A CHASE AFTER THE WILD GEESE

Chinese Looking For Inspiration, Airsofters Don't Know What To Expect

Things are getting interesting this summer, as rumors of Chinese airsoft manufacturers start their research on possible new models. One of them, a Sten submachine gun made by AGM, will be available shortly. What's more interesting are hazy things appearing on the horizon.

First is the planned FN FAL replica. For convenience's sake, let's call the manufacturer "Fenghuang" (which is a Chinese word for "phoenix"), as I have a suspicion that after the mind-numbing burnout caused by chucking out numerous M16 and/or AK variants people are less and less interested in, the FAL may be a rebirth for the company. The concept is clear: it WILL be a FAL. The realization, however, is less clear and people started asking around which of the three FAL models (King Arms FAL, Star L1A1, Classic Army SA58 OSW) is most reliable and most popular, and, what's more important, what are the differences between real-steel FAL variants, so that the production of different airsoft variants could be streamlined as much as possible (see - the M16 variants, based on the same "core" of V2 gearbox and M16A3 body. No Chinese manufacturer yet has made a M16A1 nor AR15 body and only JG bothered to make a M16A2 upper receiver). It's not laziness, but a matter of business viability - creating molds for one gun is an expense upwards of US$500,000 (if you ever have taken apart a decent airsoft gun, you know how many various little doodads, doohickeys and dunkydicks it has - and they have to be made somehow!), so the manufacturer first has to be sure that everything is correct, so even the geardos would be at least interested in a "properly looking" gun.

So much for the FAL. The other things are even more interesting - namely, a delegation of Chinese airsoft manufacturers visiting a museum of World War 2 weaponry in the UK. What for? Guess. I don't know what kinds of guns were in that museum, but considering the fact that we already have a MP40, K98, StG44 and Sten out, with MG42 stuck in the pipeline, one might predict some new designs that no-one dared to try before (or, tried and failed.) - with PPSh41 being the star of popular speculations (I mean, what the hell - M14 gearbox, Thompson hop-up, drum magazine. Dick simple, you just have to be sure that people will buy it.) and Lee-Enfield rifle coming second by a really narrow margin (I'm not surprised, though, as the news came out at Arnie's, a British forum). I wouldn't be surprised if they copied the VFC BAR1918 either, they just have to WANT to do it. And we have to hope that their idea won't get derailed by design screw-ups and ill-advised cost-cutting measures that effectively killed the JLS F2000. Chinese manufacturers have to see the need for innovation, even if it raises the costs - because if there was a "proper", decently made F2000 with correct selector and standard gearbox (it's not that hard, really!), I'd readily pay as much as $500 for it (that's how much the Ares TAR21 goes for, and TAR21 has an important price-raising feature in the red-dot/lasersight it's fitted with). Airsoft guns are luxury items, no matter how we look at it, and a lot of people are willing to pay more for better quality and innovative features.

Looking at that, I wonder what drives the ideas behind copying rare and peculiar guns like the JG Thundermaul and the recent Winchester 1892. Those two feel at home in Japan, where people collect airsoft guns because real firearms are forbidden (which also explains why companies like Tanaka and Marushin produce non-military and/or downright gimmicky guns - for collectors!) and rarely get out onto the international market (suffice to say, Poseidon Models, the company responsible for original design of the "Thundermaul", doesn't even ship their model kits abroad!), but in the West, people are more interested in military guns, due to the whole "milsim" crowd that likes to strike poses and occasionally get mud on their Weesatches. Collectors and people who enjoy twirling their SAAs or playing cops (or robbers) with .38 Detective Special replicas (not mentioning the folks who want to own an 8-inch M629 because Travis Bickle or Dirty Harry had one) are, sadly, a minority. To them, airsoft is all about the fun. They want to own the replicas not because they're used by some special forces from halfway around the world, but because of the grin factor or Rule of Cool. The 6-incher chromed Beretta Cutlass from KSC was made for the Rule of Cool, only because Revy, the badass female protagonist of "Black Lagoon" anime uses it (akimbo, no less!). Same goes for the limited edition Resident Evil guns from Marui and Tanaka. I wonder if the Chinese manufacturers will risk catering to this minority on a larger scale or not.