Introduction

For me, the world of NBB pistols has not been relevant, especially since I considered them to have limited useability. Although the MK23 is a pistol with a genuinely good range and accuracy, its large size means it is a no-go for me. As for other NBB models, they all have some issues that hold them back – CO2 magazines only, weak hop up, complete lack of spare parts etc. Tokyo Marui’s new NBB series was meant to break through this unpleasant situation and entered the market with multiple new models: Ruger LCP, Ruger LCP II, Curve, and M&P Bodyguard .380.

In case of these new Marui NBBs, the internal structure is mainly the same for all of them. What is different, is the external body, the list of accessories and their compatibility, and the technical parameters. One common feature for all models is the extremely compact size, which is somewhat manageable even for those who have large hands, especially when using the enlarged magazines. This feature was the turning point for me, I see great potential in them for LARPing purposes as concealed firearms.

Box and contents

The japanese company has always been good at packaging their products in a nice and aesthetic way, this is no different in case of the LCP. The illustration on the package is beautiful, the printing quality is giving the whole thing a feeling of premium product. Inside, the pistol is protected well, surrounded by foam and styrofoam. The documents are a little hidden, there is space inside for 2 magazines – plus, there is also the usual Marui stuff inside. Pistol, one magazine, barrel plug, cleaning rod, some BBs, papers and a target set.

Externals and first impressions

The external body of the pistol is completely polymer but has a solid feeling. It is very light due to the abundance of polymer parts, but then again, despite being a subcompact model, it feels heavier than one would expect– coupled with the magazine, it weighs 265 grams which should be considered featherweight.

The polymer used for external body parts has the usual Marui quality, it is somewhat glossy, somewhat flexible and has a nice quality. The texture of the pistol grip is phenomenal, it improves gripping the pistol, but this is more of a visually striking feature. The color, texture and appearance is uniform across all external parts, including the slide, frame, and the magazine. Externally, there is not much in terms of metal parts, except the disassembly screw and some more pins. This means metal parts can not interfere with the uniform color of polymer parts.

Trademarks and logos appear in multiple places, the pistol is very „busy” when it comes to this. I found that the regular ASGK logo and the manufacturing company / manufacturing place indications are a little too annoying because of how much space they take from the small surface.

The sights are puritanic, they are borderline unusable – but I guess sights do not matter for a self-defense subcompact pistol. They can not be adjusted, there is no painted aiming dot or anything, although there is some less visible horizontal texture. It is strictly a last resort sight. The best part about it, is that it does not get stuck on anything.

Internals and structure

The biggest advantage of the new Marui NBB series is the internals. It is shockingly puritanic and simple! There is nothing complex inside, the MK23 is space technology compared to this.

Basically, the trigger bar pulls the hammer backwards, and then slides off of it, allowing the hammer to strike forward and hit the valve. Parallel to this, the slider in the magazine is moved so that one BB is fed into the hop up chamber. The same part is responsible for routing the gas from the magazine. Thanks to this, the number of integrated parts is very low and the parts themselves are oversized. The only thing to pay attention to, is the the trigger bar at reassembly stage – it has to be dropped into the slide and let it do its ’magic’ on its own. The whole mechanism gives the feeling of a hardcore NBB, it is reliable through its primitivity. The only bad news is the hop up.

It features a completely new bucking, which is a little oversized and is loose. Officially it is a fixed, non-adjustable hop up, but the plate responsible for pushing the bucking can just be popped out and modified. I bent it just a little and then reinstalled it. The structure even allows to ’adjust’ by sliding the plate forward or backward over the barrel. This allows for some actual adjustment. This way, I managed to have a pistol that hopped 0.28 gram BBs steadily, instead of the original hop up setting which was dialed to 0.23 gram BBs.

Its tiny inner barrel combined with the small volume of gas with each trigger pull means that it is not a very strong pistol. In fact, the initial muzzle velocity is around 160-180 FPS, so low that even with joule creep from heavier BBs, it will not bother anyone.

Magazine

The magazine is tiny and was modeled after the new generation of Marui mags. The inlet valve received a longer cylinder, which is useful for green gas bottles with a plastic filling nozzle. As usual from Marui, there is no sealing O-ring inside the inlet valve, so gas will always leak back
during filling (until the user installs an O-ring themselves).

Filling the BBs is a little difficult because the slider responsible to load the BBs and route the gas gets in the way. Fortunately, the feeding channel has been widened at one point, the user can pull the follower under it and fill it that way.

The sealing block is once again fixed into place with pins, which is very sad – obviously, this is done to save costs on the manufacturing. The good news is that the alloy casting is not too thin, so we do not have to be afraid of green gas breaking it from internal pressure.

