Around 2 weeks ago a package came through the post that made my day look like Christmas. Thank you note goes to Christian Kaae Olsen, the marketing manager at Action Sport Games. In the package was, as you already know, their flagship AEG gun: Scorpion EVO 3A1.
Package included tactical carrying bag specifically designed for the EVO, three extra mid cap magazines and two clips for their connection. All in all well balanced package that I am more than happy to test.
The story of Scorpion EVO 3A1
The gun was first launched in 2009 by a gun manufacturer ?esk Zbrojovka from Czech Republic. It was meant to replace the original Scorpoin CZ, was chambered in 9x19mm Parabellum, is light weight, compact submachine gun designed to be easily maneuvered in constrained spaces. The A1 features a select fire switch, giving the operator the choice of semi-automatic, three round burst, or fully automatic fire. It comes equipped with a folding, adjustable and fully removable stock for easy transport. The hand guard is lined with multiple Picatinny Rails for the additional attachments.
Specifications:
Weight: 2,77kg
Length: 670mm stock unfolded and 410mm with the stock folded
Barrel length: 196mm
Width: 60mm
Height: 262mm
The ASG version of the Scorpion EVO 3A1
I had the lucky chance to compare the real steel version to the one from ASG and I must say that the only difference I found was in the weight. Airsoft version weighs only 2,3kg. The body of the gun is also made from the same polymer material, or so similar that I dont feel or see the difference.
You can see that by yourself in the pictures below, The one without the hop up is the real one 😉
Ergonomics of the guns are phenomenal, as the pistol grip is no wider than the original, despite the motor it holds and the grip has just the right angle to be comfortable all day long.
Usually questions are raised about the polymer body. As many people are a bit skittish when it comes to AEGs with plastic externals. But be assured that this is not the case when it comes to EVO. The first time you open the box and hold your gun, you start to realize that it is, simply put, a masterful example of engineering. Pistol grip is made for your hands, collapsible stock is right where you need it for support and has no wobble whatsoever.
Bottom line, gun feels like a solid chunk of awesomeness. Futuristic look will make other airsofters jealous and the performance is beyond expectations for a submachine gun. Bottom line: it acts like a full-fledged assault rifle.
The works
The EVO is truly an ASG flagship. As they went and put so many bells and whistles that its staggering. The end result is a full functional replica that will make you smile and wish for a weekend when you can finally go shoot some friends in the woods.
Ambidextrous fire selector has four options: Safe, Semi-auto, 3 round burst and full-auto. The selector action is crisp but for my taste a bit short. As I usually overshot the semi and land on a burst mode. But that is something I need to practice at.
Trigger pull is laughably easy as you are not working with the regular AEG switch but a micro controller supplied by Airsoft Systems, whic produces the best ASCU unit on the market. So be mindful at what you shoot as the response of the gun is rally fast. When firing I got an average of 403 FPS or 122m/s. So the gun is quite a beast. Video of its performance will be up soon.
When you run out of your 75 bbs per magazine the gun stops shooting, as the specially designed magazines push the button in the magwell.
The magwell and its kill switch
The feature only seen in Systema guns until now. Magazines are quite big, more than MP5 so pick your pouches accordingly. My open top M4 pouches work well so there is that.
To continue you need to remove the empty magazine, magazine release is comfortable and well placed, then insert the new one and push the bolt release. In this the gun comes close to simulating the actions of the real firearm, it also prevents firing the gun dry. Which ads to the realism.
Hand-guard has rails mounted on all 4 sides so you will have enough place to mount all your favourite attachments.
For battery replacement you need to unscrew the flashider and the locking nut. The locking nut has an 18mm clockwise thread so you will need to buy a special adapter for your 14mm CCW silencer. But that is only a minor detail.
When removing the hand-guard please be careful as the charging handle and its spring is not hold firmly and it can easily fall out. Also when you have the hand-guard off you can easily switch the front sling mount from left to right.
The battery compartment is a bit tight so your normal batteries will not fit. I recommend 11,1V LiPo battery with 3 sticks. As those can be easily inserted, you can also work with battery provided by ASG with a stock number 18156.
When you attach the battery you need to wait for a beep from the micro controller as it signals that the battery is healthy and you are ready to go. Also after each game do remove the battery as the controller still draws power and after a while it can drain your battery. And that is when dealing with LiPo batteries never a god idea.
