This is my final report on the IWA 2012 & Outdoor Classics, going back to some products of airsoft companies that I made a short mention in the previous days' reports and also some companies that were not mentioned and deserved to be discussed here. Every year, the event is bigger than ever, and it's really hard to cover them all, even the airsoft area if already big enough that I wasn't able to cover the tactical gear and other interesting real steel companies.

Most probably next year, I will get reinforced by the rest of the guys of Popular Airsoft, as it's going to be the 40th IWA & Outdoor Classics, and they're planning something bigger.

So on with my final report:

REDWOLF AIRSOFT AND AIRSOFT INNOVATIONS

RedWolf's booth featured all the nice goodies like the Deepfire AT4 launcher, Airsoft Surgeon handguns, Inokatsu M4 GBBR and a number of custom made replicas. In the corner of the RedWolf booth I also found the Airsoft Innovations products. I had a lengthy conversation with the makers of the Tornado Grenades but I just couldn't get any information out of them regarding their upcoming release. As long as their next thing is just as good as the Tornado then we'll be happy.

More photos of the RedWolf Airsoft Booth and Deepfire AT4  here.

AIRSOFT SYSTEMS

After Vladimir of Airsoft Systems spoke at the Airsoft Meetup, I asked him to explain his design in depth. The ASAR was probably the first gun designed from an airsoft player's point of view and now probably I just offended a couple of designers of other companies. Vladimir is a true airsoft player/designer who had enough of broken gearboxes and unreliable internal parts so he created a system to his liking. He knows the common faults of gearboxes so he tried to work his way around them with clever solutions.

By holding the gun you won't notice what's inside and all you see is a firm replica with Bulgarian markings (BTW that's probably the coolest thing at IWA), but pulling out the rear body pin will unveil what Vladimir and his partner did so far. The images you see only show the prototype so changes will be made and this gun is not final. The wall of the upper receiver is thickened and this part is housing the upper half of the gearbox since it's a split gearbox design just like an ICS M4 or a PTW.

When the upper part of the gearbox is removed and placed on the lower we can see that there is no gap whatsoever between the two so there will be no dirt going into the gearbox there. Lets see the upper half of the gearbox: its walls are a lot thicker than an average gearbox and its front is extended to make direct contact with the front of the receiver so the force of the spring hitting the gearbox will be transferred to the receiver.

The other noticeable thing is that there is no tappet plate sticking out of the upper part and it is because this part was redesigned as well. An eccentric part on the sector gear (which looks like a delayer but Vladimir asked me not to call that part a delayer) drives the tappet which has a stronger spring in order to get rid of feeding problems. The feeding cycle now has more time for the actual feeding itself. The upper half of the gearbox is also shaped in a way to give room for the bolt imitation in order to move all the way back when pulling the charging handle. The spring supplied will vary from country to country based on regulations but the internals should handle 150 spring without problems. As far as the rest of the parts they are pretty standard in the upper and in the prototype Vladimir was using a blue piston which reminded me of the ASG Ultimate piston.

Now the lower part: Gears are standard with the exception of the delayer looking thing on the side of the sector gear. Where the trigger switch assembly should be there is a PCB now which is basically an ASCU built for this gun. Now you will be probably saying that having a micro-switch activated gun isn't worth too much because it will break soon. Well, Airsoft Sytems thought of that too and developed a mechanism which will give you realistic trigger feel and it also protects the micro switch by not wedging the trigger before that you can apply any excessive force on the switch and PCB. Trigger break is adjustable from 1.5 to 2.5 kg. Again the wall of the gearbox is thickened and shaped in way to act as a heatsink for the internals. The motor is a standard Version 2 motor but it is not decided yet what brand Airsoft System will finally end up with as far as gears, motor, piston and cylinder assembly.

The barrel will be standard M4 length with 6.04 inner but the handguard you see here isn't final nor the stock. Speaking of stock: the stock tube is fully MILSPEC this means you can fit any stock you want and there is some extra room in there for a Lipo stick. Rail on receiver top plus hanguard rails will be fully milspec as well.

Now here is the kicker: Airsoft System has plans to implement a full year international warranty... Like Oddball once said: "I mean like so many positive waves maybe we can't lose!"

More Airsoft Systems New M4 AEG Design Photos at the Facebook page.

G&G ARMAMENT

In my opinion G&G's booth this year was probably the best airsoft booth on the floor. Their presentation method was different: G&G personnel were using tablets to show 3d drawings and footages of actual products.

All the products that were on display at their booth that are new will arrive in June.

Their budget GBB Rifle's Gas Blowback Gearbox will be introduced in a plastic body to reduce costs and make gas blowback rifles affordable to everyone. They will release first the Green Gas version then later will release the CO2 version as well. The magazine will hold 30 BBs but the gas will be enough to send 60 BBs down the range which only tells me that there is room for upgrades. :)

While all the excitement about the ICS M1 Garand, G&G is also coming out with their own version of the iconic World War II rifle. It is an AEG with real wood, disassembly is similar to the real steel and fires at 295 to 328fps. It is compatible with the G&G GR14 (M14) series so parts will not be much of a problem. This is expected to be released on in June.

The  Shell Ejecting G96 comes in CO2 and Green gas variants. The 12g Co2 cartridge goes in the stock while the green gas version can be filled up at the bottom of the handguard. Co2 12 rounds while the Green Gas can do four rounds at once. They both send out BBs at 150m/s or around 490fps.

