M4 A1 Carbine - ArniesAirsoft

Author

casey_cole

Rock this party, dance everbody, make it hot in this party...

Registered: October 2005
Location: Gloucestershire
Posts: 1,467

Review Date: 28/1/06

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �210.00 | Rating: 9

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Upgradeable, great build, high FPS, metal body.
Cons:	Rubbish carry handle, poorly constructed fore grip.

ICS M4 A1 Review � Casey Cole

Introduction

Well this is the first AEG I�ve ever had and only the third I�ve ever used � so please don�t expect this to be a really in depth, technically correct review. I will be analysing the strengths and weaknesses of the ICS M4 A1 as a beginner�s gun (by beginners � for beginners!!).

I don�t hold with doing histories so on with the review!

Manufacturer � ICS

They have a reputation for making high quality, high performance guns with slight reliability glitches (MP5 magazines, hop up rubbers) and difficulty to obtain parts as I�m sure you all know.

They don�t exactly specialise in packaging appearances to the point where all you get is a big cardboard box � but the box has few markings on it, and would be perfect for storage.
The gun was covered in bubble wrap � and cable tied in three places � the cable ties were also scratch protected by bubble wrap.
The included hi-cap mag is shoved in the corner in its own cardboard compartment, and the other accessories are loose � to the point where you would be hard pressed not to misplace some of them! I�ve already lost and re-found the front sight adjustment tool, and I�ve currently had the gun for 4 hours!

Included is:

Gun
Hi-cap magazine
Cleaning / un-jamming rod
Orange end cap (styled like a shotgun shell)
Tool for adjusting front iron sight height
Catalogue
Manual

Zero One Airsoft had also crammed all the rest of my purchase in with it as well � which got me a bit worried at first as the box didn�t look big enough to contain everything.

First impressions of the contents

The gun looks amazing. It�s big and black and grey and cool.
The body and removable carry handle are a dark grey colour that is slightly off tone with the rest of the rifle � but looks damn cool anyway.
Almost all the rest is matte black including entire front barrel assembly, rear iron sight, adjust knobs, rail clamps, bolt catch, mag release bar, safety, trigger, charging (cocking) handle, and the stock rail.
The stock is slightly shiny because it�s plastic � but again it is black. The pistol grip is again slightly shiny textured plastic � but the old bite test was needed to make sure.
The worst looking part of the gun is the fore grip. It�s made of quite shiny, quite thin, black plastic � which will probably break when dropped. The battery is stored in here � so that would be a bit of a bummer.
The only part that isn�t black or grey is a thin ring just behind the flash hider � i.e. the most visible part of the gun � which is a nice and shiny come-and-shoot-me silver. It really catches the eye, and definitively spoils the look of the front of the gun.

Taming (well holding) the Beast

Woah! Steady as she goes � this one�s a bit heavy! Well � I say a bit. You could definitely knacker yourself out running with this all day � but it feels nice and solid. I don�t know if AEG�s are anything like cars � but if they were, this one would have no creaky plastic in it. Or crappy fake wood. Nor would it be a Mondeo.

It weighs roughly just under 3 kg with no mag, and JUST over with an ICS metal hi-cap. It�s a bit back heavy if you hold it by the mag-well, but with a battery in it just balances. I played with a mini battery in the fore-grip, and two fully loaded magazines double clamped at the weekend. I could only just carry the gun until the adrenaline started running. The first thing I will buy is a flip-up rear sight, as this will let me remove the completely useless carrying handle � but still have iron sights.

Despite the weight � it�s a pretty small gun. Even with the stock fully retracted the whole gun is only an inch longer than my arm � 790mm. The stock has a nice adjusting action, but you can�t really tell if it�s engaged � though I guess that�s good for silent adjustment in game. It�s comfy � but at just the wrong angle for me.

The first thing I�ll be doing is getting a flatter angled stock. It could do with a cheek rest when iron sighting � but it�s not essential. I need the stock on full extension for the comfiest position � but I have quite long arms and quite big hands. The stock rail is nice and smooth � but it has the remains of a thread at the receiver end � I hope it�s attached properly but I can�t turn it either way.

Next up is the receiver � nice and well�metal! It feels lovely, nice and smooth and well painted.

The cocking handle opens up the hop adjustment door on the starboard side of the gun (on the right when facing the front). The hop is very stiff � and when I got it, was set to fully on � so don�t poke your cleaning rod down before you�ve checked this. The door closes with some difficulty � so I�ll have to look into that.

