Gas Blow Back Goodness- for under $200!

Note: When reading this review, please bear in mind the unbeatable price. It might not be on par with G&P, but for $200 shipped can you argue?

Real Steel History
Do I really have to do this? Everyone knows what a M4 is…

The Colt M4 was procured in the 1990s to replace old M3 SMGs and some M16 rifles and M9 pistols. Using the same gas system as the M16A2, it was really just a shortened rifle. (some would say it was a more modern XM177) Later flat top editions and the addition of full automatic made the gun even more versatile. The M4A1 can mount just about anything, including grenade launchers, scopes, rail systems, grips, lasers, lights, etc.

Today, the M16 and M4 are the standard weapons of the U.S. armed forces.

The Airsoft Version and Me

So…the story goes back to when I first saw the WA M4A1 CQBR. $600 for a rifle and $100 per mag? No thanks…The WE and G&P releases were encouraging, but still pricey and not without issues. Recently, when I saw the AGM, I jumped on it and ordered from EhobbyAsia. (http://www.ehobbyasia.com) I got it for $123 plus shipping. (total w/ shipping it came out to ~$200) Shipping was costly though fast, taking three days to get from Hong Kong to my doorstep. Here’s how I got it when I got it from USPS:

Well packed, it came under a plastic wrap followed by bubble wrap. The box was in perfect condition. Good service!

Unboxing!

It comes with the standard chinagun arrangement-

-gun
-cleaning rod
-speedloader+loading tool
-crappy sling
-instruction manual (which is a WA copy- its even in Japanese!)

Everything was well cushioned in foam. Good job AGM!

Packaging:
10/10

First Impressions

The AGM offering already beats the crap out of Western Arm’s. It comes stock with a metal body, saving me $150. The metal body is finished nicely, even better than the WE one I held some time ago. Not quite G&P, but better than other clone manufacturers. The gun is rock solid. The weight is absolutely incredible. The magazine is literally a chunk of metal that would dent the ground if dropped. (it is probably nearly a pound) The plastic furniture is on par with the nylon fiber on my SRC HK416. Not cheap and plasticky at all. AGM has certainly come a long way since their start.

Initial Score:
9/10

Externals

This GBB M4 replicates a M4 perfectly. Everything that should be metal is metal. This includes the body, bolt catch, trigger, barrel, etc. Plastic furniture is well made and extremely sturdy. I have no complaints whatsoever. The six position stock is not too loose or tight, but rather perfectly mounted. The sights are the standard M4 affair- one for close range and one for long range. Windage and elevation can be adjusted via knobs. The forward assist actually works, unlike those on most AEGs. It can be used to clear jams just like the real steel.

Close Range

Long Range

The magazine weighs more than some pistols! It is a solid chunk of metal. The fill valve is on the back and the strike valve is where it would be on a pistol. Very, very nice…

All in all, this is one of the best built rifles I’ve ever bought. No doubt about it.

External Score:
9/10

Internals

Forgive me if I’m not to specific, but this is my first gas blow back rifle.
To get to the internals, you have to disassemble the M4. If you know how to take down a real M4, then you know how to take apart the AGM. First, punch out the body pin and pull up the upper receiver.

The pull the bolt and charging handle out:

And put them aside.

The bolt carrier is metal and feels very nice. The bolt face, while it is plastic, does look sturdy.

Finally, you can take out the buffer spring, which actually is used in this gun.

Everything looks to be of high quality. Not shabby at all. Again, AGM has done a great job.

Internals
9/10 (so far)

Operation
Now this is what you all have been waiting for. To load magazine, simply put green gas or duster in through the fill valve. Same as any gas blow back pistol. Then, take the special tool AGM supplies, clip it onto a speedloader, and load fifty BBs. Now its ready to go. Insert the magazine into the magwell and push. It’s a very tight fit. After that, you can rack the charging handle and let go, which produces a rather intimidating clack as it strikes home. Then you can fire. I was astounded by the sheer noise and recoil of this [i]toy[/i]. It was very crisp even without any cleaning. At this time, I was using duster. Switching to green gas made it only louder and recoil heavier. Very impressive! The range with duster and .2s was about 110 feet, while it was a bit farther (maybe 30, 40 feet more?) with green. Please remember this was without getting the hop-up zeroed and the barrel cleaned. The barrel was absolutely filthy when I cleaned it out. The first thing you need to do with the AGM M4 is clean out the barrel and lubricate the bolt. I think the velocity on duster should be under CQB limits. (330 fps) I’ll chrono it this weekend and get definitive results.

I don’t have a skirmish report as I literally just got it. More to follow…

Shooting Score:

10/10 !!!!!  :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

Overall

This is definitely a SOLID BUY! For $200 shipped, it is still a fraction of the WA’s price. The magazines are high quality and very well built. I have no complaints whatsoever. This is an amazing gun, especially at the low price. I’d recommend it to anybody looking to get a realistic replica and move away from AEGs.

Overall:
9.5/10

Later there will be reviews and information about RaTech products and possible some videos and pictures for you at the GGI forum.

On this picture you have Johnny at RaTech to the left, me (IBICO) in the middle and GHK manager OH to the right.

Price: $ 50 USD… And like before, GGI Forum users get 10% discount

http://www.ratech.com.tw/eng_ra/product/agent_product/gas_product/ghk/rag_agent_pro_g_ghk.php

WETTI at GGI just posted some nice pictures of the new CQBR and M16A3.. Look sweet

http://www.gasguns.info/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=827

http://www.gasguns.info/forum/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=828

Came in one of those brown card board box with the name WE M4 written on it. The M4 was wrapped in plastic and pretty good packaging.

