Marushin M-500
Gas Powered 8mm Airsoft Shotgun
Review by Tyler
 

One of the most sought after CQB/CQC (Close Quarters Battle / Combat) weapons in airsoft is the gas powered shot gun from Marushin.  If you have not seen one or went up against one in a game.. you have yet to feel the adrenaline rush of going up against one.  Power wise, these shotguns have the same FPS as nice GNBB pistol.. we'll get into that later.  Just the sound alone can make a newbie start to sweat.  Well.. we're going to give you a basic run down of this weapon.

The weapon that we are going to be reviewing will be an 'unmodified' Marushin Mossberg M-500 8 mm airsoft shotgun.  Although.. the review shotgun is suppose to have upgraded valves installed.  Throughout the review we'll be referring to a modified version of the M-500 with a pistol grip and a real steel Remington 870 Express.  Please note that these other weapons are simply for comparison and any modification or similarities is not recommended per the manufacturer.

As will all of our reviews.. we are not going to bore you with the details of the weapon as you can find that anywhere these days.  But since we're such nice guys.. here is a copy of the information available on the internet.

Blah.. blah.. blah..

Okay.. now the fun part.. proving all of that wrong.  First thing we're going to address is the hop-up.  It states that the hop up is 'fixed'.. but after I completely disassembled this weapon.. I have found that the hop up is in fact adjustable.  Now.. it is NOT adjustable like an AEG where you can just turn a knob adjust it.  You have to completely disassemble the barrel assembly and get to the inner barrel.  Did that make any sense?  I will be honest with you though.. because it is really not worth the trouble.  It is not something that you will want to do on the field.. nor is it something that you will be able to do on the fly.  But.. if you have some extra time and you want to mess with it.. I assure you that the hop-up is adjustable.  Maybe a I will do a write up on that at a later date.  Personally, I pulled the hop up screw out to help the 'spread' of the BB's.  I have yet to try it in a game yet.. but from when I used the shotgun 'with' the hop up.. the spread was about one foot @ 40 feet... NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

The next thing.. Capacity.  Well.. click on the above picture and tell me how many BB's you count.   I'll wait.....................done yet?  Okay.. well .. I counted FORTY NINE... WHOA.. But that's seven more than it says you can...YEP.  Now, I have found that 49 is the absolute max that it can fit. After that I guarantee that the loading rod will not close.. Anyway, 48 is the 'best' number to load because it is easy to see 'where' 48 BB's are..

(50) FIFTY BB's.... This amount is too much....

(49) FORTY NINE BB's... This amount is the max....

(48) FORTY EIGHT BB's.... This is JUST RIGHT....

Now, mind you... this is with the forend down and the breech open.  But don't worry.. you'll have to pull the forend back to load it anyway because the loading port is located behind the fore grip. 

So once you get to the loading port.. you will need to pull the loading rod out.  In order to do this, you will need to rotate a lever on the front of the ammo tube.  All of the Marushin gas shotguns that i have come across have to be rotated forward to load.. but you never know.. there might be one that is backwards.  I'm just sharing the info with you guys..

If you can not pull down the fore grip.. it is because the gun has been 'cocked' and is 'hot'.  You must pull the trigger to drop the hammer.  This feature is the same in real steel shotguns.  This is to ensure that you don't accidentally eject the shell you just loaded on accident.  I also look at it as another way to tell if the weapon is 'hot'.  Anyway, if pulling the trigger is not an option, you will have to depress a small lever that is found near the trigger.  By pressing this lever, it will release the fore grip allowing you to pull it back and either load, reload or unload.

So... what's next?... Oh.. the gas.  Well, the manufacture recommends that you use ONLY HFC 134 gas in your Marushin airsoft shotgun.  And you should.  But if you're like us, you don't know how to follow directions and just 'have' to find out what happens if you 'push' the limits.  Well.. we decided to use green gas.  Why?  Because... that's why.. okay.. that's all we have.  Anyway, the Marushin comes with a 'relief' valve.  It is just forward of the fill valve.  It's purpose it to release any 'extra' pressure inside the shotgun so it doesn't blow the seals....  UH...... :scratches head:.  Well.. as I told you, I have completely taken this weapon apart and the only 'seals' that I have found are those of the fill valve, the firing valve and the relief valve.  The rest of the 'gas chamber' is full metal.  So.. with that said.. we used Green gas... and lots of it.  I will say though, after a while.. IT WILL blow the relief valve and what will happen is all your gas will start spraying out of the release valve and leaking.  It kind of sucks.. but there is nothing you can do about it... Sorry..

Ahahahaha... just kidding.. you didn't think we were going to leave you like that did you?  Okay, to eliminate this problem... or at least what we have found to work is to fill the relief/release valve with super glue.  Yep.. fill that thing all the way up and let it sit.  To this day, I have yet to have a problem with my Marushin M-500 airsoft shot gun.  Now, I'm not saying that this is an end all - be all.. but until it fails me.. I'm sharing that with you guys.