Hop up unit was specially designed for the EVO and despite a bit of a weird look it does work nicely. Ratchet system prevents the unwinding and so the shots stay consistent through the play
I arrived at the end of the review of external, easily accessible parts. Now it is time to get dirty and see what makes this gun tick. What follows is in depth tutorial how to take this gun apart.
Step by Step Disassembly of SCORPION EVO 3A1 AEG from ASG
Step 1:
Remove the flashider and locking nut
Step 2:
Slide the handguard of the gun watch for the charging handle and its spring as they are easily misplaced
Step 3:
push the spring lock at the back of the gun and remove the collapsible stock by pushing it upward from the pistol-grip.
Step 4:
Remove the main spring. Easiest way is with hex screw.
As you can see the spring is tampered well and also quite strong. I would give her rating SP120 but that is only my impression. Also the spring guide is made from white metal with Teflon washer so it will work great for extended periods of time. You can upgrad it with steel version with with thrust ball bearing if you want.
Step 5:
Remove the pistol grip plate, remove the motor and pistol grip screws.
As you can see the base plate is quite heavy looking and in this case it is true.
The motor does has the markings of a basic one but it is everything but that. The gun uses active braking, so anti reversal latch is not needed, as the motor does all the work. By the feel it is stronger than many high torque motors and it will run springs strong as M160 as was tested by the manufacturer.
As you can see the grip holds on to the gearbox with 4 hex screws. All screws in this gun are quality steel and will not get damaged with use.
Step 6:
remove the three screws that hold the pistol grip and lower receiver attached to gearbox.
With these 3 screws removed you can now slide off the pistol grip but I do not recommend that as the hole for cables is a bit small and it can be tricky putting them back so just slide down but not all the way off as I have done in my case 😀
Step 7:
Remove the lower receiver pin.
Just push it with finger, it goes easy.
Step 8:
Firmly grip the lower and slide it down. And you are half way there 🙂
The closer look at all the parts:
Bolt catch lever:
Fire selector gears are quality made:
Micro switches:
Wiring:
Magazine empty switch:
Step 9:
Remove all the upper receiver screws.
Now you will have access to gearbox, barrel and hop up unit. Take care of the bolt cover spring as it is quite happy to escape under table.
Now the barrel.
Please note that you can remove the upper receiver and barrel and still keep the lower part assembled (gearbox, lower receiver, grip and motor) if you would want to service hopup, change inner barrel or similar. So disassembly can be done in the following order – 1,2,3,9 ad you now have access to barrel unit without the disassembly of the lower receiver.
The beautiful gearbox:
Step 10:
Gearbox disassembly is similar to V3 as you need to slide off the upper plate then remove all the remaining screws. Also remove theambidextrousselector lever.
Now pry it apart carefully as the Airsoft Systems control unit is made from two parts. You will see this:
Upper has one part:
And lower the other one:
All the inner parts are of the highest quality, well-greased and with excellent compression despite the lack of inner O-ring in the nozzle.
The only two problems I saw were a minor ones. One was small lack of shimming but that was solved in seconds and the marks seen on the picture were from testing the gun at the factory. So even without my tweaking it still works as a dream out of the box.
The other problem, or more of a guideline. Do take care when assembling the two parts back. As the pins connecting the two part control unit from Airsoft Systems are a bit delicate. So take care and do not bend them. Two halves of the gearbox come together as Legos so any unnecessary force is not needed.
Picture of pins:
Pros:
–Well thought of design and follow-through
–Clunky polymer body with zero tolerances so there is no wobble anywhere
–Quick spring change
–Ambidextrous controls
–Airsoft Systems fire controller is a dream to play with
–Realistic behaviour is a big plus
-Consistency when firing and with that precision
Cons:
–Aint exactly cheap, but you get a lot of bang for your bucks
–Magazines are only 75 rounds but you really wont need more
–Battery must be removed immediately after use but that is normal safe practice anyway
Ending thoughts
The gun is in my opinion the next level in Airsoft evolution, as it brings high end aftermarket upgrades in reasonably priced package. It is awesome to hold and look at. Made from all the best materials. Has a ton of upgrades you normaly dont find in AEG rifles. In my opinion a great buy that will be with you on the field for a long time.
And how to conclude this review. I do not really plan to. During following months I will bring to you videos of the Scorpion in action, also I will ask for impressions from other players so you will get a more diverse look at the gun so stay tuned.
Ive Zagorc, Editor in Chief
Photos by:Matic Zalaznik