Review (Completed, with pics!)- Tokyo Marui FA-MAS F1

[Bob the Angry Potato]

Marui FA-MAS F1

Real-Steel info- http://world.guns.ru/assault/as21-e.htm

IMPRESSIONS
I got this gun in the mail today (Courtesy of Peter of AIM, great service! Thanks.), and promptly rushed home to open and try it.
The first thing I noticed was the fact that it was quite small. The gun was a bit larger then your average sub-machinegun, yet somehow managed to have a giant inner-barrel that beat almost all other weaponry.
The gun in the case looked fairly plasticy, yet upon picking it up and inspecting it more, there were a few metal parts on the gun (Outer barrel, cocking handle, trigger guard, and a few other things).
What I noticed, however, were the fact that there were 6 SIGHTS in total, used in different combinations for different scenarios.
The 6 different sights were 2 grenade sights (Front and back, then an unrelated one in front of the cocking handle), the front iron sight, and then a rear sight with 3 different settings (Daytime, dusk, and night). This, once one figured it out, was not very confusing (The grenade sights would do fairly well with a rifle grenade set, soon to be purchased).
The magazine was fully-metal, and felt quite well-built. This, I loaded fairly easily (only 25 rounds) with the loading tool it came with.
The gun was rather hefty, yet not so much so (I haven't weighed it, but I could hazard guess around 6 pounds), and can be dual-wielded if someone decides to (Or, just one-handed firing for room-cleaning. It can be fired one-handed from the hip, or if you're built like Arnold Schwartzennegar you can hold it like a pistol. I can only do so for a short period of time). The magazine could hold 60 rounds, and wasn't too shabby. However, the mag-release catch was like that of the AK, MP5 and STEYR, which (for some reason) I don't like not being able to drop the mag. However, it DOES save money if you lose things easily, or it's nighttime...
The (in my opinion) ugly handle was quite a drawback, yet I noticed it wasn't as high as I thought it would be. However, it is molded onto the top part, so it has to be sawed off...
The bipod was a nice touch, and I am going to guess it was solid-metal construction (looked and feeled that way). The lack of a front sling-mount doesn't bother me too much, as it isn't that heavy...
Also with the FA-MAS F1, there is a (also in my opinion) fairly nice trigger-guard, meant for single-finger instead of mittens. This takes away from the 'laser-gun' feel which I detest so much, so in my opinion, it is a plus.
The gun didn't come with any rails at all, so there was no-where to mount a sight, laser or anything like that. However, there is a rail made by Marui, that fits on the handle.
The mechbox is located behind the rubber buttplate, and is a nice touch. It gives the FA-MAS an insanely large barrel size, which is an advantage over the other guns.
Another advantage is, when I (stupidly) dry-fired it, a Rate of Fire from Hell! This gun sends 17 rounds a second (1000 rounds a minute) hurling down at a target, making it a great all-round LMG (Bipod included!).

USING THE GUN

First step is putting in the battery. I took the LARGE 8.4V battery it came with, and attached it to the wall-charger. 90 minutes later, nothing...
After inspecting the charger again, it turned out that it was at the wrong setting. My bad.
After charging it properly, I set it again and fired a burst.
What surprised me was how loud this gun was, a loud and fast BRAKBRAKBRAKBRAKBRAK filled the room. My next thought was "Wicked"...
To put in the battery, take the safety catch in front of the trigger, put it off safe, yet keep pressing it towards the top of the gun. After that, the battery cover just slides off.
Putting it back in is a bit of a pain in the ass, yet once you get the hang of it, it is fairly simple.
The Hop-Up dial is located under the cheek-plate (Ambidextrious, can be taken off and switched-sides for left-handed users). It is quite easy to use, a retarded monkey could probably figure it out in 10 seconds or so (Meaning one of us average Airsofters could do it in about 30... )
One of the unique things is that next to the fire selector (Located right below the butt, on the bottom behind the mag) there is a button to push to decompress the spring, to save shelf life. It's a nice feature, too.
There are 2 safeties on the gun, one at the trigger (Blocks your finger, and also jams the trigger so it can't be pulled from below), and one in the back at the fire-selector.

FIRING THE GUN
After about a day, I finally decided to get off my ass and try it. In a hallway, I set up a thick plastic hamper, attached a fleece sweater to the back of it and set it up in a way that ricochets would be next-to-impossible.
Upon setting up the gun from the target (The target was about 15 cm wide, with a 4 cm center target, what I was aiming for) approximately 10 meters away, I loaded 7 rounds into the clip and lined up a shot (Using day-time pinhole sights). I put shot after shot at the target, until it was empty, then got up and looked at it.
Each shot was approximately 2 inches down where from I was aiming, with no right-or-left deviations. They were bunched together fairly well, too, and seemed quite accurate.
Upon closer inspection, the reason that the shots were quite a bit lower was the fact that the FA-MAS handle (with the sights on top) was about 2-3 inches higher then the barrel, which shows that this gun could pull off accurate shots (at least, from that far. Eventually, I'll try from much, MUCH longer ranges).
Afterwards, I decided to try it on fully-automatic. Surprisingly, the BBs all were quite accurate, making a precise hole exactly where I aimed it, with slight upwards deviation when I moved the gun. I'm quite impressed, it turned out quite well...
Soon after that, I invited my marksman friend over to try it. After correcting him from using the flip-up grenade sight instead of the normal, he ended up emptying 20 rounds at the target. The 10 he put on Semi-Automatic didn't end up too close together, but the 10 in fully-auto ended up about an inch closer then my grouping did.
Pictures of the target are soon to come.

