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ASG YHM 'Specter' MWS- Reviewed by Yosser.



'A choice for EVERY situation'

ASG have been around the replica firearms business in Europe for some time now, involved in the manufacture and marketing of Airsoft, CO2, Paintball, and toy guns, plus more besides, so these guys should know what they’re doing. And they’ve certainly shown their smarts on this new take on the M4/M16 style with the Yankee Hills Machine Corp Licence of the ‘Specter’ MWS, Modular Weapons System.

Now ASG have been extremely smart here in the acquisition of the YHM licence as this gives them access to a large swathe of the YHM output from the ‘Black Rifle Range’ and YHM themselves offer a great variety of Upper and Lower Receiver types to suit calibre and style. ASG have ‘followed’ loosely this concept and produced a modular design with great configuration options available in this ‘Specter’ range.

Each AEG section is available separately, in what is a change from the normal run of the mill packaging we’ve come to know and love from Airsoft manufacturers. Upper and Lower receivers each come in individual boxes (no polystyrene cuts outs etc) which are plastic wired into a plain ‘Black Box’ with low key pictures and a ticked description of the item contained in it, which I must say suits this adaptable, modular ethos. This low key approach saves on packaging and waste and is to be applauded by today’s eco-conscious consumers.


Now, if you’re expecting ‘everything in a box’ type situation – Don’t. You’ll of course need to purchase battery, magazines and chargers etc but being M4/M16 not exactly difficult and I’m sure some resellers can offer deals on ‘packages’ etc.

No sooner do you get your Upper and Lower receivers out of the boxes then your banging these together at the earliest opportunity you can. Now I was a little weary at first when I noticed the Plastic Hop unit in the Upper Receiver, but really I needn’t have been, as its not broken yet despite lots of people trying the ‘ASG Challenge’ at the end of the ‘Soft Gear, Airsoft Bob’ video that I produced – so its proving solid and resilient in ‘normal’ use. When changing Uppers just remember to close the Ejection Port cover and ensure the pins are fully out and apply slight downward pressure when sliding the Upper Receiver on to get it to lock into place at the stock end, then gently pop the pins back in. Nice touch on the body pins being held in place, which should prevent loss!

Lower Receiver Crane Stock
The LHS of each lower receiver proudly displays on the Magazine well the YHM logo, serial number, calibre 6mm and model number with this receiver type reported as YHM-15. As well as the usual Safe, Fire, Auto options on the fire selector, which has a good positive selection ‘click’ to it the receiver is also marked up with the YHM Florence MA USA stamp above the trigger. In stark contrast the RHS of the receiver is surprisingly Spartan with only small ASG logo and the 6mm BB calibre marked. The ‘working’ bolt catch covers the hop adjustment wheel when exposed in the Upper receiver when pressed.


The crane stock is standard fair and you can get a multitude of batteries in this multi-positional stock so you shouldn’t be stuck for battery options. Also fitted on the stock tube at the back of the receiver is a single point sling clip which saves you the extra expense of fitting one of these. The rubberised butt plate is firmly attached and removes in order to replace batteries. So far, unlike some AEG’s this hasn’t fallen off mid-game so plus points on that. The crane has some wobble on the stock itself not the stock tube so some may wish the replace this with a more tactical model which is really a minor gripe and didn’t bother me in the slightest. The receiver also sports retained body pins which should cut down on any instances of loss and the trouble of sourcing and replacing them.

ALL standard M4 magazines I tried fitted this receiver although Lonex Flash mags were a little tight and needed to be wobbled in and out but worked fine otherwise.

Upper Receiver
Each Upper Receiver contains the barrel and plastic hop assembly and is very easily joined to the crane or fixed stock option you have chosen. If you don’t believe how easily is done I encourage you the watch the video mentioned earlier. Upper Receivers are only marked on the LHS with a small YHM logo just below the iron flip up rear sight. The Forward Assist is none functioning on all upper receivers.

CQB Loud
This Upper Receiver contains lots more features such as the full upper RIS (numbered rails on the receiver section only), flip up front and rear sights, rail covers on the side and lower rails and a Loud CQB style Flash Hider that acts as a sound amplifier, it looks uber cool as well. In usual fashion the cocking handle releases the ejection port so you can get to the hop adjustment wheel. Hop adjustment is stiff but you will need to check adjustment each time you change receivers due to some wandering on the hop. This set up means also that inner barrel and hop unit changing should be a complete breeze to perform on any of the Upper Receivers.

Specter Black
Now this Upper Receiver is a great intermediate all rounder – if you can’t decide which upper to go for I do urge you to consider this one as it’s a great halfway house between full length and CQB lengths. It has the full M4 style foresight in that very distinctive triangle shape and you can even fit one of those rubber replica bayonets to the lugs available as well (for that last ditch bayonet charge when you run out of ammo). The rear sight is the same flip up arrangement on the CQB Loud barrel and again rail covers for the side and lower RIS rails. The top rail is numbered on the receiver section and the barrel section with a break in the rail at the Delta Ring section.

General
As stated, swapping upper sections is so easy a child could do it and surprisingly a great fit with little play in the upper and lower receivers. Straight out of the box the FPS was chrono’ing at about 372 but after down grading the spring this is now down to a more site friendly 348fps (350 is a normal site limit across most UK sites). HOWEVER a word of warning –this chrono result was achieved with the CQB barrel set, as soon as the longer Specter Black set was installed this shot up dramatically to about 366fps or so, an increase of very nearly 20fps, which was a total surprise to me. Now I accept that once this beds in the FPS will probably drop more but when down grading do it to the longest barrelled receiver you have and any shorter barrels should be well below the 350 limits then.


The quality of the parts on this AEG do shine through in what is a great concept, which isn’t surprising given the fact that ASG had this model produced by VFC, and a lot of seasoned airsofters will be familiar with their offerings and prices. So its surprising given the quality that the ‘Specter’ is well priced and of course can be built up into a formidable collection of varied AEG’s to suit playing styles.

Now, I’m running mine on a 7.4 lipo, but I have seen others using more standard crane stock batteries so it’s versatile enough to grow as your airsofting ‘career’ & gear does.

Pros:
Quality build & finish
Versatile with good choice of 10 Upper Receivers & 2 Lower Receivers
Real Steel Trade marks by YHM
Lipo or NiMH type batteries
Nice ‘extras’ on some Upper Receivers, such as rail covers, single point sling mount, flip up sights.

Cons:
Propriety receivers required
Beware FPS differences between barrel lengths
Slight wobble on crane stock
Trades may wear off

Yosser Says:If you search across the Interwebs for reviews of the ASG ‘Specter’ MWS you’ll find sparse information (well, apart from ALL the GREAT stuff on here that is), which on the whole is REALLY surprising for what has to be said is a great AEG. Maybe it’s missed out on the BIG Launch razzmatazz that some manufacturers give their product lines, which is a pity because so many airsofters would just LOVE this AEG if they knew of its existence! Quality is excellent and great to see a European manufacturer getting production to this standard although by outsourcing to VFC! Now I’ve never been a BIG fan of M4’s but if your going to own one of the greatest examples of a Modular Weapons platform well you can’t go far wrong by purchasing this model, its great in its price range and offers great flexibility for new comers and those not so new to airsoft.

I would rate this AEG as 8 stars out of 10 for price, quality and choice.

Check out the Specter Update for an idea on prices and Upper/Lower Receivers available.

More Great ASG posts are collected here.

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This review is copyright 2011 by Yosser Airsoft Odyssey © and may not be copied or reproduced without permission. Most Pictures are copyright of EllieTDog Studios ©. You may link to this page