Model RRA SA-E04 EDGE™ Long-Term Review
I’ve owned this Specna Arms replica since October 2019 and it has worked flawlessly for about two years, with just some minor shimming and a hop-up bucking change. After that, the anti-reversal latch decided to give up and the gun would lock up in semi-auto fire. I took it to my tech and we decided to give it some upgrades that would increase performance.
When the EDGE series from Specna Arms first came out it was probably the best value-for-money proposition in this price range. They managed to get licensing from Rock River Arms, a company that is well-known for manufacturing high-quality firearms for US government agencies like the DEA, FBI, and the United States Marshals. This meant that you actually got a very cool logo engraved on the lower receiver and a unique serial number.
The EDGE series offers a variety of M4/AR15 models ranging from the classic looks of the M4 carbine to modern, tactical rifles with interesting rail designs. The replicas had the same quality internal components, just different body styles and sizes so every player could pick something that he/she liked.
Basic Information About the E04 Model
| Length | 695 – 780 mm |
| Weight | 2580 grams ~ 5.68 pounds |
| Inner barrel length | 275 mm |
| Inner barrel diameter | 6.03 mm |
| Magazine | 2 S-MAG mid-cap magazines 125 BB capacity |
| Gearbox version | Version 2 |
| Mosfet | Gate X-ASR |
| Batter connector | Deans/T-connect |
Why I Bought the EDGE 04
From the models that were available at the online store I preferred, I picked out the E04 because I quite like the more classic look of M4s with the fixed front sight post and it came with the shorter 10-inch barrel that makes it more maneuverable in tight spaces. Basically, the E04 looks like a replica of the original MK18, the so-called Mod 0. In my mind, I could always buy a barrel extension and get the same look as the E03 model, which was the full-size carbine-length rifle if I felt like it.
I was at the beginning of my airsoft career and this was actually my second airsoft gun, my first being a Cyma AK which you can read about here. The AK was fun to play with, but since I am a shorter guy I wanted a lighter, more compact replica that I could use with my fast, aggressive play style (I like to flank a lot).
At this point, I wasn’t very knowledgeable about airsoft guns so I asked the more experienced players at my field what they would recommend. Most guys were impressed with this new line from Specna Arms because it came with a lot of extras that most guns didn’t have. Mosfets were already popular, but most guns didn’t come with one already installed and having one meant that you didn’t have to spend money for an aftermarket part.
Another important thing to mention is that Specna decided to include a lot of extra accessories in the box, which really brought up the value you received. First of all, you got two polymer mid-capacity magazines which was something unusual since most other guns were usually shipped with high-cap magazines. Basically, the two mid-caps combined to give you the same BB capacity as a regular M4 hi-cap (around 300). Both original magazines are black, I just happened to buy some extra tan ones because they are very reliable.
Other accessories include an extra M90 spring for CQB play, a vertical grip, and two rail cover panels. All these bought separately would probably end up costing around $50. Instead, you get them for free and you can choose whether you want to use them or not.
Unboxing the Specna Arms Edge 04
The Edge 04 comes in a nice cardboard box with the Rock River Arms logo, the Specna Arms logo, and a few other pieces of information about the replica. It is held in place by some thick foam which has cutouts for all the extra accessories. Here is what you find inside:
- The replica
- 2 S-MAG mid-cap magazines
- 2 rail covers
- Vertical grip
- M90 spring
- GATE X-ASR diagnostics card
- User’s manual
- Certificate
- Specna Arms branded lanyard
- Dean to Tamiya adapter
External Components/Build quality
The replica has a full metal build, meaning that all the parts that are metal on the real gun are also made of metal. The upper and lower receiver, the outer barrel, the buffer tube, the front sight post, and the rail system are all made of metal. Polymer parts include the pistol grip, the adjustable stock, and the flip-up rear sight.
The body is covered with a special nano-coating finish that does a decent job of protecting against scratches, but it isn’t infallible. After a few years and lots of skirmishes, some minor knicks and lines have begun to appear. The upper receiver has begun to show a few spots of rust, but that is because I used to store my replicas in a basement with high humidity.
The lower receiver has the Rock River Arms Logo and an unique serial number as it is an officially licensed product. The upper receiver has no markings and has the polymer flip-up sights attached to it. Pulling back on the charging handle open the dust cover and reveal the rotary hop up unit.
