O-G-WOT!

STEWBACCA’S ALWAYS A FAN OF EFFICIENCIES IN EVERY ASPECT OF HIS LIFE, BUT ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO AIRSOFT AND RELATED SUPPORT SYSTEMS OR INFRASTRUCTURE, SO IT SEEMS INEVITABLE THAT NOW HE’S ACCUMULATED A FEW VFC AR PATTERN SYSTEMS IT’S NOT A HUGE STRETCH TO ACQUIRE A FEW MORE, NOW HE CAN JUSTIFY HIS COLLECTING HABITS WITH THE HALLOWED HOLY GRAIL OF ‘MAGAZINE COMPATIBILITY’. AT PRESENT HE’S SURROUNDED BY AT LEAST SIX DIFFERENT GBBR RIFLES THAT ALL OPERATE ON THE SAME SPECIFICATION OF AR MAGAZINE, AND ONE OF THE LATEST OF WHICH IS THE CYBERGUN COLT-LICENSED VFC M16A2… THE OG FROM THE GWOT ERA OF HIS CHILDHOOD!

Where I come from the Armalites are either backwards cut-n-shut affairs that were brought into UK Armed Forces service the same year I came into the world in the guise of the

UP-SPEC’D

Bounding onto the scene in the early 1980s following the calls for a better variant derived from the US Marine Corps’ experiences of its original A1 forebear the excellent classic film that is ‘Black Hawk Down’, the very well-executed adaptation of the events of Operation Gothic Serpent in 1993, with that era’s heart-throb Josh Hartnett hanging out the side of a Blackhawk cradling his M16A2 and looking pensively about the events unfolding emblazoning the film poster and DVD art. of conscript servicemen in Vietnam utterly hosing the countryside and mag dumping into thin air in many instances, either through lack of training and experience, or a lack of will to kill, or as a result of their hurriedly-conscripted nature in most cases.

As much as the familiar and distinct outline of the L85 and the Cranberries’ ‘Zombie’ soundtrack pervaded my childhood memories of the whole ‘Norn-Iron’ thing and my upbringing, the M16A2’s silhouette and the likes of ‘Faith No More’ or ‘Public Enemy’ were no doubt culturally imprinted in us as much as our friends across the pond around the same era too thanks to the news and popular culture, films and video games - ever the drivers of interest in firearms for many in our community.

Thus the burst function was the answer to prevent wastage at the hands of those untrained to use fully automatic fire in manually controlled bursts (and as usual, we tend to fight the next wars with the shortcomings of the weapons of the last); many argue the burst function worsens the already heavy MilSpec trigger, and in the airsoft version this feature is carried over. The full auto VFC M16A1 has an average trigger pull weight of 1.88kg in my prior testing for the Vietnam issue special it featured as the cover gun for back in Issue 164, which translates to exactly 4 lbs in old money for the old and bold, whereas the M16A2’s

MUCH AS THE FAMILIAR AND DISTINCT OUTLINE OF THE L85 AND THE CRANBERRIES’ ‘ZOMBIE’ SOUNDTRACK PERVADED MY CHILDHOOD MEMORIES OF THE WHOLE ‘NORN-IRON’ THING AND MY UPBRINGING, THE M16A2’S SILHOUETTE AND THE LIKES OF ‘FAITH NO MORE’ OR ‘PUBLIC ENEMY’ WERE NO DOUBT CULTURALLY IMPRINTED IN US” burst mechanism encumbered trigger a full 1.2lbs heavier, clocking in at 2.4kg average; even before I put my trigger pull gauge on it I could already feel the difference comparing them, and it certainly feels

If you can look past that admittedly minor inconvenience for the most part, the handling and sights certainly make an improvement over the original; with the ‘A2’ birdcage flash hider and pistol other platforms. well distributed and even our very petite new girl on the team could manage it fairly well as she did the M16A1. The long front handguard gives near endless opportunities for comfortable gripping, either close-in near the magazine well for shorter arms, or if you’re a Kermit like me you can comfortably C-Clamp and index your support hand thumb right there in the front most vent hole nicely.

