GBB M4

[Airsoft-Ed]

Ok, so I got membership to a site near Nottingham this weekend as I've been wanting to get into the sport/hobby for ages now, this weekend was the first time I went and I loved it.

I'd much rather have a gas gun than an electric, personal preference I guess and I want it to be as realistic as possible in both mechanism and feel.

I've been looking at reviews on youtube etc and they all seem to say that most guns will need parts changing right out of the box for them to work reliably and as I've never really done this before, I have no idea what any of the stuff they're talking about means...

So my questions are, what are the best GBB M4s out there? What are their pros and cons and which are generally considered best and, should they need parts exchanging right out of the box, what are the parts called, what do they do, why do they need changing and because I don't understand a lot of this, is there anywhere I can go to have it done for me/taught to me? A beginners GBB course, if you will.

I realise I've asked a lot and don't expect one person to have all the answers, but all feedback will be a great help.

Thank you.

 

[ACU-Airsofter]

Look for the more reliable brands and ask at your local site for more information but if your new then an AEG would be much cheaper,reliable and useful basically.

Classic Army have great Sportsline guns out that do a great job, mainly under €200!

I dont know anything about GBB M4's but i taught i'd express an opinion

Seán.

 

[mattswan2512]

I have a friend with a m4 gbb and it is awesome! i think its western arms! its around 500 at cheapest and will be fine right out of the box!

Now my advice! As a regular airsofter, buy an AEG to start with!!!!!!!

Look for m4's (if thats what you want) from either ICS, Mauri, classic army. These makes will not need modification out of the box if ure happy with a steady 290 fps stock. what these guys are on about for modification are to up the fps= foot per second or the ROF=rate of fire. The best way to do this is to upgrade the spring to an m90 or m100 spring wich on the ics m4 is so much simpler then any other RIF due to the split gearbox but i would take it to a airsoft shop at a price of around 30quid you will be up around the 340fps or you could try putting a lipo battery in! anything more than that ure going to need to upgrade things regularly as the guns will be so highly strung they WILL break (gearbox or pistons)

Now my personal faviorate is ICS M4A1 and the reason are as follows. Its full metal body and solid in construction! it has a fully working forward assist button that releives pressure on the spring and clears jams within the gearbox (no other make offers this) it has a split gearbox so its amazingly easy to acces the internals through 1 push pin!. it has also been made compatible with systema upgrade wich are as everyone knows the daddy make of airsoft.

GBB will give you probs at some point but so will AEG but AEG is so much easier to fix and is more than likely to be if you buy a decent make a seriously much more reliable bit of kit on the field.

good luck with your choice but i stress go AEG to start

 

[Airsoft-Ed]

Wow, I totally forgot I'd posted this.

That "email me when I get a reply" function doesn't work too well...

I ended up getting a WE M16A3 and initially I had a million billion problems, springs were coming loose, screws were unscrewing and it was all very hit and miss.

But I'm glad I did get a GBBR, I know an AEG wouldn't have satisfied me.

The only thing I don't like about my WE is that there's this brass tube in the bolt so you can't see the rounds beings chambered. Which, being a realism freak, annoyed me a little.

But, because the problems were all there to begin with I figured out certain solutions and I've mastered the steep learning curve I gave myself.

I now use it regularly for skimishing and so far I've only needed to replace two parts and I've had it since February.

The accuracy isn't too great though, I've invested in a hop up upgrade which I'm hoping will improve it, it's still at the shop now so I'll have to wait and see how it turns out.

Thanks for the advice, even though I didn't come back in time to take note of it... Sorry about that lol.

I'd probably agree I'd have been better off with an AEG to start with though...

 

[Cerbo Knight]

(WE call this kit an Open Bolt kit, but I can't stand that incorrect term so will call it an open chamber, which is more accurate but it's referring to the same thing)

WE have an open chamber version out which gets rid of the brass tube, don't bother. It's pants compared to the closed chamber which you have.

The gas mileage is terrible and often can't get through an entire mag in normal skirmish situations, and you'll get a face full of gas if you're a lefty such as myself.