The handguard is the standard quad RIS rail, measuring 155 mm. It can be taken apart simply by pulling back on the delta ring, thus releasing the lower section. You can mount the vertical foregrip and the rail covers to it if you want a more “tacticool” look or you can just leave it bare.
I will note however that the delta ring mounting system isn’t the best and the handguard will slightly wobble when you apply enough force. The lower section is simply held in place with spring pressure as the back ring pushes it against the front ring. If that bothers you, you can always replace the rail with another model that has a better lockup.
The muzzle device is a simple bird cage flash hider that is standard on M4s. It can be detached revealing a 14 mm counter-clockwise thread. This will accept the majority of airsoft muzzle accessories like tracer units, barrel extensions, mock suppressors, or amplifiers.
The magazines were specifically designed for the Edge series. The S-Mags are made of polymer and have a nice texture that is actually made up of lots of miniature Specna Arms logos. This makes them easy to grip and manipulate even with gloves. The magazine springs were designed to work with airsoft guns with a higher rate of fire. Using a 7.4 Volt LiPo battery and 0.28 gram BBs the magazines were able to reliably feed even after I upgraded the rifle.
Because it is a basic M4, the replica also works with magazines from other brands. So far I have I have used Cyma, VFC, Delta Armory and BattleAxe magazines and all have fed reliably. So if you have a bunch of M4 magazines lying around, they will probably work with this rifle as well.
The stock is made of polymer and is 5-position adjustable. By removing the but plate, you get access to the battery connector. There is plenty of space for both stick-type and butterfly-type batteries inside the stock however, the space in the buffer tube is a bit limited because that is also where the GATE X-ASR mosfet lives. Connecting the battery will power it up and it will flash green LEDs if the gun is in working condition.
The front sight post is the typical M4 style, with its underside having a bayonet lug and a sling loop. Be advised, this loop is quite loose and it will rattle when it hits the handguard. If you plan on being sneaky, you’d better find a way to keep it fixed.
Internal Components and Features
At the point of its release the EDGE series was quite a revelation. It featured excellent internals for the price, a mosfet, a 6.03 tight bore barrel, rotary style hop-up unit, an aluminum nozzle, bearing-mounted spring guide, 8 mm bearings, aluminum cylinder head and piston head. In addition, it came with the ESA quick spring change system that makes swapping springs easy for outdoor and indoor play.
One of the main selling points of the EDGE series is the ORION gearbox. The manufacturer states that the internal components and the gearbox shell can handle springs up to M140. Installing such a spring would probably bring up the power to DMR levels, but I wouldn’t recommend it. I think that the motor would struggle to pull back such a spring. Another problem would be that the cylinder is ported for this E04 model because it features a shorter barrel. It simply wouldn’t have the air volume to support a DMR build on this platform without heavy modification.
While most airsoft replicas come with a mosfet these days, back in 2019 that was kind of a novelty. That being said the Gate X-ASR isn’t an amazing mosfet by today’s standards. It simply works as a smart fuse that protects the electronics of the gun and the battery. It also improves trigger response and has a basic diagnostic function that you can interpret using the diagnostics card which you get in the box. When you plug in the battery it will flash green LEDs if the gun is in working order and red if it detects an issue.
The mosfet isn’t programable, meaning that you can’t replace firing modes like switching full auto to burst fire. However, having it onboard means that the gun is “LiPo ready”, meaning you can use a LiPo battery to power it without the risk of burning the trigger contacts.
I have always run this gun with a 7.4 Volt LiPo or a 7.4 volt LiIon battery from Titan. The trigger response in semi is good enough even when the gun is stock and the rate of fire is sufficient. I’m not a fan of overshooting people so I mainly do short bursts when aiming at stationary targets and longer bursts if the target is moving.
The gun can run with an 11.1 volt battery, making the rate of fire and trigger response better. However, the guy that does my tech work said that Specna gears tend to wear out fast when you use an 11.1 battery. I trust his expertise on this simply because he gets to work on a lot of Specna replicas, not because they are bad, but simply because they are very popular around here and lots of people use them extensively.
If you do decide to use an 11.1 battery for the added performance, you must accept that at some point something will fail inside the gearbox and you will need someone to fix it.
The inner barrel is 6.03 mm in diameter and is made of brass. It’s not the best but certainly not the worse. Cleaning it regularly will ensure that the gun runs well and you could even try polishing it some more. I used the standard barrel for 2 years before I replaced it.
