What's the reason for people to not do this?

[CuppoJava]

Hi,
I'm looking over some of the deals for the full-metal chinese TM clones and was wondering why people aren't doing this:

The clones are generally reviewed to have less adequate internals than their TM counterparts. Some people say it's horrible, and some say the difference is negligible. However, almost all people agree that the full-metal body on the clones is a definate step-up over TM's plastic.

Why is it that nobody is buying a chinese clone solely for the metal-body and then swapping out the internals?

A cheap JG runs for around $300 in Canada.
A Systema Complete Mechbox can be ordered for $300-$400 from overseas (with little danger of seisure also).

This means that the price for a full-metal gun with top-notch Systema internals can be constructed for around $700.

That's the starting price for many stock guns.

What are your opinions?
-Cuppo

[Skruface]

You forget to add a new hopup, new hopup rubber, new inner barrel, wood furniture on guns that need it (AK's and M1A1's), new battery, new wiring harness extension for rear-battery guns. There's a LOT that can be done to bring them up to snuff for "gun snobs", or you can just run it the way it came until it breaks.

Also, a lot of the metal bodies coming out of China are die-cast zinc (and a crappy job at that, with dimensional inconsistency and visible molding lines) rather than CNC'd like some of the high-end metal bodies. Ask around here and you'll find a bunch of folks who bought knock-off RAS systems that don't fit properly (if at all) and required serious modifications to work.

Personally, I think most people in Canada who buy the clones fall into 1 of 3 groups:

A) New players who don't want to spend the time or effort saving to buy high-end gear like us "old-timers" and just want to "try out" airsoft before making a commitment - which is akin to "trying out" a Hyundai Pony before deciding to become an NASCAR racer, IMHO, but whatever floats their boat.

B) Established players with multiple guns who want to pick up an inexpensive loaner or parts gun.

C) Underaged minors who really can't afford the prices of A&A/007, and can't get age verified at ASC, so they get parents/siblings to buy clones for them at sporting goods stores or online.

[gamz]

FYI, JG's don't come full-metal. The only clones I know that do are SRC (with the exception of their G36/XM8 line, which are not metal in real-steel).

[Blackthorne]

My G&P (G&G I can never remember) metal bodies are far superior in fit and finish to any of the metal clones.

That may change soon however. I remember a little state company called Norinco. Those guns sucked and were jam-o-matics, but they've gotten 500% better over the last few years, and the metallurgy is top notch.

[ThunderCactus]

anything metal is superior to TM plastic lol
most guns you upgrade the internals when you get it anyway, but because you have a poor quality metal gun, you know have to factor in the cost of a full metal body (its about the same cost as a new AEG), so when your done turning a chinese clone into an adequate airsoft gun that will compete in quality with name brands, it'll cost 400$ more and wont have any chinese parts left in it lol