Psst, ping, HIT!!!!!!
Someone is using a GBB and it’s not a pistol?
Someone has been making hits from 90 meters away?
Is that a gas M60? Wow!!!
Written by: Vaszi bacsi
(Red Tigers Airsoft Team), Hungary.
Interviewing: Trasher (Skorpio
Softair Team), Hungary.
I had to find out more about it…Mr. Trasher was more
than helpful about sharing info of his delicious 15 years
old (!!!) Asahi M60E3 for the Hellasairsoft forum.
Vaszi: I am impressed by
that sweetie you got Trasher, but first of all I would like
to ask what the retail price is for it. I am guessing a
lot, right?
Trasher: You can find them
on Ebay or classicairsoft.net from about 800 up to 2200
dollars. Mine was around 2000 dollars (including shipping
and custom work).
Vaszi: Why such a wide price
range?
Trasher: The lower cost ones
have been poorly maintained and have seen 5 or more owners.
Different versions have different price tags, some editions
(Super DX) were limited to less than 500 models. Mine was
almost brand new when it was acquired. It had been hanging
on a wall in Japan for around 8 years. After the purchase
it was shipped from Japan to the States where it stayed
for 6 months and it was fine tuned by a gunsmith.
WORKING SYSTEM
Vaszi: Can you explain to
us how the system works?
Trasher: Actually the operation
is quite simple - it's called Asahi BV (Bullet Valve) system.
High pressure gas from an external source is connected to
the gun via a hose and low pressure regulator. BBs are loaded
from a BB reservoir into a tube by manually cycling the
charging handle. When the trigger is pressed the system
is pressurized. Pressure pushes the BBs through the tube
into the barrel assembly or BV-unit. (The gas and BBs coexist
in the same tube.) The only con of the Asahi M60 system
is that only 30-60 BBs loaded each time (depending on the
model) when you pull the charging handle. The magazine capacity
of the gun is about 500-700 BBs. Long bursts, steady suppressive
fire is not possible with this system since you have to
rack the charging handle quite frequently.
HOP UP AND BARREL ASSEMBLY
Trasher: What makes the gun
so efficient is the unique aftermarket hop up system. The
original Asahi M60 had no hopup whatsoever and had a maximum
range of 35-40 meters. Back in the '80-'90 a japanese custom
shop called Sheriff developed a special kind of drop-in
barrel which increased the performance of Asahi guns dramatically.
It was called LRB (Long Range Barrel). These are much thicker
than AEG barrels, usually made from barrel blanks with 10mm
outside diameter.
The Long Range Barrel has an offset bore, so BBs are positioned
under the barrel axis and rolling up on a feed ramp into
the breech (similar to the feeding of real guns) when the
Asahi is fired. With each shot the barrel moves forward
and backward. The moving barrel and the offset breech together
gives a very-very powerful backspin (hopup effect) to the
BBs over the entire length of the barrel. It's completely
different from AEG hopup systems and it makes longer shots
possible at much lower muzzle velocity.
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POWER FEEDING
Vaszi: The gas feeding is
being done from an exterior source. What kind of gas can
be used?
Trasher: Every kind of compressed
gas will do the job. Typically CO2 or HPA (High Pressure
Air) is used.
Vaszi: What about the level
of pressure used for optimal performance?
Trasher: Paintball guns operate
at very high pressures (500-800psi) compared to classic
airsoft guns. My Asahi runs smoothly on 100 psi. Anything
over 200 psi would damage the internals, seals, etc. Actually
it took me about 6 months to find out the correct pressure
setting for the best performance.
Vaszi: Is this regulated
from the can or the gun itself?
Trasher: The pressure is being
regulated by a low pressure stabilizer or regulator which
is screwed on the external gas tank. You set the operating
pressure on the stabilizer and you are ready to go. No adjustments
are made on the gun. It's all about the combination of BB
weight and gas pressure that do the job.
Vaszi: Usually GBBs are
temperamental about the environment’s temperature.
What about the Asahi?
Trasher: There is no problem
at all since you can use pressurized air in the winter.
