Clean Sweep

ANOTHER IN A LONG LINE UP OF VEGAFORCE COMPANY’S EXCITING NEW RELEASES THAT BILL, ANNY AND STU GOT THE EARLY SCOOP ON AT A VISIT TO VPSC PRIOR TO THEIR MORE OFFICIAL AND PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT AT MOA2023, THE T91 SOC GBBR IS AN ARMALITE DERIVATIVE OF A SPECIFIC TAIWANESE LOCAL FLAVOUR, ONE WHICH BRINGS VFC’S LATEST UPDATED ALL-STEEL SIMPLIFIED FIRE CONTROL GROUP ADVANCEMENTS TO THE TROPICAL SERVICE PLATFORM THAT’S THE RESULT OF LEAVING AN AR15 AND AN AR18 IN A DARKENED ROOM!

The T91 (Type 91, the year of the Republic of China/Taiwan calendar which started in 1911 with the abdication of the last emperor and the birth of the Republic, so 2002 by our money) was adopted back when I was still an opinionated university student just getting into the world of airsoft.

It replaced the older Type 65 (1976 issued) rifles which are much more M16A2 like in appearance aside from the similarly absent carry handles and stub rear sight posts in their stead, providing a more modernised and optimised 5.56mm NATO/STANAGcompatible platform for the local armed forces of Taiwan, being locally produced and even exported to civilian shooters in the US as upper receivers and as complete turnkey select-fire rifles for military use in the likes of several the middle eastern, eastern European and other nations between here and there.

The original T65 was a domestically developed derivative of the earlier M16 series, and like almost every modern service rifle that isn’t an AR15 or AK derivative, adopted the gas system of the AR18 (a short stroke piston above the bore that kicks the bolt carrier rearward to cycle the action) no doubt a decision based upon Taiwan’s defence industry looking at the early performance of the AR15 direct impingement/internal bolt carrier piston system’s performance and reliability issues in Vietnam,a similarly sweltering tropical hell for firearms survivability which to be honest looks very reminiscent of much of the less urbanised terrain in Taiwan I’ve seen during my travels; palm trees and sideways breeze, welcome to the rice fields etc…

With the standard older version sporting a very distinctive heavily ribbed and vented trapezoidal cross section two-piece horizontally split plastic handguard like an early M16A1 on steroids, the T91 has become a familiar sight at all local military affairs and around a quarter of a million of them arm the local forces on top of all the export sales. However more recently VFC have released their own further updated take on the platform, releasing their ‘SOC’ Special Operations Carbine which makes use of their own Solid Slim Rail A/B ‘SSRA/SSRB’ CNC aluminium authorised MLOK front handguards to bring the platform into the latest era, with the A being a direct replacement of the

REARWARD TO CYCLE THE ACTION)” older plastic handguard, and the B model offering even further extension forwards along with the main barrel to give even more mounting real estate for accessories.

I went to pick up my own SSRA enabled variant from VFC’s Pentagon Service Centre down the MRT line from me in Xinzhuang, and once again tried it out on their range, drilling the small 1” square hanging target quite happily with the first magazine, having tried out the prototype with Bill and Anny back in November when it was still ‘in the black’ as we say in engineering (freshly machined and devoid of final surface treatments). The first thing you’re likely to notice is the increased recoil impulse over the likes of the M733 and perhaps even arguably their M16A1 early Vietnam era variant which I also picked up around the same time and will also feature in a following issue shortly. The T91 really kicks pretty heavily and will give any competitor platform a run for its money in that department.

NEW LOOK, NEW FEEL

With the SSRA MLOK rail system installed I find it extremely comfortable compared to its chunkier trapezoidal counterpart I’ve used on early competitor variants in my collection, and I can easily get a comfortable clamping grip and make use of the MLOK slots to index my thumb into, or use the front sight and gas block protrusion as an index point once the stub picatinny rail section on its underside is fitted with the vertical foregrips I typically favour for all my AR platforms to improve my own personal dexterity with them.

While it is obviously feels a little heftier and more front heavy than its aforementioned M16A1 predecessor, it is not actually that much heavier on paper, just shorter and denser in terms of its material distribution. Nonetheless it’s an ideal length for easy wielding, even in more restricted spaces or from behind cover with an overall length of 880mm with its somewhat unique telescopic stock fully extended, or 800mm with it fully collapsed, with multiple stock locking settings in between to suit your own frame or kit preferences.

