My ICS M4A1 RIS ... and my newbie review

As i said i'll post a picture of my AEG. So here ... its the ICS M4A1 RIS model. And so far it has served me well. Although i have only played at the CQB gamesite within the EVSU (Eastern Visayas State University) campus. But last Sunday, 27 May 2007, i brought it to Ormoc City to play in my first ever competition.

So, what do i think of it?

Well, for starters, it cost me a lot of money - 21,000 Philippine Pesos. That's plenty of dough for a gun. Thankfully, i didn't have to spend for a lot of upgrades to bring my gun to its present level of 410 fps (feet per second) muzzle velocity. All i needed was to replace the hop packing and the air seal nozzle. My rough computations yielded about that same amount if i bought a cheaper gun and had it upgraded.

It's heavy compared to other AEGs that i have held or have used. A lot heavier than the Tokyo Marui M4A1 and the JG M4 series. About the latter, i've only been able to handle the JG M733 CQB version. That one was lighter because of its plastic parts compared to the amount of metal on the ICS. I think the butt stock is the only plastic part of my ICS.

Another thing that adds to the weight of the gun is the ANPEQ (?), which holds my battery. So my gun is actually front-heavy, making me tire quickly when i'm holding the front guards with my forearm extended. You really have to clip your left arm to your chest to sort of hold up the gun so you don't tire easily holding it up. But i'm not complaining. I have handled real steel M4A1s before ... those things feel heavier than my ICS. It's just that in the case of my gun, there is more weight in the front, while the real steel has a more balanced feel.

Then there's that small metal latch that covers the hop-up chamber. Jeez! It kept bothering me. It kept opening at the slightest jarring movement. I didn't want dust getting into the internals of my gun so i decided to remove the spring from that small metal cover. Now it doesn't swing open until i pry it open with my finger.

I also had problems with the sling adapter - the one that resembles a butterfly (at least that's what it looks like to me). I removed the plastic butt stock and the rod then i tried putting on the metal rod that covers the rear of the gun. I had to sand the two notches at the side to make it slide down to the bottom. And then, when i reattached the metal rod that connects the butt stock to the gun ... the bolt inside it was a little short. This meant that the bolt only got a tiny foothold and eventually my whole butt stock fell off.

I addressed this by widening the hole at the bottom of the sling adapter using a round metal file. I made the hole wide enough so that it could fit behind the butt cover instead of in front. No more problems now.

Interestingly, these are the only minor irritations i have experienced with this gun (for now?). I didn't need to bring it to the gun smith or anything.

I had problems putting my battery in place since you really have to squeeze and angle the hand guard with the ANPEQ to get everything to lock into place. With practice, it became easier. I'm still looking for an easier way to do this, thinking forward to the time that i have to replace my battery in the field.

But at least my battery lasts a pretty long time. I don't fire a lot because most of the time i'm not expected to give suppressing fire. So i fire in short bursts of two to three seconds conserving both my BBs and battery. Even during last sunday's airsoft competition in Ormoc City, i did not have to replace my battery.

I tried using my son's Lithium Polymer battery once, but the rate of fire bothered me. It was so fast for my own taste. A slower rate of fire could achieve the same effect with less BBs. Again, i'm a newbie so i wouldn't really know which would be more useful.

My next project is to find out how i can make the motor (and internals) a little quieter. The noise of the gun while i'm firing makes it difficult to hear anything else. This is the issue that i had during last sunday's competition. I didn't hear what my other team mates were shouting so i got hit when we were supposed to extract.

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410 fps? can't wait to find out!

When i got my airsoft gun from my supplier he suggested two modifications: (1) change the hop-up packing, and (2) change the air-seal nozzle. According to him, the ICS M4A1 RIS is pretty good out of the box i.e. it does not need much upgrading.

From the newbie point of view, i couldn't really understand the fuss about shimmings, and gears, and springs, etc. I chose to begin my search for an airsoft gun with several simple questions:


1. Is the gun sturdy? Will it stand up to the rigors of regular game play? Can it cope with potential mishaps like being dropped? In relation to this, i had to ask about the reputation of the manufacturer and of course the recommendation of my supplier (who happens to be my gunsmith also).

2. How strong is it out of the box? Each manufacturer will publish muzzle velocity figures, of course nothing will beat anecdotal evidence. AEG manufacturing is not automated. Materials manufacturing is automated but assembly is by humans. This means that most (if not all) AEGs have the same parts but may differ out of the box depending on who assembled the gun. So anecdotal reports are really important for finding out the qualities of any AEG.

3. What modifications or upgrades need to be carried out on the gun to bring it to a level (especially in terms of muzzle velocity) within the range of the guns of those whom you play with. I play with people who have guns that range between 350fps to 450 fps. If i were to consider getting a gun that was only rated at 250fps upgrading it would have been important ... yes! to at least balance out the firepower.

I could have bought a lower priced gun and spent tons of money to upgrade it. But then my gunsmith recommended the ICS M4A1 because of its good stock performance out of the box. Again, out of the box i only needed two modifications to ensure stable, if not better, performance.

The first modification was to change the hop-up packing. This was done two weeks after i got the gun. I gave it a good two weeks so that i could familiarize myself with my gun's stock performance. This way i would have a baseline for comparing how it performs after the new hop-up packing was installed.

There was a huge difference. Out of the box, my unit was rated at 340fps max but after the hop-up packing modification its rating increased to 355fps max. Range also increased as well as the flight characteristics of the bb.

