Tanaka A.I.C.S AW338 Owners please help.

[ThatblokewiththeScar.]

This is not What Am Best Gun.

Due to a knee injury I'm not going to be running around the woods for quite some while so I decided to go back to the old Sniping stick.

The two rifles listed above are my possible choice's but I would like a no B*ll S**t opinion on what is achievable with these rifles.
Firstly and most importantly to me is range.
At what distance have you been able to hit a man and repeat it?
Have you been able to verify the distance to target somehow or do you have access to a shooting range?

Accuracy is a bi product of knowing you kit and practice so I am confident that I can make any rifle hit a target that is within the physical limits of the gun but what are your experiences with these rifles?
Are they consistent?
Is one more finicky than the other?
Would you buy the same gun again and if not why not?

I dont realy care about the cosmetics of the gun or if the trade's are correct But what problems have you had with your rifle?
Was it easy or cheap to repair?
What upgrades worked and what were a waste of time?

Once I have made my choice I hope to do a long term review on the rifle testing and recording it's performance with any upgrades it may have. Any input by actual owners would be useful and interesting at this point.

I know lots of people will say there Bar10 will out shoot anything but I am really only interested in these 2 rifles.

Your Input is appreciated.

[shadowcaptain]

Re: Tanaka A.I.C.S AW338 Owners please help.

i have the tanaka AICS and it is a breathtaking rifle not only in build quality but in performance

mine has had upgrades (mostly the power bolt and tightbore) and with green/red gas i have a reported shot of over 100m - and that was on my first outing

mine is having a few problems but its a second hand rifle - it fires like a beuty just got some mag issues - never heard this associated with them before so think its just a freak problem

i seriously recommend this gun and would take tanaka guns over star/ares any day

if you fancy a chat pm me and ill give you information/pictures etc as needed - not had THAT much shooting experiance with it as im still newish to the sport but ive used it enough to know that its the only rifle i will ever ever need to own and outperforms extremly upgraded spring rifles i have seen

[dope_on_a_rope]

Re: Tanaka A.I.C.S AW338 Owners please help.

I have a Tanaka M40A1. Which is the same as the M700 and A.I.C.S. internally.

First off, the Tanaka's used to have PCS. So you could change the FPS pretty easily. The new ones don't, and come underpowered because of jap laws. If you can get a PCS one, do. If not, you're looking at a fixed power output, and it's difficult to get it to 500fps. The normal nozzle gives around 330fps. If you upgrade, or modify the nozzle, you can effectively derestrict it to around 600fps. No use at most UK sites. But with some tampering of the mainspring in the bolt, you can get it to 500fps. It's not easy though. The AW338 starts at around 500fps, so it's fine.

If you're going to upgrade the Tanaka, the 2Roy/KingArms hop conversion kit is the one to have. The G&G power pack will help with consistency as well. The hop kit includes a new nozzle, so that'll increase the power. Also allows you to use VSR hop up and barrel combo's in it. Which is said to help alot with the accuracy too. I've had some problems with mine, unrelated to the kit. I know what they are, and I'm fixing them. But for now, I can't comment on accuracy of my gun. I will say though, that many people on larger forums have felt their upgraded 'naka's have performed as well as upgraded VSRs. To get that from a gas gun is frankly great.

With regards to use, I've used both, and the Tanaka wins, hands down. The bolt is much easier to get on with, it doesn't have that silly rear monopod and the mags are tons nicer. The bolt on the AW338 is solid, and smooth for the most part. Just on the return, you really have to force it forward and down. The 'naka is much smoother, you can barely feel any resistence in it's cocking action.

The Tanaka is easy to maintain as well. Nothing difficult about it. Don't know about the AW338.

[ThatblokewiththeScar.]

Re: Tanaka A.I.C.S AW338 Owners please help.

I really like the idea of the Tanaka it's the one that keeps coming up. Just had a Knock on the door that sounded like take away so I have to go off-line but I will pm you as any info helps with the decision making.

The Holster has been posted by the way! let me know how you get on with it and the new Scar, I almost nearly got the CA one but opted for the VFC :D

Regards.


Phil...

[pmac(BT)]

Re: Tanaka A.I.C.S AW338 Owners please help.

i also have an a.i.c.s which is upgarded with the 2roy hop kit and EdGi 6.01 barrel.king arms impact plates and hammer spring.
ive had roblems with my mag which has resulted in lower fps readings than i should be able to get(its got the pcs bolt but i ocudnt get over 390ish fps).
even at that power ive had a confirmed head shot at 60-65m on the second shot with a high cross wind.
i love it to bits,so much so that ive hardly used my fully upgraded 500fps vsr which ive used every weekend for around 3 years,since i got the a.i.c.s a few months ago.
ive also got a co2 rig which im about to fit,made by a guy in the us for the tanaka rifles,which should help consistancy even more

[Snakeh]

Re: Tanaka A.I.C.S AW338 Owners please help.

