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-Review-
Maruzen CA870 Shotgun
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I ordered my new CA870 shotgun from Redwolf Airsoft, for $80 (with $26 s/h on top of that). I put the order through on a Saturday, but only after fumbling around a bit with their strange way of handling Paypal orders. I got a shipment confirmation on the following Monday, and it was in my hands on Wednesday,which is not too shabby by my tastes. I was at work when my mail-carrier attempted to deliver it though, but after a call to my local post-office when I got home, and a five minute drive later, I had my shotgun in hand. So, enough about that stuff, let's get to the gun. It's a spring shotgun made by Maruzen (Japan), and shoots 1 BB per pump. The hop-up is set for .2 gram BB's, but also works well with .25's. I believe this gun is based off the Remington M870, although it is not an exact match. It is made mostly of fiber-glass, with some metal, and even less plastic. It is supposed to be a new "low maintenance" design, which requires no oiling or lubrication, though it would probably make the gun last longer with some occasional oiling. With that said, I'll get to the review.
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Aesthetics
I got my new toy home, and tore apart the paper-wrapped shotgun box like a kid on his birthday. I lifted the lid, and was met with 22 inches of black and brown fiber-glass. Quite a beautiful site it was, except for the orange on the tip of course, but there are ways around that. The gun weighs in at about 2.8 lbs, which isn't as heavy as some, but considering its size, it's still respectable. It does feel quite satisfying to hold though. One of the first things out of the box that caught my attention is how well this gun is constructed. Now, let me tell you, I do not have experience with a lot of airsoft guns, but from what I can tell, this one seems to be built like a tank. I was very impressed with the quality of this piece, the people at Maruzen really know how to build a quality gun. The fiber-glass body has a pretty nice feel to it as well, it's smooth, and feels more solid than plastic would.
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The metal parts on this gun include the safety catch, trigger, sling attachment points, two bars on either side connecting the pump handle to the piston assembly, the magazine tube cap, and much of the internals. Looking into the magazine well clearly reveals some of the metal internals. The outer barrel, pump handle, and pistol grip are made of solid fiber-glass, while the receiver is just a fiber-glass shell, a few millimeters thick, encasing the metal receiver underneath. The plastic parts on the gun include the magazine, magazine tube (or rather, what would be the magazine tube on a real shotgun), shell ejector cover (which is stationary), and a few of the internal parts such as the piston and it's assembly.
One of the only gripes I have with this gun, is the overly flimsy magazine. It is extremely light, and when in the gun it fits rather loosely, and rattles a bit. But it does hold 40 rounds, and comes with a quick loading tool, so things kind of balance out. And, although the magazine is a slight bit loose in the gun, I do not foresee it as being much of a problem, as it is still very secure in the gun and will never come out of the gun unless you want it to. Another advantage to the magazines is that they are fairly cheap, with most HK(Hong Kong, not Hechler & Koch-Shriak) retailers selling them for +/- $9. That means you can purchase a few spares, without putting a hole in your wallet.
Performance
Performance wise, this gun can't be beat for the price (well, possibly, but it would be pretty damn hard). It is powerful, accurate, and has reasonable range. The specifications on the side of the box state that it shoots 284 fps, and this is further reinforced by conducting Redwolf's pop can test. I conducted the test with a .2 BB, at roughly 2 inches away from the can. The BB easily penetrated one side of the can and left a small dent on the other side (which indicates 290-310 fps velocity). On the box, Maruzen claims .75J of energy, which I guess would be about right.
