By AlphaTechnica
Published: 20 January, 2004
Introduction
The M4a1 Boys is the first gun in the newest line up of Tokyo
Marui automatic electric guns. The new 3/4th scale guns (roughly
75-80% the size of their full sized counterparts) are aimed
at children ages 10 and older. With a complete gearbox and
true magazine, as opposed to the gears inside the body shell
design and gravity feed of the mini electrics, the new Boys
guns promises to be more reliable and robust. The rest of the
Tokyo Marui Boys guns do not have release dates yet. The next
gun will be the MP5a5, it is currently projected to be released
in the first quarter of 2004.
The M4a1 B features a 180 round reservoir magazine which can
load and fire off 28 rounds at a time. It employs 6 AA batteries
for 7.2v of juice and fires at a brisk 15 rounds per second which
is very respectable considering full sized AEG’s clock in at about
18 RPS using a bigger 8.4v battery. The batteries are supposed
to last 5000 rounds before needing to be replaced according to
Tokyo Marui. The gun meets strict Japanese FPS guidelines
for airsoft guns marketed towards children and shosts in the
range of 140-150fps with .12g.
Tokyo Marui M4a1 Carbine B Specifications
- Length: 652mm/724mm (stock extended)
- Weight: 1030g (including 6 AA alkaline batteries)
- Rounds: 28 rounds with 180 rounds resivore
- FPS: 140-150FPS @ .12g BB
- Range: 25 meters
- Release Date: December 04 2003
Ordering/Shipping
I ordered the gun from a seller in Hong Kong that was advertising
in the Airsoft Retreat Classifieds. He was offering a great price
and had 100% positive EBay feedback so I gave it a chance. The
seller turned out to be a a Hong Kong based retailer named
Hobby Globe Co. Ltd (www.hobbyglobe.com/index.php).
For shipment I asked HobbyGlobe to turn the box inside out,
tape covered trademarks, no orange and declared as a gift.
When I recieved the gun it was packaged better than I asked,
they flipped the box insided out and tape the trades and they
even put orange tape on the muzzle and wrapped the whole thing
in about three or four feet of bubble wrap. The package was
declared as a gift and I didnt have to pay any import duties.
His English is also much better than most of the other HK stores
and communication is easy and prompt. Overall I had an
excellent experience with HobbyGlobe, service, packaging,
and communication are top notch.
First Impressions
The first thing I noticed when the gun arrived to my house was
the size of the box, it was much smaller and lighter than I
had expected. After tearing through the usual green packaging
paper and bubble wrap I finally got my first look at the new
Tokyo Marui M4a1 Carbine Boys (from here on I will refer to
the gun by the name: M4a1 B). The gun comes with the usual items
that Marui includes with most all of their guns; manuals, TM all gun
catalog, paper shooting targets, a small poster of the complete
Boys line up of guns, magazine, packet of .12g bb's and barrel
plug (spring pistol style). A loading rod and tube is not needed
for the gun so one is not included.
After looking thought he manual for a minute I realized that it
had no English in it what so ever, that was a surprise because
all of the full sized AEG's have some English in the manuals,
so I put that down and proceeded to install six AA batteries a
dry fired a few shots in semi and full auto. When I first shot
the gun I have to admit that the sound made me laugh. It sounds
kind of like a full sized AEG but at a higher pitch, full auto
sounds very satisfying and ROF was very fast. Marui suggests
only Alkaline batteries for the M4a1 B becasue other batteries
may not be able to turn the motor but I used 1800mah
NiMH rechargeable AA cells and had no problems.
The new magazine system that Marui chose for this gun is a 180
round resivoir magazine with 28 shot capacity. The 28 round
capacity can be replenished by the resivoir without taking
the magazine out of the gun. My best guess as to why Marui chose
this over their usual clockwork AEG Hi-Caps is that with this
new system children can not pelt each other with 100-200
rounds continuously this would lower the risk of potential
injuries and damage that the gun can cause.
Body
The gun is made up of almost all ABS plastic but the TM M4a1
B is very well built the only weak point on the gun is the
front barrel, the reason for this is becasue the inner barrel
doesnt go all the way through so its just a plastic tube
waiting to be sanpped in half. One good thing about this is
that you can chop the outter barrel to Commando length and you
wont have to do any mods to the inner barrel. The rest of the
gun is strong and strudy, the body is made up of two halves
(left and right) instead of the full sized M4a1's more
realistic upper and lower design. All the trademarks are in the
same places as it would be on the full sized M4a1, even the ASGK
and Tokyo Marui Ltd markings.
Mechabox
In a step above all the mini electric guns the Marui M4a1 B
has a full gearbox that is very much like the larger AEG counter
-parts. The gearbox is smoke colored plastic and all gears
are nylon with the exception of the pinion gear which seems to
be made of PTFE(teflon). The motor is enclosed inside the gearbox
and position horizontally in the rear reminescent of the
FAMAS and P90 gearbox.
Want to see it in action?
Click here for the 4 meg Quick Time movie.