One interesting point to note is the forward assist button � which I think on the real steel helps to push the bolt forward. On the ICS it helps to relieve spring tension so that in storage, the spring does not lose tension by fatigue. The tension is reapplied when the gun is fired. Pressing the button gives a small whir as the gearbox turns over.

Next up is the ridiculously small carrying handle. I couldn�t happily carry it by this without worrying about getting my fingers trapped. I�m not really fat, but my bones won�t go through anyway. The reason the handle is so small is because it is removable. The Classic Army handles have an extra 10mm or so, because they do away with the release mechanism. Get a sling � as you can�t easily yomp around with it because of this flaw. The carrying handle is attached by two flathead/knurled knobs on the port side of the gun. If you wrench them up to prevent the carrying handle falling off, then you�ll need a flat metal thing to open it again. Try not to scratch the lovely metal knobs. The handle attaches to a standard 20mm rail which is part of the upper receiver. This will let you mount a scope for the snipery types among you. The gun would definitely look the dogs with a scope � though if you don�t want to remove the pointlessly pointless carrying handle � it has an oval hole for all standard M4 carrying handle scope mounts.

Attached to the handle is the rear iron sight � which adjusts by two knobs for up and down windage. The sight itself comprises of an L shaped piece of metal with two holes � one at the end of each leg. One is large � for reduced lighting conditions. Or just for blasting away! The other is small � and at the back of a �cup�. It�s for daylight � or precision shooting. I prefer the AK sights � post and slit.

The red side (port) bolt catch is non functional. The mag release is on the green side (starboard) and is just a small push button. It falls just perfectly under my finger when I extend it. You MUST press it when inserting mags. The lack of �give� in 2mm plate metal is renowned and it will just scratch and maybe even bend. Incidentally � your mag will get scratched pretty damned quick with a metal mag and Magwell. The mag release bar on the red is functional � and moves with the working mag release.

The pistol grip is nice and solidly attached. The motor in it gives it a nice vibration that makes the gun feel a little more real. The trigger guard is big enough to get a glove in and the trigger action is nice and easy.

The safety is on the red side and works just slightly confusingly if you�re not used to it. It clicks nicely into place but the area around it is already a bit scratched. The marks are engraved and unpainted � so if spraying, do it lightly. It�s a bit hard to reach if you�re fingering the trigger at the same time. With the front-heaviness of the gun, you don�t want to take your hand of the fore grip � and the only way I can change it while still being able to fire is to use my middle finger on the trigger. This gives the little bit of extra reach that I need.

The safety indicator on the green side is fake. It�s indented into the receiver and painted black as far as I can tell. It�s always set to safe. It�s a bit of a disappointment really � and god help left handers. The safety can be changed by switching your thumb to the red side (away from the body) if you�re left handed � but it�s a bit of a stretch. You also can�t tell what it�s set on without looking as the indicator is useless. The forward assist � and the random bump above and to the left of the hop adjuster cover will also get in your way if you�re using it left handed. You�ll have to use your right hand only to remove mags � it�s possible � and a lot easier than getting them in � but it�s still hard. Although the trigger and the rest is still fine, I wouldn�t recommend this gun for a left hander (by the way � I just wrecked my back trying to work all that stuff out � you�d better be happy! Holding a 3kg gun in your left hand alone takes some doing!).

There are some nice trademarks in this area �

�COLT�s MFG.COM.INC. HARTFORD. CONN. U.S.A�
Just to the left and up of the safety.

�PROPERTY OF U.A. GOVT. M4A1 CARBINE CAL. 5.56 MM�
On the mag well, red side. Just above is a dancing horse on a globe � which looks a bit like a circus act, but Mr. Google reliably informs me is in fact, the colt logo.

�C2500765�
Just below it. I presume it�s either a real steel, or an ICS serial number.

The only �ICS MADE IN KOREA� type trademarks that I can find are
�Non gun / trainer only�
On the bottom of the trigger guard.

�ICS�
On the bottom of the pistol grip.

�Manufactured under license from Colt and Cybergun by ICS Taiwan R.O.C�
On the green side.

