By “Chief” of Team Task Force Devil – Stroudsburg, PA (USA)

This month’s review is of the BOYI full metal M4-RIS. I have recently chosen this model as my upgrade and customization platform. Because it comes stock with a full metal upper and lower receiver, metal one-piece outer barrel, metal carry handle and sight, and metal RIS unit I felt it would be a good platform to begin with.
The BOYI full metal M4 RIS AEG comes in a no frills brown box with the model number on the outside and a silhouette graphic of the AEG on the box. BOYI has the silhouettes of their other metal M4 series AEG’s on the box as well. The simple packaging is solid and held together with two nylon tension bands to keep the box closed.

Packaging

Inside the box you will find a well-packaged AEG surrounded in a Styrofoam shell, similar to most other AEG manufacturers packaging. The AEG comes packaged with a sample pack of .20 BB’s, a cleaning rod, an 8.4 volt, 1100mAh battery, trickle charger, a tactical hand grip, a mock PEQ box battery housing, front sling assembly, instruction booklet, a small Phillips head screw driver, and two allen keys to service the AEG with. The BOYI also came packaged with a tactical three-point sling, which is of adequate quality. I use a one-point bunch sling, which requires a one-point sling adapter.

Quality of Construction

After unpacking the BOYI M4, I noticed that it was made with exceptional quality, especially for an AEG in the under $200.00 price range. The externals of this gun are solidly built, it is assembled with detail and all that metal makes the AEG hefty. Nothing was loose. The one-piece outer barrel was locked in tight, the RIS was snug in the delta ring and nothing rattled. The receiver is only marked with the selector settings and is devoid of any trademarks. The collapsible stock, handgrip and RIS rail covers are made of a rugged industrial nylon material instead of the familiar ABS plastic. As an added bonus, BOYI installs a tactical style flash hider on the barrel rather than the standard birdcage style.

For further inspection, I took the AEG down to see what was underneath its rugged exterior. Upon removing the RIS system a rather disappointing set of wires were revealed. The battery wiring was stiff and rather inflexible. Not an issue as I will be upgrading the wiring for my project. Next I opened the receiver. Like the Classic Army metal AEG’s, the BOYI’s receiver is held in with a single body pin on the front hinge and by a lip at the rear of the top receiver that locks into the rear of the lower. A second body pin exists and is used to hold the mech box in place. The pins fit snuggly into the body and are held in place by allen keyed screws. This is a nice touch for an inexpensive AEG.

Opening the receiver reveals a rather unremarkable standard version two mech box. The standard brass cylinder, plastic air nozzle and zinc shell were staring at me as so many other mid-priced AEG’s have. What makes this line of AEG’s different though is their use of a full metal hop up unit. The hop up in my AEG seemed to be constructed of a high-grade aluminum with snug yet responsive adjustment gears. Again I was reminded of an AEG built by Classic Army. Hmm. Could a pattern be developing?

After sliding the top receiver away from the gun, I removed the inner barrel. The inner barrel slid out easily and was well polished and well lubricated. Next, I decided to inspect the handgrip motor. BOYI seems to try to go the extra mile as was evidenced by the vented motor heat sync and large motor adjustment set screw. Unlike so many other MPEG’s, BOYI uses a simple motor adjustment screw that can be adjusted with a coin or flat headed screwdriver. No more microscopic allen keys required. The BOYI stock motor is of a generic nature. No markings, labels or stampings. However I wasn’t going to let its generic quality sway my thinking. This AEG needed to be field-tested. I reassembled the gun, attached the battery box and took it out to the test range.

On the Range

The supplied high cap magazine fit well and didn’t move around. However, using other brands of magazines proved to be a bit frustrating at first. I inserted a metal Echo1 hi cap then a Classic Army metal high cap and found that they were both a bit harder to insert and seat in the mag well then the BOYI. But by removing and re-inserting both brands of high cap magazine a few times, they became easier to seat. I also tried mid cap magazines by MAG Brand and Star. The MAG Brand and Star magazines seated flawlessly and were held in tight enough that they did not wobble.

Trigger response of the BOYI M4 RIS was firm but smooth. The trigger did not hang up and the selector positively locked into place in each of the selector settings with a pleasant “click”.
Since the inner barrel was well lubricated from the factory, I decided to forgo my ritual of pre-lubing the barrel. So before I could set the hop up, I fired a full mid cap magazine on semi auto until the extra lube was pushed out and the BB’s fired straight enough to begin zeroing in. Since the hop up gears were snug, setting the hop up was simple and I achieved a respectable BB path within ten shots.
The first target test was with ten shots fired on semi automatic at thirty feet with .20 gram BB’s. The gun posted a respectful five-inch grouping at thirty feet. The first few shots were off to the left and improved near the end of the ten-shot test, creeping slightly more toward the center of the target.

The next test was to fire in controlled bursts from thirty feet with .20 gram BB’s. The BOYI’s precision improved during this test. The shots were noticeably closer to the center ring and grouping was a bit tighter with most of the BB’s staying within the three-inch ring and only a few stragglers wandering outside of four inches.
The final test was a full on automatic barrage. I let the rest of the high cap magazine fly from the same thirty feet with .20 gram BB’s. The grouping was stellar, with most of the BB’s finding the bullseye and not wandering too far from the two-inch ring.

The stock mech box was smooth and not too noisy. The gun seems to have good airflow out the barrel as is noticed by its always-present “whack” when fired. Although the accuracy was acceptable for an out-of-the-box MPEG, the rate of fire was lacking. I will give BOYI the benefit of the doubt and chalk this up to the anemic 8.4 volt 11mAh battery that powers the gun. I believe that by stepping up to 9.6 volt battery, the BOYI will sound a bit more angry than the average MPEG.

The Final Word

I feel that the BOYI metal M4 RIS is an excellent starter gun or second gun that any self-respecting airsofter would want to add to their collection. It is sturdy, well made and fires as well as any other MPEG would hope to. And what’s not to like about an affordable all metal AEG? Because of its construction, I would trust it on the field. The gun’s performance is slightly above average and accuracy could be improved. This however would require more expensive internals, which would defeat the purpose that BOYI is trying to serve. I feel confident that with the planned minor upgrades I have in mind, the BOYI M4 RIS will be a contender worth taking to some of the events I will be at this summer.