King Arms M7A1

[hitmanhigger]

Hey everyone... just wondering if anyone has had any experience with this gun KA M7A1

 

I've had alot of TM guns, basically all the AEGs in my house including my bro's are TMs, they are from awhile back. I'm looking for a decent metal body AEG for my next gun to build a Leonidas. I thought the KA M7A1 is a good start to it. Could anyone get me any feed back about this gun?? how reliable is it, the performance or it stock, and will I rip the gears apart if i stuck in a stronger Li-po battery.

 

Oh right... my brother was also asking me if the mags the KA use are different from TM gun ones. so that would be good help if anyone can tell me that too cause i'm confused about that now too. Any help would be great. Thanks in advance.

 

Steve

[The General]

The link is for an M4? You asked about the M7A1 PDW???

 

I am confused, they are two very very different guns.

[t_hum]

I have a KA M7A1. Ive yet to publish any sort of formal review but Ill give you a quick rundown of the gun.

 

- Appears to be TM mag compatible.

- ROF on the included 11.1 15C lipo is 17 rps. (As far as Im concerned, there is no point in going to a bigger battery. Its fast.) Going to a higer C rated battery is going to bump this up significantly. Im guessing a good 20 or 25C battery would push it up to 23-25 rps. And a mosfet would add a few as well.

- I havent torn into the gearbox yet but if you read Fareast's review of the Troy A3 you can see how KA internals look as of late. Bottom line is they are very solid. The gun should take upgrades quite well.

- Stock FPS is 320. I put on an M4 length outer and tightbore which gave me an additional 20.

- Finish of the trades is excellent all around.

- Unlike many other guns which come with the Magpul CTR this one actually has PTS markings which is unusual. Still, it feels exactly the same. I found mine to be a little wobbly and so fixed it with some black electrical tape on the buffer tube.

- The buffer tube has a larger inner diameter than regular buffer tubes. The lipo fits entirely in the tube and the stock can be fully collapsed.

- Includes a charger and a balancer unit. Ive never used it though as I immediately upgraded to a better unit that can charge multiple types of batteries.

- The hop unit is pretty consistent and has O-rings for a better seal against the gearbox and mag. Its a neat little detail.

- Gun came perfectly shimmed and sounds great.

- The included pmag was a tight fit in the metal body so I ligthly sanded the mag until it could fall from the body when released. My STAR pmags fit just fine right out of the box. (though they did take a little work to get them to feed consistently)

- The ornament plate sometimes doesnt return fully forward when the bolt release is pushed. It stops 2 or so mm short. Not a big deal and probably a result of how difficult it is to fit the upper around the gearbox. I think I bent the plate a small amount when I did it the first time.

- Fit and finish on the MIAD is top notch.

- Includes a speed loader.

- You cant lose the body pins as they are held in via a ball detent on the lower receiver. This, however, makes it impossible to use another upper that isnt a KA upper. I dont know why you would though, the MUR is gorgeous.

 

Thats all I can think of for now. If you have more questions post them here and Ill get back asap.

[Super6four]

I have also just picked up one of these and t_hum has pretty much summed it up. I think it is a lovely bit of kit. Cost a fair chunk more than I have done on a single AEG in the past, but for me it is worth it. I do not plan on doing any upgrades as the ROF, FPS is spot on for the ranges I intend to use this at.

 

It is also the first Li-Po powered gun I have used and will stick with the supplied battery for the moment though I will invest in a decent charger, after thoroughly reading the info in the very helpful guide published on this site .

 

Apart from a decent single point sling (looking at getting hold of the OEM Troy item, if they will ship t over to the UK, as it is pretty lush .

 

t_hum, can I ask what you did to get the Star mags to feed properly, was it a case of working the spring or filing down the little bb retaining ...erm nubbins? (well I have no idea what it is called ).

 

Also how long has the original battery lasted you so far, as a guess. I have so far not used mine in anger, as it were, just to fire of a few mags worth of bb's so far to set her up.

[t_hum]

The mags didnt feed reliably when I first got them. To fix that I sprayed silicone lube into each mag when empty. Then I loaded up a loading tube and ran the bbs in and out of the mag 10-15 times by pushing the rod in and then letting the spring push it and the bbs back out. After that 9 out of 10 mags are fully operational.

 

What is this trick about filing the nubs down? I havent heard of that. Maybe thats what my final faulty mag needs. Any links would be appreciated.

