The packaging of the MAGPUL PTS Masada ACR is tastefully done with an illustration of the gun printed on the front of the box. The side of the box has a handle so you can carry it out of a store (if you buy one at a shop). There is a sticker on the box indicating the serial number of the Masda ACR in the box.
The inside of the box is lined with hard black foam on both sides of the gun. The majority of the foam has been cut out to the outline of the gun with one slot alotted for the included magazine, and another slot for the MBUS rear sight. The gun virtually does not move when stored in the box.
Packed with the gun are the following: MBUS PTS rear sight, M-Version PMAG, Warranty card, a DVD/CD (Contains trailers for MAGPUL DVD's and a copy of the Manual in PDF), and a dummy 5.56mm round (which is helpful in punching out receiver/handguard pins).
Externals/ Cosmetics:
Upon taking the gun out of the box, it is obvious that MAGPUL PTS did not cut corners when it comes to the externals of the gun. MAGPUL PTS wanted you to know that the Masada ACR was made by them. You have the MAGPUL logo and PTS stamped all over the gun. The handguards, lower receiver, motor plate, upper receiver, and stock has MAGPUL's markings on the gun. Even the stippling on the pistol grip and the magwell area of the Masada is of the MAGPUL Industries Logos.
The trademarks on the upper receiver looks like it was done via laser etching. The gun has its own individual serial number etched on it (which also matches the serial number on the sticker of the original box).
The polymer used on the MAGPUL PTS Masada ACR was supposedly DuPont Nylon. The color, fitting, texture, and overall feel and sturdiness is second to none.
Looking at the upper receiver, one of my friends (Sacair Dagger) told me that it was most likely made by using the Extrusion and then CNC'd. The upper receiver also has an annodized finish which is chip/flake/and scratch resistant which in turn preserves the gun's look.
Function:
The MAGPUL PTS Masada ACR uses a mini type battery. The handguards will be able to fit batteries so long as it is no thicker than .66 inches and longer than 8 inches long. For those using NIMH batteries, you could fit up to a 9.6v 2000mah Elite NIMH (Green Camo one) in the handguards. You could also use up to an 11.1v lipo provided that it is up to the dimensions specified. The gun is wired for a mini battery connector. Removal of the handguards for the installation of the battery requires punching off one pin and sliding the handguards.
As with your typical AEG, the gun has fire settings for safe, semi, and full auto. The Masada has an ambidextrous selector lever like MP5's, the G36, and the SCAR series.
The Masada has a few nifty features...
One feature is the ability of the bolt to lock back in place. Pulling the charging handle pulls the dummy bolt back and allows you access to the hop up unit's dial. Turning the dial counter clockwise increases the hop. Turning the dial clockwise decreases the hop. The dial itself has decent tension which will allows it to retain the hop setting. Turning the hop dial for the max hop setting however only allows .25g BBs to sail a little bit higher. You will not be able to fine tune the hop setting for BBs that weigh over .27g BBs. Moving the dummy bolt back to battery would require for the user to push down on the bolt relase button/lever (located posterior of the mag well).
Another feature of the PTS Masada is the quick barrel change. Changing outer barrel assemblies require twisting the locking lever counter clockwise by about 120 degrees and pulling off the outer barrel assembly. Reversing the process would install the barrel back in place. This particular feature is especially helpful when changing the hop bucking or upgrading to a tighter bore barrel.
A third feature of the gun is its quick takedown. You could separate the gun into 4 major pieces namely: the stock, upper receiver, lower receiver, and outer barrel. This allows for two things with one being the gun's ability to be stored in a more compact case. The other thing that the quick take down feature allows is to configure the gun to your liking once MAGPUL comes out with a folding/retractable stock, longer/shorter outer barrel, a 7.62mm lower receiver, and a RIS handguard. Installing those parts would only require punching off of 4 pins and the removal of 3 hex screws (2mm and 2.5mm). Depending on the setup that you want, you can quickly swap parts in seconds.
Internals:
MAGPUL PTS used a proprietary gearbox reminiscent of both a version 2 and version 3 gearbox. It uses a motor cage (as seen on the AK and G36 series AEG's) that keeps the motor from moving side to side. The gearbox uses a set of steel gear set that uses a combination of 8mm bearings and 8mm bushings. The bevel gear uses 8mm sealed bearings while both the sector and spur gears use a set of double oil channel steel bushings. Out of the box, these gears are shimmed fairly well (not too tight, no too loose) and has been adequately lubed.
