The Exterior
The exterior of the replica is completely made in polymer; the only metal parts are the selectors, the rails, the barrel, the stock's lock, the sights, the bolt catch, and the charging handle. When touching the replica, you can really feel the good quality of the polymers, and there are no signs of melting or soldering, which means it was built in one block. The really short barrel (only 125 mm) is in metal with a 16 mm CW thread, so if you want to use standard barrel attachments (like silencers or muzzle brakes) you need to have an adapter. There is no stock muzzle brake, because, like the real steel, the bolt system (called super V system) is able to reduce so much the recoil and the muzzle climb that makes the muzzle brake useless. There are two different selectors (both ambidextrous): one for the safety and one to select the mode of fire: single, 2 rounds burst (not really common) and full auto. From the ejection port you can adjust the hop up without opening the replica: you just need to use the specific metal key included. The trigger and the trigger guard are quite generous, so it is easy to handle for an operator with gloves and big hands. The foldable stock is adjustable in four different positions. In the lower part you will find the metal charging handle (that is not moving when you are firing like the real steel), the bolt catch and the magazine release. A front grip is included and fits on the front RIS rail, but unfortunately is made in cheap plastic, not the nice polymer used for the body.
The Interior
The takedown of the replica works the same way as the real steel: by removing 4 pins, the replica will be split in 3 main parts:
- The upper receiver with the selectors and the trigger mechanism
- The lower receiver with the bolt rails, the barrel with hop up unit and the impact hammer
- The nozzle and bolt mechanism (Aka “Super V system”)
All the internal parts are in steel, excluding the nozzle the bolt percussion base and the hop up ring which are in plastic (where you connect the hop up adjustment key). Except the hop up ring that already shows some signs of wear and tear after few attempts of hop up adjustment, all the internals are giving the sensation that they are built to last. However, all the internals were dry like the desert. The key point of all GBBRs is that they need to run “wet” with grease and lube like real steel if you don’t want to have any breakdowns or malfunctions. I did check for any sign of wear and tear or damage on the steel parts but found none, another evidence of the good quality of the internals. I did a full cleaning and then I lubed everything with three different lubes:
- Spray Silicon (with small nozzle) for the parts that are difficult to reach with normal lube
- Teflon Lube (a really tiny coat) for all plastic moving parts in contact with metal
- Lithium Lube (a really tiny coat) in all metal moving part in contact with metal
After the “treatment” the cycling was much more fluid and the sound of the moving parts smooth, like saying “thank youuuu”. Cheeking the hop up unit, I noticed that the bucking was all the way down even with the hop up set to 0. The hop up bucking was deformed because it was stored and left for a while on the high setting. On top of that, the previous user sprayed a lot of silicon oil inside the hop up, and the joint had inflated like a pizza! Not a big deal, the inner barrel is really easy to remove from the lower receiver (only 3 screws) and I have changed the bucking with a new one (Guarder) and now works flawlessly.
Shooting test
The KRISS Vector is my first GBBR so I will base this part of the review on “feelings” because I can’t talk about “experience” yet. I was impressed with the reactivity in semi-auto fire: the replica is shooting as fast you can move your trigger finger. The 2 rounds burst I think is an amazing feature for a GBBR: you can save a lot of gas and BBs and still use a “burst” mode for moving targets. In full-auto, you can empty a full magazine with one gas charge of green gas (the ambient temperature was around 18/20°) but then, as you can imagine, the magazine started to be very cold, risking a valve freeze. I think that using the 2 rounds burst and a good propane gas, (at least 90% like the AEG green Gas) you can shoot up to 2 magazines with one gas recharge if you are not trigger happy. The recoil of this replica is a big topic were you can find tons and tons of posts on internet (in all languages): Basically you can feel the kick, but it's not so strong that it affects your aim (like other GBBRs), specifically in semi or 2 rounds burst. The reason is the super V system that is transferring the shock of the recoil not in your shoulder but downward. In the real steel this design helps to reduce the muzzle climb.
There are aftermarket kits in order to increase the “downward” recoil, but I didn’t find any long term reviews to check if the extra weight of the bolt and the stronger spring could affect the overall strength of the replica. For sure, it will increase the gas consumption. In my humble opinion I think this replica was not made to “kick” but to be as close as possible to the real gun, at it achieved this right out of the box.
FPS wise, it shoots at 340 fps with ASG Ultrair green gas. If you are using the angry guns’ suppressor with barrel extender you can reach 420/430 fps (for target practice only).
The range is pretty good considering the really small inner barrel: you can hit a human target at about 40 meters in semi-auto. In burst and full auto you, you will spray BBs everywhere, but this might be due to the hop up bucking not being broken in yet as 2nd and 3rd BBs tend to climb.
With the barrel extender the range goes beyond 50+ meters. Unfortunately my test fire wasn’t to last: the temperature dropped below 13° with high moisture; The gas started to freeze inside the magazine, So I stopped the test and will start again next spring.
First Impressions
Positive:
- Unique design
- The Realism
- The construction quality
- The range compared to its barrel
- The performance out of the box
Negative:
- The hop-up design that causes fast wear & tear
- The fragile and cheap front grip
- Not good for outdoor games, especially if the temperature drops below 13°
Thank you for reading my review!
- Nibbio