With CO2 there is no considerable "cooldown effect"
above 10-12 Celsius, because CO2 has time to vaporize (turn
to gas state from liquid form) thanks to the external setup
and large tank.
BB WEIGHT AND TYPE
Vaszi: What kind of ammo
do you use for the beast?
Trasher: Due to the fixed
and unadjustable hop up system that is indeed a very sensitive
point. Using .20 BBs is completely out of the question.
They are too light for the LRB. They go vertical, curve
up to the sky after about 20 meters! .25s are somewhat better,
but they are still over-hopped. As I mentioned before, it
took me about 6 months to find the proper BB weight and
pressure to reach maximum performance. Now I am using GP
.28 high quality BBs.
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MAINTENANCE
Vaszi: What about the maintenance
required to keep the beauty running? Is it similar to an
AEG?
Trasher: Close but, the gun
needs careful lubing every 5000 rounds to keep the barrel
moving smoothly and to ensure the correct spin effect. Other
than that you should keep it clean and make sure that there
is no rust on the gun’s parts. The lack of gears, nozzle,
tappet, motor, piston, bushings, wiring, battery, etc makes
the maintenance easier than on a modern AEG. Very few parts
do wear out. Some seals, O-rings must be replaced every
50.000-100.000 firing cycles. Springs are replaced even
less frequently.
AEG COMPATIBILITY
Vaszi: Are the parts of the
gun interchangeable with AEG parts?
Trasher: Only some aesthetic
parts can be used from an AEG because the contemporary AEGs
are based on old GBB designs. The internals can not be replaced
from AEGs’.
Vaszi: So, you can’t
change the barrel for example for a tight bore one?
Trasher: That can’t happen
because the barrel and the hop up system is one piece.
Vaszi: That means that in
case of needing to replace some parts you got to an old
man in a Japanese basement who hand makes them?
Trasher: Yes, but in case
of a broken part it's easier to go to a machinist or a licensed
gunsmith to fix it or make a new one. Most of the original
parts are made from heavy duty steel or brass, and these
are not too complicated.
RANGE AND VELOCITY
Vaszi: I guess a lot of players
have been wondering about the Fps and the range. Please
enlighten us on that.
Trasher: Couple times I heard
rumors back that some guys think I must be using a very
high powered gun. They thought “hey, that is a 600
fps gun at least and it’s not allowed on the field”.
That is not true in any way. The Asahi M60 performs best
at 1.7 Joules which is 360fps with .28s (equals 420-430fps
w/ .20 BBs). This gives me an effective range of 70 meters
and maximum range is over 92 meters! It's not an exaggeration
(check my video), I monitor all my test shooting very carefully
with a Bushnell laser rangefinder and a Guarder chrono.
My highly upgraded VSR has less range than the Asahi.
So the bottom line is: not the barrel length or Fps is the
most important factor for getting more range - it's all
about the hop-up's effectiveness. Asahi guns with LRB can
have more range than modern AEGs at much-much lower velocitites.
The tradeoff is that you can't adjust the hopup and the
BB spread is much wider due to the moving barrel design.
AVAILABILITY AND COMMON USE
Vaszi: Are there a lot of
players that use these type of replicas?
Trasher: No, in any way. There
are no more than a handful of people (8-10 perhaps?) in
Europe who use these for skirmishes. Most owners are collectors
only. This is due to the price range and the not too widely
available information on classic airsoft guns. There are
very few guys out there who know how to operate these guns
- or how to fix them if something goes wrong. Original replacement
parts can be very hard or impossible to get. It’s much
more easier to get a “plug and play” AEG for the
1/5th of the price. Classics can be fun, but not for the
beginner players.
Interview by Vaszi bacsi,
Red Tigers Airsoft Team,
Budapest, May 2007
Useful Links:
http://www.classicairsoft.net/images/bv.htm
http://web.axelero.hu/szlejer2/support-sm.jpg
http://web.axelero.hu/szlejer2/support2-sm.jpg
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Credits/Acknowledgments
This review was brought to you
by Vaszi bacsi (Red Tigers Airsoft Team).
Posted on: August 30, 2007. Budapest, Hungary. |
