9 minute read
ARMOURY: ICS CXP MARS II
MIGHTY MARS!
JIMMY IS REALLY ON A ROLL WITH THE LATEST PRODUCTS TO COME FROM OUR FRIENDS AT ICS AIRSOFT! WITH HIS EVER-EXPANDING TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE, AND INDEED VERY SPECIFIC KNOWLEDGE OF THE SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS INVOLVED IN THE NEW ICS AEGS AND GBBS HE’S THE VERY MAN TO CHECK OUT THE NEWEST ADDITION TO THE CXP LINE, THE MIGHTY MARS II!
The CXP (Concept eXclusive Program) series is a brand new AEG platform developed and designed based on the existing SALW (Small Arms and Lightway Weapons) from our great friends at ICS, which not only combines erogonomic theories and designs, but also applies with years of experience gained by ICS manufacturing and operating AEGs. A massive shout out to ICS and a big thank you for sending out these exquisite specimens to test and review it means a lot being part of the journey!
ICS certainly are spoiling us of late and this really goes to show in the latest offering in the form of the CXP MARS II sss3 carbine. Currently ICS offer up TWELVE different variations in the CXP range and all sport the same commitment to high-end quality. It has to be said that the quality of ICS products, whilst always good, over the last few years has improved tremendously and many of their models in my opinion are now simply impeccable. You expect that from a premium manufacturer of performance products and expectations have been fulfilled.
In the last Issue of AA I had the pleasure of testing the new LIGHTWAY DAGGER, a platform I was highly impressed with, but the new MARS II has impressed me even further to a point I just cannot
leave it alone. This thing is dripping quality and you will be hard pushed to find any flaws in the materials used but then ICS have been producing fine airsoft products for a very long time, around 27 years.
So to the product in hand is the latest iteration of the very popular CXP range; while keeping on track with their split gearbox design this AEG has had an internal make over with the addition of some very up to date components and some pretty radical styling, ensuring the customer, you the airsofter get the best possible platform straight out of the box, and a platform this good should get the recognition it deserves. ICS have created a package that is highly desirable and offers a vast list of features that not many can compete with, features “from the box” like: • SSS.III E-trigger system • Smart Trigger & Pre-cocking Function • Titan T-Dean Plug • EBB System • Lightweight 13” M-Lok handguard • High capacity Battery Space ERGO Stock • 20° Verticle Pistol Grip • Competition Short Stroke Flat Trigger • Blaster Steel Flash Hider • Reinforced Full Metal Teeth Piston • MASTER AL6061 Cylinder Head & Piston Head & Air Nozzle • MASTER Hop Tensioner Nub • ICS Split Gearbox • QD Spring Guide Design • One-piece Metal H-UP Chamber • Release Spring Function • Basic specs on this particular model are: • Length- 872mm to 946mm • Weight- 2940g • Barrel length- 13 inches • Velocity- states 394fps but upon chrono we achieved an average of 323fps +/- 2fps • Materials- full metal • Magazine capacity 300bbs • Motor- long shaft evo 35000
ICS recommend the use of either 7.4v or 11.1v; this recommendation will differ depending on your velocity and the motor being used. It does state use only 7.4v if using the evo motor and I can confirm that on an 11.1v I experienced PME (premature engagement) but even on a 7.4v it is still very responsive.
STRAIGHT OUTTA THE BOX!
SO… out of the box this new AEG is very aesthetically pleasing and looks modern with its sleek body and ergonomic feel which makes it comfortable and easy use. Being a carbine it is an acceptable length so will cater for all and the adjustable stock can be finetuned to fit many different people.
Handling the carbine feels so right; the angle and shape of the grip nestles nicely in the palm and the Magpul-esque M-LOK handguard is very slim, allowing fir the perfect “Chris Costa C-clamp”, and due to this slim design it accommodates attachments incredibly well and doesn’t become over bulky. Up front you will find a metal screw on shroud neatly etched with the words ‘BLASTER’ which covers a full metal flash hider, I’m not sure if any suppressors will screw direct on to that flash hider, that I’m yet to discover.
