A&K M4 SPR Mod (Nod) 1 Review
We had the opportunity to test A&K’s new M4 SPR Mod (Nod) 1 from their All Metal line. And what is this that we hear about it sporting an m130 spring? Read on to find out how it stacks up?
The A&K SPR Mod (Nod) 1
What’s Included
This AEG comes with the expected parts and accessories in the box. 8.4 volt 1500 milliamp crane style battery, A&K 350 round hi-cap magazine, nylon rail mounting fore grip, small Phillips screw driver, wall charger, small package of bb’s from unknown origin. Oddly enough there was no manual in the box, which is consistent with other reviews of this rifle.
Construction
It came as no surprise to me when I first picked up this weapon that it feels like a rock. I had, just a few days ago, finished the review on the new A&K SR-25 and you can tell these two weapons are from the same line. “All metal” is really no stretch. Of course the stock itself and the pistol grip are plastic but the entire rest of the weapon is completely metal. The rail (RIS) on this rifle is numbered. Not something that I will probably actually need, but it is cool none the less. The flash hider appears to have a 14mm counter-clockwise attachment. However I was unable to get it to release and unscrew. I used all the force I dared but just could not get it to back off. After loosening the hex locking pin, if you are having the same problem (or you are not), please let us know in the comments for this review. Like a lot of the new all metal weapons being released these days, the text (SAFE, SEMI, AUTO) around the selector switch is merely printed on, not engraved. It still looks nice, but I am not sure how long it will last.
Numbered RIS, Removing the hex locking pin for the flash hider, The Selector Switch
(click for larger image)
Internals, Hop-up, Barrel, Motor
Although I could not find an official report of this, the word on the net is that this weapon is sporting an m130 spring. Now I know the A&K SR-25 houses an m130, but then again that is a DMR and makes complete sense. I was a little skeptical at first to believe that this rifle also had one. The hopup is a standard all metal unit. The motor is the same generic unit that was in the A&K SR-25. The barrel is of standard design but appears to be slightly shorter, at 355mm, than a standard m4 barrel (standard is 363mm). The gearbox also has all metal bushings and a metal spring guide.
First Shots
The first shot was taken completely with stock settings. Hopup was on the lowest setting and I did not clean the barrel. It chrono’ed at 443 fps. The next 10 shots ranged from 437 to 447. Very fast and good consistency. Needless to say, after these readings I no longer wondered if this rifle housed an m130 spring. I was sure of it. This weapon is obviously to hot for some airsoft fields. You may think about downgrading to an m120 spring to get that fps down to a more reasonable level. That would of course also give you a slight increase with your rate of fire. Speaking of ROF, we determined that on a full charge (with included battery) this rifle fires 11 rounds per second (660 rounds per minute).
Disassembly
This rifle disassembles like any other standard metal m4. Pull the forward receiver pin and then the upper and lower receiver can slide away from each other. Couldn’t be easier right? Well I don’t know if it was just this rifle or something with all of the Mod (Nod) 1 rifles but I had to, nothing short of, hammer the forward receiver pin out of place. It was a very tight fit. Then while putting the rifle back together did have to hammer the pin back into place. Note: if you have this problem, make sure to put something between your hammer and the pin to dampen the impact. Do not hammer directly on the pin.
The receiver pin being removed (click for larger image)
Spare Parts and Upgradability
Although I did not try to replace anything on the weapon it appears to me to be completely standard all the way around. Any upgrade or replacement parts should work with no problems.
Installing a crane stock battery
If you have never installed a battery into a crane stock it can be a little tricky. First thing you need to do is remove the battery caps. The battery caps are the little things located on either side of the crane stock that keep the two main battery cell clusters from falling out of the stock. The cap on the right rotates counter clockwise to remove it while the cap on the left rotates clockwise for removal.
The battery caps, both left and right, in place
Next, you need to actually install the battery. Note that the wires connecting the two 3-cell clusters are inserted first. The single cell cluster goes down the center of the stock.
One thing that is very important to remember. When replacing the battery caps you must make sure they are completely locked into place. If not you will never get the stock back onto the stock tube.
Mag Compatibility
With the included hi-cap magazine I, at first, had a hard time getting the mag catch to grab a hold of the mag. This seemed to work itself out very quickly though. After forcing the mag in 10 or 12 times it became very easy and held the mag very sturdy. MAG brand midcap mags were the only type that I was able to test. And just as suspected they worked flawlessly.
Purchasing Info
We received this weapon from PointAct.com. The current pre-shipping price cost is $198.00 US. Link to the A&K M4 SPR Mod (Nod) 1 on PointAct.com
The Tables and Score (tables not complete, waiting on field testing to be completed)
Scores (out of 10)
| Construction | 8.5 | Built to last, Standard 14mm thread, Wires in crane stock lost insulation and shorted out once. |
| Battle Durability | 10 | Solid as a rock |
| Velocity vs Claimed | 10 | It’s faster! |
| Accuracy | 8.5 | Shorter Barrel, but still impressive. |
| SCORE | 9.25 |
This table is ActualAirsoft Approved!
