Crosman M417 rifle - M4177

Look here to see me shooting a REAL AR-15/ M203 Grenade Launcher:
youtube.com/watch?v=esjeYVapMRs


If you want a BETTER rifle with semi-automatic fire, check out the Baretta CX-4. 



BUILD QUALITY AND DESIGN

 
The Crosman M4-177 is essentially a Crosman 760 Pumpmaster  redesigned to look like a Colt M4 carbine assault rifle.    The M4-177 uses a similar ammo layout as it’s cousin. There is a 300 BB reservoir with an 18 round BB magazine. The gun also accepts 5-round Crosman-brand pellet clips.  Because this is a multi-pump pneumatic, the pellets do not cycle automatically. You will need to fire bb’s or pellets one by one. In between shots, you’ll need to pump the gun’s pumpgrip up to 10 times to reach the advertised 625 feet per second velocity.

Because of some visual elements such as a short detachable clip (instead of longer and curved) and a very thick heat shield, the M4-177 actually resembles an AR-15, rather than the Colt M4.  Either the marketers wanted to cash in on the “M4” name or they weren’t paying attention.  Still, this is a very good looking gun which carries the high-end military design very well.  The true AR has a longer barrel than the M4, but there are so many versions of the M4 and M16 that none of these rifles are 100% true to spec. 

This gun is built with a high quality plastic receiver and rifled metal barrel. Weight comes in at a reasonable 3.25lbs which is actually closer to the AR-15’s  5.5lbs than the M4A1’s 6.36lbs.  With looks this aggressive and a pricetag of just $99.99, the M4-177 is priced to sell to Call of Duty/ Battlefield 3 addicts who are desperate to have their very own assault rifle, but, can’t for numerous legal reasons.  There is no age limit on bb-rifles, but, obviously, you don’t want to buy these for a young child unless you are the staunchest of 2ndAmendment demonstrators.

As far as articulation goes,  I loved the fact the M4-177 has a telescopic stock that adjusts in 5 clicks (just like the real thing)  I am terribly disappointed that the “select fire” switch is nothing more than a loading port for BB’s and the “charging handle” is just for looks and inanimate.  The big disappointment is that attachments on the pump handle can possibly impede pumping if they are large (like flashlights).


The clip can be removed to store a second pellet magazine. But, why couldn't they have used the clip to store 30 pellets on a belt feed system like some of the Russian made BB guns? 


Above the receiver there is a dovetail rail which will accept just about any scope or optical BBgun attachment you can get from Walmart, Dick’s or Sport’s Authority.  Most likely, you’ll want to buy a holographic/red dot sight to make it look like it does in the video games (red dot sight for me!!!).        There are even secondary attachment points for an optional laser sight and/or flashlight.  
 
 
SHOOTING THE M4-177

 
I tried using this gun with a standard Tasco 4x15 riflescope and found fired BB’s to be predictably inaccurate. Since this gun has a rifled barrel, you’ll want to use pellets to protect it.  I had the best accuracy using domed Crosman brand pellets and pointed Daisy “hunting” pellets.     The iron sights already on the gun out of the box are very accurate at short ranges (~20 meters) and  it’s fairly easy to get a 2 inch group using them.

 
The front sight and the rear sight can be adjusted easily for windage or elevation by hand.  They can also be removed if you want to use nothing but attachments.

 
I also like the easy-to-use crossblock safety mechanism which will ensure you don’t misfire the gun.

The M4-177 is really a one-shot rifle best used for backyard hunting/pest control.   At just over 600fps velocity, you aren’t “sniping” anything further away than 75 yards.   Thing is, a gun that looks like this is supposed to offer semi automatic and fully automatic firing modes.  There are, currently, military-style BBguns being sold that offer semi-automatic firing rates.  Most of them use CO2 cartridges and battery-powered electronic firing systems.   The IZH “Drozd”  is an older model.   Uzi makes a semi automatic  Uzi replica. Umarex makes a Personal Defense Weapon replica called the, “Steel Storm”, which fires 6 round bursts.  Even Heckler &Koch - makers of the world famous MP5 and UMP - builds a semi- automatic MP5 replica in the .177 caliber.

 
There is no reason Crosman couldn’t have based the firing mechanism on the Crosman 1077 semi-automatic, 12-shot, pellet rifle or, gone all out and given the gun an automatic firing mechanism like the Drozd.  Even at a possible price of $200, it would still sell very well considering the only other assault rifle like this on the market is the $2500 Anschutz 8001 M16.

 
Crosman would have been smarter to design pump action guns into a “sniper rifle” replicas  like the Barrett .50 caliber M82  or the .408 Cheyenne Tac “Intervention”.  Those would sell really well I’ll bet.
 

 
OVERALL

 
I don’t recommend buying the Crosman M4-177 unless you specifically want a sub $100 pump rifle that looks the way it does. If you wait a good year or two, I’m sure one of the other companies manufacturing BB guns will get a semi-automatic M4 replica onto the market.   Buying this rifle is a conundrum because it should be a BB rifle with a smooth bore, but, it’s been tasked with double duty as a BB/pellet gun.  I only recommend firing pellets with this gun so as to get the highest accuracy and not to damage the barrel rifling.

 
It’s a good looking gun with an attractive price, but, it doesn’t perform as well as it looks.

Check out the "Halo Battle Rifle" style Baretta CX-4.