It was bound to happen, I just didnt think it was going to be so soon.

I finally got my hands on one of KWA's latest offerings. A KWA SR10. It is an M4 variant with a very high performance gearbox.

I still have a 1st generation KM4A1, I still use it as my primary, and it still runs smooth as butter. I know KWA has had their ear to the ground about what can be improved in the new generation of KWA AEG's. So I am really anxious to see what KWA has done in to improve an already solid AEG.
(Click on small images for larger view)



The gun was packaged well in a simple black and silver box with "KWA" printed on the front.


Pretty standard setup inside of the box as well.


Included is the usual KWA Manual in english! (Imagine that) Barrel rod, sight adjustment tool, safety cap, allen wrenches and a 300rnd hicap.

EXTERNALS
The first thing I noticed about this KWA AEG was the new Matte Black finish. It is really nicely finished off in comparison to the previous KWA M4 offerings.
They also toned down the KWA trademarks that seemed to be griped about on the first run of AEG's.



The SR10 features a free floating 25cm Knight's type railed handguard and employs a low profile gas block to complete the look. It has laser etched markings for quick reference when swapping optics on the fly.




With the absence of the A-frame front sight, KWA added a Knight's type folding front sight. This sight retains the same type of silhouette that an A-frame type of front sight would have when viewed from the rear sight.



The rear sight is an Arms style flip up sight mounted to the flat top rail. This sight is typically associated with S-System styled guns. One thing to note about the sights and other similar little details. They are so precisely casted and finished. I beleive this is a product of KWA's gas gun heritage. At any rate all the parts look and fit great.


My rail did have a slight wobble that required me to tighten my delta ring. It is a quick fix but a little disappointing. I am sure KWA has already addressed this issue. *eDiT* (KWA staff has advised me the issue has been fixed on the rail systems)


Charginig handle pulls back the faux bolt to reveal hop up. Pretty standard stuff here.


Forward assist is non functional. Included is a dual loop buffer tube sling mount.


The gun utilizes a crane stock as a battery solution. Slides in and out smoothly with very little wobble. At no point does the sliding motion get interupted by wires or anything.
It slides smooth as butter even down to the shortest position. This is the first time I have encountered such a fool proof crane stock system. The battery loads from the buttplate, so the plugs in the front are just dummy's.



Gucci'd up pic


Old KWA M4A1 and New KWA SR10



PERFORMANCE

Using .2g SIIS 5.94mm(full auto) BB's The gun chronoed at about 390 fps
5 shot string read like this...
1.) 390 fps
2.) 394 fps
3.) 388 fps
4.) 390 fps
5.) 388 fps

Shoots very consistently +/- 3 fps


One of the main complaints about the original KWA m4 was the average range and accuracy which was mainly due to the bucking.

KWA sure rectified this problem with a Japan made Inner barrel and 2G
bucking. There is really nothing you can do to improve here other than use precision bb's.

Here is a shot of the barrel crown, bucking, and hop hop up housing. Very precision work here. The one piece outer barrel is rock solid and hugs closely to the inner barrel. The hop up unit fits snugly and precisely and the whole front of the upper reciever is reinforced with a steel insert. Everything about this set up screams DMR like accuracy. I was extremely impressed by the new set up.


The rest of the review continues here.

This post has been edited by hydralover: Nov 12 2009, 01:16 AM

I really wish I had enough $$$ for it. It sounds great. I too have a KWA M4 Gen 1. Great review dude!

Both sights are rail mounted, right?

Yes they are. I switched to Magpul MBUS.

This is my SR-10



:whistle:

Damn, I want a KWA now. They're so damn expensive, though. I guess in the end it'd be worth it, though.

Now I must get a KWA SR10 with MBUS sights and a MIAD . Dang it.

This post has been edited by o.O Awesome O.o: Oct 14 2009, 11:26 PM

Wow these look great. Awesome review as well

Very nice and thorough review. I was gonna buy an A&K Mk43, but you've convinced me to get a KWA now.

Except now I have the dilemma of either the SR12 or the SR10

Would the SR12 offer a dramatic grouping increase or is it more worth it to buy the SR10?

Ehh the SR10 is 425 MM, it's only an 84 MM difference in exchange for about 6 inches in overall length, so, you decide.

This post has been edited by o.O Awesome O.o: Oct 15 2009, 05:20 PM

GoLgo why must you beat me to the review I was almost done...

