First impression

The replica comes in a black box with a white drawing of a skull and the APS logo. Under the graphical part of the cover, there is a white slogan reading “Compromise is not an option”. When we take the replica into our hands for the first time, we have the impression that the manufacturer made sure that all the details were done right. Almost every part has been, at least partially, modified which hanged the shape and ergonomics of the replica a bit in comparison to the classic AR-15. Apart from the stock, the sights, the magazine and the pistol grip, the replica has been made of metal and weighs 2316g (2447g with the magazine)

The receiver

The whole replica is made in the AR-15 standard, but most of the marts have been slightly modified. The upper receiver gained a modern design, thanks to numerous grooves and engraved parts such as the name of the replica or the skull drawing. An interesting thing is the lack of the dust cover at the ejection port. As far as the lower receiver goes – it also has many modifications: it look like the continuation of the upper receiver’s design and has a small APS logo and engravings next to the fire selector switch reading “NO PEW”, “PEW” and “PEW PEW PEW”. The replica has a double-sided magazine release button, fire selector switch and charging handle. It also has an active bolt catch, which allows for comfortable adjustment of the hop-up when the fake bolt carrier is held in the rear position.

The front

A 10 inch front is made of metal, uses the M-lock system and has the EV.TECH 3.0 engravings and the logo of the system used on its front section. The whole piece is very light and has two QD system sockets for mounting sling mounts. The front in mounted via four hex screws.

The sights

Polymer sights are of the flip-up type and have the ability to be used when folded via fake fiber optic strands. To flip the up one must push a plastic part with the APS logo on it. A word of warning – watch your fingers as flipping the sights up without gloves might be painful. They do not have any kind of mechanism locking them in the upper position but the spring mechanism prevents them from folding them by accident.

The external barrel and flash hider

The external barrel is made of metal and has a standard mounting system and a counterclockwise thread and the exiting end. It does not have a fake gas system (the gas block and the tube) and its diameter is identical over its whole length.

The flash hider is a variation on the products made by Noveske. In this case the manufacturer used the Sound Blaster name and the part is made from a single piece of metal which makes the replica quite loud, especially when we fire it without BBs.

The pistol grip

The ergonomic pistol grip has been made from polymer. On the sides it has a rugged texture made from multiple small APS logos. The grip has a very interesting modular system which allows for replacement of the rubber panels situated in the front and rear part of the grip (two on each side). We can use a traditional AR-15 grip with the characteristic nub between the fingers or use a flat panel. The rear panel can be exchanged for a slightly bigger one to allow it to better fit one’s hand. According to the manufacturer, the rubber pads are also meant to absorb the vibrations of the motor which will increase its efficiency and reduce the battery usage to 10,5 Amps.

The magazine

The polymer magazine is a Hi-Cap with the capacity of 300 BBs, called the U-mag by the manufacturer. Its design resembles the well known P-mag. It has anti-slip ribs and a bottom plate which can be replaced after unscrewing a screw. The magazine is wound up with a gear located inside the bottom part of the mag. The upper part has a plate with the markings.

The stock

An ergonomic RS-2 stock is similar to the recently popular Minimalist Stock by BATTLELINK. The designers devised a new system for adjusting the stock’s lengths and also added additional, comfortable grips which facilitate taking the stock off the guide. After removing the pin situated in the rear part of the stock, we gain access inside it where one can put a battery compartment or a MOSFET circuit. Additionally, the lower part of the stock has a QD system socket for mounting a sling mount.

Disassembly

The replica has been based on the well known TM standard. After unscrewing the forward pin, we can pull the upper receiver forward from the lower receiver. We must move the charging handle slightly to get it off the gearbox. This gives us access to the hop-up chamber and the inner barrel. To take the gearbox out, we must unscrew and remove the rear pin and the trigger pin. Than we unscrew the fire selector switch, the magazine release button and the pistol grip after first taking out the motor which is inside it. 

