Mechboxes and Motors

[Jbone 11 11]

Played a game up in the mountains outside Rome this past weekend and it was a bit cold up there, so my battery (which I havent changed from stock when I bought my M4) died a bit prematurely.
As luck would have it, my battery started to die in the middle of a firefight, and I had use a team mates gun for a bit.

Now my M4 works nice, I've swapped out the barrel for a tightbore prometheus and got systema rubber in there too. She shoots nice. But the M4 my buddy was using... I dunno, it was one of those stubby M4 jobs, but it sounded and shot amazingly! I asked what make it was, and was told that it's probably a G&P, as he bought it second hand off a guy who was moving away and wasnt sure.

All this got me thinking that I'd like my M4 to shoot like that!

What I have now was originally a Royal/A&K, but I've more or less swapped out every part for quality pieces except for the mechbox and motor; they're still stock.
I guess what I'd like to know is, what is the usual out come from a good Mechbox/gearbox set upgrade (including the motor).
So far I've seen Guarder, G&P, Deepfire and MagicBox sets available, and am also wondering if any surpass the others.

Any advice, experiences, anecdotes... whatever is most appreciated.

regards,
J

[m102404]

Buy his rifle.

...seriously though...what's wrong with yours (aside from not charging up your battery)?
- ROF
- accuracy
- sound

The exteriors are just a shell that holds all the inter bits in place. Black, tan, green, whatever...doesn't matter.

The mechbox and motor are the heart of things. Personally, I'd rather buy a G&P Complete and tweak it a bit than to scratch build one piece by piece now.

Some setups just sound better than others. Try a different pinion gear, shimming, piston/cylinder head

[ujiro]

I would recommend the SystemA prebuilt mechboxes. Thats what I use, and it is a dream right out of the box! Use it with a Guarder Infinite torque motor and you'll have a gun that will put your friends to shame.

[Con Murder]

Ujiro I wish some one would have said that to me when I first thought to upgrade my SIG552 for an m100 spring. All I heard was 'if yopur mechanically inclined' so I went at it.
Kinda wish I spent $200 on a new mechbox instead

[ujiro]

Yeah man, I don't even like upgrading my own mechboxes with different parts, and I like to think I know what I'm doing. Keep all the parts from the exact same company. Its the only route to go if you want to ensure all the parts will work well together and to get a smooth ride.

[Jbone 11 11]

Prebuilt is what Im thinking of.... as for going out and buying a nice G&P instead of upgrading... I've thought about it... it makes sense, specially considering some of the prebuilt mechbox prices, but Im curious to see what a new box and motor will do... what improvements it will make if any. Im gonna have to disassemble it and sell off various parts before I move back to Canada anyways.... so, going this route seems fitting.

Get a full built box, Look into G&P their latest gen is one of the best pre built gearbox i have ever seen, the thing i would change is swap a prometheus piston but heck the G&P piston is fine i just like having the best parts in my box to avoid breakdowns

[ujiro]

Originally Posted by Jbone 11 11

Prebuilt is what Im thinking of.... as for going out and buying a nice G&P instead of upgrading... I've thought about it... it makes sense, specially considering some of the prebuilt mechbox prices, but Im curious to see what a new box and motor will do... what improvements it will make if any. Im gonna have to disassemble it and sell off various parts before I move back to Canada anyways.... so, going this route seems fitting.

Yeah G&P is good. I still give my vote for SystemA but its more expensive. But both would be a huge jump from the A&K you have now. A&K is leagues behind G&P and SystemA. You won't regret buying either box.

[grantmac]

My two A&K boxes were/is running awesome out of the box. But they are totally hit and miss. This one is virtually silent and the first was a loud bugger.

Oddly enough the A&K motors have been really, really good the last couple of years. They pull a hard spring really nicely.

To the OP: what your specifically looking to improve will determine just what mechbox to buy. You problem could be solved with just a battery upgrade, the stock A&K bats are pretty horrid.

-Grant

[venture]

Hop-up. I remember saying this in another post a long time ago. Hop up is the most important thing in a WORKING aeg. Once the mechbox is working properly, then the path of the bb is 90% dependent on the hop up. Tightbores make a little difference but an excellent hop up will outshoot a tightbore for accuracy and distance. Work your hop up, if you can't get 150-200 ft of (semi) level flight then swap it out for another. My straightest shooting aeg is an MP5K PDW, that's a 141mm standard bore barrel!! Shoots down my 150ft "range" straight as a bb can go. Would go farther but as my cqb choice I keep it stock at 270-280 fps with .2g bbs so they just die at 150 ft.

[Jbone 11 11]

In terms of Hop ups,what I have now came with the metal body up grade I got. To my knowledge it is G&P (but thats a matter of debate as the shop I got it from are known shysters and my Italian ain't that great!)... not sure if G&P Hop ups are considered good or not.

Grantmac:The Battery upgrade is good point! Im definitely feeling that its time for a more reliable battery.
Ujiro... funny you mention G&P being great out of the box, its easily the hardest prebuilt to keep in stock here apparently! Considering odering from Redwolf of somewhere else outside Italy.

[Jbone 11 11]

So I've had a look on Redwolf and they have way more selection than the shops around Rome! Some nice stuff. But it leads me to another question.... We play with a (legal) limit of 1 joule, and thus, most AEG's are sporting M90 springs. If I installed a prebuilt systema or G&P M100/110 how much increase in Fps/Joules could I be looking at? I don't want to make the thing too hot or I won't be able to play with it!

[Doombringer]

I'm wondering what's considered a good hop-up? And what would be a good value hop-up?

[grantmac]

A good hop-up could be a stock one. It all depends on the platform we are talking about.

As for rubbers and nubs, that is where the consistency is (unless your hop-up adjuster moves on its own). Those are largely personal preference/what FPS your gun is shooting.
For me doing about 400fps I really like Guarder Blacks, but as soon as I find my SCSs it will probably change in favor of a softer one.

Make no mistake. The guys shooting you way past your own weapons range are using high-quality, heavy BBs and a very consistent hop-up; not a lot of extra velocity.

-Grant

[Jbone 11 11]

I would have to agree with that... out of the box I was getting pretty shitty consistency. But after I swapped to a prometheus barrel and systema rubber, I was getting good groupings and started hearing "Hit" more often ; )

After some thought, I think Im gonna buy a new Mechbox and motor regardless, so when I get back to Canada, I'll have just about everything I'll need to build two AEG's instead of one (metal receiver excluded of course!).