MSRP: $88.00

Action: 3-Busrt, Pump Action
Velocity: 280FPS with .20g BBs, recommended TSD .20g
Hop Up: Fixed for .20g BB
Matel Parts: Barrel Assembly & Cocking Tube
Body Finish: Matte Black with Ruberized grip
Includes: 4-30rd Shells & Shell Holster
Warranty: TSD 30 Days

Introduction

I was fortunate enough to receive this gun along with the lower end version in the TSD Sports 88 shotgun. This of course is the TSD Tactical line, which is higher end and more expensive. From my experience between the two companies it appears that they perform similarly but the TSD Tactical’s have a better feel to them, and they go through a lot of effort to make the guns seem like the real thing. This is the story with these two shotguns. While the TSD Sports 88 shoots very well, it does not feel nearly as real as the TSD Tactical 3-Burst shotgun. This is my first time reviewing a product that fires multiple BBs at once, as I have never owned a shotgun like this, nor have I used a grenade launcher or anything. From the start I was skeptical about the three round burst for a primary weapon. It just does not seem like it would work right in Airsoft. I imagined three BBs coming out either basically in the same spot, or coming out of one barrel and just going different distances. I did in the end find out that there is a certain appeal to the “3-Burst” but at the same time I would consider it more of a niche preference. It is a cool buy, and does the job when it comes to realistic feel.

First Impressions

The box seems to be a standard TSD box, brown for the most part with the picture and key specs listed over the front. It had interesting packaging with Styrofoam on the inside but only over both sides of the middle of the gun. It housed the mid section of the gun and accessories that come with it, but either end of the gun was more or less exposed in the box. I see no problems with it, just probably a more efficient way of packaging since the mid-section being secure makes the rest of the gun secure.

I was blown away by the size of this bad boy. It is enormous, no buts about it. It has an appropriate weight to it, and a nice solid feel. It was not a hard choice to pick this one as the first of the two shotguns to test fire as it simple was more fun to just hold. The gun is pretty bare, not many trademarks or anything (it is a shotgun after all). It is a straight up black plastic, which is dull and sturdy enough to give it a real look and feel. It is really just one of those guns which are fun to hold/have/see etc. The accessories which come with the shotgun will all prove to be extremely useful. You have the speed loader to load up the four included 30 round (10 shot) shells. It is the typical speed loader which the Airsoft world is used to seeing thanks to Tokyo Marui. You load it up with BBs and it has as piece which pops up and pushing it down repeatedly loads the shells. They also throw in a nice holster for the shells on the stock. It straps on conveniently and holds all the shells in some elastic slots. I must admit that this gun with those slots full of shells looks that much cooler.

Performance

When it comes to performance I would describe this gun as a niche gun. It is as advertised, and I would guess probably shoots at least 280 FPS if not more. They seem to be coming out pretty hard. It does shoot 3 rounds for every pump and shot, and it does not skip a beat. It will shoot as fast as you can pump and pull, and three shots never fail to come out. It is interesting how smooth it runs considering there are three separate barrels on the gun for each BB that comes out. It just seems to me that complications would have occurred in either the feeding process or with the BBs just out of the barrel. Neither has been an issue at all, so there I am really impressed. The gun is functionally sound.

There is one way however, that the gun slightly "malfunctions" and that is if you do a half pull on. If you do not pull the handle all the way back it will load the 3 BB's but not the spring, so up loading the spring you will actually have 6 BBs come out. It has only happened to me once, but just thought I would let you know of it. This would probably be more likely to happen to those who do not have the strength to load the spring repeatedly, like younger airsofters. 

Now the next question is an obvious one, how does it shoot? This gun is hard to grade as this functions like an actual shotgun. It has a spread of pellets rather than just one so you just need the spread to go in the right direction to hit someone. It is more of a point and shoot gun when it comes to success, and that is the beauty of the spread the gun puts out. I however am only accustomed to reviewing guns where one BB comes out and accuracy mattered, so this was a new experience and made it a little harder for me.

The spread is significant at times when it shoots. At about fifty feet out the two outside BBs are usually further than 3 feet apart, and none of the three BBs travel in a straight path. This is most of the time. I have had times where the three BBs stay pretty much together through their whole path and end up hitting only inches away from one another at their target. They do usually curve a lot during their flight and each shot does not necessarily look like the previous. So there really is no consistency when it comes to shooting, besides the fact that three come out and will spread out more, the further they go. You will see the success rate of this gun drop as you go further from your target. Hitting someone from 100 feet is not out of the question, but it is not likely either. The reason being that it does not have the velocity to go all that far, and they spread out so much by that point, that your chances of success go down. If you can get a couple shots off great, you will probably get the target, but in most skirmish situations, if the opponent has an AEG, you will not have that kind of time.

This gun does have some appeal to it however, and there is certain situations where it would have the advantage over even an AEG. This advantage would come in the close quarters, where instantly you can put three BBs into the air at someone, with one trigger pull. This best comparison I could think of was to shotguns which are in video games. They do next to nothing from a distance, but up close they are the most effective (this rings true with real shotguns as well of course). So if you are interested in closer engagements (45 feet or less) you will probably find yourself successful with this gun. This is why I call it a niche product. There is only a certain type of player and distance where it is very effective, but there are other types of shots where it will not perform as well.

As can be seen above the shells go into a slot underneath of the gun. There is a release switch for this hatch right by the trigger to make it easy and fast to load this gun up.

Who should get this gun?

