So in my recent post I showed off the new TM VSR-10 G-Spec I picked up from a local shop. As I said before, I either go all in or not at all. So below is a breakdown of where I picked up my parts, the upgrades parts I picked up and my experience thus far with installing these upgrades and testing.
Category Archives: Internal Parts
Upgrades -> Tokyo Marui Glock 17
My Glock 17 has operated almost perfectly since I initially received it close to two years ago. Out of the box, you can’t beat the performance of a TM Glock. But despite this initial perfection, there’s always that voice in the back of your head telling you it can perform better.
So onto what I’ve done to push performance and durability on my TM Glock 17.
NSR 11 High-Speed Build
Much to the chagrin of my wallet, I started a (second) new summer airsoft project: a high speed build. I’m far from the best gunsmith I know, and the prospect of building my own AEG from the ground up scared me a little, but my experience gained from the M110 building inspired me enough to take the plunge. I figured with 5 years in the hobby it was time to learn how to actually build my own guns.
More details after the break.
Random Airsoft Musings: The Tokyo Marui Recoil Shock HK416, and leaving well enough alone.
Whenever you acquire a new AEG, you usually have to answer a series of questions. Many are basic:
- what role will it play in my armoury, and does it fill a gap in said armoury or does it’s role overlap with other AEGs in my collection?
- What optics and other external accessories will I add to it, if any?
- Do I have the batteries and magazines I want to run with it?
For those of us who like to indulge in airsoft gunsmithing (and I would guess the majority of those who are reading this fall into this category), we have the following question:
- What is my aim in terms of internal mods? High FPS DMR? Low FPS/High RPS bullet hose? Somewhere in-between? Am I looking purely for enduance/reliability mods, or am I willing to sacrifice long term reliability in my pursuit for the absolute best performance?
But for those that are lucky enough to acquire a Tokyo Marui Recoil Shock AEG, we must also answer the following:
- Should I bother touching the internals at all?
More on my thoughts on the unique conundrum posed by the Recoil Shock series after the break.
ARES M110 Project (Part 3): Setbacks and Lube
That was a hilarious title for a post, I know.
Anyway, following the fixes detailed in my last post that involved swapping the V3 tappet plate for a V2 one, I took the M110 to the field this past weekend, and during lunchtime, gave it a shot. I had not one, but two new issues pop up.
Issue one: feeding issues.
Thankfully, I was able to chalk this one up to the BBs I was using – Tamashi brand 0.30s. I’ve had good luck with the Tamashi 0.25s I’ve used in the past, which fed perfectly in my IAR and yielded impressive results accuracy and range wise. I switched to 0.25s and the feeding issues largely disappeared, so I’m satisfied with just calling it a BB issue and leaving it at that. Some guns just inexplicably like certain weights/brands of BBs. The good news is it fed pretty reliably once I switched to the Tamashi 0.25s, so the feeding issues of the past couple of entries have been solved, at least for now.
The second issue is a little more concerning: the M110 is double cycling on semi-auto, which is obviously no bueno for an AEG shooting at DMR fps levels.
I opened up the box when I got home and cleaned then re-lubed (lol, lube) the entirety of the gearbox. I discovered that the likely culprit for the double cycling is the cut-off lever, which looks a little worse for wear. The previous owner of the gearbox warned me that this particular part was a little worn out, so I’m likely going to have to salvage the part from the new V2 box I ordered and toss that into the M110 box.
Sigh. The project continues…
ARES M110 Project (Part 2): Setbacks and Fixes
I didn’t play this past weekend, but I did get the chance to get out to the field and try out some AEGs in preparation for an upcoming sim. With a mixture of trepidation and anticipation, I brought out the M110, loaded a mag, connected a battery, and pulled the trigger.
It cycled fine. It didn’t shoot, though.
More on my fix and the ridiculous source of the problem after the break.
ARES M110 Project (Part 1): Building The Thing
hooray portrait orientation pic!
I must apologize to the FN SCAR-H; I think I’m falling for a another 7.62 FDE DMR. I’ve gotten to know her pretty well over the past couple of months, and, well, for the first time in my airsoft career, I wasn’t afraid to be inside her.
Read of my love affair after the break.
Upgrades – Part 3
In addition to the aforementioned questions in my rants about upgrades, a topic that has come up rather repeatedly from customers at work is: which part to upgrade first?