Similar to the real steel equivalent it can also catch you unawares! If you have been firing semi auto, switching to burst seems to continue the number of BBs that were left in the ‘memory’ of the ratchet system, which appears to continue cycling even when semi auto is selected; so not only do you have to finish the bursts in burst mode, but switching into it from a string of semi auto fire can also cause the ‘miscount’ issue. Naturally I rarely use full auto fire here in Taiwan due to the constraints of our game rules etc, but the heavier trigger in general is noticeable. The FNC and M16A1 both feel better with the M16A2 and T91 SOC both suffering the on pound heavier trigger pulls with the use of the burst trigger packs; the FNC’s system actually disengages when not in use so changes things.

In my example one immediately noticeable thing; along with my newer M733 which I acquired recently despite not buying it back when I originally reviewed it on release, the handguard retainer rings at the rear are definitely easier to deal with given their more angled front surface and apparently softer tensioning springs which make it a lot less of a swearing fest to get one of the handguards off for access to the HOP unit adjustment wheel.It actually presents access to the ribbed wheel itself both above and below, but many will just be used to adjusting from below anyway. It can still be a bit of a three handed job to get the handguards back in place, but it isn’t anywhere near as aggravating as the older design.

HANDS ON, ROUNDS DOWN

I initially got hands on with the VFC M16A2 way back during Bill’s visit to Taiwan, yet another exciting thing alongside the FNC that we got to play around with and had to keep schtum about despite our obvious excitement!

Getting hands on my own example I quickly took it along to IPSC for some plinking and work at short range on drill stages and taking on paper and poppers, which was inevitably hilarious but nonetheless informative… shooting on a roughly ten metre range with a metre long gun certainly puts the muzzle closer to the targets to a significant degree! But once I adjusted to the height over bore issue for such close quarters I was able to run it fairly effectively regardless, although it was still somewhat cumbersome for moving around barricades… I can certainly see why ‘you Delta boys’ chose the M733 /

At the time I was pacing around the Pentagon Centre cradling it and not wanting to give it back; as classic as the A1 looks, I think the A2 just sings to me more, it’s certainly more of ‘my era’, despite my love of ‘Nam films as well I suppose.

M727 or other carbine variants instead.

Moving to longer ranges I took it along to our Yangmei indoor/outdoor CQB site and had also acquired a classic G&P 4x tube carry-handle-mounted optic with its integral trough clamp that features

ARGUE THE BURST FUNCTION WORSENS THE ALREADY HEAVY MILSPEC TRIGGER, AND IN THE AIRSOFT VERSION THIS FEATURE IS CARRIED OVER. THE FULL AUTO VFC M16A1 HAS AN AVERAGE TRIGGER PULL WEIGHT OF 1.88KG… WHICH TRANSLATES TO EXACTLY 4 LBS IN OLD MONEY… WHEREAS THE M16A2’S BURST MECHANISM ENCUMBERED TRIGGER A FULL 1.2LBS HEAVIER” the ‘tunnel’ to allow the iron sights to still be used with it installed… soon enough I had the HOP set up nicely for around sixty metres and zeroed to the iron sights and the crosshairs optic using .43g BBs before stalking the darkened corridors and engaging OpFor from the other end of the buildings fairly effectively; again the heft and length of the rifle did make it somewhat comical at times trying to work through window frames, but I was nonetheless enjoying myself throwing BBs far downrange with the comparatively lightweight setup, merrily ploughing through magazines and ducking behind cover to reload. As is

The internals follow the recent V3 modifications with the steel components, simplified construction and valve striker system, all of which ensures a good authoritative hammer drop and blast of gas each trigger pull. In terms of power output, the M16A2 has the same 360mm inner barrel length as the A1, and similarly kicks out around 100m/s on a .20g BB, only around 1 joule making it more friendly for international markets, using a .3og BB only drops it down to around 90m/s but the joules hold around 1.3 given the greater projectile mass. Regardless VFC’s recent blue HOP rubber and inner barrel combination basically always the case, the rest of the team were queuing up to see what I was reviewing this time, and of course the range, recoil, consistency and general handling and aesthetic were getting approving grunts and nods as I often find. seem to be doing their usual magic… the same great performance out of the box is present as with the FAL, FNC, T91 SOC, M733 and M16A1,easily throwing rounds out to the 70-80m range with reasonable consistency.

