Congrats! You've chosen to enable closed captions! I'm proud of you! In this video, we're unboxing and modifying the Daniel Defense Mk18 replica by EMG. The replica comes with a couple hundred cheap bb's. It is recommended that you do not use these. It also comes with this large Allen key. It comes with a p-mag style midcap magazine that holds around 150 bb's. It ships with an orange flash hider that I have gone ahead and removed before starting the video. For those who may not be aware, this is
not illegal, and you should never take an airsoft gun into public even with an orange tip. It includes this cleaning and unjamming rod as well as a card that has instructions for programming the internal mosfet, which I forgot to show. Finally, the replica itself. It is fully licensed by Daniel Defense and is made primarily out of aluminum with some polymer components. By default the fire selector can switch between safe, semi, and full auto, but the internal mosfet can be programmed for fire m
odes such as burst and binary. It has basic flip up iron sights, which I was hoping to keep on the weapon, as I like how they look, but I was unable to make them fit with all the other accessories I added. Pulling the charging handle opens the ejection port cover, giving you access to the hopup adjustment wheel. In airsoft guns, there is a hopup mechanism that applies a backspin on the plastic bb's as they exit the barrel. This backspin gives the bb a slight rising force (thus it's called "hop u
p") allowing the bb's to fly slightly further than without it. The hopup adjustment wheel allows the player to tune the amount of "hopup" to their desired level. Not enough hop and you lose out on extra range, and too much hop and you lose a lot of accuracy. Pressing the "bolt release lever" on the opposite side of the replica allows you to close the faux bolt which covers the hop up adjustment wheel when not in use. The replica features a standard crane style 6 position adjustable stock. I orde
red a different stock to replace it, but I bought it from a shady source, and am not sure if it will ever actually show up, so I decided to just make the video without it. While I prefer the look of the included p-mag, I ordered these hex mags to use instead. When it comes to airsoft AEG magazines, there are two primary types: high capacity (high caps), and mid capacity (mid caps). High caps hold more bb's, as the name suggests, but they do so by having a large open resevoir of bb's contained wi
thin them. This means that the magazine makes a loud rattling sound (much like a maraca). It also requires the user to periodically wind up the internal spring, to keep tension on the bb's allowing them to feed into the gun. Mid caps, on the other hand, store bb's in a traditional spring loaded channel, similar to a real firearm magazine, which means no rattle and no need to wind an internal spring. However, this also means that mid caps hold significantly fewer bb's than high caps. My main moti
vation for getting these hex mags is their capacity. Typical mid cap magazines hold about 120-180 bb's, and most high caps hold around 300+. These hex mags are mid caps, but still manage to hold 250 bb's, which is the best of both worlds. When releasing a magazine, there is a slight spring powered ejection force on the mag, which could potentially help get a mag out in certain situations. One of the first modifications we will make to this replica is to switch out the inner barrel and hop up buc
king. The inner barrel is the part of the replica that guides the bb as it exits, so improving the inner barrel can have significant effects on power, range, and accuracy. I went with a stainless steel 370 x 6.01mm tightbore inner barrel for this build, which will be a decent upgrade from the factory brass inner barrel. Stainless steel is a harder and more corrosive resistant metal than brass, making it significantly more damage resistant. Stainless steel is also slightly less dense, meaning it
weighs less given the same volume of material. For the hop up bucking, I went with a G&G green bucking, which is a cheap but decent option for general purpose use. To swap the inner barrel, we must first disassemble the replica. To do this, we need to push out the two pins that hold the upper and lower receivers together. I recorded this part, but it ended up being too loud, so I skipped ahead. This is the default inner barrel and hop up assembly. After disconnecting the barrel clip, the inner b
arrel can be pulled out from the hop up assembly. There is a small channel cut into the inner barrel that matches up to an extrusion on the inside of the bucking, which helps with alignment. The process is then reversed for reassembly. Ensure proper fitment to make certain you'll have a good air seal. The spring on the front of the hop up assembly ensures that the inner barrel and hop up are always the proper distance from the gear box. As you can see, the new inner barrel protrudes much farther
out the end of the outer barrel than the factory inner barrel did. We will get around this issue by using a mock suppressor. I like the look of suppressors a lot, so using them to extend the inner barrel is a win-win. The hexagonal shroud on this mock suppressor will match the hexmags nicely :) I've pre-applied thread sealant tape to the threads of the outer barrel, which is why they appear white. This step is unnecessary, but I like doing it for a more snug fitment of muzzle attachments. Lastl
y, I spin the hexagonal shroud so that the seam points downward where it is less noticeable, for a cleaner look. Next, we'll add this stubby vertical foregrip. This is a knock off of the BCM short vertical grip. This grip has a very slight angle, giving the user two different options for mounting. I much prefer the "backwards" orientation. The machining on the handguard is very sharp, so I'll be using these rail covers to ensure my hands don't get sliced up while I'm holding it. Alternatively, y
ou can use gloves, but I have strange sized hands, so gloves never fit me. I realized that I had mounted the grip one slot too far forward, so I had to remount it. The rail covers are made of a fairly dense rubber material, that is not very squishy, but still flexible. Installing them on the rails is straight forward, but a little finicky. Once the cover is installed properly, it is very solid, and super comfortable! My hand doesn't touch the right side rail when I have the replica shouldered no