I would say that everyone should get this gun if it was not for the $88 MSRP. The gun is A LOT of fun to hold and use, and I give it an A+ on the “cool” scale. Now I am not saying the gun is not worth $88 I am simply saying that there are some airsofters out there not willing to spend that kind of money on a gun to just have fun with (while many others would find this price an enormous bargain). I would not get this gun and expect to be able to compete with AEGs outdoors. You will have success if you are good enough to get yourself into the right positions (it does after all shoot 3 BBs at 280 FPS at once) but you will feel outmatched 1v1 with an AEG as they will be able to put more BBs at you, and outrange you. In big group games, with AEGs supporting you, you will have more success and probably would be a good gun to really make moves with. By make moves I mean be the first guy into the fort, the guy to grab the flag etc. where you are the closest to your enemy and things will occur more quickly.

I recommend this gun for CQB, and that may be obvious to some already. Three BBs with one shot at close range is pretty devastating, and in a small space the opponent simply will not have anywhere to go. It may not be as good as an AEG, but in this arena you will be able to compete with the right tactics. I feel that by the description of the gun, people will be able to tell if this gun is right for them. I know someone is just sitting there thinking that this gun sounds like a lot of fun. If you would like to compete with lower velocity AEGs or springers and gas pistols, you might be in business with this gun. Even though it may get outmatched by AEGs from a distance it still shoots 280 FPS and 3 BBs a shot. Considering the 3 BBs a shot it will be pretty accurate when it comes to getting your man, so I think this would be a great primary for spring battles.

This gun would be a perfect gun for someone who wants a backup in case their AEG goes down. It is good enough to get the job done at almost every level, and does not require anything beyond the initial purchase to get going. It is pretty cheap considering what you get, and at least you will be able to keep playing if a battery dies, or your gun breaks.

Overall

Overall this gun is solid. Cosmetically it is sturdy and realistic. It has a nice weight to it, and as mentioned numerous times it is simply fun to hold (more so than other Airsoft guns). The operation is smooth, with no problems whatsoever thus far. I would not expect many malfunctions with this gun, nor would I expect anything breaking externally. It is a good looking product and as a shotgun it can serve as just a fun gun to have in the arsenal. For many Airsoft collections out there $88 is not all that much, and since it comes ready with a sling, loader, four shells (10 shots, 30 bbs/ 40 shots, 120 bbs), and shell holster there is nothing more for you to do beyond the initial costs.

I am very pleased to be able to add this gun to my collection; I hope you all enjoyed the review and take a look at the gun. Feel free to ask any questions.

TSD Sports 88-Shotgun

MSRP $48

Single Shot Pump Action

350-380 FPS

Hop-Up Adjustable

Body Finish: Black

Includes 4-30rd Shells & Shell Holster, Shells are TM Compatible

I received this shotgun along with its counterpart the TSD Tactical 3-Burst Shotgun, so I instantly had another product to compare it to. This made it easier since I have not used other high end shotguns, but do have some experience with the lower end spring shotguns from early on in my Airsoft career. I must say that this gun does advertise a lot for its $48 MSRP with a 350-380 FPS range, adjustable hop-up, and four TM compatible 30rd shells included (along with a shell holster). Looking at the specs you would say this gun is looking to dominate the springer world. I must say had I had this gun been around when I was at the springer stage, it would have dominated the STTI G3a3’s and even the HFC M16’s I was using.

First Impressions

The gun came in box which is familiar for TSD Sports products. Has a colorful lid with the guns specs and information written on the outside, and the gun is neatly packaged with in a Styrofoam mold. This part of the package actually came wrapped in plastic which is something you are not used to seeing on Airsoft package. Included in the package were 4 shells which hold 30 rounds each, a shell holster which clips onto the top of the shotgun, a speed loader for loading the BB’s quickly, some BBs and an unjamming rod. All pretty impressive considering it is less than $50

I then took wrapping off and took out the gun to find it was pretty lightweight. Is exactly what you would expect considering it would technically fall into the springer category. It has a black finish and is nearly all plastic. The only metal parts I was able to identify were the magazine hatch and release, the trigger, and the front sling piece. The gun is a solid plastic, nothing too fancy, again it falls into what you would expect for a spring rifle; it meets expectations. The butt plate is rubber which adds some extra comfort as raw plastic would not have had a nice feel to it. So that is one nice touch to the gun. The stock slides along a plastic beam which seems sturdy enough but would be an obvious risk factor if you plan on being rough with the gun. It seems to be strong where it needs to be with both the charging pump in the front and pistol grip feeling very sturdy. On a shotgun these are obviously the points which would wear down first from the pressure of constantly loading and firing the gun.

Operation

The gun has four shells as mentioned and you use the supplied speed loader to load the 30 bb’s into the front of the shell much like a standard magazine on AEGs work. The loader itself is actually the same thing as the TM speed loader which made its first appearance several years ago with the SG 552’s release. The loading process is quite painless and fast as may not be expected by some, and I would say in a spring battle it would be considered quite a fast reload process. Obviously in a faster paced AEG or GBB game it will probably not be a fast enough reload time, but this gun is probably not best suited for those types of skirmishes anyways.

Once you have your four magazines loading, giving you a total of 120 rounds you release the shell hatch by hitting the release conveniently located by the trigger, and then slide the shell in, and close the hatch. It is a smooth reloading process as well and should be able to be done fairly quickly. From there you just pump and fire until you are out and must reload once again. There also is a safety located behind the trigger, which is always a necessary feature. This one seems to be pretty solid as well, with some spring guns you can actually squeeze hard enough to basically override the safety or even break the safety. On this one I squeeze as hard as I could just to test it out and nothing, no break, no fire.

