Airsoft Innovations, which specialise in airsoft grenades, have for years given us some of the best ever airsoft products ranging from bang or sound grenades to impact BB grenades and airsofters around the world love their products... until now.

I have never seen an airsoft product cause so much stir and controversy as much as the new 40 Mike 40mm Gas Magnum Shell. I have had the opportunity to witness the live product demo of the 40 Mike during the Airsoft Meetup at the last IWA 2018 show in Germany and it was very impressive. My thoughts then were that finally there is now an airsoft 40mm grenade that will outrange most if not all similar products that are currently available. But then almost as soon as the 40 Mike promo video came out, sites, especially here in the U.K. already started banning it because of the rate that it shoots all 150 BBs in under a second.

So was the pre-release banning of the 40 Mike a justifiable decision or was it a  knee-jerk reaction to a new tech in airsoft?

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The 40 Mike comes in the usual Airsoft Innovations packaging with the picture of the product and information printed all over the box. Inside you will get the 40Mike, a safety cap, a small bottle of grenade oil and a patch.

The 40 Mike is a 40mm gas grenade shell. The big difference is that it only has one hole for the BBs to go through. Unlike the standard airsoft MOSCART grenades that have multiple ejections ports to give maximum spread for the BBs when fired, the 40 Mike fires all 150 BBs like a stream through an inner barrel with a muzzle velocity of around 240fps using the recommended Green Gas or Propane. This technology has been patented by the company and it is called the “Quantum Drive Technology.”

The 40 Mike looks pretty mean with its matte metal finish and the red label on. It looks very industrial with its design. On top you will find the gas port and the BB firing port. Also at the top are the words “DO NOT USE HPA/CO2” laser etched onto the metal itself.

The label that surrounds the grenade contains all the information needed to safely use the product. The user basically has the user manual with them all the time. So there are no excuses to be made about not knowing how to use it as the information is there all the time on the 40 Mike itself.

Underneath the grenade is the pressure trigger.

The 40 Mike is solidly built and has a pretty good weight to it. It has a very simple design and it is very easy to use.

The guys at Airsoft Innovations also added an extra safety feature to prevent accidental firing. This is a rubber cap that slots underneath the grenade and covers the trigger preventing it from being pressed. I tried setting it off with this cap on by dropping it and slamming it on the table repeatedly and the cap did its job perfectly.

LOADING GAS AND BBS

The 40 Mike is very easy to set-up. First make sure the safety cap is in place to avoid any accidental discharging. Then fill it with your propellant of choice which you are basically limited to 3: Propane, HFC 134a, or Green Gas. So I don’t really like the smell of propane and HFC 134a is, as far as I know banned here in the U.K. So it is going to be Green Gas then. Plus, this is the one the guys at ROE Airsoft provided me to help me do the testing. The best way that I found of charging it with gas is to put the 40 Mike on a flat surface then press the gas can downwards against it. This will avoid the gas spitting out and when the grenade is full, gas will escape out of the fill valve.

Loading the BBs is slightly a bit more complicated than it seems. It’s best, obviously, to use a speedloader when doing this. So, start loading the BBs, when you feel a slight resistance, stop and wiggle the 40Mike around in a circular motion, this will help the BBs settle down the bottom then start re loading. Do this until you can hear minimal to no sound of the BBs moving inside. Once this is done the 40 Mike is ready to use.

SHOOTING TEST

ROE Airsoft was very kind to let me do the testing of the 40 Mike in their yard. We tried everything we can think off and replicating videos that have been done online.

First, we tested a couple of eye protection. The first one was a cheap generic China-made safety glasses and the result was exactly the same as one of the videos online that went viral. At a distance of about 2 feet, the 40 Mike was able to dislodge the lenses off the frame. As you can see on the video, the frame stayed on the rubber head but the force of the BBs dislocated the lenses.

The second eye pro that we tested on was my own personal Valken Tactical Zulu Goggles that I use when I play. We shot these goggles a few times at very close range and it was able to withstand the force of the BBs’ impact. I would like to mention that the Zulu goggles have a strap around the head and are full framed goggles.

The next tests that we did were to shoot someone at different distances. Luke of ROE airsoft volunteered to be our live target as long as he wore a tac vest and a bucket on his head. We shot him from a distance of 1 metre, 10 metres, 20 metres  and the full 30 metres.

Obviously, the nearer the shot, the more painful it is but as per Luke, who took a direct hit from 10 and 20 metres, the pain is no different from what you would feel with an airsoft gun with the same velocity. The only difference is the amount of BBs that hits you.

We also tested it with multiple targets with me, Luke and Patrick standing on a few meters behind each other.

On the videos, it will be noticed that the BBs spread out very fast but they do maintain their speed. At 30 metres, you would see all the BBs coming towards you but they are very scattered. I was hit by only a few, around 5 I would say that I actually felt but it did have a 10 foot spread covered. So if there were 5 of us standing side by side, we would have easily been taken out by it.

Another interesting thing that we found out is that the 40 Mike has quite a kick when fired. It will pull your arm up as the BBs and gas are discharged. This is why I think that guy on one of the videos got shot on the neck.

CONCLUSION

With all the hype and controversy surrounding this product, it was not a surprise that it got the attention that it did. So here is my own opinion on it after 2 days of testing:

1. I won’t even go into the issue of eye protection as I think it is every player’s responsibility to make sure that they wear proper eye protection and as most sites advise, a full face protection is still the best. The best is to get the eye pro from a reputable brand, even if it is expensive.
2. I agree that the 40 Mike should not be used in CQB for obvious reasons.
3. I will also agree to some people who are saying that if used properly, it can be a very good airsoft weapon that is able to take out multiple players.
4. At a distance of 20-30 metres, the BBs would have scattered enough that a single target will not get hit by all 150 BBs.
5. And I can say that on outdoor skirmish sites, yes, it can be used safely and there can be measures put in place to make it even safer to use. Players using the 40 Mike should keep in mind to follow the Minimum Engagement Distance (MED) that is printed on the 40 Mike shell itself.

Many thanks to the guys at Airsoft Innovations for sending me the sample to use and to the guys at ROE Firearms and Airsoft especially to their big boss Mr G for letting me and helping me test the 40 Mike in their yard. Special mention goes to Luke for letting us use him as our live target, our big thanks to him.

Also thanks to John Drury, Steve Drury, and all the marshals at Airsoft Plantation.  Thanks too Jamie Westall, Cassie Westall, and all of Bravo Whiskey Airsoft.