I’ve long been wanting a good all-purpose AEG for airsoft. The perfect weapon, made from all the lessons I’ve learned playing down these many, many years in all conditions, and varied locations. Finally, after a lucky find at the Midlands Airsoft Fair, it’s complete. So I thought I’d share it and do a little talk about what it is and why it is.

Ladies and gentlemen, my M727. I think.

It’s not an M4. Honest.

If you don’t know the history behind the M4 family of rifles, in short, it started with old school M16s, then there were carbine versions (lots of them) and it ended with the M4A1 we all know and love in 1994. That’s probably the quickest and easiest way to explain. The M4A1 was the version with a detachable carry handle with rails underneath, that led to the railed handguards we know and love today that allow you to bolt stuff on anywhere you like. What I’ve put together is one of those somewhere-in-the-middle carbines, and I’m not entirely sure exactly which one but it’s close enough to the Model 727.

I’m a big fan of Operation Gothic Serpent (Black Hawk Down) and the film, Black Hawk Down. Moreso, I’m of such an age that I remember vividly the 1991 Gulf War and the Bosnian War 1992-1995. Conflict in the 90’s fascinates me; the kit was much more basic back then and was devoid of the plethora of gadgets we have today. WW2 equipment still saw use, Cold War jets ruled the sky, and not everything was multicam. Good times. So that was probably 50% of the reason for it, the other 50% from my own experiences with various airsoft platforms.

I’ve done a lot in airsoft. And there are a couple of things that have stuck with me from those experiences. I remember being a new player and wanting a gun (specifically a 416) with absolutely everything on it, much as a lot of players today strive for – remember in Call of Duty extra parts mean extra performance. It’s a bit like ordering a pizza though – you want all the toppings in the biggest base you can get, but afterwards it leaves you feeling like crap and regretting the decision until the following week (Thursday night is my pizza night if you’re interested. We do Chinese on Mondays too).

I have notepads where I write down what I’ve learned each game day, so I can keep improving what I have. What bothered me about my fully kitted out 416 during games was;

• It’s too heavy. That solid metal chunk on the front end is OK for skirmish, but tiring over longer events

• Most of those accessories are for looks. They don’t get used.
• Grips change the way you hold the gun, but without recoil, they don’t make it particularly better in any way.

• Because half of the accessories need batteries, which die or some other electronic bit fails.

• Lasers and scopes, and angled iron sights, are just multiple aiming devices doing the same job.

• All those extra bits aren’t making me a better player tactically.

What I do like about the 416 though, if you add it to the M4 family, is that the fire select and mag release are very well positioned compared to, as an example, the ape-designed AK platform. Parts are cheap, plentiful, and straightforward to repair or replace. And if you’re looking for a bit of a workhorse, it’s ideal. So I looked for a leaner, meaner version of the platform I was so familiar with. Something a bit more vanilla, with fewer sprinkles on top. In fact, the only accessory I’ve ever found useful on an AEG is a torch, for dark places, and that can be mounted directly onto the barrel. Twenty viewings of Black Hawk Down later, I took note of the character Hoot’s rifle – an M727 carbine.

I didn’t want to part with any of my current builds, so I went looking for some kind of boneyard M4 to play with instead.

I found this, sitting on the shelf at my local site, for £80. It’s a Classic Army M15A4 (no idea) with some bits on it to vaguely look a bit Black Hawk Down at extreme distances. Sold. It was still a long way off, but it was a start. The gearbox had sellotape inside, bits of glue all over and the chopped up carry handle was bodged to hold a broken ACOG red dot sight. The handguard also had a built in torch mount which I’ve not seen before, and a laser mounted on the front. It was a heap of shit on the whole and didn’t work, but I was determined to make good use of it, primarily because of the old ArmaLite trades on the lower receiver.

I took this to a game day as a backup, and one of my 416-wielding friends commented that it was “very pointable, very manoeuvrable and well balanced” in its stock form. To me, that’s a lot of advantages for something that will be used in and out of buildings and I agreed, so at that point decided a fairly stock build was the way to go. Of course, it couldn’t just be any kind of stock configuration – I wanted some Gulf War 1 vibes and something with a bit of history, so it had to be something in between that GW1 and Gothic Serpent time frame (1991-1993). Old School Armalites ftw.

First off, the M4A1 handguard had to go. It’s too big, and feels like holding a water bottle. I didn’t want much on the front to warrant rails, which were heavy. With the G&P replica front end costing in excess of £120, I picked up the old style XM177 handguard from Brownells for £11. It has heat shields in, so whether it’s for real steel or not I don’t know but the thing is rock solid.

