When Vega Force Company (VFC) released its much anticipated KAC PDW airsoft gun, after some spurts and starts, it was a wet dream come true for many airsoft players. However, since the VFC KAC PDW costs more than the usual budget of regular airsoft players, it remained out of reach for many, save for the collectors who usually have some magic tricks in coming out with budgets to afford this.

But it was not for long that DBoys came out with their own version of the KAC PDW. This company has been following the designs of VFC ever since the release of their AK and SCAR series, parting ways with Jing Gong and CYMA in terms of cloning Tokyo Marui AEGs. With a price of around US$140 or lower if without the Knights' Armament Company markings, this AEG makes it a very affordable alternative to the VFC version.

Upon opening of the box, there is no mistake that this replica looks exactly the same as its real steel counterpart. It has a matte black in finish with trade marks on its proper places. It visibly indicates a good level of quality and workmanship. In fact, once you hold it in your hands, the only thing that would give it away is the dangling battery connector on the front hand guard. Being a compact weapon, its AEG DNA bears its shortcoming-there is no place to site the battery inside the gun. The skeleton stock does not offer any space either. The only option is to use an external battery box. You've got to give credit to DBoys for providing a battery box that came as a standard with the package.

Most ACM AEGs are normally a good value for money with battery and charger included. This package sent to us, however, did not come with a charger. Another thing worth noting with ACM manufacturers is their effort in providing a User Manual with English Instruction. Though the grammar might always be off the mark, you can’t help but appreciate their effort. This makes it easier to identify the different parts of an AEG while reviewing it and for owners alike. This is a strong contrast to most, if not all Japanese products intended for the UK market without English Instructions.

EXTERNALS

With its one-piece metal upper receiver and front hand guard, this gun is rock solid. There is absolutely no wobble. It feels very compact especially with the stock folded. The full length top RIS enables you to attach various accessories such as battle sights, high end optics, lasers and the like. Built-in RIS are also on the two sides and bottom of the front hand guard.  Both the front and rear metal sights are RIS mounted and are adjustable.

The included 120 round plastic magazine is gun specific just like the real steel version. You can, however, use a M4 magazine on this replica.

The flash hider design is technically called by the guys at KAC to have a special KAC muzzle break. This has been faithfully replicated in the airsoft version. Don’t get annoyed by its grayish colour for the real steel version is the same albeit a little bit flat in shade than the replica. The included 8 inch barrel adopts the new ball-mill lightened stiff barrel design which is commonly known as dimpling. This lightened the overall gun weight as well as aiding in heat dissipation on the real steel. Two aluminium dummy gas pistons could clearly be seen on the front end. These tap hot gas from the barrel to operate its mechanism in the real steel version.

The upper receiver has 3 dummy screws on both sides to replicate the original version. It has a working charging handle that’s opens the ejection port cover for hop-up adjustments. Pressing the bolt catch closes it. The lower receiver has all the trade marks on both faces just like the real deal as shown on the photos. It is worth noting that a never lost pin has been used to hold the upper and lower receiver together. My G&P M4A1 doesn’t have one!

A good feature of this gun is the ambidextrous fire selector lever. Here starts the ambiguity of this feature. With a compact design, well not really in airsoft terms, for this one uses a normal version two gearbox. If you are right handed, the left fire selector level does not interfere with your right thumb as you hold on the grip. But your index finger on a firing position is getting over the right lever if it is on semi-automatic mode. The lever has been chambered to minimize the effect of this. But if you are a southpaw, the left selector level is full size and you would clearly feel its lump beneath your index finger as you fire. These left and right fire selector levers cannot be swapped in location. They have completely different mounting shapes beneath it. You just have to live with it.

Another ambidextrous feature is the magazine release button. You don’t see this feature often on most AEGs and its real steel counterparts. The grip is gun specific though it houses the same motor size as a standard AEG. The trigger guard design is a DBoys exclusive. The real steel is just plain similar to a M4. This design is a bit more comfortable as it molds to your grip while your thumb is on the ready. Two quick release sling points are located on the receiver’s end to suit your mounting options. The skeleton rifle stock is of good quality. There is just a slight play when it is extended but otherwise negligible. The catch on the receiver to hold the stock once folded does the job well. The stock stays under normal lateral movement but would detach if excessively jerked. Another quick detach sling point is located on the butt. The stock is finished at the rear with a rubber butt that feels comfortable on your shoulder.

Whilst DBoys have thoughtfully included a DBAL Battery Box with an 8.4 1200MAH battery, this is considered to be a big let down of this model, considering that is even just a cosmetic thing since it's too big for a PDW and of course ruins the look of the front area. There are two options to do this: the aser and the harder way of installing Lipoly batteries.

