Home Articles KSC's M11A1 Submachinegun. What a chunk

KSC M11 (August 2005)

What a chunk!
KSC's M11A1 Submachinegun

By Tom Gaylord
exclusively for PyramydAir.com. © Copyright 2005 All Rights Reserved

KSC's M11A1 submachine gun is a beefy little blaster. Everything unfolds from this compact pistol to make a handy shoulder-fired carbine.

You want something fast and tactical but you lack $5,000 for a Cobray .380 ACP M11A1, plus you don't want to wait a year for ATF approval. Here's an alternative. For only $137.50 plus shipping, you can have a 6mm version of the gun delivered to your door in a few days. It's heavy and goes rat-a-tat-tat, just like the real thing. Except, this one doesn't cost a small fortune every time you squeeze the trigger. It's the KSC M11A1 submachinegun that Pyramyd Air now sells.
This is one of the ALL-TIME CLASSIC airsoft guns. If you pick one up and shoot it, you feel a strong need to own it. Even if you're not a full-auto person, this gun will still bring a smile to your face. For that reason, it outsells many more traditional models. Every time it's shot at a show, a crowd gathers.

It's made of a combination of plastic and metal parts. At just under 50 oz., it's a beefy chunk in your hand, but somehow warm and right, too. The finish is matte black all over. The heavy steel stick magazine holds 48 BBs, plus enough green gas to shoot two full mags. BBs are poured in through the top using a special funnel that comes with the gun. A BB bottle with a filler spout is extremely handy for this job. As the magazine fills, you may have to shake the magazine from time to time to eliminate the voids in the double stack of BBs, though it doesn't really make a difference when you shoot the gun. The follower is under enough spring tension that the BBs keep coming up to be fired no matter how they're arranged.

The switches on this baby are all REAL! On the right side - inside the trigger guard - is the safety. The words "Safe" and Fire" are obvious. Left of the receiver is a rotary selector that cycles between semiauto and full auto. The letters "S" and "F" are confusing until you differentiate this switch from the safety.

The safety is on the right side and can be operated by the trigger finger without looking.

The selector switch on the left allows semi- or full-auto operation. Switch has been centered to show markings, only.

You may wonder who would ever want to shoot this gun on semi, but that options let's you adjust the Hop Up, which is accessed through the ejection port. A special adjustment wrench is provided with the gun. That's good because you can use from 0.20-gram BBs up to 0.25-gram BBs. Adjust the Hop Up for each different type of BB used. I found 0.20 to function best in the gun I tested.

At the rear base of the pistol grip is the magazine release; under the receiver, a button releases the extendable wire stock. By pinching the right side of the swiveling buttplate in toward the center, the butt swings up and around to a locked position in the back.

The sights (ARE YOU KIDDING?) are a fixed peep in back and a protected post in front. But you're not going to use them! Just fill it and pull the trigger. Be sure to get TONS of 0.20-gram WHITE BBs (so you can see where you're shooting, of course). You can also get an extra magazine so that you can shoot longer Extra M11 mag

There's even a realistic sling swivel on the front of the receiver, just like on the firearm. A gun like this is usually carried on a one-arm sling over the shoulder, so it can be swung up quickly, ready for action. Just watch Arnold Schwarzenegger in True Lies to learn how to handle this gun.

Filling the gun with green gas is pretty easy

I'm not an expert in Asian languages, but the owner's manual looks like it's written in Japanese. The illustrations will answer most of your questions, but charging with gas will be novel for some shooters. A silicone lubricant is added to green gas. The lubricant is blown through the gun as the gas flows through, and it keeps the seals moist and doing their job. To charge the gun, the magazine is inverted and the probe of the green gas canister is inserted into a hole in the magazine floorplate. Hold the gas canister and magazine as vertical as possible.

The green gas probe goes in the bottom of the stick magazine. Push to fill for two seconds, then relax. Several shots of gas are needed to completely fill the reservoir. When gas fumes puff out around the fill port, you're done.

Press the gas canister into the magazine and hold for two seconds while gas flows into the magazine's reservoir. Then relax pressure and stop filling to allow the gas to expand inside the magazine. It cools rapidly as it flows, and you're waiting for the magazine to warm up again. It takes just a few seconds. Insert the gas canister probe for another two-second shot of gas. Keep doing this until gas starts misting out the fill hole. That means the reservoir is full.

After filling the magazine, let it warm up a bit before shooting - for best performance. You could load the BBs next, which would be enough time. Then, it's shootin' time!

Loading ammo is even easier than filling with gas!

Before loading, use a fingernail to pull the magazine follower down to the bottom of its slot, where it will stay by itself.
Loading goes much faster if you have a speedloader BB bottle. To load, the plastic funnel is placed at the top of the magazine. BBs can then be poured into the magazine through the funnel.

The loading trough attaches to the magazine to let you pour in BBs from a feeder bottle.

You can get the voids out of the stack of BBs by rocking the magazine back and forth, so they can roll up and down in the channel. They will arrange themselves into a tight stack, but one or two gaps where a BB is missing is no problem. The follower is under spring tension and will keep pushing BBs up regardless of how they are arranged. When loading is complete, push the follower in - until it snaps up and puts tension on the BB stack. That's it! Your mag is loaded!

How the gun works, plus some insider tips

The M11A1 fires from the open bolt. Before you insert the magazine, pull the operating handle to the rear to cock the bolt, which will remain in the open position, then put the gun on "Safe." Insert the magazine until it clicks into position. Take the safety off and fire away!

Occasionally you'll get a BB stuck in the barrel, so keep a thin rod handy for these times. To clear it, lower the magazine by a half-inch so it's not in the way of the breech. Put the gun on safe, pull back the operating handle and push the rod through from the muzzle to clear the obstruction. You may want to re-tension the magazine spring to ensure there's tension on the remaining BBs. That's all - you're back in business!

A few BBs fell out the ejection port during full-auto fire. In semiauto mode, none fell out as long as I used 0.20-gram BBs. This will differ with every different type of BB you use.

Shoot with gusto!

The best way to have fun with this gun is to do something with it. It easily topples plastic bottles like a carnival gun, or you can tear out the heart of Shoot-N-C targets. Line up plastic soldiers in the garden and wipe them out with repeated bursts from the hip. At night, shoot white BBs with a strong light behind you to get a tracer effect.

A Shoot-N-C target turns bright yellow-green when BBs tear through. It makes shooting full-auto very exciting!

There are no limits to the fun you can have with this gun. It's one of the cheapest high-performance full-auto guns you can buy, and it has many features found on more expensive guns. If you long to lay down a steady stream of suppressive fire for whatever reason, KSC's M11A1 may be the airsoft gun for you!

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KSC M11 (August 2005)

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