The G&G MIT UNIT

This multi purpose unit is probably the best gadget at IWA this year. A multi function silencer looking thingy that can be attached as a silencer and it is an aiming device, tracer, bullet counter, chronograph and simulation laser (something like LaserTag) all in one.

While all the features of the MIT unit are working properly, the last mentioned feature is still under tests as G&G is working heavily on the sensor system as to what players will have to wear to utilize this function. The sensor unit will probably have a paint compartment which will break after it receives a signal coming from an MIT unit.

Now they're testing a system built using seven sensors (shoulders plus five on the head). In simulation mode the MIT will send laser burst down the range along with the BB but unlike the BB this burst has an effective range of 300 meters where its spread is only about a few inches. The unit is rechargeable with 5V DC. Everyone will have a different view of this MIT and here's mine: this is truly unique stuff from G&G and it can be used for training and games as well but when there is electronics, there is cheating so this won't resolve the old problem and bring fairness into the game but simply puts it into a different perspective. If this stuff is affordable I might leave the shade of the CQB field and go out to the sunlight where no one can hide anymore. I hope G&G can soon work out the receiving end so we can do some testing by the end of this summer.

We have a copy of their marketing DVD which explains all their releases in depth and we'll try to make parts of this available a bit later. Just let me get home first. :)

More photos are at the Facebook Page of Popular Airsoft of the G&G Booth, the G&G Budget M4 Gas Blowback Rifle, G96 Shell Ejecting Rifle, the MIT Unit, and G&G M1 Garand.

REAL SWORD

Real Sword were focusing on their GBB replica of the SVD. I wasn't able to break it down but the bolt was pulled back so here are the shots of the things we can see through the ejection port.

They also had cutout models of their replicas so people can see inside of them. This kind of presentation was always my favorite and it also means you got nothing to hide. It's too bad that there was no cutout of the M4 AEG which they displayed at the Shot Show early this year.

More photos of the Real Sword SVD GBB and Real Sword Booth with their upcoming M4/M16 AEGs at the Popular Airsoft Facebook Page.

KING ARMS AND CAA AIRSOFT DIVISION

King Arms had the Blaser R93LRSI replica is in the spotlight right next to their P90 copy. Mark told me that there is a GBB version of the Thompson which is on its way and it will arrive in about three months; time. Fast spring change will be introduced ind the P90 line and later, probably by the end of this year the feature is also coming to their line of M4s. Mark also told us that the Sig Sauer M4 models might see daylight as well but he couldn't tell me when.

Here is a comparison of tje real steel and airsoft M4 Magazines from the CAA Airsoft Divisi0n:

More photos of the King Arms P90, R93 Blaser, CAA RONI Airsoft Carbine Conversion Kit and CAA Airsoft Division M4 Magazines at the Facebook page.

That ends my IWA 2012 & Outdoor Classics report. As I mentioned previously, it is tougher nowadays to try and cover the whole thing as it is getting massive each year. But I look forward to being in Nuremberg again next year, as it will be an even bigger IWA event. We'll be working on having an even well-planned, bigger and better Airsoft Meetup whose participants this year we give our biggest thanks. And through the weeks and months of this year, we'll be writing more about products once the upcoming ones will be released and review items placed on our hands.

To close this, here's a press release of the IWA 2012 & Outdoor Classics organisers as the event ended and they're looking forward to seeing us again next year:

IWA & Outdoor Classics and Enforce Tac 2012: Successful development of strengths

The organizers of IWA & OutdoorClassics can once again sum up extremely favourably after the four days of the exhibition from 9–12 March 2012: More exhibitors and visitors than ever came to the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg for the now 39th edition of the world-leading international exhibition for hunting and sporting guns, classic outdoor activities and security equipment. Enforce Tac, the new special exhibition for the needs of security experts from official agencies, also experienced a promising premiere on 8–9 March 2012.

The result for 2012 in figures is 1,204 exhibitors and over 36,000 trade visitors from over 100 countries. This corresponds to growth in all segments over the previous event in 2011, when 1,166 exhibitors and 35,220 visitors came to Nürnberg. Not only the number of exhibitors increased in 2012, but the display area also grew to over 74,000 m². Three-quarters of the exhibitors and almost two-thirds of the visitors come to Nürnberg from countries other than Germany – this makes IWA & OutdoorClassics one of the most international exhibitions at the location. Besides the constantly growing key figures and the high degree of internationality, IWA & OutdoorClassics mainly stands out for its comprehensive spectrum of products and the high quality of the contacts.

Enforce Tac: special exhibition for special forces
Enforce Tac as a logical development of the highly specialized Law Enforcement segment and the Official Agencies Day at IWA & OutdoorClassics formed a separate segment for the first time. Some 1,400 experts from official agencies enjoyed an extensive programme of presentations at the European Policetrainer Conference and the Police Management Academy Conference on 8 March 2012, plus a presentation of service products from the 62 exhibitors in Sydney hall of the NCC Ost congress centre.

Make a note: 40th anniversary in 2013
IWA & OutdoorClassics celebrates its 40th anniversary next year – once again with many new products and innovations for hunting, shooting sports, outdoor activities and security, even after four decades. The date and venue for its fortieth birthday are 8–11 March 2013, in the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg.