Airsoft Canada - View Single Post

kengel · October 15th, 2007, 14:01

I was going to post this as a seperate thread but this seems to fit in with the original question (at least more than discussions about base level Porsches anyway

):

First off....I'm not what you would call a handyman but I'm generally not intimidated by challenges (or I'm at least confident in my ability to overcome them) so I decided to order the Systema PTW M4A1 Challenge kit. This is essentially my first AEG so it's important to note that I've never worked with a mechbox of any kind, nor have I spent any amount of time assembling or reassembling AEG's.

All told, it took me 4 hours to assemble my kit. At no point did I feel like it was "game over". There was nothing overwhelming. I just plugged away on my coffee table while watching TV.

My thoughts/observations:

-At first glance, the assembly manual is slightly intimidating as it includes instructions for assembling intricate things like your cylinder, mechbox, as well as other things like charging handle and stock. These instructions are misleading as these parts are already fully assembled for you right from the factory. Essentially, the hardest parts are already done for you.

-Assembly is easy enough for pretty much anyone. My reasoning being that anyone can place a spring in a hole and tap a pin in with a punch. Anyone can thread wires through a hole. Anyone can thread a nut. There's nothing difficult in those tasks and they really do comprise the majority of the assembly work. In all fairness, the hardest part by a long shot is soldering a couple of wires to the motor - but that was nothing compared to soldering chips on Xbox's and Wii's. I just took my time and moved slowly.

-In terms of quality, It's not really an issue of paying extra for Systema's quality control in the assembly process. As I mentioned above, the key parts (mechbox, motor, and cylinder) are already assembled for you. It's important to keep in mind that there is only one way that the inner barrel will fit. There's only one way that the mechbox will go in. You can tell right away if the stock is upside down. Etc etc. There isn't much that you can do wrong. I'm sure that there is some way that you could impact the performance if you tried really hard but I'm drawing a blank right now as to what that would be.

I should also add that I unexpectedly (I'm not a very patient person by nature) ended up using extra care and attention assembling mine because it was just that: mine . I ended up making sure everything was perfect because I shelled out $2K of my hard earned money for it and I'm pretty sure I care more about it that the assembly line worker who puts together 10 of these a day. Just a guess. I won't argue that point.

-The argument that $500 isn't much when compared to the entire package isn't the the right way to look at it. That's still $500 of my money. $500 is still money that I can spend on accessories, booze, whatever I want.

In the end, my experience was so positive that I can/will do this again if/when I get another AEG. I saved money, got to tinker with some interesting hardware, and now have the added benefit of knowing the basics of how my gun works. For a cost of what? 4 hours that I was going to probably spend watching cartoons anyway...

October 15th, 2007, 14:01	#31
kengel Trader rating Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Calgary	Actual hands on experience I was going to post this as a seperate thread but this seems to fit in with the original question (at least more than discussions about base level Porsches anyway ): First off....I'm not what you would call a handyman but I'm generally not intimidated by challenges (or I'm at least confident in my ability to overcome them) so I decided to order the Systema PTW M4A1 Challenge kit. This is essentially my first AEG so it's important to note that I've never worked with a mechbox of any kind, nor have I spent any amount of time assembling or reassembling AEG's. All told, it took me 4 hours to assemble my kit. At no point did I feel like it was "game over". There was nothing overwhelming. I just plugged away on my coffee table while watching TV. My thoughts/observations: -At first glance, the assembly manual is slightly intimidating as it includes instructions for assembling intricate things like your cylinder, mechbox, as well as other things like charging handle and stock. These instructions are misleading as these parts are already fully assembled for you right from the factory. Essentially, the hardest parts are already done for you. -Assembly is easy enough for pretty much anyone. My reasoning being that anyone can place a spring in a hole and tap a pin in with a punch. Anyone can thread wires through a hole. Anyone can thread a nut. There's nothing difficult in those tasks and they really do comprise the majority of the assembly work. In all fairness, the hardest part by a long shot is soldering a couple of wires to the motor - but that was nothing compared to soldering chips on Xbox's and Wii's. I just took my time and moved slowly. -In terms of quality, It's not really an issue of paying extra for Systema's quality control in the assembly process. As I mentioned above, the key parts (mechbox, motor, and cylinder) are already assembled for you. It's important to keep in mind that there is only one way that the inner barrel will fit. There's only one way that the mechbox will go in. You can tell right away if the stock is upside down. Etc etc. There isn't much that you can do wrong. I'm sure that there is some way that you could impact the performance if you tried really hard but I'm drawing a blank right now as to what that would be. I should also add that I unexpectedly (I'm not a very patient person by nature) ended up using extra care and attention assembling mine because it was just that: mine . I ended up making sure everything was perfect because I shelled out $2K of my hard earned money for it and I'm pretty sure I care more about it that the assembly line worker who puts together 10 of these a day. Just a guess. I won't argue that point. -The argument that $500 isn't much when compared to the entire package isn't the the right way to look at it. That's still $500 of my money. $500 is still money that I can spend on accessories, booze, whatever I want. In the end, my experience was so positive that I can/will do this again if/when I get another AEG. I saved money, got to tinker with some interesting hardware, and now have the added benefit of knowing the basics of how my gun works. For a cost of what? 4 hours that I was going to probably spend watching cartoons anyway...