ICS "MA" series upper mechboxes

[hondatech]

Searching didn't come up with much, so I'm hoping someone out there has some experience with these. I'm looking to upgrade the performance of my ICS M4 somewhat, so I've been looking at the "MA" pre-loaded upper mechboxes from ICS themselves. Of people that have used them what kind of FPS did you get out of them, and which would be the best match to my stock barrel length M4? MA-48? MA-56? Google searching didn't turn up any retailers in north america (or any of the one like WGC and UNC in Asia either) that carry them. Anyone know of a supplier?

Failing that, which item in the upper gearbox are compatible with easy to get aftermarket components, and which stock parts have to stay for proper operation?

Thanks in advance!

[Greylocks]

You need just the basic AEG upgrades, and there are stickied threads about that.
Last I checked, ICS already had metal bushings. So just change the spring. If you want a very strong spring, you may have to change other things.

If you want a better answer, be more precise than just saying 'somewhat'. What do you want exactly? Give us an FPS level. And even before asking, check the pinned subjects. The odds are good that your solution is already there.

[QcWarzone]

Just ordered and put back together the upper part of my ICS M16 mech box. I believe I ordered it from Airsplat, as they were the only ones who had them stock. Run a google search for ICS upper mech box and here is the part number for future reference: MA-47

Good luck!

[hondatech]

If you want a better answer, be more precise than just saying 'somewhat'. What do you want exactly?

Whoops, 380-400 FPS is about where I'd like to end up. One of the reasons the MA preloaded uppers appealed to me, their M120 would get me right around there with a minimum of fuss. Which brings us to...

I believe I ordered it from Airsplat, as they were the only ones who had them stock.

Bingo! I see they don't use the part number at all in the descrpition, which was bombing my search. Found it, thank for the heads up!

[Greylocks]

There you go. And if you cant get the entire upper assembly, just get a spring that rates at the power level you want.

[vatek]

ICS come with metal bushings? Must be a new gen, mine's only about a year old and it has plastic as far as I know.

[Death March]

I put the MA-56 upper gearbox in and it came with everything,Alum.piston head,cyl.head,Alum.piston,M-120 spring and a new upper shell,nozzel and tappet.It pushed the Gun up to 397fps and has been that way for about..year and half.No problems with it if you pay attention to what your doing when you put it together.I love it,it's given me less problems than alot of my newer M4's.P.M me if you need some help with it,or McGuyver knowes ICS.Hope it helps!

[mcguyver]

I tried the MA-56 upper as well and I had nothing but trouble with the set-up. The ICS aluminum piston broke, ok, so I replaced it with a Systema aluminum piston. It lasted halfway through Keystone Strike and broke as well, this time breaking the piston head. I replaced the internals (minus cylinder, spring and guide) with all Guarder components and have not used it since.

I did notice that when it was running with the ICS M120, I would get between 392 and 405 FPS. The PEQ battery had a hard time with any more than about 200 rounds (ICS PEQ battery). When I went to the new version ICS M4 and installed a Prometheus MS110 spring and an 8.4v 3000mah battery, I could go all day and then some on 1 battery. Now velocity is about 360 pretty consistantly.

I find that an M120 coupled with the gear ratio ICS uses means that you should use a quality battery with as big MAH rating as possible. If it were my gun, I would go with a 110 m/s spring and replace the ICS aluminum piston with something else. I have had 2 break on me so far in 2 different guns and they both broke at the final tooth guides.

[hondatech]

So, flawless and failure. Interesting. mcguyver, what would you recommend for a replacement piston, an aluminum one or a polycarbonate one? What mAh rating was the ICS PEQ battery? I've got a pair of 9.6V 1700 mAh V packs to use with mine.

Keep this experience coming guys :tup:

[mcguyver]

The battery was the ICS 9.6v 1700mah PEQ battery. I replace the piston with a Guarder one and the other spare upper I have got G&P piston. I still keep the stock upper for those "just in case" times. I have had other pistons fail on me before, but not 2 in the same way. A $20 piston is an easy fix and not too bad on the wallet either.

Try it with your battery set-up and see what happens. If you need to drop to an M110 spring, at least it's only a 5 minute job.

[Death March]

Wow,I'v never had any of thoes formentioned problems(McGuyver) with my MA-56,I also run Systema hardened gears (Stock ratio) and the ICS turbo 3000 with a 9.6 2200 G&P battery.The batter I had to use with that high mAh in order to game it all day with that set-up.I tryed the 9.6 1700mAh and it just didn't cut it,I had about a 1000 rnds out of it and it would die.I have noticed a wear patteren on the piston teeth,but there are alot of rnds on this unit and I do have an extra ICS alum. piston on hand"just in case lol".I found that it did take me two hours of shimming to get the gear box right to work with this set-up thow.Cheers!

[hondatech]

Thanks for the insight Deathmarch!

Now, here's another question for you ICS inclined folks. As QcWarzone found, Airsplat has the MA-47 box. Now, www.evike.com has the MA-47, AND the MA-54 and MA-55 boxes. They're pretty similar, with the differences being:

MA-47 - Stock bore cylinder with two vented openings, plastic piston and head.

MA-54 - Overbore piston with four vented openings, Overbore aluminum piston head and aluminum piston.

MA-55 - Stock Bore cylinder with no vented openings, Aluminum piston and stock head.

So, since I'm using a stock length barrel M4, would the MA-54's four vent cylinder be ok, or should I use one of the other ones?

[Death March]

I'll have to check,but I think the MA-54 has the oversized Cylinder with the four vents in that were as the MA-56 has no openings and is a full size cylinder.I'm not too sure about the spec.'s on the MA-54,but if your really wanting that 400fps range,the MA-56 has mine at 397fps and it's my outdoor unit(I'v two other M4's for CQB),so you will not be able to use it at any indoor place that I know of.One thing to keep in mind too is that with that kind of fps. comes more up-keep and bigger chance of failure.I usally service the Unit after every game(grease,oil, clean the motor etc.) It all depends or your intended use for the gun! Nice thing about ICS is you can swap your stock upper gearbox for indoor and use the MA-56 for outdoor!Hope that helps.