13 minute read
ARMOURY: SPECNA ARMS EDGE 2.0
GETTING EDGIER
IN THE RECENT PAST WE’VE BEEN CONCENTRATING ON THE NEW MODELS RELEASED BY SPECNA ARMS IN COLLABORATION WITH SOME EXCELLENT LICENCE-HOLDERS, BUT BEHIND THE SCENES THE TEAM AT SA HAVE BEEN BUSY ROLLING OUT THEIR OWN “SKUNKWORX” PROJECTS THAT BRING AN UPGRADE TO BOTH EXISTING MODELS AND NEW ONES INTERNALLY AND EXTERNALLY, SO BILL TAKES A LOOK AT WHAT’S NEW AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR PERFORMANCE AND IN-GAME USE!
SPECNA ARMS (SA) apparently seem to be going through some changes right now, and very exciting they are too! At MOA we saw their first big broadside into the Asian market, and reports are that this was very well received, and from what I see and hear this is only the first salvo in a very business-like approach to airsoft!
What? Wait? “Businesslike”? Yup, I know, right, there’s a word that we hear all too little in relation to airsoft, but like it or loathe it, airsoft is BIG business these days with hundreds of thousands if not millions of players all around the globe… and all those players want GUNS! Whether you believe that airsoft should remain in the hands of enthusiasts, or that the players should always drive what the manufacturers produce, that’s not in reality how things work…
Manufacturers are businesses at the end of the day, and some even have shareholders that they need to report and show profit to. They are producing thousands of pieces of a single unit (in our case an AEG or GBB) and their sourcing of raw materials, production capability, and indeed quality control programs all need to work seamlessly together.
Once created they need to market and sell these products, convincing “we the players” that what they have on offer is the thing that we really, really want and need, and then they need to ensure that stock is available, at the same time, with a logical price structure, in every country in which they do business… so now we’re into shipping and logistics, and although things ARE getting better, this side of things is still fraught with difficulties large and small…
Are you getting the picture yet? Airsoft has, and will continue to change, and I for one believe it’s high time that everyone in the industry stopped fannying around and did things in a business-like fashion, from OEM to manufacturer to distributor and even including retailers! Let’s stop making drama and slagging everyone off and just get on with having an airsoft industry, start to finish, that’s PROFESSIONAL!
Okay, no apology, but rant over! Why do I say this here in relation to SPECNA ARMS? Well, along a few other brands that I am pleased to have a relationship with SA are showing a new way forward, a way that encompasses a global vision for airsoft that will ensure that
we as players have what we want, when we need it, at a sensible and affordable price; having a proper “business-like approach” will let this happen, and I commend them for their approach.
FOCUSED DESIGN
But having a good business model doesn’t always mean that what said business creates is always very good; all too often we’ve seen brands become heavily commercialised and go from inspirational to simply boring! Brands that we once held up as being “cutting edge” have taken our buck and ended up bland, simply rolling out a succession of the same old thing time and again, or in some cases relying on essentially a single product to see them through, keeping their shareholders happy whilst players begin to look elsewhere for their inspiration… and end up somehow surprised that their market share has fallen away…
Not so SPECNA ARMS!
Through a constant, ongoing and focused design and development program, along with some clever industry collaborations, SA have continued to bring something new to the party on a regular basis! Although we have indeed homed in on some of their excellent “collaboration models” more recently as they’ve brought different and exiting things to the
market, (just look at their relationship with Daniel Defense as an example!) they’ve quietly been beavering away
to move their forward. own products
We’ve just seen the launch of their new “X SERIES” SMG models which look exciting, and of course we’ll report on these in depth as soon as we can, but they’ve also looked both to their own external accessory program as well as new internal tech that’s become available and they’ve made steps forward in both areas!
I was sent two models to look at, models that I’ve been range-testing for a little while now, the SA-E09-RH EDGE 2.0 and the SA-E13-RH EDGE 2.0 Carbines; both are available in Black, and Black/FDE combinations, and both now sport SA’s own Heavy Ops Stock; the E13 comes in at 825-907mm, 2825g whilst the E09 is 825-910mm, 2770g so there’s little between the two here. This is the first time though that I’ve seen the Heavy Ops Stock as other than a 3D printed prototype, and it’s excellent in its final production form, a slim, lo-profile polymer design that’s akin to a pared-back CRANE but still offers great battery storage space; it also gives easy access to the buffer tube for battery changes in-game without having to remove the entire stock, and with an oversized paddle it’s a breeze to adjust on the fly.
