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WE-Tech SMG-8 Airsoft GBB Sub Machine Gun (Color: Black)
36 Customer Reviews
by Christopher M. on 02/20/2015
"Great SMG. Had a few issues with jams with the first two mags, but after that, all of the actions are smooth. Some say that there is any issue with running out of gas before running out of ammo on the mag. I have never had an issue with it at all. Like I said, it's a great gun, with a heck of a kick, and well worth the money spent.
by bill e. on 12/25/2014
"This is a great gun. The external quality is superb, and it kicks at least 4 times harder than my real-steel savage mark ii .22 rimfire rifle does. Sometimes it double feeds, but it doesn't really do it all that much. It's super easy to disassemble and lubricate, and it has an insane rate of fire. Mine chrono'd at 338 fps, which is perfect for CQB. The only thing wrong with this gun is its lack of replacement parts... however, if something breaks, you could just contact WE directly and request for the part you need to be shipped to you.
I love this gun.
I love this gun.
by Sam S. on 09/02/2014
"Great buy! Amazing price tag with affordable magazine. Great secondary for outdoor sniping and primary for indoor skirmishes.
Had mine for 3 months now with no issue and shoots like a champ. The kick makes this gun so much more fun to shoot than my AEG AUG!
Had mine for 3 months now with no issue and shoots like a champ. The kick makes this gun so much more fun to shoot than my AEG AUG!
by James R. on 09/02/2014
"Amazing SMG! I like it over the KWA MP7 because parts are so much easier to get with a WE-Tech GBB. This rifle kicks super hard and is uber fun to play with! The construction is superb!
by Griffin M. on 09/02/2014
"I've had this SMG8 for about 2 years and it's been working great! I have 3 mags for it and I've been really been enjoying this beauty! I would get 2 mags if I were you!
by Sam S. on 09/02/2014
"Great buy! Amazing price tag with affordable magazine. Great secondary for outdoor sniping and primary for indoor skirmishes.
Had mine for 3 months now with no issue and shoots like a champ. The kick makes this gun so much more fun to shoot than my AEG AUG!
Had mine for 3 months now with no issue and shoots like a champ. The kick makes this gun so much more fun to shoot than my AEG AUG!
by James R. on 09/02/2014
"Amazing SMG! I like it over the KWA MP7 because parts are so much easier to get with a WE-Tech GBB. This rifle kicks super hard and is uber fun to play with! The construction is superb!
by Griffin M. on 02/27/2014
"I've had this SMG8 for about 2 years and it's been working great! I have 3 mags for it and I've been really been enjoying this beauty! I would get 2 mags if I were you!
by Jacob P. on 04/05/2017
"This is actually a very nice substitute to the MP7
Pros:
Considerably less money
Full rail system
Mags hold more (about 48 rounds)
Very gas efficient
Cons:
After extended uses of full auto the select fire will malfunction
Its larger than the MP7
If you only use it on semi-auto I don't think you'd have any problems with it ever. but there are a mutltitude of parts for this gun.
Pros:
Considerably less money
Full rail system
Mags hold more (about 48 rounds)
Very gas efficient
Cons:
After extended uses of full auto the select fire will malfunction
Its larger than the MP7
If you only use it on semi-auto I don't think you'd have any problems with it ever. but there are a mutltitude of parts for this gun.
by Matthew J M. on 01/18/2016
"First off I have put over 15k rounds through this gun and would like to expressly say that it's one of my favorites to date.
The Good:
Price point- vs the KWA it's over $100 cheaper, magazine-wise each magazine is half the price; $25 cheaper
Size- I own both the KWA MP7 and SMG8 and i prefer the larger size that this gun offers, the gun is about 1.5" longer, 0.5" wider and
marginally taller, making it feel more natural in your hands (being the larger person that I am.
