I
have owned 5 M16 variants in my time skirmishing, 4 of those have
been M4 based, so when I decided to build myself a Colt Commando
I knew the common problem that is inherent to the M16 series –
namely barrel wobble.

Having owned
the FIRST Hard Outer Barrel, and found it to work effectively
I was initially drawn to it for a solution to the problem. But
when Guarder
released their latest 2003 series One Piece Outer Barrels I noticed
they had included an M933 version (the true Colt Commando as featured
in Black Hawn Down – well the M733 variant). I decided to be original
and go for this version as it would sort out the barrel wobble
problem, and would also eliminate the need for me to buy an extra
Short Outer Barrel.

I ordered
mine from UN
Company, so far the only place on the web that sells the M933
version of the barrel. After a wire transfer and 2 week wait the
barrel arrived in a consignment that escaped the attention of
HM C&E – hooray!! So was it worth the £50 I paid for
it?

Overview
All Guarder
kit appears to be packaged in clear plastic wrapping, my barrel
was no exception. It came disassembled, with the M933 extension
wrapped separately in cellophane, some brief instructions and
an Allen key for tightening the grub screws on the barrel.

The barrel
looked immaculate, no scratches or scuffs – what you’d expect
from a brand new bit of kit. The quality of work is excellent,
every edge and surface on the barrel has been finished of perfectly
– there are no burrs, no excess material or over run on mouldings.
In other words usual Guarder
quality.

The barrel
itself in made up of 3 parts – the M933 extension, the main barrel
section and the mount block. The main barrel section and mount
block come assembled ready for fitting – with the barrel held
in place with two 4mm grub screws. The main barrel section has
2 holes in it for the front sight pins and both the main barrel
extension and M933 extension come with a 14mm threaded end – ready
for flash hiders and silencers.

The 2003 version
of the One Piece barrels includes a feature Guarder
call ‘Vari-length’. In real terms means that the barrel assembly
can be fine-tuned for length to ensure handgrips and/or RIS mounts
fit properly.

The whole
assembly is finished using Guarder‘s
infamous P-Process, possibly a powder coating or bead blasting
process. Which ever it is the finish is excellent, although there
is a slight colour disparity between the main barrel section and
the M933 extension.

Once I was
sure the HOP would fit comfortably I inserted the barrel into
the receiver. Do this by sliding the outer barrel into the receiver
then slide the handguard ring assembly over it and start turning
so it screws onto the thread onto the receiver.

It fitted
perfectly to my Systema M4A1 metal body, and once attached it
was rock solid, although required a bit of force to get the barrel
flush with the front of the receiver. I then simply inserted the
inner barrel (it requires a 300mm inner barrel – KM MC51 long
or Thompson barrel does the trick) and built up the receiver.

Testing
Once I completed the AEG, it was solid. I ordered the Guarder
Hand guard set as well, which came with the metal handguard retaining
ring, this added extra rigidity to the front end of the gun. I
carefully examined the front end and could find no barrel wobble
– mainly due to the one-piece barrel and the threadlock holding
the handguard nut on the receiver.

An important
benefit of the barrel unit is that it the inner bore of the barrel
is designed to be as close to the outer diameter of the Inner
barrel (??). This means that there is no movement if the inner
barrel when firing, meaning less vibration and more accuracy –
a massive bonus.

The only drawback
I have found with the barrel assembly has been the problem with
U-shaped battery packs and the higher capacity Twin battery packs!
This did affect me personally as I invested in 1700mAh Twin type
packs, and the problem I found was that they did not fit with
the Guarder One piece barrel AND the Guarder Handguards, since
they are 1-2mm thicker than the TM ones. So I have had to order
new battery packs!

Conclusion
I
only have good things to say about the Guarder
M933 one-piece barrel, it’s a very high quality accessory that’s
easy to fit. The build quality and finish are top quality, the
elimination of barrel wobble is excellent – and rectifies on of
the few flaws with the M16 series. The increase in accuracy as
a result of the elimination of inner barrel vibration is an un-expected
bonus.

I have no
hesitation in recommending this product, if your planning a to
build a custom M4 I would put this part high on your priority
list.

The only two
issues with the barrel are the fact you would need a new inner
barrel (300mm) and that you might need to replace your battery
packs.

Overall compared
to the money I would have spent on a FIRST HOB and the G&G
Short outer barrel I have easily bought the Guarder M933 one-piece
barrel, a better quality and simpler solution.

But do take
not in that if you are looking for batteries that are compatible
with both the M933 barrel and Guarder Handguards then only fork
out for the 9.6V 1100mAh packs – as only they will fit!

by
Permian

Update
11/03/03: Richard
Chou of Intrudershop
asked me to mention a few things that have changed in the latest
(current) release barrel release – Arnie

“…First,
the ‘Vari-Length’ mechanism is designed to be fine-tuned. Why?
Because we found the real steel M4 handguard system is slightly
longer than TM handguard. So, people can’t install the real steel
handguard or real Knight’s RAS system on the TM M4 AEGs. That’s
why we designed the ‘Vari-Length’ mechanism. With this mechanism,
you can install the original TM handguard as well as the real
steel M4 handguard. =)

Second, we have improved the surface finish since one and half
year ago. Like DumboRAT said, our first generation steel outer
barrel will surface oxidize if exposed to rain or salt water.
However, the new genaration steel outer barrel (those with P-Process
logo) is complied with MIL-Spec surface finish standard. It will
not rust even exposed continuously to salt spray for over 72 hours.
=)…”