The fairly lazy, almost FAL style reclining angle of the pistol grip is certainly a point of contention for many; I know my friend Tobie already bought his shorter-barrelled carbine variant and immediately switched it out on his to a more vertical and comfortable ergonomic shaped pistol grip, and I saw a whole host of my local compatriots rushing to purchase their own as soon as they were released, similarly swapping out their grips for a myriad array of other AR compatible options… the joys of modularity!

I find the standard setup quite comfortable regardless and enjoyed throwing a few magazines downrange before merrily signing off for it in their log book and taking it on the MRT home. Of course they’d somewhat sprung this one on me as I’d only gone to get my teammate’s pistol repaired but they’d prepared the T91 (along with other stuff I didn’t have the ability to carry home as well!) so I had to take it home in its box rather than my typically more nondescript black gun bag. Getting on public transport with a suspicious long olive drab box emblazoned with the RoC flag and ‘T91 SOC VR SERIES GAS BLOWBACK RIFLE’ in bigass letters on all faces and a schematic outline of the gun on the rear makes it somewhat hard to be incognito and some of the local girls behind me were commenting on it as I ambled home at rush hour. Luckily, in Taiwan, people are fairly chill as long as it stays in the box/bag and isn’t waved at them deliberately!

Home with me it went and immediately supplanted its predecessor from another brand which I’ve already reviewed in an earlier issue on my gun walls at the new Stu-dio, right after I’d finished switching over the replica EOTech 558 and adding a stub Mapgul style vertical foregrip to the picatinny rail stub section of the gas block. I eagerly awaited its first outing, and it didn’t disappoint. I decided to field it on our St Patrick’s day training session down at the Miaoli ‘Pewniversity’ site which will feature elsewhere in this issue and it performed brilliantly out of the box, with a few minor tweaks over lunchtime. We spent the morning in the classroom with many of Team Taiji learning the theory of safe handling of firearms, while some of us older members with past live fire or military experience used it as a refresher course, then headed out to the range outside to do drills in columns against steel targets.

“IT’S AN IDEAL LENGTH FOR EASY WIELDING, EVEN IN MORE RESTRICTED SPACES OR FROM BEHIND COVER WITH AN OVERALL LENGTH OF 880MM WITH ITS SOMEWHAT UNIQUE TELESCOPIC STOCK FULLY EXTENDED, OR 800MM WITH IT FULLY COLLAPSED, WITH MULTIPLE STOCK LOCKING SETTINGS IN BETWEEN TO SUIT YOUR OWN FRAME OR KIT PREFERENCES”

Dialling It In

The SSRA rail system has a slot cutout on its central rearmost underside section that gives easy access to the HOP unit adjustment wheel, a knurled affair familiar to those of you with the M733 or other V3 VFC AR platforms. However, this one doesn’t require swear-inducing handguard removal efforts, and can easily be actuated with a suitable pokey tool; I used the flat screwdriver of my Swiss Champ army knife to lever the wheel around against the walls of the slot, it’s very firm and prevents unwanted movement, but is nonetheless easy to operate and within a few shots I’d managed to set it dead flat with my now somewhat long-gun-standard BLS 0.48g BBs; they shoot very flat and carry the energy to the target at the slight expense of overall speed for the improvement of consistency and accuracy, although I soon had to remove the EOTech after re-zeroing it as it seems the recoil finished it off after the earlier HK53’s beating of it… I may need to find more durable optics!

I dialled my rear sight in to match the trajectory and was soon enough drilling the living daylights out of the steel target panels set up for us, whether off hand, kneeling or prone, it became almost like cheating in terms of the ease of planting rounds on target at 10m… besides when I was the problem! The VFC T91 SOC performed flawlessly all day as the day heated up and we all started sweating in our gear under the sun, it just kept on throwing out BBs and locking open on empty reliably; I think I had one venting mishap with the shorter 20 BB Vietnamera magazine I’d borrowed out of the M16A1 to supplement the two 30 BB mags I had, but besides that it just chewed through everything I threw at it and looked and handled awesomely throughout.

The following week we returned to our Yangmei outdoor CQB site which has a good 70m open space next to the prep/safe zone area and I was even more pleasantly surprised when I started throwing BBs out to the very end of the range there. With a more serviceable EOTech 558 clone installed and zeroed I was accomplishing surprisingly tight groupings and reliably hitting a plastic tub at 60m confirmed with my shiny new laser rangefinder toy, even when I switched to the three round mechanical burst mode and let loose to clear out the magazines before reloading and preparing for our actual game rounds. This feature is the typical AR burst mode ratchet drum system with a ‘memory’, so do be aware if you fire less than three BBs before releasing the trigger it will complete the remainder of the three shots on the next trigger pull, unlike the MP5 or M93R burst mechanisms with linear ratchets that reset on release; personally I likely won’t use it much given our teams semi only gameplay rules. Regardless it’s immensely fun to use the three BB burst and the grouping remained surprisingly controlled throughout the successive bursts, with all three BBs smacking into the target and giving a satisfying triple ‘thwack’ staccato after each trigger pull.

