SWISS KISS

FOLLOWING ON FROM HIS REVIEW OF ARCHWICK’S B&T AIR LICENSED APC9K GBBR SMG/PDW BACK IN ISSUE 163, STEWBACCA WAS ADMITTEDLY MORE INTERESTED IN THE SLIGHTLY LARGER VARIANTS THAT HAD BEEN ANNOUNCED AT MOA 2023 AT ARCHWICK’S BOOTH, HANGING FROM THE RAFTERS IN FRONT OF A SCHEMATIC OF THE BASE GUN AND ACCESSORIES! GIVEN THAT THE APC9K IS QUITE A SMALL PLATFORM, THE APC9SD2 IS THE NEXT STEP UP AND BOASTS MORE MODULARITY AND EASE OF HANDLING FOR OUR RESIDENT KERMIT-ARMED LOVER OF SMGS.

At the beginning of October I went over to Archwick’s facility having not visited for a while due to other side-gig commitments keeping me too busy as of late, and it was then and there I picked up the next in their line of high-endmanufactured and fully licensed B&T AIR products, the APC9SD2 GBBR, the slightly longer replicavariant of the real-steel 9mm SMG from the Swiss powerhouse.

The SD2 has the same basic lower receiver and a near identical receiver as the APC9K, but it also features a larger and chunkier bolt-on M-LOK front handguard that gives you five radial rows of two fulllength slots around the three o’clock to nine o’clock positions and bottom faces of the octagonal cross section in between, with longer versions in the works which I’ll be acquiring and fitting further down the road.

The standard configuration also has as a twopiece suppressor unit which can allow for a smaller permanent inner can section that runs just slightly inset from the front end of the handguard for a very nimble and mean looking compact package, or an additional 135mm extension section which can be threaded on to give it a more mid-range appearance and longer overall footprint. This will also allow you to fit an extended inner barrel and leave the suppressor extension fitted to cover it, or alternatively Acetech’s 28x57mm blaster module can be inserted into the extension unit to allow luminous BBs to be used for excellent indoor or night fighting effects.

The same telescopic stanchion stock and rear receiver plug can be found at the rear end of the receiver, with a fully closed position and three extended positions 30mm apart which gives 200mm of extension at its rearmost setting. Again like the APC9K this can be swiftly extended by yanking on the rubberised butt pad until the stoppers on the stanchions hit the base plug and bring it to rest, with the button below locking into the cutouts on the tops of both stanchions to give you a very rigid platform to work from the shoulder with intuitively.

As with the front handguard there are more options in the works; the telescopic stock, like most similar ones on the likes of the MP5 series, is not always the most comfortable and repeatable in terms of its cheek weld, and with that in mind Archwick have been granted permission to replicate the other stocks in the APC9 lineup; the older skeletonised style side-folding stock as used on many MP5 models in the past will also be featured in the upcoming APC9 SD variant, but also the even more interesting side-folding and telescopic ‘SCAR’ style stock on the APC9 PRO model which I’m looking forward to sticking on mine in the longer term for greater comfort and aesthetic appeal.

The magazines are of course the same green gas powered standard 30 round ‘sticks’ as used in the APC9K and the other upcoming variants, and reliably feed and can usually get at least one and a half full loads of BBs out through the gun on a single fill of the somewhat reduced size rear gas reservoir - and CO2 capsule powered versions also coming to market for more reliable operation in cooler environments. The slight flaring of the magazine well does assist in guiding magazines in during loading or reloading to some extent, although the somewhat thick ‘dead space’ or additional thickness of the lower receiver body ahead of the actual opening does make it a little less intuitive at times as the

“THE SD2 HAS THE SAME BASIC LOWER RECEIVER AND A NEAR IDENTICAL RECEIVER AS THE APC9K, BUT IT ALSO FEATURES A LARGER AND CHUNKIER BOLT-ON M-LOK FRONT HANDGUARD THAT GIVES YOU FIVE RADIAL ROWS OF TWO FULL-LENGTH SLOTS AROUND THE THREE O’CLOCK TO NINE O’CLOCK POSITIONS AND BOTTOM FACES OF THE OCTAGONAL CROSS SECTION” magazine sits a little further back

