Need Advice on KWA KM4A1 -reliability, compatibility, quality etc.
 

Hi all, I'm totally new to airsoft, and looking to pickup my first AEG. I have my eyes on the KWA KM4A1, but wanted to get some advice from this forum on the following if I went with this aeg:

1) Is this a high quality, high reliability gun in stock condition for gaming (my 2nd choice would be the G&P Cdn Carbine)
2) Are the internals and magazine compatible with TM, or can be easily found at low/reasonable cost (this is my biggest concern, as I've heard that the internals are proprietary)
3) How customizable is the gun, if I want to add rails, scope, RIS etc down the road

*Read the battery sticky - i think a 7.4v lipo should work well*
On a separate note: is there a newbies guide on picking the right battery for an aeg? The various voltage, and lipo/nimh etc... is a bit overwhelming.

Look forward to hearing some good advice. Thanks!:D

1) Yes they are high quality, gameable out of the box.
2) Yes, they are TM compatible.
3) An M4 is the most customizable gun out there, with the largest aftermarket parts selection of any AEG.

LMAO

Hunh? Wrong thread?

I've read somewhere that kwa uses proprietary internals. Is that true or maybe partially true?

Most things inside a KWA (including the gearbox shell) are somewhat proprietary. All the parts look about the same and could be replaced by aftermarket stuff, but they design things tighter and very specifically for their guns. There are no guarantees that non-KWA parts will work well. Also, only KWA gearbox shells will fit in the KWA bodies.

Seems like KWA is of good quality and warranty support is great, but for the long-run, G&P Canadian Carbine would be a better choice? (from compatibility with aftermarket componets):rolleyes:

G&P definitely would be a better choice, since it have wide range of aftermarket parts.

I run a KWA KM4SR7 and i love it. Build quality is very high. I had it torn down the other night and all bushings are metal and include ball bearings. The hop up is proprietary. The piston, piston head and cylinder head are also very high quality. Everything is very tight tolerance. I run both 7.4 and 11.1 lipo and both work well. The ROF with the 11.1 is insane.

Heard a lot of good things about KWA M4, and Im really leaning towards it myself. Just curious on how "proprietary" is the parts? Like if i want to lower the velocity with a generic M100 spring, is that possible on the KWA?

Also, does anyone know where to get compatible parts for KWA if needed?

AEG springs are universal.

One last question:

Will there be any issues with Canadian customs if I order Lipo Battery, Extra Magazines and parts online from the US?

Nope.

I'm considering getting back into the game with this rifle as well. Is it true that it can only use KWA mags?

^ not necessarily. There's a list on the KWA site that tells which mags work. The proprietary issues of a KWA rifle is something to consider before buying but I use MAG brand magazines on my M4A1 and they work fine. Kings Arms and something else work fine too. There's about 3 they recommend but I think the list included 5.

A cursory search on the KWA forums should bring up some answers.