So... does that mean that I can use STAR pmags in my gun? I thought there was some compatibility issue. Maybe that was for the old series.

This is the list for KWA M4 magazine compatibility from the KWA forum website. Judging by the posted video, the SR10/12 are not nearly as picky.

MAGAZINES
Realcaps
1. STAR 30 round realcaps (USER TESTED)
2. MAG 30 round realcaps (USER TESTED)
3. A&K 30 round realcaps (USER TESTED)
4. Star 30 Rd Mag - "little bit of wobble" (USER TESTED)
5. Star VN 20 Rd Mag - "Tight fit" (USER TESTED)
6. Classic Army 30 round (USER TESTED)

Lowcaps
1. G & G mid cap mags 79 rounds (USER TESTED)

Midcaps
1. Tokyo Marui (USER TESTED)
2. Echo 1 VN 190 rd mag - "tight fit" (USER TESTED)
3. A&K 70 rd MAg - "tight Fit" (USER TESTED)
4. G&P metal midcaps - very tight fit (USER TESTED)
5. MAG brand 100rnd Mid-caps (USER TESTED) - Inconclusive. Some works, some don't.
6. King Arms VN style midcaps - perfect (USER TESTED)
7. Classic Army Mid-caps (USER TESTED). New report 130rd don't feed.
8. S Arms 160rd midcaps - KWA TESTED, however new users report said some isn't feeding.
9. Star P-Mag - tight fit. (USER TESTED)
10. Magpul P-Mag - tight fit, need light filing on mag well (USER TESTED)

Hicaps
1. JG (USER TESTED)
2. G&G (USER TESTED)
3. G&P (USER TESTED)
4. DeepFire M16 High Cap with 300 rounds (USER TESTED)
5. A&K Box Mag - "tight fit" (USER TESTED)
6. G & G high cap mags 450 rounds (USER TESTED)
7. Classic Army hi-caps (USER TESTED)
8. TM hi-caps (USER TESTED)
9. ICS 450 round High Cap (USER TESTED)
10. CA 190 round High Cap (USER TESTED)
11. Echo1 High Cap with 300 rounds (USER TESTED)

Wow, that thing really just sounds awesome. The only thing I can think to do to it to increase performance is install a MOSFET and a G&P M120. Actually though, the KWA stock motor is pretty good, so I doubt the G&P motor would even be significantly better.

I have a G&P m120 I will try to see if it is an improvement but I doubt it The KWA motors are really well balanced for the application. A G&P m160 would definitely be an improvement because that motor is insane, I have one in my GOLGO 13 DMR.

I have a mosfet in the SR10 at the moment. Didn't really improve performance much, but it is peace of mind for my trigger contacts.

As for the pmags they go in fine but get hung up once in a while on removal. If you pull the mag out while pulling the mag towards the flash hider it comes right out. If you pull it out while pulling towards teh butt stock they get hung up.

if you hit the magwell with a file in the trigger side of the magwell it could help, but I just left it alone. It wasn't too big of a problem that it caused me issues, and all the stanag type mags worked so well I don't want to jack it up just so Pmags work better.

This post has been edited by GoLgo 13: Oct 16 2009, 04:54 AM

great review! some of the pic links didn't work, such as the audacity links, but copy paste worked just fine. idk if its like a forum limit or if it just didn't hyperlink, but its not a problem really

the finish on that rifle looks beautiful. how does it compare to CA?

I'm pretty damn sure I'm getting the KWA M4 RIS (2009) because I'm too poor for the SR10 haha

Cool. If you do end up testing it out, please put up the results. Not only for me (although I would like to know), but also just to see how good the KWA stock motor is. If it is on par with the G&P, maybe we can put it up there with the other kick :censored2: stock motors (EG1000, EG1300, G&P M120...) So if you get around to testing out the M120, M160, or both, please put up the results. I'm looking into getting an SR10 because to be honest, I can't afford airsoft. I'm looking into selling a few guns, and then getting a gun that I won't have to spend a significant amount of money on for a long time.

I will do a motor test on another thread...

Here are the pictures fixed...




Here I used a slow shutter camera shot so that you can see the path of the bb.(.2g Matrix tracers)

Here is a 5 shot burst on Semi...


