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Dstol over on ArniesAirsoft.co.uk has just wrote up a review of his initial impressions of the Tokyo Marui L96 AWS Rifle. You can read the review along with others comments here Or you can can click Read More below to see the same review on here if your not a member of the forum. 
Tokyo Marui L96 AWS
Bolt Action Air Rifle
The L96 was first revealed at the Shizuoka Hobby Show in May earlier this year. An initial release date was set for the end of July, but as we have come to expect from our friends at Tokyo Marui, the L96 was delayed. The L96 finally hit the stores on August 26th, and having ordered one in June, I picked it up from Echigoya (Japan) right after work. Worth the wait? Let's find out.
Packaging
I can't say that Tokyo Marui ranks up there with Apple in it's package design. The box seems a bit busy with text on both sides of the box and an image of the rifle in the middle. I prefer some of Marui's more simple packaging, like the M14 with the simple black box.
Inside the box we get exactly what we have come to expect...Bilingual Manual, usage guide, targets, and a feedback postcard. Like the SOPMOD M4, the L96 is held in the box by a velcro tie in the middle, which holds it nice and secure. I am not sure when this was first introduced, but it is a nice feature, although I ripped mine out of my SOPMOD case because I forgot it was there.
There is also a magazine, a cardboard name plate and a box with 3 allen wrenches and about 50 BBs. Finally we have the barrel plug, cleaning tool, and the bipod post, which is attached to the L96 when it arrives. A very clean presentation all in all.
The Rifle
Lifting the L96 out of the box, I was immediately struck by it's weight. I felt that there was much more weight to it than the VSR-10. The weight adds a sense of solidness that I never felt with the VSR-10 series, and is a welcome improvement.
The body is plastic, and there are some obvious seems and join lines on the bottom of the frame. I was a bit disappointed to find a discoloured join location on the bottom of the gun, as I have always found that Marui does a great job putting their weapons together...this just seemed like an obvious eyesore.
Metal parts seem to include trigger assembly, rails, bolt, safety, sling attachments, barrel, bipod attachment and release switch, and the dummy bolt release. I haven't opened it up yet, so not sure what kind of metal I will find on the inside.
Markings
- 99 AW 5103 on the right at the front of the scope rail.
- WARNING Refer to Instruction Manual AW5103 on the left in the middle of the rail
- Made in Japan, Tokyo Marui Co, LTD behind the dummy release
Stock
The stock is two-way adjustable. There are 3 rubber pads that extend the stock, and these can be removed to create a length that best suits your frame. The cheek rest can also be elevated if needed. All these adjustments are made with the allen wrenches provided.
The Bolt and Safety
Moving down the body we come to the bolt and safety on the right, obviously just above the trigger. The safety is a latch the flips forward to allow the bolt to be cocked and the gun fired. When the latch is flipped back towards the shooter the bolt can't be pulled back.
The bolt itself is very solid, with a large metal ball on the end of the lever. I am betting this will be replaced with aftermarket parts fairly soon, as it is a bit too big in my opinion. I also find that the bolt isn't as smooth as the VSR-10. There seems to be a point about two-thirds of the way through it's upward swing where it catches and needs a bit more effort to swing it up the rest of the way. The actual cocking of the bolt is smooth, and has a nice, crisp travel. The return is also nice and smooth.
 Magazine
Underneath the bolt is the magazine. This is being touted as a big selling point for this weapon as it replicates the real L96. Until now L96 weapons have had to move the magazine forward to allow for hop interaction, but the Marui is using a new feeding mechanism to allow for the correct location.
The magazine itself loads from the side and holds 40 rounds. When the bolt is pulled back there is a lever that pulls one BB at a time from the magazine and top loads it into the barrel and hop assembly. All 40 rounds are used, and there are no dropped BBs when removing the magazine.
Hop Up
The hop up itself is extremely easy to access, perhaps the easiest of Marui's products. A big dial sits on the bottom of the riffle just in from of the magazine well. It is easy to tweak, even while in a shooting position, so you can make changes on the fly, even mid-game, without having to take your finger of the trigger.
Bipod
Continuing up the right side, the front of the weapon is large and boxy, providing room for your hand if you need it. There are a couple allen screws here holding it together, but they are countersunk like the rest of them around the body. We also find the bipod pole release here, as well as sling attachments.
With a Bipod attached it makes the rifle even heavier, but pulls some of the weight from the back end and seems to distribute the weight better. I did find that pointing my bipod forwards made the riffle a bit too front heavy, so I would suggest it be tucked under the rifle. Unfortunately the Marui bipod I bought with it doesn't seem to have enough clearance to tuck backwards.
Miscellaneous
The tip of the barrel is threaded to accept a VSR-10 G Spec Tracer Adapter for adding suppressors or a tracer unit.
Finally, the gun is disassembled via 3 screws. 2 of them are obvious, but the 3rd one is hidden underneath the trigger assembly, and is accessible via the grip.
 Impressions
I owned a VSR-10 Pro for a few months and sold it after I questioned the value of a sniper rifle in Japan, where the .98 Joule limit makes a sniper rifle obsolete and without real benefit. I missed it as soon as I sold it, especially when a couple guys showed up with sniper rifles at the next game. I wanted my VSR-10 back, but decided to wait for the L96.
The rifle fits well and I like the weight. It seems to nestle into my shoulder nicely, and the sizing is just right for me at 6' 2".
The grip is comfortable and easy to hold, but I found that my thumb rubbed a bit and I could see this causing blisters if the user didn't wear gloves. With the bipod and scope attached the riffle comes in at nearly 5kg!
Shooting
I haven't had a chance to do much shooting, so I will save this for part 2. I will mention that the first 10 shots came in at about 93 meters/second. I had one shot as high as 94.3 and one as low as 89.5 (all with the hop turned off). I will be taking this out over the weekend and will give more details on how it fires, grouping, etc.
I took it to the range today and was having two issues, one was the loading mechanism. I was getting way too many misfeeds, so I wonder if the new loading mechanism that TM introduced isn't going to back fire on them. The other was the hop. I was all over the place, and even with the hop almost fully on I was having trouble getting a round consistently 30 meters without dropping. I am going to contact Marui Monday to see what their thoughts are and see what they think. You can get it for just over 20,000 yen at a store called Frontier here in Japan.Will keep updating my review to reflect developments. I will hold off on a 'score' until I have put more rounds through it Until part 2...
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