A5M-O “ASMO†Airsoft Hand Grenade
Alright, I ordered one Flashbang and one Lemon grenade from
www.asmoairsoft.com. For pics, go straight to their website under “storeâ€. The shipping was a little slow, but definitely not too bad. I paid through paypal and it took four days before my order shipped and another five to get to me. The company didn’t charge me extra for shipping, though, which is nice (i.e. the price you see on the site per item is what it’ll cost to get to you – no added shipping charges).
First Impressions:
It was obvious just picking them up that these weren’t made in some sweatshop – nope they were made with basic household items in someone’s living room. The body was made out of very thin plastic. I quickly realized that the flashbang was a converted
“wonder bubbles†container. Overall, I was just thinking to myself: “At least they were only six bucks . . .â€
Functionality:
It took me probably five minutes to figure out how the thing operated. The instructions were minimally helpful and definitely need illustrative photos. The actual working device that sets off the cap is located on the inside on the body. The “caps†in reference here are simply the six-shot rings used in toy cap guns. A single cap (NOT a set of six) is placed on a brass stud while the “firing plate†is held back. The cap can be difficult to get on, and with the lemon grenade I had to use needle-nose pliers to position the cap in such a way that I could then push down firmly on it. Once the cap is securely placed on the stud, the firing plate is pulled all the way down (roughly 180 degrees) and the retaining mechanism is moved forward to catch the plate. The actual “pull pin†which resembles that of a real grenade pull pin is then slid into the pre-drilled slot. The grenade is now armed and safe to carry.
So, how did it work? Well, the first thing I wanted to test was whether the grenade might go off unexpectedly on your person. With the pull pin in, I could toss the thing in the air, throw it against the ground – all without anything happening – which is obviously very good. I then pulled the pin and tried to get the grenade to go off by a simple throwing motion. Unless I tried to throw it very hard (as in as hard as I could) , I never ecountered a problem with the device going off prematurely. That being said, it also never failed to go off as soon as it hit the ground (once again read: very good). So it functions as it should.
Pros:
-Cheap. If I were to lose track of one or two of these during a game, I wouldn’t
feel any great loss.
- They function great, I never had a misfire as long as the cap was securely put in place.
- The grenade are reusable and the caps can be bought just about anywhere. You get 192 “shots†for about $2.
- As far as grenade goes, these are really safe. The caps are loud, but not loud enough to hurt, nor do the have any potential of igniting their surroundings as all the “blast†is contained in the body. On top of that, I could not discern any “shrapnel†coming out when the cap when off.
Cons:
-The biggest problem I have is aesthetic: the paint does not stay on at all. A few throws, and, no kidding, a quarter of the paint has fallen off! Plus, when the paint chips off, it reveals a neon color body underneath!
-The materials used are pretty cheap looking. If they hold up OK, I don’t have a problem, but this remains to be seen.
- The grenades themselves are about 2/3 the size of the real thing.
I will definitely have to take these to a few games before I give a final verdict. As I am far more for function than aesthetics, I would recommend the item at this time. Something must be done about the paint job, but this is easy enough to fix with a can of plastic primer and your favorite color.
