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Python890, M4alltheway, Rubber_Ducky, CAPAIRMAN, whosloosin92, Redwolfey, virgo, Meatball, cscz124, supportgunner, Maverickmonk, spriggs, TJ138, Soilworker416
Most users ever online was 5808 on June 25, 2008 at 05:34 AM.
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Meatball's Featured Reviews |
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Airsoft Core |
By Meatball
Published: July 29, 2005
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The ICS M4 was the third M4a1 to be produced as an AEG by a major manufacturing company, behind Marui and Classic Army. The ICS M4a1 also precedes the G&P and G&G versions of the Colt series gun, making the ICS M4a1 one of five versions, and I should be able to compare this gun to two other versions; the Marui and the G&G. I received this gun from AirSplat.com for our Summer 2005 contest and this will be the first prize for that contest, and it really was generous of AirSplat to provide us with this gun for review and as a prize. So I will take this time to thank them. I received this gun promptly, and had the unique situation of having to test it, in a short amount of time, while not using it too much since it will be a prize. I feel that I have accomplished this well as I have been able to take very good care of it while still using it enough for it to be an acceptable test.
The Package
The gun comes in the very nice cardboard box seen above which is easy to reuse as almost a storage box, as is the case with most AEG models but not all. As can be seen the same box is used for all the ICS M4 series guns, and you can expect the same performance from all of the versions when it comes to the actual shooting of it, and the quality of most of the parts. The gun comes with both bubble wrap and foam covers which secures the gun quite well. With the gun you will receive the ICS 450 round hi-capacity magazine (real steal size), as well as the ICS booklet giving you information on ICS and their guns, and serves as an instruction manual.
The package with gun still strapped in
The Looks & Feel
This gun does obviously have a very solid look and has an equally solid feel. It does not however seem to attempt to surpass Marui or separate itself from the Marui replicas as the other companies have tended to do. What I mean by this is that when the other companies make an M4a1 AEG they advertise their better metal bodies, stocks, reinforced barrels, and even magazines. The other versions of the M4a1 usually come with a dark colored metal body, more realistic hand guards, and a reinforced barrel to prevent barrel wobble. ICS does not do this and it is interpretive if it was a good move or not as they are making it simple like the extremely successful Marui M4a1, but do not do as much as other companies to improve upon the Marui design. It can definitely be argued however, that these other companies in the process look over very simple issues which make the guns a real pain to own and operate, as their first versions were just plain defective.
The metal body…
As can be seen above the body is very similar in color to that of the Marui’s and if anything it is a little lighter in color than the Marui’s. Despite the similar looks to the Marui’s from a distance, it is a solid metal body and goes well with the rest of the gun. It has the nice trademarks which are highlighted with white paint to make them stick out and really look slick. The trademarks on this gun are pretty basic like all airsoft guns, and are legal so there is no need for anyone to worry about the trades being destroyed in order to make customs. As can be seen both on the box picture and on the body it has its serial number, the ICS logo, and other basic trademark things, nothing overly exciting.
The gun’s feel is pretty solid. It is better than Marui’s feel simply because it has a metal body but everything else about it is pretty much the same as a Marui. It is front heavy (but not as bad), has very similar hand guards, and stock (ICS Stock is slightly different but nothing major; if it matters I prefer the TM stock). The grip on the gun is pretty solid, again though, nothing above and beyond the other existing models.
Comparisons: Tokyo Marui, G&G, ICS
ICS, Tokyo Marui, G&G bodies top to bottom
Other than the obvious differences between the three guns, the bottom two being M16 style bodies and stocks while the ICS is an M4a1, you will notice the difference in the bodies of these guns. I would like to point out how much better the trademarks (and bodies as a whole) look when the trademarks are painted in. The Marui is the middle one which does not paint their trademarks, and I believe the look really suffers because of it.
The three hand guard sets; ICS, TM, and G&G top to bottom
As can be seen in the picture the ICS hand guard is a lighter color than the other two, but only by a little bit and not as much as the picture reveals. I find that the more light you have on the gun, the more the color difference appears. It is a shiny hand guard identical to the Marui besides the slight color distance meaning the plastic is a little weaker and lighter than real steel hand guards which is more like the hand guards found on the G&G gun series. It may be on purpose however considering that M4a1’s do not need any more weight in the front of them, and do not need the thicker design which would take up valuable battery space. As I said on my review of the G&G GR16 review, the hand guards on their guns are fantastic, and beat out both the Marui’s and the ICS’s… On the other hand, how important are hand guards on an airsoft gun? They are not protecting you from the heat like on the real guns, they just need to be able to handle the stress and in all models that is accomplished.