Simply put, an upgraded airsoft gun is a sum of its parts to achieve a specific result.
No single part will give you amazing performance, but rather it is tuning of every part that will result in awesome performance. While specific results can be addressed by tuning different part groups of said BB blaster, generally speaking installation of a single part in most platforms out of the box won’t give you laser straight performance as is. Having an idea of the exact results you want helps, though for most new players they haven’t yet realized the marginal improvements that can be made, nor the limitations imposed by field rules (generally around muzzle energy for minimizing injuries). In this case, I find that finding a specific performance aspect that could use improvement to be the easiest way to evaluate what to upgrade next.
Moving on from the topic of teching individual parts, there are other factors that come into play for consistency, accuracy & range. I myself am happy with imperfect ammo, as acquiring the “perfect” heavy weight BB has proven to be a long drawn out process, and at a premium price. Finding a BB that is “good enough” and feeds in all my guns without drastic changes in performance due to BB size has proven to be my own personal solution to the ammunition factor.
My preferred muzzle velocity also has become a factor when considering BB weight – I find that constant air volume guns such as AEG and PTW give the most stable flight path when muzzle velocity with said BB remains below a given muzzle velocity, while being able to travel fast enough to still be able to hit a moving target. On the other hand, I have avoided remaining at “original power” due to slight increase in range (up to a point) by increased energy alone… and sufficient impact for my targets to realize they’ve been hit. As such, this generally translates to most of my AEG muzzle velocities being tuned up to match the BB weight that I have selected to match range of hop up adjustment, so on so forth. An important thing to keep in mind here, as best worded by a variety of tech minded local guys – maximum FPS at a field is a limit, not a goal.
Budget – while spending thousands on a PTW and high end parts that sucker is an easier way towards achieving high performance with high reliability and fewer hassles, this path is not always feasible for all airsoft players, including myself. Hence why having an idea of what exactly you want improved in performance & then determining what parts will need to be improved is the way that I usually tackle my personal projects. If I had an unlimited budget and time, perhaps all my guns would be fully tuned up with high end Japanese quality parts and done by infinitely more professional, knowledgeable and precise gun docs than my own ability affords, but the harsh reality that I face more often than I care to admit is that I’m not that rich and that I have to spend time working towards every purchase… if only, right?
Finally, sure, I’ve done this enough by now that I have preset formulas in my mind of the “basic” upgrades I do to my V2/V3 AEG & TM pattern GBB pistols – but fine tuning from there is what gives each of my guns its own unique personality that defines the role I use each one for. High ROF AEG with big battery packs to compensate for higher drain for run and gun lazy days with high caps in pockets, GBB rifles and bags of mags for those days when I want extreme realism, guns tuned for a balance of long range/tighter groups for days when I want to really reach out and touch someone, and AEG with simpler internal work because they will just run when I’ve got nothing else left that is in working condition in my arsenal. Each is built for a specific result in mind, even though my personal expectations of what a tuned airsoft gun can achieve have resulted in some similarities between my AEG tuning jobs… not to mention the accessories, related kit, and overall look that each is built for – but that’s a topic for another time.
In conclusion, there’s a reason why an upgraded airsoft gun is said to be “tuned” by the tech for the end user. Unfortunately, there is not one PERFECT build that offers high end, high performance, low budget, high ROF, high FPS, high reliability, hard kick, long range, and tight grouping AND that will fit the wants (and needs) of every single airsofter out there – not everyone wants everything out of their airsoft gun.
In my opinion, the best place to start is? Upgrade the player first, then upgrade the gun.
/rant.
Recoil Shock Upgrades – Part 4
While I don’t have many photos to go with this long block of text, I do feel that the following is worth sharing for those who are interested.
LCT “Reliability”
I opened up my mostly stock LCT AKS-74 gearbox for further upgrading (finally)… and this is what I was totally blown away to find. Surprising part is that the gearbox had continued to cycle in this state for who knows how long (well past the point at which I would usually service a brand new gearbox), with no major change in sound.
Russian style reliability in Taiwan made gearbox, I suppose. It just works.
LCT piston body broken (full rack still intact, not bent – better than Deep Fire). LCT bevel gear sitting off axis, worn itself into LCT bushing on an angle, yet still cycled fine.
Overhoppers 