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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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2
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21863
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19/2/09
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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Average Rating
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100% of reviewers
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£349.50
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10.0
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Description:
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Full Metal Gas Blow back M4 from WE Version 1
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Keywords:
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M4 WE GBB
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Britania27
Registered: December 2007
Posts: 25
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Review Date: 30/1/09
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: £400.00
| Rating: 10
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Positive aspects of the product (pros):
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Full Metal, nice blow back action, real type takedown
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Cons:
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Gas cool down
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The WE M4 where do i start. Well i have been looking at this product for sometime on the internet and i started to go a bit crazy on all the questions i wanted to ask. So i went to the airsoft shop where i live and asked the guy about the WE and if he would ever order some. Well 2 weeks went by and i got the call that 4 WE M4s and 2 WA M4s had arrived. So of i went down to the shop with my mate and we took a look at the softair marker and i fell for the WE why on simple reason for me the blowback on the WE just seemed much stronger plus a full metal body. I have not realy been playing airsoft for long it sort of came slowly to me after i had finished my Military service in England i moved to Switzerland to the mountains and the cows because i am British Swiss. I now do Swiss military Service once a year. I like weapons the way they look and behave i pay always alot of attention to details inside and out. It does not mean the have to look beautiful but the way they react or the shapes. The reason i say all this in a scary sort of manner is that people always seem to care more about the markings on their Airsoft markers rather than the gun itself you see this version of the M4 has NO markings except for the fire selector. Like on the real M16s i have used. The great thing about this gun compared to the Electric ones is that it has a nice sound to it, when i first picked up an airsoft gun i was schocked at the realistic looks and feel of it but when i pulled the trigger ha ha ha i was laughing it sounded like a gun from Starwars. The WE M4 is a Gas blow back system that acts like its real counterpart from the way the Safty works you can only move it to the safe position when the hammer is cocked also has a nice Forward Assisting part . Everything that is made of metal in the origional M4 is Metal in the WE M4. I think most real parts can fit on the WE M4 too. The plastic also looks quite real. The take down is also very fun to do i makes the whole Expirence very realistic the greatest was how the spring was seated in the rear of the stock making it easy to change for power preferances. I have posted a picture of my real Sig 550 just to show you how the comparisons between a real gun is and the Airsoft Marker. The blow back is also great it is quite powerful it kicks a little bit under what a real mp5 SD type would do.
Testing this Marker is still under way i did take it out the whole day to a small Skermish and at the very start i was amazed at the accuracy of the M4. Through out the day the Magazine was getting cold and i could see the peformance dropping and sometimes the gas running out. Do not get scared this is normaly i mean the Day was so freezing not even a polar bear could have survived because at the moment here in some parts of Switzerland we have snow and are well below the Minus levels i mean you can tape some hand warmers on the mags or just keep them in your pocket for a while. I also heard of some new typs of mags coming out that take the CO2 Capsules or something like that.
To make a long story short. The WE M4 is in my personal opinion the greatest and most enjoyable Airsoft Marker on the Market. It has so much potential and i looks great. I know in the summer i will not be using electric. Anyway i will try to write upsome more in more details once i have got more knowlage and experience of this system.
Take it easy all
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1st Commando
The Lord Of War
Registered: March 2005
Location: F&O Midlands
Posts: 2,593
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Review Date: 19/2/09
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: £299.00
| Rating: 10
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Positive aspects of the product (pros):
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Fantastic realistic operation and build
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Cons:
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Bit of a pain to downgrade on some models
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Here is my initial review of the WE M4-A1 GBB rifle (UK model).
I will be updating this review over the next week or so once mods ,downgrades and game experience have all been completed and some photos taken.
The WE M4 interested me the minute I saw news of it's development as the Western Arms model was a nice product but over priced , under speced and plastic.
We pre ordered two of these WE M4s with Landwarrior in the UK along with six spares magazines (three each)and were kept well up to date on the expected arrival and progress of the shipment as much as was humanly possible (thank you Scott).
Last friday I was notified that the order had arrived at Landwarrior and would be shipped that day .
Scott also informed me that they were stripping all the magazines and sealing them with PTFE tape to prevent leaks.
It is worth noting here that while NONE of our mags leak (probably due to LW being so kind as to check and tape every mag and ship them out with a little gas in)Most users of the WE M4 report that new magazines will leak until cycled two or three times to "set" the seals.
Monday morning and the package arrives ........
The guns are packed in a brown cardboard box with cardboard inserts to prevent the guns moving in transit and they appear to do this very well.
You will also find the rifle itself is inside a clear plastic bag (for the want of a better word) which prevents dirt or dust etc getting into the working parts (a nice touch)
Also in the box you should find .....
1- A 30 round magazine
2- small instruction leaflet with exploded diagram and the usual amusing cartoons
3 - 200 rnd pistol type loading tool (an almost essential item)
Upon removing the rifle from it's packaging the first thing you will notice is just how solid and sturdy it is .
