This barrel was sent to us for testing purposes by Micro-Tec, an Italian firm that makes upgrade AEG barrels and BBs. They may have expanded their line since we last spoke with them. The barrel sent to us was for a Marui MP5K, and we had a lot of trouble getting our hands on one to try this barrel out, but with a little help from Tokyo Model Company, we're in business.

Appearance

  Appearance isn't usually a factor for internal upgrade parts since nobody usually sees them anyway. However, I must say that the graphite color of this barrel is much more businesslike than the brass of the factory Marui barrel. The finish of the part is good, and it looks like a quality upgrade piece.

Function

  Let me just say, and you can judge for yourself from the photo above, that taking the Marui MP5K apart to upgrade the barrel is just short of a nightmare. It doesn't come apart in halves like their full-size MP5 AEGs; you have to disassemble most of the K and then pull the barrel out backward through the receiver. Once the barrel itself has been changed out and the barrel assembly is back in place inside the receiver, the process of reassembling the airgun proceeds along difficult lines. Every little piece has to be exactly in place. Every wire and connector must be perfectly routed. But once that's all done, it's a big relief when the whole thing is back together with a battery inserted, and it actually works the first time you pull the trigger.

  The K seems to function just as reliably with the upgrade barrel as it did with the stock barrel. Accuracy did improve slightly at fifteen yards using .2g BBs. With the stock barrel, a group of fifteen shots was fairly well centered and covered about a five inch circle. With the Micro-Tec barrel, the group size went down slightly to around four inches, still centered fairly well. The big advantage to this aftermarket barrel seems to be a little boost in power as a result of tighter tolerances. Without adjusting the hop-up, the BBs appeared to have a much straighter trajectory with the new barrel and they appeared to cover the fifteen yard distance much faster. One note about upgrade barrels - because of the tighter tolerances involved, you must be very picky about what BBs you use. You should never EVER shoot used or low-quality BBs through them. You could cause a serious jam and do damage to your airsoft.

Overall Impressions

  For most of our purposes, the upgraded barrel isn't necessary for the trouble one must go through to install it. However, if you're looking to upgrade your K into a more formidable CQB machine, an upgraded barrel would be a good start.