Review of Western Arms M4 GBB

There have been lot of writing about the Western Arms newly made Gas blowback M4. Most of this are from people giving it a hard time because of leaking magazines and parts that break.

First of all I could say that this must be the most fun airsoft I have ever had.. I just LOVE my systema PTW.. but this one is so realistic I just love it more.
When I am talking about realism it is not for the weight or 1:1 but rather the use of it.
It got all the part functional. So bolt with spring and buffer in the stocktube. It cycle like the real M4. Need to use the charging handle when you insert the magazine first time before been able to shoot. Bolt stops in the back position when your magazine is empty and when inserting a full magazine just push the bolt release and keep on shooting.

Some notes about what I don`t like or could feel they could improve:

-More weight to it by having metal body, front sight and flash hider.. all this are plastic.
-More strength on the hopup. It got almost no effect with the original spring that push down the hopup rubber.
-More durable plastic on the nozzle and hopup unit. The hopup tend to crack if you get double feed and the nozzle got some dents also.
-Stronger bolt catch. after some 10-12 magazines trying this I get wear on the bolt catch. So maybe after 1000-2000 shots this might have to be replaced.
-Better magazines. These have a tendency to leak if you put green gas on them. People using duster gas or other weak gas report almost no problems.
-Make the inner barrel on the M4 to be M4 length instead of CQB. It is crap to have the M4 when the inner barrel is short, short.
-Expensive magazines. the best price I could find are 95$ each at dentrinityshop.com
-Cool down after 6-7 auto shots.. Not really a bb shower gun.

What you could do with the WA to improve it.

Insert a stronger spring in the hopup unit.
I have found that the replacement spring kit for AEG work perfectly.
http://www.wgcshop.com/pcart/shopper.php?itm=SYS-ZS-07-10_srch_systema%20spring
The spring at the far right fit the hopup perfectly and the second right spring fit as the valve lock spring in the magazine.

To remove the stock tube you have use a vice on the stock tube.. heat up the stock tube slightly and twist the body very gently until the glue release itself. After that it is simple. Also notice a small spring that hold the rear takedown pin when removing.

G&P front don`t cost much. The ordinary short front cost around 110$ and then you get a complete front without the hopup unit and inner barrel.
I feel that it is easy to disassemble the outer barrel but when removing the inner barrel with hopup from the upper receiver you need to use a hammer and screwdriver and tap gently from the inside to get it out.
WARNING!!
when removing the hopup from the upper receiver.. Hold the hand over the upper part when you have removed the barrel nut and want to push out the hopup unit. there is a super tiny spring there that would be gone in a blink of a second when taking that out. Best would be to have a tiny room and sit on the floor with a perfect white floor.. hehe. It is impossible to find this spring if it launches out in a big room.

When shooting this baby you would get a nice recoil. also a nice sound sound from the spring inside the stock tube when the bolt compress it :-D
I have also replaced the original buffer with a realsteel one and getting a better recoil with it. Not any problems using it.
It got a steady shot and I feel this could be a very good semi sniper.
When using the ASG summer gas (Danish brand) I get from 370-390fps with 0.20 bb`s and stock inner barrel. The inner barrel is CQB lenght and this is also when you buy the M4 length.
inserting a stronger spring from the AEG spring kit made the 0.25 go in an upward spin after 10-15 meters on minimum hopup. So this look promising on 450fps and 0.28-0.30 and use as a semi-sniper.
If you want this for CQB the original spring and 0.20 would be enough.

Companies that make parts for the WA.

PDI. These make the 6.01 inner barrel. But cost 133$ and not sure if it is worth it. Going to test both the PDI and Ra-tech soon to compare.

RA-tech. These have some nice parts.. CNC hopup house and CNC bolt stop :-D.. Absolute favorite. Also got a 6.03 inner barrel.

G&P. they have lot`s of parts but nothing I like.. other then the complete front sets. Stay away from the G&P bolt catch.

Prime. These have the hopup housing and light weight bolt carrier for now.

Inokatsu. These would come with all sorts of parts but nothing yet.

Some pictures of this baby :-D

After around 1500rd the bolt stop is not much worn. What is starting to get worn is the valve lock on my test mag that I have used for all my testing at home.
Also the bolt seems a bit worn and not sure how much this would effect the bolt stop after maybe 3-4K shots.
The original bolt stop got a different metal where it stop the bolt. I just noticed this on the photo since the flash made it have a different color.
I also noticed now when cleaning it (which seems to be necessary after maybe each game) that the bolt and feeding nozzle (the one inside the bolt) started to get more sticky of all the silicon that is in the gas.
So it might be necessary to take it out and give it a clean now and then.

I have always used Green gas on this one. Could not notice any parts starting to fail and it cycle very good. I have used the RS buffer on the recoil spring without any trouble. It might help "slam" the bolt in the hopup house to get a good seal for each shot.