Marushin's MP40... PFC and Gas BlowBack Airsoft comparison

Anybody with even a passing interest in the Second World War will recognise the German MP40 instantly. It is, probably without doubt, the iconic German weapon.

In my personal opinion, the MP40 and its’ predecessor, the MP38, are the best looking sub machine guns ever produced and by far the most desirable to have in any WW2 collection.

I am a Collector and Modelgun enthusiast rather than an Airsoft skirmisher, so my review of Marushin’s GBB MP40 will be biased more towards how it compares to Marushin's own Plug Fire Cartridge replica of the real steel gun, rather than how it’ll perform down as an Airsoft Weapon at the local skirmish site when you’re facing hordes of 101st Airborne armed with Garands and Thompsons or British Commandos carrying STENs.

Marushin have produced superb 100% accurate replicas of the MP40 for years. I believe I'm correct in saying that Marushin's is the ONLY replica to be 100% dimensionally accurate. The versions most commonly found now are built from Zinc Alloy, ABS and some steel parts. The Model Gun is designed to fire a cap charged and reusable brass 9mm cartridge and when set up properly they fire, function and perform exactly as per the real thing. Smoke, Noise, Ejecting Shells, everything except bullets coming out of the barrel! This system is known as Pluf Fire Cartridge (PFC)  

Marushin have used a large number of their PFC model gun parts to put together the basis for this, their Gas Blow Back 8mm Airsoft gun and they have, therefore, come up with a very realistic looking replica.



The PFC version is in front here, but there are no obvious differences until you look a little closer…

Most parts are common between the two, the obvious differences being the Magazine, Inner Barrel and Bolt assembly because the operating system and end result is quite different.

I wanted a good replica that functioned like a real MP40. I have the PFC versions but don’t always have enough spare time to strip them down for essential cleaning and the more laborious but even more vital cartridge cleaning and reloading.

I wanted an MP40 that I could pick up, insert a loaded magazine and fire without any hassle. I’d bought a Chinese AGM Electric MP40 previously which looked ok, but I’m sorry to say that AEGs don’t cut it for me personally as they don’t have operating  bolts (bar the odd exception now) and make the wrong noise.      
As I said earlier I’m not an Airsoft skirmisher so my requirements from a Replica will be a bit different from the Airsoft users'.

Marushin’s Gas Blow Back caught my attention the minute I heard they were realeasing them… Could this be the gun for me?

Straight out of the box then, how does it compare to a replica of the Real MP40?

Not bad at all actually! We’re all used to handling abs guns and obviously it won’t feel like cold steel.
My version is the Matt Black finish which takes away the “shiny” plastic look and it looks fine, I wish I’d taken the time to look at the “Vintage 1945” version Marushin offer also though.
They’ve re-painted the plastics and “weathered” and aged the metal parts to give it a well used and battle scarred look.
The photos I’ve seen look pretty good and I think I may have actually preferred it to the Brand New look.

The box contained the Gun, a single 32 round magazine, a cleaning rod and a small bag of 8mm BBs. A Japanese instruction Manual is included with reasonably good diagrams (as usual from Japan) so the lack of English doesn’t matter.

Everything looks exactly as it should, Rear Sights are as they should be, a simple affair set up for 100yds with a flip up leaf for up to 200yds.
Not that the Airsoft gun will need that range but it’s authentic looking!

Front sight is a hooded blade, muzzle nut and barrel look dead right, Barrel Nut and Sling loop, Mag Well stampings, Mag’ Release Catch, Folding skeleton stock all present and correct…
Secondary safety is present and works on the cocking handle too, just as it should on the MP40











There’s a Socket Head Grub Screw located just behind the Barrel Nut and Sling Loop… That’s the Hop Up Adjuster and obviously wouldn’t be on the real ones but it’s in a handy and accessible place if you need it..




The Folding Stock operates as it should, push the release catch and drop the stock. Extend it into position and lock out the butt.





The Magazine holds 32 8mm BBs, same load as the real steel MP40.
Apart from the slot running down the length of the Mag exposing the Spring, the mag’ looks real enough once it’s slotted into the gun.




There’s no Speed Loader provided so it’s a case of pulling the spring down the slot and dropping them in singly. A bit slow this, but real ones are like this anyway! At least the spring's not very strong so your thumbs won't ache loading this!