Here is a 55 rnd mag dump of full auto. There is VERY little deviation from bb to bb. Keep in mind, you are looking at 55 tracer bb's which were fired from this gun on full auto! They all Stream along the same path all the way to the target forming one bright green flourescent line!
This is just awesome.


Using Audacity to measure Rate Of Fire, I got the following results with the following batteries...









Mag compatability(watch video)...



This post has been edited by GoLgo 13: Oct 21 2009, 12:24 AM

INTERNALS/Disassembly

This is my favorite part of any review. Let's see if this gearbox lives up to the hype...

Remove rear pin...


Remove buffer tube...



Remove motor plate(Notice the brass threaded inserts)
Motor plate has been improved over the last model which resembled marui design. This one is better for cooling and motor adjustment.

The KWA motor is a great stock motor. Well balanced for ROF and trigger response.

I had a slight issue with one of the motor connectors coming loose. I gently crimped it and solved the issue.




Standard M4 type gearbox removal...


I guess I am on my own now =)


Snap shot of internals...


Spring is made of Oil tempered piano wire similar to Guarder...


Ball Bearing spring guide also very similar to Guarder brand...


Piston/Piston head
KWA has the best stock piston in any gun hands down. Reinforced first tooth, shaved down 2nd tooth and super strong build material.
The aluminum piston head has a ring bearing setup and offers perfect compression despite not being ported.



Ported brass cylinder, Polycarb Cylinder head and metal air nozzle.

The Cylinder head seals extremely well with the cylinder.

2GX Gearset
Heat treated gear set is very beefy. Widened sector gear teeth, sector feeding chip, 2 piece spur gear, just a nice set up all around as far as the gearset is concerned.








Heat Treated Anti reverse latch.


The tappet is robust. It has a specially ground cam profile to work with the included sector chip. The spring hook is also beefier than a normal Ver 2 Tappet.
Here is the KWA tappet(Black) next to a King Arms tappet(Red).

The gearbox was redesigned to resist front end failures.
- Thicker reinforcements
- elimiminated 90deg angles
- "zippered" gearbox halves


9mm bearings
You can have your m160 spring and still run bearings. Full auto DMR anyone???


Trigger block post!
This is what failed on my first KWA M4. It looks like they rectified this issue by eliminating 90 degree angles at the base as well as almost quadrupling the size of the thing.


Gold plated trigger contacts


Wiring was a combination of PTFE 2 conductor and this piece of super industrial coiled wire(nickle plated as well) I believe this is what makes the crane stock work so well. Solder joints were good throughout the gun.


Hop up unit
Seemles construction equipped with a brass stabilizer ring


RAS/RIS
Constructed very similarly to the real deal. Extremely solid once properly tightened just like the real thing.


That's it for internals. Obviously KWA sets the bar for building a killer gearbox. There isn't another gun in my 21 AEG arsenal that can boast a better gearbox.

Pros
- Revamped externals
- Free float RAS
- Best gearbox on the market
- Battery crane stock
- flip up sights
- Lipo ready
- Unrivaled customer service
- range, accuracy and consistency of a top dollar DMR right out of the box
- The included high cap magazine feeds wonderfully and can empty in a complete wind

Cons
- Ras/Ris needed tightened
- No trademarks?(personally I could care less, but alot of newbs will cry about this)
- I would have liked to see a sling point up front, or rail attached but the buffer tube mount does allow for quick handling straight from a magpul DVD.
- motor connector came loose after 900rnds and needed to be crimped slightly.

CONCLUSION

KWA has done it again. They wanted to make the best performing gun possible, for the best price possible and they delivered. This is the gun you want to get to dominate on the field. It was made exactly for that reason.
The folks at KWA know what a skirmisher wants in an AEG, because they will be right next to you at the next Big Op. They are really connected with the end users, both in the field and on the net. They hear what you are saying and put it into action. This latest line of KWA AEG's is proof.




This post has been edited by GoLgo 13: Oct 21 2009, 12:22 AM

Very nice review Golgo.

Sounds like an awesome gun. Let me know when you do the motor comparison. Question though. Would you say that this is a fairly well rounded AEG? The reason being, I'm falling into some tough financial times, and I'm most likely going to be switching over to three guns that I will stick with while I work for a car. I'm going to have an AEG, a sniper, and a pistol.
I'm already getting a beast of a VSR10 for my sniper, and I'm trying to choose the AEG and pistol. For the AEG, I'm leaning for the SR10, and for the pistol, I'm leaning towards a TM 5.1. Basically, what I'm trying to ask is are you satisfied enough with the performance that you believe it would perform adequately as an AEG in any situation?