Moving on past the receiver we come to the upper epidermis or Barrel. First on both sides is the craptacular fore grip which contains the Battery. It is held on by a �Delta Ring� which springs to the front of the gun, holding the top and bottom of the fore grip together. Interestingly � pushing up on the lower fore grip shifts the delta ring backwards (e.g. not holding it together) rather worryingly! That needs sorting. It can be temporarily sorted by putting a length of insulation tape around the grip. Job done and dusted. If you remove both grips, and turn the ring until it slides forward then it comes off onto the barrel. The spring here is cack. It�s made of very thin wire, and has just one coil. It needs replacing, of buffering forwards to fix this problem. The battery fits nicely-ish � and the fuse is also located here. You�ll notice that the holes in the fore-grip let lots of lovely water into your battery compartment � so shrink wrap that battery! At the front of the fore grip is another delta ring which is fixed.

Just in front of this is the fore sight mechanism which can be adjusted up and down by the lose-a-minute plastic tool. Plastic might not seem like the best material to make a 1mm long, 1 mm wide, .5mm thick lug that will experience human bicep torque but ICS obviously think differently. All this lot is metal, and it includes the front sling point. The back one is fixed to the bottom of the stock � hmm. I�ll have to see how that actually works.

Then we have the fore barrel � which is easily-broken-off 4 inches long. It has the standard M4 half bird-cage flash-hider attached to the front by 1 grub screw. All metal. There�s a standard negative 14mm thread for the flash hider.

No TM barrel wobble here � despite the flimsy and completely structurally useless fore grip, the barrel is lock solid. Because of the extra length � its likely to bend though, so don�t sit on it for god�s sake! However � this has a pay-off � the longer barrel length means greater accuracy which I�ll be looking at later in the review.

The Accessories (not a rubbish crime film)

To the magazine! The magazine is very nicely put together from sheet metal. There�s a plastic insert in the top which attaches the magazine into the gun. As it�s all metal � don�t expect that lovely dark-grey-receiver colour to last too long � especially on the extremities. It�ll get scratched to hell just taking it in and out. The filling hatch is a slider � which having used the TM G3 magazines � is a bit of a god-send. The TM magazines had a crap flap which flipped open nice and easily a) when you wanted to fill it, and b) when ever you tapped it slightly. This meant that coupled with the awful magwell clip � you lost BB�s everywhere through spillage. One point which is different to the G3 and AK magazines is that the clockwork winds forwards � not towards you. This will cause me great confusion no doubt. It hold 450 BB�s � and is worth �23 new � so its �2 cheaper than a TM M16 mag for about 100 more rounds. The bottom has a fake real steel / ICS trademark. Classic army mags hold 300 rounds, are a bit shorter, and fit and feed nicely. STAR real-caps also fit and feed well - though they are tight in the mag-well. (Side note - the reason that ICS magazines are "larger" than the others is that they are made to real dimensions - however, because airsoft magazines don't go in as far as real magazines, they look a bit silly when in the gun.)

The cleaning rod is a bit naff. It flexes all over the place, and as a bit of an engineer, I can just feel that it�s going to break real quick. The orange muzzle cap is a bit loose � but I�ll probably keep it on for most of the time (don�t want to get shot by the Police!). As I already said � the front iron sight adjustment tool is a piece of rubbish � but unfortunately a bit essential. The muzzle cap has an excellent secondary use; as a BB filler! It holds ~60 BB�s, and the lower curve means that it is perfect for filling the magazine with! It is faster than a speed loader, and loses less BB�s than doing it by hand. Dig deep in those BB bags boys!

The catalogue of ICS products is nice � but offers no way of ordering, and the Engrish manual is easy enough to read � though not as long or comprehensive as TM�s It gives the stunning piece of advice that the �Forward assist knob can be� (sic.) It has no ending. Great! It exists! It�s a bit of a �the most important thing you will ever need to learn from me to beat the Evil Warlord that killed your father, is that you need to find the�*dies*� moment.

Firing

Power
The gun chrono�d first at 310 out of the box and I have heard that the FPS on this gun increases naturally as time goes by. I was impressed! It has a lovely range, can shoot through bushes, and if you can see that far in a forest, the gun can hit it.

EDIT: the FPS on this gun will drop at a startling rate over a period of around 6 months. This is nothing to do with the spring. Nothing at all. This is to do with the bushings.

Now, for some unknown reason, ICS had decided to fit all of its guns with nylon bushings. No problem? Wrong - they're CRAP!

