Ok, as an ammendment to my previous review i said i was going to have a tinker and try again before i sent it back. Im glad i did.

After another inspection of the hop rubber it appears there was a tiny flaw, this was quickly trimmed off. With the supplied magazine the gun now appears to be firing absolutely fine. However the sten does not like the King Arms mid-caps, that much is clear. If you load up a full 110 magazine (KA) you'l find that for the first half of the magazine it double feeds, spits rounds out and generally makes a mess. However the latter half of the magazine feeds better. I believe this is due to the extra pressure caused, when it fires (on the first half of the magazine) the spring is too compressed meaning it will feed two rounds in at a time etc. This of course is no fault of the sten . . .

Also it would appear that this gun is fussy about what it eats. Feed it Xtreme .30's at it will munch away happily. Stick other brand ammo in and it will spit it back out again.

So in conclusion; Stock up on the proper sten lo-caps, a decent lipo battery and plenty of Xtreme .30s and both you and your sten will be happy bunnies
Posted on 17/09/2009 12:21 PM

Firstly this review relates to the first edition MK2 with the fixed hop and normal size stock tube

I have been after an airsoft sten for a long long time. As a WWII enthusiast i now have the perfect gun to put with my para kit as, lets face it, every airsoft allied player uses a thompson due to lack of choice. So, when the new sten came out i had to have it, simple as that.

The first 'issue' i had was with the delivery timescale. Despite paying for a 24 hour courier service the package took three working days to reach my house. Its not really a problem per-se but you know what it is like, when you are expecting your new toy you want it to turn up on the TBA date. However according to the website AW dispatched it inside the proper timescale so its not really their fault, its the couriers. Still, i paid for a 24 hour service you know . . .

Ok, when i did actually get the gun first impressions were very good, basic, heavy, cold, no frills. Exactly what a sten should be. During the war a sten could be knocked up in five hours so you expect simplicity. It really looks and feels the part. The end cap can be quite stiff to get off at first but it soon loosens up. The first stumbling block with this gun is the battery. Now, i know when buying Chinese guns you should pretty much throw away the battery supplied as they are notoriously bad. The supplied sten battery is much, much worse. It will only fire on every third or fourth pull of the trigger. If i were AW i would remove these batteries from the boxes to avoid customer disappointment, they really are that bad (well, mine was). If you are buying a gun that takes a normal size battery this is not a problem as you will no doubt have plenty of batteries lying around to use, however remember the sten takes a small lipo so you probably wont have one lying around to use. This means you need to order another battery before you can even start to use it.

Onto firing the gun. When i tested it at home it seemed to work fine. However, when i took it to its first skirmish it really fell on its ass. For some reason it just spat the rounds onto the floor when firing. Maybe the ammo i thought so i tried BAW .20s, Xtreme .20's and .25's. I also tried another airsoft retailers own brand ammo with the same effect. It just was not playing ball. My first thoughts were the hop. Its a fixed unit so it probably needs to bed-in. Its also going to need heavier ammo anyway so i gave AW a call.

AW were very helpful as always and told me to check the hop rubber as this would not void the warranty (which was my fear). They also agreed it would work best on .30's so i ordered a bag there and then. The chap also said as a goodwill guesture he would keep an eye out for my order and stick a new hop rubber in for me free of charge. However when my ammo/battery turned up there was no hop rubber : (

I stripped and checked the hop-unit and rubber and it all appears to be fine. The rubber is in no way malformed so i took it along to another game yesterday. It worked better. It fill fire rounds nicely on semi with a tap of the trigger. However i was still having issues with it spitting rounds on the floor. I gave it another test later on that day and it seems to have improved again slightly. I'll try a new rubber (which i have had to buy) in it later and see how we get on . . . Have i got a lemon ? I dont really think so but we'll see.

I dont mean this to be a damning review of the sten because that certainly is not the case, when it does fire the range is very impressive. It will also accept KA midcaps, they just need a little extra poke to get them to lock in. Due to the issues i have had with this gun i just cant justify giving it a better rating as of yet. You dont really expect these kind of issues from a £200+ gun, Chinese or not.

I'll try it with a new rubber later and if needs be write a new review
Posted on 14/09/2009 9:42 AM

No adjustable hop no fire selector no safety lump of metal welded by a blind kitten!

Love it!
Apart from the lipo problem, this was a dream to use in the field.
Feels comfy to hold and fire. Very solid mag housing. Slight problem getting kings arms mags to fit.