Accuracy- CQB the gun is spot on, though it does shoot a bit hot 390-410 (I'm HPA tapped, so that's not an issue for me) don't really
need to mess with anything. When it comes to outside hop up may need some adjusting, and replacing soon after using it.
Recoil- Feels like a standard .22 recoil, not much else to say about it.
The Bad:
CQB Playability- If you're planning on using this gun for CQB you must HPA tap it, or find the air flow mod for it(which I read about but never really looked into) because it shoots too high to play indoors shooting at around 390-410 stock with .20's with green gas.
Reliability- showed signs of wear after 3000 rounds, and started having issues around 5000, requiring upgrades bringing the initial price
of gun in the neighborhood of the KWA and VFC mp7
Soft internals- Replaced sears and levers for aftermarkets (Z-Parts / RA-Tech Steel Replacement Trigger) once my safety stopped
working, due to the parts being too soft.
Stock recoil bounce- the KWA and VFC mp7's both suffer from this in addition to the We tech smg8, when shooting a lot the recoil
wears out the notches in the stock rendering stock adjustment useless and needing replacing after prolonged use.
Grip comfort- the grip on this gun digs into my hands and makes it a bit uncomfortable to hold, camo-form solved the problem for me,
though I felt it needed mentioning.
Personal thoughts:
Overall I think it's a great gun despite the bad things I heard about it when purchasing, and it feels and operates better than the KWA MP7 once you put the aftermarket upgrades (Z-Parts / RA-Tech Steel Replacement Trigger). If you plan on playing CQB it will be easier to get the KWA mp7 and get the low-flow CQB bolt for it.
The Good:
Price point- vs the KWA it's over $100 cheaper, magazine-wise each magazine is half the price; $25 cheaper
Size- I own both the KWA MP7 and SMG8 and i prefer the larger size that this gun offers, the gun is about 1.5" longer, 0.5" wider and
marginally taller, making it feel more natural in your hands (being the larger person that I am.
Accuracy- CQB the gun is spot on, though it does shoot a bit hot 390-410 (I'm HPA tapped, so that's not an issue for me) don't really
need to mess with anything. When it comes to outside hop up may need some adjusting, and replacing soon after using it.
Recoil- Feels like a standard .22 recoil, not much else to say about it.
The Bad:
CQB Playability- If you're planning on using this gun for CQB you must HPA tap it, or find the air flow mod for it(which I read about but never really looked into) because it shoots too high to play indoors shooting at around 390-410 stock with .20's with green gas.
Reliability- showed signs of wear after 3000 rounds, and started having issues around 5000, requiring upgrades bringing the initial price
of gun in the neighborhood of the KWA and VFC mp7
Soft internals- Replaced sears and levers for aftermarkets (Z-Parts / RA-Tech Steel Replacement Trigger) once my safety stopped
working, due to the parts being too soft.
Stock recoil bounce- the KWA and VFC mp7's both suffer from this in addition to the We tech smg8, when shooting a lot the recoil
wears out the notches in the stock rendering stock adjustment useless and needing replacing after prolonged use.
Grip comfort- the grip on this gun digs into my hands and makes it a bit uncomfortable to hold, camo-form solved the problem for me,
though I felt it needed mentioning.
Personal thoughts:
Overall I think it's a great gun despite the bad things I heard about it when purchasing, and it feels and operates better than the KWA MP7 once you put the aftermarket upgrades (Z-Parts / RA-Tech Steel Replacement Trigger). If you plan on playing CQB it will be easier to get the KWA mp7 and get the low-flow CQB bolt for it.
by Steven T. on 07/16/2015
"For someone who wants a good cqb fun, look no further. This is a great buy. You get a well built mp7 with high fire rate and good power for the price of a beginner AEG. Most of the time Mags for gbb are expensive but the Mags for this are cheap also. I have found one problem so far and its not the worst thing. After a couple hundred rounds the stock wants to close on its own but you can get the parts to fix it for $20 here on evike.