Now the E09 is a design that I’ve seen before in that it’s a classic, no-nonsense mil-style AR platform with a nice KeyMod rail that’s been in the SA line for a while… the EDGE 2.0 though is NOT the model we’ve seen before though as it shares many new features with the SA-E13-RH EDGE 2.0. The E13 is… well, different externally; yes, it shares commonality with the E09 is some areas, including the excellent Heavy Ops Stock that I’ve already mentioned, but at the front-end it has a striking skeletonised rail that puts me very much in mind of a FORTIS aftermarket accessory. I believe that this will be a “love/hate” kind of deal, but for those that like something unique and modern that doesn’t immediately scream “MIL!” then it could be a real winner!
But what else makes these two carbines “new and edgier”? As SA tells us in their spiel;
“The EDGE ™ is a series of Specna Arms replicas that combines a wide range of innovative solutions that are difficult to find in other replicas currently available the market. The series focuses on a very good external build, solutions increasing the replica’s versatility, longevity, facilitating failure diagnostics, and susceptibility to power tuning. Straight out of the box you will get a replica in which you won’t have to make any kind of modifications, unless you want to, which will be remarkably simple.”
ADVANCES ACHIEVED
So, have they achieved this, and how? Let’s start by coming back to the “commonality” I mentioned, as both models now sport a receiver pairing that is an original SA design; the new receivers certainly have a very distinct and unique appearance that I have to
say will be unmistakeably “Specna” with some solid raised fencing on the magwell, and I have to say it appeals to me greatly; it’s thoroughly modern with a blocky, almost “billet” feel with some solid raised fencing on the magwell, and I have to say it’s a cool, up-to-the-minute look.
Although it feels 100% solid the receiver set still feels slimline, and although I’m personally not a fan of the “magwell grip” there are further design features in place there if that’s your bag! Controls are ARclassic in terms of positioning, but are now 100% ambi, with new, easier-to-use designs for the selector and magazine release, and the trigger on both models is the now-popular flat-face “race” style. At the rear of the lower is a single-point sling plate pre-fitted, and the usual (again excellent) SA polymer flip-up sights are “as standard” too. The receivers benefit from SA’s Nano Coating to keep them looking good over time, and all in all everything is tight, and the new receiver design looks a million dollars!
Internally straight away you can see that there’s a lot of work gone into keeping things as slick as the externals; this kicks off with an again as-standard 6.03 mm internal precision barrel paired up with a new design Rotary Hop that is made to be fully and optimally compatible with the precision barrel. In another move forward SA fit a Helium Flat Hop bucking too to aid in improving consistent accuracy. Both carbines also feature the now-established, and fully field-tested ESA2 quick spring change system that I’ve tested and written about before; why change something that works, and works well?
Given of the current disparity globally on legal power limits, this system guarantees the player an AEG that can be simply adjusted. The ESA2 system allows you to take minimal time to change the main spring, so you can set your power level in such a way as to guarantee an ideal compromise between territorial legality, effectiveness of fire, and safety for the user and other players; I’ve said this before, but as someone who has played, and hopes to play again, in different countries with different laws I like this, I REALLY do!
Driving everything along is the awesome ORION gearbox; this has a reinforced chassis, and features a main spring release function. Now I’ve come to expect everything inside a SA AEG to be workmanlike, tidy, and of serviceable quality, and both the new models tested hold true to this formula; inside you get a steelreinforced polymer piston, a polymer, double-sealed piston head with bearings, an sealed alloy nozzle, alloy double-sealed cylinder head, spring guide with bearings, a set of steel gears, and 8mm bearings. The motor here is SA’s own powerful High Torque motor that has a 22TPA (Turn-Per-Arm) winding so that it can comfortably drive along heavier springs if required!
