A relatively new departure for APS (Accuracy - Pneumatics - Shooting - for those that didn't know what it stood for) from their normal range is their M4 EBB series of guns , we are looking at their model ASR 108 in this review, but checking the website recently shows this model to have been discontinued.

My first look at this rifle set me thinking 'Its just another clone thats going to let me down....', how wrong was I. The first thing I noticed about the rifle was the RAS set , it looks to be a copy of the PWS mk-110 unit only with APS trades. The finish is not as nice as the Madbull units I have seen in the past but its VERY close! With the only let down being a small trade-mark stating "Rifle 6.oomm" on one side. Next is that Rebar flash hider and being made of steel in CW threading but it will need looking after as it will rust! (so keep it clean and DRY). While we are at the front end of the AEG it's also sporting a aluminum finished outer barrel, but this does look painted.


The body of the AEG is surprising as it sports the APS trade-marks but does instead of having the 6mm trade markings it holds the 5.56mmx45 instead. Strange considering the markings on the RAS! It also appears to be etched with a unique serial number as well, with this units being 16446 but I have been unable to verify this. Some good points with the body, you get as standard are nice HK416 style pistol grips, a nice Knights type trigger guard and a rear sling plate.

Now these flip-up sights, when I encountered them I was not impressed, but after using them they've grown on me, being quick detach and very simple to open and close, I would use them on any of my rifles now.

Next, the stock, not a great deal to say about this other than it's your typical M4 style stock with a rubber butt pad. On removing the screw you can remove the butt pad to install your lipo in the stock tube. The stock does have a small recess which can be used for the storage of spare torch/laser batteries or whatever else takes your fancy mid game, nice touch that!

Moving on to the gearbox, now APS has not just gone out and cloned another V2 gearbox, they're some nice little touches incorporated into it. First off you'll notice there is a lot of colour in this gearbox.



The shell its self is very different from standard V2 gearboxs as its a blowback unit, and unlike some EBB gearboxes you have to open up the gearbox to remove it fully. How long this blow back bar lasts is anyone guess as it appears to be a cast unit.


All the parts in the gearbox look like they can be replaced with any aftermarket v2 parts with the exception of the anti-reverse latch. The AR latch pin is a part of the gearbox and the AR latch its self fits on to the pin, again how long this will last before being worn away from the movement?

Anyone that has worked on the V2 type gearbox will know about the AR latch spring and the AR's habit of jumping out as you close the mech box up, but APS has done something about this, their AR latch has a small coil spring inside the latch its self and once fitted to the gearbox its pretty solid.

As standard the sector gear comes with a sector delay chip and an odd looking tappet plate that is using a very large coil spring over the standard smaller tappet plate spring, but even if this breaks you can use all aftermarket tappet plates and springs. The selector plate is also a standard unit but with no metal contact plates so any AF plate will fit.

The wiring appears to be 'silver coated' wire as found on the likes of the much vaunted 'Systema' systems wiring kits, it uses a mini 'Tamiya' connector and also has a mini fuse fitted but it does leave little room in the stock tube for a lipo...

The gearbox uses 7mm nylon bushings and the first thing I noticed is that these had worn to the point that the gear axles had movement in them! so these must be replaced. The gears themselves looked ok, with APS markings but on the AEG I had here, the spur gear was bent... the bevel and sector gear showed no sign of damage or wear so I can only guess that the spur was like this at the factory.

The Nozzle is a nice metal unit with an airseal O-ring fitted giving a great seal, the cylinder and cylinder head look ok and also offer a great airseal and don't
need to be replace if running the gun as standard. The spring guide is just a plain plastic unit (it would have been nice to find a bearing unit). The piston looks like a re-enforced unit and has the second tooth removed already, it showed no signs of wear as this AEG is used but only time will tell on this.

All in, this is a very nice gun for the price with only a couple of minor niggles but as usual only time will tell if any other faults pop up. I will let the photo's of this gun do the rest of the talking.

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