Pros:
good power
Good rof
Good weight (middle weight for size)
Cheap Mags
Strong externals
Low cost replacement partd
Cons:
Stock kinda sucks
The mag release runs against my fingers when I shoot and is uncomfortable
Trigger feels like an AEG trigger.
Orange tip is damn near impossible to get off. Even though it comes with a 12mm thread to 14mm thread adapter
Over all is a great gun with small flaws.
Pros:
good power
Good rof
Good weight (middle weight for size)
Cheap Mags
Strong externals
Low cost replacement partd
Cons:
Stock kinda sucks
The mag release runs against my fingers when I shoot and is uncomfortable
Trigger feels like an AEG trigger.
Orange tip is damn near impossible to get off. Even though it comes with a 12mm thread to 14mm thread adapter
Over all is a great gun with small flaws.
by moses m. on 02/02/2015
"the gun itself is a pure machine! This would have been five stars if the mag didn't come broken..
Pros:
Cheap mag
sturdy polymer and metal build
sweet looking
fast ROF
best SMG for the price
Cons:
Broken mag, (fixable)
Heavy, (could be a pro)
Pros:
Cheap mag
sturdy polymer and metal build
sweet looking
fast ROF
best SMG for the price
Cons:
Broken mag, (fixable)
Heavy, (could be a pro)
by Christopher S. on 05/09/2014
"This is a great gun, a fun thing to play with. I have had no problems with the gun itself, but the mag follower that came with mine broke on the second mag. I suggest getting plenty of extra mags. This thing dumps through fast.
Pros:
*Amount of felt recoil is spot on
*Decent range for a pistol-sized barrel
*Rate of fire is perfect, fps is decent
Cons:
*Mag broke straight away, but that may just be mine
*Not very gas efficient, you get this effect that looks
like actual smoke comes out the barrel
*Stock collapses too easy on mine
Overall, this is a good choice if you don't want to spend the cash on some other gas SMGs on the market. Heck, you could buy two of these and have a great time for the price of the Kriss Vector.
Pros:
*Amount of felt recoil is spot on
*Decent range for a pistol-sized barrel
*Rate of fire is perfect, fps is decent
Cons:
*Mag broke straight away, but that may just be mine
*Not very gas efficient, you get this effect that looks
like actual smoke comes out the barrel
*Stock collapses too easy on mine
Overall, this is a good choice if you don't want to spend the cash on some other gas SMGs on the market. Heck, you could buy two of these and have a great time for the price of the Kriss Vector.
by Jayce D. on 09/14/2015
"The SMG-8 is a great choice for someone who wants a compact rifle for field use. However, it does have a couple drawbacks... several in fact. This review will consist of a general overview, performance and chrono results, the BIG issues, and finally the pros and cons of the SMG-8. Keep in mind that this review will be fairly long, as I have A LOT of experience with this gun and will cover EVERYTHING in this review.
First, the general overview. I'll spare you the basic stuff so I won't mention what's included or all the basic features of the gun. What is handy however, is the little bag of parts WE includes with this gun. Anyways the external build quality is decent; the gun is very light because of the polymer construction, but still feels rather durable. The design is pretty favorable and overall looks appealing, although maybe not as much as an actual MP7 design (to some people). The price point is slightly high of what I would actually pay, but it's not all that bad. It hosts a bunch of rails for you to attach most accessories (I am currently using a micro red dot, stubby grip, and rail covers). Note that if you do decide to attach a compact optic, you may need a riser like I did.
Now we move on to the performance and chrono section. All results below have been achieved with 0.20g bbs and propane and measured using my XCortech X3500. The fps is ~395, putting is just under the maximum for outdoor fields (which is perfect in my case). The rate of fire is ~17 making it a decent full-auto candidate. I haven't really messed with the hop-up, but out of the box the range wasn't too good, only achieving an effective range of 100ft (However it can probably increase with some adjustments). The accuracy is pretty good at that range however, and shots are pretty consistent for the most part.
