M3 SHOTGUN "ILONA"

Having a shotgun as part of ones arsenal was always attracting for me. There are some very interesting models in the market. The choices are very limited though for the player who considers seriously skirmishing with them. Basically shotguns are well known and used for the massive firepower that they provide in close ranges. The only available replicas that do the job are Tokyo Marui series shotguns. They have a very clever system that allows you to shoot 3 BBs at the same time. But, they are all plastic and somehow weak (around the 270 FPS area). Then Maruzen, G&P and Marushin produce metal shotguns. Some of them are spring operated, gas operated, single shot, multiple shots, shell ejecting…you just name it. The problem with those is that they cost more than a starter’s AEG, which was out of the question for me…

When I saw the Franchi 3A shotgun produced by Action Sport Games (made in China and just boxed and pushed in the market by ASG) I guessed it was a good base for a project shoti…The model is a clone of the Tokyo Marui M3 one, but the magazine looks like the CA870 one…Go figure!!!!!!!!!! . Weighting only 1700 gr makes it easy to carry and handle. The overall length is about 89 cm. My initial thought was to go for the stockless version but trying out both of them realised that the long version provides more stability and increases the shooter’s ability to take faster and more accurate shots…

The power of the model is stated as 374 FPS on the box. I know what you are thinking “Yeah, right, a plastic Chinese model that shoots at 374 FPS. F**k that shit!!!” That’s absolutely correct. The truth is that this measurement was done using .12 g BBs. The replica’s power with .20 g BBs is around 300 FPS. Not bad for a CQB weapon…

The replica has an excellent feeling, having in mind that the retail price for it is around 35 euros… Its plastic made with the only metal part being the shell ejecting port. The magazine that comes with the shoti holds 30 BBs. Not bad, but the major issue here is that there are no spare magazines available in the market. You might think that since it is a Maruzen 870 clone the magazines are interchangeable. Not!!!!

In my mind, shotguns should always have female names. Where I am coming from the most usual name for one is “Maria” but I though it was just not representing me. So, after some thought I decided to call her “Ilona”. The name was inspired from the great actress Ilona Staller, aka Cicciolina... (Now, do i see some faces smiling? Ehh?)

Ilona Staller as it was her original name was born in Budapest in 1951 and moved to Italy at the age of 19. She started her own radio show in 1973 called “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?” (what a coincidence…) She debuted in the “mature film” industry in 1975 and had a career that last up to 1992 (note, that this means that she was 41 years at that time!!!!) In 1979 she became the first hardcore performer in the world to be elected to a democratic parliament. The story goes on, but I advise the readers to do their own research and discover more about her.

The replica is completely stock when it comes to the internals (there is nothing you can do about it anyway…). The only change concerns the paint job. The basic idea was to create a paint theme that would make the shotgun invisible in the inside of a building.

Initially a layer of primer was applied. I didn’t want to make it flat in order to avoid having a glossy feeling. I used the tip of an old, round, thick brush and I “stamped” the paint on it.

The problem was that the primer is white, so I applied a layer of mat black spray colour. Now, when the shottie gets scratched the only colour being revealed underneath is mere black… The basic paint is an acrylic Sand colour. It was also applied with a brush. It was left to dry and then some very basic pattern was done by putting some paper adhesive tape. Then with a brush I applied a Dark Earth colour (actually it was labeled as “Wax”).

With a permanent marker I finalized the edges of the patterns and the letters on the side. Finally I applied a completely mat and flat layer of acrylic varnish.

Hope it’s satisfactory since it’s my first attempt to paint a gun…More to come soon.