So, every so often something VERY cool comes along in AEG form that many of us look at a say immediately “must have”, and the guys at DOUBLE BELL have pulled the cat out of the proverbial bag as their MINI 14 is just about to drop into stores!
Why does this come under the heading “must have” for us? Well, apart from being one of Jase’s “airsoft unicorns” it is of course the rifle used pretty much exclusively in “The A-Team”!
A scaled-down version of the M14 rifle, the MINI 14 was a folding-stock carbine chambered in .223/5.56×45 mm created by Sturm, Ruger & Co. in the 1970s, and it was a very popular “sporting rifle”; as a TV show choice, the MINI 14 was an affordable civilian sporting rifle, so would have been easier to procure in the USA, and draw less attention from law enforcement, so ideal for those “guys on the run”.
The folding stock also made it more compact and concealable than the M16, which would also make it a great choice when deploying from BA’s van, and whilst Hannibal and the crew would have used M16s in Vietnam, they probably also trained with the regular M14 so would immediately be familiar with the MINI 14 manual of arms.
And the DOUBLE BELL AEG take on this looks very cool indeed, especially the stainless/wood version we can spot a few little differences from the model actually used in the show… no biggy, easily solved! What we do like is that the different models in the MINI 14 range all use standard AR AEG mags, so that’s a win for us all!
We also see from the spiel that the DOUBLE BELL take will have a dedicated gearbox and an ECU, and four different variants have been shown off already on their website, with different barrel lengths, muzzle devices and finishes. Overall the features look solid enough;
- Dedicated compartment for Li-ion battery located within the lower handguard.
- Fully Automatic / Semi-Automatic Controlled via Electronic PCBA
- Metal Gear Box
- Metal Folding Stock
- Compatible with normal AR AEG Mid Capacity And High Capacity Magazines
We’re looking forward to seeing our contact from DOUBLE BELL at IWA at the end of this month, so we’ll find out more the… but you can be certain that there’ll be more than one of these landing in the AA Armoury soon!
We just love it when a plan comes together!