 

As far as battery life Im not one to ask either as Ive only shot 1000 or so rounds at a time with the gun. I havent but it to good use in a skirmish yet.

[hitmanhigger]

Ahh ######... sorry.. I didn't even realize I posted the wrong link!! here is the right one KA M7A1.

 

Thanks for the help so far. Now I need to go find one in Hong Kong, was out looking around in the stores yesterday for a quick look... didn't see one. So If i were to change the lower receiver on this gun, I'd have to get a new upper receiver too?? Thanks for the help

[t_hum]

So If i were to change the lower receiver on this gun, I'd have to get a new upper receiver too?? Thanks for the help

 

Not necessarily. King Arms makes a TON of different marked metal bodies. If you find a KA lower you like you can just use it. But I dont think they sell uppers and lowers individually.

 

t_hum

[Super6four]

What is this trick about filing the nubs down? I havent heard of that. Maybe thats what my final faulty mag needs. Any links would be appreciated.

 

 

Oh I had bought a box of King Arms mags for my TM M14 Socom. And they never fed properly. I read somewhere on here (in the M14 Brotherhood section I think), that if you VERY carefully file down a mm or thereabouts of the end of the nubins they feed correctly. Of course you have do do it a little at a time, so you file down enough to feed correctly but not so much that they no longer hold the bbs in .

 

Not sure if that technique is applicable in all cases.

[beretta]

My experience with the M7A1 has been a little different to some of the above posters, There was 4 in the batch and all of them were firing in the 280fps area with a ROF of 22-23rps.

Now i know that sounds great and someone above even seemed impressed with 17rps but this is an 11.1v lipo for god sake, My G&G armalites all do about 23ish rps on regular 9.6v battery's. So, theres a G&P M120 in the list for mine. another thing i noticed after stripping them is that the air seal is really bad, the o ring seems too small in diameter for the cylinder and it wont seal properly. the spring that comes in the gun is one that would probably give you 350fps in some other V2 gearboxes. the gears are nice and solid, the they are shimmed properly.

 

the overall performance of the gun is really good, and the exterior quality is fantastic, especially with all the magpul, noveske etc. just some small tweaks and a better air seal will have you one hell of a nice gun.

[t_hum]

Interersting info. Maybe I lucked out on the piston o-ring which explains my higher fps and lower rof.

 

Youre right, it IS an 11.1V battery. But its 15C. As far as lipos go thats about bottom of the barrel in terms of discharge rates. So my statement that 17rps is pretty good is still accurate. It is pretty good for a 15C battery pushing 340 fps. Your 9.6V NiMH's probably have vastly superior discharge rates especially if theyre of reputable manufacture.

[Beast06]

Anyone know of any still in stock anywhere?

[t_hum]

Airsoftgi has them. As far as retailers on your side of the globe, none that I know of. Word has circulated that they will put the gun back into production eventually. The reliability of that source is unverified by myself or others who have also heard it so take it with a grain of salt.

[hitmanhigger]

Thanks for the replies so far. Sounds good, but I think i'm gonna have trouble locating one for purchase in Hong Kong.

 

I'm actually trying to build one of these RWC Noveske with around 320-340 fps and hopefully around 20-25 rps with a 15c lipo. What do you guys think is a good gun to start with to achieve those kind of performace or close to that with basically no internal upgrades? Would say a G&P M4 be a good start?? Can they take a 7.4V 15c lipo with like no upgrades and not get their gear box shredded to pieces?? I'm thinking of a MK18 Mod 0 or a G&P defender to start up this project.

 

Thanks for any help

[t_hum]

If thats your end goal Id start with a G&P. Find one with the crane stock and as many other parts that are close to what you want. No doubt you have to switch the handguard and outer barrel. For the MUR Id get a DYTAC MUR upper receiver. They are designed to fit G&P guns only.

 

Good Luck!

 

t_hum

[beretta]

Interersting info. Maybe I lucked out on the piston o-ring which explains my higher fps and lower rof.

 

Youre right, it IS an 11.1V battery. But its 15C. As far as lipos go thats about bottom of the barrel in terms of discharge rates. So my statement that 17rps is pretty good is still accurate. It is pretty good for a 15C battery pushing 340 fps. Your 9.6V NiMH's probably have vastly superior discharge rates especially if theyre of reputable manufacture.

 

nah mine has the same spring, just a dodgey air seal, so the motor is pulling the same spring and should have the same ROF, just a different fps, the comaprason to the G&G though. i used the 11.1v 15c lipo in that and the ROF was far high than the M7A1, i also used it in an ACM P90 with systema turbo, usually putting out 23rps on a 9.6 nimh, and it jumped to a little over 30rps.,

 

So, sort out the air seal, other than that shes a great gun.