The hop-up unit is the rotary style which allows for a good range of adjustment and it stays in place when set to your desired BB weight. It is one of the internal components which I haven’t felt the need to replace. It simply works so I will use it until it decides to break.
The standard bucking is decent. Out of the box the gun could lift 0.25, 0.28 and 0.3 gram BBs well. I haven’t tried anything heavier as I simply didn’t have them available. Keep in mind that airsoft buckings will wear out over time and their performance will decrease in colder temperatures. I replaced the bucking after a few months with the MR. Hop Up 60° Silicone bucking from Maple Leaf as it offered better performance during winter games.
Upgrades for the EDGE E04
I used the gun stock for a few months and was very pleased with the performance. I didn’t yet feel the need for upgrades so I avoided putting more money into the replica because there were other pieces of gear that I wanted to invest into. I generally do this with all my rifles, where I upgrade them only after a part fails and needs replacing.
When the gun started to shoot right, I took it in for repairs. This was because the bucking had a small tear and had to be replaced. As stated above, I went for a Maple Leaf silicone bucking because it had better performance in the cold.
The gun worked fine with the new bucking for about two years and that is when the internals began to wear out. The gun would lock up on semi-auto and I had to switch it to full auto and do a short burst for it to unlock. At first, this wasn’t an issue but in the end, I simply couldn’t run it anymore so I gave it to my tech. He simply said that this is a common issue and the anti-reversal latch does wear out over time. After discussing what we could do to fix the issue I decided to invest in a couple of upgrades.
The most important upgrade was installing a GATE Aster mosfet, just the basic model for version 2 gearboxes. If you’re not familiar with it, it is an optical sensor unit, that offers a lot of programming options. Coincidentally, this is the exact mosfet that is used in the EDGE 2.0 series by Specna Arms. Basically I upgraded my EDGE 1.0 to an EDGE 2.0.
Along with the mosfet, I had some new gears installed because the stock ones showed signs of wear and a Quantum Trigger (See in the picture above) as this works amazingly well with the Aster. The Quantum can be tuned to whatever sensitivity you like so now the trigger response in semi is insane.
The only other upgrades I had done was replacing the inner barrel with an ZCI 6.02 mm diameter model and changing the bucking to a Maple Leaf Super Macaron with the Omega Nub. This has helped improved accuracy at longer ranges. Because I couldn’t find an ZCI barrel that had the exact length as the stock barrel, I had to get a longer one. Because of this, it sticks out of the outer barrel, but I simply use either a suppressor or a barrel extension to cover it.
All these upgrades did end up costing over $150, but now the gun offers similar performance to high-end AEGs. It is a trusty workhorse that has kept working without flaws for well over two years now. In the end, that is what airsoft is all about, getting a gun and working on it until you are satisfied with the results.
Verdict
The Specna Arms EDGE E04 is a great airsoft replica for beginners. You get great value for money and excellent performance out of the box. If you don’t like the classic look, you can find more modern M4 variants in this lineup and different size options. One of the best things about this replica is that it comes with lots of extra accessories and two mid-capacity magazines. Admittedly the EDGE 2.0 series offers better performance, but it is more expensive.
Would I recommend the E04 to new players? Yes. It is a reliable performer out of the box and because the internals are not proprietary, it makes a good platform for future upgrades. It will accept most after-market parts for a version 2 gearbox. In addition, Specna Arms has great spare parts support, so if anything breaks you should be able to find a replacement.
The external quality is ok. My replica has seen lots of abuse since I have also lent it to some of my friends who wanted to get into the sport. One of them even managed to break the fake bolt by pulling back the charging handle without unlocking it. I could find a replacement part for this but I simply haven’t bothered. The only downside is that now you can see the hop-up and cylinder when the dust cover is open, but it doesn’t bother me.
The Good
- Good for beginner airsoft players
- Good price
- Good performance out of the box
- Lots of accessories included
- Good platform for upgrades
The Bad
- Internals will wear out fast if you use an 11.1 battery
- Handguard wobbles
- The mosfet isn’t programmable
Most of the information in this review applies to all the Specna Arms AEGs in EDGE 1.0 series. They share the same internal components with just the external design being different. Some of the longer models may come with a full cylinder instead of the ported cylinder, but that isn’t always the case.