Let's start first with the hard way. You'll have to take careful insertion of the battery inside the lower part of the handhuard but changing batteries mid-game would be a pain in the ass. Or the easier way with which you'll purchase an AN/PEQ15 Battery Box that already comes pre-installed with a Lipoly Battery. With the price of the DBoys PDW, we're pretty much sure you still have spare change to purchase this separately.

THE INTERNALS

It takes a single never lost pin to separate the upper from the lower receiver. You have to disconnect the battery wires as you pull the receivers apart as shown on the photo. This procedure will pull the entire exposed wire that connects to the battery box. This movement will inevitably cause the wire to snag into the RIS holes causing tears on the shrink wrap. This is evident on our review sample before I could open it up. Unlike M4’s and its variants where the fire selector lever remains with the receiver, you have to take off the levers on both sides. As normal, the magazine catch, the pin above the trigger and off course the motor and grip are to be removed. There are no screws that hold the gearbox from the rear of the receiver.

The bronze inner barrel measures 236 mm in length with an inner diameter of 6.04 mm. the included hop-up is a clear plastic. The motor is the typical third party ones used by DBoys on most of its AEG. This is a medium type. The manufacturer is clearly indicated on the label. This is sufficient enough for the type of spring and battery voltage setting on this AEG. I would reckon that the first thing to go would be the pinion rather than the motor.

Once out of the receiver, the standard DBoys Version 2 gearbox appears. A comparison photo is taken with G&P Version 2 gearbox. The minor difference is the presence of gears on both sides for the fire selector lever and the bolt catch mechanism on the right face of the gearbox. A mystery broken rubber o-ring was found logged around the nozzle. This has been included in the photo with the rest of the internal parts.

There are no internal parts flying once you open the gearbox. That is, if you are just careful. The usual ACM plastic and metal parts are used on this gun. Plastic parts include the piston, cylinder head, tappet plate, nozzle, spring guide and piston head. It is the common XYT gears that are used in here. These metal gears are proven on other ACM brands to hold its own even on powerful springs right out of the box. It is just or mentality that these are China-made that makes us think that these are inferior makes but they are not. These are even better than the TM stock gears! The gears were lubricated but some part appears to have dried up already. It is probably more on the quality of the grease than the procedure. This can be remedied by applying a better quality grease on it for better performance. It is worth noting the presence of a tiny plastic sector clip on the sector gear.

It just takes a lot of patience to put back the gearbox together. The alignment of fire selector gears on both sides should be the same. Bolt catch mechanism should be hooked-up properly to the other side for it to work properly. The routing of the wires should be properly done otherwise it will interfere with the magazine-you will not be able to attach a magazine if done wrongly.

PERFORMANCE

The included battery attained its full charge in only 8.45 minutes to my surprise. My charge current was 1.2 A. Nevertheless, I still proceeded to test the gun. This was done before I opened it up. The readings on the chrono surprised me. These were done on semi-automatic mode with FPS:  220, 211, 210, 197, 155, 109, 147, 117, 67, 20, 86, 142 and 68. As you can see, there is the downward pattern until the sixth shot and started to shoot up again and downward again. I reckon that the battery was in a bad state or its internals.

The broken rubber o-ring that I found on the gearbox could be instrumental in having a leakage thus, the erratic chrono readings. But where did it come from? The only part that has an o-ring is the piston head but it was intact. Could it have been the cylinder head? I failed to check that one. It could be. The hop-up was not giving me a proper BB response so I used my metal G&P hop-up. It did the trick. I would reckon the effective distance is about 40-50 Meters for a man-size target.

The gun is very light making it extremely easy to maneuver. Prolonged use is also easy on your arms if you are not slinging it. Various QD sling points make it easy to configure your options as per your type of play.

I would love to own one of this gun. This is a great value for money for its features. The immediate upgrade that needs to be done is just the hop-up unit. The battery would be sufficient enough as new unlike our review sample that have exhibited signs of wear and tear. Forget the purpose of this weapon on its real steel version. this is not just for defense. This weapon as an Airsoft replica can be an assault weapon which can stand its ground among the hoards of M4 owners. Light and compact are the keywords. Light and compact in size but in function and performance, it is full size!

I would rate this AEG a 4/5 stars.

SPECIFICATIONS

TYPE: CAL. 6MM FULL METAL AEG
MAGAZINE CAPACITY: 120 ROUNDS
LENGTH(8 inch barrel): 442/665 MM
INNER BARREL LENGTH: 236 MM
INNER BARREL DIAMETRE: 6.04 MM
OUTER BARREL LENGTH: 200 MM
WEIGHT WITH BATTERY BOX: 2.43 KG (approx.)
WHAT’S IN THE BOX: AEG Rifle, 120-round Magazine, Instructions/Manual, Metal DBAL Battery Box with 9.6V NIMH Battery, QD plastic Grip & Packet of BB’s