AEG Arms – M18A1 Claymore Mine
The M18A1 Mine, or ‘Claymore’ as it is affectionately known, is an anti-personnel mine still in use today by the US Military. Olive drab in colour, and measuring approximately 8 inches long, 3 inches high and about 1.5 inches deep, this is one of the deadliest and feared anti-personnel weapons you could come up against. Firing around 700 steel balls, propelled along by 1.5lbs of plastic explosive, it has a guaranteed kill radius of around 50m at a 60 degree arc, with maximum lethal range of up to 100m. Fragmentation can also carry up to 250m, making this a dangerous weapon to be any where near when detonated! Originally developed for use in the Vietnam war, it was ideal for ambush patrols who set these up around their perimeter, waiting for the unfortunate enemy who stumbled upon them.
The M18A1 can either be remote detonated by the operator, by means of electrical detonation with ‘the clacker’ – the M57 detonator, or it can be ‘victim initiated’ by utilising a trip wire. The later now being frowned upon under the ‘1996 Protocol on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines’. The reason is simple, long after a war has taken place, these lethal devices can be left for innocent civilians to trigger, causing loss of life or horrific injuries.
Luckily for us, the version we have will not cause loss of life, or indeed horrific injuries (unless of course, you’re NOT wearing eye protection!) – it will however cause sheer frustration amongst Airsofters as they sneak upon your position, thinking they’ve been unnoticed due to the lack of firing… only to get a claymore detonated in front of them, killing the entire squad! – ‘virtually’ killing that is.
First Impressions
About 5 days after hearing from AEG Arms to let us know the M18A1 was on the way, there was a knock at the door, and upon opening it I was presented with a small but hefty parcel… our new toy had arrived! The packaging was sufficient to protect the item in transit, which is packed in a polystyrene and cardboard box, with foam padding on the inside. This was then wrapped and taped in a protective bag, then inserted into a parcel bag ready for shipping… goodness knows what customs would have thought if they’d decided to open it however as the words ‘Airsoft’ or ‘Toy’ appear no-where on the box.
Now, AEG arms have these specially made for them, so they are to be considered as OEM, by which I mean no manufacturing trade-marks etc. The box is black in colour and on the front and sides is the wording ‘U.S.A M18A1 Claymore’ along with some key points regarding range, amount of shots fired and what is included in the box. There are a few mis-spellings, but this is to be expected as ‘lost in translation’.
Opening the box you are presented with a scary sight indeed… an olive drab, replica claymore mine with the words ‘Front Towards Enemy’ staring you straight in the face. Carefully lifting this out of the box and placing it to one side, there was also a folded A4 sized instruction sheet with easy to follow diagrams, and a small bag containing the remote control unit.
Normally, I don’t tend to look at the instructions for most of my new Airsoft purchases, ok bad I know, but I’m sure I’m not the only one guilty of this! On this occasion however, the nature of this device requires you to ALWAYS read the instructions before use. This device is powered by a very powerful spring mechanism, and to avoid injury I would really recommend reading the directions and following them carefully.
My only criticism of the instructions, is that it does not warn you the M18A1 is shipped ARMED, by that I mean the spring mechanism has been armed by closing the lid, but the electronic firing system is not switched on. Unfortunately, this is the only way that the M18A1 will fit in the box for shipping or storage.
If you do decide to purchase one, may I recommend you do the following once it arrives:
Remove the M18A1 from the box
Grasping the mine firmly, both the front and back so it cannot spring open, carefully remove the safety pin (you may find it easier to do if you gently press on the black ‘trigger bar’).
VERY carefully now, as the mine is ready to fire, gently place it on it’s back, so that the wording ‘Front Towards Enemy’ is pointing skyward.
With a BB loading rod, or a similar rigid ‘stick’ of at least 30cm in length, whilst standing behind the device and at arms length, tap the trigger (the tab of metal with the hole in it) upwards.
BANG mine fires… and you jump backwards in surprise.
So, now you should have a de-activated M18A1 in your hands, and now you can fully appreciate the internal mechanism and the controls. On the left hand side of the mine, under the metal plate is the batteries (2 x 9v PP3) can be found, and on the right hand side under a similar metal plate, is where the on/off switch, receiver and control mechanism are located. The M18A1 is shipped with both batteries in the claymore, and in the transmitter (1 x A23 type). Behind the orange cloth is a light coloured piece of foam, which covers the electric solenoid. Careful with this, it’s delicate… as I found out when I accidentally pushed my finger through it!
Inside the mine you can see the spring loaded mechanism which fires the BB’s towards the target, and the brightly coloured orange cloth which holds the BB’s in place, and acts like a catapult upon firing. The front cover of the mine is secured with a hinge of fairly heavy duty, as are the bolts and screws which hold it all together. The plastic used in the mine’s construction is fairly soft, not at all hard or brittle like some of the plastics used in AEG’s. This is primarily due to the stresses the mine will be under, any other materials could possibly crack or shatter under prolonged use.
Two folding legs are on the underside of the mine, which allow you to bed the mine into soft earth, and angle it towards the target. You can also get the mine to stand up on hard surfaces, but it will fall over on firing. Don’t worry though, the BB’s have already left at this point, and are hurtling towards your victim!