 

[hitmanhigger]

Anyone got any info with for a stock G&P gear box running on a 7.4v or 11.1v 15c lipo?? How well do you guys think the gear box will stand up to running on a lipo?

 

I'm sorta leaning towards a G&P gun to start out this project. But I hate that I can't find a G&P with a lower reciever that I like except the MK18 Mod 0, but it'd defeat the purpose of having that lower body if i was just to switch it out eventually.

 

Thanks again everyone... just have a lot of questions as i havn't made a new purchase for an AEG in a long time and this could possibly be one of my last guns that i will buy.

[Magsz]

The last three G&P guns that i worked on all broke in under 2k rounds.

 

This included 1X G&P defender and 2X G&P beasts. All of the guns were being run in the 23-26 rps range right out of the box on 7.4 volt 20c lipos and 9.6 volt 3300 elite cell packs.

 

They chewed up three pistons before i finally realized what was happening. G&P uses a heavy and i mean HEAVY weight to hold their piston heads on. The piston assemblies werent returning to battery fast enough and the last tooth was being knocked clean off by an improper angle of engagement.

 

Sort out that issue and you've got a REALLY fine stock gun in the G&P's.

 

Switching back to the KA, just because its an 11.1 volt lipo and advertised as being 15c does NOT make it a good quality battery pack. Either KA included a sub par battery pack for cost saving reasons or they did this to ensure that every dumbass with a large enough wallet wouldnt plug in a battery and go hog wild with a stock 30 rps gun. We all know that high rof setups require tuning and proper parts selection. Regardless of what anyone says, producing a highly reliable out of the box high rof gun is a difficult task.

[hitmanhigger]

So from what Maqsz suggest is that I shouldn't run a lipo in a stock G&P unless i'm willing to put work into the gear box right? Now this is getting interesting in trying to decide on a stock gun that can run a lipo.

 

Ohh... my reason for wanting to keep it stock is that lots of the ppl and sites that I play with and at in HK go either 1J to 1.2J in power. So I don't really want to up the power or the rps of the gun that much.. but want to run a lipo in the stock tube.

[Magsz]

So from what Maqsz suggest is that I shouldn't run a lipo in a stock G&P unless i'm willing to put work into the gear box right? Now this is getting interesting in trying to decide on a stock gun that can run a lipo.

 

Ohh... my reason for wanting to keep it stock is that lots of the ppl and sites that I play with and at in HK go either 1J to 1.2J in power. So I don't really want to up the power or the rps of the gun that much.. but want to run a lipo in the stock tube.

 

Im just giving you feedback based off of personal experience. That doesnt mean that all G&P guns are going to explode. Most guns these days are able to handle average quality 9.6 volt batteries without any problems. The average 7.4 volt lipo is basically equivalent to a 9.6 nimh so you're probably NOT going to cause your gun to explode.

 

Having said that, most buffer tube lipo packs come in 11.1 volt flavor so i would be wary of those.

[beretta]

I've had 2 G&P M16s, 1 CQB and aother 2 armalite sorts on my desk in the last few weeks, all but one suffering from sheared gears and all were pretty new, some brand new and unused. theres another 2 that i havent got around to repairing yet so i dunno what the problem is with them.

 

I wouldnt want to brand the whole company with a reputation but it seems the quality isn't as good as it could be.

[hitmanhigger]

so tough to chose a gun these days... so many good things to chose from. Thanks for the help everyone, guess i'll have to go look around and see what i can find. I've realized that I gotta spend like about the price of a whole new gun just to get the metal bodies to replicate the RWC one.

[Borax]

Hi

I have a little problem. Can anyone tell me, how many time should i charge this LiPo batery? There was no instructions in my package...

 

[FallenGuard]

Hi

I have a little problem. Can anyone tell me, how many time should i charge this LiPo batery? There was no instructions in my package...

 

Better get a proper good Li-Po Charger if you plan on using the Battery.

 

I got a M7A1 too now (thanks t_hum!), and the quality is indeed fantastic . No I just need to upgrade it to competing FPS...

[Borax]

hmmm, thank's wery much, but it's not answer for my question.

[t_hum]

I never used the stock charger either. I immediately bought a charger that I can trust. Best bet to find out how to use the stock one if you really really need to use it, is to email KA.