I recently bought an M100 spring and a set of self-oiling metal bushings to fit to my gun. I started to fit them two days before a skirmish. I managed to do all the bushings (as I'd started on them first - can't use the M100 without them, but you can use them without the M100), but ran into problems, so I had not fitted the new spring by the time I went to skirmish. The old nylon bushings had ovaloid holes in them...

The gun had previously been chrono'ing at 270. It chrono'd that day at 330! That's a staggering 60 fps rise - just due to changing something so simple! That's what I wanted it at anyway - and someone reliably informed me that an M100 would do not much better, so I have not bothered to fit it.

Lessons learnt? FIT ICS M4s WITH METAL BUSHINGS AS SOON AS YOU CAN!

ROF
The ROF is very fast. The gun may sound like it cycles 3 times, but you look in your target box; you will find that you have 10 or so BB�s there�

Sound
Lovely. It is neither loud, nor quiet.

EDIT: after the old nylon bushing had degraded so much, it made a sort of rattling thunk every time you fired - with metal bushings, it goes "zap". w00t.

Feed
No feed issues on its first skirmish. Just wind your hi-cap. The hi-cap winds very nicely. The gear is sort of loose-ish, and can be wound very fast. It has a bigger diameter than the CA one too.

Skirmishing

I took the gun to its first skirmish at Black-Ops on January 22nd. The gun performed very well. It out shot the CA and TM M4�s, and I got 10 kills in 30 minutes in one game with my excellent range and ROF. It is fine to carry once the adrenaline got going, and I only charged for 20 minutes at lunch time, but the battery still lasted the whole day. With the hop-up almost on full for the whole day, I could shoot as far as I could see without having to change my aim. It shoot�s almost flat � and has great range.

Right at the end of the day, I dropped it! Nooooo! The only thing that broke was a laser mount that I had on the barrel. No biggy! The gun has no scratches or anything.

Upgradeability

As the gun is an M4 � there are more RIS kits, stocks, receivers and other upgrades than you can shake a stick at. The ICS split gearbox means that you can change springs and pistons in a shorter time, and the gun disassembles very neatly.
I don�t go in for accessories much, but if you wanted to � then it would be easy, and look great.

Stock Specs
FPS 310 (rises to 325)
Length 790mm
Barrel Length 345mm
Weight 3000g
Ammo Capacity 450 bb�s
Cost �209 (www.zerooneairsoft.co.uk)

Upgrade Potential
+ Too many extras to list
+RIS
+Stocks
+Internals
+Split design gearbox
+Good ROF
+Good fps
10/10

Build Quality

(Big + points)
+Brilliant metal body
+Great stock design
+Nice weight
+Excellent magazine

(Minor � points)
-Bad fore-grip
-Bad delta ring spring
-Non left-handers
-Some obvious �ICS� trademarks
-Carry handle�
9/10

Value for Money

+ �200 for a metal bodied 300fps gun? Yes please!!
+Magazines are less than TM and CA and yet they hold more�
10/10

Overall

Fantastic gun, great power, great looks, great everything except for some very minor niggles with build quality. If you want an M4 with a retractable stock � get one!
9/10

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Current Armoury:
ICS M4 A1, Star M14 SOPMOD, HFC M190, WE 1911
Guides:
WE 1911 disassembly, M4 SD fore-end, G3 adapted stock

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k146/casey_cole/m4sig.jpg

phishphansj3151

Master of 6mm simulated pain!!!!!11one

Registered: January 2005
Location: Rochester NY USA
Posts: 1,100

Review Date: 15/2/06

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �300.00 | Rating: 8

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	good looking trademarks, good forward assist feature
Cons:	poor quality Hi-cap, gearbox weaker than mauri, poorly desined trigger switch

ICS M4A1 w/ Olympic Arms�

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History lesson:
�The M4 Carbine is a shorter, and lighter version, of the M16 A2 assault rifle, achieving 80% parts commonality with the M16A2. As with many carbines, it was meant to provide troops with an effective, shoulder fired weapon in lieu of pistols, such as the M9. Since the weapon is shorter, thus lighter, it is handy and more comfortable to carry than full length rifles. While this makes it a candidate for non-infantry troops (vehicle crews, clerks and staff officers) it has been used by US Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and others seeking a compact weapon for close quarters combat.
The M4A1 was developed and is produced for the United States government by Colt Firearms, who has an exclusive contract to produce the M4 family of weapons through to 2009.�

