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Tanaka M700: Old Faithful
Initial Thoughts:
So many of you will have likely heard about the Tanaka series of Airsoft Sniper Rifles. They are some of the best performing rifles when upgraded and are favoured by many. The Tanaka rifles are very consistent for gas rifles and are real work horses. I think some of the nice gents over at Sniper ops use Tanaka rifles, I know Mr Bailey AKA Kicking Mustang certainly does.
Most people who get into Airsoft Sniping and like the idea of a gas rifle, will more often than not grab a KJW M700, which is a clone of the Tanaka rifle. The KJW rifles can also be upgraded and can perform well on HPA, but the Tanaka seems to be able to use the standard green gas magazines with a decent level of consistency.
You’ll often hear of people saying PCS or pre ban, this essentially means rifles that come with a bolt which allows for quick FPS/Air volume adjustment. Later rifles were changed due to local laws and come with a standard bolt.
Why the Tanaka?
The Tanaka rifles just work……….They need minimal upgrades to get them performing on par with some upgraded VSR’s. The rifle includes a TDC hop already which is externally adjustable by the dial on the top rail.
The most common upgrades that you’ll see in most Tanaka rifles are:
Spartan hop chamber (this allows the use of VSR buckings and barrel, it also comes with an extended nozzle and metal hop nub)
A decent 6.03-6.08 inner barrel
Nineball Bucking
G&G Rubber set for Tanaka (this is really only sued for the seal rubber on the bolt)
It’s worth noting that the KJW comes with the ability to use VSR buckings/barrels out of the box but the included nub isn’t brilliant and the nozzle is still short which can cause consistency issues.
Another option to consider is the use of the Action Army long mags and HPA them, this can further increase the consistency of the rifle.
Consistency won’t be as good as a decent spring or HPA rifle, but it’s negligible. Due to the rifle being gas, 90% of the rifles sound is the muzzle report, which can easily be remedied with a decent suppressor, making the rifle very quiet which is a huge bonus for the stealthier Sniper
Conclusion:
Overall the Preban Tanaka rifles can perform very well once upgraded and bedded in, able to compete with upgraded rifles in terms of the accuracy and range.
They have been around for years and rightly so, they are great rifles and are favoured by many. The build quality, performance, durability are all very good.
I personally enjoy the fact it feels a bit more “real” in terms of the weight and the way the rifle cost and fires.
If you can’t get a preban tanaka, a normal Tanaka is equally as good but you’ll have to drop in some other upgrades or go HPA to get to the higher FPS numbers as they are restricted.
I know this is a short post compared to my usual ones, but I really wanted to just give a little shout out to the Tanaka rifles, I was tinkering with mine the other day and I’m always surprised by how well it shoots.
