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Introduce a M4 A1 Plastic Version, made by AIM


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Hey Folks,

 

Well, we were solicited by AIM to give their new release a try.

 

They did not provide any cost in their e-mail, so I replied and after a few e-mails with Cherry and some research on my part that this wasn't an e-mail scam, we purchased three samples.

 

The samples arrived on Nov. 25th after a two week wait. They came shipped in the now familiar TNT shipping service and in good shape.

 

Upon opening the shipping box, the AEG boxes were exactly as you seen already posted. But the first thing we did was a side by side comparison to the Marui M4A1, which is the benchmark that all others copy or try to exceed.

 

This is a summary of our initial observations:

 

Cosmetics:

 

There are no trademarks, but for the price, I think something has to go.

 

The finish on the metal items such as the carry handle side clamp bar and knobs, the rear sight, the selector lever, the mag release arm and button, trigger, motor mount plate, charging lever, and sliding bolt and dust cover are too shiny plus the underlying cast metal has many veins in it. Thus not yielding a smooth final product.

 

The front outer barrel after the foregrip is plastic (think Marui XM177) The flash hider is part of the front outer barrel, thus plastic as well. Appears to be fully compatible with any front outer barrel unit out in the market for all the other M4 variants today.

 

There is about a 9 ounce difference in weight without any batteries. This is most likely from the use of plastic on the rear buffer tube, upper rail mount, and front outer barrel assembly.

 

Magazine finish is more grey on the AIM, similar to first generation CA M4 mags for those of you who remember. The Marui version is more dark grey. Obviously this is only cosmetic and for personal preference.

 

Keep in mind these items do not deter any usable performance of the AM4A1 and may change in future releases.

 

Pros:

 

Most detachable parts are interchangeable with the Marui. Carry handle, sliding stock

 

All other unboltable parts are interchangeable with the Marui. Rear buffer tube, front sight, front sling mount, pistol grip.

 

The small screw holding the mag release button is a phillips head and the threaded part is slightly larger than the Marui. A definite improvement over the constant stripping of the Marui ones.

 

Upon removing the motor base plate and motor to take a peak, we noticed the positive wire was running up the opposite side of the negative wire (similar to MP5/G3 pistol grip wiring route) via a small groove cut into the front side of the pistol grip. As most of you know, in order to run the positive wire to the motor in a Marui or any other M4 variant, you have to route the positive wire in front of the motor over to the rear side of the pistol grip and up with the negative wire, as long as nothing is crooked, the motor will install without binding right? Why didn't anyone else think of this one sooner? :huh:

 

Cons:

 

The Marui magazine will fit into the AIM but it will need a good slap to lock onto the mag release. While the AIM magazine is ever so slightly wider than the Marui, so it fits but snugly. Appears to fire in either AEG.

 

The rear buffer tube is plastic not metal like the Marui.

 

The upper receiver mounting rail is plastic not metal like the Marui and molded as part of the upper receiver. May not be as strong as a metal rail mount.

 

The hop up unit is a copy of the two piece Marui version, however, the movement of the gears is not very smooth and sticks when adjusting. Lubing did not help. Will need further refinement of their plastic casting of the hop up gears.

 

The foregrips are slightly more shiny than the Marui version, and do not interchange with one another due the the shape of mounting ring used the the AIM version.

 

Game day field use:

 

There was an opportunity to participate in a local CQB game on the 26th, so I rounded up 20 other players and supplied 3 of them with the AM4A1, they all ran various batteries, 8.4v 600mAh Mini, 8.4v 1200mAh Mini, 9.6v 1700mAh Nunchuck. All used brand name .20 gr BBs.

 

Two of the three AM4A1 failed during the game. One blew a fuse due to a non returning piston and/or jammed gears. The other spun its mechbox possibly due to a stripped spur gear and/or motor pinion gear. (More to follow once we disassemble the offending AEGs) Strange thing is, the one running the 9.6v 1700mah Nunchuck is the one that is still working. :blink:

 

I have notified our contact at AIM and will provide an update of the failed parts prior to posting our results here on the forum. :)

 

Adam

AirSoft Plus

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Hi Adam:

 

I saw your comment in Arnies's Forums, I am checking with our technician to find out what's caused the failure.

 

 

Re the problem of blew a fuse -

we presume it was caused by lack of battery power so unable to push the gear set to compress the spring. If you keep using the low power battery without changing it then it will cause a blow of fuse. Was the failure caused by using a 8.4v 600mAh battery? How magazines you used for per battery?

As the velocity of our AM4A1 is higher around 330~350fps, so we suggest to use a high capacity battery or change the battery when the power comes to very weak.

 

Re a stripped spur gear and/or motor pinion gear.

We presume it was caused by unsuitable BBs or reused / dirty BBs so made the BB jammed. If didn't remove on time then it will cause gear to be stripped.

 

The above is our initial presumption. Pls kindly offer us more information then we will try to figure out the real cause of failure. Thank you.

 

 

Best regards,

Cherry :flamed:

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Re a stripped spur gear and/or motor pinion gear.

We presume it was caused by unsuitable BBs or reused / dirty BBs so made the BB jammed. If didn't remove on time then it will cause gear to be stripped.

 

The above is our initial presumption. Pls kindly offer us more information then we will try to figure out the real cause of failure. Thank you.

 

 

Best regards,

Cherry :flamed:

 

 

But a bad BB does not do any thing to the gearbox. Its like saying your car radio burned out because you changed your oil late.