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This gun is also fairly accurate, although, there is one aspect which will prevent you from using its accuracy to the fullest, the gun has no sights. That's right, there are absolutely no sights, in any way, shape, or form(its true, I've seen the lack of sights myself-shriak). So, precision 80 ft shots are out of the question here. This was a major concern I had when deciding whether or not to buy the gun. But, the lack of sights isn't as big of a problem as one would believe. Once you get the hang of aiming this beast, you can pretty much predict where you are aiming and where the BB will hit. It might take you a couple shots to hit your target though, but that is not much of a problem with the 40 round magazine and the fast-cocking nature of a shotgun. One thing I noticed as a direct effect of the lack of sights, is that I tend to shoot people in the head more with this gun than any other gun, let me explain. Because there are no sights on this gun, I tend to use the barrel as a guide for keeping my aim straight. But, the barrel of the CA870 is slightly tapered, so it is smaller at the tip and larger nearer to the receiver. This has the effect that I must raise the tip of the gun slightly higher to be able to look down the barrel, and this in turn raises the angle of the inner barrel from where I am aiming. This results in making my shots go higher than where I think I am aiming, and consequently, I tend to hit people in the head more. Not a big problem (depending on who you play with), and can be remedied by aiming lower than normal, but I thought it should be mentioned anyway. The side of the box also states that this gun sports a 203mm long, 6.05mm inner-diameter barrel, so despite the lack of any sights, the gun should be pretty accurate if you are aiming in the right place.
This gun has decent range, although I don't have a measuring tape that goes nearly as far as it can shoot. I would estimate the accurate range to about 80-90 ft, and the total range to be somewhere close to 150-170 ft. But, those are just estimates, so don't quote me on them.
This shotgun is really a blast to shoot. The trigger has a very solid and smooth pull, although there is not much of a throw to it, pull it just a tiny bit and it fires. The safety is also one of my favorite aspects of this gun, as it is completely metal, and extremely solid. With the safety engaged, you can pull the trigger with a great deal of force, and it still feels solid as a rock. I come straight from the world of spring pistols, where the majority of the triggers and safeties are flimsy plastic, and to have a gun with a solid metal safety and trigger assembly, just puts a smile on my face.
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One thing I noticed (I am not sure whether it is model-specific or just on my gun) is that when I fire a shot, after about 80-90 ft the BB's start to curve to the left and down. I am sure it is probably normal for the BB to drop after about this distance due to gravity, but I think the BB should still fly straight. I thought that my hop-up could be misaligned slightly off the 12 o' clock position, but I have not taken the gun apart to confirm this. The thing is though, the BB's fly straight-as-an-arrow up until the point where they curve left, so I am not completely sure if the hop-up is the culprit. I am positive it is not the wind either, as the problem is consistent wherever I go. Either way, it is still very accurate up until that point. This has me puzzled though.
Accessories
If you are looking for accessories for this gun, you might be out of luck. The only accessory that you could really put on it without any fuss is a sling. You might also be able to purchase some real steel accessories for the Remington M870, and with slight modification, make them work with the CA870. I have seen a scope mount for the Remington M870 which at first sight appeared as though it might work. I have further assessed though, that it would take slight modification to make it fit. I believe it was on Cabelas.com that I saw it. A creative and skilled person might also be able to fashion some sort of flashlight that extends out the end of the magazine tube (which is hollow), which would be helpful for urban or night games. Other than that, I don't believe there is much (if anything) in the way of accessories.
Conclusions
This gun has been in my possession for a little less than two months now, and it has taken everything I have thrown at it thus far. Now, I don't abuse this gun by any means, but I don't exactly treat it as though it's encrusted in diamonds either. It has seen a fair amount of action since I first got it, but is still in great condition, and works just as good as the day I first laid my hands on it. It is such a solid gun, I would not be surprised if it lasted for years with regular use. The Maruzen CA870 sawed-off shotgun is a strong, solid weapon, which shouldn't be overlooked. And, for the money, you can't beat the performance. It would fare well as a backup to an AEG, a good CQB weapon, or even a respectable primary in outdoor springer battles. It has a good price tag, nice power, nice accuracy, a 40 round magazine, and a host of other features which make this gun stand out from the rest. If my gun somehow broke (although I am not sure if it is possible, given how damn strong it is), I would definitely buy another one. All in all, this is a great spring shottie, and should be considered if you are in the market for one.
~Scott
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