rmally, but I'm putting a cover on the right side still in the event that I swap shoulders. Next we'll be adding a light. I've gone with the cheap option of a knock off surefire scout light with an m600 head. This particular version has the swivel style mount. I own both the standard fixed inline mount as well as this one, and can say that this one is better in every way. Just get a swivel mount if you're getting one. It comes with an M-LOK rail adapter that I won't be using. It seems to be miss
ing the actual M-LOK hardware anyways. It also comes with a clicky button tail cap, a surefire style rubbery tape switch, and an adhesive pad. The light is powered by 2 cr123a batteries. It's very bright and lasts a very long time. The clicky button tail cap allows for constant on activation, but lacks a dedicated momentary on activation method. This ported tail cap is for use with a tape switch, such as the one included, which only allows momentary activation. For now, I'll be sticking with the
ported tail cap, but we'll come back to that later in the video. I've realized since making this video that the flashlight sticks out a little farther than I'd prefer, so I have tucked it in a little closer to the handguard since recording. Now, we'll be removing the flip up iron sights in favor of an optic. As stated earlier, I wanted to keep them on, but there wasn't room. The optic I decided to go with for this build was a knock off Aimpoint Micro T2. It's simple and effective, and I also wa
nted to try different height risers. I play airsoft with a facemask which can make getting behind lower mounted optics a struggle. This optic came with removeable flip up, transparent lens protectors which are very convenient for airsoft use. The default mount is far too low for use with a face mask, so I got two different height risers to experiment with. The first is this knock off Scalarworks Leap 01 1.57" mount. The second is this knock off Unity Fast Micro 2.26" mount. The Unity mount also
has built in iron sights with just about the smallest sight radius ever seen. After some experimentation, I found the taller Unity mount to be better suited to my needs. The Aimpoint Micro T2 is powered by a single cr2032 battery and it has 12 brightness settings. I should have installed this before, but now we'll add a lightcap to our weapon light. On top of its normal benefits, it also serves to protect the flashlight lens while not in use. Getting this elastic band over the whole apparatus is
a bit of a pain, but maybe if you do it smarter than me, it isn't. Now it's time for a laser aiming module. For this build, I went with a knock off B.E. Meyers MAWL C1+. It's made mostly of aluminum, it has both infrared as well as visible modes of operation, as well as 3 intensity levels. The unit is powered by a single cr123a battery. The visible laser is very bright on all 3 intensity settings. I can't measure it properly, but I estimate it to be between 5 and 20mw. This makes the laser too
bright for use against other players. Never shine the laser at another person. It is very fun to use for target shooting though. I demonstrate the IR laser here because I know the camera's digital sensor can pick it up slightly. The faint pink spot you can see in the video is completely invisible to the naked eye. This mode of operation is intended for use with night vision, which is sensitive to the wavelength of light being produced by the laser. It's time we returned to tape switches. These w
ill allow us to activate our array of lights and lasers from a more comfortable grip position. I have two different styles here that have slightly different functionality. The first is this knock off Unity TAPS style switch, which has two flat buttons. The second is this knock off Unity AXON style switch, which has a flat rear button, and an angled front button. The clickiness of the AXON switch seems more positive. The TAPS switch is completely incapable of constant on activation. It can only p
erform momentary activation. This is nice, as momentary activation is more useful than constant on, but it can be nice to have the capability to use constant on in certain situations. The AXON switch is kind of a hybrid system. The button has a fairly deep recess and a stiff spring. This means that if the user simply applies light pressure to the button, the light goes into momentary activation. Pushing the button all the way in, allows for constant on. This gives the AXON switch more utility th
an the TAPS switch, but I prefer the ergonomics and usage of the TAPS switch. To overcome the shortcoming of the TAPS switch, I have this aftermarket tail cap for the scout light body which will give us the functionality we want. This tail cap features both a surefire port, as well as a clicky button, fulfilling both roles simultaneously. We now have constant on and the ability to use the TAPS switch for momentary activation. This tail cap also has the same function as the AXON switch, in that a
soft press will activate momentary on, and a full press activates constant on. The only compromise in this setup is a slight increase to overall weight. We can now activate both the light and laser from a comfortable grip position. Now that we have cables on our replica, it's important to tie them down, so that they don't get in the way, or snag on the environment. We'll be using Ranger Bands for this. The name is silly, but they are essentially heavy duty rubber bands made specifically for thi
s purpose. My phone ran out of space, so the recording ended, but I managed to get the cables tied down. Now it's time for the sling. I'll be adding some sling points for use with a two point sling. For the front sling point, I'm using this 45 degree offset QD sling mount. For the rear sling mount, I'll be utilizing the built in receiver plate by using an Hk style sling hook. I like using a two point sling with the points close together, as I feel it gives a good balance between the benefits of
both the single and two point sling. The sling I'm using is fairly standard, with a padded section for added comfort, and a metal cam for adjustable length. I prefer the cam design over bunjee style slings. I won't be threading it onto the replica in this video as it's already gone on long enough. As always, I'm a big fan of magpul mag assists in both form and function. I've gone ahead and pre applied one to another hexmag. That's the completed build! Thanks for watching, I hope you've enjoyed!
If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments. Catch ya later! :)
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