WE GBB PDW

[kojak]

Kojak, this sounds like Evike trying to unload some unreliable 1st generation PDW's while they can (on unsuspecting customers) . I love how they are claiming they made the price drop "out of the goodness of their heart, because consumers really love the gun"..... if anyone believes that, then I have a bridge to sell them. WETTI makes junk guns and the PDW is the lemon for all time. Just my 2 cents and personal experience.

 

1. WETTI is a WE distributor and doesn't make *suitcase*.

2. There is no 1st generation PDW; the original "closed bolt" is still being manufactured.

3. Evike's price is about $100 below average. The gun I received was identical to those in a new shipment at another retailer (who sells out of the PDW rather frequently).

 

 

It did require some loctite on the outer barrel and stock screws, but overall I'm impressed with it for $200 (used a coupon). Both mags held gas, locked back on empty, and the hopup was actually not bad so I haven't installed the Stinger yet. Put about twenty mags through at a dusty game with zero issues--though I did catch the pin for the hammer roller walking out (ended up supergluing it).

 

No one is more familiar with WE GBBR issues than me--I use a 1st generation WEM4 and have modified and repaired it countless times--but I have a nice stack of leak-fixed mags and the WE system is "the devil I know" so I've stuck with it. I bought the PDW fully aware that the lower is prone to breaking, so for now I'm holding off on CO2 and may lighten the bolt.

 

This part is newly listed at ASB--is it just for the open bolt system?

[Ringo69er]

My WE PDW and RA-Tech NPAS arrived Monday from Evike. Straight from the box it was shooting 400+ FPS. Accuracy and flat trajectory seems to be around 368 PFS with .28 BB's. The NPAS throttles it down just as advertised. Thus far I am pretty impressed.

 

The negatives....

 

Evike: The NPAS arrived loose in thee box, it is absolutely amazing it all arrived undamaged and in the box. Evike's $220 'Special' is minus the Metal Flash Supressor that many of the $280 & UP come with. From the looks of it, Evike robbed them and sold them separately on their website for $40.

 

The RA-Tech NPAS:

1. You need to loctite the nozzle, because it comes loose.

2. Using the Adjustment Wrench is a PITA to use when the nozzle is assembled....which makes adjustment near impossible without disassemble.

3. The Wrench has a limited life span.

 

The WE PDW I received:

 

1. Nothing that should have Loctite has it.

2. The Selector Switch is extremely loose, no 'CLICK', it just flops around. I mean a stiff wind or minor bump could put it in Full Auto. I put a #5 rubber o-ring behind the lever

3. The Bolt Catch rarely catches, and even when it does....ejected a mag sends it home.

 

Other than that I am pretty impressed.

Edited July 15, 2010 by Ringo69er

[GrenadierMasada]

CRUD. I was gonna buy the RATECH 1st Stage Upgraded PDW. After all that i've read, idk if i wanna count on buying a PDW.

 

Does the recoil buffer from RATECH help alleviate the bolt from cracking the lower receiver?!

 

What's a better suggested GBBR from RATECH? KJ M4's or WE M4's? Or is the PDW receiver cracking just b/c the bolt is so heavy? Should i drill holes in the bolt to lighten it if i decide on the PDW?

 

[Ringo69er]

CRUD. I was gonna buy the RATECH 1st Stage Upgraded PDW. After all that i've read, idk if i wanna count on buying a PDW.

 

Does the recoil buffer from RATECH help alleviate the bolt from cracking the lower receiver?!

 

What's a better suggested GBBR from RATECH? KJ M4's or WE M4's? Or is the PDW receiver cracking just b/c the bolt is so heavy? Should i drill holes in the bolt to lighten it if i decide on the PDW?

 

 

 

The recoil I get with green gas doesn't seem to be enough to crack anything......maybe it is Co2 is a different story. I would think drilling holes in the bolt carrier might hurt the integrity. The factory buffer spring is a bit limp wristed, something just a tad stiffer might help.

[CheerioMatey]

Just throwing this out there,

 

Has anyone Tried Lining the Rear end of the receiver with a shoe insole?

It should be highly shock absorbent, am i right??

[Reppyboyo]

So, any long term user reports?

 

Kinda waiting around for a proper review but it appears there isnt a single one around.

[Reppyboyo]

Just got mine, had a play after lubing the bolt.

 

Kick is nice, not as much as I was hoping but its enough to throw your auto groupings everywhere.

As far as I can tell, hop is very nice as it can shoot .2`s flat enough. (For the length of my garden anyway).

 

With Propane its kicking out 410~fps when warm. About 365 when the mag gets cold.

 

The standard PDW mag is a bit pants, freshly loaded it pop out a BB when you pull the charging handle back which obviously gets in the way of the bolt.

Also doesnt lock back well on the pdw mag.

 

The M4 mag however works very well, no such problem with the BB popping out and holds more gas.

Only problem being it is quite loose in the mag well and can rattle.

 

NPAS should be here soon so hopefully will be able to skirmish it (well, try to with 2 mags) next weekend.

[Reppyboyo]

It appears after some usage, the PDW mag locks back more consistently than the M4 mag now.

Although it still has the BB popping out problem, anyone else with PDW mags experience this?

 

The M4 mag being quite loose causes problems with the lock back, during firing the mag rocks forwards so it /barely/ pushes the bolt stop.

Holding the mag back fixes this but also the bolt hits the side of the mag lips whilst doing this.

Cant win.

 

Gonna do some more testing before I decide which mags to buy. (PDW`s are cheaper as I dont need to buy the conversion kits as well unlike M4 mags).

[Reppyboyo]

Ok, so now neither mag is capable to stopping the bolt on empty, what a shame.

 

It appears the latch on the mag just doesn't push the bolt stop up enough.