Two days ago i decided to have the second modification carried out i.e. the air-seal nozzle. Dropped the gun off at my gunsmith's place in the morning and picked it up by nightfall. According to my gunsmith, he tested it and the rating is now at 415fps max. I can't wait to see for myself how my gun's performance has changed.

Hopefully, that's the last of the modifications that i carry out on my gun. That's important so i can move on to looking for a secondary weapon. hahaha!

I'll post photos of my gun soon ... as well as a newbie review.

P.S. note the change in the title of this blog.

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Off to Ormoc on Sunday!

My brother-in-law asked me and my son to join their team for an airsoft competition in Ormoc City this sunday. Exciting and scary! It's going to be my first time to participate in organized airsoft competition. Whatever i may feel, i am looking forward to playing.

It's also going to be the first time that will play for a specific team in an organized competition. We had a team briefing the other day (tuesday) for newbies like myself (and my son). Overall team strategy and tactics were discussed using a whiteboard since there's no time for us to practice with the team.

But the main idea is to think about the team above everything else. No lone wolf stuff during competition. Team leader/s will give us specific assignments/roles, and for as long as we do them everything will work well for the team. The one thing that's difficult about this upcoming competition is that the team has not seen me and the other newbies play yet. They don't know what roles we can play or how we will fit into the team's playing style and strategy.

we'll see soon enough. I just hope that i can carry my own weight during the games. There are so many things to consider, but we just need to be smart about it. But if we can be smart about the game, then so can others. What this all will boil down to is skill and team tactics/strategy.

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Finally, another game!

After a few weeks, we had a game again yesterday (20 May 2007) at EVSU game site. A few "regulars" showed up after a long hiatus. I think more and more players will show up in the coming weeks. It would be great to play with actual team mates instead of being teamed up with other players. At least getting teamed up with someone whose style of play is already familiar.

Yesterday, i realized how important it is to play with familiar team mates. That way you can play off each others weaknesses and strengths. Maneuvering is easier and engaging opposing forces is easier. For a newbie like me, i still can't handle big risks, especially, going "lone wolf" during a game. This is why i feel the need to work with players i'm familiar with.

I guess, being flexible and adaptable to other playing styles is something that i have to learn. A game at a time, i guess!

I'll see if i can post more photos from our regular games now that "normalcy" has returned.

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"Airsoft Danger!" and regulating games

I posted this in my Tacloban Speakeasy back before i though about starting another blog for airsoft. FPS regulations during games is still a raging issue. I'm neither for or against it; the issue can still go both ways. At present the apparent compromise is FPS regulated gamesites, which isn't really complied with strictly.

There are a host of factors that make it difficult for FPS regulation. And then there is the reality that setting too low an FPS max limit would really take away from the fun of the game. Again, how to balance regulation versus free play is a dilemma for TEAM LAS (and i guess all airsofters).

As well, i reiterate my belief that TEAMLAS members are responsible. Whether or not you have a very strong gun does not really matter. Its the finger that pulls the trigger that makes the difference. Players also have to realize that each time we gear-up, we are really taking a risk. Albeit, not the same kind of risk in relation to real steel. Perhaps, risks more related to permanent disabilities, etc.

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An Introduction to ...

So, for my first post, here are a few pictures. All these are personal photos relating to airsoft. A lot are photos of my son, who is most likely the youngest airsoft player in Tacloban City (he's just 10 years old).

I bought him an MP5 as a beginner gun (at about 250fps). We had to upgrade it, but it went bonkers on us. First the stock battery couldn't crank the upgraded spring. We had to get a lipoly battery for him. After getting the lipoly battery, some of the gun's contacts got fried.

I just decided to get him another gun. I couldn't bear his sad face. One time, he joined a weekend game, since he didn't have a gun ... he was our "hostage" in a hostage rescue scenario. Anyway, i got him a G36, and according to our supplier its a reliable gun and brand.



Using his Uncle Lester's M4A1.



Uncle Lester (my brother-in-law) all geared-up.

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Welcome to Tacloban Airsoft!

I decided to spawn another blog for airsoft having realized that Tacloban Speakeasy was too broad. Seeing that airsoft in Tacloban is a growing community, i realized that it would be nicer to create a separate blog for it.

What will this blog be about? Airsoft! Anything and everything i can write about that has to do with airsoft will be found here.

Any particular direction for this blog? Suggestions are welcome. I will write about stuff that interests me about airsoft, in general, and the Tacloban airsoft community, in particular. Readers are welcome to share their comments on each post, suggestions on what to write about.

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Post-election hohum!

The elections were certainly boring for me(and maybe a lot of others too). Not as colorful as the 2001 and 2004 elections. Perhaps the lack of viable choices among candidates made it boring. I wrote about this in Tacloban Speakeasy reacting to Antonio Abaya's article: "Trillanes Tsunami".

Good (or bad?) for me, i am still registered (as a voter) in Manila. I didn't have to go through what would have been a hohum effort at voting last May 14.

Anyways, since this is about airsoft. After the hohum elections ... it's back to regular airsoft games! yahoo! Team Leyte Airsoft (TEAMLAS) made it clear in the forum that all members were supposed to observe the election gun ban. Since we use replica guns (the guns do look like the real ones), we were included in the coverage of the gun ban. While a handful chose to continue regular games, plenty chose to abide by the ban.

But, now that the elections are done. Watch out! I'm pretty sure there will be plenty of regular games and players again.

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