It seems like Marui has been paying attention to all the
gearbox development around them and have adopted some new designs
for their newest (and smallest) mechabox. The pistonhead is
vented with holes like all aftermarket pistonheads but the
major difference between the full sized gearbox and the Boys
is the simplification of the feeding mechanism. The design is
similar to Systemas new LE high end rifles with the cylinder
, cylinderhead, nozzle and tappet plate fused into a single
unit.
Hop Up
In another surprising move Marui has also redesigned their hop
up unit. The barrels do not have a hop up cut out like the brass
AEG barrels it uses a plastic coupler that has the cut out,
the coupler also acts as a stabilizer. The full sized M4a1's
gears/wheels Hop Unit have been abandoned in favor of a
more stable and easier to adjust lever/slide type Hop Unit
(similar to the AK47's which in my opinion have the best hop up
units of all AEG's). The final change is the most drastic,the
hop up bucking is not the regular single bump that all Hop
Up guns use, for more stable and consistant hop up the TM M4a1
B utilizes a V-Hop. I really hope they incorporate this in the full
sized AEG's because its much better than what they are using now.
Shooting
The gun is made to use only .12g bb's, I tried .20's and the
magazine had problems feeding them. I think the mag spring is
too weak to properly feed them because if I load about 15 rounds
it will shoot but if I try the full 28 rounds it will start to
misfire. Either way .20g bb's are not a good idea, range and
power suffer dramatically with the heavier bb's. With .12g bb's
the gun shoots perfectly and I havent had a misfeed or jam
with them. The reservoir magazine takes some getting use to, when
you get it down you can replenish the mag in under 3 seconds.
Firing off all 180 rounds takes under a minute, if you plan
on playing games with this gun I would suggest a few extra
magazines because with the M4a1 B's ROF you will be going
through BB's pretty quickly.
Accessories
Currently there are only these accesories available from
Tokyo Marui:
- TM Magazine
- TM Professional Goggles in Kids size
- TM XM177e2 Sling
- TM .12g BB's
Modifications
This is what intrigued me most about the Marui M4a1 Boys, many
places claimed the gun was not upgradeable or serviceable but
I was determined to find some way around this.
HALT! WARNING: If you dont have mechanical know how I would suggest
you leave this to the professionals.
At first glance the gun does seem like it can not be disassebled
but upon closer inspection I found it to be indeed possible
and actually very easy. The hardest part is getting the battery
case out, this requires splicing the wires or taking off the
metal contacts on the battery case. After that you need to
remove the mock chargin handle rear sight and outter barrel, the
rest is unscrewing screws and splitting the body in half. The
first time I did this the internals kind of spilled out but with
the simple layout I was able to put every part back in its
proper position without much effort.
Heres what I ended up doing to my Marui M4a1 B:
- Upgraded Spring: 200fps w. .12g bb's. The spring is the
thinner spring pistol type found in Marui pistols. AEG
springs are too wide to fit in the piston.
- Longer Barrel: I used a AEG barrel and modified it to work
with the new hop unit. It also increased front outter barrel
strength.
- Rail System: Upper and lower rails can be bolted or JB Welded on,
I used a M4a1 upper reciever rail for the lower and a G36c short
rail for the upper.
- Battery Pack Modifications: I switched out the AA battery in
favor of a small 8.4v 600mah battery. With the new 8.4v
(stock is 7.2) ROF is faster than a stock full sized AEG. I
had to use a M4a1RIS mock laser compartment to hold the
battery.
- Camo Paintjob: Simple 3 color desert tiger stripe camo.
- Commando Length Outter Barrel: Simple hack job.
- Removeable Flashider: Modified Plastic M4a1 flashider can also use
G36C flashider
- Disabled Secondary Pistol Grip Safety
Conclusion
Taking into consideration what the gun was desinged for I would
have to say Tokyo Marui did a great job. The gun is perfectly
suited to its purpose and the inclusion of new/improved parts
shows that they didnt just slap this thing together and put it
out on the market. The gun would great for people who are new
to airsoft and want a semi-full auto gun that runs of
batteries instead of costly gas. Its also great for collectors
and military aficionados who dont play airsoft. For gaming
purposes this gun can add alot to springer and gas pistol games
and for the occasional spontaneous basement skirmish. With its
low power and light bb's you dont have to worry about dented
walls or chipped teeth, the only safety equipment needed is a
pair of goggles.
Addition Information
I found some interesting tid bits on the web regarding the M4a1
Boys size but most of them are in Japanese, heres a translation
of one:
"When it calculates from the result of 2002 school
hygienic statistical research by the education scientific
ministry, as for average height of 10 - 14 year old boys of
entire country 159cm. When the principal user of M4A1 average
height 175cm of the American adult man who is supposed (2001
census) with it compares, it becomes the calculation,
approximately 90% height. So when you think, actual gun
ratio approximately 86% of electromotive gun BOYs total
length the size which is said is thought that it is not such
an extreme reduction. " http://www.sendanrin.com/gun/boys/
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