We’re getting our personal defense weapon on in this review of G&G’s PDW 15 CQB.
Externals and Reviews
We begin the Externals by mentioning the gun’s beautiful CNC aluminum rail, which has a fine satin black finish on it. The rail is across the top and can have many cutouts on the sides, so it can be made somewhat lightweight and not too heavy in the front. There are tons of attachment screw points for the three included rail segments, or the seven section long segments, which you can put wherever you’d like. We personally found the hold very comfortable without it, as it feels great and fits in the hand just right. It’s also got a couple little angles to it but not too many, as most are rounded off along with all the holes. By doing this, nothing sharp bites into the hand, which we would expect from G&G, as well as the subtle markings which are neither too big, nor plastered. As for the rail segment, there are three on this model, meaning you have all the spots that you will need, namely the far back, way in the front, or anywhere on the sides. You can even put them on a 45 degree angle upwards or downwards on the sides all the way around, giving you the option to put on a light, laser, foregrip, or whatever else you’d like. The segments are included in the box but aren’t pre-installed, so you don’t have to worry about moving or changing them.
Underneath the rail there is an outer barrel with 14 mm counterclockwise threading and the integral suppressor, which goes from that point all the way upwards. The orange suppressor is plastic, and is painted black for the U.S. version. As for the international versions, we’re not too sure if the suppressor will be metal or plastic, but in the latter case it will be black all the way through with a nice and satiny finish. If you want remove the orange portion and live in the U.S. and are of age, you can do the orange tip removal. We’d recommend removing the inter barrel and then painting it since it is quite hollow, and then returning it into place. Or, if you’re willing to put in the work, you can take the suppressor off, which will be thread locked. It will definitely take a little work but shouldn’t be too hard to paint if you choose to do so. There is also a nicely rounded and sleek black-hole or concave kind of look to it, and not just a flat look, adding a great touch to the rounding off.
As for the top, there are top metal flip up sights, which are front and rear fully adjustable, and can be configured up, down, left, right, in the back and verticality in the front. They also are very low profile, so when they’re not in use, they can be popped out of the way and take up little vertical space on the rail. The upper and lower receivers are both full metal and have fully ambi controls, meaning both lefties and righties are set. The charging handle works on both sides, and can be used by grabbing the side and opening the door, which exposes the barrel type, namely the pop up or the rotary style hop up inside. We love that style and are glad so many companies are moving to adapt it. Similarly, all fire controls are both lefty and righty friendly, with G&G going out of their way to make more guns, especially those in their high end series, lefty friendly as well. The left fire selector is a little longer than the right one, stopping it from pushing into your hand if you happen to be left handed. You simply click, adjust the Allen key screw, and viola, you can move the left over to the right and now have a left handed shot. The mag release is also fully ambi, which is convenient because for normal air control you are required to take your finger off the trigger to perform a mag change. However, on this model, there are buttons on the side which you can press with your thumb, allowing for a one handed mag change, in which you leave your finger on the trigger, reach up, pull the mag out and view the mag change. There are also reinforcements built around it with a lot of attention to detail, meaning you can’t accidentally bump those controls or the mag release. Due to the metal build up, you really have to intentionally get your hand in there in order to hit the button.
The magazine has about 300 round high caps included in the box. The plastic body with the rubber outer coating and finger grooves make it very easy to perform mag changes. However, keep in mind that some of these are a little tough to get in the double mag pouches because of the extra rubber on. This is a small price to pay in order to have a really nice mag with a good rubber coating, and the convenience of an easy grip, better than almost any other mag on the market today, makes it certainly worth it.
With regards to the bottom, there is an oversized trigger guard which is extra beefy and is curved outwards, which will fit even if you have gloves on or have very big hands. There is a nice finger groove on the grip that is ambi as well, along with a motor adjustment plate and large heat sinks in order to keep everything nice and cool. On the back, there is an attachment point here for a ring, which we’d use to hang a sling in. What really makes the PDW a PDW is the spring loaded PDW stock (as well as the integrated suppressor which is inside the rail). To use the stock, press both buttons simultaneously and, after it pops up, it will spring out and can be pulled the rest of the way. In the back, it is curved and rounded which is very comfortable, especially when compared to the normally small flat plates found in other PDWs. This lack of comfort in other PDWs was definitely among our biggest complaints, with the biggest of all being the battery compartment. The battery compartment is also located in the back which is a single button push that allows you to pull up the plate, which will stay in the groove unless it is wiggled out. Take note of the end cap and not to lose it, as it is where the ‘spring loadedness’ so-to-speak is for the stock. Inside of there you have a Tamiya connector and a blade type fuse, similar to the style of a car, allowing for easy access and swapping if needed. On the plus side, the stock is longer than most PDW stocks by about an inch and a half, which allows an 11-1 or 7-4 lipo in there without issue, similar to a buffer tube style with many compatible versions available on the market. Definitely proceed with caution and test out your choice beforehand however. You won’t be able to fit a 9-6 nunchuck in there, but most people have moved over to lipos these days, which we’d certainly recommend one does as well, considering the power and the performance on this high end gun
Internals
Under the hood, you will find what you’d expect from a high end G&G gun, especially as of 2016 onwards. There are 8 mm bearing bushings reinforced in the internals that are gearset, with all components in there being top of the line. In the front, there are six 3 mm types inside which run all the way to a little before the top free floated, but you won’t have any issues since the hole here has more than enough room. We had no problems while testing if any BBs would bounce around the inside of the suppressor and found that all shot quite well with no significant issues.
Chrono Test
Considering that this is a CQB gun, one of its many solid features is that it doesn’t shoot too hard, regardless of if you are playing indoors or outdoors. The ROF is just as it needs to be, thanks to the 25k high torque motor in the grip on the gun which pushes the short gears and everything else inside of the mech box. If this number is slightly lower or higher than what is needed for your field, don’t worry about it, as a quick change spring system is present to allow for any adjustments. This is done by taking it out of the shell and getting the mech box out of the receiver, and then opening the box up to make the changes. Don’t stress if you are a little averse to making those changes, as it is quite straightforward, and learning to do so will save you the extra couple of bucks you’d have spend by taking it to a shop.
Final thoughts
All in all, if you have been holding out for a PDW (like we have, because of the two issues we mentioned above, namely the battery storage and the comfort of the stock) then definitely take a look at G&G’s PDW 15 CQB. Keep in mind that this is a premium gun, and so it will be on the higher end price-wise. If you know that you are looking for a budget gun, then this may not be in your ballpark. However, you do get what you pay for, and the few minor changes and attention to detail certainly make up for the nice price tag.
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