Here is the fun part... the deal-breakers:
Almost as soon as I got the SMG-8, the stock had problems collapsing randomly while firing in full auto mode. Now thanks to that handy bag of extra parts included with the gun, I was able to swap out the current stock locking piece with a better one. The difference was that the one previously installed in the gun was made of zinc alloy (pot metal), where as the extra one was a much stronger iron mechanism. In case you aren't provided with an extra one, but are still experiencing stock problems, here is a manufacturer's link to the part: http://www.weairsoft.com/parts/gbb-gas-blowback/rifles/smg-8-
-series/smg-8-gbbr-part-85.html.
The next issue I noticed is that overtime, the little notch in the stock locking mechanism will carve into the stock arms, causing a build-up of aluminum, that needs to be filed down for the stock to slide smoothly.
The trigger is also very spongy on semi-auto, and requires you to fully press it all the way to reset it. Sort of a pain but the trigger pull is fantastic and light on full-auto.
The last, or shall I say "latest" problem that has occurred is that the charging handle broke while firing and is unable to be fixed. I tried superglue and even welding plastic to it (to the point where it almost look brand new), and it still failed. Now I was firing with propane so there was more pressure, but I can bet that the same would have happened with green gas sooner or later. It's honestly pretty stupid how WE had to make the charging handle out of plastic, when it has to endure so much force while firing. The least they could have done is made it aluminum or better yet steel... but there is another perfect example of how WE-Tech cuts corners. Anyways the gun still firing fine and no issues because of the missing charging handle, but the gun looks funky and looses value when pieces like that are missing. If you feel the need, you can buy another plastic charging handle on their website: http://www.weairsoft.com/parts/gbb-gas-blowback/rifles/smg-8-
-series/smg-8-gbbr-part-11.html. Fortunately, I have resolved all of the above issues except for the spongy trigger pull.
Onto the pros and cons. The pros:
-Perfect fps
-Lightweight
-Easy to use features
-Ambidextrous
-AMAZING magazine (holds 44rds, all metal, and no leaks)
-Rate of fire is great
-Stock is nice one you get it working
-Rear and front sights are HUGE, making it easy to aim (but also harder to attach optics)
-Crisp blowback while still being gas efficient
-Consistent and accurate shots
Cons:
-Requires a lot of maintenance (like most gas guns though)
-Build quality is garbage
-Price point is still too high
-So many small issues that it makes you want to pull your hair out :D
-Range isn't very good
OVERALL:
The rifle isn't bad.. I justify the 3 star rating for the gun being great for most occasions, but only once you have fixed all of the small issues that come with the gun. Honestly it's not all that bad, so maybe it is deserving of a 3.5, but for people who aren't familiar with gas guns or how to fix them, this thing can be a real pain in the a$$. However I can guarantee that once you have moved past that point, this rifle will be a dream to use; it just requires some time and commitment to turn this thing around into a dream SMG.
First, the general overview. I'll spare you the basic stuff so I won't mention what's included or all the basic features of the gun. What is handy however, is the little bag of parts WE includes with this gun. Anyways the external build quality is decent; the gun is very light because of the polymer construction, but still feels rather durable. The design is pretty favorable and overall looks appealing, although maybe not as much as an actual MP7 design (to some people). The price point is slightly high of what I would actually pay, but it's not all that bad. It hosts a bunch of rails for you to attach most accessories (I am currently using a micro red dot, stubby grip, and rail covers). Note that if you do decide to attach a compact optic, you may need a riser like I did.
Now we move on to the performance and chrono section. All results below have been achieved with 0.20g bbs and propane and measured using my XCortech X3500. The fps is ~395, putting is just under the maximum for outdoor fields (which is perfect in my case). The rate of fire is ~17 making it a decent full-auto candidate. I haven't really messed with the hop-up, but out of the box the range wasn't too good, only achieving an effective range of 100ft (However it can probably increase with some adjustments). The accuracy is pretty good at that range however, and shots are pretty consistent for the most part.
