Stu walks us through the various features of the CYMA CM.041 SD6 SMG-5 Patrol Base X Gate ASTER that is available at Patrol Base... "If you have plans to upgrade an SMG-5 to shoot like a laser beam, with the rate of fire of a minigun, why bother doing all the legwork and fine-tuning yourself? The CM.041 SMG-5 Patrol Base X Gate ASTER Upgraded Edition has been put together by the same team that built the ultra-high-end Bolster Armouries ONYX AEG series, and benefits from all the experience and expertise gained from a lifetime of Airsoft tech work, with the unique insight only a Bolster Armouries technician can provide.

The first thing the Bolster Armouries team do with the CM.041 is to tear it to pieces and built it back up to fulfil its true potential; replacing the basic CYMA ETU with the space-aged Gate ASTER ETU, modifying the HOP-up for better air seal and setting retention, and dropping in a Lonex Air Seal nozzle and Prometheus Purple HOP-up rubber.

A lot of work was put in to refine the mass-produced CYMA gearbox and make it run like a Bolster. The inner surfaces of the gearbox have been polished for reduced friction and modified to house the ASTER ETU. The cylinder windows have been radiused to increase the strength of the shell to withstand the force of repeated piston impacts, and the bearing holes in the gearbox shell have been smoothed out. The angle of engagement has also been corrected, meaning 11.1V LiPo's are a go for the upgraded CM.041 so you can hose the enemy down with a torrent of BBs like a fireman hoses a blaze.

With upgrades added and work done, the price has increased, but by a far smaller margin than it would if you took a stock CM.041 to a technician and paid for this amount of work to be done. Finally, we can pick up and play with an exceptionally well-built AEG with all the fine-tuning necessary for exceptional performance already complete, and done with care, to an exacting standard. When we tested this AEG we were flabbergasted. 330 FPS on the dot with remarkable consistency, 60m+ effective range and an absolutely scary rate of fire of 25 rounds per second; more than enough to outshoot anything else you can buy off the shelf!"