Spare magazines would be a big advantage, but Gas mag’s are very expensive. Last time I looked Hong Kong dealers were asking the equivalent of about £35 each for them…
German troops issued with an MP40 were given 6 spare magazines with the gun…

A set of mags could cost you as much as the gun!  

I used Abbey Predator Gas to charge the mag’ and it’s just like every other Gas Mag’ and Cigarette Lighter I’ve filled.

Insert the Magazine into the Mag’ Well until it Clicks into place.

First thing I noticed that appeared different to the PFC replica is that unless the Bolt is pulled back either to Cocked position, or, better still for safety’s sake, further back and up into the Safety Notch at the back of the Receiver, the Magazine will not slot in, nor come out of the Well if the Bolt is forwards.

All that’s needed is a firm but gentle push on the mag and it’ll Click into place. There’s no need to slam it home hard like they do in the Movies, you’ll break the Mag’ doing that!




If the Bolt is in Safety, grasp the Cocking Handle and guide the Bolt forwards into Cocked position.

Here’s a big difference to the Real Steel and PFC replicas. The GBB bolt comes forwards far too much to be realistic. What effect will that have on Rate of Fire I wonder?...




Both the above photos show the Airsoft version uppermost.

The difference is obvious isn’t it?


MP40s are not Selective Fire weapons. Depending on ROF, controlled 3 or 4 round bursts are quite possible, otherwise it’s Full Auto until all 32 rounds are gone

Pick your target then, squeeze the trigger….

Trigger action is light and smooth…

The Bolt only has a very short travel so Rate of Fire is fast. Way to high to be realistic, but Hell, this is FUN so I can forgive it for that!

The Bolt and firing action makes a pretty good noise when you’re holding the gun yourself, there’s an amount of recoil to be felt too but it’s nothing dramatic…. Enough to be fun and definitely better than AEGs

This is what GBB Machine Guns are all about!  

This short video should give you an idea what to expect…

Sound levels are always difficult with home video, the gun sounds louder than this when you’re holding it so try winding your speakers’ volume right up :0)








One burst empties the Magazine in very short order, you’ll know when the last round’s gone as the bolt hits the Gas Button on the mag’ and it discharges itself with an annoying HHHHHHHIIIIIISSSSSSssssss

Watching the Bolt travel during firing shows how power drops off as the Gas level drops…
It visibly slows down and travels less

Unless there’s a pre-loaded and gas-filled magazine ready for use you’ll have to sit down and reload the empty one. That’ll be another five minutes of not shooting which ain’t bad if you’re plinking at targets indoors or in the garden but absolutely useless if you’re in a skirmish.

Better then to fire it in short bursts. Ammunition lasts longer that way!  

The video ends with short controlled bursts of fire, as you can see it re-cocks itself perfectly each time.

There’s just enough Gas in the Mag to empty it in one burst. Other,( C02 in particular) guns I’ve used won’t empty a Mag without stopping two or three times to let it settle but this will do so happily.

Strip Down procedure is just like the real steel and the PFC replicas.

Remove the Magazine,

Bolt forwards

Pull out thumb wheel below the Receiver and Twist half a turn

Grasp and Hold the Pistol Grip and while Squeezing the Trigger,

Grasp the Mag Well with your other hand and twist the Upper Receiver Clockwise

Twist until the Rear sights just touch the Lower Receiver’s Side Plate

Pull the Upper Receiver and Barrel assembly forwards and away

Bolt and Recoil Spring Tube will pull back through the Upper Receiver.

Cleaning is very easy and straightforward. Wipe everything down with some Silicone Oil and a soft cloth.

Clean the barrel as usual with some paper towelling or a small piece of rag and the cleaning rod provided.

My overall impressions are pretty favourable. Marushin have managed to build a realistic enough MP40 which is  why I bought it.

Cocking it by pulling the bolt back sounds “right” with satisfying “Clicks”
I can load it up and plink away at my leisure getting a satisfyingly loud enough Machine Gun sound in return, without having to spend the next few hours cleaning,
It makes a great Wall Hanger next to my other WW2 gear

Two things let it down for me,

The Bolt. It doesn’t “sit” right when it’s Cocked.

I don’t like the loud Hiss of escaping gas either once the last BBs gone. If only they introduced a Stop but I guess that most GBBs are like this really.

If I were a skirmisher, I’d HAVE top spend about £200 + Post on 6 spare magazines otherwise I’d not stand a chance of surviving a Battle.