| Claimed | Tested | |
| Velocity (.20g) | 400-430 | ~440 |
| Effective Range | 150ft | |
| Accuracy at 75 ft | 100% | |
| Accuracy at 100 ft (14″ target) | 80% | |
| Accuracy at 125 ft (14″ target) | 70% | |
| Accuracy at 150 ft (14″ target) | 70% |
Additional Images (click images to enlarge)
Written by 
August 5th, 2008 at 3:10 am
Juts bought the gun:
- no problems with flash hider screwing/unscrewing
- problem with HopUp, didnt work at all, replacement free of charge
- replaced inner with longer 6,03 innerbarrel in length of silencer
- stronger battery 9,6 - 2200, satisfied, replaced conectors (6pin’s ones), for preventing battery power loss in case od missconnection
- gun acts satisfactory, not planing to sell or replace it
October 6th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Great gun had mine for a few months now only prob for me is a lost the battery caps but tape worked for me in the process of upgrading to increase my rate of fire
October 7th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Just got my a&k spr nod 1 i am incredibly sastisfied with the fps im a little afraid to actually shoot sum1 with it. I havent got to get a full 5-6 hour charge with the stock battery but i have charge it for bout an hour and im dissapointed to say it cant even finish 1 magazine on semi auto!!! I honestly cant see a drastic improvement with the extra hours but i will soon find out this weekend and i will repirt back with the update. Accuracy is really good vertically buts lacks a little horizontally at a distance. Also M1R3S can you post me a link on the battery u purchased that fit in the crane stock.
December 3rd, 2008 at 6:38 pm
The flash hider on my M4 SPC won’t come off! I’ve unscrewed the allen key, and tried to unscrew/pull it off to no avail! Any suggestions?
December 3rd, 2008 at 6:56 pm
B. Lumpkin
Many Airsoft guns also have glue in the threads of the flash hider. You need to warm it up, perhaps with a hair dryer. Of course if that is the problem.
January 19th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
what kind of silencer do you have on that gun? I have the A&K too and can’t seem to find a good silencer that would fit.Thanks!
January 19th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
We have had the Madbul GemTech G5 Quick Detach silencer fitted to this weapon with no problems.
April 14th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
i need battery caps for this gun could you help me find a site that has them?
May 4th, 2009 at 4:35 am
Hey ya’ll. This might be just a little off topic but, hear me out. I’ve purchased the A&K M16A4 just recently. I suppose it is safe to say the internals for the SPR and M16a4 are the same. When I received my rifle and tested it out with its fully charged stock battery, it seems that the cycle was very slow. After trying another battery (this time a Li-Po)from a friend, the gearbox stopped cycling (my thoughts then it locked) and I can hear the motor force cycling. The thing that came to mind was the gearbox needed serious re-shimming. ( I’ve read reports from forums that A&K gearboxes need to be re-shimmed out from the box since it seems this is a major issue with A&K ) So I took my gun to our local airsoft gun smith.
We found out that the shimming was actually fine. The problem was with the motor…it was defective. So we had the motor replaced immediately and it did fix the problem. ( I still had the gearbox re-shimmed though ). The stock battery ( I use it as a spare )was just fine since I can now empty 8 hi-cap mags before it runs out.
I guess my 2 cents here is to check your stock motor when getting an A&K. Maybe mine was just one of the lemons but, it may just save you a lot of trouble. Thanks!
June 8th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
hey i am looking into geting a gun froum a&k but i am worried that the gun wont last that long. is a&k a good brand to buy from
July 21st, 2009 at 10:38 pm
I have the Mod 0 variant and I must say, i am very impressed with its build. I have had it for about 10 months now and it shoots like a brand new gun. and trust me, i have put it through hell and back. its built with with some pretty high quality materials and its accuracy is very impressive. Im still looking into getting a tight bore barrel. If the shorter version of the mod 0 is just like the mod 0, then i would suggest anyone interested in it, to get it. Its a great bargain
August 27th, 2009 at 12:32 am
i was wondering if anyone had tried to romove the front sight, replace the pistol grip with like a magpul grip, or the trigger guard. id like so see someone put an m203 on it.
this is mine
[img]http://fc08.deviantart.com/fs49/i/2009/224/d/f/My_Baby_by_hertbonfaroff.jpg[/img]
September 14th, 2009 at 7:49 am
the problem with my a&k m4ris is the wobbling in both the front grip and the butt. how can i solve this problem?
November 25th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
can anyone tell me which gearbox does it have exactly???
i need to know because i want to install the tune-up kit.
i wanna go up to m160, as far as know guarder tune-up kits need some modifications, so can you help me out???
March 2nd, 2010 at 3:04 pm
[…] Full Metal SPR MOD0 Airsoft Gun by: A&K - Airsoft GI - Welcome to Here are reviews: SPR ActualAirsoft.com | A&K M4 SPR Mod (Nod) 1 Review (Same thing, just the crane stock and shorter barrel) SR-25 ActualAirsoft.com | A&K SR25 […]
August 29th, 2010 at 8:41 pm
i got my mod1 3 months ago and is running very strong. i hear a lot of people complaining about getting the flash hider off to put barrel extension on. i got the allen or hex(whatever it is) and slightly hammered int the screw. it took a while but i got it out. getting the stupid thing off was a pain in the butt though. i just got some pliers and twisted it off clockwise. other than the skrew being there they glued it in place i have no clue why, i just used my handy wire brush and lightly rubbed the glue off and put barrel extention on. i didnt put skrew back in. just get it really freakin tight