The hop-up chamber

The chamber used in the replica is unfortunately a somewhat obsolete TM standard and has all the drawbacks connected with it. The unit we tested had a problem with the hop-up adjustment deregulating by itself. The chamber is made of metal and its airtightness if satisfying. It is a shame that while making such a modern looking design, the manufacturer had not decided to use a more modern type of a hop-up chamber such as a rotary type.

The black hop-up bucking is a medium hardness and has a traditional spinning nub. The spaces, on the other hand, is in the shape of an hourglass, a feature that is to be praised. Its role is to facilitate a straight trajectory of the BB and make the shots more repeatable.

The inner barrel

The inner barrel is 260mm long and has an even inner diameter of 6,04mm. It is made if steel and is beveled at the exiting end and has two grooves with O-rings inside them that are the stabilize the barrel inside the external barrel.

The gearbox

The heart of the replica is the Silver Edge V2 Gearbox. In the upper part the fake bolt carrier is attached with the use of a single screw and a spring. The gearbox has been put together using Phillips screws. To disassemble it the gears operating the double-sided fire selector switch must also be removed. It has a quick spring release system, which is possible after removing the stock or by using a very long hex wrench inserted inside the stock guide. One must be careful not to damage the power cables that are placed inside the guide.y.

The pneumatic system

The replica uses a steel type 2 cylinder and a polymer cylinder head with an O-ring and a metal nozzle 20,6mm long. The tappet plate is black and made out of a considerably hard plastic. The piston has a single steel tooth and a polymer head with a bearing. Unfortunately, the piston head broke into pieces when we tied to put the gearbox back together during our test. The sharpened screw used to secure the piston head was a very bed design choice in this case.  

The gears

The steel gears have a standard ration and no manufacturer’s. The sector gear has a delayer installed which role is to facilitate better feeding of BBs. The gears revolve inside 8mm ball bearings.

The motor

The motor used is a long type Evolution Edge model by APS and has medium strength magnets.

Shooting

If you are able to properly adjust the hop-up, the replica shoots quite well. We did, however, had the problem with adjusting it: the TM standard hop-up chamber started to deregulate by itself after continuous shooting. This can be, of course, repaired at a maintenance shop or by oneself but such an occurrence should not take place in a stock replica. While talking about Phantom Extremis Rifle MKV, it has to be mentioned that the spacer pressure adjustment is not very precise but this is again the fault of this type of chamber. It is not surprising that other manufacturers decide to use rotary type chamber in their products. As far as the ROF goes, on a LiPo 11.1V battery the ROF was 16,4 RPS. Unfortunately, the tested unit had a wide spread of FPS values generated: for 10 shots to spread was between 330,3 and 358,6 FPS. Lock of repeatable shots translates into lock of accuracy. Despite all this, the replica has a very low horizontal spread yet the vertical spread is considerable.

Below is a table presenting the amounts of FPS that were registered during our test. The test has been performed right after the replica had been taken out of the box: 

358,6^

354,1

350,3

346,2

330,3*

348,8

351,3

344,2

342,8

341,8

Average: 346,8 FPS

Summary

The Phantom Extremis Rifle MKV replica is a modern look at the excessively used AR-15 standard. Here we have a slightly modified receiver, a front with the M-lock system, and original stock, a modular pistol grip and ambidextrous switches and buttons. All this looks great but the internals of the replica do not match this great look. An obsolete hop-up chamber, which has a tendency to deregulate by itself, or gearbox parts which are not of best quality as the faulty piston head, give an impression that the manufacturer wanted to sell a good looking replica with subpar internals. The only aspect that puts this new product by APS in a more favorable light is the quick spring releases system. To sum it up, the Phantom Extremis Rifle MKV, thanks to its modern look, seem to be an interesting product on the market, unfortunately, it will require some work before it will become a worth companion on an airsoft game field.

We would like to thank Taiwangun.com for making this review possible