First appearance:
The rifle came in a brown cardboard box with the ICS logo on it and the logo of Olympic Arms along with large letters M4 on it. The gun was securely tied down to the box with straps there was bubble wrap to insure no damage on arrival. My reaction when I opened the gun was amazing. My jaw dropped and I was in awe. The gun looked perfect. The Olympic Arms trademarks were laser done and really made the gun look all it could be. I was also surprised on how dark the grey was. In all the pictures I had seen the grey looked very light but in the flesh it looked great. (In my opinion I think it looked better than all black. I picked the gun up and it felt very heavy. It felt almost equally balanced, except a little more weight in the front, but with the battery inside it feels perfect. Another thing I noticed was how short it was! The gun is about 4 inches longer than my arm, and the gun is about 2.5 ft. (Yes I know I have long arms.) Even with my lanky arms this thing feels very short. My super 9 is about 14in longer than it. The stock is a little bit wobbly but a quick go at it with a screwdriver will fix that easily. Another thing I was surprised at was how much metal there was. I think the only plastic on it was the foregrip, stock, pistol grips, and the hop-up adjuster knob. SOLID!!! There are no wobbles present (besides the stick which is fixed.) The barrel is all metal and feels like you could throw the gun off a building and still have no movement in the gun. (Not that I�m telling you to throw your gun off a building.) The only dislike so far is the shiny foregrip, but its not a big deal.

The magazine:
The magazine on the gun is the same color grey as the receiver and is metal. It feels solid but I noticed a few feeding problems with it but nothing harder than just giving it a little shake. (Nothing to be worried about.) The magazine is quite large and is a little bit longer than Tokyo Mauri magazines. If you worried about conserving ammo have fun with this gun because it�s gigantic magazine holds 450 rounds! Talk about Spray n� Pray!

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Technical stuff:
The gun has the new split gearbox as you might know and it is awesome! With a simple opening of the gun by pushing out a pin it reveals the lower and upper gearbox. The upper gearbox can simply slide out and be replaced in 5 seconds. Perfect if you have another gearbox and need an m120 spring in there for that hard to reach sniper! This rifle also come equipped with a forward release lever so you don�t have to put up with lower and lower power as you use your gun in the future. Just push the button and there you have it�no spring tension!! Yay ICS!! The gun also has very easy to use hop-up system. Just pull back the charging handle behind the rear sight and you can see a little black dial on the left side of the receiver. Some people say it�s hard to turn but I found no problems with mine and setting the hop-up was as easy as can be! The sites on the gun are very good also because of the 2 easy to use dials right at your fingertips. The only problem is that its hard to use when you�re wearing full face but this is true with most or if not all airsoft rifles.

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Shooting:
Now to the fun part�shooting this beast! I set up a target and flicked the fire selector switch to auto and pulled the trigger down for a short burst. PRRRRR!!! The gearbox sounded quite odd but I came to relize that it was the new split gearbox design that made the sound of a hurt cat. I shot out a few more bursts and then went to check out the target. (I had my hop-up set and sights aligned.) There were 2 nice groupings. 1 grouping at the targets chest and another in the targets forehead. There were no individual bb marks because these things made a hole the size of 2 quarters at each grouping! ACCURATE! I moved out to 20 meters and the same thing happened with the groupings. At 30 meters you could see the individual bb marks but there were all within 1.5in away from each other. The power on this thing was amazing also! My friend wanted to be the first shot with it, (with proper eyewear�of course!) I shot a small burst of ammo at his back and he instantly jumped up and yelped. He told me compared to my super 9 and M9 I shot him with, the M4 felt like a bee sting while the other 2 felt like a spitball. At 30 meters I hit my friend with 1 shot where with my m9 it took 8.

Some personal reflection:
Looks: wow�.is it possible something can look this good? 10/10
Magazine: Alright a few problems but easily manageable. 8/10
Sights: Very accurate and very deadly the pin sight doesn�t let enough light through. 9/10
Insides: Awesome and they look reinforced except for those nylon bushings. 10/10
Shooting: Perfect power, and perfect accuracy�What more is there? 10/10 (11/10 if possible)
Overall: 10/10. Everything is almost perfect!!
Was it worth the $300? Its worth $400, but I just got a good deal. That�s how awesome it is.

