AEP vs. GBB

[CuppoJava]

Hi,
I'm starting another airsoft project, and I'm choosing between two branches. What do you guys think?

1) TM G18C AEP.
Nine-Ball Power Spring
Upgraded 30cm inner barrel.
Pro-Light extended battery.

2) TM Hi-Capa 4.3 GBB
Upgraded 17cm barrel.

I'm not sure what to expect from a GBB considering that my last one was not that reliable. I've upgraded the hell out of the internals, and I still get 2 bb's loaded sometimes. Or bb's just rolling out.
Is that just a stroke of bad luck on my part? or are AEG's just more reliable and consistent then GBB's in general?

Whew. Long post. Thanks for your opinions.
Cuppo

[mirage13]

In my opinion, upgrading GBBs in the first place is what kills them.
Leave it stock, and you'll be much better off in the long run.

[DuffMan]

GBBs are infinitely more fun. Practicality...that's a different story.

[Gryphon]

Upgrading ANY gun introduces potential problems, be it a GBB, AEP, AEG, NBB, whatever.

Quiet honestly bang for buck, the AEP is not the smart choice. The "upgrades" for it are of dubious value as they give only marginal increases in fps for a hefty price tag. The Reviews section of ASC has a writeup on an MP7 upgrade that was determined to be not worth the effort and expenditure.

What kind of gun did you have before that gave you problems? Sure gas guns can be problematic, but some are rock solid and you're hard pressed to break them. Case in point - KSC Glock series. I've had few problems with mine that weren't easily solved, and the only upgrade I made to it was a Firefly rocket valve which I only changed because I broke the stock plastic one. It had the benefit of increasing my velocity to 335 fps and it stays incredibly consistent, within 1 or 2 fps. Now if only I'd stop losing my mags for it in the field... :rrr:

[CuppoJava]

Funnily enough, The gun that I'm having troubles with is my KSC glock 34. It's shoots 2 bb's at a time about twice per mag, and the accuracy is not great. But then, this is my first gbb, so I don't have anything to compare it to.
I've heard that the TM Hi-Capa series are legendary in reliability and accuracy. But I'm skeptical. I've looked at the tech diagrams, and the internals look the same as previous gbb incarnations.

sure, the pics look the same...you cant tell much from them in terms of quality.
TM GBBs have top of the line internals
the TM hicapa seriese prolly are the most accurate and powerful GBBs out of the box.
search for the "best GBB" thread.
GBBs are easily the most fun type of gun in airsoft.
My stock tm hicapa can outrange and is more accurate then a stock TM M4 AEG.

[CuppoJava]

K, I've decided on the Hi-Capa then, for purposes of power and ... blowback fun.
I'm deciding between the 5.1 vs the 4.3.

I heard the 4.3 has better internals, because TM fixed the O-ring problem.

But I really want to install this slide:
NINE BALL Ultimate Custom Slide for Marui Hi-Capa ( Extra long / 7 inch )
(From WGCShop)
(I'm a sucker for long guns)

Which I'm not sure is compatible with the 4.3.

So....what I'm asking is...
Can I fit that slide onto the 4.3?
And if not, is the O-ring problem on the 5.1 easy to fix?

Thanks for your info
-Cuppo

[ILLusion]

I recently purchased a 5.1, and it has the same o-ring fix as is in the 4.3. Don't let that be the deterring factor as to getting a 5.1.

That Nine Ball slide you're looking at is a plastic slide. You can get it to fit on to a 4.3 as well as a 5.1, but you will also need to get the matching 7" outer barrel for it.

If you do end up getting a 5.1 and the o-ring happens to be of the old style, there are aftermarket piston heads that you can buy that will fix the blowout problem.

[CuppoJava]

Thanks for your reply ILLusion,
K, I'm gonna get the 5.1 then, I think it's a lot better looking than the 4.3.

How can I tell whether the hi-capa is the new style or the old style before purchasing it?

BTW: Do you know of any place with a pic of a hi-capa equiped with the slide that I'm talking about? I want to see what it looks like installed before I jump in and spend 200 dollars.

[ILLusion]

It's impossible to tell without experience and knowledge of what the piston head looks like.



That image shows it with a CUSTOM extended 7" strike kit installed as well.

You'll also want to get a 7" inner barrel to go along with the outer barrel and slid as well as the 7" recoil spring and spring guide.

[tsuru]

Don't know specifics of where to find a pic. Take a look at Red Wolf or WGC, they frequently have pictures of parts installed on the gun in question on their sites.
As far as the "version" of the gun is concerned, I suppose you could always ask the seller to strip the gun to find out whether there's a piston cup or an O-ring based piston head (I assume the piston cup is the fix) in the gun. Doing that doesn't require tools and takes about 30 seconds to do if you're familiar with the gun. Even if you do end up with the old style piston head, as ILLusion said replacements are plentiful and are probably amongst the cheapest parts you can replace on a GBB.
I love my Hi-Capa. I've beaten her to within an inch of her life and she keeps coming back for more. I've used others but no matter how many times I keep breaking her I still want to fix her just because she performs so well.
EDIT: Damn me being at work and finishing my posts half an hour after I start them :rrr:

[CuppoJava]

Thanks for the help,
I'm really looking forward to this gun. A gbb that outperforms stock AEG's? Almost unbelievable.

[CuppoJava]

Hi,
This is for iLLusion,

I saw that you had tried out the

NINE BALL 6.03mm Extra Long Inner Barrel for Marui Hi-Capa & P226 (with suppressors, compensators and/or extended frames) ( 162.5mm )

but then decided not to keep it. Would you mind sharing your experience with it? How was the improvement in accuracy? Why did you feel that it wasn't worth keeping?

[ILLusion]

The improvement in groupings were considerable...

But the main reason why I didn't decide to keep it is because along with the tighter groupings comes increased velocities. Because I was using it with my race gun and combined with all the other upgrades in there while using 0.25gram BBs, the energy levels were breaking an equivalent of 400fps with 0.20gram BBs.

The second reason why I'm not keeping it is because I have a 6" Tanio Koba Twist barrel in that gun now that shoots with an extremely flat, predictable and straight trajectory. I decided to go with that flight characteristic over the tighter arcing groupings of the Nine Ball inner barrel, although I have been considering keeping the Nine Ball inner barrel for some 400fps fun...

[CuppoJava]

Thanks for the reply,
I'm actually considering the 6" Tanio Koba barrel versus the 16mm barrel.
Can you explain what you mean by "Tighter grouping" vs. "predictable and straight" trajectory? So which barrel has a longer effective range?