The full metal outer barrel sits just proud of the front of the handguard and it is solid, not one bit of movement, which is pleasing. The handguard being mainly M-LOK offers a vast amount of real estate even across the top as the standard 20mm picatinny has been removed all bar about 2” right at the very front allowing easy fit of iron sights or maybe a PEQ or DBAL. You could attach sections of rail should you choose, but for me I really like the look of M-LOK which keeps everything slim and very modern looking.
Moving on to the receivers, these are very well made and very futuristic looking and sport some fine laser etching. They chose to go with a non-ambi mag release on this strangely, but offered ambi fire select (sorry leftie shooters). The 300 BB polymer mag fits superbly with a very tiny amount of movement and clicks in place with no effort whatsoever. Even though the mag is a nice snug fit, upon release it will just fall out, so if you are the tactical reload kind of person ICS have you covered. When I say tactical reload kind of person I mean for those who think they are Mr J Wick esq and don’t pay for their magazines…
I really like the pistol grip on this as it is for me is a perfect size, not to skinny and not too wide with some
aggressive detailing for better grip; on the base it has a quick release baseplate held in by two stainless steel, very well machined pins (no more stripped threads) and on the rear of the receiver you will see a nice size sling plate with yet more fine etching. That isn’t the only sling mount point as ICS has you covered again (it’s almost like they are thinking about us airsofters) as there are another two more points on the stock itself. A solid metal buffer tube accommodates the ERGO stock and the fit between the two is better than most, with only minimal stock wobble. The butt pad is a nice chunky piece of rubber, very grippy, and is also quick release which then gives access to the vast battery compartment! It’s probably the largest battery compartment I have seen truth be told.
Gorgeous as the externals are, inside this beaut you will find a fine array of components from Master Mods as standard, components I rate very highly. One part I believe would really set this off and make it perfect is the addition of the Master Mods barrel and R-hop; if that was in there I would go as far as to say that this is one of the best airsoft guns out of the box your money could buy… it’s definitely a major contender, but why settle for contention when you can be the best.
RANGETIME
On the range I’m not nice to RIFs when testing; like Bill and Stwebacca I will abuse the mechanics and don’t care if they break as after all that’s what we here to do, not just tell you how shiny AEGs and GBBs are, we want to know can they stand up to “the suck”? Giving the testing we do I can’t say that a particular platform will last for a million BBs or never break, but if I can put 5000 BBs through something with heavy full auto bursts and continual trigger spamming in semi then I’m happy. When I say “burst” I don’t mean 5 seconds or even 10 seconds, I mean drum mag dumping keeping the finger on that trigger and emptying it!
For an out of the box AEG the MARS II operates flawlessly and will be very competitive out on site giving you an advantage over many. Sending BBs out to over 50m with ease and able to effortlessly lift 0.30g BBs (this is largely due to the effective rotary style hop unit combined with the Master Mods brass hop tensioner and great air delivery) the MARS II has a very responsive semi-auto which is all down to the E-trigger system, the great evo motor and the short stroke flat blade competition trigger; the marriage between them is a tripartite harmony and this gives you the edge where a mechanical trigger system will flag! There is no flagging with the new E-trigger system. I would like to see some sort of basic programming from this system maybe in the future this is something ICS could revise.
This model comes with the EBB feature, and while I do like EBB I found this one to be a little weak; I like to really hear and feel that blowback, and I know some of you are just going to say “if you want the feel of blowback why don’t you just get a GBBR? Truth is I am not a fan of GBBR, I like AEG and that’s final!
So to conclude I do believe that ICS are at the forefront of AEG manufacturing right now (and doing some very interesting things with GBB now too!), and the CXP MARS II just shows it; buy an ICS, it just makes sense! Okay, it’s a premium rifle with a premium price tag but you’re getting your moniesworth here, every penny of it.
As ICS say “Be a game changer!”
The CXP MARS II is also available as a “Komodo Junior” model, but my thanks as always go to our friends at ICS in Taiwan for supplying the carbine test model reviewed; do be sure to check out their website, www.icsbb.com, and busy social media feeds for the very latest news!! AA
