Dark Paladin
01-15-2006, 09:29 PM
*also posted in Product Reviews*
Even since I managed to break the pin tabs on my TM M4A1, I knew it was only a matter of time before I had to replace the stock plastic receiver. Being the stickler that I am, I *had* to get a receiver that had Colt trademarks. But at the time, it was slim pickings for me. Until I found out that Guarder was releasing a new series of metal bodies, and one of them did have Colt trades, for a reasonable price. After pestering WGC for a few weeks, I was finally able to order it, and was not too long before I had it in my grubby little hands.
First off, the construction feels very solid. Which is pretty much expected for a metal body, I suppose. The trademarks were beautifully recreated, and all the nooks and crannies that I would expect from a real-steel M4 is there, even the faux pas pin holes on the sides.
One very innovative design change was the barrel assit knob. On the stock TM, the little knob had a tendency to be easily knocked off from the reciever, hence causing headaches for owners with missing knobs. That is no longer the case. Guarder's designers tweaked it so that there is a pin that you can push in place to "lock in" the knob. It still simulates the push feature, but there's no way it can be jolted out of the reciever.
Before I get into the installation review, let me say that the Dremel is the best tool I've purchased. And while Hammerhead commented how it was a PITA to install/remove the mechbox in my stock TM receiver, that was child's play compared to the Guarder receiver.
If you can follow the instructions that Guarder/IntruderShop has on their webpage, you'll find that 85% of if is very striaght forward. 5% of it is the plastic hop-up assembly, which took me some time to put together because I only had my stock TM hop-up to use as a template. The remaining 10%. . . is where you have to put the mechbox into the receiver. And that's where the Dremel came in.
The TM design didn't allow for enough space for the rear of the mechbox to clear the receiver. It was easily forgiven because the plastic materials allowed some variance. Not so with a metal receiver. I finally ended up dremeling the insides of the bottom receiver (right underneath where the charging handle sits) so that there is enough room for the top rear section of the mechbox to slide in and out.
But I'm not done with the Dremel yet. As I'm putting things back together piece by piece, I was unpleasantly surprised by the fact that none of my magazines (Star, TM, G&P) will fit in the new mag well. Several dremel sessions later, which involved in shaving a few millimeters off along each corner in the mag well, allowed enough clearance for my mags to fit snugly without tearing off paint from the mags.
So here I was happily putting the finishing touches on it, hoping that that was the last hurdle I had to cross. Not so, deemed the AEG gods. Apparently the metal body fit so snugly next to the mechbox, I've lost the ability to fire full auto. Its a weird problem that I have yet to find a solution for, so the most I can do is describe the problem and maybe somebody will think of something.
The selector switch will sit nicely at safe, no problems. Semi is a bit tricky, as the familiar "click" is no longer present, for some unknown apparent reason. Full auto. . . it sits. . . but somehow it also engages the safety lock on the trigger, so even though the selector is sitting at full auto, the trigger is locked so you can't pull it all the way. I've disassembled and reassemble at least a dozen times, and cannot figure out why. The best I can do is to leave the selector on auto when jamming the mechbox into the lower reciever (and "jamming" is perhaps an understatement in regards to the amount of force required. . .). That seems to have worked, but sometimes I will still encounter the trigger lock, which is slightly annoying.
Despite popular belief, the metal body does not completely resolve the infamous TM M4 barrel wobble. Its greatly reduced, but its still there. . . a shadow of its former glory. Maybe its limited to this particular model, or maybe its because of the M203 I have installed, but you can definitely feel the barrel tweaking when handling it.
In conclusion. . . Guarder has made a innovative design change in regards to the barrel assist, but either has some quality control issues, or is too liberal in its engineering specifications. All in all. . . its a solid piece of metal. Unfortunately the amount of trouble I went through to get a decent fit is probably more than the average airsofter is willing to endure.