I don’t have a Chronometer so have no idea of muzzle velocity. To be honest, I don’t need that for my requirements.

It shreds paper and card targets with ease though at relatively short range. This is a Close Quarter weapon after all, it’s not a Sniper Rifle!
Great for House to House or Trench clearing which is exactly why Sub Machine Guns were first introduced.

So which do I prefer? Well to be honest while the Airsoft version has the HUGE advantage of being loaded with disposable BBs and charged with a squirt of gas and that's it, it's ready to shoot... I do prefer that extra realism offered by the PFC model. Everything looks right with the modelgun, and despite the laborious preparation and loading that each cartridge requires , followed by the even more laborious cleaning of cartridges and gun alike, the PFC makes a far better noise, there's smoke that even smells great, and all those cartridges get ejected just like a real MP40...

Now if Marushin sorted out that Bolt, slowed the rate of fire down to about 550-650 rpm, AND had shell eject, they'd have a serious contender...    

Cerwyn[/b]

Excellent Detailed review their Cerwyn ...Id considered this GBB as I have the Earlier Marushin /Asahi MP 40 and I just like MP40s.

Yep that gas Hiss is a pain in the butt upon empty mag ...plus it would have made more sense the have the bbs visable in the mag from the backside ( users perspective) rather than out in front where your opponent can see !!

I`ll have to see if I get a spare moment and get an Asahi MP40 review done .

Nice work on the part of your good lady too ( God she`s a diamond )

DOC

A great review, Cerwyn! Thank you very much. Well I think it is time to get me a MP40 for my collection finally ...

You've done it yet again!,another great review ,i must admit the mp40 GBB never really appealed to me before but know.....i think i will get one (you keep making me spend money LOL)
Keep 'em coming mate

Kickback

kickback wrote:

You've done it yet again!,another great review ,i must admit the mp40 GBB never really appealed to me before but know.....i think i will get one (you keep making me spend money LOL)
Keep 'em coming mate

Kickback

Thanks Kickback , I must admit it is quite a good gun to shoot, it's loud enough to be fun when the butt's in your shoulder and you're aiming at something but I do miss the shells ejecting, the smoke and smell of pfc.
The recoil's allright, nothing like an MGC68 MP40 though, but I do not like the bolt's action and that HISSSSSSSSSS as the last gas escapes out of the mag.

Attempting long bursts of fire will result in that "Cool down" effect which plagues most gas operated guns but short bursts of 3-4 rds at a time are fine. Mind you, that's the way to fire a real gun innit

If you do get one of these, have a look at the "Vintage" version, it's been aged by buffing away some paint off the metal parts and the abs has been dulled too. The photos I've seen make it look really good I think.

Great review mate, as you know i have one of these although ihave not fired it much. Its fun to shoot great for ripping up paper in the garden and makes a good noise as well, the only thing is the 8mm BB's, i really dont know why marushin do these, it sounds great having a large BB but they are not easy to get hold of from airshoft shops cost a lot and travel a lot slower through the air than 6mm and with 6mm you would get more in the mag.
I prefer the plastic on the PFC model than on this GBB, the PFC seems quality sturdy (to a point) plastic but the GBB looks cheap and not strong.
Again cerwyn great review. I have a WE M4 GBB coming soon its all metal and is a chinese copy of the WA M4 which has had rave reviews and appraetly the WE is possibly better, well its full metal for a start.

I think I bought my last lot of 8mm BBs off ZeroOne Airsoft. They aren't cheap as you say and they do seem to travel through the air a bit slower than 6mm ones.
I suppose one advantage of the 8mm dia is the muzzle's nearer in diameter to a real one
I like the fact that a mag only holds 32, like the real thing BUT spare mags are horrifically expensive to buy.
Ideally I'd like 6 mags but they'd cost more than the gun

Can we look forward to one of your great reviews when your M4 arrives then Claymore

I've just bought one of these, 3Rd or 4th hand, with THREE mags, for £200 all in. It had a mag catch issue, which I've just fixed. It works a treat and thanks to the inefficient Marushin gas system (it is compared to other makes!), it vents a long stream of gas vapour out the barrel and receiver. I'm quite impressed with it, though let down by the ABS and consequent poor weight. If I still had my all steel SRC MP40 I would've considered ripping out the electric internals and attempting to transplant the Marushin gas system into it. But not to be - I will enjoy this until the KWA version appears, hopefully next year 😀😊☺😉

7 yrs god! i think we bought ours at the same time. Dont use mine much mainly cos of the bloody 8mm BB. mags can still be found for these but can be £70, fortunately i picked up a couple on offer so only paid about £30. Just wish it was a 6mm.