Here is a look at the 'ORIGINAL' valve..

And here is the 'modified' (glued) valve..

Okay... so now that we are talking about gas... and we have one last thing to prove wrong... we get to FPS.. Feet Per Second..  So, you might be asking yourself... "Self.. what FPS does this Marushin airsoft shotgun shot at?"... And here is the answer.. or at least this is the answer that 'we' got.

While using Green gas, we tested the shotgun with both a single shot.. as well as the full three shots to fires.... WHOA.. wait a minute.. THREE SHOTS?.. Yes, that's right sports fans.  This Marushin shotgun fires three (3) BB's at a time.. with only one cock of the weapon.  No more pumping the shot gun multiple times to get multiple BB's.  This weapon fires three BB's at a time.  So, with this new information combined with the capacity information that I already gave you of 48 rounds.. you should have a total of 16 shots.  Not too bad considering that a real steel shot gun is about 7-9 rounds on average.  So for all you 'realism' buffs out there.. this is pretty close.

Oh... wait a minute... I forgot to tell you about the ammo... YEP.. did you catch it up top?  This airsoft shotgun is firing 8 mm BB's.  Yes.. the big ones.... the expensive ones.. .but the big ones nonetheless.  So far.. the average price that I have found 8mm BB's for is about $16.00... for only 500.. ARGH. Yes.. that's right.. only 500. 
Let's see.. 500 / 3 = 166.66666666666666666666666666667 shots... / $16.00 = 10.416666666666666666666666666667 per shot...Wow..

Can you see the difference?

Not only are these BB's 8mm... but they are also 0.34 grams... Yep.. they are heavy suckers.  Not your basic 6mm .20 grams here.  You get hit by these.. they hurt.  So, back to the FPS question.. and if you get shot.. how bad will it hurt.  Well these are the numbers that we found..

My Marushin 8mm Airsoft shotgun, with stock valves and glued relief valve...

Single shot = 463.7 FPS

Three shots = 321.8 FPS

The review Marushin 8mm Airsoft gas shotgun with (supposedly) upgraded hi-flow valves..
* Not super glued *

Single shot = 462.0 FPS

Three shots = 259.0 FPS

Now... I must say that we were testing these at normal room temp.. I am guessing it was about 73-75 degrees.  I will say that the next week, while doing our skirmish report that they did not chrono as high.  At that time the temperature was approximately 68 degrees.  I don't remember what the numbers were.. but the single shot was about 415-420 or so and the three shot was about 305.

So.. now that I have dispelled most of the 'listed as' things.. what else can I tell you about this weapon?  Well, first of all the weight of this weapon is very realistic.  So much that it is difficult to tell the difference of an empty real steel shotgun against the airsoft version.  Each weighs in at approximately 7 lbs. The synthetic stock and fore grip feels just like the real thing and since nearly everything is made out of metal, it is very sturdy.  When cocking the Marushin airsoft shotgun, it is very close to cocking the real thing.  The only difference that I have found is that on the airsoft version it is 'lighter' and has a bit of a 'sag' once cocked.  Meaning with a real steel shotgun, the motion to load is much more deliberate and takes a bit more force to pull the fore grip back.. but not much.  Also, when the real steel shot gun is locked and loaded, the fore grip does not move at all... where as the airsoft version can pull back slightly.  Not enough to concern yourself with.

OH... THE SOUND.  Just the sound alone on the Marushin shotgun is enough to justify the purchase.  I don't know if you have ever heard a real shotgun rack.. but this Marushin is damn near close.  On a real steel shot gun, when you rack it back.. it has a nice crisp sound.  All metal.. you can't mistake that sound.  On an airsoft shotgun, it is very similar.  The difference that I have found is that it has a slight 'plastic' sound to it.  Not as crisp, but distinctive nonetheless.  I will say that it sounds A LOT better than a springer will ever sound. We made a small video of the differences in sound for you to listen to.. simply click here to view it.

The review shot gun was ordered with a G&G retractable stock on it.  This piece we'll do a write up on later, but I will tell you that it is also very true to form.  Side by side with a real steel version it is hard to tell the difference.  Disassembly is different but you'll never know that by simply looking at it.  Here are some pics of the review Marushin next to the Remington 870.

* The real steel Remington has the butt/recoil pad and is on the bottom of the picture*

Here is a picture of the G&G retractable stock..

And here is a picture of the Remington retractable stock..

SKIRMISH REPORT

I'll bet you want to know how it handles in battle..  Well, the very first time that I actually used it in a game to make my first kill with it.. I killed two people in one shot.  I didn't know that there was two.. I just saw the single opponent, shot by reflex and next thing I knew.. two people put their hands up and called hit.  I was coming around some bushes and had my shotgun aimed in the general direction.  When I saw my opponent 'pop out' from the corner, I fired.  Apparently there was a second opponent on the ground laying prone.  I didn't aim, which is great because a shotgun you're really not suppose to aim.  So, for my first kill.. I was very please will its performance.. especially with a two person in one kill.

