Post by Guinness on Jan 1, 2007 21:14:17 GMT -5
S-3 Arms Machinenpistole 40 (MP40)
Available at www.airsoftforce.com
Replica Background
The MachinenPistole 40, or "Machine Pistol" was a fully automatic Self-Loading Pistol chambered in 9mm Parabellum and was designed from the older 'MP36/38' but made from stamped steel rather than machined steel. This was a cost-savings effort by Germany to keep production up and time and labor to build down. Just over one million MP38/40's were built.
While this submachine gun is widely recognized under the name 'Schmeisser', that is incorrect- that name in fact refers to a later iteration, the 'MP41' that differed by using a wooden stock instead of the collabsible stock and was mostly issued to police forces. Hugo Schmeisser assisted with that model. The MP38 and MP40's were designed by Heinrich Vollmer.
The low recoil of the weapon made it popular among the squad leaders and paratroops that were issued the MP40.
The MP40 design inspired many postwar weapons such as the Swedish Carl Gustav M45 and the Yugoslavian Zastava M56. As well, stamped Steel weapons such as the U.S M3A1 Grease Gun can trace their lineage to the weapons such as the MP40 and British STEN.
The Replica
This particular S-3 Arms MP40 belongs to a friend of mine, Mr. Jim Seery. Jim was kind enough to allow me to invade his garage recently to take a peek at the new Chinese clone MP40 AEG and see what all the fuss is about.
Jim received one of the first released batches from the great guys at Airsoftforce.com (www.airsoftforce.com) right after Christmas. And not a moment too soon, with the back-to-back blizzards that the Denver Colorado area has seen this holiday, cabin fever was already setting in so to relieve that, he had already been doing some target practice in his garage.
My first impression was "Yikes! this thing is heavy!" I have owned the Asahi/Marushin MP40 classic Airsoft gun in the past, but I have never handled the TOP so I was not really prepared for the weight the full metal AEG was packing. There were no rattles or audible squeaks.
The S-3 MP40 held by Jim Seery
Jim showed me the 'take down' of the weapon, as with a real-steel MP40, simply pull the circular knob you will find forward of the trigger housing down and then twist the receiver group and the gun disassembles.
Separating the barrel group from the rest of the weapon reveals the version 3 mechbox. (Sorry no pictures yet)
As stated in other reviews of this weapon, the connectors and battery charger that ships with the gun are useless to anyone that lives outside China. And as with other detail on this, a quick trip to the local battery store sorts this issue out for around $10 bucks.
Jim was kind enough to have the gun charged and ready for me whan I arrived.
Visual Impressions
The S-3 MP40 reportedly is a clone of the TOP Machinenpistole 40. Unfortunately I have never seen or held one of the TOP versions so I can only pass on what I have learned from those that are more familiar with that product.
Here is a comparison of the TOP, the S-3 and a 'Custom' MP40 AEG built by my friend the talented Schmitty:
ww2aa.proboards45.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1167279690
As mentioned earlier, there are no audible sqeaks, grinds, or rattles when holding the weapon. The folding stock clicks and locks firmly as would be expected. Similar to the Tokyo Marui M1A1 Thompson, the bolt is non-functioning, however it does move to expose the hopup mechanisim. To bad it doesn't operate correctly like a Marushin. (Or the Custom Schmitty MP40)
The gun definately feels solid and substantial in your hands.
As far as overall visual 'quality' again, not having personal experience with the TOP was a drawback because I don't know what the 'gold standard' is to compare against. However, I would say that this machine pistol should satisfy any WWII Airsoftenactor. The black paint was applied well and evenly, the fit and finish of the parts while not the best I have seen, certainly wasn't the worst I have seen. One thing that kept going through my mind as I was holding the gun was, "Hey- these were supposed to be mass-produced, stamp a million of them out, cheap to replicate guns right?" -Well the Chinese clone certainly meets that requirement. ....and oh yeah, it shoots. (Which is something most TOP owners can't say)
In other words, it may not be as beautiful as a TOP, but it works.
I could see this gun 'distressed' by a WWII Airsoftenactor to really look outstanding- worn edges, silver showing through, etc. that would really add to this weapons appearance. It should be noted that the S-3 MP40 does not come with the brown bakelite grips and panels that the TOP does.
S-3 MP40 shown with photoshopped bakelite panels and grips.
Shooting Impressions
Well, this is what its all about isn't it?
There has been a bit of controversy with this new WWII AEG. First off, in keeping with the current Chinese AEG tactic of releasing mutliple versions of the same product to confuse and distract the Airsoft community. apparently there are at least two versions of this gun, One reportedly is a much lesser quality product that does not in fact use the version 3 mechbox but rather a bellows system like the original TOP it was built to mimick.