Review done by Simon Jones, AKA Phishphansj3151 (USA)

(I will be adding more later)

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Sig over limits

ZAXAQUAR

Registered: November 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 370

Review Date: 27/6/06

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 10

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Rugged, beatiful, customizable, accurate, detailed, comfortable, etc!...
Cons:	Eh? What's an ICS Olympic Arms negative aspect?

(Sorry about lacking pictures and leangth)

First off it's an (what it replicates) Olympic Arms MIL-4/M4 (either one), CAR-97, MOD P.C.R. CAL. 5.56/223,14.5 inch barrel.
It has a 14.5 inch barrel with a bird cage A2 flash hider. It has a side sling sling mount (right handed version, so left side of forward iron sights). It also has M4S forgrips (missing the metal heat shields that should be contoured inside of the forgrip halves) Standard Delta ring, weld spring, (the spring holding the forgrips together with the Delta ring) bolt catch (the bolt catch is a dummy, however, it moves a bit) button forward assist, mag release, charging handle, fire selectro switch, pistol grip, and shell ejector door. It has a third generation callapsible stock, AKA Ergo-stock.

To the actual airsoft gun/weapon (whichever you prefer to call it).

-The callapsible stock is smooth, ruggded, yet slightly lose. It has 6 positions, and the stock that your shoulder contacts is heavy duty fiber plastic stuff that I'm not quite sure what it is, and its guide is Aircraft-grade-aluminum. You can take the sliding stock off like a real one. There are two bolts that tighten/loosen/detach the rear sling mount, and whole shoulder stock assembly.

-The fire selector's 'knob' is about 2mms away from the body of the weapon. Yet the fire selector moves smoothly and clicks into position. Not to mention it feels rugged.

-The forward assist is extremely easy to push in, and can be a "life saver" on the field for unjamming. It is also rugged feeling. However, it DOES have some side to side play (VERY VERY slight).

-The charging has a VERY smooth pull to it. It also opens the chamber in the airsoft gun. You can easily hold it back to adjust the hop up which is in the bullet ejector. The charging handle has the correct 'lock' which is a lever that holds the charging handle in. (WARNING, DO NOT RELEASE CHARGING HANDLE)

-The hop-up is great, (I suggest to spray a little lube on the hop-up, it will make it easier to adjust. Once the hop-up is lubed a little bit; (I use ICS silicone spray lube) just pull the charging handle (and hold) and rotate the 'wheel' towards the mag well, this will increase hop-up, do this in reverse to turn down the hop-up.
The hop-up doesn't compromise accuracy (unless you arne't shooting with your weapon level). It is VERY efficient in increasing range.

-The forgrips that everyone complains about. They really aren't that bad. They've never fallen apart on me before. Here's what I do: 1.Ensure the weld spring (the spring that pushes the delta-ring forward) is flat on it's base. 2.Ensure that the battery is not obstructing the correct closing of the forgrips. 3.Make sure that the grooves in the delta ring are fitting through thier matching grooves on the 'delta-mount'are aligned. This makes the Delta ring push forward as far s it can, this will hold on the forgrips more effectively.
(The forgrips are VERY comfy)

-The mag release's resistance to force (spring streangth) is suitable for its purpose. It can be adjusted to where them mag is really tightly held, but you have to pay the price of pushing the button with much force.

-The mag well accepts STAR mags with a snug fit, (you have to pull them out your self). The mag well is also very smooth, and you can observe that the body of the weapon is cast.

-The pistol grip is VERY comfortable, it is a standard pistol grip, that is plastic with re-enforcings aswell as being efficiently secured.
It has an allen-wrench adjustable feature that allows you to adjust motor 'location'.

-These forward iron-sights are very durable, they are also adjustable so they can be centered and such for the way you sight your weapon. (this adds to the customizability of the weapon)

-The T3 carry handle has EXCELENT rear sights. They are adjustable for range, wind, and brightness. They have 2 rear iron sights, one is supposedly for day time fighting (it has a small apeture to allow for pin point firing) and a night, or low-light rear sight, (this rear sight has a larger apeture to allow more light through to your eye for effective firing in low-light situations). It is detatchable, and it's Aircraft-grade-aluminum. It's very easy to take off.