Stock

This particular model has the adjustable stock. There is another TSD Sports 88 Shotgun which has the full un-adjustable stock if that is what you would prefer and the rest of the review besides this portion would apply to that product as well. The stock can be moved to four different positions for maximum options of comfort. The longer stock is nice for target shooting, and typical skirmishing while the shorter stock is good for maneuvering and close quarters. The stock does have a little slot for a sling if you choose to use one, but I doubt it would be needed as it is pretty light weight. If you are planning to use this as a back-up to throw over your back just in case, then the sling is there as an option for you. The stock appears to be fairly sturdy but at the same time is fairly lightweight. I would not expect it to break easily with common use, but if there were some sort of situation where you fell on it or otherwise applied significant force it may give out and break. This is not so much a flaw as it is a usage risk which applies to all Airsoft guns, as any part can break with enough force.

Performance

The performance of this gun was fairly stunning. Being the lower end of the two products I was reviewing, and being a springer I was not expecting much and I was definitely not expecting it to meet the 350-380 FPS expectations. After a fair amount of usage I would say 350 fps is a fair estimate and I would actually recommend using .25g BB’s in this gun as that is what I used, and it shot great! I legitimately wish that I had this gun years ago when I was shooting around with spring rifles, as it would have been perfect. This gun packs a solid, accurate punch and should not have any trouble hitting a human size target from 100+ feet!

A key feature on this gun is the adjustable hop-up which is really out of its league when it comes to these lower end guns. It really does pay off however and make a difference as you can adjust the gun for different conditions and mainly for varying BB weights. The hop up unit is straight forward and easy to use. You slide the piece forward for more hop and backwards for less hop.

The pump action is most definitely the best charging option for a spring weapon. It is the easiest, fastest and is just more natural. Some spring guns load using the T-Charging handle or a lever connected to the dust cover; both of these options are much more difficult to load. I invested in a shotgun once for this reason but it shot poorly and broke fairly quickly (Viper USA Riot Shotgun) so never considered it an option from there. I would not expect anything like that with this gun. Considering this gun must have a strong spring in there to be capable of firing with such pop, the loading motion is fairly easy. You should not have a problem pulling the handguard to load the gun, unless you are very young or small. It will tire out those with the strongest arms after some rapid fire. One of the first things I did was see how fast I could go through 2 shells (60 rounds) and I found it not only to be fast but quite tiring. This is something I feel you will get used to, and it would be quite rare to have to shoot at such a pace anyways. What I want you to take from this is that it is a stronger spring, so it is slightly harder to charge than your typical springer, but the fact that it is a shotgun makes it easier than it would otherwise be.

The gun is quite accurate for a spring gun (using .25g BBs) but lacks consistency found in some other spring guns (most of which are way more expensive and sniper rifles). The BB’s may tail to the right and then next time tail to the left, but for most of the flight they shoot straight, and the groupings from 50 feet probably are not much more than several inches. The accuracy should be good enough to make target shooting entertaining around the house. It does lack any sort of serious sight however, and this is appropriate as it is probably not accurate enough for high quality sights (though that does not stop some companies from sticking them on their guns). 

Another note it is not an option on this gun to load multiple BBs into the chamber. It will only accept one pump per trigger pull. So once you pump the gun can not be pumped again until it is fired and the single shot is released. This is for the best because multiple BBs in the barrel can cause jams, and also severely hurts the accuracy of the shots.

Shells/Holster

The shells hold 30 rounds each and TSD conveniently provides a speed loader in order to load the shells quickly. It comes with 4 of these shells and a holster to hold the shells. The holster is all plastic and pretty lightweight. There really is not much to it besides some cheap plastic, but it clips nicely onto the top of the gun and is very convenient to have. If you plan to use this gun as a primary I would recommend getting a pouch to drop the spent shells into quickly, because it takes a little time to slide them into the shell holster. The holster is pretty tight and it appears it is best to load them through the top, with the BB’s facing downwards. Otherwise it is sometimes a struggle to get them in there at all. The piece is meant to be a “throw-in” item of sorts, and it serves the purpose. It is functionally sound and makes the gun look cool when it is clipped on with shells.

The shells load one at a time underneath the gun. There is a release switch near the trigger guard which causes the hatch to open up, and allows the shell to slide right in. Very quick and smooth process, no complaints here.

Who should get this gun?

This gun with its low price really is for anyone that likes Airsoft, and likes the look of the gun. It packs enough of a punch to at least be somewhat useful at every level, or even fun for plinking around the house. This gun is definitely capable of being a primary in springer wars and other lower end (price wise) skirmishes. It has more than enough velocity, holds enough shots, and should have the durability as well. Not to mention it looks pretty cool as well. More of an AEG guy but find shotguns intriguing? This gun is intriguing, and pretty fun to shoot around with. Pretty low priced, so therefore kind of on the lighter side when it comes to build, but it performs well and functions as the part. It is light enough to sling over your back in a typical AEG skirmish for the “just in case scenario”.

Conclusion

This gun has an MSRP of $48 and chances are you can get it somewhere for less. It shoots 350 FPS with .20g legitimately, and is fairly accurate. These two facts paint the picture and tell the story of the TSD Sports 88 shotgun. As long as it holds up, you can not beat the value. True it will not be capable of competing with AEGs since it lacks the ROF, but it can match and beat with range making it an acceptable back-up. In addition it has the light weight and plenty of rounds to go through. The gun has a cool look, and shotguns are always fun to have. So it is not a bad buy for any level of airsofter as you will have fun with it, and for a low cost.

