Value and Innovation are two things that rank highly in what we do. We love to give our customers a whole lot of bang for their buck and give them an airgun shooting experience that is just not found everywhere. For some products these two features align to a great deal, and on some other products one might win out over the other. In the case of the brand new AER16 BB carbine, there’s certainly a case for both, but many might see this as favoring the innovative side of the coin. Let’s lay out the facts surrounding the AER16 and you can decide for yourself.
It’s Electric, Baby, Yeah!
The AER16 is in fact an electric, or battery powered, BB gun. While this may be novel for the .177 community, this has been the go-to method of powering airsoft carbines for years now. Why electric? For starters, the battery offers great performance in a wider variety of ambient air temperatures. CO2 powered airguns don’t operate all that well when the temperature is cool. And shooting a CO2 powered airgun in burst or full-auto mode can lead to the valve freezing up and the gun stops functioning.
In addition to offering more flexibility for seasonal use, plugging in a battery doesn’t require any special tools. While there’s a bit of expense in attaining a spare battery, you do not have a recurring expense for “fuel”. Just plug the battery into the charger, let it charge and you are ready to go. In the AER16 the battery is stored in the buttstock. Just remove the butt plate, dig out the wires, plug the battery into the AER16’s connection, and install the battery pack into the buffer tube. This is about as easy as it can get.
The AER16 is Loaded with Features
Again, like the 6mm airsoft guns that the AER16 is based on, the magazine works like a mid-cap magazine. A mid-cap magazine loads through the top. Now this does require a speedloader (or an extreme amount of patience) to load the BBs into the magazine, but once it is loaded with 55 BBs, install the magazine into the mag well and the AEG16 is ready to rock and roll. I should mention here that the speedloader is included with the AER16.
This electric .177 caliber BB carbine does have a whole bucket full of other worthy features to talk about. The stock is adjustable for length of pull and features a generous cheek rest and two different sling attachment points. Moving down the rifle, you will find an ambidextrous single point sling connection (HK or clip style), an ergonomic pistol grip, a flip-up rear peep sight, full length picatinny rail, right and left side quick detach sling socket, Multi-Facet M-LOK rail attachment points and a flip up shielded front sight post. The AER16 comes with a BB speedloader, smart charger, and 11.1 LiPo tri-panel Tamiya connector battery.
Speaking of the battery, there’s gobs of options out there for batteries since the airsoft world has been using this style of battery for years. Aside from a spare battery, you will want to pick up a healthy supply of .177 caliber BBs. We keep those in stock year round. Be sure to add a few bottles to your order before you check out.