This article is serving as nostalgia and is a presentation of a unique platform. It is a very old project of mine, where a WE M4 closed-bolt version was checked and repaired; along with this, an article was made to share information.

One of WE's first GBBRs was the M4, which was first issued in a so-called ’closed-bolt’ configuration. This means that everything inside the bolt carrier was completely closed off – note that the term has nothing to do with real steel firearms where ’open bolt’ means the bolt carrier starts out at the rear end when pulling the trigger, while ’closed bolt’ means the bolt carrier is in a forward position (closing the shell ejection porthole) when doing the same. The idea here is that the nozzle is located in a completely closed cavity. This brings certain advantages and disadvantages, which I will discuss in the review. The system itself is reminiscent of the former HPA-powered replicas of Escort, or those of the DaytonaGun (DTK) and SunProject builds, all of which can be considered airsoft history, just like the entire closed-bolt series from WE.

The first noticeable thing is that the hop system in the upper receiver has been extended by a copper tube and is all the way back inside the receiver. This copper cylinder contains a notch and a drilling in the middle where the magazine contacts it. The bolt carrier encircles this copper cylinder and drives an all-metal nozzle into it. This results in the copper cylinder being in constant view through the gun's shell ejection port during each shot – which is, simply said, ugly as hell. On the other hand, it brings some other advantages, such as a more rugged construction, easier maintenance and better cold resistance. However, if the maintenance is poor, i.e. lubrication is lost, or an O-ring is damaged, it will use a lot more gas and generally be more unstable to operate. For this system, a quite good adjustable nozzle was invented, and it was also easier to downgrade the muzzle energy by means of placing washers inside the nozzle. Another major problem with the system was the hop-up unit, which used a very small and weak bucking. The pressure on the bucking was solved quite well with a disc and a small ball bearing, which works well. However, the rubber was so thin and deficient in material that it was constantly damaged or simply could not provide sufficient hop effect on the BB – resulting in no hop effect and consequently, an awful range. This was later solved by Falcon with their VS-Z hop system conversion kit, but unfortunately by then it was too late, the WE M4 Open Bolt version rolled out. The Falcon hop system was horribly expensive, using a custom VSR-style hop bucking. Once installed, hitting palm-sized targets at a range of 30-40 metres was easily possible, which was a huge achievement at that era. In fact, the biggest advantage of the closed-bolt system for me was that the bolt carrier and bolt catch were made of adequately high quality material - hardened, strong steel. The sound and operation of the gun in this respect has always been perfect, giving the WE M-series a good reputation. Unfortunately, this was reputation was ultimately destroyed by the aforementioned issues and the poorly designed magazine. The bolt carrier was made of such a strong material out of the box, that I still keep one as a memento to follow. Even after years of playing, it has not worn visibly, ringing like a tuning fork when hit with something.

At the end, WE updated the closed-bolt system. They were trying to do something with the hopup unit, which really didn't work out for them. After that, the introduction of the open-bolt version stopped all development of this system, even though the closed-bolt was light-years ahead in terms of durability. The open-bolt has regular feeding issues, its nozzle is extremely fragile, and the design of the bolt catch has never been good. The common point between the closed-bolt and open-bolt versions was the magazine, which received only one upgrade set. New magazine lips, new gas exhaust rubber, new parts for the bolt lock-back feature and for better feeding. But the layout of the magazine was unchanged, the magazine sealing was to be solved along the entire length of the magazine spine, with a thin and under-designed rubber gasket. Almost all of these V1 magazines had a constant sealing problem, even with sealing paste or other long-term solutions applied.

On top of everything, the replica looked very good. Apart from the forward assist, which had a screw mounted at the end and looked terrible, everything else was perfectly fine. At that time there were mainly WA M4s running around with plastic bodies everywhere at a considerably higher price in comparison, those models also had major requirements for upgrades due to the performance. In comparison, the WE closed-bolt M4 was still in the skirmishable category out of the box. It was better, but still not good.

What has quickly made these WE M4s popular is that they were fully compatible with many accessories designed for real steel AR15 carbines. Many other replicas had this only partially or not at all. The WA M4s had partial compatibility, the Inokatsu and ViperTech were niche because of their high price, and the KJW replica also had severe compromises in this regard. And I won't even mention the Chinese WA M4 clones, they never really worked.

All in all, the closed-bolt version of WE M4 was a step that the GBBR industry had taken for the better, but it was still a long way from a skirmishable replica. It contained many metal parts, which was encouraging. However, the magazine was not well designed, nor was the hop system. By the time it actually became a useable replica, you could have found yourself a more usable or better value buy - Inokatsu M4s or KJW's M4. Fortunately, this quality has been greatly surpassed by manufacturers of today, even a lower-end GBBR M4 is way better than the "high-end" level of the 2008-2012 era.

Szöveg: Batmause
Fényképek: Batmause