M4 Special Forces - ArniesAirsoft

Author

kryptik

Registered: February 2006
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 181

Review Date: 3/8/06

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

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Unique, Great Value, High Quality Materials, High Performance Parts, Included 7mm Gearbox, Great Reddot and accurate sights, Solid, Smooth Action (everything works as it should)
Cons:	High Price, Bad Hopup, Requires initial tweaking for maximum performance, FPS may be too high for many fields

Specifications:
Built Material - Metal & ABS
Gear Box - Version 2
Motor - EG700
Magazine - 130 Rounds ( 6mm )
Length - 777mm / 857mm
Weight - 3640g

Features:

- Aluminium Diecasting Body ( Marine )
- Aluminium Flash Hider & One-Piece Outer Barrel
- CQBR Carbine Handguard Set
- Extended Battery Buttstock
- Red Dot Sight with Mount
- Reinforced 7mm Bearing Gearbox
- Metal Hop-up Chamber

Included items:

G&P Aimpoint Red-dot on standard mount
G&P 130 Round Midcap
2x Rail Covers
Black Birdcage Flash-hider
Necessary hardware for crane stock

First Impressions:

I�ve been around many M4s in my time in airsoft. This is my first time actually owning one. Having opened the box, I was amazed by the unique look, heft, and overall quality of this gun. I have always been a huge fan of the long KAC RAS system, and now it is mine.

The gun has an almost fully aluminum external construction, everything short of the crane stock and handgrip. The gun is not nearly as heavy as my G3, but also maintains enough heft to make it very realistic. The T-handle is solid, and moves back and forth smoothly after a bit of silicone lube application.

Although the marine trades are not real, they certainly LOOK real. Being a G&P, the quality of the trademarks is some of the best in airsoft, and definitely maintain their reputation on this gun. They are clean, bold, and look great. On the right side of the gun is a real KAC trademark, which is a huge plus for me.

Having been a previous owner of a strictly TM load-out, I don�t think I can go back to buying TMs after having this gun. Even the plastics (handgrip especially) are smooth, are flat in color vibrancy, which reflects quality.

Even the sights are impressive. The front sight is a standard M16/M4 post sight, which is how I like it. The rear sight is not flip-up. Basically picture the sight on the M4 carry handle, but without the carry handle. Being a real steel shooter, the carry handle sight is one of the highest quality sights out there. Not having the carry handle allows me to field the red-dot and sight at the same time, which is great. The red-dot is a G&P, which is known to be high quality. Having turned it on right out of the box, the dot is vibrant, the glass is clear, and the dot-sight is metal and sturdy as well.

Before-firing Modifications:

Having bought a 10.8v 3800mah crane battery, it would not fit in the standard G&P stock. This does not mean that the G&P stock is bad. It is actually VERY high quality, and maintains realistic size, shape, and feel. Just it doesn�t include capacity for the battery I wanted, so I ordered the Prime Crane Stock w/ Included Tube and hardware. The stock is much wider. This is not a minus either though. It functions as a better cheek-rest if needed, but never gets in the way of iron sight aiming. And�the battery capacity gives me a performance advantage not seen on many other guns.

I also changed the G&P ultra style connector to a genuine ultra connector. This is because the deans connector was a bit loose on the G&P connector.

Firing/Use:

I put the battery in, loaded the G&P magazine with 100 or so bbs, took the safety off, set it to semi, and pulled the trigger. As soon as the trigger was hit, the gun set in motion and started shooting (primarily due to crazy responsiveness of the 10.8v). Although the gun shoots about 360-380 fps out of the box, it purrs, it is quiet. I then set it to automatic, and once again started firing. I unloaded the midcap quickly with 2-3 second bursts of automatic fire, smoothly.

The hopup out of the box was a bit awkward. It seemed to be stuck, until I took a screwdriver and started turning the very tight wheel back and forth, and it eventually smoothened out. The hopup itself is quite bad, most likely due to the bad design, but with a .25g bb it wouldnt even lift the bb to make it go straight. After outfitting the gun with brand new hopup parts, it fired wonderfully.

As for accuracy, I shot around my backyard and could basically hit anything. This was primarily attributed because of an experienced user, but also because of the 363mm barrel.

As for firing, the gun shoots smoothly, quietly, FAST, responsive, far, and powerful. There is nothing more you can want, but I expect that kind of performance from a G&P.

As for the tappet plate issue, I have shot about 500-1000 rounds out of this gun so far, and it is still shooting fine. I will be installing promethius gears, a systema tappet, and systema nozzle, and will report on the condition of the original tappet plate when I open the box.

Another small thing, since the batteries I�m using are very heavy, being Sub-C, it provides near perfect balance to the gun. This is needed because the long style KAC rail on the front makes it very front-heavy with no battery. Once a lot of weight is put on the gun, the fulcrum is basically shifted to the pistol grip, which is great and makes the gun easy to wield.

Battery:

I purchased two batteries so I would never run dry. Each battery was a 9 cell crane battery using Intellect IB3800 Sub-C cells. Automatically hearing the name intellect, you think of quality and performance. That is exactly what these cells put out. They can easily supply the current needed to turn over the gun, and maintain a high ROF for long full auto fire. The batteries registered far over 10.8v initially after charging, which is normal.

The battery was put together by www.cheapbatterypacks.com . I give credit to them for constructing a superb battery, and having great and fast service. As always, my money will continue going to them for batteries.

Magazines:

I don�t know why people rag on G&P M4 midcaps. These are some of the best magazines I�ve used. The magazines did not misfeed ONCE yet. They are completely aluminum, making them realistic. They are also great for the price. I highly recommend these magazines for any M4/M16 user, milsim or not.

Current Internal Upgrades:

Systema Hopup Chamber
First Factory Strike Chamber
Promethius Soft Hopup Bucking
Promethius 363mm Tightbore Barrel
Tokyo Marui EG1000 Motor
Promethius Standard Ratio Gears
Area-1000 tappet plate
Systema Air nozzle
Systema Low Resistance Switch Assembly

Conclusion:

After buying this gun, I am two things: Addicted to M4s, and addicted to G&Ps. I have had a strictly Marui loadout until now. Even though I have been around TM, CA, ICS, G&G and admit they�re great guns, I don�t think I can go back to buying any one of those after handling and shooting this gun. The quality is just superb, and the performance is amazing as well.

Although the gun is great, I do believe that you still have to be an experienced user to own it. I�m sure the tappet issue is still there, and the hopup bucking may need to be replaced. If you have the skills to open up guns and fix them, this is THE gun for you. I hope to stand out at the next airsoft game with a highly unique and quality gun.

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Ketch

Registered: August 2007
Posts: 2

Review Date: 4/10/07

Would you recommend the product? Yes | Price you paid?: �340.00 | Rating: 9

Positive aspects of the product (pros):	Solid, Reliable
Cons:	None

My first AEG and I love it!

Had it now for over a year and have never had a problem with it.

Only customisations made include:
1) Addition of a silencer
2) Replacement of standard barrel with an extended 6.03mm Madbull tightbore (which runs the length of the silencer and considerably improved the accuracy!)
3) M120 spring
4) Systema Turbo motor

Runs like a dream. Constantly firing between 340 and 350fps and has never failed me. Only problem I ever had was a mis-feeding mag and you can't blame the rifle for that!