What M4?

[Demlockian]

Okay so I am starting my gear hunt now...
I just traded in my Ford Mustang for a Nissan Titan so I get my Gap money back, $700, in about four weeks.  I plan to use this time to research what I need to get.

AEG Choice
G&G Top-Tech Electric Blowback M4A1 Carbine TM4-A1
KWA Full Metal KM4 RIS
Echo 1 Platinum Edition Full Metal M4 Crane Stock Rifle Package (with Custom Hard Case)

G&G - Don't know a lot about them, the guns looks nice and I know they manufacture good quality guns.
KWA - I hear they offer the best internals for performance and reliability but have only decent externals.
Echo1 - Hear the internals are basically high quality VFC and the externals are amazing.  Also comes with 2 hi-caps when bought from AGI and a case for transport.  Seems to be a good value, but I don't want an unreliable gun.

Opinions?

[gunny77]

Iv only been playing for a short time but I have 2 echo 1 m4's and ABSOLUTLY love them. I have the platnium and the 614. They are both amazing guns. Iv shot alot of other m4's beetween trading and selling around and shoting m4's other people own and echo 1 so far is definelty my favorite. Very good quality guns for the money

[Revolution Airsoft]

I have shot a KWA, and owned a G&G and Echo 1.  Let me just say if you want something to last, get a KWA.  The performance is great.  And the externals aren't too bad at all.  Not the best, but not bad.

[Exarach]

Get a G&P, you will not regret it, better quality than KWA, and cheaper, though I do like KWA Alot. Hands down better than  TM/CA/E1. Beautiful externals, great rof, excellent all-around rifles.

[hdrox88]

If you plan to leave the gun stock and never open the gearbox, get the KWA since they run dang near perfect in stock form(no gun is perfect). While G&P is a good choice too, sometimes they can be hard to find. G&G and Echo 1 are also good choices, although the blowback on the G&G is just something else to break as far as I'm concerned. In my experience, KWA has also been more accurate in stock form then most other AEGs.

[icorus16666]

I have owned all of them except the platinum but i have worked on several of them.
KWA- love the trigger response compaired to everything, but mag finicky. Leave it stock when it breaks through in a supercore piston and prommy gears, run it on a 9.6 likely wont fail again. 2gx gb is supposedly better but i have still seen them fail.

Platinum- stock piston blows, that is my only gripe. People argue that the hop up is sub par. Personally don't see an issue. Takes a bit more time to take apart but way easier than the g&g blowbacks. I like how they did the buffer tube because you dont need to take it off. I haven't seen many issues with the self shimming gears as long as you shimm off the pinion. High tolerance bodies. I have had issues with the pistol grips cause problems on stock unopened gearboxes but that is an easy fix. I haven't figured out the root of it but i just throw a e1 pistol grip on them and they shoot fine afterwords.

G&G- 3 year warranty. Good airseal parts. Gears can take a beating too. I don't like the blowback mechinism but to each his own. Scream with g and p m120 hs motor. 42 rps with 11.1v lipo. That is all i did and the piston still hasn't failed likely was dumb luck because AOE is important and i didn't do it.

G&P- it is a dragster out of the box. most of their barrels are 14mm cw instead of ccw. I found that they're air nozzles work great with the madbull ultimate hop up but you are going to be sanding the rails of the hop up for an hour to get it to fit, but so worth it. I think there is room for improvement on their die casting but i'm an enigeneering student, probably wont bug you. Seen gear and piston failure, but the rof stock is quite high.

[BreechUnClear]

Kwa will perform best of the box, less hassle to mess with when starting off. G and Gs are reliable after you add a little love into them. Those two are the two best platforms for upgrades I'd say. You might want to check out G&P, or VFC as well. 

[Demlockian]

After carefull consideration I have decided to get the G&G M4 RIS Raider.  I picked this gun because of the awesome price and quality.  I will use the several hundred dollars saved over the KWA RIS for more gear.  I will post a review when it arrives for others (will have in about 6-7 weeks, awaiting return from GAP insurance).

[BreechUnClear]

Awesome man, spend the extra money into internals, RIS, and extras.

[Rockit]

I'm not experienced, but is 150 bucks too little to pay for a decent weapon?

[BreechUnClear]

Not at all, with G and Gs and most airsoft brands, you're going to swap the inner barrel, spacer nub, bucking, maybe switch the RIS. Maybe work on some minor things with gearbox such as shimming, a spring change and you can have yourself a 'decent weapon' , that runs with the big boys, KWA, VFC , ARES, Classic Army, etc. Just because it is expensive, does not mean it is reliable and consistent. For less with the right tweaking, you can make the G&Gs last.

[Demlockian]

That's kinda how I feel, I can get a good quality G&G Combat Machine with RIS for only $140 and put some of my savings into high quality upgrades, optics, magazines, spare battery, and other goodies.  Or I can buy the KWA M4 RIS for $365...and I have a budget to stick to!

[Rockit]

Makes sense.

[DangleBanger]

I suggest the Echo1 for both reliability and durability. I recently parted it out, but I had it since 2007 and the gearbox broke about 6 months ago and it wasn't even their high end versions.

From my experience, I'd go for the Echo1.

[penguin333]

I was wounderig if any one could help me stat out I have little to no money so any help would be fantastic.