I'd love the realism of an open chamber, but don't want the terrible performance or the face full of gas cloud...

Though, I've heard the Open chamber Scar is good...

You'd also need to convert all your mags with the open chamber conversion kit, which is about £5 per mag I think.

Not worth it IMO, not all that fuss and money just to get rid of a brass tube, you'd be much better off selling up and buying an Inokatsu M4. The recoil on those things... Yum.

 

[M_P]

What?!?! From.what I've heard the open bolt is a huge improvement! The g39 is supposed to be insanely good as is the scar (apart from its stock)

If I had the m16a3 I would get the armalite ob conversion kit as soon as its available

If what I have read is true anyway

 

[Cerbo Knight]

Yeah, there's no denying the Open Chamber is good on the G39

The Scar is also meant to be a great performer, once a member on Zero In whose name escapes me makes you an aluminium stock piece.

But Armalites are different in construction and function to the other Open Chamber weapons, and because of the small details they perform less than adequately when the Open Chamber kit is installed.

Not just me, but a lot of people seem to think so. Even the airsoft celebrity GBBR builder Muzzy agreed on that one.

 

[An Artist With Out A Brush]

The open bolt system dose give lot better feel to fire, the open bolt has less chance to jam and having finaly found this out ALL RA techs existing vaulves drop strate into the new bolt systems so theres still all the parts out there to go the full 9 yards internaly with if you feel the need to. As far as the best out there is conserned the WE systems offer the best choice and are a solid construction. Theres enough you can do to the rifles to realy go to town with them and all real deal RIS systems and stocks providing you have the correct buffer tube you can also install with out any modification work. Not saying the WE is the best out there but as introduction rifles to the GBB rifle world its probably the best starting block.

Artist

 

[Airsoft-Ed]

Again, thanks for the replies.

I've decided to get rid of my M16 now, I've had nothing but problems since day one and though most of them have been over come and it's offered me a fantasticly fast route into the "knowing a lot about gas guns" area, it's also ruined my airsofting experience, the hop up, accuracy and as a result, the range are all, for lack of a better word, abysmal.

I've spent close to a grand on the rifle now, including ammo, parts, the hop up, servicing and especially gas and magazines and after all that I still can't hit someone from more than 15 or so metres away.

I went skirmishing last weekend and ran out of gas, had to borrow a hire AEG, stuck my ACOG on it and I could hit people exactly where I wanted to, from absolutely miles away!

So yeah, I'm selling it now, with all the mags and I'm going to use the money to buy a bottom rung of the ladder AEG and put the rest towards saving for WE's L85A2.

So once the AEG packs in, I'll start over with the L85.

Anyone think that's wise? I can kind of see it going bad for me, but I figure nothing will ever be as bad as my M16 is at the moment, so I'm not all that worried about being disappointed again lol.

 

[Cerbo Knight]

I'd honestly go with a WE G36 instead of an AEG. (hate for an AEG's lack of realism here)

They're very skirmishable out of the box, unlike the WE armalite series. But if you're dead set on an AEG then you'll definitely have a decently performing rifle for the same sort of money that you'll spend on a WE G36.

 

[M_P]

As above, get the we g39, its pretty much the best gbbr, miles better than pretty much anything else.

Is get that over the l85, especially considering all its problems

 

[Airsoft-Ed]

Cheers guys, I was thinking about the G39 but I'm not a huge fan of the look, plus the fps sounded pretty low for woodland skirmishing. I'm sure they're a blast to shoot and everyone'll be interested in having a go, but I think I'll give AEGs a go and then when my first one packs in, I'll head back to gas rifles.

I'm totally with Cerbo on the realism thing though, I despise the lack of kick and feel with AEGs, they even make a super crap noise, you go through ammo so fast with AEGs because even though you can see a solid stream of shots flying out of the barrel it just doesn't feel like you're doing anything.

Far more satisfying having the same action accompanied by a thump on your shoulder and a nice clunky bang from the gun.

Plus, I love that you have to cock them when you load a mag and the gas that shoots out is just like cordite smoke