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Tippmann M4 post game review


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I was lucky enough to get hold of one of the first production Tippmann M4's in the UK and took it to the Stirling 'Old Enemy' game at the weekend which gave me a really good feel for how the gun performs.  I am currently running this gun in true out of the box mode with no 3rd party modifications at all.

 

I'm not going to go into all the inner workings of the gun here but I will be happy to answer questions where I can or point people in the right direction, but there is a wealth of information already on forums and the Tippmann Airsoft FB group.  I have been waiting for this gun for 4 months or so and have been watching and reading reviews and updates on the prototypes that have been out in the hands of dealers for a while now.

 

Naturally as soon as I got the gun home I did some 'garage' testing with the CO2 mags to see how the gun ran.  I adjusted, FPS and ROF as per the manual (you need to read the manual on this gun, it is really detailed and tells you how to deal with adjustments to solve most problems) and then set about testing how the CO2 mag performs.  I chrono'd a full mag on CO2 and the FPS varied from 310 - 270 on .25s over the full mag, while I haven't tested any other CO2 powered airsoft guns I would assume a similar FPS drop as you are changing a liquid to a gas from a diminishing supply.  The temp for this test was approx 5 deg C.  As there isnt a ready supply of these mags available I needed to run HPA for the game weekend.

 

So what's needed to convert the Tippmann to HPA? A tank with either CO2 or HPA - any paintball tank and a remote line, thats it.  Please note this needs to be a paintball remote line, it will be running 800 PSI from the tank as there is no need for a secondary regulator like an SMP or P* systems.  So total cost for me to convert to HPA £64, including a fill of Air.

 

Once on site it took me about 10 min to set up the gun ready for use, this included setting the Hop, FPS to 305fps on .25g and setting the ROF.  As a comparison I was getting around 3-4 FPS variation over 10 shots, but I only did this test once so this isn't conclusive.

 

I want to be clear on something, I am not going to quote any figures on range for this gun, mainly because there was no decent way to measure effective range and there was no time to mess about setting something up.  That said, I was consistently hitting the same targets as my team mates who both use CTWs with MDD hop units and at no time did I feel outranged.  As this gun uses standard AEG inner barrels and buckings hop improvements should be easy to achieve if you felt the need, but personally I am happy with it as it is, range and consistency certainly feels about the same as my personal CTW with MDD hop unit. 

 

There is good feedback from the gun, I'm not sure how best to describe it, but there is certainly good felt 'recoil', I would say more so than any electronic recoil I have felt including the TMs.  I cant really compare to WE or other GBBR as I dont own one, but I would say its certainly equivalent to those that I have had short test fires with although it does feel 'different' to a GBBR.  Oh the noise, amongst pretty much an exclusive AEG field (I assume due to weather) this thing really turned heads on full auto, and I was happily emptying mag after mag using 3 or 5 round burst after burst (sorry I cant just keep my finger on the trigger, it feels wrong).  Every time I pulled the trigger I was grinning a combination of the sound and noise was addictive, the same as a GBBR but without worrying about cooldown.

 

Over the weekend I estimate I fired somewhere between 2000 and 2500 rounds maybe more and I pretty much used up my tank of air (48cu/3000PSI) which tallies with most estimates I have seen elsewhere.  I didn't experience a single problem with the gun and the temp range for the weekend was 0-5 deg C, which really impressed me given I am used to either GBB SMGs or AEGs.  The only niggle I know others have mentioned is the buffer tube spring noise, but in my experience I didn't really notice it once in game and concentrating on targets and where my BBs were going.

 

Overall I am hugely impressed with this gun, it feels solid with no rattles, has good performance as standard, easy to set up and tweek and the finish is really nice.  At no time did the remote line snag or get in the way and I was using a cheap RAP4 coiled remote and this included crawling through some pretty tight mouse holes in the buildings and through hedges, gaps in rubble etc, in fact it was barely noticeable, but then I tend to leave my gun attached to the sling at all times so maybe that helps.

 

Ownership hints and tips

 

If you are going HPA get a remote line with slidecheck, I didn't and it means you have to turn off the tank, then fire off the remaining pressure in the remote line before you can disconnect the gun.  With a slidecheck you just pull back the slidecheck and then disconnect the gun.

 

Do some research before you go HPA, not all dive centres or paintball fields will fill cylinders but persevere, air gun shops, some dive centres and any paintball retailer can usually fill tanks.  It took me about 20 min of internet research and phone calls to find a local place to fill my tanks.

 

READ THE MANUAL - this isn't a typical airsoft manual it really does have some good info in it and provides solutions to common set up issues (like burst fire rather than full auto, and the rear bolt jamming).

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Great first post, I was wondering how it would perform. Wasn't going to buy one myself, but it's great to see new technologies. If you have time to post some good pictures, I'm sure we would all appreciate admiring it from afar.

Edited by Leon Kennedy
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Renegadecow, sorry but it looks like both the upper and lowers are bespoke I dont think it would be possible to move the internals over, that said I have no idea what the internals of a datonagun look like. Hope to get some pics up soon.

 

 

Quick update with some of the niggles people are finding, so far all quick fixes if you find them. I haven't experienced any issues but I did do the measurements of the stock tubes.