A manual is good.. specially when it got an exploded diagram. (last page)

hmm.. I noticed it was RIS on this one?     I did not put on this one.. It came like this. Not sure if I got one with added RIS, or this is something that would be stock from now.

Compared to my WA it don`t look bad at all.. It actually look very good.  On this picture it is bone dry. When I added some silicone on the body it got a better blackis look. Some brown color appear under strong flash, but that is probably the type of anodizing.

Closeup on the barrel. It is supposed to be able for removal, but I could not make it loosen. I think it is either torqued very hard or got locktite or similar. I`ll try to check later.

No trade on the right side.. just like the military version of the M4. The civilian version got trades on the right side (like the prime on WA)
I only wish they could make the brass tube black or something.. The holes on the bolt carrier make it a dead giveaway about what this is.

The trades does look good.  :clap:

Even the rear tab look very close to the real one. The tabs was a bit hard to open. the rear was ok, but the front needed a good push. Probably something that would get better when using it some time.

“pistol type gearbox”.. guess the closest thing you could call it. It might be a bit more hassle to open and change parts, but might be more reliable in the long run. I would get back on that one.
The hammer stay up like a real hammer when you pull the trigger and does not fall back like the WA.

the hopup is adjusted here.. at the front of the bolt. It is almost impossible to adjust by hand when it is almost hidden in the front like this. But with a small screw driver it is easy to adjust.

bolt carrier with the bearing on the top. Probably a good help when using it over long time and have the bolt carrier float easier when shooting.
the mag release is like the real thing and WA. just push the mag release in and turn open the mag release to get it out.

I would probablu dissasemble a lot more later when I have tested it a lot more.

When i received it I noticed it was very dry. Hard to pull the charging handle and the surface was bone dry.
So a good squirt with silicone both on the body and inside did the trick.

Empty magazine indicator up like normal when magazine is empty

Empty magazine indicator in “locked” position so bolt stop is disabled.

Not something you look at each day.. but the inside look a bit rough. Although at 360$ or so this is to be expected, but it would look good if it was a bit nicer then this.
Not a “hole” in the magwell like reported earlier, so this is probably a latest edition.

This is the hammer pin. It got a special design since it is “loose” and could be pushed up. I noticed it would stay out when the hammer was after you pulled the trigger. I pushed up the magazine and thought that this was stupid since the hammer pin would stick out and break if I pushed in the magazine.

Surprised I noticed the hammer pin was pushed up when I pushed in the magazine. So the hammer pin would get back and in right position again when I pull the charging handle for a fresh magazine. I really liked this engineering. Well thought of.

Bolt stop work very good. i have not got any failure in stopping the bolt stop.

the weight is a tad over 3 kilo, so really realistic weight. The M4 carbine is 3.1kg with 30rd so really good.

The little silver ring comes together with the CQBR barrel. It is for stabilizing the shorter inner barrel against the outer barrel.

All in all.. I like this very good. It feels like working like it should right out of the box. Blowback is not noticable when you just shoot a dry fire with an empty magazine (shoot bolt stop, shoot bolt stop…) but when loading bb`s and shooting it goot a good recoil.

I would add more when I have tested it more. Would take it to work tomorrow and let all at my work try it. So then it would get trough a lot of magazines.. 

—————————————————————————————–
—————————————-[b]UPDATE 1[/b]————————————-

Magazine:

I have tested today at work and I had one blowout where the filling valve bursted out all of the gas. But after I just washed it under hot water and inserted it back and everything worked.

In indoor temperature (around 20c) I could fire 120bb`s before I needed to refill gas.  I could fire a few shots on the fift time but the recoil was very sluggish. So this is very economic  :thumbup:

Gun itself:

pistol grip screw was loose so had to fasten it after a few shots today. but the gun have fired 250-300bb`s and everything works flawless… This is looking very promising.. 

—————————————————————————————–
—————————————-[b]UPDATE 2[/b]————————————-
Some info from James Chan at WEairsoft.com

(1) The RIS is something special from WeAirsoft. The stock AWSS M4 comes with the standard plastic handguard.

(2) The bearing on top of the bolt is an aftermarket part I had my people installed for you to test (the part is made by & marketed by a gunsmith friend of mine). The stock gun comes with a brass roller only; the bearing does make the operation much smoother.

(3) The little silver ring comes together with the CQBR barrel; what is does is for stabalizing the shorter barrel against the outer barrel.

(4) Custom engraving is possible for 50 or more pcs on special order. I’ll need 1:1 artwork.

(5) No aftermarket parts yet available to convert this into a 16-incher, but I suppose things will change very quickly

—————————————————————————————–
—————————————-[b]UPDATE 3[/b]————————————-

After over 1 week of testing at work. A full gas bottle with green gas is empty and half a bag of bb`s.. What is truly amazing is that nobody there have broken it yet. Picture a half crazy gang of office people that have never touched weapon or airsoft before.. Getting some instructions before I had to go home sick. I find that truly amazing.
It cycle like it should.. magazine hold the gas.. Nothing broken or bended..

I have read a lot on Arnies where people have trouble with charging handle broke, and other things stop working after just a few hundred rounds. So either this is the lucky one, or I might have got one that is hand picked. (probably the last)

If this would be the standard for WE, then they truly have done something really big in airsoft. Making an rock solid out of the box working gas blowback.

When I get back to work I would take more pictures of the internal parts.

we are now able to control 3runs shoot 100% at each time push trigger.

Note: Our AWSS CO2 system is a WETTI exclusive. Not available anywhere else.