By yanks111
Published: 31 January, 2004
Introduction
Sick and tired of looking at your M4a1 everyday, and thinking to yourself that you want to ALMOST stand out from the crowd? Well, this just may be a solution to your problem. Recently, there has been a new craze for rail interface systems, commonly known as simply R.I.S. The R.I.S. system allows for mounting of a vertical grip, bipod, flashlight, AN/PEQ-2, lasers, scopes, grenade launchers, shotguns, and anything else you need on your gun. Here you have the Mosquito Molds R.I.S. for the m4a1, which I consider to be the best bang for your buck R.I.S. that is available. Coming in at an average price of $110 in the United States, it is only $10 more than the Marui R.I.S., but has a much better build quality, and allows space for a small battery.
Design Impressions
The R.I.S. is split into two parts, the lower section, and an upper section. This design is for easy opening/closing of the R.I.S. unit when changing batteries. The R.I.S. unit is surprisingly lightweight, however don’t think that it is weak. It feels very solid in your hands, and would not get bent if dropped, smacked against a tree or ran over by a car. Now, I’m not saying that it wont get crushed by certain cars, but it can withstand getting ran over by a Neon.
Installation
Installing the Mosquito Molds R.I.S. onto a Tokyo Marui M4A1 is extremely easy. Take off the existing handguards, and put on the R.I.S. Yes, it is that easy. Now, installation onto a Classic Army M15a4 takes more work, which I will talk about in detail later on. After installation, you may notice that the top half of the R.I.S. wobbles up and down. This can be easily remedied by putting electrical tape around the two front tabs that are inserted into the front delta ring. An easy mod, but Mosquito Molds should have done something to remedy this design problem at the factory. Please note that on the R.I.S. rails are markings such as B1, B2, T1, and T2. The rail with the B markings should be the rail on the bottom, so B=bottom. That leaves us with the rail with T markings, which should be the top rail, so T=top. Be sure you have this correct, or else your R.I.S. will spin from side to side.
Accessories
Now comes the purpose of the R.I.S., which is to mount tons of stuff that you probably wont even need onto the front of your gun. The most common accessory is a vertical mount, which slides onto the bottom rail and then is tightened by a screw on the bottom of the grip. The next most common accessory is a flashlight. Using a 1 inch scope ring and spacers (such as tape) most Mag-lites, and Surefire lamps can be mounted on the sides. Then, you have a laser, which personally I think is a waste, but many people use this, which is mounted the same way as a flashlight. Also, a Bipod can be mounted onto the R.I.S., and because it is screwed in, it can easily be removed/replaced if the situation calls for one. And, the number one accessory that seems to be mounted on every single m4a1 these days is an An/PEQ-2 unit. When mounted, it gives your gun a sleek Special Forces look, and allows for more battery space. You can fit a 9.6v nunchuck battery inside most brands, and the ICS unit allows for the special ICS 9.6v 1700mah An/PEQ-2 custom battery (However this runs in the $45 plus range within the United States).
Modifying R.I.S.
The Mosquito Molds R.I.S. will not mount onto the Classic Army M15a4 series of guns without modifications. Now, the modifications needed are not difficult, but they WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY. Like you needed the warranty anyways….hehe. The reason the MM R.I.S. will not mount is because Classic Army uses a huge outer barrel to combat the barrel wobble on the Marui’s. To modify the R.I.S., you will need a file, some allen wrenches, and a bit of elbow grease. Closest to the receiver is where the CA outer barrel is thickest, and just so happens that is where two tabs protrude on the inside of the R.I.S. You will need to sand these down until the space is wide enough to fit around the outer barrel. Now, you can out the R.I.S. onto the gun. But wait! It spins around 360 degrees! What you will have to do now is unscrew the small screw under the front sight, and move the whole assembly including the front ring back. This will make the R.I.S. unit much more tight. However, you will notice that it still spins. That is because the CA front ring does not have the same size tabs as the Marui. So, you will now have to file down the first R.I.S. tab on all four sides so that it can slip into the delta ring and latch onto the tabs. There, you now have the R.I.S. unit mounted onto the CA M15a4. You may notice that it still wobbles slightly, and if you ant a more permanent fix, just superglue the front of the R.I.S. to the ring.
Conclusion
Like I said above, the Mosquito Molds R.I.S. is the best option when considering an R.I.S. system for your m4a1. It has a better build quality than the Marui R.I.S. unit, and unlike the Marui R.I.S., the MM R.I.S. does not have screws holding the rails on.
|
