Tippmann M4

In the early 1990s the Japanese airsoft manufacturer Tokyo Marui coined the phrase ‘Automatic Electric Gun’ to describe their new rifles and carbines, but since then it’s become a description we all use to describe an airsoft replica that’s driven by battery power. So efficient and reliable did electric airsoft rifle, carbine and SMG replicas become, that many of the older power sources such as CO2, Green Gas, Propane, and Compressed Air were forced into submission, seemingly to never see the light of day again.

But change is inevitable, so they say, and the past couple of years have really seen the resurgence of both gas and compressed air, or HPA (High Pressure Air) systems as they are known, into the airsoft arena. Up until relatively recently, although you could buy a reliable CO2 or Green Gas powered pistol, the same could not be said for some reason of their full-length counterparts. As any regular reader of my reviews will know, there are now some really stunning gas rifles and carbines out there now, and they perform flawlessly.

One power source that really is as old as airsoft itself though is the high-pressure air system, where the ‘driving force’ for the replica comes from an external air tank, like a small scuba bottle, that feeds the replica by way of an airline. Historically this was actually how the very first semi and full-auto airsoft replicas were powered, with the technology dating back to the early 1980s!

HPA systems have been making a bit of a comeback quietly but insistently for four or five years now and there are a number of manufacturers using slightly different systems, all vying for the ‘top spot’, and when it comes to ‘pneumatic’ guns, then the market leader just has to be US paintball leviathan, Tippmann.

Markers To An M4!

As much as paintballers and airsofters often share the same sites and game fields, it has always been a case of ‘never the twain shall meet’, but it has to be recognised that, since 1986, Tippmann has been one of the premier designers and manufacturers of high-performance paintball markers and accessories for players worldwide, so you could say they know more than a little about HPA systems!

In 2014, they became part of the GI Sportz family that includes Tippmann, V-Force and of course GI Sportz branded products. They also expanded into the airsoft market, with their new Tippmann Arms branded products. 2015 began with the movement of their U.S. Army® Project Salvo and Alpha Black Elite markers to a new manufacturing base in Fort Wayne, Indiana, along with their two newest products, the TCR paintball marker and the Tippmann Arms M4 airsoft rifle.

Their reputation for quality, innovation, and service makes Tippmann a recognised industry leader in the development of technologically advanced products, and now they have firmly turned their attention and their technical wizardry to the airsoft marketplace, with the introduction of their dual power M4.

Now I refer to the Tippmann M4 as ‘dual power’ due to the fact that you can actually use either HPA via a remote line connector in the pistol grip, or a CO2 cartridge that lives in their proprietary magazine. This actually gives a huge amount of flexibility, as if you’re playing somewhere out in the sticks and your HPA tank runs dry, with a couple of really quite small adjustments you can get up and running again on CO2 (or, like me, you might still prefer to not have the tank and air line weighing you down!).

 

Lock And Unload

The salient difference here though is indeed in the magazines; the Tippman M4 arrives with one of their clever 80-round magazines, which also houses the CO2 cartridge. It’s simply a case of dropping the cartridge into the body of the magazine, which then locks it solidly in place via a small yet sturdy catch; pressing the catch releases the spent cartridge freely when you need to change it. Even though this system works very well indeed, there is of course a slight drawback in that once the cartridge has been pierced by inserting it into the carbine, releasing the magazine will let any gas left in the cartridge just dump itself out, so it really is a case of one mag, one cartridge. The HPA system doesn’t suffer from this at all, and again by simple internal adjustments you can have the Tippmann running on virtually any highcapacity magazine! It really is that clever.

And that’s not the only clever thing about the Tippmann M4; by hinging the upper and lower receivers apart, you can access both a rate of fire adjuster and a power adjuster, both of which are operated using Allen keys! Whilst this may sound strange, you need to understand two things; the first is that Tippmann are a truly global brand and site power limits differ around the world. In the UK we are very strict about enforcing an agreed upon 350fps maximum, whilst in the USA it’s common to see that limit quite usually rising to 400fps with a .20g BB. In having a variable, easily adjustable power governor in their M4, Tippmann only need to produce one model for multiple markets.

Secondly, by having an adjustable rate of fire you can adjust your Tippmann to work and cycle perfectly, no matter which of the two power sources you choose to run; I’d also say that there’s a little of their paintball heritage coming through here in honesty, and it’s far more usual to see incredibly high rates of fire in that sport than it is in airsoft, but it’s a neat feature all the same.

As you can imagine with all this going on it would be easy to get confused by all this technology, as even the hop-up is adjusted using an Allen key. To their credit though Tippmann deliver their M4 not only with all the parts and tools, including a half-way decent AR wrench, you need to change power sources and make adjustments to rate of fire, power level, and hop, but also with the most comprehensive instruction manual I have ever seen in all my years of dealing with airsoft replicas. Written in English, French, and Spanish, and with clear black and white photos and diagrams, the manual details everything from adjusting the ‘iron sights’, to a complete disassembly. Well done Tippmann!

