Reviews

The KWA CQR MOD1 AEG

Master Chief

The M4 Tactical carbine is probably the most famous and widely used Airsoft weapon. So if it is the most sought after airsoft replica then it is also the most produced. There are countless variants of this rifle throughout the airsoft industry that I have lost track of how many I have seen.

KWA is one of the best high-end manufacturers of quality airsoft replicas in the market today and are still working on trying to give the consumers the best product at the best price they can do. and it is because of this that I think came the vision of making this version of the M4 called the KWA CQR Mod1 AEG.

EXTERNALS

Well, it's a KWA and not only that, Defiance Airsoft sent it to us directly, that alone says it all with how they feel and think about their product.

TThe package comes with 3, yes 3, free KWA polymer midcap magazines. These magazines are impressive, feel tough and can really take a beating. They are of the same feel and quality as one of the high-end brand that makes the more popular polymer magazines in the airsoft market today. I had my good friend John of ROE Airsoft try them out in the field. When they came back to me the mags were muddy and looked well used and John was very impressed on how these mags performed.

The KWA M4 CQR Mod1 is not your typical airsoft M4 replica.

The KWA M4 CQR Mod1 is one of the better looking M4 replicas that I have seen but is not your typical airsoft M4 replica. When the package arrived from Defiance Airsoft, I had a quick look and boxed it all up again thinking I was going to review another standard M4 replica. I had a look in the internet about this and how other players have found it and I was shocked when I found out that it's not full metal.

Okay hold your horses...

Before you purist airsoft “gurus” start raising those uni-brows of yours you need to see the quality of this rifle. At first glance it is barely noticeable that the lower receiver is made of polymer. The quality of the build and material used is so good that it made the polymer lower receiver and metal top receiver blend so well they appear to be made of the same material. On the left side of the lower receiver is a stamped KWA logo which can be a good and a bad thing. Good thing about this is that you know it is 100% KWA so there is no question of the quality of it. The bad side of it is for those players who look at the markings first before they look at the performance of the replica, this may not appeal to most of these players or buyers.

The rifle has a one piece metal outer barrel with standard M4 polymer handguard which houses the battery. The handguard is solid and there is no wobble with its connection but is soft enough to be able to remove it to put the battery in with minimal effort. The front sight is the usual M4 triangular front sight and the rear sight is a metal fully adjustable removable rear sight. The rifle does not come with a “D” handle so I reckon that most players who will buy this will replace the rear sight with some another form of like optics or the LMT version.

The charging handle is metal and pops open the ejection port dust cover when pulled and gives access to the hop-up adjustment dials. The fire selector switch moves perfectly well along the three firing options: safe, semi and full auto modes. The triggers has a nice firm pull and does not wobble within its fixture. Stock is the standard polymer 6 position retractable stock and can easily be replaced with after-market stocks.

INTERNALS

If you think that KWA shaved off some costs on this rifle by altering the materials in the outside now it's time to see what they did in the inside.

The hop-up unit is fairly standard as with other AEGs of this type. It is made of plastic but I can say that the quality of the plastic used is good. The adjustment dial functions well and easy to manipulate and adjust.

The gearbox is metal and bears the KWA logo. It has full metal gears. They are unmarked and very well greased. the sector gear is chipped which helps with good BB feeding although some players or “Airsoft Techs” will argue that a sector chip will just cause un needed stress on the tappet plate and can actually lead to unnecessary wear and tear.

The piston head is made of aluminium and thus lightweight making its travel very precise and takes some stress off from the gears. The spring guide is ball bearing making giving it a smooth and low friction contact with the piston. The cylinder is brass and has a big port opening on its side, with compression being very good. The gearbox also features 8mm ball bearing bushings which again help relieve some of the stress exerted on the gears.

The motor is a KWA high torque motor which can handle the power of lipo batteries and in paper can power up to an M170 spring. If it does, that's impressive for a RIF at this price bracket.

CONCLUSION

The rifle fires between 340 to 350 fps with good range and tight grouping up to about 40 yards. The polymer mags feed very well and fit tight into the magwell.

The rifle is light but feels very robust and would be very ideal for younger, small-framed players. It is one of them airsoft RIFs that you can last a whole day of skirmishing without going home with your arms feeling like they are going to fall off. The polymer mags add a nice look on the rifle as well and them being mid-caps could appeal very well to milsim players.

The rifle fires and cycles very well. The high quality internals are very obvious even by simply listening to the rifle fire. I will admit though that I think the polymer lower receiver also influences the sound of the rifle but nonetheless it fires really well.

This rifle retails for under $200! Making it to my standards, the most affordable high quality airsoft RIF  in the market today. We all know that airsoft is not just about good rifles it also comes with looking good out in the field and with this rifle, players can save much needed money for those “gucci-cams” that go with the look that they are after.



Pros:

  • Light weight
  • Feels very robust
  • High quality materials used
  • High quality internals
  • Great Performance out of the box

Cons:

  • For some, the plastic lower receiver could be an issue
  • Also, the KWA logo on the receiver may make the trademark junkies look away

Many thanks to Robert Drury of R.O.S.A.S Customs for his assistance in the take down of the AEG.

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