This is my first experience with installing a metal body, so I don't have any other manufacturer's data to compare it with.
Even since I managed to break the pin tabs on my TM M4A1, I knew it was only a matter of time before I had to replace the stock plastic receiver. Being the stickler that I am, I *had* to get a receiver that had Colt trademarks. But at the time, it was slim pickings for me. Until I found out that Guarder was releasing a new series of metal bodies, and one of them did have Colt trades, for a reasonable price. After pestering WGC for a few weeks, I was finally able to order it, and was not too long before I had it in my grubby little hands.
First off, the construction feels very solid. Which is pretty much expected for a metal body, I suppose. The trademarks were beautifully recreated, and all the nooks and crannies that I would expect from a real-steel M4 is there, even the faux pas pin holes on the sides.
One very innovative design change was the barrel assit knob. On the stock TM, the little knob had a tendency to be easily knocked off from the reciever, hence causing headaches for owners with missing knobs. That is no longer the case. Guarder's designers tweaked it so that there is a pin that you can push in place to "lock in" the knob. It still simulates the push feature, but there's no way it can be jolted out of the reciever.
Before I get into the installation review, let me say that the Dremel is the best tool I've purchased. And while Hammerhead commented how it was a PITA to install/remove the mechbox in my stock TM receiver, that was child's play compared to the Guarder receiver.
If you can follow the instructions that Guarder/IntruderShop has on their webpage, you'll find that 85% of if is very striaght forward. 5% of it is the plastic hop-up assembly, which took me some time to put together because I only had my stock TM hop-up to use as a template. The remaining 10%. . . is where you have to put the mechbox into the receiver. And that's where the Dremel came in.
The TM design didn't allow for enough space for the rear of the mechbox to clear the receiver. It was easily forgiven because the plastic materials allowed some variance. Not so with a metal receiver. I finally ended up dremeling the insides of the bottom receiver (right underneath where the charging handle sits) so that there is enough room for the top rear section of the mechbox to slide in and out.
But I'm not done with the Dremel yet. As I'm putting things back together piece by piece, I was unpleasantly surprised by the fact that none of my magazines (Star, TM, G&P) will fit in the new mag well. Several dremel sessions later, which involved in shaving a few millimeters off along each corner in the mag well, allowed enough clearance for my mags to fit snugly without tearing off paint from the mags.
So here I was happily putting the finishing touches on it, hoping that that was the last hurdle I had to cross. Not so, deemed the AEG gods. Apparently the metal body fit so snugly next to the mechbox, I've lost the ability to fire full auto. Its a weird problem that I have yet to find a solution for, so the most I can do is describe the problem and maybe somebody will think of something.
The selector switch will sit nicely at safe, no problems. Semi is a bit tricky, as the familiar "click" is no longer present, for some unknown apparent reason. Full auto. . . it sits. . . but somehow it also engages the safety lock on the trigger, so even though the selector is sitting at full auto, the trigger is locked so you can't pull it all the way. I've disassembled and reassemble at least a dozen times, and cannot figure out why. The best I can do is to leave the selector on auto when jamming the mechbox into the lower reciever (and "jamming" is perhaps an understatement in regards to the amount of force required. . .). That seems to have worked, but sometimes I will still encounter the trigger lock, which is slightly annoying.
Despite popular belief, the metal body does not completely resolve the infamous TM M4 barrel wobble. Its greatly reduced, but its still there. . . a shadow of its former glory. Maybe its limited to this particular model, or maybe its because of the M203 I have installed, but you can definitely feel the barrel tweaking when handling it.
In conclusion. . . Guarder has made a innovative design change in regards to the barrel assist, but either has some quality control issues, or is too liberal in its engineering specifications. All in all. . . its a solid piece of metal. Unfortunately the amount of trouble I went through to get a decent fit is probably more than the average airsofter is willing to endure.
This is my first experience with installing a metal body, so I don't have any other manufacturer's data to compare it with.