The controls of course follow the same format as the APC9k with the common lower receiver unit for manually holding the bolt open during clearing drills, and can sometimes require more forceful downward pressure to trip the bolt release on a fresh magazine or if closing it on an empty one, which can be harder with the trigger finger than using a thumb. The left side release is the one that interacts with the magazine and bolt catch itself and thus tends to be more repeatable in its operation. The fire selectors are very positive in their positioning with the detent system, as well as avoiding any issues of discomfort as they sit slightly higher so your strong side hand and trigger finger won’t come into contact with them as can sometimes be an issue on AR style ambidextrous controls. flapper-lock which can trigger finger as a right handed or support interconnected and allow the bolt to be dropped again either by the firing hand trigger finger or support hand thumb after a fresh magazine

With my larger hands it’s also possible for me to reach up with my strong-hand thumb to actuate the stock release button and collapse it against my shoulder without having to significantly break my control or firing grip to do so, but your mileage will undoubtedly vary in that front. The front handguard is now extremely comfortable for me to handle and get a solid grip around, albeit this shortest version is perhaps not ideal for my arm length and I’ll look forward to hand side stop/release lever is sometimes less reliable out for the slightly longer 3 M-LOK slot version in future. some getting used to, averaging at a 5 lb (2.4kg) trigger pull with a bit of softer reset has a little in terms of the trigger’s forward movement, it took

“THE STANDARD CONFIGURATION ALSO HAS AS A TWO-PIECE SUPPRESSOR UNIT WHICH CAN ALLOW FOR A SMALLER PERMANENT INNER CAN SECTION THAT RUNS JUST SLIGHTLY INSET FROM THE FRONT END OF THE HANDGUARD FOR A VERY NIMBLE AND MEAN LOOKING COMPACT PACKAGE, OR AN ADDITIONAL 135MM EXTENSION SECTION WHICH CAN BE THREADED ON” me a while to get used to ‘finding the wall’ with it. As it’s a more realistic trigger feeling modelled from Nelson & Ray’s own experiences of firing the real B&T APC9 series during their visit to the Swiss HQ in Thun, nonetheless after a few weeks of running it fast and hard on stages at IPSC, and in a few CQB skirmishes I managed to get more used to it, and was drilling double taps on A-zone steel with ease, thanks to some extent to the real ACRO Nelson loaned me to put on it, and my own TMC-sourced replica ACRO I used during skirmishes… I didn’t fancy having the real one shot back at when it isn’t mine!

Performance Is All

The standard inner barrel falls just short of the inside of the fixed portion of the suppressor body, offering 129mm of 6.03mm precision barrel, permanent use of the additional suppressor section to hide a longer inner barrel, you could fit a 270mm long replacement into the overall available length and have it just run up to the front opening of the suppressor cap. cutting that inner down by around 70mm to a 200mm inner barrel will allow you to have both better ballistics for longer range, but also retain the ability to make use of the Acetech tracer module in the front end of the suppressor body, something I’m seriously considering now as I have found the module from my Krytac Maxim 9 happens to fit perfectly and allows the use of both green and red tracer rounds which I now have a more readily available supply of through my aforementioned side-gig work. out at 4 kilograms and

HOP itself is a top dead centre (TDC) which can be adjusted by inserting a 1.5mm allen key into the opening just in front of the magazine well on the lower receiver, turning clockwise for more HOP when looking down on the upturned gun, or anticlockwise for less HOP effect.

“THE MAGAZINES ARE OF COURSE THE SAME GREEN GAS POWERED STANDARD 30 ROUND ‘STICKS’ AS USED IN THE APC9K AND THE OTHER UPCOMING VARIANTS, AND RELIABLY FEED AND CAN USUALLY GET AT LEAST ONE AND A HALF FULL LOADS OF BBS OUT THROUGH THE GUN ON A SINGLE FILL”

“THE FIRE SELECTORS ARE VERY POSITIVE IN THEIR POSITIONING WITH THE DETENT SYSTEM, AS WELL AS AVOIDING ANY ISSUES OF DISCOMFORT AS THEY SIT SLIGHTLY HIGHER SO YOUR STRONG SIDE HAND AND TRIGGER FINGER WON’T COME INTO CONTACT WITH THEM AS CAN SOMETIMES BE AN ISSUE ON AR STYLE AMBIDEXTROUS CONTROLS”

“THE TRIGGER DID TAKE SOME GETTING USED TO, AVERAGING AT A 5 LB (2.4KG) TRIGGER PULL WITH A BIT OF A SOFTER RESET WHICH HAS A LITTLE OVERRUN IN TERMS OF THE TRIGGER’S FORWARD MOVEMENT, IT TOOK ME A WHILE TO GET USED TO ‘FINDING THE WALL’ WITH IT” makes it a handy and modern alternative to the MP5 platform with a similar weight but in a more compact platform that’s easy to handle and has the advantage of bolt hold-open on empty, avoiding those horrid moments where you have a dead click trigger on empty without being forewarned of the inoperable nature of the gun.

