Upgrading ICS M4A1 For Range

[Uberg33k]

Okay so I've gamed a few times with my M4 and I want to increase the range. I've done nothing to it and want to start down the road of tweaking. My first question would be;

Would it be more prudent to just buy a better starter platform that will probably out perform what I have now and go from there?

Or,

Upgrade what I have?

I don't want to go crazy, and I have zero experience changing barrels and such. But I'm a quick study. Where would one start? any and all help/guidance will be greatly appreciated.

[MonnoncMaxou]

A quality hopup, rubber and nub. After that judge the results. Visit airsoftstore.ca for parts. Youtube for disassembly and guiding.

[Uberg33k]

Originally Posted by MonnoncMaxou

A quality hopup, rubber and nub. After that judge the results. Visit airsoftstore.ca for parts. Youtube for disassembly and guiding.

Any specific manufacturer you recommend?

[MonnoncMaxou]

Lonex is one of the top brands and that's all airsoftstore sells

[Uberg33k]

Originally Posted by MonnoncMaxou

Lonex is one of the top brands and that's all airsoftstore sells

Okay I also just realized when I bought this from Mach1 it came with an "upgrade kit" that I haven't even looked at. It comes with this;



Is any of that good?

[MonnoncMaxou]

The C parts are fine.

The F parts well, it all depends on the actual brand or quality of the parts. They probably aren't top quality but it doesn't mean they won't work properly. Their longevity might be an issue. I would suggest you reach out to a gun doc to install the internals or try your luck on your own and reach out if nothing works properly. Personnaly, I wouldn't mess with anything that isn't broken. Modifying the hopup isn't a big deal so you could do that easily.

[Hectic]

Its hard to say if any of those parts are good cause we cant see what brand they are and id advise against opening the gearbox till something breaks so just keep those parts on hand for when you need em.
The rubber may be an improvement but again we cant tell what kind it is.
Look at airsoftparts.ca grab a madbull tightbore 6.03 not 6.01 and one of these http://www.airsoftparts.ca/store2/in...oducts_id=2466
Then if you really wanna go all out get either a bridge tensioner or rhop from sirsoftstore keep in mind the rhop takes a bit of tinkering but the baton and bridge just drop right in. I use a bridge and madbull 6.03 in my aegs and love it.

[Uberg33k]

Originally Posted by MonnoncMaxou

The C parts are fine.

The F parts well, it all depends on the actual brand or quality of the parts. They probably aren't top quality but it doesn't mean they won't work properly. Their longevity might be an issue. I would suggest you reach out to a gun doc to install the internals or try your luck on your own and reach out if nothing works properly. Personnaly, I wouldn't mess with anything that isn't broken. Modifying the hopup isn't a big deal so you could do that easily.

That's what I figured. My biggest concern is the range. It's just not good enough. So no matter what I'm upgrading, it's just a question of what and what first etc. I have about $400 to spend on upgrades but that's also why I'm wondering if I should just buy a new weapon in that price range.

What do you guys think?

[Rabbit]

I've been the biggest ICS fanboy since i've started - the only setback is their proprietary parts and metal body, they just dont mesh with everything very easily.

I will argue this until the cows come home that the ICS m4 hop up unit is the best out there - still till this day I have never seen any gun outrange the 2 (yes I bought two) ICS CXP AEGs that I have owned - this is the one gun that made me realize that inner barrel length does not mean shit for range, only accuracy and fps gain. I was using an inner barrel of 300mm.

The stock ICS hop up sleeve AND nub worked perfectly fine - I would not change them out for anything.

I personally do not buy anything from mach1 due to their ass raping prices - keep in mind your upper gear box takes v2 compatible products so you dont have to buy anything from mach1. Keep the airnozzle tho because it meshes with the hop up unit. I always try and stay with the same brand of air nozzle and hop up unit because their made for each other so you dont create a world of feeding and airseal problems. I'm pretty sure the ICS airnozzle is also shorter than most M4 airnozzles you can buy out there so this will cause you problems unless you're ok with some very fine sanding on the one you replace it with.

