Strap in, it's gonna be a long one.
Let me start by giving my credentials for writing this review. I've been an airsofter for eight years. I have multiple custom guns, one of which is a 2018 OCAW, that I got 2 years ago (in 2018 duh). So, let me tell you why these guys are the best in the business.
First of all I'm going to address the cost. If cost is not an issue/concern, then scroll down the service-related portion of my review.
Yes, the OCAWs are $2000, however I assure you, you are not in any way paying for the brand name. Here is why: To build this gun yourself it would cost you around $1200 in parts. They use top of the line parts including star wei motors, retro arms gearboxes(expensive), siegetek gears(expensive), pts furniture, custom retro arms receivers(expensive), maxx hop-ups, and top-of-the-line barrels. You are also going to have to invest days learning to build and then fine-tune the gun. You cannot simply put all the lego-pieces together and have a great gun. These guys put the gun together and take it apart several times, correcting the shimming, and cutting the spring to get the fps perfectly on point. So, you have to add in the several hours of labor they have to pay their techs to build the guns. Let's say a master-tech takes 8 hours to build a $2000 gun, test it and make sure its perfect. With the insanely high cost of living in California, let's assume they pay around $25/hour for a master-tech. That's $200 in labor.
So far $1200 in parts, and $200 in labor.
Then we need to factor in the warranty. These guns come with a 1-year warranty, which includes shipping. My gun had an issue about 5 months in (i play 1-2 times per week for about 6 hours each. So, I put more wear in 3 months than the average player does in a year). Personally, i'm in Florida, so when my gun needed to go back for the repair it cost $90 in round trip shipping. Then it took tech labor hours to take it apart, clean it, and fix it. It needed a new spring, and a severe cleaning. Let's say 2 hours, that's $50(labor) and $20(spring). ALSO, while it was there, they put in a new blue pro-win (before maxxs existed) because it had a silver one and the blue one was better, FOR FREE. Add another $30. That warranty service cost them $190(shipping, labor, parts) in total.
So now, we are at $1400 + $190 = $1590, leaving $310. Some might argue that's still a lot for 1 gun.
I happened to send my gun in again for routine maintenance around 11 months into it, the fps had slowed down because I wore out the spring(I had fired around 60k shots which is A LOT for 6 months). Because it was the first routine maintenance visit, which is covered in the warranty, they paid for it. Another $90 in shipping, and 2 hours of labor. Add another $140 to the total.
Now we have $1730 in parts, labor, and shipping that has all come out of that $2000. That leaves profits at $270.
Now we need to factor in that these are $2000 guns, which means they are not selling as fast as a stock vfc, krytac, g&g, or any other brand. They sell a lot less, and as a result need to make more per gun to cover the other overhead expenses like rent, electricity, water, etc... At the end of the day, they are not charging a premium for the brand name, they are simply making ends meet, with maybe a small profit left over for the original founders/investors to gain (but that's the whole point of owning your own business right?). Yes, they might make more on some guns than they did on mine. I certainly hope they do, because mine hasn't left them much wiggle room at all.
Now I'm going to go over the service.
Personally, I have never received anything besides top-notch customer service. I'm aware they had some issues in the past (they freely admit this over the phone). However, they have done what any good business does, and have striven to correct those issues. Personally, once or twice my gun has taken longer than they originally told me it would to ship back out to me. Every time that has happened, they have paid the return shipping, even when I told them to charge me for it. In fact, once, I had told them that I needed it back by X date for an Op and purposely sent it in an extra week early, so they had said it would ship out in time. They had an internal hiccup, and it didn't go out as scheduled, so they covered the expedited 3 day shipping to make sure it got to me on time.
In fact, to speak about going above and beyond, the owner Jordan has called me himself a few times to go over what needed fixing/maintenance in my gun. One of the times I sent it in for maintenance I told them I had a huge Op coming up that my team got asked to be Special forces for(tryhard and silly af, i know...), and that I needed the gun to be absolutely perfect. Jordan called me and told me he would do the maintenance himself to ensure perfection.
Bottom line, it's been my experience they are the best in the business, and OCAWs are well worth the price. read more