 

Rangetime

As you can see, the Tippmann M4 really does have a lot going on, but how does all of that wondrous technology transfer to the airsoft field? Well, since I received the test model I’ve been speaking to a number of seasoned Tippmann users online and the feedback I’ve had has been 100% positive. As with anything mass-produced there have obviously been a few ‘lemons’, but those have been easy fixes in the main, carried out by the user after referencing the instruction manual. The Tippmann Users Group on Facebook is one of the friendliest I’ve ever encountered, and the mountain of information held in their easily accessible online files library will answer any question you might possibly have, from initial setup to some fairly major internal and external upgrades. This to me says a lot about the people who choose Tippmann, and their unrelenting faith in the product.

In terms of the basic model what you get in the box apart from the spares, tools, and instruction manual is the M4 and one eighty round C02 magazine. Starting at the back-end you have a slightly modified multi-position ‘LE’ style sliding stock; I tried a number of different sliding stocks and had no problems fitting any of them, so you can happily choose another style if you so desire. A singlepoint sling plate comes fitted as standard, and all the controls are exactly as you would find them on any M4 replica in relation to fire selector and magazine release, so no issues there.

The hop-up adjustment lives underneath the dust cover at the upper right of the ‘bolt’, again as usual, but as I said before, this is Tippmann’s own design and needs an Allen key for adjustment. CW increases the amount of hop, and CCW decreases it, and believe you me, once it’s set it stays set! As standard the Tippmann has a ‘Delta Ring’ off the upper receiver and a mock gas block, extended rail affair at the front, which keeps a plastic rail-mounting system securely in place. The rail-mounting system comes with a fixed length section at 12 o’clock, but at 9, 6, and 3 you have the option of fitting longer or shorter rail sections, again all of which are included. Unlike most rail systems, the Tippmann version splits left to right rather than top to bottom and in fairness feels a little brittle. At the sharp-end is a standard M4 style ‘birdcage’ flash hider, which sits on a 14mm CCW thread, which is compatible with most aftermarket parts; in the USA Tippmann are legally bound to deliver replicas to their users fitted with a blaze-orange flash hider, so I’m guessing they know that this part will be replaced anyway.

 

Top Tipp

As I’m not an HPA system user myself, I decided to simply test the Tippmann using the CO2 magazine provided. Loading up with 80 BBs and inserting a fresh NUPROL 12g CO2 cartridge I was ready to roll. The magazine snapped securely into the magwell with not a hiss or puff as the cartridge was automatically pierced on insertion. Cocking the carbine caused me to raise an eyebrow, as there was even more resistance to drawing back the charging handle than on most gas blowbacks, and taking my first test shot I immediately realised why; this thing has a recoil harder than most socalled dedicated ‘recoil’ models I’ve tried.

I have to admit wondering if this was as it should be, so I popped back online to speak to the users and they confirmed that this was indeed the norm, in fact so much is it normal that most users seem to favour real firearm optics, so that they don’t get thrown off zero by the Tippmann!

With my mind at ease over this it was back out to the test range, where I started to really enjoy the Tippmann… a lot! Setting the hop was the work of a moment, and after that the carbine was bob-on out to a good 40-metres, and that on .20g BBs and using only the flip-up ‘iron sights’ Tippmann provide as part of the deal. Semi-auto gave a nice thump in the shoulder, and the trigger was very crisp with pretty much zero take-up; switching things up to full-auto sent the thing off like a train, and you do indeed have to initiate a little muzzle control!

Lastly it was onto the chrono, and out of the box I registered a mean of 384fps using .20g BBs, but it was the work of a moment to pop the receivers apart and make the velocity adjustment, again using an allen key. Turning the velocity screw clockwise reduces the power/velocity and after a couple of adjustments I had the M4 nicely set at 340fps; if having variable power makes you a little twitchy Tippmann do offer a velocity lock for about a tenner as an accessory. While I had the receivers split I also reduced the rate of fire slightly and from that point onwards the carbine was going off with easily controllable bursts and a real “crack, crack, crack” from the business end, with the C02 cartridge happily lasting through an entire magazine even on full chat.

 

Conclusion

Although I’ve not run the tester on an HPA set-up as yet I’ve got to tell you that I am very, very impressed with the Tippmann M4; it’s solid, sturdy, and has a wealth of unusual but highly effective technical features. It functions and shoots perfectly, and in speaking to longer term users will do so for some considerable time. If you don’t want to use it with a tank and air line then it functions very nicely indeed on CO2, and spare mags are easily available and about the same price as you’d pay for most good quality mid-caps.

Since my initial test I’ve fitted the Tippmann with an aftermarket sliding stock and also installed one of the new 12.6-inch BOCCA Series One rails from NUPROL and fitted a new metal flash hider with absolutely no problems; I have to say I think it looks a million dollars now and I’m really looking forward to grabbing a few more CO2 mags and getting it out to a game to see how it really performs in the field; my guess is that it will be absolutely spot-on!

Expect to pay iro £395.00 for a Tippmann M4, and remember if you’re going to run it on HPA you need to factor in the cost of the system too. Tippmann appear to be bringing out numerous accessories of their own right now, like a 10.3 -inch CQB barrel and a 20-inch sniper barrel, so to keep up to date with releases.