Make sure in your upper gear box the compression is perfect and there is a good seal and you wont have any issues in range - try comparing your AEG to someone elses and you'll see for yourself.

Edit: Keep in mind you're going to get people on these forums who swearrrrr by certain products and brands - in the end i've found it all to be bullshit and the best advice i can honestly give is - compare your guns to other peoples when dialing in your hopup at a game - ask the guy next to you what hes shooting at or try their gun. You'll quickly realize the ICS guns can be sleepers and will shock the shit out of you in performance.

Just because you buy the Gucci of airsoft and put it into your gun - doesn't mean its going to out perform everyone elses on the field - shit, it might not even work properly!

[Uberg33k]

Originally Posted by Rabbit

I personally do not buy anything from mach1 due to their ass raping prices.

This made me pee a little. lol You're so right about their prices ouch.

[Uberg33k]

Originally Posted by Rabbit

I've been the biggest ICS fanboy since i've started - the only setback is their proprietary parts and metal body, they just dont mesh with everything very easily.

I will argue this until the cows come home that the ICS m4 hop up unit is the best out there - still till this day I have never seen any gun outrange the 2 (yes I bought two) ICS CXP AEGs that I have owned - this is the one gun that made me realize that inner barrel length does not mean shit for range, only accuracy and fps gain. I was using an inner barrel of 300mm.

The stock ICS hop up sleeve AND nub worked perfectly fine - I would not change them out for anything.

I personally do not buy anything from mach1 due to their ass raping prices.

Make sure in your upper gear box the compression is perfect and there is a good seal and you wont have any issues in range - try comparing your AEG to someone elses and you'll see for yourself.

I was actually looking to buy that same weapon just on looks alone. lol How small is it? I'm not a fan of stubby weapons but I also find the one I have a little too long especially when I add a suppressor. I'm currently trying to find a good price on one right now.

[Rabbit]

Originally Posted by Uberg33k

I was actually looking to buy that same weapon just on looks alone. lol How small is it? I'm not a fan of stubby weapons but I also find the one I have a little too long especially when I add a suppressor. I'm currently trying to find a good price on one right now.

Its very compact however I switched out the stock to a regular M4 stock and buffer tube - yes you can do this - so it was still a somewhat shorter gun but more comfortable for me - i'm not the largest guy in the world so it was more to my fitting and comfort.

[Kos-Mos]

Well, if you have a M4A1, you can get a free-float 7" rail kit, and disassemble the front section of the barrel. It unscrews right behind the triangle sight, under the handguards. (there are some set screws you have to remove first) Then you can screw a silencer or anything you want (if you are not overly concerned with the gas block not being present on your gun)

As for upgrades, M4A1 nozzles are the same lenght on ICS and most other brands. (I have owned 6 ICSs). I strongly suggest you replace the gears and motor with aftermarket brands. The stock gears have wear axles, and will break everything in your gun when they fail. And you have to swap the motor because ICS' have a different size pinion, so other gear/motor with them will sound like a dying pig.

The stock hop-up chamber is really the best, maybe only the TM P90 or G36 hopup is better. The rubber is a bit soft and might rip easy. I personally use guarder clear. It has worked well so far. I got a Lonex soft to try it this summer, looks promising.

[Uberg33k]

Thanks for all the info guys.

[NANA]

The ICS M4 is a great gun. Ive had 4 in my time. Many of my friends run them as well. We just put a madbull 6.03 tb in one last night and it did up the range of the weapon a fair bit. It also brought the fps to 430 with a .20 bb. Once we switched the spring to a M110 it came back down to normal play levels 380ish. The range is still there with the lower power spring. Just set your stock hop up where you like it and just like that your good to go.

The split gearbox of the ICS M4 makes it super easy to work on as well.

Good luck and enjoy.