The Tokyo Marui M203 is a spring powered BB launcher, unlike to Sun Project version which is gas powered. The Marui one come in two variants- one for the M16 rifles and one for the M4 carbine versions. Installation on the M16A2 was pretty much brain dead operation, you don’t need any special skills to attach the launcher. Appearance: The M203 is constructed of mostly ABS plastic, but it has a metal barrel, sight, trigger, safety and trigger guard. The thing is heavy, around 1.5-2 kg. It made my M16A2 weigh 5 kg! The launcher has three holes in a triangular pattern in the barrel where there is only a 40 mm hole in the real one. This is not very attractive but I guess there is no way around that. The M203 makes an M16 look very intimidating. It makes the whole gun look very big and dangerous! It also makes it very heavy, especially in the front. When I played my first game with it, memories of being in the army came back to me. The gun gets a very realistic weight, as my left shoulder learned after the 5 hour game we played... Function: The mechanism of the M203 is identical to the Marui shotguns, and firing the gun is a joyful experience! It uses the same type of shell magazine, which holds 30 BBs. Each shot fires 3 BBs. Cocking the gun feels a bit harder than on the shotguns, but if you move the gun and not the handguard it is still quite easy. The racking sound is real cool by the way. It has decent range, around 30 meters, with a tight spread pattern. I found myself firing the M203 before I used the auto function of the M16. The M203 firing sound is much harder to locate than full auto! Conclusion I don’t think anyone would buy the M203 so that they could have a good backup weapon, I think it’s all for the monster look it creates! So is the M203 worth the money? Not really in terms of combat affectivity, but HELLYEAH in terms of getting a cool looking gun! - West

