Airsoft Action - October 2023

RED CELL
SMG UPDATE
So, SMGs… don’t we all love ‘em! When it
comes to CQB-play this is what the SMG was
ultimately designed for, so it’s the ideal platform
for that environment, but with airsoft ranges and
engagement distances as they are it’s also a platform
that many choose overall, be that for indoor, urban,
or woodland airsoft adventures!
I’ve used an SMG as my primary so many times
in the past, and I’ve had models in my personal
armoury ever since Tokyo Marui unveiled their
awesome (but oh my lawd, SO hard to work on!)
Uzi. I’ve had AEGs and gassers aplenty of my own,
and even more that I’ve tested and reviewed, and I
have to say that it’s an area that I love coming back
to… in fact you could say that this category is my
personal favourite of all that we’ve tested over the
last two year!
Whether you’re a skirmisher, a MilSim fanatic, or
a dedicated OPFOR-ist there’s and SMG for you out
there, and as time goes by there seem to be more
and more available! We won’t be concentrating on
the VORSK VMP-1 in this update as we’ve only just
reviewed the production model (last issue), but for
me this is a fabulous indication of how a really good
SMG can, and will, be adopted by players embracing
all styles of airsoft… from the sheer number that I
saw down at the NAF I know this to be true, and
every proud owner of a new VMP-1 only had good
things to say about it… and this was on a verymuch-woodland
site!
Before we get into the meat of things, also at
the NAF a number of you asked me more about
the Red Cell program itself, so I believe it’s time to
clarify exactly what it is, and how we run it, again.
Basically we started a little over two years ago with
a number of categories covering the majority of the
most common airsoft platforms, and between the
members of the testing group we brought together
a basic ten models in each category to start testing
with the goal of running them all through a five-year
testing cycle.
And no, these are not all MY platforms (I bloody
wish!), but models that are owned also by members
of the Red Cell team who kindly allow everyone in
the group to try their AEGs and GBBs and keep a
running tally on use and continued performance.
Thanks to the way the program has been embraced
by certain manufacturers (we thank you!) who wish
to know how their AEGs and GBBs perform over an
extended period there is indeed also a “Test Pool” of
models that is kept (in stock, out of the box form) in
the AA Armoury, and many of these end up with Red
Cell members to test over time as well!
As you can see, this is all about seeing how the
models we have perform not just as new, but with
continued hard use. Yes we maintain them, but
unless there is a very specific reason, none will be
upgraded from new… we want to see what breaks
over time, how easy the fix is, what that fix costs,
and what performance we can get from some basic
and minimal upgrading.
Thankfully numerous manufacturers now feed into
the program on a regular basis, so our “Starting 10”
has now in many cases become 15+ by category!
By the end of the program each and every model
will have an “on-par” BB count although of course
some may be newer than others. Bottom line is that
Red Cell hammer them, break them and fix them
so you can have all the info and an assurance of
performance when you choose to add a new model
to your own armoury!
THE LOWDOWN
So, nuff said on that, and let’s get to THE GUNS!
It’s cool to see that among Red Cell there are some
real SMG fiends, including me, so we’ve distilled our
joint experiences to compile this update on some of
the models that we own ourselves, or have run for
some considerable time from the pool.
Although there is one MP5 here, if you’ve
followed the program then you’ll know that “THE
FIVE” has a category all to itself, and yes, we’ll be
following up with that in due course. This time, as I
said, I’ve asked the guys to really start digging down,
taking a real “deep dive” into individual platforms,
so I’ll shut up now and let them get into it!
Jimmy: I have become somewhat of a SMG fan
over the past couple of years and have built up quite
a collection, most of which are more the modern
type. My favourite has to be the UMP45 as this for
“WHEN IT COMES TO CQB-PLAY THIS IS WHAT THE SMG WAS ULTIMATELY DESIGNED
FOR, SO IT’S THE IDEAL PLATFORM FOR THAT ENVIRONMENT, BUT WITH AIRSOFT
RANGES AND ENGAGEMENT DISTANCES AS THEY ARE IT’S ALSO A PLATFORM THAT
MANY CHOOSE OVERALL, BE THAT FOR INDOOR, URBAN, OR WOODLAND AIRSOFT
ADVENTURES!”
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