PLANNED MODS
That god-damn ugly handle has to go, so it's going to be replaced with a nice one from a G36, supplied by Pokey
Also, a nice rail added to the bottom'd be good, perhaps a laser or flashlight could be attached.
M16 Magazines should be able to fit, as well.

Pictures!
Thanks to Jordan, Archis and Hannah for helping with these.

Myself with the FA-MAS:


The carry handle:


Ejection port:


Cheek plate/Hop-Up cover:


Foregrip:


Under the Foregrip:


Battery:


Top, with Flip-Up Grenade sight


Hop-Up adjustor


Rubber Buttplate


Mag Well


Fire Selector (Note: Button between Semi and Auto is a spring-decompression button)


Ejection Port, opposite side of Cheek-Plate (Note: Trademarks are underneath, rather blurry. They state 'FA-MAS F1, 5.56 cal NATO', or something to that effect).


The dog, looking very uninterested:


Trigger, trigger-guard and pistol grip:


Top-diagonal view:


Front view:


Night-sights:


Grenade-sights, in First-Person view


Top view


Flash-hider:


Magazine:


The magazine, in the gun:


Jordan, with the FA-MAS:

[karbon]

You know, now I'm fighting which of the guns I want to get.

I was almost sure I wanted the AK, but now I think I want an F1.


Thanks for the review, its got me thinking. I heard alot of bad things about the gun, but I dont trust everything I hear.


Thanks.

[Bob the Angry Potato]

Thanks
Anyways, I've never really heard bad things (Only on INSANELY used guns, or biased opinions from 12-year-olds who hate it because it's either French or just plain ugly). However, I find this is an awesome AEG.
Actually, I've already named it... I christened it 'Bob'...

[LucidFox]

Bah i hate the little 12 year-olds.

"THE FROGGIES MADE THAT!"

The FA-MAS looks awesome so can it little ones.As for the actual airsoft gun sounds freaking wicked. Can't wait to see those target pics and maybe a video or something.Good review

Lucid

[pokey]

Good literature there tater. Sweet review.

[Bob the Angry Potato]

Thanks, Pokey
Anyways, I've managed to scrounge up some BBs, and am in the process of making a ricochetless BB trap. Soon as it's done, and I can borrow a digital cam from someone, I'll be good to make the rest.

[Bob the Angry Potato]

Edited in Semi-automatic shooting stats. I have yet to try it on full-auto, but results so far seem promising.

[Bob the Angry Potato]

Picture: The FA-MAS F1, and my dog.

Shitty picture, I'll wait until I can borrow a proper cam 'til I do more. This, right now, is done by a 20 dollar borrowed webcam, and the quality's horrible...
EDIT: Now, I have to train the dog to stop licking the flash-hider. I don't know why he does that...

[Kid]

I've always hated that gun... but now I just think it's the angle the pictures were taken at, that is one sexy gun... W
Well, that or the dog adds a hell of a lot to the picture.

[Bob the Angry Potato]

Thanks, I thought it looked stupid as hell 'til I got it... perhaps because it turns out the handle isn't that high?
The dog's STILL licking the flash-hider, I don't know why and I'm not going to try to stop him... odd.

[yanhchan]

Awsome review...cool dog btw. Teach the dog to shoot

[Bob the Angry Potato]

Nah, I taught him how to shoot the Glock 18C when I had it... except I had to hold the gun and his paws, and give him suitable eye protection (he didn't like that too much). Afterwards, he proceeded to lick the Glock... I think he likes guns too much.

[LucidFox]

[size=]LucidFox says:
cookie crumbs got in the metal when it was liquid and he smells it

LucidFox says:
XD

Bob The Angry Potato says:
Hahah! That'd be weird

Bob The Angry Potato says:
Damn Japanese assembly lines, giving robots cookies[/size]

The FA-MAS is awesome in that picture but in some angles it looks ass-ugly. Still a great gun and yes the dog does add alot to the pictures :3

[Bob the Angry Potato]

Planned mod (Should still retain cocking handle, and will look a hell of a lot better then this. It was done in Paint, what do you expect?)

[Kid]

Damn!! That's sexy. How do you plan to do that? As in, do you plan to cut up the reciever and glue it on? :-D