Also, as linked above, based on my good friend Schmitty's results there have been questions as to the accuracy and reliability of the gun.
However, my experience was not the same as Schmittys. As usual, I never take stinking pictures of the shredded targets....oops. But in our 'scientific' testing, (Inside the garage, 35' ft target distance) the gun shot roughly 6" inch groups and no 'flyers'.
Jim doesn't have a chrono, so we couldn't confirm Schmitty's tested FPS numbers, but I would expect this to be a little 'hotter' than a stock TM or similar AEG out of the box as he indicated.
The gun as tested in a 20 degree garage in the middle of winter in between two back-to-back snowstorms in Colorado shot well and reliably. I had no mis-feeds or non-feeds. The mag seats well and firmly, again no rattles. All the bb's found their target.
Conclusions
So to finish, is this weapon going to give the 'high end' of Airsoft replica manufacturers reason to fear? Probably not.....at least not yet. The gun is no TM, CA, GnG or TOP as far as minute detail and appearance. But then again, we are talking about a stamped steel, pre-fab, mass-produced gun here- it's not supposed to be the same level of workmanship that say a Thompson or a KAR98 was.
There are a few screws-where-there-shouldn't-be-screws on this that would keep it from winning replica awards.
But let's remember, there currently is NO reliable MP40 on the market right now is there? The TOP while visually correct and beautiful, only works for a week and still costs $400+ when you can find them, not to mention the immediate requirement to replace the 'shoots-the-bb-system'- (Sorry TOP, but it's true)
So what we have here for a little over $300 delivered is a *seemingly (*still a bit early for long-term reliability stats) reliable platform for the WWII Airsoftenactor.
I give it a solid 8 out of 10- I think it looks great, When I get mine I will be adding touches to make it look like a battle-hardened war veteran that I think will be right in keeping with it's rugged 'mass-produced' feel. I will absolutely remove the inaccurate fire-selector switch on the left side. Light pressure on the trigger allows single shots, so I'm uncertain why the mfg. thought it was necessary. I wonder if the panels from a broken TOP would work....;-)
Pros:
Full Metal
Heavy and Substantial
Version 3 Internals
Every trigger pull worked and created tight groups
Finally a 'reliable' MP40?
Relatively Inexpensive
Cons:
New/Unknown Brand
Full Metal, but no trades
Where's my Bakelite?
May be too heavy for some
Cheesy fire selector on the side
My thanks to the Honorable Mr. Jim Seery, Airsoftforce.com, and WW2AA
Slainte!
-G
Available at www.airsoftforce.com
Replica Background
The MachinenPistole 40, or "Machine Pistol" was a fully automatic Self-Loading Pistol chambered in 9mm Parabellum and was designed from the older 'MP36/38' but made from stamped steel rather than machined steel. This was a cost-savings effort by Germany to keep production up and time and labor to build down. Just over one million MP38/40's were built.
While this submachine gun is widely recognized under the name 'Schmeisser', that is incorrect- that name in fact refers to a later iteration, the 'MP41' that differed by using a wooden stock instead of the collabsible stock and was mostly issued to police forces. Hugo Schmeisser assisted with that model. The MP38 and MP40's were designed by Heinrich Vollmer.
The low recoil of the weapon made it popular among the squad leaders and paratroops that were issued the MP40.
The MP40 design inspired many postwar weapons such as the Swedish Carl Gustav M45 and the Yugoslavian Zastava M56. As well, stamped Steel weapons such as the U.S M3A1 Grease Gun can trace their lineage to the weapons such as the MP40 and British STEN.
The Replica
This particular S-3 Arms MP40 belongs to a friend of mine, Mr. Jim Seery. Jim was kind enough to allow me to invade his garage recently to take a peek at the new Chinese clone MP40 AEG and see what all the fuss is about.
Jim received one of the first released batches from the great guys at Airsoftforce.com (www.airsoftforce.com) right after Christmas. And not a moment too soon, with the back-to-back blizzards that the Denver Colorado area has seen this holiday, cabin fever was already setting in so to relieve that, he had already been doing some target practice in his garage.
My first impression was "Yikes! this thing is heavy!" I have owned the Asahi/Marushin MP40 classic Airsoft gun in the past, but I have never handled the TOP so I was not really prepared for the weight the full metal AEG was packing. There were no rattles or audible squeaks.
The S-3 MP40 held by Jim Seery
Jim showed me the 'take down' of the weapon, as with a real-steel MP40, simply pull the circular knob you will find forward of the trigger housing down and then twist the receiver group and the gun disassembles.
Separating the barrel group from the rest of the weapon reveals the version 3 mechbox. (Sorry no pictures yet)
As stated in other reviews of this weapon, the connectors and battery charger that ships with the gun are useless to anyone that lives outside China. And as with other detail on this, a quick trip to the local battery store sorts this issue out for around $10 bucks.
