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(Automatic Electric Gun)DolphiN#1

Thefirst time that I met this AEG was on the Airsoft Adventures range in their shop in Reading. I had heard a lot about this particular AEG from members of the DoG team as well as from Maccar26. Intrigued by there information, I decided to test it out. At that time I was going to get an M4

The Best damned gun I have ever used. This should be your first choice. There are only 18 left!

The HK 51 carbine limited edition was produced during the summer of 1998. Only 2000 examples were ever produced. This makes it an automatic collectors piece. However it is also a Stonkingly good gun!

At first I hated the loom of it. "UrrgHH!" It looked vaguely like a G3 or MP series, but ..... the shortened greenish fore grip with holes in it (like an L85-a1-SA80) "erk!" I thought. But....

.... On picking it up the first thing that you notice is the lovely finish on it. It has been built to exceedingly high standards and looks really good. None of your shiny plastic is apparent. The second thing that you notice is how comfortable it feels. It nestles against your shoulder very nicely with no play or "wiggle" and feels nice and sturdy.

The stock gun comes with a 500 round capacity magazine as standard which is a brilliant deal, The gun itself has a tight bore barrel and EG1000 top of the range motor fitted. All of these extras make themselves prominent when you fire the weapon. Along with the alright sights It really is a case of point, pull, hit. The BB's always seem to land EXACTLY where you pointed them! The Rate of fire was also superb. Allied with the hefty large battery installed in the butt, The gun spits out a hail of BB's at high speed.

The size of the gun is not overly small but it feels as good as a bullpup rifle, being built on a MC51 style body it shares a slightly smaller body (barrel housing). Even though it is actually quite long the extra length really isn't apparent, due to the fact that most of the weight is towards the centre/rear of the weapon. So you almost get the feel of a short bodied or bullpup rifle, BUT you don't get a weapon that you feel would perform exceedingly well at CQB, house clearance.

As the '51 is part of the G3 family, not as I originally thought the MP5 family (take an MP5, attach a mag chambered for a 5.56 cartridge, looks similar doesn't it?) It shares the lovely fire selector /hand grip/trigger mechanism housing. This is a little less handy then the MP5s' BUT it doesn't get in the way like the MP5s' can. Your thumb is always where you want it.

On the range the power of the '51 could not be faulted. On semi automatic the single shots just seemed to go just where I wanted them, On full auto the 500 round magazine proved its worth, spewing out BB's furiously, the spring mechanism in the magazine ran very nicely too. The gun was able to perforate a card target at the end of the 10 metre range quite easily. You could see an almost continuous stream of BB's exiting the barrel. sweet!

Some people think the '51 is too damned sweet! and have fitted lower voltage batteries to slow down the rate of fire!!

Due to the plastic construction the gun is nice and light. Not as light as an MP5 but much lighter then a comparative M16. AK47ish in retrospect. When you are lugging a gun around with you during a full days skirmish, little points like this do count.

Crunch time... I personally found the 51 the better gun in comparison to the M4. Both guns are equipped with the same motors and are in the same class. The M4 is very nicely detailed and drips metal, making it good and hefty. It looks and feels brilliant, much more realistic then the 51, Truly a new version of a classic design. The 51 however was miles more comfortable. ergonomically superb, its sheer "shootability" made it a winner in my eyes in comparison to the M4. The fact that it takes a BIG battery from the off, and its precision barrel were really just icing on a already delicious sponge cake! It has to be remembered that the M4 is probably a fair bit more sturdier then the predominantly plastic '51 due to its metal construction. The '51 has not been designed for compatibility with the Marui tracer unit.

If you are looking for a comfortable well made shootable weapon, and you don't mind the relative unknowness of the '51 and its looks then get the '51. Of course whether you can actually find one on sale is another matter! If not the Lexus to the Jaguarness of the '51, would be the M4. Watch out though please remember you will probably be paying a hefty premium for the specialness of the '51

People wait with baited breath at this point! Well the novelty value of my new toy has worn off, Do I still like it or do I curse my purchase like a proverbial carrot?

The shootability of the HK51 cannot be denied, It is great fun! The Eg1000 motor and big battery combine together to create a massive Rate of fire. The 51 will sure keep peoples heads down. More BB's come out the end of this thing then any other AEG. The sheer raw fire power is truly amazing

People will always go "woo!" when they see it, AS it is an imposing piece. Its G3 hi-cap mags cannot be underestimated. you get one as standard so that saves you the hassle of getting one in the first place and 500 rounds is a fair lump of BB's. Its metal construction in places makes it a sturdy design and it will happily be dropped all over the place.

In a comparative range test the 51 outpaced a FAMAS and a SG/1 only falling a few feet short of the range of a Steyr AUG. Its RoF was however top of its league

With a big battery it can easily last an entire days skirmish, in the support weapon role quite happily and still go on!

However it does have its negative points. The Rate of fire can run a magazine (500 rounds!!) dry in a startlingly short space of time! especially if you are using it in the support fire role. I now carry two magazines as standard, no question.

It is also a LONG gun. It is a carbine compared to the SG/1 but only by about an inch! duh! So you are super unmanourvreble when using this in a CQB environment, FIBUA is okay, but I guess that it would perform best in a woodland environment. Its not the most easy of weapons to wangle about in a vehicle either, and get a sling for it too.

Many people have commented on the fact that it is not as accurate or longer ranged then they expected it to be. To answer those points, It is more accurate, but the range is an issue. I haven't given the 51 a full service and clean so that may sort it out. but its supposed to have an accurised barrel. So why has the range dropped off? However it does outclass a raft of other AEGs out of the box.

Overall I give the 51 a thumbs up. It truly is one of the best AEGs I have seen and surely the best long gun. The added fact that it is a limited edition weapon and will be in solid demand for quite a long time is just icing on the cake

Its not cute, its built like a brick, It has a stupendous rate of fire, it comes with a hi-cap mag, its a limited edition

Buy this if you want the best long gun style main battle rifle AEG by Tokyo Marui.

Update: April 1999.

DolphiN#K is a fellow G3/series user, with his SG/1. #K uses big batteries with high voltages. Some of his batteries are rated at around +10 volts!. During the next skirmish I hope to try some of these out and see how the '51 compares to #Ks' SG/1. From the sounds of it there will be an increase in the Rate of Fire to stupendous levels. A good thing!

However, During normal use of the '51 I have found that its rate of fire can be a problem!! This is because it emptys Its magazines VERY quickly. Luckily #K was able to get me another mag. During normal skirmishes I hope to nick most of his magazines while he uses his new fangled (but lovely) M4/M203 combo.

The 8.4 volt, 1700 mah battery in the butt has behaved admirably. And I have yet to run out of juice during a days skirmish. This compares favourably to other AEGS, like the AUG, which has a mini battery.

Update: September 2003

Yep, This AEG has been around for over 4 years, and has seen incredibly heavy use over the interveneing period. Overall it has fired probably over a million rounds! With such heavy use, something is bound to pop, or stop working, and to be fair, the gears have had to be changed once a year, As they invariably pop. Having said that, Shes still working! with the original spring! Yeah, For some reason, the HK51 has not been upgraded at all! 

Having said that the Muzzle velocity is now much decreased from the old days, as frankly the spring is virtually completely worn out. During a recent service interval it was chrono'd at 140 fps! HALF what it should be! DolphiN Tech decided to shore things up a little by stuffing some washers in the spring compression chamer, and the HK51 is back up to 280fps.. Just!