British firm Accuracy International is the proud manufacturer of L96 Sniper Rifles and its variants. This rifle was initially designated as PM (Precision Marksman) when it was entered into competition in the 1980’s when the British Army was on a hunt for a replacement rifle for their ageing Lee-Enfield derived sniper rifles such as the L42A1.
When the Swedish Military was also seeking a new sniper rifle, Accuracy International entered an upgraded version with AW designation which stands for Arctic Warfare. This version has a special de-icing feature on the barrel making it effective on extreme cold temperatures as low as -40 degrees Celcius. This feature has been adopted in the entire AW range of rifles even if it is not for use on frigid regions. This rifle has been popular among police, civilian and military services all over the world. The British Army decided to adopt this rifle and designated it as L118A1. It is currently being used in Afghanistan and Iraq by the British Army and other coalition forces.
AIRSOFT REPLICA
This review sample was handed-over to me by a fellow operator for review purposes. This did not arrive through a courier unlike those that I would receive direct from the manufacturer such as ICS. As such, the rifle did not come with a Japanese Manual and the strap that secures the rifle to the packaging is missing. The outer part of the box is also a bit tattered.
Nevertheless, the gun is intact and no visible sign of usage or abuse. Just like most sniper rifles on the market, the first thing that will catch your eye is the overall length of the gun as evident on its packaging. Upon opening it, you will find the external manufacturing quality that TM is renowned the world over. Tokyo Marui has endeavoured to replicate the real steel version down to its minute details.
While its real steel sibling would weigh in at around 6.5 kilograms, it is most comfortable to lug around half such weight on a skirmish field for an airsoft variant. After all, we won’t be shooting at targets well beyond 40 Metres on most situations.
THE EXTERNALS
The upper part of the rifle that consists of the receiver and the barrel is made of metal. The external barrel is large at 30 mm diameter. Why? because this model is a suppressed type. The entire length of the barrel acts like a silencer on its real steel version. As with most short and long weapons, your front sight is already useless once you attach a silencer. Hence, an integrated front and rear iron sights are omitted in the design. A 20 mm rail is attached to the receiver for the use of optics which you will definitely need for this rifle. A non-working metal bolt catch is located on the left part of the receiver whilst the bolt handle is also made of metal.
A large metal ball is used at the end of the lever to ensure optimum grip while cocking with the least effort. Bolt travel is smooth and crisp while cocking as well as on its return. The large safety lever ensures that your thumb would easily grasp it even when wearing a thick glove. When the safety is engaged before it has been cocked, the cocking handle could not be moved to its charging position. It just stays there. When it is engaged after it has been cocked, the trigger could not be pulled. Push the safety lever forward to fire and rearwards for safety.
The engraved markings that you will find on the rifle are “99 AW 5103” at the right side of the receiver, “WARNING REFER TO INSTRUCTIONS MANUAL AW 5103” at the left side of the receiver and “MADE IN JAPAN TOKYO MARUI CO. LTD. ASGK” which is located at the left lower end part of the receiver. An initial “A1” is also embossed on the rubber butt plate.
The lower rifle furniture which is made up of one piece hand guard, trigger guard, grip and stock is plastic made. This is matt in texture and is finished in olive drab colour. This is not painted but rather the true colour of the plastic. The quality of the plastic finish seems to be flawless until you come across the lower part of the handgrip as shown on the photo. There is a very obvious moulding imperfection as evident on the picture. This is not an isolated incident for other reviews of this rifle highlighted as well this part. This is not common to a Tokyo Marui product. Nevertheless, most snipers would paint their rifles to their liking so this is not a major issue. Actually, this is just a very minor issue.
Beneath the front guard lies the rotary hop-up adjustment. This type of hop-up is very easy to use. Right after the hop-up to the rear of the rifle is the magazine well. Tokyo Marui went into great lengths in designing the location of this to exactly replicate the real L96. A new BB feeding and hop-up mechanism has been designed for this matter. This is unique to this rifle and is currently the only one in the market for this type of rifle. The provided 40-round metal magazine will feed from the front not from its top and a plastic follower attached directly to the loading nozzle will extract a BB every time the bolt is cocked and on its return travel. This BB will travel through a ramp and into the hop chamber. There are no dropping BB’s when you detach a loaded magazine from the rifle.
When using a bipod, you can adjust the hop-up without taking your eye from the scope or your firing finger from the trigger. The trigger guard is integrated into the one piece plastic body. There is sufficient space for glove wearers to play with their firing finger on the space provided. The visible metal parts that are attached to it are the ambidextrous front and rear sling mounts, magazine release lever, bolt catch and the bi-pod attachment.
CONCLUSION
Tokyo Marui have made the lives of current TM VSR owners miserable. I know that this rifle is better and has a more macho look than the VSR but they can’t have both or the wives will declare war. I like this rifle despite the flaws that I have encountered. But obviously, the internals should be upgraded especially the spring and a tighter inner barrel. Even with the BB swaying to the right due to the misaligned barrel, it still managed to maintain a long level flight after proper hop-up adjustment. The misalignment of the barrel could only be an isolated case and does not reflect the entire production of this rifle.
For those among us airsofters who love the motto “one shot, one kill”, this is your rifle. It won’t break the bank unlike those .50 calibre rifles that seems to be an over kill on most gaming sites. Nevertheless, this is a superb airsoft replica from a current hard-hitting and reliable AI L96 which is currently being used by our guys in the warzones of Afghanistan and Iraq. Tokyo Marui should be commended for replicating down to the minute detail as possible the real L96.
I had my China L96 stolen a couple of years back but this time I will have a TM L96 and no one is going to take it away from me!
SPECIFICATIONS
DESIGNATION: L96 AWS (ARCTIC WARFARE SUPPRESSED) OD (OLIVE DRAB)
TYPE: SINGLE-SHOT BOLT ACTION SNIPER RIFLE
CALIBRE: 6 MM
LENGTH: 1115 MM
WEIGHT: 3280 GMS
INNER BARREL DIAMETRE: 6.05 MM
INNER BARREL LENGTH: 500 MM
OUTER BARREL DIAMETRE: 30 MM
OUTER BARREL LENGTH: 609 MM
MAGAZINE CAPACITY: 40 ROUNDS
PACKAGE CONTENTS: SNIPER RIFLE, MAGAZINE, MANUAL, PACKET OF BBs AND 3 SIZES ALLEN WRENCH
TYPE: SINGLE-SHOT BOLT ACTION SNIPER RIFLE
CALIBRE: 6 MM
LENGTH: 1115 MM
WEIGHT: 3280 GMS
INNER BARREL DIAMETRE: 6.05 MM
INNER BARREL LENGTH: 500 MM
OUTER BARREL DIAMETRE: 30 MM
OUTER BARREL LENGTH: 609 MM
MAGAZINE CAPACITY: 40 ROUNDS
PACKAGE CONTENTS: SNIPER RIFLE, MAGAZINE, MANUAL, PACKET OF BBs AND 3 SIZES ALLEN WRENCH
Source : PopularAirsoft
