Tracers have been one of the most popular type of accessories in the last few years, due to a mix of cool external looks and shooting functionality.

But there is just one problem.

For the longest time, tracers were only available to standard gun users, those running rifles, pistols, smgs, etc. Those few who want to use shotguns never got the opportunity to have access to tracers. Until now!

Introducing the QUARK-K tracer unit for the Tokyo Marui KSG shotgun. This is the first of its kind, a tracer unit designed to work specifically with shotguns. We want to thank Acetech for providing us with a review product. Today we will take a thorough look at what makes this tracer unique.

What is included:

On the outside, the Quark-k comes in your standard Acetech white box, nothing too special here, just remember to note down the serial number of your item, in case you need to warranty the product. Upon opening the box you will find a larger than average user manual, a premium Acetech warranty card, and some stickers. Underneath your will find the Quark-K tracer, and adjustment tool, and USB-C charging cable. As in standard Acetech fashion, the items are neatly packed and surrounded by a dense foam to ensure that the items are not damaged during shipping.

The adjustment/install tool is 3D printed with dense polymer and has two metal inserts, it seems that the metal inserts run deep into the adjustment tool so there should be no issues with them breaking. The USB-C cable is a standard. Just remember that it is for charging only and does not have data transfer function. You can use it to charge your other electronics but the cable does not have the ability to transfer files around.

Externals:

On to the bread and butter of this review, the Quark-k tracer unit. Taking out the tracer unit from the packaging we are instantly struck by the weight of the unit, despite it being made out of polymer. The outer casing of it is made of very dense polymer mold with very elegant seams and a cool custom muzzle brake like porting on the front. On the lower left side of the unit we can see three buttons for the flashlight.

1. Strobe Mode
2. Power On/Off/Brightness Select
3. Flashlight Pressure Switch Mode On/Off (Momentary)

On the lower side there is a LED power indication for how much juice is left in the battery and a screw to access the internal battery. The controls for the tracer can be found on the back side of the tracer unit. We are not sure if this is intentional or just the way the inner unit is mounted, but you can press the tracer controls without taking off the back cap.

The front end you can see the large LED muzzle flash illuminator lights and a flashlight on the lower portion of the tracer. We like Acetech’s addition of a flashlight as with pump action shotguns there is not that much options to mount a flashlight, and this inclusion is greatly appreciated.

Internals:

One of the biggest issues when it comes to tracers for shotguns is the ability for shotguns to fire multiple shots per trigger pull. Your standard tracer sensor is not adequate enough to detect and illuminate all of the fired pellets. Acetech have addressed this issue with an enlarged sensor bridge, this allows the sensor to detect all the BBs being fired. There are four rows of 5 LED tracer illuminators on the inside to ensure that all the BBs, whether its 3 or 6 shots, will be lit up before it exits the muzzle. The wide bore diameter also will reduce the changes of BBs impacting the sides of the unit and causing potential damage.

Usage:

Before we get to the fun stuff, we have to charge the unit first. Acetech also recommends that if you are not actively using the Quark-K tracer, that you charge it every two months to keep the battery well maintained. On the back if we remove the end cap we can get access to the charging port on the lower left, and the tracer unit itself. There is another LED power indicator light on the bottom right of the tracer unit and a black dust cover. Do keep in mind that the black dust cover is NOT TO BE REMOVED, it is to protect the computer chips inside. The serial number of your unit can be found on the inside of the back body cover.

That is all there is to it, and now, for the fun stuff. How well does it work?

Installation is very easy, using the provided installation tool, you just need remove the muzzle cap, slip on the backplate of the tracer unit and screw the muzzle cap back on, and you're done. The description along with the pictures inside the user's manual is very clear and easy to understand.

The internal module is essentially a resized Bifrost tracer system, so we can expect the same level of performance here. You have 11 different individual color selection modes, the Rainbow multi-color mode, Muzzle flash mode, and Tracer only mode. The unit supports up to 35 rounds per second, so it can handle your high rate of fire builds, though we doubt the KSG can shoot up to 35 rps. The tracer module also has 5-minute shake-awake power control, so if the unit does not detect movement, it will temporally shutdown to save power, and wake up if you move the unit around. This will allow the tracer to work in an extended period of time. During the testing we did not notice any issues with the sensors not detecting the BBs or not illuminating all of the BBs. We tested both the 3 and 6 shot modes on the KSG and so far, the tracer seems to be very reliable.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, the tracer looks great and performs well, the built-in flashlight system is very handy even as a back up device. The shotgun tracer is definitely an interesting concept, and for those KSG owners, it is something to look forward to getting. We would love to see Acetech expand this product to other types of shotguns as well such as the 870 or M3/M4 series as there are still many players who own or want to get into shotguns as their choice of primary. The only concern we might have is the flashlight lens might be too thin, and could be prone to damage from frontal BB impacts, however, we have not tested this. This is definitely a good piece of kit to pick up if you own a KSG, and we hope Acetech makes more products like the Quark-K in the future.