Company picture Just a little info on the real steel: The S.P.A.S. (special purpose automatic shotgun) 12 is made in Italy by a company called Franchi. It is a selective pump action or gas operated semi automatic 12 gauge shotgun that holds 8 +1 shells and comes in either a pistol grip or folding stock configuration. It is used by several police/law enforcement and military agencies around the world. Left side of the gun Ordering and all that: It all started after my first backyard airsoft war. I used a p.o.s. CYMA (or like quality) S.P.A.S. 12 (which later I found was not actual size) from one of the other kids. I didn’t have a gun since my springer M9 was broken and I was too nice to use my highly upgraded (~400 fps) MAC-11 on the smaller kids we were playing with. I was also trading off with a Sig 552 springer. In the quick engagements, I soon realized the virtue of a pump action gun, the rate of fire. Reaching over to the other side of the gun to cock a bolt just didn’t cut it. After that, I was set on getting a shotgun. I really like the look of the S.P.A.S. 12, and was hoping to get one, rather than the silly looking Hardballer II which is so popular. After doing lots of research and posting on forums to find the best spring shotgun in my price range, I was set on the Dongsan S.P.A.S. 12. Found it on ModelMarts for $44.99, but of course, they were out. Emailed them, and they didn’t know when it would be back, but said the full stock version would be in soon. The stockless version is so much more versatile, so I wasn’t going to settle for anything less (or a different brand). After lots of searching, I found the gun on some UK site for nearly $100, plus overseas shipping. That wasn’t going to work. Finally found it on a small privately run site for $79.99. Not much better, but shipping was only 8 bucks, so it would have been almost that much ordering overseas from ModelMarts. The owner of the site didn’t have the original box, and accidentally had 2 prices posted on his site, so he gave me 1000 .12 bbs and a Dongsan Colt .25 with a silencer for free. Good guy. Well I ordered it, and luckily it was coming from New Braunfels, Texas, (just a few hours from Dallas) so I knew shipping would be fast. It finally came on a Tuesday. My mom sent me a text message while I was at school, to tell me it was here. So finally school was out, and I was home. It all came in a large brown shipping box. I immediately grabbed it, ran into my room, got out my pocket knife and cut it open. The box was filled with plastic bags used for shipping protection. I yanked them all out and there was my Dongsan S.P.A.S. 12. Big, beefy pump and heat shield First Impressions: It was a nice shade of black, that kind of non-reflective plastic. I had already seen several pictures of it, and knew what it was going to look like, but finally seeing it for myself was great. It was bigger than I expected and was big and beefy looking. I picked it up, and it wasn’t all that heavy, but it was not toy-like. There is more weight towards the front of the gun around the pump. (I may try to add a bit of weight inside the pistol grip, but it feels pretty nice and doesn’t bother me). All the metal on the gun (besides the black screws) is a nice, shiny silver color, and there is a decent amount of it too. Metal parts include the barrel tip, front sight, trigger, safety, bolt/ejection port, shell door, shell door catch, both sling swivels, all the screws, and almost all of the internals. Plastic parts include the pump, main body, magazine, outer barrel, a few internal parts, and pistol grip. Also, this gun came with no ugly orange tip, so it looked great right out of the box. After a close inspection, I cocked the gun. I had heard that it sounded great, and I that is absolutely true. Compared to any other springer I had ever fired, this gun sounded the best by far, and felt very good to cock too. Nothing close to the plastic grinding on plastic of the CYMA one I had used. As far as trademarks go, on the right of the body it says S.P.A.S. 12 FRANCHI S.P.A.-BRESCIA MADE IN KOREA, and on the right side of the outer barrel it says S.P.A.S. 12. The left side of the outer barrel says DONG SAN MODEL. The safety is a switch on the left side of the trigger guard which is easily moved into place (and kept there) by a lever. Forward is fire, back is safe. The only thing wrong with the appearance of the gun is that there are some visible seam/mold lines. Right side of the gun Full magazine The Magazine: The magazine is a long stick type that goes in where you would load shells on the real steel. You pull the spring down and it locks in place at the bottom. Press the button at the top and pour in up to 60 rounds in a double stacked formation. Put the magazine into the gun and press the spring release button. It then loads 9 rounds into the body of the gun. Be careful with this, since when the magazine is empty, there will still be 9 bbs in the gun. To get them out, cock the gun while holding it vertical or upside down. That will load the last few shots, and then the gun will be completely empty. You can insert the loaded mag, then take it out to replace the 9 rounds already in the gun, so technically, it can hold 69 bbs. That’s enough for 69 shots, or 18-23 on burst, which is great, since you can shoot very fast with this gun because it is a pump action and is very easy to cock. Magazine release (silver button) and spring release (small button) Shell door open Special Features: This gun has some really cool special features. Besides the high mag capacity, the shell door where you would load a real shell opens, it has a pump lock so you don’t accidentally pump it more than once, it has a one or 3 shot burst firing system, and you can cock it with the pump or the bolt. The shell door has no real functionality, it just adds to the realism. Once you pump the gun and push the pump completely forward which you must do for it to fire, it engages a lock which prevents the pump from being moved until the gun it is fired. This is nice because it prevents you from chambering too many rounds. If you really wanted to, you could push the pump almost all the way forward, then back again and forward to chamber more rounds, but the more you put in the barrel, the slower/shorter it will shoot, so there’s really no point. The rear sight is used to select firing mode. Push it forward for 3 shot burst (which sometimes shoots more than 3) or push it to the back for single shots. A very clever and easy way to make this gun very versatile. The hop up rubber (which works better with .2g bbs) in the gun is also long enough so that if you have it set on 3 shot burst, bbs will not start rolling out of the barrel, unless it chambers more than 3. Of course you can cock the gun with the pump (pull back, push forward. Yes, you have to push it forward, as it has no return spring, just like a real shotgun. Most of you probably knew that, but I just thought I’d mention it since one of my friends had asked about it and the Hardball has a return spring), or, you can cock it with the bolt handle. When you pull it back it opens the ejection port (as it does with the pump too. The pump and bolt handle are connected so when one moves, the other does too) then push it forward again to chamber the bbs. You wouldn’t really use it that often since its much faster and easier to use the pump, but it just adds more to the realism. (Take that, Marui). With the stock spring, it is possible to cock the gun with one hand, but I wouldn’t do it too much as it puts quite a bit of stress on the gun. It’s not really possible with any spring upgrade. Rear sight/fire selector – forward for 3 shots, back for single shot Bolt in the rear position and shell door open Performance: After loading the mag with some of the .12’s that I got for free (and after loading up the little Colt .25 that I also got for free), I put it in and went outside in my backyard to try it out. Put in on single shot mode and racked the pump. Aimed at nothing in particular and pulled the trigger. The spring gave off kind of a loud twangy sound and out flew the bb. There was just a little wind, and it over hopped. I was very glad at this since I had heard that this is a Korean gun where they have very low FPS limits (which is true, this doesn’t shoot all that fast stock, but was better than I had expected). After trying the accuracy on single shot which was alright, but nothing special, I switched it to 3 shot and tried it out. Of course since the gun only has one barrel, putting more bbs in it will decrease the velocity quite a lot. But with the .12’s being so light it wasn’t too severe. But there is a very noticeable drop in range. It was only 25-30 feet, while on single shot it is more like 80-90. On 3 shot, sometimes the bbs flew close together and sometimes they flew very far apart. You would definitely use 3 shot only for CQB. 3 shot mode is a little strange. It’s supposed to shoot 3, but sometimes it shoots 4 or 5. All the selector switch does is move a small notch, which either allows multiple bbs to go in, or stop after 1. It’s ok though, because you would only use it for close distances when you want the maximum chance of hitting someone without really hurting them. After firing off the rest of the .12’s, I went inside and loaded it up with .2’s. Went back outside, put it on single shot and fired. That’s much better. It flew nice and straight and wasn’t affected by wind or anything. Accuracy was much better too. The range stayed nearly the same on single shot but decreased a little more noticeably on 3 shot. However, the bbs stayed much closer together on 3 shot with .2’s which I think is better. We play with a 3 hit kill rule, so if I am right up on someone, I can switch it to 3 shot and take them out in one shot from 25 feet, instead of firing 3 and maybe have one hit them with the .12’s. This gun is very skirmish worthy, and even though I never used it stock in a skirmish, I can say that it would have performed well. With .2’s, the max range is 80 at most, with effective range being around 60 feet. Not bad, not great. It is very versatile, having the 3 shot mode and single shot, no stock, and isn’t too heavy. If for some reason you wanted to, you could hold it in one hand and fire like a pistol, but its heavy enough so that you couldn’t do that for very long at all. You can run well with this gun and aim pretty easy. The sights are pretty basic, but not bad. There is a hole in the rear, and a post in the front. Pretty simple. Great ROF to get you out of those tough situations. Depending on your opponent’s gun, you will probably be able to get twice as many shots off as they do in the same amount of time, which is, of course a good thing. Just make sure you push the pump all the way forward or it won’t fire, but it’s not a problem, since it is very easy and natural to push it all the way forward. Bolt locked forward and safety on Other Stuff: You can take this gun apart, but I wouldn’t call it field stripping, since it requires a screwdriver and a bit of time. At the advice of K40S from AS-R, I bought an ICS M120 spring to upgrade the stock one in the gun, which is pretty weak. After finally getting the gun apart (and of course all the little parts and springs had to start falling out, which is when the manual came in handy) I took a look around. Most of the internals are made from the same silver metal that the rest of the gun is made of. To make a long story short, I finally got the new spring in, with about an inch of the old spring too, and got it all back together. This is when the gun really shines. Performance with the M120 Spring: The new spring pretty much improves everything. It gets rid of the nasty twangy sound of the old spring. It greatly increases range and power on both fire modes. It still doesn’t puncture a coke can, but makes a hefty dent, so I put it at about 270-280 fps with a .2g bb. For my range and power test, I stand at one end of my backyard (about 120 feet) hold the gun at a normal firing position, and shoot towards the fence on the opposite side and see how far it goes and how long it takes to get there. With the stock spring, it would make it to fence on the other side about 1/3 of the time, but usually it would drop to the ground before it got there. Now, it easily makes it to the fence and is still going fairly fast and accurate. 3 shot range increased to more like 50-55 feet. The gun is very accurate now. On the outside of my fence where the metal support poles for the fence are, I can stand about 30 feet back and hit each pole in succession nearly every time only aiming for about 1 second. I also made a custom sling for the S.P.A.S. 12 which is nice for skirmishes and backyard shooting and allows the use of my Colt .25 back up. I finally got to have a skirmish with my upgraded gun. I had been waiting all spring break. But finally, the time had come. After finally finding enough people to play with (the little kids we usually play with weren’t home) we were ready to start. I was already impressing people just by the awesome look of this gun. I showed them a few shots to impress them some more. We set the rules (3 hit kill) and I explained to everyone that my gun could shoot 3 shot burst or single, so they could be killed in one shot. Then we started. The first war went quick. I took a bb to the mouth (actually swallowed the darn thing) and went inside to check that my teeth were ok. By the time I came back out, it was almost over. The only little kid we were playing with then had to leave. So it was just 5 of us. I had my S.P.A.S. 12 and my little Colt .25 as a back up, one guy had a KWC 1911, one guy had the CYMA SPAS that I spoke of earlier, one guy had an HFC P99, and one guy had a gas KWC desert eagle (only for long range) and a PPK. For the first 2 skirmishes, it was me and my friend with the deagle vs. everyone else. We started on the side of the house, and they started at the front of the house. We peeked around the corner and saw 2 of them. The guy with the 1911 was behind a thick tree for cover, taking a shot at us every once in a while. About 2 inches of his pants were hanging out to the side of the tree. I hit there twice from about 40 feet away. He was startled at being hit when he thought he was behind cover, and jumped out and shot at us me and my friend with the deagle both fired at him. Not sure which one or if both of us hit him, but he was out. Next was the guy with the cyma shottie. I shot him twice from the same range as the last guy. He took a couple steps back, tripped over his bike (genius) and fell to the ground. Everyone started laughing. I shot him again just for good measure. We walked out from our cover to look for the last guy. Went by the front porch of the house and there he was. I took one hit but quickly switched the gun to 3 shot and took him out. The whole thing lasted for no more than a minute. The next skirmish was with same teams. The guy with the 1911 had the great idea for his team to hide in his backyard (protected by nothing) and try to set up an ambush. After taking a few shots at them from over the fence, my teammate and I stormed the yard and hit the remaining people in as much or less time than the last skirmish. We had another skirmish or 2 and each time I was on the team with less people and we still won every time, thanks in no small part to my great gun. In one instance a guy was running from me as fast as he could about 30-40 feet in front and to my left. I fired 4 times in single shot, and hit him all 4 times. It was just great. This gun not only has great intimidation factor but backs it up in performance. There were several more instances of this gun performing brilliantly, hitting a guy hiding behind an air conditioner in the forehead from 35 feet, twice, and hitting a guy from over a fence across his backyard. I have since used it in several skirmishes, and every single time, my team has won. I have only been killed once in all the wars I've had with this gun so far, thanks to its superior rate of fire, accuracy, and range. Further Upgrades: So far all that I have upgraded is the spring. It may be possible to put an M130 or M140 in it, but it may put too much stress on the internals and wear it out faster. I might also put a tightbore barrel in it to increase velocity and accuracy a little more. It is also possible to mount a scope or red dot sight to the gun, with a little modification (there are no mounting rails on the gun). Since it’s relatively inexpensive, you can try a bunch of things to make it even better and more capable. Overall: For the price (under 50 bucks if you get it from the right place) this is the best shotgun on the market. It’s got decent weight and performance (much better with upgrades), looks awesome, is realistic, and is a blast to shoot. Pros: High Metal Content Hop-up Decent weight Easy to upgrade 60 round magazine Great sound when racking slide Excellent ROF Performs awesome with a simple spring upgrade Looks great Extremely versatile Highly realistic Single or 3 shot firing mode Relatively low cost Can use .2’s easily Cons: 3-round burst sometimes shoots more than 3 (not that much of a problem) Not real steel weight (you can add weight, but its really just fine) Doesn’t use shells (detracts from realism, then again it doesn’t cost $200) Hard to find (not a very common gun, so parts and stuff may be hard to come by) Only 1 barrel so 3 shot decreases range/fps Some visible seam lines Overall it’s a great gun. If you want a good shotgun for around $50-60 get this. It’s easy to upgrade too, so it’s a great project gun. I give it an 8, subtracting only because of the mold lines, sort of low weight, and rather low stock power, most of which can be easily remedied. -Iceman718

