Introduction
Tokyo Marui is, in itself, the biggest name in the world of Airsoft. Their innovation in their breed of airsoft guns called Automatic Electric Guns (AEGs) have turned a revolution of new styles of play. Opening up a world of Hi-caps and large capacity batteries, airsoft have almost turned into the brother sport of paintball. Tokyo Marui has not let this new technology envelop the company, but continues to make quality Gas Blow Back guns (the pre-cursor to the Automatic Electric Pistols (AEPs) market). This review is on the semi-new Tokyo Marui Desert Eagle Hardkick edition. Since the release of this weapon, a newer "Chrome" edition Desert Eagle has been released, but does not offer any operational (ed: replace "technical" or "mechanical") improvements. Before the Hardkick edition, Marui released a shoddy Desert Eagle way back when. From what I've heard, it suffered from a lack of power, reliability, and overall realism.
First Impression
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The first time I played with this gun was a few days after ASH BASH 2004 when Blitzkrieg6 bought it from Brandon from HawaiiAirsoft.net. When he brought it over and we all began firing guns, I immediately wanted to test his out first. Being used to all plastic slides and some Heavy Weight weapons, I was extremely supprised when I pulled the trigger. Being totally unprepared for its blowback, the gun almost leaped from my hand (and this was still on 134a!). I gripped the gun with both hands and let loose another round. "Hmm... So this is what it must be like to have a metal slide" I thought. A metal slide, or possibly this gun was on my "to-buy" list immediatly after. |
A little after Christmas 2004, I noticed Blitzkrieg's ad on the APOH.tk Forums; he was selling his Desert Eagle. Another thing I was surprised about was it was within my $100 price limit (set by my dad). As soon as I had the cash I knew I had to get it. With 2 mags and a can of upopened Abbey Predator gas for $95, it was an offer I couldn't refuse. When I picked it up I noticed it was extremely heavy (this was a couple months since I've last seen it). I almost thought it was completely made out of metal due to its incredible weight (over 3 lbs!). |
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Function
I've read a review on this gun on NL Airsoft I think. They said that the DE HK shoots about 285 on 134a and 330 on green gas (propane). I on the other hand, I have a little different results. According to Redwolf Airsoft's article on the "Poor man's chronograph", It shot about 350 min FPS (on Abbey Predator gas) which is enough power to punch through both sides of a can.
Here's some info that may be useful to people thinking of owning this gun for a long period of time:
Since this is a 3rd hand gun (I'm at least the 3rd owner of this gun) I can say a few things about the reliability and durability of it. Although I have no knowledge of what gasses the gun has used in the past, after about 500 rounds with green gas thorugh it, I think I can safely say that you can use green gas for quite a long time without the slide breaking. Another thing to be wary about: I'm not sure what gas or other things the gun was using before I obtained it, but the slide catch on the gun was very worn down. Blitzkrieg6 attempted to use epoxy to fix it, but to no avail. The epoxy flew off someplace after the first empty shot. I then decided I want to hold my slide open sometimes and so I took my rotary tool to it and sanded down a flat surface. I can now say that it will always hold 100% of the time, but alas, it doesn't catch when the last shot is fired. I'm still not sure why it doesn't.
The slide cycles really fast to me. This being my first real "heayweight" gun, I haven't really noticed a difference in slide cycling time.
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The magazine capacity on this gun should be more than adequate for skirmishing purposes. Mine came with two mags, when I bought it. I haven't had any time to skirmish with it yet, but I'm sure that they'll both serve me well. |
| I've forgotten what it was like when my can of gas was full, but I'm pretty sure that a full charge of gas (using the APOH.tk Mag Seals and Abbey Ultra) lasted me roughly 3 mags worth. That's quite a large efficency ratio for such a strong blowback. |  |
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Hop-up was one of the things that was semi-dead when I got this gun. The hopup would only last about one shot, then keel over, becoming pretty useless. I'd have to reset it to get it they way I'd like it. The worst part about it, was that I've heard the same problems with other TM DE HK users. Luckily, I've developed a way to fix it (but it'll give your gun a little more kick to your hopup). I'll post an article later. Anyway, as you can see, hopup is accessible though a small cover right over the BB chamber in the barrel. |
| While this isn't a KJW gun, I did miss the no-leak seals found on KJ guns, so I stuck on an APOH.tk seal and it doesn't leak anymore. The mags have those holes that would let you know how many bullets you had left in your mag if it were real. The only other gun I have that has that detail is my KSC G26. |  |
This is something new in the APOH.tk reviews, but I actually did an accuracy test on this gun.
General Test Specs:
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At about 85' and no bench using a 3lb gun, it's not very easy to shoot, at least for someone who shoots airsoft guns instead of real ones. So I guess it's posible to hit a piece of paper at that range, but grouping is dependent on how adept the shooter is. As you can see in the 5:04 hits, there is a relatively tight grouping, but it was shooting high. Also the 4:48 hits were also relatively tight, but also going off the paper.
Appearance and Build
| Trades, Rock solid construction... Not much you could ask for. While the gun isn't made out of metal, I'll tell you that it's got the hardest kick for any gun airsoft gun I know of. Full Trademarks, except the Made in Japan trademark and the ASGK mark. |
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"Yay!" Was the first thing I said after I found out it had a "standard" rail for mounting junk like scopes. When I borrowed EvaAngelofDeath's MP5 RAS scope, I discoved that Tokyo Marui really does not like people using things that aren't bought from them. Marui sells their own special scope rings for the DE HK, but with slight modifications I was able to get the RAS scope on fairly easily. I had to add a paper towel for spacing (so the scope doesn't wobble) and because the rail notch depth is too shallow for a standard screw, I had to tighten the top screw of the scope mount pretty tightly. Also, because the kick on the gun is on the extreme side, I had to brace the scope in the scope mount notch by using a large paper clip (as see in the picture). After those minor things, the scope worked quite accurately (but not as accurate as I had hoped: see Accuracy results). |
For $95, can you really ask for more? No... Not really. The gun retails for about $130, and even so, if you don't mind (or really want) a gun with incredible kick (for an airsoft gun), it's the only way to go. With its long barrel, and large magazine capacity, this could be a perfect companion to those who frequent PowerEdge's CQB area, but not so much on a large field like Airsoft Hawaii. Even so, it's still possible to hit a man size targed at about 100'. |
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