-The recievers' body is nicely constructed with a full metal design, along with the bullet shell cover, door and forward assist. The tabs holding the recievers together are full metal and very durable. The take down pin is also metal (DO NOT LUBE IT). Field stripping is very easy and straight forward. Use a screw driver handle and tap the port/left side of the weapon (where the pin is) and then use a screw driver or coin to pry out the pin enough to pull it out. Then, just pull the receivers apart. You can pull the upper reciever's internals out in one piece (excluding the barrel), just pull straight back. Same with the barrel and chamber/hop-up system. The inner barrel is of course inside of an outer barrel. DON'T FORGET to maintain your weapon (if you don't like maintenance, get this weapon, for it is easy to maintain, however, it's so easy that you have no excuse not to do it, well too bad). Just put stuff back in the way you took it out.

-I recommend STAR mags (for mil-sim) because they're cheap, effective, rugged and work flawlessly with this weapon.

-The trademarks are dead accurate (they don't say colt, sorry had to correct you). The ONLY unrealistic trades are on the right side which articulate the fact that it is a military trainer and not a real firearm. It even has the Olympic Arms only barrel trades (that's how you can tell if you have an Olympic Arms barrel, is by looking at the side, and if you don't see any markings then you have some other brand of barrel).

This airsoft gun is phenomenal! It replicates my favorite weapon down to the last detail (missing the accesories which are 4 of them including rails)! So, for ME this was HEAVEN ON EARTH.
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Have fun with it, if you get it! It's a great weapon that is highly customizable.
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(IRON SIGHT efficiency is based off of oppinion, and all the rangers and D-boys I know LOVE their iron-sights.)

US-A-1stSFOD-D-TA11-ZZE-Zax

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-1337-Zax-ILA-

UrPeaceKeeper

Bring it on!!

Registered: May 2005
Location: USA
Posts: 3,403

Review Date: 31/7/06

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 9

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Metal Body, Fixed Issues form Earlier Version
Cons:	Plasticky Foregrip

To Clarify: I have purchased the 2006 ICS MIL4AS PCR-97

Intro/History:
I've been searching for a nice Armalite variant for some time to compliment my M14. I finally settled on the ICS M4A1 after some serious debate and testing of both the CA and the ICS M4's The reasons are self explanitory. The ICS has a split gearbox and a working foward assist, as well as a good hop up design.

Externals:
The Typical Matte grey body as seen in previous versions adds an incredibly sexy twist to the usuall all black armalites. The Trademarks are not stickers, and are laser engraved. On the selector side you have the Olympic Arms Lions crest and under that it says

"PCR-97 MIL4AS
CAL 5.56 NATO
MOD.P.C.R DD
BA0600240"

Above the selector it says
"OLYMPIC ARMS
OLY, WA USA"

On The Reverse between the faux selector and mag release it says:

"6mm AEG Trainer
Lic to and distrubted by
Team SD.USA
Manufactured by ICS Taiwan,R.O.C."

There are several buttons, catches and what not that are all usable (except the bolt catch) These include the Foward Assist, Charging Handle, Selector Switch, Mag Release, and Wind and Elevation adjustment for the Iron Sights.

The Colapsable Stock has 6 positions and locks firmly into each. The stock itself is made of a very rugged Bakelite style plastic. The Foregrip is made of a lighter plastic and houses enough area to place a mini battery or a nunchuck battery (of which I own 3 9.6v 1300 mAh batteries)

The Carrying handle is made of the same metal as the reciever and fits nicely on the RIS below it. The handle itself is actually smaller then the CA or TM Carrying Handle. For people like me, with big hands, this is a problem. For now, my Aimpoint is proudly mounted on top of it where it sits securely.

The Internals:
Well, the split gearbox is a fantastic attribute, it alows me to inspect the greasing up of the gears. Dry, its about as greased as it got. So I put some fresh grease on it put the gearbox back together, closed her up and fired a couple of times. Ahh ROF Already increased. Everything looks secure for me, as its survived 2 heavy skirmishes.

The Foward assist really is a nice feature, great for those moments when you jam and you realy REALLY need to fire away. Havent had to use it in that purpose yet thank goodness.

No Feeding issues yet, The mag feeds well, and MAG 100 round Standards work flawlessly.