Used to storm German held town, works like a dream.
A must for ww2 fans.
Posted on 05/08/2009 10:32 PM

First off an apology - I cannot be objective about this as I have wanted one of these for more years than I care to remember, right back to the days of LS model kits! So I come at this with the air of someone whose dream has been fulfilled.

I shall try & post pics when I can, honest!

Ok, the AGM Sten is essentially a 'product improved' version of the Viva Mk2. There is no pretence at blueing parts of the gun, it is all painted a uniform matte black. The gun comes well packed in a stout cardboard box lined with high density grey foam. Inside you'll find the gun, LiPo battery, lo-cap MP40 magazine, cleaning rod instructions and a basic LiPo charger.

The instructions are a single A4 sheet of paper, although frankly nothing else is required, if this was any simpler it would be a stick!

The battery is pants, no other word for it. I have a fairly fancy LiPo balancing charger, but even so I get a series of fire / no-fires with the supplied power source. Testing the gun with a NiMh battery - no such problem. Word is that AGM are already looking at oversizing the stock tube to allow a stick battery in there - AW have already asked that they over-produce so that the alternative stock will be available to current buyers who want it.

Operation is as simple as the real thing: Unscrew the allen bolt at the rear of the receiver and remove the stock & the end cap - both are stiff on my gun. Connect & insert the battery pack. Replace the end cap & bolt the stock back in place. I don't overtighten this as I don't want to wear or damage the thread, but in truth it doesn't need to be more than hand-tight to keep things together. That's it - your gun is now live!

Be careful - there is no safety on this gun, it's all "this is mah safety..." BHD stylee.

Load the magazine then pause - the mag well is in the wrong place! Just like the original, the entire magwell assembly can be rotated through 90 degrees to cover the feed & ejection port. You will have to pull the catch on the leading edge of the mag well up and rotate the port into position. Once there it should lock into place, although you may find yourself doing some tactical jiggling...

Don't bother adjusting the hop up - you can't - it's a fixed unit. Nothing wrong with that as we will see, although I hear that AGM are developing one - bad move and a waste of time!

Insert the magazine (use 0.25 BBs), aim and fire. Assuming that the battery behaves what will follow is the most ridiculous grin you can imagine. The Sten is full-auto only, so easy on the trigger. The LiPo gives a decent & useable rate of fire. Velocity (with 0.2s) is circa 320 fps and range is stunning! How stunning? I have shot to point of aim at 60m with 0.3g BBs! Now that is serious shit, and one of the reasons I say to AGM - leave the hop up alone!

Should it fail to fire - release the trigger & try again. Mine always starts shooting again, and we will have new batteries in very shortly.

Construction

Simple & solid, with a couple of caveats. Mostly nondescript alloys, there are only about 4 major components. The front end is located by 2 screws - one retains the perforated outer barrel /fore grip - this screw can and should be longer. The second holds the 'breech' in place and removing this allows you to remove the outer barrel & hop unit - though why is a mystery unless you intend to remove the gearbox!

Receiver is just a tube with a fake bolt & cocking handle.

Stock looks almost like the real thing and seems perfectly solid.

Gearbox - Perfection! It is, as expected a modified version of the AGM M14 box. What's missing is everything that is not absolutely necessary for operation. So there is no fire selector, no auto-cut off gear, the most basic & crude switch and just enough wiring to connect battery to trigger to motor. Since the AGM box is known to be solid, but a little weak in the ancilliaries, this bodes well for reliability and longevity. Woth noting is that AGM use standard gears throughout their M14 box, and not the undersized spur gear found in the Marui & clones.

Conclusion:

I have lusted after one of these for as long as I can remember and the AGM is everything I could want it to be. Solid, simple, surprisingly accurate and very easy to use. I have a couple of criticisms: The outer barrel, where the Sten sling would attach needs to be stronger. It is a push fit held in place by what looks like a very short M3 screw. I have already replaced the screw with a much longer alternative, but even so I would hesitate to hang the gun off it. It would be nice if it also screwed on, but that would add further to the cost.
The supplied battery isn't great although mine works acceptably. I will be replacing this as soon as I can get a better unit.

And that really is about it. I love it and given the nature of the original I can forgive an awful lot of minor failings. In truth, those failings really aren't there, so if you have been waiting for a truly useable airsoft Sten - buy one rigt now!!
Posted on 31/07/2009 4:38 AM