Quote:
Originally Posted by lurkingknight
The ICS m4s seem to have their own measurements... Unless you find the ICS with your exact barrel group and rail system, I'd suggest you go with any other brand.. KA, G&P, vfc.
The only advantage to ICS m4s is their split gearbox... it makes replacing pistons or springs really easy, but not much else.
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There are subtle, and not so subtle differences in ICS M4's, as compared to VFC/G&P. Dimensionally, ICS differs significantly enough, that it makes external modifications not totally impossible, but certainly more complicated than working with something that is of closer to RS dimensions and design.
My first airsoft rifle in 2011 was a full metal ICS M4A1. Absolutely no regrets about the purchase, and i still have it - albeit not having fielded it in a year now. I now have two ICS M4's. No issues reliability wise except for the semi/auto lockout selector which i've replaced x2 in the original (of plastic construction, fails easily - it's a proprietary ICS OEM part). Both wear variants of the Daniel Defence MK18 RISII .. one with a G&P barrel nut (ICS barrel nut is proprietary, smaller than RS) and 14.5" stock barrel, and one with a DD RIS that works with a receiver collar in lieu of the barrel nut, using an aftermarket 11.5" barrel for the compact 'commando' look. Both required significant modding/reworking/rethreading of the receiver threading to make work. Similarly so for fitting a barrel mount DBoy M203 onto my 14.5" stock barrel version, it was far from just being a slap-on and go add-on.
Internally, working on the ICS gearboxes is a straight-forward affair, BUT many of the parts differ in dimensions from the traditional TM version-2 gearbox, upon which the ICS split gearbox is based upon. Replace ICS internals with ICS parts, unless you can compare alternatives with a micrometer first.
If you like tinkering/problem solving and wish to do external mods to an ICS.. it just might be for you. Otherwise, look at a G&P or VFC offering .. be prepared to do work on the G&P gearbox before fielding though.
