[mcguyver]

No, force to open and close is about the same as with the OE upper as well. The only thing I can think of is reduced resonamce or flexing of the new upper.

All the forward energy of the piston when it hits the cylinder head is going to be trasmitted via the hop-up to the outer barrel, which is rigidly mounted to the upper receiver. The OE ones are not that strong, are cast and may be prone to flexing, even if it's only 1 mm or less. The real upper is very thick, forged and thus very strong and not likely to flex.

Basically, I was wondering from any users who have installed an upper like that, if the noticed a similar effect. Using a real upper on a PTW may be more than simply cosmetic, or to replace a broken OE upper. There may be a performance benefit to doing so. I don't know for sure, that's why I guess I'm asking for feedback from other users on this.