Hooray! It finally came in the mail, it was Christmas again today! I ordered my new toy from www.precisionairsoft.com and it arrived 3 days after payment, it also had some wadded up newspaper from Hong Kong, interesting 'reading' material. I also ordered an AK hi-cap, a battery discharger, and three bags of airsoft elite .25s. And of course I ordered the Maruzen CA 870. I was surprised with how small the box was, expecting it to be much larger. When I lifted off the lid I was greeted by a classic-looking sawed off shotgun. I lifted it out of the box and was astounded with how heavy it was. I estimate it weighs around 2000 grams. It also felt solid as a rock, no shakes or rattles outside of the solid metal sling mounts. The gun is in fact made entirely out of carbon fiber and in fact the only ABS parts I can see is the clip, which I will get into later, and the shell tube underneath the pump action. There were a few metal parts on the gun, they are as follows: trigger, safety, sling mounts, and the two rods that connect the pump action to the piston. The wooden grips feel totally real, like a dense hard wood. The gun's internals are almost all metal. When fired the gun makes a nice solid metallic clack. No plastic slamming together, just metal. Doesn't sound anything like a gun shot which is disappointing considering how realistic this replica is, but it sounds solid. The pump action however sounds entirely real and very intimidating, the solid clack-clack will send even the AK's cocking handle running home for mommy. The clip is a double-edged sword, it is nasty plastic, but it is also very small, holds a lot of ammo, has a damn cool loading tool and will not spray ammo period. The loading tool has to be used twice because it only holds 20 rounds. This is a nice feature because it makes the loading rod smaller. The clip also holds the loading rod in place making loading a pleasure. The clip is also realistic in that one can buy clips for there 870 that only hold a few shells, but they do exist. Now onto performance! The poor-man's chrono says it fires about 300 FPS. And accuracy is superb. It will only fire one pellet but this is intended as a reliable sidearm not as a primary CQB companion. The hop-up is non-adjustable as far as I know but it fires .2s fine. A point of concern is that the inner barrel is almost at the edge of the outer barrel and has seems vulnerable to the elements. But it shouldn't be an issue. I am going to combat test it tomorrow and will give some post game results, but for now this is all we have to drool over. Pros: -All fiber glass construction gives it amazing durability -All metal internal construction -Nice ROF -Superb Reliability -Good accuracy -Good range -Nice loading system -Very reasonably priced at 100 bucks or so. Cons: -Inner barrel seems like an area of concern -Magazine is ABS I give it a 4/5 and hope to use this until I am too old to airsoft. - Lemmypoo

