At the 2008 Tokyo Hobby Show, Tokyo Marui has unveiled its next product featuring the "Shoot & Recoil Engine," which was first featured in its AK74MN AEG. The new SOPMOD M4 features full metal aluminum diecast upper and lower receivers, following the trend set after Tokyo Marui's first full metal AEG release with the Type-89. It is clear that Tokyo Marui is serious in competing with the full metal AEG offerings from other manufacturers.

The new M4 series specific V2 mechbox has the entire compression mechanism shifted backwards to allow the use of the new full length "real size" magazines (82 round capacity for standard, and 430 round capacity for high capacity). It is quite evident with the extra long nozzle being used. This allows the magazines to sit directly below the hop-up chamber and feed every single round into the system. Traditional hop-up unit designs with integrated feed tube always wasted 3 to 4 BBs per magazine load. Backwards compatibility with the current AEG magazines is likely non-existent though without some sort of an adapter.

With the gear spacing, it is quite plausible that the new mechbox uses the same gear set from the other AEGs featuring the recoil system. So upgradeability will be limited for some foreseeable time with the lack of aftermarket parts.

Furthermore, the mechbox is integrated with the stock tube due to the design of the recoil system. A long weight piece is placed inside to the stock tube to simulate recoil. As such, an adjustable crane stock is used for housing the battery pack. The new battery pack features cableless direct connection. The design is likely similar to Tokyo Marui's microAEG offerings with the use of a proprietary connector. This also means the use of aftermarket battery cells would require a connector transplant.



One notable feature of the new AEG is the functional bolt catch. Apparently the system will cut off power after the last round has been fired. The feature is probably limited to the standard capacity magazines though. Due to the design of high capacity magazines, such function is likely difficult to implement.

The SOPMOD M4 is currently scheduled for release at the end of the year. No MSRP has been posted yet. More photos of the SOPMOD M4 can be found at L.A.GUNSHOP's blog page and Hyper Douraku.