History: This is somewhat of a nostalgic review for me, as almost a year ago to the day we posted one of our first articles about a product first seen at the Tokyo Marui 2000 expo, this prototype was listed somewhat cryptically as a 'Grenade Pistol'. The images and information we found at that time became one of our first news articles that we hosted here.

(Image of the prototype from the Tokyo Marui 2000 expo)

Not a great deal was known at the time, and the only information read then was a report hosted by our friends at BBGunLand (http://bbgunland.bizland.com/NEWS/Makuhari2000.htm). Sadly in the 'Internet ether' the original article has long since disappeared. This 'Grenade Pistol' came to be what everyone now knows as the TokyoMarui Tactical Launcher, or TacLauncher for short. (or TL for shorter still ^_^ )

On 14/10/2001 the Tactical Launcher (TL) was announced by Marui, and our good friend Darren sent some images to us of TM's promotional poster. Shortly afterwards we were again honoured to receive the first UK images of one of the first TacLaunchers in Japan, thanks to Darren.

A heck of a lot has happened here, both on and off the website, but it's nice to keep some constants going. It seemed only appropriate that we complete the story of the TacLauncher, and write out own in-house review of the finished product.

With the help of AirsoftDynamics / AD (who kindly donated this piece for review) we are now able to do this, and for that we are grateful to our colleagues at AD.

First load the shell: Well rather than try to take photos of me loading a shell with BBs whilst holding the camera with one hand I thought it's be easier to show you a couple of diagrams that came in the TL's manual. Trust me I've tried taking photos like that on my own and I'd end up with another hundred BBs hiding somewhere on the living room floor - the little buggers then creep out at night so that I can step on them (barefoot I might add) when I try to get a quiet snack from the fridge in the early hours of the morning. I seem to remember this coming under "Sod's law of Airsoft, rule #23b" or something over at Rich's Airsoft. ^_^

Anyway I'm rambling now (like when do I not?), now where was I.. yes that was it, loading shot shells. Don't worry we'll get there shortly - DumboRAT I'm sure I caught this Airsoft waffling bug from you :o). To see how to load the shell, click the image to the right, to view the relevant Tac Launcher manual page.

Lock and load? So how do you use the thing? Well first the shell must be loaded in place behind the M203's grip.

To load the shell you must release the grip by depressing the button shown in the image (middle left).

Roll this button forward towards the barrel end and the grip will slide forward freely revealing the place to locate the shot shell.

Now that you can see where to place the shotshell, poke the shell in nose first (as shown), then lever the shell backwards so that it clicks into place (as shown in the image inset to the left (top right).

Now with the shell in place pull the grip slide backwards towards the grip until it lightly 'clicks' into place. You're now ready to rumble!

If you wish to remove the shell, such as when it's empty, you follow exactly the same steps as above, except that to get the shell out you have to depress the small black button just behind the shell. Push this black button away from the shell, and you'll find the shell drops out.

Pumping? So you've followed the above instruction to the letter, you carefully take aim for your first test shot, and nothing happens. doh!

Well now you've loaded the brute, it won't do a great deal unless you prime the action. Don't forget we said above that this is actually a shotgun of sorts.

To prime everything you simply grip the black ribbed lower grip and pull it firmly towards the grip/stock. The grip will move back with some mild resistance until you hear a noticeable click. When you hear this click, just slide the grip forward again. You can now point aim and pull the trigger and let off a volley of 3 BBs.

Also mentioned in the manual you'll see something mentioned called "slam-firing". This is a fairly easy process really, you cock and prime the replica as normal, but you do it whilst keeping the trigger depressed with your finger. You'll find that when you pull the slide all the way back that the TL will fire automatically (instead of a click, the mechanism fires rather than locking in place waiting for a trigger pull). Basically with the process you can pump and fire as quick as you arms pump the slide.

A word of warning though, well two actually..

• Limited rounds - You only get 10 shots (3BBs x 10), so slamfiring will empty a shotshell quicker than you think! I highly recommend counting your shots (no.. the trigger pulls not the BBs ^_^) to avoid blank firing.
• Excess wear - Now there's no real proof that slam fire will damage your TM replica, but it's a fairly safe assumption that excess use will reduce your replica's overall skirmishable lifetime.

