RED CELL EXTRA! HONOURABLE OPFOR MENTIONS

ALTHOUGH THE REAL SWORD TYPE 56 AND THE ARES VZ58 DIDN’T APPEAR IN THE MAIN RED CELL LIST THIS MONTH, IT WOULD BE REMISS OF US NOT TO GIVE BOTH MODELS A MENTION AS THEY’RE ABSOLUTELY PERFECT FOR NAMSOFT OPFOR USE!

It’s not often that we miss out “obvious contenders” in a RED CELL report, but for a couple of reasons we’ve decided to focus on the Real Sword Type 56 and the ARES VZ58 separately. In respect of the Type 56, although the Real Sword AEGs have somewhat of a legendary status among NamSofters the sad fact is that they are somewhat hard to get hold of; we keep hearing rumbles from Real Sword that they are going to re-enter the market, and we hope that this will indeed be the case, but having spoken to them this re-emergence is still in the “possibly, maybe” stage…

The VZ58 is far easier to get hold of, and there’s a huge aftermarket parts choice, and a large worldwide airsoft community that loves this little AEG! However, for some reason it’s not the AEG that a lot of NamSoft OPFOR players pick up as their first choice, although as you’ll see, it is a GREAT choice!

For now though we’ll hand things over to Dan and Rich to give the lowdown…

THE ORIGINAL CLONE!

Among the 1.9 million firearms China supplied to North Vietnam during the course of the war, a statistically significant percentage of those were “AK clone” Type 56 rifles, and this would go on to become one of the most ubiquitous AK-pattern rifles fielded. Thus, honourable mention must go out to Real Sword for their unique Type 56 series replicas!

Real Sword’s place in airsoft history is particularly notable in that these are the most authentic AK style replicas ever made, being in fact made from many real steel components manufactured by

Norinco. They are truly 1:1 in all facets, save for the motor grip which has to be made slightly larger to accommodate the motor. These are authentic down to the expertly replicated blued finish and “L” and “D” markings on the receiver. Translated, L is Lián, or “full”, with D representing Dán, or

Externally, we have a true 1:1 receiver set, made from stamped steel to the same thickness as the genuine article. The front sight tower, gas tube, and more are repurposed from real steel components, clad with the distinctive Chu stock, grip and forearm. Even the magazines themselves (now highly sought after) were made from genuine Chinese AK magazine bodies that were converted for airsoft use. Remarkably, these still stand as the only Airsoft AK magazine that featured steel locking lugs.

Real Sword made several variants on the Type 56, which encompass the original Type 56 with fixed stock and folding bayonet, the 56-1 which omitted the bayonet and used an under-folding stock, and the slightly more modern 56-2 which also eschewed the bayonet and used polymer furniture and a sidefolding stock assembly. All of these otherwise use the same internal parts inside.

To make an airsoft gearbox fit within the smaller dimensions of a true 1:1 receiver, Real Sword had to design a whole new gearbox designated the “T2” series. This is in principle a truncated version of a Version 3 design, being made shorter in the rear. Despite being shorter, this does not mean it has a reduction in cylinder length, nor does it mean it uses proprietary gears either. Rather cleverly, Real Sword designed it so that the rear of the piston actually dovetails neatly into back of the gearbox at full compression. One can make aftermarket pistons work by modifying the rear of the piston to have the same shape as Real Swords design.

That being said, Real Swords internal parts were truly ahead of their time, being made of much higher quality than what was then being typically offered in that era. While considered somewhat “dated” now, these were nevertheless veritable tanks. In the mid00’s, I remember these were priced barely 100 USD over an all-plastic Tokyo Marui AK. They were even cheaper second-hand, where I was able to score several examples in the US$200-250 region. Truly a fantastic bargain for the quality one received!

Unfortunately, with the passage of time and political hullabaloo, Real Sword’s presence on the airsoft market has effectively dwindled to fond memory now. After imports (and seemingly operations altogether) ceased for many years, collectors snapped up what they could and prices on the second-hand market rose stratospherically as available inventory vanished. There is a bright light on the horizon, however, as recently Real Sword appears to have resumed business, and many are keen to see if they have truly re-emerged.

I have personally owned and used pretty much every model produced under Real Swords catalogue, from the Dragunov SVD and Type 56-2, which I still presently own, to several each of the 56, 56-1 and the Type 97 and 97B. I have particular fondness for the 56-1 under-folder model, which was among the first airsoft replicas I purchased, and one I’ve put a lot of time on. These have always been fantastic hardwearing shooters out of the box, deftly harnessing the AK platforms intrinsic accuracy. Compared to modern fare, the stock internals are a little “yesteryear” to what we have available now, but to this day, you still simply cannot beat the exquisite externals Real Sword provided, making it true king among kings.

CZECH MATE – RICH

Although it’s not commonly seen in images of the Vietnam War, it is believed that the first easternbloc-supplied VZ58’s were delivered to North Vietnam around 1965, 1500 rifles for testing in a before-unimagined jungle environment. Although the production of the VZ58 “officially” ended in 1963, the rifle proved effective in the new setting and was allegedly much-liked due to its lighter weight and slightly smaller size than the Type 56; “limited” production was re-started in 1968! Again it is believed that from 1969 North Vietnam got thousands of VZ58 rifles every year until the end of Vietnam War, and it is estimated that it’s an extremely useable platform able to sling BBs with ease.

The selector is on the right hand side and, while not ambidextrous, is easy to use once you get used to it. Safe is straight down and your finger will feel it, turn it towards the rear and you have semi auto, push it to the front and you have full auto. The fire modes are programmable though using the ARES unit is easy to work on. To change the nub you just lock the bolt back, remove the top and change the nub. No need to dismantle the whole thing at all. The gearbox is proprietary with the Mosfet board being fixed to the outside of the box, and all the wiring is outside the box so no danger of any wires getting chewed up by the gears. The only real problem with this AEG is the EFCS board being weak and to be honest you’ll struggle to find one in the UK so I order direct from ARES. The AK style mags don’t feed well so most people tend to fit the M4 magwell adapter to run AR-style mags.

Externally they look the part with an aluminium receiver, folddown stock and polymer foregrip, though with a bit of filing you can fit real-steel wood furniture which does look great if you make the effort! One of mine has the real steel Beaverbarf stock and foregrip though the real steel stock/receiver adapter won’t fit the airsoft receiver so you’ll need a different adapter.

I like this AEG not just because its good straight from the box or that it’s easy to work on. I like it because it’s different, it’s not an AR or AK variant and it certainly gets a lot of looks and questions! AA

“IT IS BELIEVED THAT FROM 1969 NORTH VIETNAM GOT THOUSANDS OF VZ58 RIFLES EVERY YEAR UNTIL THE END OF VIETNAM WAR, AND IT IS ESTIMATED THAT NORTH VIETNAMESE FORCES USED SOME 90,000 OF THESE RIFLES… NOT SO UNCOMMON AFTER ALL!”