This would be my first time reviewing a Airsoft hand grenade. Ever since starting in Airsoft I have always followed the many attempts to simulate the hand grenade of real life war fare. Though I would not call the simulation mastered by any means, it has come a long way as more people become interested in the sport and more companies get involved in the manufacturing process. This particular grenade is made by PFI and is powered by gas, and also uses powder to simulate the smoke of a real grenade The grenade is designed to fire off 8 BB’s and the operation is nearly exact to that of a real grenade.

First Impressions

The grenade came neatly packaged in a plastic cylinder, with nearly all of the parts separated. The first thing I did was grab the actual grenade shell, and realized it was a little lighter than expected. It looked pretty realistic in the container (and also does outside the container) so was not expecting it to be so light. On the other hand it makes sense that it is light, so the force of the gas going off can easily open the shell allowing the BB’s to get out. The plastic does seem to be pretty sturdy and so far so good in terms of the actual tests. I will say however that it is probably not a good idea to throw this thing over hand like you would a baseball. If you do put too much force on it, and it hits something hard like a rock, concrete, etc. it may break as it is after all still plastic. The directions also advise against this type of throw, so underhand or lobs are probably the best way to go.

I was impressed and blown away by the complexity of the grenade as I counted 7 pieces essential to the operation of the grenade, which must be assembled before each use. This to me seemed like a pain the first time but once I got used to the way it worked and understood it more, there really was not much to it at all. Printed clearly on the box is a sticker which states “This is a Toy”. That being said this toy does pack a punch. My first test of the product it actually startled me slightly with how powerful it was. My real question from the start however was how effective will this be as a tool in the game of Airsoft.

Operation

Here I am simply going to go through the way you set this grenade up for operation. First you take the gas can, which is the metal piece which goes into the grenade shell giving the live grenade its weight, and is the main operation component. You pour 8 BBs into the top. You can put more in but it is not recommended and I also do not believe they will all come out anyway. You then take one of the 10 provided caps for the gas can on. This cap is fairly difficult to get on, but once you get the hang of it its not too bad. On top of this you put one of the powder disks. Before putting the powder disk on you must remove the sticker which keeps the powder in.

Caps for the top of the gas can

You then open up the grenade shell and slide this gas can in there making sure the hole in the bottom for the gas matches up with the hole in the bottom of the plastic shell. Otherwise you will not be able to load the gas into the grenade. Now you close up the shell. To hold the shell close you put in the piece they call the “locking cap” into the top of the grenade. This has a sharp metal piece which goes all the way down to hold the grenade in place. Keeping the metal piece down is the handle, which is over the spring, and held in place by the pin. Now the grenade is fully together and ready to go.

The directions advertise a 6 second timer on the explosion. I have experienced a 2 second delay on the explosion, but this is apparently adjustable using the screws within the grenade. Adjusting the screws will change the amount of time it takes for the spring to pop once the handle is removed. From here you load the gas into the bottom of the grenade until it is full. The next step is to pull the pin and throw the grenade towards your target.

This is a shot inside of the shell without the gas can in it. You can see the screws which adjust the time.

Results

This grenade is one of the most fun Airsoft products I have used. The above process results in a satisfying explosion of sorts. This is accompanied by a puff of powder smoke, a decently loud noise, and the pieces of the grenade being spread out over a 30-40 foot area. The spread of the pieces is kind of annoying if you plan on finding them all. The easiest pieces to find are the handle, the shell, and the metal gas can. These are the larger parts and more important to the operation of the grenade. The two caps which go on the metal can are easily lost, but I have been able to recover both some of the time. But in the heat of a skirmish I would not expect this. They are fairly cheap and are sold separately so you can not worry about them at all if you prefer. But I think this causes each use of the grenade to be about 50 cents. This is not all that bad, but it would add up, so keep this in mind when you see the $50 MSRP and think that is not all that bad.

I personally feel like you can get by if you can simply recover the caps to cover the gas can. The powder discs are not essential to the operation of the gun, but do make it seem more real. They also say not to fill it with any powder but official PFI powder, but I doubt that it would make any difference if you put a different powder in there, as long as it is not dangerous. You also can probably go without powder at all, but that does take some of the fun out of it. So in my opinion if you plan on just buying the grenade, you can be a bit of a scavenger and avoid additional operation payments. On the other hand if you are not worried about paying the money you can buy the pieces in bulk and use it frequently without concern.

Now my main concern with this product is how effective would it be in action. The way the grenade is designed, all of the BBs will essentially shoot in the same direction, and when throwing or rolling the grenade, there is now way of knowing exactly which direction the top of the grenade will be facing upon detonation. Essentially it is like a 8 BB shotgun going off in a somewhat random direction, but it does go in a certain direction and not in all directions. If you are able to roll the grenade you can control the accuracy a little more, or if you get it to detonate in the air you have better accuracy. Now personally if I had this thing go off right next to me I probably be too startled to feel the BB’s hit me, but also would probably just call myself out from the shock. Once people know how it goes off it still will be effective as a tool since they will run away from their hiding place hopefully revealing themselves to AEG fire.

So though this product may not perform perfectly like a grenade, it will be a pretty darn good simulation. If they do not get hit with one of the BBs they may even get hit by one of the other parts of the grenade including the shell itself as that shoots off about 20-30 feet in the opposite direction of the BBs. Also the enemy reaction should be fairly similar to what it would be in a real military situation, if it were a real hand grenade. I also think this opens the door to a lot of booby trap set ups as you could aim it in a certain direction a dig up someway for the pin to be pulled.

Conclusion

Overall this product is a very fun addition to anyone’s arsenal. It is fun to toy around with, it will be effective on the battlefield, and is relatively cheap. Like I said before it has a $50 MSRP which is not bad, and assuming you lose the pieces you could lose every use it would cost about $0.50 per use, no including the gas cost. This could add up, but really is not that bad, and I would anticipate that you would only use it a couple times in a skirmish, as it is most effective in very specific situations.

Also please check out the video of this grenade to get a feel for exactly how it operates. If after seeing that, and reading this you think it is worth dishing out the $50 then go for it. Others may see it is not worth that price tag and that is fine too. This product does have a lot of additional value in addition the actual skirmish use. It is cool looking, looks real, and adds a new element to the game. Not to mention it is pretty intimidating and fun to use just for around the house. So if these sounds like its right up your alley I highly recommend it, but it is not for everyone.

Your Name:

Comment:

Enter the code you see in the image above (case sensitive). Click on the image to refresh it.