Wow. I officially NEED an SR10. Very good review Golgo, you very thoroughly tested every aspect of this gun. Would you say it would benefit significantly from a Prometheus barrel?

No AEG will benefit from a prometheus barrel if the barrel is straight and true to begin with (ie. KWA, TM, King Arms...etc etc)

I personally have no intention to change out the barrel , bucking or hop unit. They all work together harmoniously. You did see the tracer bb picture right? That kind of consistency is insane. and those are freeking evike matrix bb's!

The only thing you can do is run good bb's such as SIIS, KSC, AE, Killer Beez, Biovals, G&G etc etc...

Looks really nice, great review!

Maybe I'm wrong but aren't aluminum piston heads bad?

Or is that only with a metal cylinder head?

I have heard different things on the subject. Considering I have never had a front end gearbox failure in all of my airsofting years, using a myriad of different piston heads, I would say it makes no difference.

My 1st gen KWA m4a1 is 58,000+ shots strong and used lipo and aluminum piston head the whole way.

The KWA SR10 has a pretty thick cylinderhead pad which should help quite a bit.

Also since I have a surplus of TPE and sorbothane, I usually replace the stock cyl head pad in all of my ver II guns, 0 failures to date and currenty 9 ver 2 guns.

This post has been edited by GoLgo 13: Oct 22 2009, 09:17 AM

In your 1st generation KWA M4A1 did you use 7.4v or 11.1v lipo?
Do you think a mosfet is necessary for such longevity?

This post has been edited by w00f: Oct 22 2009, 10:55 AM

The KWA was fed on a diet of about 70% 11.1v and 30% 7.4v lipo. A braking mosfet was used almost the entire time.

It certainly isnt needed, I know guys who don't run them and don't have any trouble. I always throw one in for good measure because I have a surplus of them and enjoy the building process as much as using the AEG its self.

Excellent review, thank you!!!

I just got my SR10 today (big smile). Only issue is my rail is loose to. Im searching on how to tighten it. Any advise there? I am soooo looking forward to the next battle!

WOHOO!!!

This should help.

http://www.kwausa.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=1533

PERFECT!!!! Thank you!

makes me want one even more!
I have a question... What would be cooler
SR10 with 552 eotech replica or
SR12 with long scope
?
thanks

Personal preference. Go with what you like.

Just got my SR12 and its awesome!

Anyone know if all gas blocks are interchangable? I need to change the gas block to make it look like a SAM-R rifle

It should be compatible with Vltor, Troy, YHM type blocks, but the SAM-r uses the same pin locations as an A-frame gas block, I think you would need a military style outer barrel to avoid pin slots between the mounting points of the sam-r unit and having to cut pin slots for the sam-r block.

This one may work since it is clamp on though(not exactly sam-r but closer than a low pro)...

http://shop.ehobbyasia.com/g-p-kit-gas-block-rail.html

This post has been edited by GoLgo 13: Nov 9 2009, 06:02 AM

Awesome review. I am definitely picking up this gun this holiday season.

One question, does it have a 16" barrel? It looks longer than the 14.5 on your Gen. 1.

I'm thinking of running a 13" LaRue on it if I get one, but I'd probably go with an 11" or 12" if it were just a 14.5" barrel.

SR10 is 16".

Edit: You can also check out their website if you need any more specs.

This post has been edited by o.O Awesome O.o: Nov 9 2009, 08:37 PM

Amazing. Everything I look for in a review. Seriously, this completely sold me...

oh god, I'm becoming a kWA fanboy..

Excellent Review!
I especially like the high quality pictures and the detail you went into about every aspect of the gun.
I'm actually getting myself a KWA at the end of the year, but its going to be the M4A1 not the SR-10.
However this review is pursuading me to get one of these too, and if this is something to go by then all of the new KWA AEG's look brilliant!


This post has been edited by Tom-843: Nov 13 2009, 05:55 AM

How does the SR10 compare to the standard M4 RIS?
http://www.airsoftgi.com/product_info.php?...roducts_id=5631

As far as I can tell, the SR10 has a longer inner/outer barrel, longer (free-float) RIS, and comes with back up iron sights instead of a carry handle.
Did I miss anything?