Game Time

We finished our pre-game preparations and I loaded up ready to stretch the legs of the T91 SOC in a more force on force setting, and it continued to impress me (and the guys around me!) throughout the day; I only had 80 BBs in total on me at any one time without having to reload the magazines manually mid game, but the T91 really made them count; in no time at all I was posting single BBs or double taps reliably out to 40-50m known distance buildings, through multiple window frames or doorways across the entire site to suppress the OpFor team or even eliminate them, apparently much to their own surprise as much as mine! I was having all of the fun running this thing and it’s honestly a very impressive gun out of the box, rivalling some of the even more upmarket examples I’ve come to use as yardsticks for performance.

Granted the trigger isn’t quite as nice as the particular high-end AR example in my collection I’m alluding to, but at half the cost you can’t really complain; the majority of the rest of the experience is the same, with the excellent consistency, recoil impulse and reliability, the trigger is just somewhat heavier at an average of 5.75 lbs/2.67 kg, fairly typical for a heavier service trigger rather than a tuned competition version, at least, and nonetheless very repeatable, comfortable and controllable.

Like most standard ARs the fire control group is set up so that the hammer must be cocked for the selector to be set on safe, not ideal from my point

“I DIALLED MY REAR SIGHT IN TO MATCH THE TRAJECTORY AND WAS SOON ENOUGH DRILLING THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF THE STEEL TARGET PANELS SET UP FOR US, WHETHER OFF HAND, KNEELING OR PRONE, (THE T91) BECAME ALMOST LIKE CHEATING IN TERMS OF THE EASE OF PLANTING ROUNDS ON TARGET AT 10M… BESIDES WHEN I WAS THE PROBLEM!” of view, but par for the course, and throughout our previous training session we were clearing our guns and then charging them on an empty chamber and putting them on safe to ensure the instructors could check the status of our guns at a glance, but truth be told personally I’m with the HK guys on that front… I prefer it if safeties should be applicable regardless of state of the internals, VFC are just being true to the real steel counterpart at least.

As usual there was a line of interested teammates wanting to get hands on with and let off a few BBs, and the usual hearty approving nods and noises. Likewise when I took it to team SPPT’s usual Tuesday IPSC session and ran it very effectively on stages there against steel targets and against the clock. Using the VTAC barricade I made for the club I was replicating the kneeling/standing left/right handed firing from cover cross over drill we’d practised at the training day and rarely missed regardless of which hand I was using; I also let Mars and the guys blat with it for a bit getting his usual ‘GOOD’ response, which is high praise from our usually stoic and reserved team leader!

In terms of performance, the T91 SOC GBBR comes out of the box throwing out around 110m/s (360 FPS) on a 0.2g BB, with around 95-100m/s (330 FPS) on a 0.3g and 75-80m/s (260 FPS) using 0.48g BBs, all of which translates to around 1.2-1.3J muzzle energy which is fine for our local regulations but at peak is getting towards some site limits around the globe. The 275mm internal barrel matches that of the M733 in length and similarly in performance, and there seems to be a deliberate move on VFC’s part as of late to put shorter inner barrels in their GBBR platforms to lower the out of the box power to keep things sensible for many regions of the world they may be shipped to, Taiwanese local players own modifications and velocity chasing penchants notwithstanding. The V3 fire control group is all steel and gives a very positive ‘thunk’ on firing which ensures ample delivery and consistency of gas.

With a local price point of 13,000NT (iro GB£325/ US$450) it’s hard to find fault given the impressive performance; some may argue that the alloy bolt carrier group is not as premium as VFC’s Mk18 offerings, but then neither is the price point, and if people really want to trick things out there are aftermarket options for such endeavours, bringing the majority of players (especially the local Taiwanese who have lower spending potential) a solid, highperformance replica of their service rifle that many of them have used for real. It is undoubtedly money in the bank for VFC regardless of any shortcomings the most discerning collectors or end users overseas might levy against it, and I lost count of how many of my Facebook friends in country were gleefully rushing out to buy their own and post their own thoughts and pictures of them.

