I.R. VFC M4A1 GBBR

[davedawg123]

Which steel outer barrels fit? Also, would you say it is skirmishable out of the box as is? While I'd really prefer a Viper, the price of the VFC and its mags are certainly appealing (as is the KA gbbr). As for durability, I wouldn't mind needing to replace broken parts so long as it was a few tens of thousands of rounds down the road.

[3vi1-D4n]

The Viper feels better to hold and to shoot with steel parts, but less gas efficient and requires good quality magazines to perform well.

 

VFC doesn't feel as good as the Viper (both the recoil and the weight), has mostly aluminium parts, but is more gas efficient and magazines are good quality for a very low price.

 

Both shoot relatively accurate OOTB, with the Viper having more reach.

 

If you talley up the parts on the Viper and add those same parts onto the VFC the Viper is actually cheaper (of course).

 

I put an Iron Airsoft MK18 barrel into the VFC(it requires a rear adjustment hop unit that takes AEG barrels).

[davedawg123]

Thanks.

 

Are there any parts you would recommend replacing off the bat? So far, I've seen mention of flute valve and hopup replacement.

 

How close is the weight to RS (as that would be my ultimate goal) after the steel barrel upgrade? And did the upgrade require any mods?

 

How would you compare cooldown between VFC and Viper?

 

Have you had the opportunity to handle a KA GBBR? The price, the inclusion of the recoil speed buffers and valve blockers, and the heavier mags are appealing. The blowback appears quite crisp on videos as well.

Edited December 21, 2010 by davedawg123

[danielsilva]

Have you had the opportunity to handle a KA GBBR? The price, the inclusion of the recoil speed buffers and valve blockers, and the heavier mags are appealing. The blowback appears quite crisp on videos as well.

 

Although i wasn't expecting much from the KA GBBR from what d4n told me about it, i still went ahead and asked someone to give one to me for a few days so that i could take my own conclusions. I only had it a few days but,

 

- The externals were nice for the price and didn't had any substantial wobble from anywhere

- But they were WA spec'd, so not 1:1 ( which is a deal breaker to me )

- The internal were meh, mostly weak alu and/or potmetal, don't think it would last long

 

But the worse part was the accuracy of it, it was ###### POOR ! I was amazed how poor the accuracy and range was ... i could have got a lemon but i couldn't open the gun and fiddle with the hopup unit, but i really was truly disappointed with the accuracy of it.

[davedawg123]

Ok. Looks like I'm leaning toward VFC then.

 

Potential build list:

 

VFC GBBR

- Steel 14.5in outer barrel: does any WA outer barrel fit? I'll probably go for Iron Airsoft or Element if they fit fine.

- Hop up for AEG inner barrels: Pro-win, Action, Element? Probably go for Element if there's no problem.

- Rocket valve: SD MP7

- AEG hopup rubber...

 

Should be it for now. Hopefully a steel BCG and bolt catch won't be required any time soon, but are compatible replacements available?

[3vi1-D4n]

With the Iron airsoft steel barrel the balance and weight of the VFC is indistinguishable with a MK18 I shot for a day. The Iron airsoft steel barrel still required a little filing of the hop unit to fit (diameter of the hop unit is just a little big). I also heard that the VFC hop unit is not compatible with some WA spec barrels (for example, Inokatsu barrels won't fit)

 

The VFC hop up takes AEG barrels and hop rubbers. The default VFC barrel is at 6.02mm.

 

With the new outer barrel you will see that the accuracy of the rifle increases.

 

The VFC cooldown is a lot less than a Viper, but so is perceived recoil. VFC can do a mag dump with no issues.

 

And yes the MP7 rocket valve in the VFC should work.

 

VFC bolt catch is made up of 2 parts and are both steel, works differently from a WA. It is better designed.

 

VFC will also replace the whole Bolt carrier if they break, at least thats what they are doing at my local store. VFC Bolt nozzles are cheap and they are cross compatble with the WA.

Edited December 22, 2010 by 3vi1-D4n

[danielsilva]

BTW do you by any chance know if Prime spec'd receivers are compatible with the VFC ? Um really tempted to get a VFC and slap a Iron Soft HK 416 kit on it !

[davedawg123]

D4n, you are the man.

 

So you simply modified the stock VFC hopup for your new outer barrel (i.e. new hopup not required)? How much filing is required?

 

I guess then I will just purchase the following:

 

- Element 14.5 steel outer barrel: 14mm CW thread meaning new flash hider needed, bleh (any 14mm+/G&P owners out there looking to get rid of their standard A2 birdcage flash hider?)

- SD MP7 rocket valve: no replacement valve spring necessary, correct?

- Guarder/Systema AEG bucking: or something else?

 

BTW do you by any chance know if Prime spec'd receivers are compatible with the VFC ? Um really tempted to get a VFC and slap a Iron Soft HK 416 kit on it !

 

Here's something old I dug up which may be of a pre-production model. While it doesn't refer to aftermarket receiver compatibility, it would appear the tolerances for many of the internals differ from standard WA.

[Amadem]

Hopefully a steel BCG and bolt catch won't be required any time soon, but are compatible replacements available?

 

Like D4n said:

VFC bolt catch is made up of 2 parts and are both steel, works differently from a WA. It is better designed.

 

100% agreed.

I had really bad malfunction:

 

Bolt Catch Plate had some molding(which I didn't notice) and wasn's fit properly to Firing Pin Retainer.

After last shot (when BCG was catched) Bolt Catch Plate badly jammed.

Had to use hammer and much power to move it back.

Seriously after that I thought the whole Bolt Stop mechanism will be screwed as f*ck(specially after my bad experience with WA Bolt Stop).

But everything was fine and all I had to do was a little sanding the Bolt Catch Plate.

So the VFC's Bolt Catch is MUCH better designed (& made).

 

But still really cheap:

http://www.wgcshop.com/wgc2008/main/product_detail1.php?search_From=searchItem&item=VFC-PT-BCH-M4GST01&search=searchItem&rs=vfc%20gbb&catid=&cat=

http://www.wgcshop.com/wgc2008/main/product_detail1.php?search_From=searchItem&item=VFC-PT-BCH-M4GST02&search=searchItem&rs=vfc%20gbb&catid=&cat=

http://www.wgcshop.com/wgc2008/main/product_detail1.php?search_From=searchItem&item=VFC-PT-FPN-M4GST03&search=searchItem&rs=vfc%20gbb&catid=&cat=

Edited December 22, 2010 by Amadem

[IronWolf]

Apologies for dredging this thread back up, but I'm wondering if any of the early adopters of the VFC M4 series have tried replacing the STANAG magazine shell with a RS or airsoft P-Mag/ E-Mag shell? I plan to try it myself otherwise but am hoping that someone here might have tried it already .

[Amadem]

Yes you can replace Shell with AEG PMAG.

[IronWolf]

Excellent! Cheers for the info Amadem, will have to try it out