So what's in the box? The box features logos, and details portraying the TacLauncher as an 'entry weapon'. The box actually says "Delta Force 'The special forces breaker's weapon operation dynamic entry'" which is one hell of a mouthful. I can't imagine anyone in real life storming a building with an 40mm grenade launcher, no matter how nuts they are, there simply wouldn't be much building left to storm if someone did fire one. As far as Airsoft goes, 'entry weapon' is actually a fairly accurate description.

The TL is also listed as number 5 of the series, coming after the SPAS12 (it's great great granddaddy), SPAS12 folding stock, Benelli M3, and Benelli M3 shorty

Hows the performance? Well point blank you can see that the TL is unable to penetrate one side of a Red Rooster can, so the fps is below 290fps (around 250-280 is a reasonable guess). The reason for this lower fps is the fact that the barrel length is short at 121mm, and much shorter than a TM M3 Benelli. For reference I would recommend reading RedWolf's Bite The Bullet issue Feb 2000 which contains a decent documented 'cokecan test' article.

Looks? Looks are rather a personal view, to me it looks intriguing, if a little ugly, but the design rather grows on you in time. It's kinda like a volvo.. "Boxy, but good".

Features: The main features that TM banter on about are the 3 RIS rails, the handy storing place for shells in the grip, and the sliding stock. Features they may be.. but afterthoughts is what they come across as. I'll explain my reasoning.

Rails: Okeydokey, well these are the most useful 'feature'. Love em or hate em, RIS is handy for bolting all kinds of kit together, and with the TL featuring two side rails and a long top rail there's plenty to bolt to. Although they look like they're metal, they aren't (These RIS rails are plastic/ABS, so don't go swinging on hefty weights off them).

Now this is where the issue lies.. what on earth are you going to bolt to all three rails? Having played around with the TL, the best ideas I can come up with are an Armalite carry handle (see Hustler's Airsoft for an image of this) and a laser. "Why a laser?" you ask.. well read on.

Extendable stock: The extendable stock just really isn't of much use, well it wasn't to me, and it won't be to anybody about 6 foot tall. The stock just isn't long enough to be effective. If you are small in stature or have short arms then you'll find it useful, although to my mind it's still about 6 inches too short. Basically if you're big it'll be too small to use, and you won't need the aid of the stock to pump the foregrip, but if you're small (around 5 foot) then you be 'happy as larry'. :)

To use the stock, simply depress the button located near the sling loop, and pull the stock out. The stock has two positions.. short and far too short.

Grip shell holder: Ah, TM have included a handy hole in the grip where you can store a spare shell. Cunning idea eh? Well not really actually, as it doesn't hold the shells that well. If you leave a shell in the grip and then sling the TL on your back you won't find the shell where you left it if you go for a run or a long walk.

On the bright side the shells are bright red and dead easy to find in shortish grass. The grip will be fine for use in CQB if you really need shells close to hand, but the slow process is not that of finding a shell, but removing the old (empty) one and fitting the new one. With a bit of practice you could get the shell change-over period to about 10 seconds.

You don't watch that series do you? Now I'd never seen the TL (or anything close to it) used in any film or TV show.. until last week. In the rather well know TV series (that I may or may not have painstakingly watched from the first episode to the end of the current series) by the name of Stargate SG1 I caught a glimpse of something very familiar.

With the wondrous nature of the Internet - 5 search engines, 54 emails and 4 jugs of coffee later I managed to track down someone in western Elbonia * with some handy screencaps of the scene that was stuck in my head. In the scene below Jack takes out an enemy glider (manned by the fiendishly untypeable) Goa'uld with a stand alone M203. Sadly it has no RIS rails.. and the stock looks a hell of a lot more useable that the TM version. A big, and very serious, thanks go out to Tamy Pooh and their website for the generous use of their own screen captures of the SG1 episode.

A kind fellow SG1 fan (who prefered to remain anonymous) sent me these high res caps from the episode that I mentioned above.

Technical diagrams: Niall Orr was kind enough to take the take to produce and send in this technical diagram of the 'M203PI', which is the real-steel designation for the stand alone M203 launcher as produced by R/M Equipment. You can find a larger version of the image to the right by clicking on it. Here's what Nial had to say:

"...I attach a bitmap drawing of the real stand alone M203 made by R/M Equipment(Florida).

As noted on the drawing this was prepared by "tracing" over a scanned photocopy and should be regarded as accurate. I also cannot prepare a plan or end on view as I do not own an M203 replica.

I have also seen a photo of yet another version which uses the M16/M203 foregrip with an M16 pistol grip and butt stock..."

Thanks for the update Nial!