Exterior: 9/10 (Carrying Handle bothers me)
Interior: 10/10
Upgradability: 10/10
Performance: 9/10
Overall: 9/10

Stats Pending Chrono Results

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v141/whiskey_11/108-0802_IMG.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v141/whiskey_11/108-0801_IMG.jpg

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v141/whiskey_11/SigArnies10.jpg

Airsoftcrazed24/7

Registered: June 2006
Posts: 329

Review Date: 10/8/06

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: None indicated | Rating: 10

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	solid, all metal, sexy, looks real ( well with the real trades)
Cons:	NOTHING!!!...so far...=)

the ICS M4A1 RIS 2006 ( i.e. V3)
i got this gun off of blazingtoys after some posts in a few forums....
appearence:
when i got the package, i noticed how heavy it was...i only ordered 1x 2000 white bbs, 1x 500 black bbs and the gun of course, and it also came in with the battery and charger. the total weight was just above 15Ibs!!
opening the box was a little difficult becuase blazingtoys wanted to be sure that nothing was ripped, opened, etc etc...after about 15 minutes of fiddling with the tape, i finally came to the guns box itself...in the front it says," MIL4AS PCR-97. and in the middle it says," team SD' amd
'Olympic Arms'
the gun...
when i picked up the gun, i could see the vain marks on my wrist...its THAT heavy ( and i love it so no complains) blazingtoys claims that its just about 7 Ibs and i believe them! and the thing that i like about this is that the RIS foregrip makes the gun look SeXY!! it came with the orange barrel cover, fake PEQ2 box ( ill buy the laser soon), rail covers and the foregrip.
trades:
now heres something that i havent seen ever since i got my first 'AEG' the SRC M4...this gun came with 'src' fake trades while my lovely ICS M4 RIS came with REAL GUN LOGOS!!!!
it says:
PCR-97 MIL4AS
CAL 5.56 NATO
MOD. P.C.R DD
BA0600588

and on top of the selector switch it says:
OLYMPIC ARMS
OLY, WA USA

i love it!!!
the internals...
im not a professional internal opener and i dont feel confertable openning up the gun ( unless i have to grease) either so ill just say that it has a new turbo 3000, precision cut reinforced motor pinion gear, precision cut reinforced no.1 ( bevel) gear, steel bushings, and low resistance 16 AWG electric wire...this is a VAST improvement from the ICS M4 V1 and V2. this makes the gun FAR more reliable then ever! ( that is, if you take care of it of course, this gun will be almost as reliable as TM!!)

what more do i have to say? i dont see any cons!...so heres where i will do my closing...

this gun cost me about $400 bucks and i dont feel that i wasted all that money!!

conclusion:
i have had a variety of M4s and different quality brand guns. above them all, i would choose this gun. this has had to be my most greatest purchase of all. and YES, if it broke for some crazy reason ( it probably wont), i WOULD buy it again.

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Army R27 M1911 MEU

RWJP

Registered: February 2009
Location: Ferndown, UK
Posts: 469

Review Date: 16/7/10

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �270.00 | Rating: 10

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Performance, Build Quality, Split Gearbox
Cons:	Nothing of note

This is my review of the ICS M4A1 Carbine that I bought earlier this year (February 2010).

I'm not going to post a spectacularly detailed review as those above me have done that fairly well three or four times over!

All that really needs to be said is, if you are after an Armalite replica, and ICS offers one in the configuration you want, then go for the ICS.

This is probably one the nicest Armalites i've ever used and i'd recommend it over a competitor's product any day.

Performance is good for an M4, and ICS's rotary hop until is much better than the standard dial-type hop you find on TM and other brand Armalites.

Internally, the split gearbox is an absolute joy to work with. Knock out the rear receiver pin, hinge the body open and slide out the entire piston, spring, and tappet plate assembly. For those of you who use the same gun in Woodland and CQB environments with different FPS limits, then this is the gun for you, simply purchase a second upper gearbox with a lower powered spring for CQB, and keep the stock set for Woodland.

Externally, it looks like any other M4, and features very nice, fully licensed (through Cybergun) Colt trademarks. Finish is a slightly shiny black which doesn't scratch particularly easily, the only area where there are scratch marks is on the stock tube, but most of the time you can't see these marks.

On the stock tube, i'd advise that you Loctite the screw that holds the stock onto the body if you don't intend to remove it at any point as it can come lose over time.

To sum it all up: If you want a standard M4A1 that you can rely on to work every single time you use it, then this is the gun for you. For the price, I don't think you can do much better.

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Current Arsenal:

ICS M4A1
G&P Aimpoint, Madbull Blackside Suppressor, Madbull Black Python 6.03mm Tightbore
TM MP7A1

CA P90RDS
TM 1911 MEU(SOC)
Carom Shot Wood Grips and VFC Surefire 310r

scoutthedoggie approved commenter!