Here is the fun part... the deal-breakers:
Almost as soon as I got the SMG-8, the stock had problems collapsing randomly while firing in full auto mode. Now thanks to that handy bag of extra parts included with the gun, I was able to swap out the current stock locking piece with a better one. The difference was that the one previously installed in the gun was made of zinc alloy (pot metal), where as the extra one was a much stronger iron mechanism. In case you aren't provided with an extra one, but are still experiencing stock problems, here is a manufacturer's link to the part: http://www.weairsoft.com/parts/gbb-gas-blowback/rifles/smg-8-
-series/smg-8-gbbr-part-85.html.
The next issue I noticed is that overtime, the little notch in the stock locking mechanism will carve into the stock arms, causing a build-up of aluminum, that needs to be filed down for the stock to slide smoothly.
The trigger is also very spongy on semi-auto, and requires you to fully press it all the way to reset it. Sort of a pain but the trigger pull is fantastic and light on full-auto.
The last, or shall I say "latest" problem that has occurred is that the charging handle broke while firing and is unable to be fixed. I tried superglue and even welding plastic to it (to the point where it almost look brand new), and it still failed. Now I was firing with propane so there was more pressure, but I can bet that the same would have happened with green gas sooner or later. It's honestly pretty stupid how WE had to make the charging handle out of plastic, when it has to endure so much force while firing. The least they could have done is made it aluminum or better yet steel... but there is another perfect example of how WE-Tech cuts corners. Anyways the gun still firing fine and no issues because of the missing charging handle, but the gun looks funky and looses value when pieces like that are missing. If you feel the need, you can buy another plastic charging handle on their website: http://www.weairsoft.com/parts/gbb-gas-blowback/rifles/smg-8-
-series/smg-8-gbbr-part-11.html. Fortunately, I have resolved all of the above issues except for the spongy trigger pull.
Onto the pros and cons. The pros:
-Perfect fps
-Lightweight
-Easy to use features
-Ambidextrous
-AMAZING magazine (holds 44rds, all metal, and no leaks)
-Rate of fire is great
-Stock is nice one you get it working
-Rear and front sights are HUGE, making it easy to aim (but also harder to attach optics)
-Crisp blowback while still being gas efficient
-Consistent and accurate shots
Cons:
-Requires a lot of maintenance (like most gas guns though)
-Build quality is garbage
-Price point is still too high
-So many small issues that it makes you want to pull your hair out :D
-Range isn't very good
OVERALL:
The rifle isn't bad.. I justify the 3 star rating for the gun being great for most occasions, but only once you have fixed all of the small issues that come with the gun. Honestly it's not all that bad, so maybe it is deserving of a 3.5, but for people who aren't familiar with gas guns or how to fix them, this thing can be a real pain in the a$$. However I can guarantee that once you have moved past that point, this rifle will be a dream to use; it just requires some time and commitment to turn this thing around into a dream SMG.
by Alex H. on 01/28/2015
"alright first off this is a good GBB for a beginner but for avid airsoft player it's probably not the best I got about 2000 rounds into it and now I'm starting to see durability issues I do too take care of my airsoft guns so can't fault me for that I clean and lube them every game sometimes in the middle of a game but the issues that I have had are that the body is cracked towards the top body pin and it's a massive crack I can still use it but I don't know for how long the air nozzle bolt face lugs chipped off in one spot and then on the actual nozzle where it splits into a big chunk came off so performance is really hindered before then accuracy is extremely good performance is good recoil is good I just don't think that the durability really is there. so if you want an airsoft gun for backyard play or you're beginner and you don't play a lot this will be a good gun but if you play a lot and you want a GBB that'll last you a long time or an SMG GBB that will last you a long time get H&K MP 9 or the MP 7.