I got a big bag of 8mm bb's with mine as well, though they are available on EBay from HK for about 15 quid a pack.

Cerwyn, the KWA should hopefully be available towards the latter part of 2016, if the release follows a similar pattern to their Skorpion. Official production announcement to 'on the shelf' is usually around 10 months or so. We'll see eh!!

Cerwyn wrote:

Missing Video from Review now back on 

Oh dear, I couldn't get it to work!??!

I am having good results running this gun on WE Nuprol 3 - extreme power gas, albeit in a fairly cold(ish) environment on a narrowboat. When the stove is lit, I go down to Abbey Predator Ultra. All dry firing of course ☺

Not much different to my WE guns tbh..

Have got this gun really fine tuned now, thanks to fitting O rings around the fill nozzle on the magazines. Don't think Marushin fitted them as standard??, and before it would be very difficult to fill the mags without wasting/venting a lot of gas whilst attempting to fill them. The gun prior to this wasn't firing properly, because the mags weren't up to full pressure. Also, it's best to use a gas can with a METAL fill valve and NOT plastic. This further provides a better air seal. I have noted now the bolt blows back further (using Nuprol 2) and emulates better real steel ROF. I might not bother buying the KWA version now (when it finally appears), but keep this as my Airsoft primary and buy the GSG MP40 9MM blank firer, which is to be officially released next month. That gun though has a very short bolt travel, being only semi auto.

Good to know on the O rings will have to give that a go

claymore wrote:

Good to know on the O rings will have to give that a go

Hi mate - the size o ring required has a 1.5mm internal diameter. Available on EBay for £2 a pack and believe me it transforms the gun imo! A little tricky to get the ring over the fill nozzle base, but once done it's worth it.

Cheers will pick some up now, picked up 2 brand new mags off the zeroone forum recently for £20 each which i thought was beyond a good price, so now have six mags. Just wish it was a 6mm rather than 8, i have not fired it in yrs so looking forward to trying these seals.

claymore wrote:

Cheers will pick some up now, picked up 2 brand new mags off the zeroone forum recently for £20 each which i thought was beyond a good price, so now have six mags. Just wish it was a 6mm rather than 8, i have not fired it in yrs so looking forward to trying these seals.

Ahh, saw those mags for sale - so it was you that pipped me to the post!! To be fair, though the 8mm bb's are rarer, they are widely available from Hong Kong (and I believe Zero One stock them in the UK too) and they are nearer the original calibre than 6mm, though I mainly just fire mine (like all my GBB machine guns) without bb's.I have about 1500 rounds of 8mm bb's given to me with the gun. Let me know how you get on with those O rings anyway (and use a metal fill valved can, it really does help!).

What is the out diameter of the O ring please.

claymore wrote:

What is the out diameter of the O ring please.

The thickness of the rubber is 1mm, so O/D in total is 2.5mm. Here's the place where I got mine:
 
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321760262574

They need to be firmly pushed over the base of the fill nozzle, otherwise they work loose and pop out. I used two thin, wooden kebab skewers to get mine in - it's really fiddly though..

Also, I'm assuming I was correct in my assertion that Marushin didn't fit any sealing rings from the factory as standard and that you too, have had venting issues when attempting to fill?? How do your two new mags fill??

Stuart.

Cheers for that. they fill pretty damn good to be honest, i have a good few GBB guns and some mags fill great others are crap and as you say you lose more than you put in, but the Mp40 ones seem fine. i will still give the O rings a go i will try on one mag first and see if they make any difference to mine.

claymore wrote:

Cheers for that. they fill pretty damn good to be honest, i have a good few GBB guns and some mags fill great others are crap and as you say you lose more than you put in, but the Mp40 ones seem fine. i will still give the O rings a go i will try on one mag first and see if they make any difference to mine.

It could be just mine, but for a couple of quid it's worth a try. Maybe Marushin did fit O rings, but mine certainly never had them and after about a second of filling gas and liquid would spray everywhere. Let me know how you get on anyway.

Oh and if you wanna sell me one of those six mags you've got let me know, ha, ha 😊