The battery compartments, hand guards, and outer barrels of the TM and ICS
As you can see yet again, the Tokyo Marui and ICS look similar in design and really I do not have much to discuss on this issue in terms of comparison, because there is very little differences besides color differences and minor design issues. I do not know if it is noticeable, but the hand guards are not with their proper counter parts but are interchanged. The connected sets have one ICS hand guard and one Marui. This helps see the slight color difference, but other than that the differences are practically nil. ICS actually has their outer barrel advertised as reinforced, and it does feel a little more solid, but by the looks, it does not look much different. The G&G and Classic Army reinforced barrels definitely appear to be more secure, but only time will reveal the truth in that.
Three different grips on the guns…
I just figured I would throw this in there as a comparison for those picky about the little things. The ICS is at the top, the G&G to the left, and the Tokyo Marui on the right. The only real difference between the three is that the Marui is a bit shinier and smoother, while the other two are a little duller.
Magazine Comparison
The magazines; G&G, ICS, G&P, AE, TM left to right
As can be seen the ICS and G&G magazines are the larger hi-caps holding 450 rounds compared to the 300 rounds the other hi-caps can hold. The ICS and G&G are noticeably larger in size and are advertised as real steel sized magazines, which they are. However when the magazines are in the guns, the shorter magazines are more accurate in size than the large ones, as the large ones stick out a lot more than a real gun’s magazines would. It is also interesting to see all the different colors these different magazines take.
ICS magazine bottom (top) and the G&G magazine bottom (bottom)
This is really the only difference between the G&G and ICS magazines when it comes to looks, but I must say that I am a fan of the ICS magazine. Out of the box, I have never had a magazine feel so smooth when it is wound up, and it did perform exceptionally well shooting most of the 450 rounds and a little better than the G&G. Despite all this however, only the time test will reveal the true quality of the magazine.
The Performance
As always, the moment we have all been waiting for; the performance of the actual gun. The gun continues to follow previous trends in terms of performance; upgraded slightly better than the Tokyo Marui but nothing overwhelming. This gun shoots barely better than stock marui at the FPS of 328 fps (or 100 m/s). This is obviously 50 fps more than your stock Marui which is considerable and makes a difference, but again nothing overwhelming. It has a different hop-up unit than the other Colt series guns out there, as the knob is completely around the barrel, and most hop-ups have the knob face you entirely.
ICS Hop-Up Unit
Tokyo Marui Hop-Up Unit
G&G Hop-Up Unit
Now back to the shooting part of it… It shoots very well using .2g and using .25g BBs. I personally would have to say that using .2g is probably the most efficient option as they are cheaper and you do not have a ton of velocity (which would make the .25g BB favorable). Either BB weight will do, whichever you feel comfortable with is fine. I tried out both, and my only concern with the .25g BB is that the extra split second difference in speed will most likely cost you when you are firing from fairly long distances (100-150 feet), but what you lose in velocity you can argue is made up in accuracy… So it really depends on your style of play.
The gun is very solid in combat; unfortunately I only used it a short time since I wanted it in mint condition to giveaway in the contest, but it really performs as expected. The hop-up unit works very well, and the BB’s come out pretty consistently. As expected the 328 fps velocity is an advantage over the stock Marui guns, but at the same time I would consider them on the same playing field and it will not overwhelm any AEG’s out there, nor will it be overwhelmed. The gun itself is pretty solid; the only movement is that the stock sometimes rattles slightly, but nothing else major. The front assembly seems to be more solid than the Marui version, so I kind of doubt that barrel wobble will be an issue or at least as much of an issue as the Marui version of the M4a1. The gun is front heavy but it appears that they use a lighter weight metal for the front assembly and so from what I can tell, it is not as bad as the Marui. It more closely resembles the M733 Commando’s weight in it is front heavy, but not extremely or overwhelmingly so.
Other
It would be a crime for me to complete this review with out mentioning a few other things on this gun. The most notable thing this gun has is the two piece gearbox. I am not about to open up a giveaway gun to fiddle around with the internals, but the idea is that the two piece gearbox makes maintenance a lot easier, as when you get to the gear box, there are simply two parts; the top and bottom. You separate them from each other and you are in the center of the gearbox without having to open the actual gearbox! They are the only company to try this, and so far it seems like a success for the most part. So despite them not venturing off the ordinary on the rest of the gun, this aspect is truly revolutionary and who knows where it will lead in the coming years. Some see the two piece design as taking away from durability, and others see it as easy maintenance and upgrades. It is up for interpretation!
Other things that ICS has done with this gun can be found on their website.
Conclusion
The gun is just plain solid. The gun is pretty much an improved upon Marui by proportioning the weight better, adding a metal body, and reinforcing the outer barrel. Shooting wise it also improves upon the Marui by adding another 50 fps to the typical Marui stock power. The ICS though still needs to match up to Marui’s tremendous reputation for being reliable, as does pretty much every other AEG company in the world. So far so good in my eyes and I am sorry to have to give it up! But I know one of you guys will enjoy it.
- Meatball
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