CO2 rig? sounds interesting, does it run on the little capsules or is it from a CO2 bottle? as it would probably benefit my M40A1. could you pm me with more information on this? and TBWS, i'd go with tanaka over star as people i know have had problems with every star weapon they've owned... tho none of them have owned the AW.338 however, so mayhaps they've got something right for a change. need to wait for someone with an AW.338 to give an argument for that rifle itself

[pmac(BT)]

Re: Tanaka A.I.C.S AW338 Owners please help.

it take 12g co2 bulbs,and should get around 2-3 mags from one bulb.
its got two stabalisers to keep the fps as consistant as possible and should be able to get only a 2-3 fps variance pershot when it is set up correctly. and will/should keep that consistant all year round.
www.magnumbb.com

theres a vid on the site made by a uk player at around 1 degree celcius and it ran fine.
the kit should be usable with any gas rifle aswell

[ThatblokewiththeScar.]

Re: Tanaka A.I.C.S AW338 Owners please help.

If I go with the Tanaka I was going to look for a used gun so that i can get the pcs bolt. It seems that know one likes the new rifle's much. I hadn't considered CO2 yet but that sounds interesting. It also seems that Hop and Barrel upgrades are mandatory regardless of rifle. My first rifle was a VSR and it was quite impressive out of the box and i liked it's ease of use if i can get a gas rifle to be almost as play & go as the TM i will be very happy. Any other info people have on sensible upgrades that work will be appreciated.

Keep the advice coming.

[pmac(BT)]

Re: Tanaka A.I.C.S AW338 Owners please help.

its a mith that you cant get pcs bolts in new guns.f*** support has them in most there tanakas they sell.
and to be honest if you plan on using co2 its not a problem as the gas is regulated though that.
if your looking for a second hand one give me a pm ,as i know theres one somewhere else for sale,not sure if it has the pcs though and its cheap.

[dope_on_a_rope]

Re: Tanaka A.I.C.S AW338 Owners please help.

Me thinks maby someone should have moved this into gas guns section, not single action?

There's all sorts of things to consider if you're going to go for a CO2 system. The bulbs are not as consistent FPS as the tanks, although the ColdShot does have 2 regs, which helps. That does have the tendency to slow the recharge rate. The tanks are much better for shooting, the more regs the better. But then it can get awkward to move, and you have to carry it on your person rather than on the rifle. They're harder to get started with, in terms of figuring out what you need to order. The Coldshot is a very well put together package, perfect for airsoft. With the tanks, you're basically hijacking a paintball idea. ColdShot is in it's early days as well. I'm skeptical as to their reliability in the long term. People have already reported broken threads on the CO2 bulb holder. Things like that. Whereas Palmers Persuits have years of pedegree. Just to make myself sound a bit less like a Palmers rep, the ColdShot is much more maneuverable, and simple to set up to work with any gas rifle. He can provide a little tap set as well, for minimal expence. I'm still not sure what thread tap I'll need to fit the Palmers rig I've got planned.

[pmac(BT)]

Re: Tanaka A.I.C.S AW338 Owners please help.

also if you have the a.i.c.s or use the long mags you dont need the tap set.
i recieved mine yesterday,but didnt manage to get skirmishing today, so will add a small review in two weeks.

[MajorLandmark]

Re: Tanaka A.I.C.S AW338 Owners please help.

I have an AW ... I seem to be in the minority here. Originaly I wanted an ACIS, but once you have upgraded a few things, and got a nice scope and a bipod... you are looking at a rather pricy gun. ~£500 for the Star 338 gets you all that, with not a lot needs doing to it to make it shoot nicely. Back in the summer I was getting one shot one kills with it out to about 80m. Its consistency was very good. More recently the grub screw in the hop up has started to wander, making it less reliable... Next time I set it, I will put a dab of threadlock on it to try and resolve that.

The build quality is very solid, only the slightest bit of wobble in the folding stock (which really does help you fit it in your boot). Its got a solid free floating barrel, so none of these barrel spacers required. The finish on the body is also very nice.

Overall, Id rate it quite well as gas rifles go. Out the box, its about as good as you'd need it to be, apart from the possibility of a CO2 rig. It's also pretty damn heavy, just in case thats a consideration for anyone.

On the other hand, I have seen and used the tanaka rifles... and I still prefer them. With a few after market parts, they are definitely the top dog. Spare magazines are also rather more available and cheaper. If I didn't have a lot more things to buy first, I'd consider selling the AW in favor of a Tanaka and pimping it out.

[ThatblokewiththeScar.]

Re: Tanaka A.I.C.S AW338 Owners please help.

It does seem to be a recurring theme that the 338 is the rifle everyone wants to own but the Tanaka is the one to shoot.

I do believe the choice has know been made I can find little to sway me away from the A.I.C.S even if it does need a few things doing to it.

Thanks to everyone who posted on here it was invaluable. Please continue to do so even if you only want to big up your own gun. And any recommendations for upgrades etc will be gratefully received.

Phil...

[pmac(BT)]

Re: Tanaka A.I.C.S AW338 Owners please help.

if your going the tanak route i would upgrade these parts at least

hopunit and barrel- 2roy vsr hop conversion and from reading around the pdi 6.05 barrel seems the new 6.01(i can highly recomend EdGi though)

laylax purple airseal rubber

g&g power pack, or km/king arms impact plates and hammer spring(the g&gpowerpack does away with the impact plates and need for the steal cocking piece)

not essentail

g&g steal cocking piece(as above)
g&g valve knocker
g&g gas route conector spring
g&g hopunit housing(some people have had the origional break)

that realy all you can upgrade.
also make sure you get the pcs version if you can,
though its less important if youp plan on running co2 or hpa