You also get on both models the ASTER control system; now I’ve already had a bit of experience with the ASTER system and have found that it offers: • safeguard from reverse polarization of a battery • innovative optical sensors • 250 trigger sensitivity settings • ability to configure with the use of the replica’s trigger or GATE Control Station application • integrated RGB LED diode simplifying the programming of the system
Of this control system SA again tell me that;
“The ASTER ™ system is the little brother of the well-known TITAN ™ unit. This fourth generation of AEG control systems has been designed for the majority of electric replicas equipped with the V2 gearbox, including those that are heavily tuned. ASTER ™ will allow you to achieve maximum reliability at an affordable price. This system is characterized by an extremely favorable price-performance ratio.”
Thanks to the ASTER system you can set up your AEG just as you like it, replacing the contacts with an advanced controller equipped with innovative optical sensors and which does honestly provide up to 250 trigger sensitivity settings! A smart electric fuse protects the battery, motor and controller, even if there is (lawd forbid!) a reverse battery connection! The EDGE 2.0 AEGs also come with a dedicated trigger, called the SOLAR Trigger that works perfectly with the sensors of the ASTER system, offering unprecedented sensitivity and precision; the new SA Arms trigger is licensed from the Gate Quantum Trigger. Do be aware that as before some functions of the ASTER system are only available via the GCS (Gate Control Station) app which requires a USB-Link.
DOWNRANGE
In operation the EDGE 2.0 models provided for evaluation (with the springs set to UK-legal limits prior to shipping by the lovely guys over at www. gunfire.com) were a delight to shoot! I initially tested the carbines on my 10m short range, to chrono and evaluate, and in terms of power I got a consistent 0.99Joule/328fps on a .20g RZR BB using a buffertube 900mAh 11.1V LPo through both models. With .28g RZR BBs the accuracy was excellent at that range, so both these carbines are ideal for a CQB application.
Moving up to the woods range I ran my usual drills using the provided S-MAGs; the new EDGE 2.0 AEGs come with a pair of SA’s own-design S-MAG mid-cap magazines which offers a capacity of 125 BB’s; these magazines have now been tried, tested and thoroughly abused by a number of the AA crew and I can tell you that to date we’re yet to have any failure from the ones we have used over an extended period! Not only has this proved to be a reliable midcap magazine design, but the styling is pretty cool too. That said, both carbines fed perfectly from other STANAG and polymer magazines too!
I set up both carbines exactly the same with T1style optics and taclights. Both models came with SA’s stubby slant foregrip too, a design I personally like; I had hoped that this would be an opportunity to try out their new angled foregrip that was in the same development program as the Heavy Ops Stock, but it seems I’ll have to wait for the X SERIES for that. However, once I had the hops set I was able to ring the steels consistently at 30m with dead-flat .28g BB flight to target; these carbines put BBs where you want them to go, so if you’re going to use it for woodland games then consistent accuracy at midrange is not going to be a problem once you have it set up right!
My final take is that the EDGE 2.0 models are great AEGs and show some real steps forward in SA’s development program. If I look at the price of the E09 the new version IS more expensive than the old one, but you are definitely getting what you pay for, and as I’ve said before I believe that prices for AEGs well inevitably go up anyway in 2023 given the global economic situation.
Both AEGs perform in a very similar fashion to one another when it comes to shooting them, and there is a commonality of some parts (which honestly is no bad thing!) of course, but each model had its own distinct character and I believe that the overall design aesthetics will appeal to different types of player. It looks like that within the Specna Arms range there will still be something for everybody, whatever “YOUR style of airsoft”!
I absolutely love the new receiver styling, and in practical terms the ambi control interfaces and the new Heavy Ops Stock are very much to my personal taste, and when it comes to internal parts and fire-control systems SA have retained their passion for quality, performance and versatility. In relation to their “business-like approach” if they continue to move forward in this fashion, and continue to create solid, performance-oriented AEGs then I for one am very much in favour of it!
My thanks again go to Pawel and the team at www. gunfire.com supplying the AEGs for review, and I’ll be issuing these out within the Red Cell team for ongoing evaluation; watch this space for a RELOADED review next year! AA