Both the cylinder head's nozzle and air seal nozzle are long and is specific to the MAGPUL PTS Masada ACR. The cylinder head reminds me of the AUG/SIG cylinders due to the "longer than the usual" cylinder head nozzle. The cylinder itself has a chrome finish like those found in Guarder FTK's and has no portings (Type-0).
The piston and piston heads are made out of a clear/transparent material. It might or might not be polycarbonate. The piston head has a couple of pen point portings to help increase air seal.
The tappet plate does not look like its made out of fiber reinforced material and is shaped like a version 3 tappet plate.
The stock spring has an irregular pitch. That is, it has tighter coils on a couple of locations located at one end of the spring. The tighter coils are supposed to go towards the spring guide and minimize the "twang" sound after every shot. The MAGPUL PTS Masada ACR does not make the "twanging" sound when fired.
The PTS Masada uses a micro switch assembly instead of the regular AEG switch assembly which are supposedly better than those used by the typical version 2/3/6 gearboxes. Wiring is actually routed outisde the gearbox.
The motor has a gray housing, heat treated pinion gear, and black motor base.
A very nifty feature of the MAGPUL PTS Masada ACR is its quick (main) spring change. You could change the main spring (either to increase or decrease the FPS output) in seconds. All that's required is punching off a couple of pins (one to be able to slide off the stock), unscrewing a screw, popping the spring guide out and replacing the spring. Changing springs could be done in a few seconds.
Performance:
Out of the box, the MAGPUL PTS Masada ACR shoots 377-384 FPS with .20g BBs. Rate of fire with an 11.1v 1200mah 25C LiPo is right around 21 rounds a second.
The hop could be turned up to have .25g BBs curving up at the maximum setting. With the hop properly set with .25g BBs, the gun will shoot up to 200 feet (with the said BBs). The hop dial stops turning when it has reached the max hop setting.
Issues/ Fixes:
The biggest issue that I have with the gun is that the shots on the model I'm reviewing tended to swerve to the right. Taking the lower receiver off, looking through the upper receiver, and into the hop chamber reveals that the inner barrel and hop bucking is canted over to thr right by a little bit which then causes for the shots to swerve to the right.
Taking the outer barrel off, filing part of the inner barrel clip, and turning the outer barrel/hop bucking to the left corrected the shooting issue.
Another issue that I found with the gun does not affect overall performance by much. It has something to do with the compression around the air nozzle and the cylinder head. Unfortunately, there's no real fix for this as the air nozzle is proprietary to the gun. The compression is not at 100% (which you could achieve with Systema parts on other AEG's). Still, the gun rates fair in compression in that area. The piston/cylinder compression is very good.
The only other issue (aside from those two) that I have with the gun is the handguard moving back and forth by .5mm or less. It is really a non-issue as it does not affect function. It's just that its there if you notice things like that. Otherwise, the only thing to really be concerned about would be the hop/inner barrel alignment.
Conclusion:
There is no doubt that the externals of the MAGPUL PTS Masada ACR is top notch. The build quality and fitting is impressive. The gun has a neat features like quick take down, locking bolt catch, and quick spring changes. As with any other gun however, you will find nit picky things. Granted that it is not perfect, issues can be adressed with minimal effort.
The Masada ACR has a lot of up sides with only one major down side that you can not get around-the price. The MAGPUL PTS Masada ACR will run you close if not over $500 with MAGPUL PTS magazines running another $28 a piece.
Later down the line, you'll have even more options for the gun such as different outer barrel lengths, a folding/retractable stock, a 7.62mm lower receiver.
The MAGPUL PTS Masada ACR is a must have for everyone. What you get with this top dollar piece is a very very nice product. Do however keep in mind the little things mentioned in the review. With the issue(s) addressed, you're left with an AEG that is of very nice quality and excellent performance to boot. You will not regret paying $500 for one if you choose to do so.
1 comments:
Dude the performance issue is a problem so don't fool yourself and say its worth 500bucks because it aint. I know because i got one and it has a major air leak on it. This thing internally is a peice of shit.
Alien -From Airsoft Nebraska-
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