Real steel background The Italian SPAS (Special Purpose Automatic Shotgun) 12 is one in a line of semi and fully automatic combat shotguns from Franchi. It is over 20 years old, but it is still highly effective with a capacity of 8+1 shells and a variety of ammunition types. As such, it is popular with Special Forces and counter terrorist teams world wide including the Italian "NOCS", the French "GIGN" and Britain's own Special Air Service, the "SAS". The SPAS 12 is little brother to the SPAS 15, one of a new generation of fully automatic combat shotguns along with the Pancor Jackhammer and the Heckler and Koch CAW (Close Assault Weapon). First impressions The first thing you notice about the SPAS, is that it's BIG. Because while being shorter than many assault rifles, this is one fat, chunky cannon. It certainly doesn't feel small when you pick it up, as the pistol grip is at one end with the fore grip seemingly as far away as the manufacturers could get it. The gun is also quite heavy for a springer, and you can defiantly feel it when in a firing position as the gun is extremely front heavy. However, with the exception of the upper barrel and the magazine tube (the cylinder below the barrel) the gun is rather plasticy and squeaks a bit in places, particularly where the two receiver parts meet and the fore grip. Function The SPAS 12 was designed by Marui to act like a real shotgun while still being economical. They did this by using a unique system comprising of 3 separate pistons and 3 barrels, to make a trio of bb's spread out rather like a real shotgun which gives the advantage over other airsoft shotguns that each bb fired has the power of an AEG shot. The result of this is that not only does this pack a heavy punch at close range, but the kill zone is expanded form a straight line to a cone shape meaning you don't even have to aim directly at the target to have a good chance of hitting them. This is particularly useful at long range, giving a good spread. Unfortunately, that does mean that occasionally you'll aim right at an enemy only to find that the bb's all spread away from the target. The range is about that of a stock AEG, while the sights are set quite well (although they can be changed if required). The sights themselves are easy to use, with a big hole behind a big blade, useful for snap shooting. A lot of people say the SPAS is hard to cock, but if it's done correctly and quickly most people should be able to use it without problems. It can be harder if the grip or your hands are wet or gloved, but it is possible by pressing a finger against the front edge of the grip. So where does the ammo come from? Well that is another excellent feature of this. 30 rounds can be loaded into replica 12 gauge shotgun shells, or "shot shells" as Marui calls them. These reusable little things as such give you ten shots, which should last you long enough to find a safe place to reload. They are quite cheap (about £20 for a pack of 3 being average), and usefully very small so many can be carried in a pocket or pouch, although I usually have another pouch for empty shells to prevent confusion. The only problem with the shells is that they are easier to lose than rifle or sub machine gun magazines. they are released from inside the gun using a lever on the right side of the gun, just forward of the trigger. There is space in the magazine tube for 2 spare shells, but they are held in by a complex little cap which requires you to pull it out slightly, twist it round a bit and pull some more. To put it back, it is the opposite which is harder than it sounds and totally pointless in a gunfight. In a skirmish, this shotgun has a few advantages and disadvantages. the weather doesn't matter, so no worries about batteries going flat quickly or gas being next to useless. You don't have to buy the power (although eating plenty of energy food can help you cock the thing :-) ) and the spread of the shots is useful. However, having to cock every shot is a big disadvantage, especially when your hiding behind an impossibly small piece of with bb's zipping over your head. The 10 shot magazine also means that once you've fired at an enemy to keep his head down, it won't be long before it pops back again up behind an AEG. As such, it is always best to have at lest one automatic to back you up, especially in CQB situations where the time it takes for you to cock is more than long enough for a second enemy to shoot you. Upgrades and maintenance This shottie isn't a bad performer in stock form, and I haven't needed to do anything to the internals. I have, however, taped a small AA cell Maglite torch under the magazine tube. As well as providing a bit of visibility in dark conditions, it is a handy quick aiming device as long as the spot is easily visible. A sling is also a very useful addition, particularly if you get one, which holds shells as well. Being a springer, the SPAS doesn't require the same level of maintenance as an AEG or GBB. But it doesn't hurt doing a bit, and it's a good idea to do a couple of things every now and then. First, it is useful to clean out the barrels (make sure you've done all 3) using the tool provided. If you look inside the shell housing, you can see a number of working parts including the shell release, the pistons, and the ammo feed system. It is a good idea to lubricate these, although if the lube gets to the fixed hop up parts they won't work properly for a few shots, but it does help it to stay functional in the long run. I also apply lube to the cocking mechanism, where the fore grip runs along the receiver. Other parts, which may benefit form a little bit of lubrication, include the trigger and shells (to help prevent jams). Just make sure areas to be lubed are clean. This includes removing old lube, which will often pick up a lot of dirt. Conclusion The SPAS is a nice gun, which excels when conditions are less than ideal (not only poor weather, but also when you don't have as much money as you would like :-) ). Quite good in most situations with great reliability, but it is not really adequate when very rapid or prolonged fire is needed. Just make sure you've got A for a lot of shells, most people find 7+ a good number, and B for backup for sticky situations. - Voodoo Sprout