The transmitter is about the size of a car alarm key-fob, but packs a few more surprises. Brown in colour, sliding down the plastic cover reveals 4 buttons marked A to D. Yes that is right, you can control 4 separate mines from one little box…. joy of joys! A telescopic aerial extends about 2.5 inches, which allows you around 100-200m range for detonating the mine. It also includes a keychain for securing the detonator to your kit.
So How Does It Work?
As mentioned above, the propulsion mechanism is very similar to a catapult, brilliantly simple yet highly effective. On triggering the mine, the brightly coloured orange cloth, is pulled tightly by two spring loaded arms, causing whatever you have loaded the mine with to fly outward in all directions. AEG Arms, and the manufacturer of this mine claim a range of around 20 metres, covering a 40-60 degree arc of fire, more on this later.
The mine has two direct forms of triggering it’s activation. The radio ‘detonator’ and the tripwire mechanism, both of which have their own uses and applications. Turning the mine on will cause a red LED to illuminate, indicating the firing circuits have power to them. Now if you pick up the transmitter, I’ll show you how the mine fires. Turn the mine over and look towards the back of the ‘trigger bar’ as I call it, now press the button marked ‘A’ on the transmitted. You should see an arm fly towards the top, hitting the trigger bar. This is what activates the trigger, causing the mine to fire. This electric solenoid is pushing upwards with some force, and at lightening speed, which causes the mine to fire instantly the moment the button is pressed.
The second form of activation is via a trip wire. Now, some care needs to be taken with the use and emplacement of a trip wire, as this method takes most of the control away from the operator, making the mine hazardous to those without eye protection the moment the safety is removed. It’s recommend that the trip wire used is fishing line, connected to a paperclip which will allow easy attachment to the mine. After placing the mine firmly in the ground, pointing sideways towards your enemy, you simply attach through the hole in the trigger, attach the other end to say a tree trunk or similar, then carefully remove the safety pin. Now when your unfortunate victim catches the tripwire with their leg or foot, the mine will instantly fire, causing 200 odd BB’s to speed towards them. The trip wire function does not require the mine to be turned on, great for when your batteries have run down!
In Operation
So lets go through setting the mine up, deployment and detonation… The first thing you need to remember is that you must ALWAYS wear eye protection when handling this device, and the safety pin is NOT to be removed until you are ready to deploy the mine in the gaming area.
To load the mine, you need to be fairly nimble with your hands. After switching the mine on, holding the mine in both hands, and using both thumbs, press the spring loaded bars down as far as you can. You can now press the mine against your chest to assist in closing the door, slipping your thumbs out so you can use them to finish shutting the mine. Before closing it completely, with a spare finger pull the trigger towards you, which will cause the catch (or trigger bar as I often refer to) to lift upwards. Close the mine tightly, and push this bar downwards ensuring the catch is engaged properly. Now, push the catch down, and ensure the trigger is engaged as shown in the diagrams (and our photos). Carefully and slowly release pressure on the mine, to ensure it does not spring open, and insert the safety key.
Place the mine on it’s back, and using a speed loader, insert anything between 100 – 200 BB’s of your choice into the hole on the mine’s face. We were using 0.2g BB’s, but we would recommend using lighter 0.12g ammunition for greater range and spread.
Now, extend the legs of the mine, and either insert them into soft ground, or place the mine on a hard surface ensuring the mine cannot easily topple over.
Carefully remove the safety pin, whilst standing at the rear of the mine. The mine is now LIVE and to be considered a hazard to those not wearing eye protection.
Retire behind the mine, extend the aerial and slide down the plastic cover… whilst watching the mine, press button A… BOOM, the mine detonates, throwing around 200 rounds in the direction of which you have aimed it. Have you stopped laughing yet? because let me tell you, every time we set this thing off, almost uncontrollable laughed ensued.
In our testing, we managed to achieve an effective range of around 15 metres, with a spread of over 40 degrees using 100 rounds of 0.2g Marui ammo. I’m fairly confident that with lighter 0.12g ammo, you would easily be able to achieve the advertised 20 metres, using 200 rounds, with ample coverage to ‘kill’ almost anybody within a 60 degree arc of the device. We tested various amounts, but found 100 to be the optimum amount if using 0.2g weight.
We also had a little fun with some talc power in the mine too! As you can see from the video clip, it makes a rather nice ‘smoke’ like effect whilst simultaneously throwing out 100 BB’s towards the target, impressive looking it is, it’s a pain to load. You need to carefully sprinkle talc on the cloth before closing the mine, meaning you have to do so with it pointing upwards, making it slightly harder to arm. It’s also not practical in the field, to carry a container of talc around with you… although it does leave the device smelling lavender fresh!
Conclusion
The AEG Arms M18A1 is an excellent piece of kit, it truly is. Once you’ve used it a couple of times, you’ll find it easy to do, and with practise you can have it loaded and deployed in under 60 seconds. It has a multitude of uses, and scenarios you can deploy it in are limited only by your imagination.
At only $125, it’s cheap too! That’s just over £60, about the price of a high-capacity moscart grenade, only with this thing, you don’t have to be anywhere near the enemy to hit them! In fact, you can be over 100m away, and with the push of a button… blam, they’re all out.
We loved it, so much, we’re thinking of getting one for ourselves!
