Tokyo Marui FN Five-Seven GBB In- Depth Review!

[hattrick]

This thread makes me no longer want a 5-7.......

*goes back to the glock*

[tunabreath]

Ok, I take back everything I said about the hop up adjustment. I opened it up, applied some tape to the outer, and cleaned out the hop up adjustment. There was just a little crap stuck in the grease. It feels good and smooth now, and the thick markings on the wheel are easier to see when not clogged up with grease, so I can tell what it's set to.

Quick takedown is MUCH less finicky than both the TM and KSC Glocks (simpler than TM as far as lining up the slide, simpler than KSC as you don't encounter that hammer issue). There was some video review where the guy needed a tool to flip the takedown lever. He was doing it wrong :P You just have to press the barrel back since the takedown lever actually holds onto the prong on the hop up chamber. It's in the manual.

The safety is quite simply the greatest thing ever once you are accustomed to how to flick it (it's truly a gross movement - when you first start, you try too hard and it's not very easy until you realize you don't have to - just move your finger down to the trigger and it follows).

hattrick, go with the 5-7
20% superior to the Glock, mostly because of features found on the real 5-7 vs the Glock. They have comparable functionality.

(and considering the very high standard of the TM G17...)


*edit, something else that I love. Man, FNH really went all out with ergo-features on this thing, eh?
The back end of the slide has your grooves per normal for grip, but it also has two oval nubs that your can grasp, giving a very similar feeling to an MP7 or TMP style charging handle. It's much better for use when wet/sweaty, poor gripping gloves, etc.

*edit again, for all the lefties out there, I can confirm 100% that the mag catch is fully reversible. It's quite strange to me, actually being able to use my thumb to release the mag... I'm so used to shifting my grip and doing it with my trigger finger.

*quick rough 'n' dirty accuracy test, prone, supported (bipod on the rail ) on a TM target, from 19 feet.
All hits were inside the 8 ring. 3 hit the 10, 3 hit the 9, 2 hit the 8. Grouping is entirely to the left of center, so about 4cm around. This is about on par with AEGs firing full auto, also prone and supported (semi auto is closer to 3cm, the two bolties I have access to are hitting 2.5cm). Zero fliers. Keep in mind the pistol irons are FAR inferior to the magnifying optics used on the other guns when lining up the shot.
One thing that really surprised me was the amount of recoil when supported. When firing normally from your hands, you absorb a lot of it naturally, but on the rigidly supported bipod, the thing would actually leap up from the ground with every shot despite the added weight.

[Skladfin]

Hey thanks Tuna, I added you're impression in the original review as well.

The thing kicks hard doesnt it!? Haha it's a great feeling when you double tap it.

[tunabreath]

Yeah, it kicks harder on duster than my friend's TM G17 or KSC G18C on propane

[tunabreath]

Some good and bad news after gaming her today.

First, I seem to have resolved the cooldown issues that Skladfin described. Initially I was having occasional problems with it running out of gas more quickly than it seemed like it should. I'm not sure why, but the 5-7 mag takes much more pressure applied to the propane adapter to fill properly. I performed a bit of a stress test after the game. I gassed it, let it sit for a bit, then emptied the whole mag as quickly as I could, refilled the BBs, and emptied it again.

Zero cooldown. None. Zip. Nada. It was only 13 degrees out, according to the weather network. I was impressed.


As for the bad news, the rails on the slide on either side of the blowback chamber have also started coming loose on mine, like thenooblord's. I'll take her apart tomorrow and look at that as well as the outer barrel/hop up assembly again.

[Thenooblord]

if you look on the bottom of the slide, there are four tiny areas where you can see a small channel in the slide, you put tiny screwdrivers in those grooves and lever it out, after unscrewing the rear sight of course
then, use locktite

[tunabreath]

More bad news.

Upon disassembly and inspection, it appears the tape on the outer barrel has not stopped the holes on the outer barrel from deforming. I've filed off the ridges forming around the holes, re-taped and reassembled. The inner barrel has also sheared off the lugs in the hop up chamber that are supposed to hold it stationary.
A note for other owners, the immediate symptoms of the outer barrel deforming are that the slide will rub and catch the (now enlarged) hop up unit midway through the slide travel if you rack and release very slowly. It doesn't seem to have any effect operationally (there is only superficial wear on the inside of the slide where it rubs).

As for the blowback chamber, not only were the screws loosening off but the two pins that supplement the screws holding the rails onto the blowback chamber have sheared off as well.

Despite all that, the pistol seems to be performing solidly as ever. I'll keep running it on propane to provide some idea of longevity on it.

[Thenooblord]

Yea only one of my pins sheared off on the BBU, but that only has any effect when the slide is back, when it is forward, the force is all on the screws so it is solid
the five seven seems to have alot of issues, but even with them it still functions perfectly, they are just those niggleing doubts in the back of my mind that start to drive me nuts
BTW
BWAHAHAHAHA YOUR TAPE DIDNT WORK BUT MY GLUE DID! IN YOUR FACES!! no offence to you tunabreath, but some other people were being pretty high and mighty about their scotch tape!
since my controvercial little mod with the glue, I've fired dozens of mags through it, and not one tiny bit of movement or deformation from the barrels, so HAH!

[Skladfin]

I'm doing perfectly fine with mine and I've fired it much more than you have. I haven't encountered any BBU loosening problem or deformation problem.

[Thenooblord]

I highly doubt that you've fired it more than me, cause I've gone through almost 3500 rounds with it now, I have a large shooting range like back yard and alot of spare time

[aznpos531]

Originally Posted by Thenooblord

I've gone through almost 3500 rounds...back yard and alot of spare time

People must think it's snowing already

[Thenooblord]

lol, no, I'm using the fertiliser pellets for the lawn ;p

[tunabreath]

Hmm, Skladfin, you think maybe it was actually changing out the hop up rubber that saved your Five-seveN?

The only part I can think of that exerts significant force on the inner barrel (enough to shear those lugs on the inside of the hop up unit) is the loading nozzle when the blowback chamber is filling and pushing the slide back, and that's pretty much all transmitted through the hop up rubber.

Or is there a shoulder on the hop up unit that the blowback unit pushes against?

Either way, it's almost certainly a forward force on the inner barrel causing the damage both to the inside of the hop up unit and the stretching of the outer barrel (as the inner barrel strikes the shoulder on the inside of the outer barrel).

I'm not sure about the pins on the blowback unit... Those would only be stressed by the slide being lifted as it blows back, yeah? Note that the blowback chamber is still held very solidly in by the screw to the rear sight and the plastic moldings inside the slide. It was just the rails that were loose.

[AdeUK]

Excuse me for butting in, but this seems to be about the most useful thread I have found for the 5-7.

Hi there!

Before I start to get really worried, are you guys that are having this problem using Greengass (propane) or 134a? Just wondered if this is happenning even with TM recommended gas?

[Thenooblord]

Propane