 

The parts are not connected at all, all the gearbox does is make air pressure and pull the nozzle back. A spring pushes the nozzle back forward(the gear ONLY pulls the nozzle back it does not push at all).

 

If you are having problems with fuses burning out check the wires in the pistol grip. It seems that most cheaper Aegs have wire with VERY thin insulation. I see that the motor is bare or painted metal, it would be very easy for it to have skinned the wires(this is why they say not to take it apart) Once the wires have been skinned, power will short through the motor shell, A lot of power can go through the motor shell(more than through the motor itself) thus burning the fuse due to the fact that the fuse will only allow 15 amps to pass.

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Hi ! Bad BBs won't directly damage the gearbox but will cause jammed and further damage the gear.

 

Now our technicians are checking the real cause of the failure, check the power rate / spring / gear material / others also.

 

we will try to get back to you guys soon with refinement report.

:flamed:

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Hi. AIM factory is doing the improvement, we will reduce the power rate ( under 1 Joule) and velocity ( around 300fps) to fit the law in UK or other countries. Now the only problem we receive from Adam as well as other customers is about the gears broken and fuse. Will find out the failure and improve the relative parts to be better. pls wait, thanks for your patience. In the meantime we won't do ordering until refinement. Will post ourr report then. :flamed:

 

As you can see our parts of M4A1 are compatible with Marui's but only less than a half price at around £110 (this is refer to Airsoftmart Sell price). For experienced user our AM4 may not a good choice but for new or common players it maybe a good option. :flamed:

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Hi Adam:

 

I saw your comment in Arnies's Forums, I am checking with our technician to find out what's caused the failure.

Re the problem of blew a fuse - 

we presume it was caused by lack of battery power so unable to push the gear set to compress the spring. If you keep using the low power battery without changing it then it will cause a blow of fuse.  Was the failure caused by using a 8.4v 600mAh battery? How magazines you used for per battery?

As the velocity of our AM4A1 is higher around 330~350fps, so we suggest to use a high capacity battery or change the battery when the power comes to very weak.   

 

Re a stripped spur gear and/or motor pinion gear.

We presume it was caused by unsuitable BBs or reused / dirty BBs so made the BB jammed. If didn't remove on time then it will cause gear to be stripped.

 

The above is our initial presumption. Pls kindly offer us more information then we will try to figure out the real cause of failure. Thank you.

 

 

Best regards,

Cherry :flamed:

 

 

Hello Cherry,

 

Good to hear from you. You company has been very responsive to our initial impressions of the AM4A1. Much fine tuning hopefully will take place over the next few days. 300 fps is a decent amout for out of the box.

 

But here in the USA, most players have their AEGs at 350 fps, with many here local to me at 400 fps.

 

I would leave the higher power to the aftermarket tuners for their specific region. (Heck you have to leave the sellers with a chance to sell something too! :D )

 

As you already know none of the fail AEGs had failed gears. The problem was with the piston material. But as I recommended, just use a higher grade polycarbonate or denser nylon. The rest looked very good. Metal gear bushings over the installed plastic ones would be highly recommended if you are tuning to over 325 fps simply for durability.

 

I will provide more input as I get them. As always, I will send them to you first.

 

Regards,

 

Adam Toy

AirSoft Plus

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Hi Adam:

 

Yes I have passed all information to AIM technicians and they now really work on improvement. They have noticed the piston you mentioned and will do change, early today our technician ( represent our company) leaved for AIM factory in personal to check the rate of progress, by next week I may get a new version with refinement report. I will keep informed the result.

 

But for the velocity/ power rate , factory may still reduce it because many European customers react that the velocity is too high, it is against the law in their countries. :rocket:

 

P.S. Wish you everything goes well.

 

Cherry : :rocket::rocket:

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Hi Cherry

 

We are getting a few problems with the sample we have

 

Hopup is very very stiff

 

Also the unit keeps blowing fuses

 

Plus the fps is to high for the UK market 355fps at the game we tested the unit at the weekend

 

Once the improvements are made can we get replacement parts for the sample we have

 

So we may continue the testing

 

Mark

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  • 4 weeks later...

Are there any retailers that sell these to the US? Im thinking about getting one. But i heard UTG is coming out with an M4 and UTG is my favorite company. What will make me want the AIM M4 more than the UTG? Name the Metal parts... its got to have some..... If i wanted to upgrade it with a m120 spring would i need anything else?

Thanks for making airsoft cheap

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Are there any retailers that sell these to the US? Im thinking about getting one. But i heard UTG is coming out with an M4 and UTG is my favorite company. What will make me want the AIM M4 more than the UTG? Name the Metal parts... its got to have some..... If i wanted to upgrade it with a m120 spring would i need anything else?

Thanks for making airsoft cheap

 

Hi. AIM is doing the final quality testing, the soonest day I can receive the new M4 is on / about the middle of Jan ( they said may around Jan 15th). I will bring some refinement report and post on it. Thank you.

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Hi

 

gekigengar, Donut and mrpapadopolis you should direct your questions to CherryChou

 

CherryChou is the supplier in the taiwan

 

She would know who will be stock these guns in the USA

 

Mark

 

Hi Mark, sorry to postphone the replacement and refined AM4 come out date. Be honest I also feel we act like a turtle, our techicians are very picky. But I believe soon they will give us a satisfied new M4. Keep you in touch. Thank you (:

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