Published on: Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Provided by: Airsoft Outlet NW
At first glance the KWA KG36C looks like any of the other G36's out there, but there are a few main differences that set it apart from its competition. Before going to far into the review, let me give you a brief list of the pros and cons we discovered:
Pros:
Solid construction – the gun doesn't have the wobble or play present in some platforms. The barrel and forearm are locked tight onto the body and the stock doesn't have the vertical wobble or side to side play that is present on some folding stocks when locked into place. Even the retaining latch for the folded stock has held up after repeated use.
Extra wide foregrip – On other G36 replicas the standard stock fore grip is the narrow type. The KWA comes with the wider grip that many people are putting on their G36's as an aftermarket part. This made the gun more comfortable to use and left plenty of room for a large type battery.
High Stock FPS – Out of the box this gun chronos around 400 FPS with .20g BB's and no hop-up. The high mark was 415, the low 393. Enough said.
Compatibility with other magazines – I tried out TM, CA, Star, and G&P magazines in the test firing, and all performed equally well.
Pre-upgraded gearbox – Most of the parts in here are much higher quality than other stock guns, read on for a complete list of upgraded parts. (The most impressive part of the whole replica if you ask me.)
Cons:
Plastic top rail – On some other G36 Replicas, the top rail is a metal base or a plastic base with a metal rail insert. On the KWA the whole rail appears to be ABS. Despite this, it still seems to be a solid rail.
Small-type battery connector – The battery connector is a small type. With the high stock FPS, the small type batteries don't last long. Carry an extra one with you on the field. On the plus side, changing the battery out is a quick operation and just needs removal of 1 pin that comes out by hand. Also, the small type battery didn't have enough power to ensure that the gun worked on semi-auto consistently when it started getting low on juice. This was my first indication that I needed to change out batteries.
Loose fuse connections – When I first pulled the fore grip off, the fuse was hanging loose on the connections it quickly dislodged and fell out. I ended up using some electrical tape to secure the whole assembly together to avoid losing the fuse by accident when I swapped out the batteries.
Overall performance:
The KWA G36C has plenty going for it, but and has much promise as a base for anyone looking to start off with a G36 platform. The standard assortment of parts are full metal, including the sights, extra side and bottom rails, flash hider, and folding stock release. The wide fore grip made holding the replica more comfortable and natural to me compared to replicas with the thinner grip that is more common on stock guns. It also has enough room to house a large type battery. This almost makes up for the failure to use a large type connector by default. The small type connector means using a small type battery, that in my opinion, just doesn't stack up to the power consumption needs of this replica. I recommend purchasing as small to large adapter, or rewiring the connector to a large type for standard use. The small battery also lead to one of the other more annoying issues with this gun, namely that it stopped firing on semi-auto when the battery was even a little low. I was using a small 8.4 1000mah battery, but even so, having a gun that fires on full auto and intermittently was annoying. Problem was remedied by simply switching out to a fully charged battery. I also did not get a battery with this replica, so if you do plan to purchase one, look for a bundling option with your retailer. Speaking of bundling, the default magazine that ships with the replica is your standard hi-cap, and since you can never have enough magazines, you'll probably want to pick up a few more at this time as well.
The rubber on the folding stock was quite resilient, and basically identical to that of the CA replicas (i.e. the harder style recoil pad rather than the softer one that come on some of the other brands). This seems to be the wiser choice for me, as you're not actually going to need to absorb recoil on an AEG, and the harder rubber will last longer and be less prone to gouging, tearing, and standard wear from use. The stock itself still locks firmly into place and doesn't have a lot of play or wobble on it.
The sites, flash hider, trigger, and accessory rails are comparable to those of any other CA or TM replica, and the trademarks are etched into the ABS along with a KWA logo. Apart from the KWA logo in place of the HK logo, all trademarks present. The only other external feature that needs commenting on is the selector switch. The selection printing is clean and bright and a true red/white scheme rather than the reddish orange that some other replicas display. The only thing I felt was somewhat off was the firmness in which the switch clicked into the various modes that I personally like. I found myself looking down from time to time to verify that I was were I thought I was when thumbing off the safety.
The hop-up is your standard G36 no frills hop-up. You get to it by pulling back the ambidextrous charging handle beneath the main top rail, which draws the dust cover back. The adjustment is a simple large, well marked rotating cylinder that can be worked even with gloved hands (not like those pesky M4 style hop-ups). I didn't find myself having to continually adjust or reset it during play, and it was fairly easy to get dialed into a spot where I felt comfortable using it. The accuracy is about what you'd expect stock, though I did notice a tendency to drop the occasional BB in full auto, something that I think can be corrected with a tight bore barrel and hop-up bucking replacement. Despite this drawback, I was still able to get kills with the replica and outranged many of the other replicas on the field.
Internally the replica is of excellent quality. The majority of components are all comparable to CA and TM and stand up to the wear put on them by the 400 FPS stock configuration. Between my testing, and that of a local retailer we've run several of these guns for a couple of months basically every weekend now and none have needed servicing to replace any broken gearbox parts. This, in itself, is a testament to the sturdiness of a gearbox and internal components, and a much better one than I can give by simply looking at and examining the parts. Even the wiring is good quality 16 gauge with decently tough shielding that doesn't split or fall off. The solder joints look solid and none of the wires were pinched in the gearbox or body of the gun, but rather run smoothly and cleanly through it. The teardown process itself (up to the gearbox) holds no surprises for you if you've ever taken apart a CA or TM G36 replica, and can be achieved with a simple hex wrench and Philips screw driver.
Once you get inside the version 3 gearbox you'll notice a few differences. First off, there's the spring. In order to get that 400 FPS this is comparable to a M120 spring. The parts list also includes a polycarb piston, aluminum piston head, metal spring guide, and both 8mm and 9mm steel bearings rather than simple metal bushings. The gears are sturdy cast steel rather than a cheap aluminum. This is basically a pre-upgraded gearbox. It has pretty much every part that you'd want in a standard base upgrade package, and I imagine that it makes up theprice difference that you see from some of the cheaper G36 replicas. Again, easily the most impressive gearbox I've ever seen in a stock gun. This is work like I had to do myself on every other gun I've purchased, and it's done for you.
At anywhere from $295 and up retail, or around $220 E-bay, this isn't the cheapest G36C replica on the market, but it's not going to break the bank either. Especially when you consider the performance and quality parts that you're going to get. Throw in the cost of a decent battery, small to large adapter, and a few more magazines, and you've got a great competitive package for around $400 or less that sounds meaner (that distinctive loud G36 sound we've grown to love), and shoots harder than every other stock replica that I've handled.
Special thanks to Airsoft Outlet NW and Ben Martin (Martin. on the AP boards) for providing this replica to review and his amazing patience with us in the overly long review process. If you're a fan of the G36, visit their online site or stop into the store and pick up one of these beauties today.