“THE HANDGUARD RETAINER RINGS AT THE REAR ARE DEFINITELY EASIER TO DEAL WITH GIVEN THEIR MORE ANGLED FRONT SURFACE AND APPARENTLY SOFTER TENSIONING SPRINGS WHICH MAKE IT A LOT LESS OF A SWEARING FEST TO GET ONE OF THE HANDGUARDS OFF FOR ACCESS TO THE HOP UNIT ADJUSTMENT WHEEL”

“I INITIALLY GOT HANDS ON WITH THE VFC M16A2 WAY BACK DURING BILL’S VISIT TO TAIWAN, YET ANOTHER EXCITING THING ALONGSIDE THE FNC THAT WE GOT TO PLAY AROUND WITH AND HAD TO KEEP SCHTUM ABOUT DESPITE OUR OBVIOUS EXCITEMENT! AT THE TIME I WAS PACING AROUND THE PENTAGON CENTRE CRADLING IT AND NOT WANTING TO GIVE IT BACK…”

“THE A2 LOOKS BADASS, HAS THE ‘LEGS’ IN TERMS OF THE NOW TYPICAL RANGE AND PERFORMANCE I’VE COME TO EXPECT FROM VFC’S RECENT AR PATTERN AND OTHER RIFLES, AND ISN’T AS HEAVY AND CLUNKY AS THE FNC THAT I USED AT THE PREVIOUS SANXIA MILSIM”

The last game I took it to before write-up was the Bali CQB site just a short bus ride away from my place in Northwest Taipei. The disused hotel/club has an array of interesting rooms and facilities as well as dilapidated sports facilities at one end which present a good 80-100m sheltered testing space. With the 4x optic on the carry handle and the .43g BBs loaded up I was lobbing rounds out consistently and hitting empty gas cans on an office chair; I also went to the disused swimming pool of horrors and proceeded to play ‘pool’ in between game rounds, shooting the floating plastic balls floating on the water consistently and pushing them around the pool in a repeatable and amusing fashion!

This was also my final game before the POLK IV MilSim where I was final-testing my load bearing gear and hydration and comms setup, so I decided I was happy to use the M16A2 as my primary rifle at the game the following weekend; the A2 looks badass, has the ‘legs’ in terms of the now typical range and performance I’ve come to expect from VFC’s recent AR pattern and other rifles, and isn’t as heavy and clunky as the FNC that I used at the previous Sanxia MilSim when I reviewed (both covered back in Issue 163).

With all that in mind, if you’re looking to add another AR GBBR to your existing VFC collection or want to get into their AR ecosystem and have the opportunity to add more models running on common magazines (which let’s face it are one of the major outlays in terms of costing out a full combat loadout for the likes of MilSims or full game days running a GBBR with the real capacity ‘round counts’,) VFC’s Cybergun-licensed Colt M16A2 has all the aesthetic qualities of the real steel rifle, as well as the great out of the box performance and surprisingly easy handling despite its long boi profile.

If you’re looking to get your GWOT on, or trying for a Jarhead or similar loadout, I can certainly see the appeal of this system; a lot of the same cues as the M16A1, but with the modern twist and updated features. I imagine VFC are not getting this back either; on the wall it will stay now I’ve moved things around to accommodate it. It just looks too right beneath the M16A1… onwards my addiction and expenditure doth trundle, fellow shooters!

Thanks as always to www.vegaforce.com and the cool team at the VFC Pentagon Service Centre for their continuing support, and to my good friend Jerry Wu for his kind help with additional photography shown in this article. AA