The overall feel with the smaller than airsoft lower frame and pistol grip and matt finish which is identical to the british made M4s I have handled in the past , it just feels right...
The body is lacking any markings on this version but replacment reciveres with and witout markings are available from online stores for $30 - $35 plus post .
The magazines are very sturdy although lighter and considerably cheaper than WA mags at under £30 each .
Once in the rifle the magazines offers realistic weight and balance bringing the total weight of the rifle up to 3.1KG when loaded with 30x 0.20g BBs which is the exact weight of the real steel .
Anyone who has used a real armalite will be far more familiar with the operation of the WE than those who have used aegs.
Inserting the magazine -
When inserting the magazine it is worth getting into the habit of "tap and tug" which is to tap the bottom of the magazine to secure it's seating and tug on it (as if to pull it out) to ensure the magazine catch has caught.
This is just like the real steel armalites I have handled and in the same way the recoil of the first shot can shock a loose, unsecured mag from the mag well causing it to fall rapidly to the ground (bad times).
Once the mag is seated you are required to pull the charging lever to the rear (be smooth and firm ,do NOT jerk the charging lever to ensure maximum life of the working parts just like the real deal)
If the magazines you have inserted is loaded then the bolt will return to battery under the force of the buffer spring , however if the magazine is empty the bolt will lock to the rear* requiring the charging lever to be manually assisted forwards (do not hit the bolt release while the charging lever is full extended as it causes the charging lever to snap forward with force enough to break the charging lever).
* NOTE the magazine can be set to not activate the bolt stop ,more on this later*
Now that you have inserted the loaded magazine and cocked the hammer , you now have a round in the chamber.
You can now set the selector lever to safe if required (as on the real steel the safe setting cannot be selected unless the hammer is cocked)
Moving the selector lever between settings feels positive and gives a nice click unlike most aeg selectors which can feels mushy and indecisive.
Firing semi -
Extending the LE style retractable stock will reveal the one downside to copying the real weapon so well...
The stock has a little play on the stock tube which i fixed very easily by removing the butt and adding two small strips of black and nasty (insulation tape) to the buffer tube and then replacing the butt.
This made the stock feel much less rattly (although it was no where near as some reviewers would lead you to believe).
Once shouldered the rifles balances VERY well and the difference of the width of the lower reciever and pistol grip become very apparent .
Pulling the trigger you notice there is no aeg type delay as the hammer is released crisply and instantly followed by a loud crack and mettalic clunk as the bolt blowsback into the buffer tube and shunts it into your shoulder , quickly counteracted by the bolt slamming back into battery and loading the next round !
The recoil is certainly comparable to firing live 22cal LR or civi spec 9mm para from a similar rifle.
The one thing that may catch you off guard is the small amount of gas that get pushed back towards your cheek from under the charging lever which reminded me of powder blast you get when firing some real rifles.
The gun certainly puts the rounds downrange very quickly with a very positive hit on the target (large cardboard back board)
A quick chrono of the gun with chrombro chrono reveals why .....
test done with 0.20g blaster at 20C on cold mag (just gassed)
1st shot 517 fps
2nd shot 507 fps
3rd shot 498 fps
4th shot 502 fps
5th shot 503 fps
The gun settled to around 502 fps for each subsiquent shot until the magazine ran dry at 30 rounds .
Having had a play on semi we decided to try having a bit more fun and use a bit of auto..
Setting the gun to "auto" and pulling the trigger just made a already big smile even bigger .
The gun really does liven up when fired in bursts and I found it naturally shot 3 rounds each trigger pull which is probably partly down to my trigger disipline but also down to the fact the rate of fire feels just right.
It does not on paper have as high ROF as most aegs but it does not feel or sound any slower at all when firing and certainly seems ideal for an M4.
I'm told the actual ROF is around 700 rpm but have yet to test this myself.
As indicated earlier the WE magzines hold 30 rounds and have a "bolt stop feature" which comprises of a small selector on the top of each mag which when set will prevent the gun from firing when empty and locks the bolt to the rear .
This means that when the magazine runs out you are free to eject the mag , insert a new one and hit the bolt release catch which is found on the upper left side of the lower reciever (exactly where it should be on the real one).
This lever releases the bolt from it's rearward postion and lets it slam back to battery under the power of the buffer spring (remember make sure your charging lever is not rearward when releasing the bolt)
Once the bolt has been released there is no need to cock the gun as it is already cocked and ready to fire with a round in the breach !
If in the unlikely event the bolt does stoppage on the way forward WE have kindly replicated the "forward assist" located on the rear , right of the upper reciever (plunger type thing) which can be used to help force the bolt into battery (personally I would prefer not to use this in favour of finding out why it has jammed)
Basic field strip -
The WE has been designed to strip just like the real M4 so once you have removed the magazine , set the selector to "semi" and rack the charging handle to cock the gun.