I’m of the very strong sneaking suspicion I’ll be joining their ranks and this is yet another test gun that the guys at VPSC aren’t going to be getting back as I continue to vote with my own wallet and turf out older more troublesome examples and replace them with VFC’s more recent offerings; follow me for more field notes in future, fellow shooters…

Many thanks again to ‘Jerry’ Cheng-Yi Wu (IG @ Jerrywugaga) for his excellent supporting photos of me training with the VFC T91 SOC GBBR. AA

ONE THING THAT’S OFTEN FORGOTTEN WHEN IT COMES TO AIRSOFT GAMES IS THAT THEY SHOULD BE FUN, AND WE’RE ALL GUILTY OF TAKING OUR SCENARIOS JUST A LITTLE TOO SERIOUSLY SOMETIMES! BUT THEN SOMETHING COMES ALONG THAT REMINDS US OF THE FUN-SIDE, LIKE THE APS STRIKER 12-MK3 “STREET SWEEPER” AND THE GIGGLE FACTOR LEAPS INTO ACTION ALL OVER AGAIN! BILL DELVES DEEPER…

It’s true isn’t it, that we all come at airsoft in very different ways?

Some of you reading this may immediately switch off as we’ve used “FUN” in the introduction to this review, and if that’s the case then the APS STRIKER 12MK3 “STREET SWEEPER” is most certainly not the RIF for you! However, if a cheeky zombieslaying game gets you going, if the idea of a post-ap melee-fest makes you sit up and take notice, or if a good old down n’ dirty cartel scenario is your thing then read on, as I most definitely AM going to have fun with this and enjoy every minute of writing about the “STREET SWEEPER”.

Now it must be said that these days I do look at airsoft a little differently than when I did when I first started playing; I have a horribly competitive streak in me and I like to win, and once upon a time it was all about the winning, about taking ground and objectives and tallying my “kill streaks” at the end of the day. Over the years though I’ve embraced and tried so many different types of airsoft and although I still like to win, the victory is not the only reason why I enjoy a game.

These days I’m more interested in the “story” and the people that I meet along the trail in my ongoing adventure of airsoft, and the things that I can learn. I spend more time on the range now that I do in-game, and that’s my enjoyment of airsoft I guess… just the joy of shooting regularly makes me happy, and if I’m shooting with good friends then so much the better! And I don’t care what I shoot; someone once said of me “you’re as happy shooting a spud gun as a cannon” and I have indeed learnt that to be true… although I get to play with some uber-cool toys these days it’s still the shooting itself that makes me smile most.

But there’s definitely one airsoft platform that I have an unashamed passion for, and that’s a platform that makes my smile even broader and giggle even harder every time I find a new one… airsoft shotguns! I have to admit that I now own quite a selection of “shotties” from a somewhat ancient and very cranky gas Tanaka “Trench Gun” through some very tasty 870 springers, a TM gas “Breacher”, a gas 8mm pump-action of unknown provenance which I inherited from Robbie, and culminating in the Magpulfurnitured tri-shot that I field when I’m shooting spinners, knock-downs and such with my mates in friendly competition… I love ‘em all and wouldn’t part with one!

So far though I’ve evaded the lure of the APS CAM870 though… I keep coming back to it as the action is “as real as you can get”, but the thought of having to account for every single (expensive!) C02 shell every time I use it has, to date, put me off. Let’s face it too, an airsoft shotgun doesn’t have the “shock and awe” of the real deal, and some of the monobarrel models out there are no more than a themed rifle as it’s one BB a trigger pull… although the airsoft shotguns with a hop can be downright devastating in the right setting.

But to the APS CAM I keep returning, and once again at IWA I was looking at them long and hard and trying to find an illogical reason why I shouldn’t buy one… until that is I visited the iWholesales stand to catch up with them and Tim showed me the APS STRIKER 12-MK3 “STREET SWEEPER” and then all bets were off!

WAIT? WHAT?

The APS STRIKER-12 is a really cool airsoft model and I think that APS have really hit on something that will delight airsofters that either have an interest in historical platforms, or just want something on their armoury that is pure and simple airsoft fun… there, I’m back to that word again!

up most recently in Strike Back seasons 2 and 3, and Kick Ass, and the game Battlefield 2042… and it’s been a “regular” in one of my favourite franchises, Resident Evil, too!

The APS replica mimics this “real deal” pretty darn faithfully from what I can see, with a cool gas system meaning that it is 100% compatible with APS CAM870 Co2 MKI & MKIII Smart Cartridge shells, and I’m told by a reliable source also shells from the likes versions which are “through and throughs”) with CO2 being stored internally in the alloy shell base rather than held in a reservoir onboard the gun itself.

The APS STRIKER-12 is based on the The Armsel 1994 the Striker and Street Sweeper were classified as “Destructive Devices” under the US National Firearms Act, so their transfer and ownership became regulated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives!