Performance

It is a very gas-efficient and simple design. The magazine can store enough gas to clear all BBsnmultiple times. I was feeling courageous and filled it with black gas in winter time to overload it on purpose – to my surprise, it had no issues. The trigger is a little unusual after all the GBBs.

The travel is long as a train, the weight of the trigger pull has a distinct arching behaviour, but you can get used to it surprisingly fast.

By default, I would recommend to use it at no more than 25 meters (~80 feet). At 30-35 meters (100-115 feet) the replica can also hit targets reasonably well, but at this distance, it is useless to even try due to the low muzzle energy. My experience is that it thrives at 15 meters (50 feet).

From my side, I increased the BB weight to 0.28 grams and use it as a concealed pistol, trying to get in close proximity to targets on LARP events. It is also useful as a secondary for sniper and DMR users, especially if you have a spotter.

Based on tests so far, I can say that it withstands both cold and hot temperatures. In winter time, when local fields have 5 Celsius (40 Fahrenheit) temperature, I could happily use it, even attempted to load various strong gases into the magazine – as you probably know, all Marui replicas are recommended to be used with low pressure japanese ’duster’ gas. I have not experienced any light strikes, this means that the hammer spring was strong enough to open the magazine valve every

time. Continuous usage is not a problem either, because the low (10 BB) capacity magazines are not big enough to cause a major cooldown, therefore it can not cause an operational issue.

Not even dirt could interfere with the usage of this replica. I did not see any feeding issue, jamming or any other problem. The only thing to pay attention to, is to always pull the trigger all the way to the end because the user is feeding the BB manually through the double action trigger.

At the moment, I do not know any upgrade options besides the inner barrel. The bucking is completely smoth from the inside and the hammer spring is a simple cylinder-shaped spring, too. I hope for a drop-in adjustable hop up chamber, it would greatly improve the whole replica – but, at the end of the day, bending the plate is also a viable option.

Disassembly and maintenance

Disassembly is very easy, the recoil spring guide rod has become a screw-on point, it has a small screw that keeps the slide fixed to the frame at the front. By removing the screw, the slide comes off to the forward direction. The rod connected to the trigger bar – which handles the cocking of the hammer, the feeding of the BB and the gas inlet – is just dropped into a hole inside the slide. Of course it is recommended to align at the bottom first.

After this, cleaning is very easy. The bucking is so simple, the cleaning rod can be pushed through the whole hop up assembly.

Accessories

Marui came out with many accessories, which we got used to after the NextGen AEG line.

Right away, there are two different magazines, the traditional 10 BB magazine and an extended 15 BB version.

There are holsters made for the replicas which make it easier to use them as concealed carry, it fits one pistol and a magazine. Right away, I tried two different holsters, one of them was the original Marui holster and the other was a Cytac Mini-Guard holster.

The Marui holster is a modern design, it can be used well. If you already bought an LCP, it is a good idea to also buy a holster – be sure to buy the one matching your replica type! It can be rearranged to fit any desired carry style – under your clothes turned innerwards to belt / under your clothes turned outwards to belt / attached to belt / attached to plate carrier. The pistol slides into the holster easily, it wraps around the pistol with an audible clicking noise when inserted, this can also be felt by the way. Pulling it out is also easy, plus the tightness can be freely adjusted.

The Cytac holster was made for the real steel pistol, specifically for the M&P Bodyguard .380 – but it is featured on the compatibility list of the Ruger LCP1-2. Due to the front sight, it is tight and it is more difficult to insert/remove. You can modify the front sight to have a little less height and it will be okay. The holster is tight, we will not lose the pistol for sure, but unholstering the replica also becomes a bigger task, it needs a rigid and high quality belt. I used it with a leather belt and it was somewhat wobbling. With a padded military belt, I had better results.

Surprisingly, there is also a suppressor adapter for it, but its proprietary inner barrel means that installing a longer/enhanced inner barrel is going to be a little difficult. I tried the ’Leapfrog’ 3D printed adapter and fitted an Acetech Lighter BT tracer without any issues. The result was funny because the suppressor was larger than the pistol – giving it a spy movie feeling. Let me point out that the pictures were made with this adapter already installed. By the way, the factory outer barrel is a smooth, featureless piece of plastic.

Conclusion

I don’t think that these replicas will break the hegemony of the MK23 and its clones. The MK23 is a much more complicated replica from an engineering standpoint, and this also means that it has much more potential and capabilities. On the other hand, its compact size, good price and lack of maintenance means that the new Marui NBB series has some great possibilities. It can be hidden, it is lightweight, compact and has decent operation, which makes it a good alternative in my opinion.

Text: Batmause
Photos: Batmause
Translation: Yssomru