Assembling Systema M4A1 PTW

[kengel]

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...

[Cushak]

All this talk of Systema PTWs makes it really tempting to buy one. If I sold every gun I own, I maybe could afford it. Dang you all! I just want to be content!

[jameskersten]

Not saying that all SCK are bad but what if you got a defective part out of the box? would you have the tools, knowledge, parts to test and diagnose that issue? Most people don't.
I just bought my SCK a weeks ago, completed the job, fired it once and it stopped working. After hours of checking over everything I decided to replace the electronics (at my cost) thinking i fried something completing the burst mod. New parts came and sure enough, not working still. Finally i borrowed someone elses 490a motor, and its working. So it looks like I had a bad motor. I have heard of guys that get solder in the motor but I was extra careful when soldering to the point of even removing the brush hats off to solder the power leads.
Moral of my story is, sure I saved $500 on the SCK but after replacing the electronics at270 and now likely buying another motor (although Mark is awesome with this and its trying to help me out), I haven't saved anyhting really if you include my time. and the worst part I still am not using my PTW cause the motor is out and I am not sure when its going to be up and running.
I wouldn't recommend a kit to anyone, its not worth it for me anyways. The assembly is easy enough but if anything goes wrong, your SOL here in Canada.

[kengel]

That is an accurate assesment and I tend to agree with your points with the added line: Only you can decide what you believe is an unacceptable risk for you.

My feeling is that there is a chance of a faulty part no matter what AEG you buy. Someone who plays it safe and buys a TM from a retailer only to have it "stop working" isn't in much better shape (I guess I am assuming no warranty) than the person who has the same problem with their challenge kit. Plenty of people buy used AEG's for a cost savings far lower than $500 so it's a matter of opinion whether or not the savings is worth the risk.

If I believed that there would be a problem out of the box there is no way I would have gone forward. Obviously I think the risk is minimal. In t his case I was right which reinforces my opinion. YMMV.

If you're the kind of person who, for example, always buys the extended warranty "just in case" then the SCK probably isn't for you. Not because you couldn't assemble it but because you have decided that the risk associated with it isn't tolerable.

Nothing wrong with that either.

[trevor]

I put mine together on the weekend and the assembly is easy. Like you said, take your time and don't rush. I was worried about the soldering but I practiced on a spare piece of metal so when I did it there was little worry.

I played it the next day and after 5 mags it would not fire anymore bb's. I took it apart and ended up finding a problem inside the cylinder with the piston. Since this is from the factory having the assembled version would not have helped.

Luckily for me I contacted Wallace and sent him some photos-he is sending me a new cylinder so I can't thank him enough for the above & beyond customer service since there is no such thing has warranty in the airsoft world.

It sucks to pay the extra 500 but maybe there is a reason for this price. If you look on the PTW forum the only people asking for help are the guys with the SCK kits.

On a side note-firing off those 5 mags was nice. The rate of fire and sound is almost scary.

[kengel]

Sucks to hear about your cylinder.

As you said, it was assembled from the factory and were able to fire off 5 mags so obviously this one would have passed QC. Challenge kit or not, that just as easily could have happened with a pre-built gun.

I really don't want to sound so evangelistic for the challenge kit, mostly because I know I'm going to jinx my good experience. The second I finish tying this and go home, I know something will go wrong

The other thing to note is that there is definitely going to be a greater volume of people on the Systema boards having problems or asking questions about their challenge kits just due to the fact that there is assembly required. Call it a squeaky wheel, chalk it up to the fact that people don't generally post about things that just work or sometimes it's easier to post than it is to read the instructions a couple of times......whatever.

Sell somebody a toaster that requires you to insert a pin before it will work and there will be a 4000% increase in support requests

Anyway, hope things work out with your cylinder.