REVIEW: G&P M-Series 130rds Mid Cap ILLUMINATED

Fallschirmjager

for those of you who maybe interested.

i just tested the G&P M-Series 130rds Mid Cap ILLUMINATED magazine for m4 series airsoft, with the last dying moans of my battery.

for this to work you need the TRACER BB which is made of the same material that halloween masks that react to light. the concept here is you apply light to the bb and as it leaves the barrel and you see the tracer effect. a lot of players mix and match real bb's with the tracer round, (the serious players actually count them out to the 1 in 5 ratio or so i was told and they tend to be a bit more expensive and in smaller amounts then your normal bb.

Tokyo Marui introduced an attachement years ago that you add to the barrel tip and it looked like a large silencer. as the bb round passed thru they would flash the reactive plastic with a bright light and then you have the tracer effect. a couple of things made sure this was never as popular as it should have been.
1. it wasnt the prettiest piece of kit out there, (lets be honest, it looked like something you made at home watching the little known blue peter spot welding episode)
2. it added a considerable length to the barrel, and definelty made indoors work a bit awkard (which is where you could get the levels of darkness to make it worthwhile in the first place). in fact i know one mate a few years back that clocked his team member on the face plate when he suddenly moved to cover a door, the expletives used were by all accounts very original, casting some doubts on his parents)
3. in some cases, it looked a bit ridiculous, e.g. ww2 reenactors for example

and recently (well recently to me anyways!)G&P, added a patented new approach. in fact its so simple its amazing no one thought of it before. they have taken a m4 mag (by all accounts they plan a whole range of mags for airsoft categories, which is no doubt good news for the m4 hating brigades out there), added a blacklight LED (the purple ones also used in nightclubs that show who has washed their clothes recently and who hasnt!) and 2 aaa batteries. the magazine looks like any other m4 magazine, just a little heavier. how heavier, i hear you scream, well 2 aaa batteries and a led light heavy, so dont worry your little arms with the 'i love my mum' tattoo wont get misshaped. you load the mag exactly the same way.On the top of the mag is a small switch which, when depressed, activates the blacklight in the magazine housing. this causes the bb's to glow that errie green effect after a few seconds. the even better news is this switch is only activated when you slot a magazine, thereby saving the battery power. also since its an LED light and the draw is very small, you should get a very long time out of the magazine batteries. i have so far only had a few rounds out of it (my crane stock battery is flat), so i will post some pics when i get a full charge. there is a few issues to be aware of. the backlight only works in the magazine so any bb that reside between shots outside the magazine will loose the glow, something the TM adaptor doesnt suffer from as it happens, because its a barrel tip, so you may find that in between firing, the illuminated bb's, er, well dont illuminate...obviously encouraging you to let rip with all 120 in a go. So to quote my most favourite film, Aliens, 'remember, short controlled bursts' might not suit this magazine unless they are regular. However if you want to look like an extra from star wars or more likely to make yourself look like a guy dressed in a red shirt on star trek (i.e. last till the first scene) and blast away, expect to only last mere minutes in game. for the purposes of education, i shall try it, for the benefit of the readers here you understand. like all things in airsoft, this is a cheap fun addition, if you ever do get a chance to go somewhere of a dark evening and run around. the other thing to be aware of there are tracer BB's and there are tracer BB's and not all are equal. some hold the light charge for a reasonable time, and the cheaper ones dont. like all things you get what you pay for. also a lot of the play sites are beginning to demamd biodegradable products. i am not sure the tracer bb rounds fall into this category. finally if the batteries in the mag dont work, its just a standard mag.

stars 1 to 5 (1=good)

encourages childlike laughing :1
cost (dont forget the tracer bb's)
build quality : 1
m4 compat :1 (well works in my g&g)
spirit of airsoft (cheap way to have a laugh):1
night shot look :1 (now if onyl someone would do cheap nvg!)

finally, be advised:
m4 only (currently)
mid cap only

pics to follow asap....

CrazyRabbit

Thanks for the review.

I love it when people start using addons that help me locate where they are so that I can shoot them.

Would have been cool to see this in action at HRTA 2 Sundays ago during the late evening games.

kdouglas

hopefully there'll be a p90 or mp5 version available by the time the evenings start getting a bit darker (or i buy an m4), this could be fun for those 5pm sunset games during the winter

Fallschirmjager

crazy and k,

i cant remember where i read they are rolling other out...but since they patented it, i guess they realise they are on a winner here..

as for showing where you are, LOL, yes its akin to a halogen bulb on your head point you out...