Both before and after the classification Striker variants were, and are a popular “prop” for the TV, movie, anime, and even the video game industry, appearing, often in the hands of the “bad guys”, in the likes of Robocop, Escape from LA, Point Break and even The World is Not Enough! The Striker cropped

The APS shot shells allow you to fill gas directly through a valve, much like that of any GBB or GBBR magazine into an alloy reservoir in the shell itself; with the use of either 88g cylinder adapter or paintball cylinder adapter, gas (or liquid C02) filling is superfast… but their downfall to my eyes is that of the “wadding” that goes into the shell “sleeve” (where the BBs also live) as this is hard plastic and a bit of a bee-atch to be honest.

However, as always with things airsoft far cleverer minds than mine have addressed this problem, and as I’ve researched to 870-style CAM models over time I’ve come across Explosive Enterprises; now I don’t watch a lot of stuff on YouTube, but I will make time for things that interest and ultimately benefit me, and the @Explosive Enterprises channel is definitely one are polymer, and I have to say that it does appear somewhat “agricultural”; the design is very much function over form, and loathe as I am to say it about any firearm or replica thereof, it is one ugly mutha… but in its own way is beautiful in the eye of the believer and beholder, as it’s obviously meant for business. suggest that you check this out, it’s REALLY useful! Okay, enough of the darn shells, although they are an integral part of getting the best from the new Striker! Weighing in at 2514g the Striker is by no means a heavyweight, and it’s also not huge like some shotties either, so ideal for close-in stuff where an airsoft shotgun should excel; it’s only 740mm with the overfolder skeleton stock extended, and just 490mm when it’s stowed!

The whole thing is made of steel apart from the grooved foregrip and pistol-grip-group which

And it’s also simple, something that I love about it of controls you have just a Enterprises video there’s a really detailed section on exactly this at the back end of things which should help you decide what is right for your local site; I don’t believe you’ll ever be breaking any legal limits with the STRIKER-12, but you will need to watch out for Joulecreep if you’re upping the weight of BBs.

The STRIKER-12 does not come with any shells included in the package, and you’re going to need twelve of the little blighters at least to keep the beast fed; standard APS Smart Shells can be found online if you search for about UK£25 for a four pack, whilst the XPower shells are a little more at around UK£28 for four… sadly this is where the APS STRIKER-12 price starts to creep up, but if you already have a MkI or MkIII CAM870 then the shells will work for both.

Once you do have the shells it’s simply a case of drawing down the lever on the back of the fixed steel drum to access the loading port at the rear, then pop in a loaded shell, use the winder on the front face of the drum to rotate the inner, and load the and N! It’s ultimately an expensive toy once you add in the extra cost of the shells, especially if you go for the XPower versions which I’d recommend as they do just seem more efficient overall; you’re also going to need to invest in the correct fill adaptortoo, along preferably with a decent CO2 bottle, but forget the wads as guess what...?

CAN load TWELVE shells to create some mayhem with… when you’re done you just use that “nota-cocking-handle” to eject the spent shells and repeat the loading process to get on with your airsoft carnage/rampage!

With all the chambers filled with loaded shells you can indeed get up to some close-quarter mischief, and working on the 10m range I was able to really get the plates going “CLANG!” each time I squeezed the trigger; this is a little heavy as it also operates the mech to revolve the internal cylinder, but I’ll be honest and say I’ve had way worse in my time, and the result is most certainly worth the effort! Each squeeze will let off a load of BBs dependant again on the type of shell you’re using in a big old shower, and given that the STRIKER-12 has no inner barrel whatsoever you do get a spread… and a significant one once you go beyond 10m!

Frankly the post front-sight is largely just a “hood ornament” as the STRIKER-12 really is a “point and shoot in the general direction of enemy” kind of deal, but oh my lawd, it really is fun with a capital F, U, much-loved geekery!

To conclude then, APS STRIKER 12-MK3 “STREET SWEEPER” is indeed a barrel of shooty-funtimes, but with a serious side too. With a little effort and some persistence you can get to understand the right way to fill those shells, and with this done the range can become downright respectable too! It’s a steel-sturdy, well-made beast of a shottie that could cause real havoc if deployed correctly in-game, and just simply as a piece of firearms history I would add one to the armoury in… well, a shot!

I will keep looking at the APS CAM870, and undoubtedly one will end up in my ever-growing airsoft shotgun collection at some point, just “because”. When that does come to pass I may well also have to add a “STREET SWEEPER” too as it would be rude not to, wouldn’t it?

It’s time to dig out my “cartel tropical shirt”, pick up a grab-bag full of shot-shells and head out onto those means streets again… they need sweepin’! AA