 

It would appear that AEG stocks dont fit the Tippmann, so as I happen to have a G&G AEG, a Celcius CTW and a Tippmann in the rack upstairs I thought I would measure each and here is the result.

 

Tippmann - OD of tube 29.3mm, width of the land, 12.45mm

CTW - OD of tube 29.6, width of the land, 12mm

G&G - OD of tube 29.1, width of the land, 11.8mm

 

it is the land (where the pin drops into) that is the issue here and as the Tippmann is 12.45 which equates to pretty much 1/2 in and the Eastern made systems are 12mm. Given that the AR is a US designed system I am inclined to believe that the Tippmann is based on RS dimensions and the eastern made systems are a metric approximation and therefore will not fit.

 

 

ROF adjustment, this is proving to be finicky for some, it is based on the Tippmann Response Trigger and requires some fairly delicate adjustment (1/8 turn at a time) to get it spot on, if you over adjust it can cause the gun to fail to fire properly on full auto. It is an easy fix but something to be aware of.

 

a couple of people have noted that when converting to HPA the air nozzle doesnt sit correctly due to a small air pipe being off centre the fix is again simple and to use allen key to move the air pipe from the magwell side.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Really liking how efficient this rifle is.

Also liking that the accuracy was alright, this bodes well.

48ci/3000psi is a very small tank. Since you're using a backpack tank (and i expect, most would), it would be easy to use a 100ci/4500psi tank. Then we're talking close to 7500 rounds on a fill.

 

I see that the barrelnut looks proprietary. Do you think mounting any sort of RIS on this is viable? The only one i can think off, is the UTG one that clamps around the barrelnut. Even normal M4 RIS won't fit because they clamp inside the barrelnut.

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Sold off my APS and got a tippmann on boxing say with 20% off.

Here's an awkward angle of my phone on the butt stock to try to simulate recoil for viewers.

Tippmann M4 Demo Shooting -:

 

 

 

The fact that the tippy can use AEG inner/bucking = win. Ex-Daytona user and I do enjoy the tippmann much more, this is why I went back. (Sold DG LONG ago)

 

Obvious downsides are proprietary things (grip, outer barrel, etc)

 

That and also it's a lot cheaper, can run on C02 and HPA, and no need for a fancy regulator.

Edited by BioRage
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  • 1 month later...

I have to say, I have 2 of these and am impressed with them. They require some tuning to get right, but worth it in the long run.

What rof are you getting with them, I have one serial no 550 which I have been trying to get slightly higher rof but seems to only work reliably at around 5-8 rps.

I can turn the adjustment slightly and get 9-10 rps but it starts to fire in random bursts anything from a two round burst to a long burst then it will stop, once I release the trigger and press again it will fire another burst.  I have been told there may be details on a facebook tippman group page to a better way to adjust the rof by shimming the trigger unit but I can`t find any info on it anywhere else and I am not on facebook. 

 

I have also read that tippman are supposed to be releasing a different trigger unit to fix this issue which I assume is true as on there website they state the adjustment is now different for models serial number 1167 and on.

 

Also I noticed on mine that when chronoing with 0.2s I have it chronoing at 315-320 fps in semi but when testing the rps in full auto the fps drops to 260 fps.  It only seems to lose about 10fps when chronoing with 0.28s but it does seem to be chronoing lower in full auto than semi.  I haven`t noticed a drop when test firing so wether this is an error in the chrono due to full auto I am not sure but was wondering if anyone else has noticed this.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Great review, I have just taken delivery of my Tippmann and the serial number is 1645. Which I am of course very happy about. I am very happy I discovered this gun, I was about to order an GHK AK gbbr. What makes me happy is the fps adjustment. Some cqb sites run a limit of 328fps, all the woodland sites around here are 350fps for full auto.  Had a We gbbr L85 in the past was nice but had its issues. The fact HPA is being brought back into airsoft has made me happy. As I wanted a lot of the classic airsoft guns I either couldn't afford the price or didn't like the idea of no spares supply. I've never been a fan of AEGS. I've been airsofting for 11 years and I've only owned 6 AEGs. I have lost count of how many different types of gas guns I've owner...Prefer gas guns from a maintenance point of view as well. But its horse for courses really.

 

Set up I'll be using is HPA, with a 48ci tank and Ninja micro straight line. The micro line is lighter and more flexible and being straight is even better at resisting snagging. Being straight also lend it self to being led through behind webbing or tac vest...

 

I am going to be getting an airgun stirrup pump to recharge my tank...Cheaper in the long run, but only for the fit person. 

 

There is stock wobble when you adjust the stock out of its closed position. Real steel rails and stocks fit this gun . Which is a good thing, as it should give us more choice. Tippmann advertises that this gun takes real steel accessories on the box the gun comes in!

Edited by dave1
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These look like great guns, but I've been holding off making a purchase in light of some of the issues I've seen crop up. Specifically issues with spotty full-auto functionality, poor hop-up function and some body leaks.

 

Granted it seems like some of these issues are user error or reflect the failure of the user to read the manual and Tippmann does offer an excellent warranty.

 

Any word on how well these perform with the CO2 magazines? I already own a Polarstar, so my principle interest in the Tippmann is as a more reliable GBBR compared to other traditional GIM systems like WE, KWA, WA, GHK, etc.

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