The environment that I was playing in was very dusty and dirty and I found that dirty collects on the Marushin pretty easily.  So, if you are playing in an area with heavy brush or lots of dirt, I highly recommend that you keep 'an eye' out for dirt that may be getting into the gun.  I am hard on my weapons so I know that I probably got more dirt and grime into my weapon in a game then most people would in an entire day of playing.  So just a word to the wise, keep an eye on where you place your shotgun.  If dirt gets into the moving parts, you will notice it right away.  And unfortunately, the Marushin airsoft shotgun does require some tools to field strip and clean.  But once you get it apart to clean it, it cleans up nicely.

While on the subject of cleaning.. One of the good things about this weapon being made out of mostly metal... everything is somewhat 'sealed'.  Meaning, even if you did get some dirt into the inner workings of the weapon, as long as you didn't 'push' your weapon, it will clean and nothing will be damaged.  Unlike some plastic weapons that if dirt gets on them and they are 'used'.. then they scratch and begin to fall apart.

I haven't yet figured out the best way to carry this weapon in combat and still have it 'accessible' in an emergency.  There is the basic two point shotgun sling method, the one point method and the scabbard.  I have tried both the two point and the one point sling and both worked well, although it is a matter of taste.  I have yet to try the scabbard but I am confident that once I do, I will be loading out my shotgun every game.

There are four things that I have found that I don't like about the Marushin gas shot gun.  One is that the breech shield has a week point.  The 'pivot' on the shield has a tendency to break off.  Once this does, the breech shield will then 'fall' down when you cock the weapon and will not correctly retract.  This can and will damage the shotgun cosmetically but it will not do anything to the firing mechanism.  The second problem that I found is that sometimes the shotgun will leak gas after a shot.  I have found that if you chamber another round, this will instantly stop the 'leak' and you will not loose too much gas.  You will notice it in the video below of the Marushin in action. The third, is alignment pin that holds the firing mechanism inside the shotgun receiver.  This piece fell out while I was in my last skirmish.  Luckily the pistol grip holds the mechanism in place but this is still not good.  I will be machining a pin to replace the lost piece shortly.  So, for you that purchase these shotguns, I highly recommend a piece of tape to cover the pin.  You don't have to 'wrap' the weapon.. just apply some tape to the weapon to keep the pin from 'walking' itself out.  The tape will hold it in place and if the tape begins to peel.. you will be able to adjust it.. but you'll know that the pin is still there.  Below is a picture of the place where the breech plate is connected.  If this piece breaks and falls out.. don't worry too much.  You actually don't 'need' that plate.. it is for looks and to redirect the gases from shooting out of the relief valve.  But we fixed that problem already... right..?!?!?  Also some pics of the plate up and down.. (ie. breech open, breech closed)

The last thing that is a problem, I haven't experienced it myself, but I know someone that it has happened to.  The rods connecting the fore grip to the firing mechanism have a tendency to bend and/or break.  From what I know this is the most common problem, although I haven't experienced it first hand.  But if this happens, you're in luck.  WGC shop - www.wgcshop.com sells these pieces for only $7.00.  The part number is MS-PT-M500NO19 & MS-PT-M500NO20.  So, if you are rough on your shotgun, you may want to purchase some now just in case.

The safety switch is a small problem, but not enough to complain about.  The safety is held in place by a ball bearing that is tensioned by a spring.  Now, over time, the spring looses it's 'spring' and the safety switch begins to 'flop'.  When this happens, it will switch to 'safe' easily.  Really the only thing to worry about is just to make sure that the weapon is off safe as your clearing the room.

As I stated above, I will be doing a step by step how to, on how to disassemble the Marushin 8mm Shotgun.  This will be coming later so just stay tuned to the website.. I'll post it.. eventually.  other than that.. I can't really think of anything else to say about this.

I highly recommend this weapon for the novice level of airsofter.  It is easy to maintain, and really easy to use.  As I have shown it can be 'modified' to accept green gas, although this may void any warnings that may be given.  Now, the reason I say "Novice" is because of the cost of the ammo.  $16.00 for a bag of 500 is a bit steep for anyone.. especially a beginner.  Now, if money is not object.. first.. send me a check for $500.00 then go ahead and purchase one.  From what I have seen, these go for about $250.00 +/-.  I didn't pay for mine because OsO is such a nice guy.. he gave me his... lol... not really.. his broke.. he bought another.. then told me that if I could fix it.. I could have it... so I fixed it... Hahaha.

Anyway.. here are some more pics that I took of the Marushin M500 8mm gas airsoft shotgun.