First impressions:



Well I ordered my SPAS a on Tuesday the 24th and ordered it through ups ground (talk about torture waiting for it) and I also ordered a extra three shells right of the battery. It cost me $225 for the SPAS and $25 for the extra shells. It got here yesterday on the 1st of May and getting that box was like Christmas all over again (yes, us airsofters take lots of pride in are guns). The first thing I noticed was that this gun is HUGE, this thing is massive which you can't really tell from the box. Pulling it out of the box I noticed that it is pretty heavy but not as heavy as my M4 but still heavy. I also noticed that the grip and pump handle are also beefy and felt nice in my hands. Also, there is an accessories port under the pump handle for a vertical grip that you could add on later. There is a magazine tube in the front that you can store 2 extra shells in. I did know about the three inner barrels inside the outer barrel, but I had no idea where they were placed. Just to give you an idea, they start inside the outer barrel just where the barrel comes out of the gray receiver. I did notice that the Marui shot shells were a little bigger than a real 12GA. The SPAS compared to my M4 is not that much different, the M4 with it's stock fully extended is only about one inch longer. Oh I almost forgot to tell you what is metal on this beast, the metal parts consist of the trigger, magazine release button, magazine hatch, front and rear sights, the whole upper barrel, magazine tube in the front barrel shroud, dummy bolt (which sad enough to say does not move), and safety. All in all it has superb detail.









Well How Does it hold up:



Well as soon as I got the gun I had to shoot it so I loaded it up, it is easy to load just follow these steps. Step 1 load the shell like you would any other magazine for airsoft (Marui shot shells hold 30 rounds witch is enough for 10 shots because this gun shoots 3 shots each time you pull the trigger). Step 2 find the loading port opener (which is on the right side of the gun). Step 3 open it and insert a shell. Step 4 close and rack the gun. Now you are ready to go. At first I was a little scared at how hard the SPAS was going to be to cock because of all the horror stories, like someone said "after ten times your arm dies," or like, "you have to use your whole body to cock it," all that can't be farther from the truth, I can sit it on my leg and rack it with one hand so easily, or maybe it's just because I rock climb all the time, HE HE!! I guess it all depends on the person. There is a lot more noise than a GBB, I would say. The range is really one of the best I've seen from a stock gun, I could probably shoot at stuff farther than my M4. No one really knows what the fps on this gun is but I would guess around 285 to almost 300fps because it rips through both sides of a soda can at point blank. Now check out the range tests down below.











Now I'm going to rate this gun by the cool factor and intimidation factor rating. on cool factor I rate this a 9 out of a 10 because this gun just rocks but the only down side is that you don't actually eject the spent shells, that is why I give it a 9.









On intimidation factor I give it a 10 because this gun is a beast, it's got extremely high accuracy and whoever gets in front of this gun will try to get out of it's way.



I'm going to conclude now: I would suggest this gun to any one because it's cheap to buy and to get shells for, it is highly accurate, fun to use, and best of all no batteries to charge and no gas to buy and it's just an all around great gun.