New upgrades for KJW M700 REVIEW, no longer need to hpa tap!!
So, Ive been keeping an eye on this thread for some time now. Iown a KJW M700 and have been fighting the temptation to HPA tap my gun. Im not a proponent of HPA and find that the notion of HPA tapping a sniper rifle is not only inconvenient in the field but takes some of the fun out of it. This is my opinion and preference. Im not here to argue about this.
There are some new upgrades out for 2019 and the M700 variants. I've tried both of the most effective upgrades and found that I no longer have consistency issues despite not having jumped on the hpa band wagon!!
Action Army has finally put out a new 1 piece hopup unit for this rifle and I must say that it lives up to the Action Army upgrade name!! When I heard about this I immediately placed my order for one. I also found that a new C02 magazine for the ACC21 sniper was released as well. The ACC21 sniper is compatible with the KJW M700 platform.
the hopup:
One piece construction. Accepts the VSR10 bridged barrel and stock barrel. It doesn't require you to switch from the stock or vsr 10 to aeg barrels as most of the action army hopups do. Its easy to install and even easier to tune. It locks the barrel to the hop unit much better than the stock hop. The hop arm while plastic still, is a very close tolerance fit and there is minimal if any side to side variance. The adjustment uses the stock adjustment wheel on the top of the scope rail, unlike most AA hopups which require the use of an allen key to adjust.
I paired mine with a ML 80 degree autobot bucking, why so high degree? Ill tell you why in a minute. I also was using the accompanied steel ring for better nozzle to bucking seal. I used the concave nub that came with it for testing. I was concerned that the AA nub would under perform in comparison the the ML Omega nub. I was wrong. I ran this out in the field the following weekend at a milsim event and she performed beautifully. I normally will spend a lot of time testing and tuning after installing a major upgrade, but I was so excited to get her out there I went against my normal procedures.
the result:
I played all day in my sniper role I had so much fun with it. I will sometimes switch between DMR and Sniper if I end up having gun problems as a sniper. That day was different. I was hitting shots at 200 ft consistently every time. using .43 gr asg bbs I was tearing through brush and branches with little deviation to target. I even made some extreme precision head shots taking guys out at 100-150 ft with only 6 inches of target showing from cover. The satisfying crack on head gear was exciting. An inconsistent rifle will allow you to hit a man size target shooting for center mass, but this new hopup took my game to a whole new level with this rifle. There is nothing more fun as a sniper knowing that whatever you put your sight on you are going to hit it every time!!
Now, I told you I was using the autobot 80 degree, here is why. I also picked up the new ACC21 C02 mag. The AA ACC21 sniper rifle is compatible with the M700 platform so these will work. There is also a new bolt upgrade that is compatible as well. Since green gas can be so finicky i thought Id try the C02 mag and it did not dissapoint! Before I went to the field I tested the mag using the same .43 gr bbs. The rifle with the new hop installed and the c02 mag this rifle was chrono'ing at 554 fps consistently(full mag)!! I didn't even test with .20 gr because 1) I never use .20 gr bbs in the field 2) I knew the fps and joule rating was going to go off the charts after my initial test.
The mag is all metal with a different look and feel to it. it has a spare compartment in it to store a tool or extra c02 cart for field changes. What a great thought!! It holds 28 rounds. It seems pretty consistent until about the 20th shot where distance begins to diminish, but that is just where it begins to diminish. You can go through a whole mag before its way out of control.
I like the weight of the mag as it seems to help balance out the front heaviness of the rifle for me (I upgraded to the fluted bull barrel and infidel suppressor). With the added FPS I needed a better more durable bucking and that's why I went with the 80 degree maple leaf. Its designed for 550 and up fps rifles. So far it can take the abuse. During the milsim event I went through roughly 10 mags in the day (thats 280 shots approximately), firing shots at times with only 2 second delays in succession of 5 shots with no fps loss that I could tell( I time my shot to target delays, 1 mississip, 2 mississip, lol).
These 2 new upgrades made this rifle a force to be reckoned with on the field. At 100-200 ft I was asked to "turn down" my rifle it was that good, fast and hard hitting!! And that was using my green gas mags at one point. I only used the C02 mag when i needed to hit targets at 200 ft. +.
Sadly, due to the newness of these upgrades on the market the normal sources for AA hopup upgrades haven't seemed to have caught up with these. There is only 1 retail source in the US so far as I am aware of that carries these 2 magical items). Google it, you'll find it. They're in Nevada.
If you're like me and hate the notion of having to HPA tap your rifle for the sake of consistency and you own an M700 (they made one for the Tanaka as well) these are 2 must have upgrades over anything else besides your inner barrel. If your'e looking to improve the consistency and accuracy of this rifle right off the bat, get the AA Hopup for it. Don't even unbox your rifle until you do. You will not be sorry.
Hope this helps anyone looking to make effective upgrades to their M700.1 final word. The Autobot bucking newly installed needs to be broken in. Do yourself a favor a fire at least 50-100 shots through it before taking it to the field. i thought at first the hopup was faulty or the c02 mag was just pushing so much through the barrel it was causing problems and was getting fliers at every 3 shots or so. Nope the bucking just needed breaking in. Once it broke in she was firing consistently.:cheers:
