or bang it against objects presents similar issues as in door.
This gun is simply too brittle to really use which is unfortunate since the internals seems to be okay but to be perfectly honest, seeing the quality, or lack thereof, of the externals leads me to believe the internals will likely fail relatively quickly as well.
Shooting Grade
Accuracy Grade: 8/10
Range Grade: 8/10
Power Grade: 7/10
Use Grade: 6/10
I would use this for occasional plinking or pest control (as in creatures with legs number > 4) but not for any hardcore skirmishing.
Conclusion
Pros:
Decent Power
Decent Range
Sights are very adjustable for what it is
Cons:
To light
Wobbly everything
Very brittle
Slide a bit finicky
Overall Grade: 3/10
So in final word about this gun, it’s possibly a good basis for my AESG concept but nothing more. This gun is good in concept but quality control and execution are bottom barrel and served to teach me only one thing; this is the last bargin bin airsoft gun I’ll ever buy. That’s a message I think that needs to resound more commonly in the ears of airsofters as these ACM guns are really not worth the price. Sure you save 25-35% of the price of the high end guns, they don’t last nearly as long nor perform at nearly the same level.
So in short I would not suggest this gun to anyone unless you plan on tearing it up for parts and whatnot, and even then I suggest against it as this is not one of the finer made airsoft products out there.
Credits:
http://world.guns.ru/shotgun/sh19-e.htm
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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