Some very exciting tidbits of news from Airsoft-news.eu today - as they return from IWA 2009. Among these is a very fleeting but mouth-watering intimation that Guay Guay is releasing a replica of the FN FNC.

At the moment only STAR have produced a replica of this lesser known FN assault rifle, and it has STAR's usual premium price (£350+ in the UK). But another clone of this AEG isn't new news - the photo above if from an Arnie's Airsoft item from way back in December 2007, where ICS was working on a prototype for an FNC replica (don't ask me what happened to it).

So what's so good about the FNC?

Well, first off it's another FN replica (yay!), but more usefully this pretty looking little assault rifle has a very handy three-round burst feature. As I mentioned in my post on my BE Type 89 AEG - which also has the 3-burst mode - this feature is ideal for airsoft as it gives the airsofter what is in effect a 3 round automatic BB shotgun!

In my field test I found my BE Type 89 gave a nice three-fingered BB spread, increasing my chances of a hit. By and large, in comparison, a fully automatic AEG will spit a stream of BBs in a fairly accurate line towards your target, with not a large spread (unless you hose it). I found my Type 89 banged out a nice diagonal BB spread towards it's target. (In fact, as play went on I found I used full-auto less and less and eventually 3-burst became my default mode of operation.)

To my mind the 3 round burst is the ideal set-up for an AEG, and I'm not surprised that you can buy an after-market electronic gizmo that can add this ability to ANY airsoft assault rifle.

Moreover, my BB usage dramatically fell when using 3-burst, while my 'kills' slightly increased.

The announcement of a Guay Guay FN FNC is fantastic news for me, but bad news for my BE Type 89. You see - if you read my review of this AEG - I bought the 89 because it is what I called a 'poor man's FNC'. I am sure a Guay Guay FNC will come out at a very reasonable price...So it may be 'goodbye Type 89'!

(With the recently announced DBoy SCAR 'H', this means that two of my three favourite FN designs will now be available at budget prices...All I need is for someone to make a cheapsoft FN FAL and I'll be as happy and I will have every airsoft gun I ever wanted.)

Useful links:

> Milgeek: Both Elephant Type 89 review - part one
> Milgeek: Both Elephant Type 89 review - part two, field test
> World-guns.ru: FN FNC
> STAR Airsoft: FN FNC - AEG-14