Next up, as tempting as cosmetic externals are, I had to do something with the taped up and very broken internals first. After prising the gearbox apart, I looked at the mess inside and immediately threw up into the bin. After a heavy night out drinking, there was no way I’d be able to put that back together, so I went and ordered a very cheap E&L version 2 gearbox from ak2m4.co.uk for about £40, purely because I couldn’t find a lower priced one; the plan was to upgrade it anyway so I wasn’t too bothered about installing a cheap gearbox as long as it was in working order. Surprisingly though, after installation the E&L proved a very snappy gearbox, giving the gun a nice “crack” when firing and coming in a little hot at 365fps. Thankfully, it also has a quick change spring release so it’s very easy to drop the power on to keep it within site limits.

Also on the inside, a recommendation from John, one of my teammates, a Modify Hybrid inner barrel. I added a ZCI rotary hop unit, and coupled that with my AEG favourite Guarder Clear bucking and an H nub. Internals were now working and all sorted, and it’s shooting beautifully.

The Externals

Optics up next, and I wanted to get rid of that ACOG in favour of something much much better. Irons. Before you start thinking they’re too old fashioned, I’ll get MS Paint out. Because I am also old fashioned.

This is what you look at down an ACOG vs iron sights. Notice the difference? It’s the peripheral vision – what you’re aware of around you is vital in airsoft. Now, I know a lot of people will go all Chris Kyle and say they shoot with both eyes open, but still the eyes are drawn to that red dot or reticle. Whether you use a red dot, holo, rifle scope, laser or iron sights, they’re all doing the same thing – giving you a point of reference when you aim your gun at someone. None has a major advantage over the other – if you think some more expensive scopes have a clearer dot or reticle, remember that this is airsoft and due to all the variables involved in blowing a bb down a tube, it doesn’t matter as the bb flight path isn’t accurate enough to warrant it. It just makes you think you have a better optic and therefore aim. Irons work fine in all weather conditions, don’t die on you and can still be adjusted all the same, so they’re doing the same job. What I find sets the M4 family apart though, is that carry handle.

Another Black Hawk Down Delta picture, this time Sanderson. Note that with a raised optic, he doesn’t have to hunch over and bring his head down to the rifle as much – the gun comes up to eye level which is much more comfortable, and keeps your head up and alert. I won’t be running an optic still, so it’s a little lower but has the same effect, matched up to that tall front post sight. I do have the carry handle rail if I ever want to fit a night vision or thermal optic, but that’s further into the future.

(Just while I’m on that, I recall an old SAS documentary where they discussed having a torch on a gun vs a torch on the head; in the above situation, it’d be night vision. Although the head moves quicker, and Travis Haley will tell you that, the SAS trained their guys to look around by pointing the gun, so that if they saw anything the gun is immediately pointing to the target and they can just pull the trigger. Food for thought.)

Anyway, I did want a torch. The correct model for the build is a Surefire 660, but they’re very rare and go for hundreds of pounds/dollars. Thankfully, you can get an exact replica from Shekkin Gears here. Actually quite cheap compared to a lot of weapon torches, it comes with a pressure pad and the choice of either the original “yellow” xenon bulb or a more modern LED. I went original. Unfortunately the glass is wafer thin and my 660 replica arrived smashed (my man Bubba’s was all too easily shot out in his first gameas well) and so I highly recommend Red Dot Engineering who can make you a polycarbonate (eye pro stuff) disc for it in any thickness you like, to make it airsoft-proof and save you a ton of money replacing stuff. And you can get those discs for any airsoft torch or optic, so a shout out to them for a brilliant service.

The biggest issue with the gun was the slightly more modern M4A1 upper receiver, which is railed and has the detachable carry handle. I wanted the older, one piece upper and carry handle. The only company I knew of doing seperate bits was JG, who does plastic ones but they seem long discontinued. Metal ones are very hard to find, and complete sets were very expensive. It almost got to the point where I considered buying a whole XM177 rifle just to get the bit I needed, which kind of makes the whole build project redundant. The rifle sat unused in my cupboard for a few years until Defiant Events announced a Black Hawk Down weekender and suddenly I had to take an interest in it. Still without a correct upper, I was planning to just run it as it was, until I got lucky while hunting for ALICE ammo pouches at second hand stalls at the Midlands Airsoft Fair.

Battered, unloved and without a rifle, I found this upper receiver for £50 and suddenly the build was back on.

The last thing was to revert back to the original stock, and find some kind of sling. I’m not stupid enough to pay £100 for some fancy bit of fabric to hang my gun on, and obviously wanted something a little more period correct, so I came across this original m16 sling from a TV and Film company that had a few spare. It’s perhaps a little vintage for the Black Hawk Down build, but I’m reliably informed that all sorts of kit was used as the US army was in a transitional period then, so I’m happy with that. A bit short, it’s only anough to sling around the neck but I don’t need to pull it around onto my back or play Twister trying to thread it under and around arms, so that’s absolutely fine. And it had something nice and authentic to the gun, which pleases the immersion gods.

So, there we go. My new, old gun that has everything I need and nothing I don’t.