How The Western Arms Patriot GBB Is Different From Their Other M4 GBB's

[Nabisco_Lobstrosity]

Not a lot of North Americans have a GBB rifle, and even fewer have had to dig deep into the guts of their new toy. I put together my WA M4-Patriot from a bag of pieces and the parts diagram in the manual, so I have become pretty familiar with every pin and spring in mine.

If you buy any airsoft rifle, you will likely end up wanting to change something about it. If you decide to go the route of purchasing a WA M4-Patriot GBB, then there are a few things you need to know about what makes it different from the other Western Arms GBB M4 rifles.

First there are the obvious differences -


ON THE BOX:

1. Lighter bolt assembly: If you weigh the bolt assembly of a WA Patriot and compare it to the other WA M4's, the Patriot's is lighter. This is sold as a feature to make the recoil more obvious.

2. Stronger recoil spring: This snaps the bolt forward again a little bit stronger than on the other WA M4's. There isn't a huge difference however, so if you want a real recoil upgrade, then either get a kit, some other aftermarket parts, or shave your loading nozzle (don't do the last one unless you know what you're doing, or you have extra nozzles).

3. "S-Mags" do not activate "bolt stop" feature when empty. The S-Mag is the darker magazine that came out at the same time as the WA Patriot. It does not have the lever that pushes up into the bolt stop mechansm. It functions the same as a regular WA mag that has had its bolt stop feature disabled.


(Not-So-Obvious) DIFFERENCES WITH THE WA M4-PATRIOT:

1. Bolt stop: I would caution anybody from using the bolt stop with the stock parts. I am pretty sure that I have all the same bolt stop pieces as any other WA M4, but since the Patriot was designed to be paired up with the S-Mags, I couldn't really guarantee that it will even do what it's supposed to out of the box. I later got reinforced bolt stop pieces anyway, so for me, this ended up being a moot point. My reinforced bolt stop works fine.

2. Outer barrel: The outer barrel that comes with the WA M4-Patriot is not exactly like any other WA-compatible outer barrel, and I don't mean in asthetic terms. The "lip" from the very back of the outer barrel to where the "hole" for the hop-up is, is roughly double the length of any other WA outer barrel I have seen. This is likely because the front guard assembly for the Patriot is a lot more simple, and it needs that outer barrel to take on more of the work of keeping the barrel aligned.

This is important, because the stock M4-Patriot outer barrel prevents any other WA front guard assembly from screwing onto the receiver. This "extra bit" of outer barrel is just enough to keep an aftermarket "delta ring" from threading onto the receiver. This may not be an issue with the stock M4-Patriot receiver. I don't know. I don't have one. I can only say that my stock Patriot outer barrel, an aftermarket front guard, and an aftermarket receiver do not get along, and that is why. I have a few to swap in and out, and I've found this to be a consistent rule of thumb.

The outer barrel still has the same threads as any other WA M4 barrel, but it also has a "slimmer" section before the threads - this is where the Patriot gas block attaches to the outer barrel - again, another unusual feature that you won't see with other outer barrels.

3. Dust cover: The WA M4-Patriot doesn't come with a dust cover. It also doesn't come with the pin or the spring required to make a dust cover work. Thankfully, my G&P aftermarket metal body did, but remember it's not always the large pieces you need - it's the small things, like tiny pins and springs.

4. Stock pipe: The WA M4-Patriot stock pipe cannot be used with a shoulder stock. There's nothing for the stock to attach to on the stock pipe. I currently use the G&P wire stock (which also replaces my stock pipe), but I suspect that a real steel stock pipe will fit on my G&P receiver. This is something I plan on testing in the future.

5. Barrel length: The stock WA M4-Patriot inner barrel is a unique length. It's something less than 200mm. The outer barrel is also a unique length. It's some where between 8 and 6 inches long. I haven't measured these exactly, but you probably get the idea - these barrels weren't really intended to be used with anything other than the stock WA Patriot parts.

The shortest (WA GBB-compatible) aftermarket precision inner barrel that I've been able to find is 210mm. Keep this in mind, because that means it will stick out past the stock flashider with the stock outer barrel; and it will stick out past the flashider on a lot of the shorter aftermarket front assemblies (like the G&P "Tank" / Widowmaker kit). Maybe there are shorter precision inner barrels out there that I don't know about, but it's still important to remember about the unique design of the Patriot. If you want to use a precision inner barrel with the Patriot setup or some other "stubby" setup, you will either need some way to conceal / protect the excess inner barrel, or you will have to find a different outer barrel that is compatible with your front assembly.

6. Gas tube: If you're a fan of realism, then you like your gas tube. "Stubby" designs like the Patriot have extremely short gas tubes. If you end up having to use a longer outer barrel, you won't be able to use the stock Patriot gas tube. I have not seen longer aftermarket gas tubes being sold. My G&P "Tank" / Widowmaker kit did come with one, but it's permanently attached to the gas block, and it's still about the same length as the stock gas tube.

7. Delta ring: The stock "delta ring" can only be used with the Patriot-style front assembly. Thankfully a lot of the aftermarket front assemblies seem to come with a new one, but you really need to keep this sort of thing in mind if you decide you want to try to do something like attach a front assembly to what-used-to-be a WA M4-Patriot. The VLTOR CASV-EL, for example - I have no idea if that even fits when you use anything other than a typical M4A1 "delta ring". I know it doesn't really rely on attaching to it, but all the "stubby" front assemblies have very large "delta rings", compared to the design of a standard M4 one. I haven't seen any "stubby" kits that don't use a "free-floating" system for the forward assembly, and those are the kinds of "delta rings" I'm talking about.


These are just some things to keep in mind, anyway. I'm happy to share any of my experiences building my WA GBB from scratch, or my experiences trying to do that with an M4-Patriot.

[scarletsnake]

Thanks for the info, do you have any pics of your patriot?

[Nabisco_Lobstrosity]

The smart thing to do would have been to take pictures of it before I started adding all these external parts to turn it into something that "isn't" a Patriot. I'm afraid I don't.

I still have all the original parts, so I suppose if I'm bored some day and I can take it apart and put it back together again as a Patriot.

[jesster202]

if you need a stock tube you can order them i for get were but ealy reposts of them being to weak and basicly caving in when people put sling atchments shuch as dainel defence stock tube sling adaptors would tighten them and crush it and i knwo they said they got them replaced so its worth looking into.

[Nabisco_Lobstrosity]

I'm okay with the stock tube I have now. I did finally put up some pics of what it currently looks like.