Jim was kind enough to have the gun charged and ready for me whan I arrived.
Visual Impressions
The S-3 MP40 reportedly is a clone of the TOP Machinenpistole 40. Unfortunately I have never seen or held one of the TOP versions so I can only pass on what I have learned from those that are more familiar with that product.
Here is a comparison of the TOP, the S-3 and a 'Custom' MP40 AEG built by my friend the talented Schmitty:
ww2aa.proboards45.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=1167279690
As mentioned earlier, there are no audible sqeaks, grinds, or rattles when holding the weapon. The folding stock clicks and locks firmly as would be expected. Similar to the Tokyo Marui M1A1 Thompson, the bolt is non-functioning, however it does move to expose the hopup mechanisim. To bad it doesn't operate correctly like a Marushin. (Or the Custom Schmitty MP40)
The gun definately feels solid and substantial in your hands.
As far as overall visual 'quality' again, not having personal experience with the TOP was a drawback because I don't know what the 'gold standard' is to compare against. However, I would say that this machine pistol should satisfy any WWII Airsoftenactor. The black paint was applied well and evenly, the fit and finish of the parts while not the best I have seen, certainly wasn't the worst I have seen. One thing that kept going through my mind as I was holding the gun was, "Hey- these were supposed to be mass-produced, stamp a million of them out, cheap to replicate guns right?" -Well the Chinese clone certainly meets that requirement. ....and oh yeah, it shoots. (Which is something most TOP owners can't say)
In other words, it may not be as beautiful as a TOP, but it works.
I could see this gun 'distressed' by a WWII Airsoftenactor to really look outstanding- worn edges, silver showing through, etc. that would really add to this weapons appearance. It should be noted that the S-3 MP40 does not come with the brown bakelite grips and panels that the TOP does.
S-3 MP40 shown with photoshopped bakelite panels and grips.
Shooting Impressions
Well, this is what its all about isn't it?
There has been a bit of controversy with this new WWII AEG. First off, in keeping with the current Chinese AEG tactic of releasing mutliple versions of the same product to confuse and distract the Airsoft community. apparently there are at least two versions of this gun, One reportedly is a much lesser quality product that does not in fact use the version 3 mechbox but rather a bellows system like the original TOP it was built to mimick.
Also, as linked above, based on my good friend Schmitty's results there have been questions as to the accuracy and reliability of the gun.
However, my experience was not the same as Schmittys. As usual, I never take stinking pictures of the shredded targets....oops. But in our 'scientific' testing, (Inside the garage, 35' ft target distance) the gun shot roughly 6" inch groups and no 'flyers'.
Jim doesn't have a chrono, so we couldn't confirm Schmitty's tested FPS numbers, but I would expect this to be a little 'hotter' than a stock TM or similar AEG out of the box as he indicated.
The gun as tested in a 20 degree garage in the middle of winter in between two back-to-back snowstorms in Colorado shot well and reliably. I had no mis-feeds or non-feeds. The mag seats well and firmly, again no rattles. All the bb's found their target.
Conclusions
So to finish, is this weapon going to give the 'high end' of Airsoft replica manufacturers reason to fear? Probably not.....at least not yet. The gun is no TM, CA, GnG or TOP as far as minute detail and appearance. But then again, we are talking about a stamped steel, pre-fab, mass-produced gun here- it's not supposed to be the same level of workmanship that say a Thompson or a KAR98 was.
There are a few screws-where-there-shouldn't-be-screws on this that would keep it from winning replica awards.
But let's remember, there currently is NO reliable MP40 on the market right now is there? The TOP while visually correct and beautiful, only works for a week and still costs $400+ when you can find them, not to mention the immediate requirement to replace the 'shoots-the-bb-system'- (Sorry TOP, but it's true)
So what we have here for a little over $300 delivered is a *seemingly (*still a bit early for long-term reliability stats) reliable platform for the WWII Airsoftenactor.
I give it a solid 8 out of 10- I think it looks great, When I get mine I will be adding touches to make it look like a battle-hardened war veteran that I think will be right in keeping with it's rugged 'mass-produced' feel. I will absolutely remove the inaccurate fire-selector switch on the left side. Light pressure on the trigger allows single shots, so I'm uncertain why the mfg. thought it was necessary. I wonder if the panels from a broken TOP would work....;-)
Pros:
Full Metal
Heavy and Substantial
Version 3 Internals
Every trigger pull worked and created tight groups
Finally a 'reliable' MP40?
Relatively Inexpensive
Cons:
New/Unknown Brand
Full Metal, but no trades
Where's my Bakelite?
May be too heavy for some
Cheesy fire selector on the side
My thanks to the Honorable Mr. Jim Seery, Airsoftforce.com, and WW2AA
Slainte!
-G