Gonna see if I can find something to glue to the bottom to help raise it more.

Anyone have any other fixes?

 

Otherwise, so far Im happy with the PDW.

Keep it lubed and its happy, the hop up is impressive.

[Megalomaniac]

Good to know the WE PDW isn't total ###### I fondled one at Strikeforce on Thursday (RA-TECH custom) was very smitten by it,

I'll be picking it up soon, but does anyone know if KAC PDW mags fit in fast mags?

[GrenadierMasada]

For mag wobble i use the furry-side of velcro in the mag-well to take up slack space. just experiment with it. I usually put it on the forward most wall of the mag-well of the gun. GL

[mnmc10]

Ok, so now neither mag is capable to stopping the bolt on empty, what a shame.

 

It appears the latch on the mag just doesn't push the bolt stop up enough.

Gonna see if I can find something to glue to the bottom to help raise it more.

Anyone have any other fixes?

 

Otherwise, so far Im happy with the PDW.

Keep it lubed and its happy, the hop up is impressive.

 

 

i have a v1 wem4 so everything about it doesnt work. i tried gluing some spacers beneath the catch so it makes more contact with the mag. but the spacer i put got eaten away by friction. better if you just bend the mag catch.

 

 

when you say the hop is impressive, can you give us measurements? how accurate is it within 50yards,100 yards and beyond. what gas you use and weight of bbs. thanks!

[Reppyboyo]

The only thing that makes contact with the lower part of the bolt stop is the magazine catch/catcher/thing.

Cant see how anything is rubbing against it. Will try it myself though and see what happens.

 

As for measurements, nope.

Not sure how long my back garden is, reasonably long and its very accurate from that.

With propane and .25`s its straight.

 

Couldn't really give a full view of accuracy until I skirmish it.

[Pantelis]

I need a bolt catch for the open bolt PDW and no shop seems to have it in-stock. I e-mailed WE but they ignored me. Typical after-sales service from WE:angry:

Does anybody know where i can find one?

[kojak]

Sometimes it REALLY sucks looking for WE spares. They don't get shipments that often but Blowback Armory should either have it or be able to get it eventually.

[Reppyboyo]

I need a bolt catch for the open bolt PDW and no shop seems to have it in-stock. I e-mailed WE but they ignored me. Typical after-sales service from WE:angry:

Does anybody know where i can find one?

 

Airsoft buddy has them last I looked.

[3vi1-D4n]

You can mod the close bolt catch to work with the open bolt.

[Reppyboyo]

Right then, just had my first skirmish with the PDW.

Happily I can say that I had no breakdowns, only problem was a couple of mags that leaked some gas.

 

Accuracy on semi is quite good, not as good as my Type 97B AEG but very reasonable.

Could be tweaked with another hop rubber possibly but Im going to let the current one break in first.

Auto accuracy mostly depends on how much you can control the recoil, best used for CQB moments though.

 

I 'fixed' my bolt catch by glueing 2 sheets of business card on the bottom of the catch, where it contacts the mag catch.

Worked well, doubt it will stay much longer but lasted all day today.

 

Overall, Im glad a purchased my PDW.

Its a bit of a gas hog, you can expect to use a bottle of Propane every skirmish if you use it regularly but your mileage may vary.

 

 

So, now to give it a clean and re-lube and identify the leaking mags and fix em.

[kojak]

Most of my WE propane mags leak gas, but if I fill them up the day before a game and then top them off they leak much less. I normally store mags with some gas, but maybe the WE should be fully charged? I have a half dozen CO2 mags with zero leaks but I'm still waiting for some guidance on preserving the lower receiver.

[Megalomaniac]

Just bought my PDW tonight, finished cleaning and lubing the gun and took it out in the back for some trigger time, WOW. At the store (Strikeforce Sports) we put a few rounds into it with the NPAS in its current position we pulled 450FPS from .25s on green! Gotta tune that down right quick.

[Megalomaniac]

AND my loading nozzle is broken already, bent up, and oddly I don't think it is an NPAS nozzle as the adjustment tool seems to touch nothing when it goes, I'm hoping the nozzle is the factory WE one and that SFS just left out the NPAS nozzle.

[L4byr1nth]

Got a picture of it?

 

Ben.

[jotohomomoto]

did WE change the name of the PDW to the "RDW" in the U.S. to prevent possible trademark violaitons. I have seen this gun listed as the RDW on more than one site.

[Megalomaniac]

Issue already corrected NPAS bolt kit installed gun shoots bloody mint.

[Reppyboyo]

Finally got around to cleaning it again after the last skirmish.

F*** me the barrel gets dirty, needed 5 cleaning's with the rod till it was clear.

 

The upper receiver gets gunked up quite well but still works fine (thank you slip2000!), even better after a clean and re-lube.

 

Few of bad points I noticed however.

The hammer seems to provide a lot of friction against the bolt, slowing it down about mid way through its travel. (Freshly lubed mind).

Dont think it impairs the overall function of the PDW, might just need further breaking in.

 

A part of the trigger mech scrapes against the bolt and nozzle, taking a small chunk out of the nozzle which could impair gas efficiency a small amount.

Might need to trim it or bend it back slightly.

 

My temporary fix for the bolt catch fell off, it was simply 2 bits of business card stuck to the underside of the catch where it gets pushed up by the mag latch.

Worked fine for when it was there though, more perm fix is to bend the catch itself it would seem, will give it a go sometime.

 

All the additional PDW mags (5 in total) I purchased came with no leaks (yay!).

The included M4 mag had a minor leak, now fixed.

The included PDW mag has major leaks out of the main seal and valve, also chucks out BB`s in the receiver. Needs a new valve, feed lips and the leak fixed.

 

So far though, so good.

PDW Open bolt deserves to be more popular IMHO.