The ambidextrous charging handles are the typical B&T fare, similar to the USW-Glock chassis with the sprung loaded plunger self-closing flapper handles, both of which are attached through the ‘sled’ that rides inside the extruded aluminium upper receiver and rests in front of the bolt itself but is entirely separate; this allows the platform to be charged without the charging handles reciprocating when fired.

This was actually the only source of issues during all my testing; just as I got towards the end of my initial review, the ‘round count’ of the high hundreds or low thousands running magazine loads through it at IPSC and skirmishes had shaken loose the retention grubscrew in this sled that holds the charging handles in place, and as a result it dropped down far enough to interfere with the head of the bolt that retains the return spring for the sled, causing it to jam forwards.

In the end I stripped it down to get access to this grub-screw and added some thread-locker and reinserted it to where it belonged; hopefully it won’t walk its way loose again, although the guys assured me it should be thread-locked from the factory.

The recoil is still stout and the cycle time short as with the APC9K and other 9m format GBB SMGs given the shorter bolt travel compared to replicas of larger calibre platforms, and it makes it an ideal and easily controllable platform for close quarters, with straight magazines that are a lot lighter and less clunky than MP5 ones, allowing easier stowing in pistol magazine style pouches without too much worry of them flying out during movement, and the included rubberised bottom ‘feet’ make them easy to control, and also serve as a great mallet for putting the body pins back in place if you don’t have an extensive tool kit to hand and don’t want to mar the finish of the pins or receivers.

Smooth Running

The full-length upper receiver picatinny rail allows for the addition of the included folding iron sights (although they are in fact made of plastic), but have pistol style sights built in to their top faces for rapid use when stowed. There’s the usual windage adjustable ghost ring and peep sight holes on a flip-over insert for the rear sight, and an elevation adjustable front post.

The picatinny rail is also continued on the top edge of the bolt-on M-LOK handguard with just enough space to fit the front sight without interfering with the rest of the main rail, or the ability to remove the handguard, I have found.

Personally I find I quite like the feel of the original, laterally ribbed and fairly slender pistol grip, however as per the real steel ‘pro’ derivations this can be replaced with any standard AR pistol grips should you prefer. In terms of the front end I would strongly recommend installing a vertical foregrip or at least a stub handstop like I have on the bottom M-LOK slot to give a more comfortable indexing grip and also avoid your support hand wandering in front of the muzzle when the suppressor extension is not installed. This will also allow you to add more pulling force for shouldering the gun more positively during handling and run it smoothly; I managed to get a few good close eliminations at Yangmei snap-shooting a duo of OpFor through a window from outside during one of our assaults, and the general shortened profile of the APC9SD2 makes it ideal for working through door frames or narrow corridors as well as making shoulder transitions easy with its relatively light overall weight and ambidextrous handling.

With the more comfortable handling in general as well as the greater modularity and future-proofing of the Archwick B&T AIR APC9SD2 makes it a lot more appealing to me personally in terms of making it readily interchangeable between indoor and outdoor or close and mid-range use by changing out the handguards, butt stocks and barrel lengths with the suppressor setup in future, as well as the bonus of integrating the tracer unit for indoor use as well. I can see myself getting a few different HOP setups pre-assembled with different inner barrel lengths as it’s very easy to strip the gun down and the included barrel nut removal tool allows you to get the barrel out without even having to remove the handguard if you prefer.

I’m looking forward to acquiring some more magazines in future to improve its usefulness in skirmishing, and the enhancement features like the stocks and handguards; as much as I am a massive fan of the MP5, I can see myself running the APC9SD2 happily indoors as well in future forays, fellow shooters…

Many thanks as always to the Archwick team for their assistance in this review, I’ll have more to add when I revisit the platform as I install more components later. AA