You may now push the rear takedown pin (from left side to right)
please note it is a captive pin meaning it will not fall out all the way but be retained by the right side reciever !
The gun can now be opened up by hinging the reciever on the front pin , swinging the barrel downwards.
Once open you can now pull the charging lever back which pulls the bolt out of the upper reciever allowing you to take hold and pull it clear by hand.
The charging lever can now be removed too.
The charging levers on the WE have been shown to be a weaker part in the US although it could be partially due to poor handling along with the fact it is cast not forged etc.
Real charging levers are not a restricted item in the Uk and can be bought and work in the WE with slight modification (which I shall go into another time)
If you prefer , the spare WE charging handles are only priced at £8 -£10 in the UK anyway .
Back to the strip down ....
The buffer and spring can also be removed by holding down the small retaining lever in the lower frame allowing the long buffer spring and buffer guide to be removed (be warned it has a little force behind it and should be taken out slowly and with caution)
The foregrip are removed in the usual way by holding the delta ring and removing the upper and lower foregrips .
These foregrips can be quite hard to remove as they fit very tightly with no undue movement.
They are of a fiber type ,M4 style with aluminium heat shields inside.
The material of the pistol grip is the same and replicates the real steel perfectly (chances are they are real grips as that would more than likely be cheaper than manufacturing new ones)
The front sight/ gas block and outer barrel are very well finished in a matt black to match the body as is the buffer tube.
The Muzzle , foregrip collar and carry handle adjustment parts are all in an anodised grey finish and as with the black parts feel very hardwearing .
The carry handle itself I also suspect may have been out-sourced as it has a finish and build identical to the aforementioned British M4 and lacks the edges of airsoft versions , that is it has rounded ,sturdier corners and fits perfectly on the milspec top rail .
The outer barrel can be unscrewed just forward of the foresight (10 inch)and as with the extension piece it has a 14mm+ thread so be sure to buy for positive thread on after market parts !
I have fitted a Dboys RIS on to mine and although a tight fit it does fit well with zero movement !
I have also tried a cheapsoft eotech which did fit but had a very tiny amount of play if really rattled by hand .
I will be trying other accesories during the course of the week .
I have also ordered some new valves (part #42) from Tactical quartermaster which should arrive today .
Hopefully these new valves will drop the power to the advertised 300-250 fps which will make the gun more useable in the UK without dropping the felt recoil
I have yet to test the hop at a decent range and have not yet adjusted it but it did appear to be over hopping a bit on 0.20s , again more on this later
Small update - 1
The nozzle assembly is well loctited to ensure it does not unscrew in use.
Due to this it is also very hard to get apart to downgrade .
I have been informed that heating it up will loosen it up but WE have said they are sending me a downgraded nozzle assembly anyway so I may wait for that rather than fighting my stock parts.
I should be taking pics tonight to add to the above review as well as some compatibilty reports on various mag pouches etc
Update 2 -
Update -
I've been testing the mag compatibility with various mag pouches etc.
All issue kit fits the mags well as the magazines are the same size in all dimensions as the HK L85-A2 mags but for those that enjoy using magpulls (I normally use gaffer tape and paracord so i'm a bit new to these posh magpulls) I have found the "Bozzer custom" double ammo pouches fit best with 2 WE magazines complete with magpulls.
Triple mag pouch by "Bozzer" hold 3 mags nicely but not with magpulls
Bozzer's double mag pouches do take 2 mags with magpulls attached nicely
A Bozzer fold out dump pouch (unfolded)
And folded
And another pic of the rifle showing some of the other custom pouches (FFD ,Pistol mag pouches)
And finally a couple of temporary videos I have done to show the gun in use until I can get the missus to take some for me as firing this thing one handed while filming was "fun"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag3dmg_ZpUQ&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m00A533u7bU&feature=channel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G46km0UZB0A&feature=channel
Update 3 -
UPDATE 3-
Downgrade to 300 fps valve complete !
Applying a lighter to the area needing to be unscrewed allowed the parts to be unscrewed easily while hot .
I swear the felt recoil has increased too but it could be my imagination.
Hopefully the spare bolt assemblies from WE will be here this week so we will have spares.
Seriously considering doing a Diemaco job on this if Perr Mike has any 14mm+ extensions for the barrel left
update 4-
My M4 started dry striking a little yesterday and it got progressively worse !
Luckily upon inspection one of the two screws holding down part #59 (the part just behind the magwell that sits over the striker) had come loose a little and once tightened the problem was gone 
I'm certainly going to locktite those screws in the long run !
------------------------------
First and Only Airsoft
"making Americans Jealous since 2005"
Drakelow Tunnels and Nuclear Bunker
Kidderminster Asylum Urban
Bunker Woodland (Kidderminster) Opening Saturday 20th March !
(snip) - sig adjusted to follow the updated sig rules, Arn
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Registered: December 2007