Update on the SL9. I did every DIY performance enhancing modification I could. This is by far and without a doubt the most accurate and long range gun I have ever fired. The seriously disappointing thing? It turned out to be too efficient and is no longer field legal.
Parts list:
Classic Army SL9
Classic Army G36 threaded outer barrel extension
Classic Army G36C carry handle
Classic Army helical torque up gears
Classic Army G36K metal flash hider
Classic Army brass cylinder (replaced factory coated cylinder)
Classic Army metal cylinder head (factory installed)
Classic Army "O"ring air nozzle (factory installed)
Classic Army bearing spring guide (factory installed)
G&P M160 high torque motor
Systema M160 spring
King Arms POM piston
Modify Aluminum piston head with bearing
SCS hop up nub
Madbull Black Python VII 509mm barrel
Leapers 3x9x50 Illuminated scope
Mod list:
Polished brass cylinder to mirror finish
Cylinder head nozzle polished to mirror finish
Gears shimmed using digital caliper
Piston 2nd tooth removed, 3rd tooth shaved
Sorbo on cylinder head
Cylinder head sealed to cylinder with silicone glue
Tappet plate shaved 1mm
Nozzle epoxied to tappet plate
Rubber nub shaved off bucking
Heat stretched #14 "O" ring
Hop up arm extended and shimmed
Bucking siliconed and whipped to barrel
Hop up Teflon taped to prevent vibrations
Barrel fully supported along length
Flash hider bored to allow inner barrel to stay supported
Highest initial FPS with .20's: 600
Settled FPS with 2's: 588 +/- 2 (With a spring rated for 524fps)
Ammo being used: Madbull .40's
Settled FPS with .40's: 420 +/- 2
Maximum effective range: At least 180'
Maximum range: I lose track of the BB because they are tan.
Battery: 11.1v 1600mAh 20C Lipo
The part that kills me is it isn't field legal. It shoots SO nice and I really don't want to change it. I have a Systema M150 to help bring it down, but I'm honestly thinking about building a whole second gearbox. My favorite part of the whole thing is the trigger response. I'm only using regular torque up gears and it will double tap with no problem. The helical gears make the gear box pretty damn quiet for what it is. The pop can test is hilarious.
Here are some ugly photos I took during the modding process. My hands were greasy and I didn't want to ruin my camera, so the pictures suck.
Mirror polished cylinder. 3 hours worth of work. All done by hand as power tools can remove too much material. You can see the chair leg being reflected off the one side and onto the other.
Whipped bucking. I tried with no Teflon tape, but no matter how tight I tied it I could not get an airtight seal even with silicone glue. After this picture I performed the same procedure but put Teflon tape under the bucking, silcone glue under the bucking, and more Teflon tape over the bucking.
Here I added Teflon tape to the end of the hop up. Anyone who has worked on a G36 hop up knows they twist in, then are held by spring tension. To stop it from wobbling I put Teflon tape around the end to take up the slack. I also shaved off the top of the nub "arm" and added a piece of styrene to it. This increased the amount of available hop because the stock hop up could not hop the .40's. I also shimmed the "arm" using metal tape.
Madbull barrels are slightly smaller in outer diameter than most other barrels. Because of this the bucking tends to leak, and they tend to wobble in the outer barrel. I for one do not like Madbull barrels because they are aluminum and coated. I vastly prefer stainless steel barrels like Prometheus. I had this one laying around but a Prometheus is on it's way. Here I wrapped the whole thing in Teflon tape to take up the slack between the inner and outer barrels.
Because it shot so damn nice, I figured I would pick up a good hard case for it. I need to pick out a nice foam filled suppressor for it, and pick up some more mags and ammo.
I decided to get a threaded outer barrel for it. I liked the look of the bull barrel, but I think a foam filled will be more important. If you look closely you can see the inner barrel sticks into the flash hider. I bored out the flash hider just enough so that it actually braces the inner barrel.
On a side note I finished up some other projects. Sorry about the hard shadows. The weather today sucks and it keeps going from full sun to full shadows. I'll probably retake them later, but I'm happy to finish these.
Classic Army M15A4
I'm going to call this one done until something breaks. It works great in CQB and handles great. Several people have held it and commented on how comfortable it is. I have to agree.
Parts list:
- King Arms CQBR kit
- G&P Eotech 551
- G&P Eolad
- MOE MIAD pistol grip
- MOE RVG fore grip
- ACM CTR stock
- G mic PEQ 15
- Madbull 6.01 TBB
- Systema bucking
- SCS nub
- Element silent cylinder/piston head
- KAC 300m rear BUIS
FPS with .20's: 340
RPS: 25.7
Battery: 11.1v 1600mAh 20C Lipo
The King Arms CQBR kit doesn't come with an inner barrel. We were out of stock on any barrels that would fit except the Madbull 6.01. I decided to give it a try and I have to say, it's nice. I'm testing out all the theories people toss around and so far I've shot at least 15,000 bb's without cleaning the barrel (not normal for me) and I haven't had one single jam. That includes several mag dumps on full auto. So far the only downside is that the 6.01 made the muzzle report VERY loud, crazy loud.
This prompted me to try out the Element silent cylinder/piston head (a whopping $13 from Ehobby) and it actually works pretty well. I thought it would be a crappy part, but for the money it was worth trying. I'm pretty happy with it. Silent? No, but much quieter than the normal combo with the 6.01. Stick a foam filled on the front and it's back to being as quiet as a full length with a foam filled.
Again, sorry about the shadows. The two foam filled suppresors come in handy. The long one will cover up the regular 363mm barrel, and the stubby works with the 300mm barrel.
I finally got my G mic PEQ15. This thing kicks ass. The laser is bright as hell and the flash light is usable. The pressure switch is just taped onto my RVG, ugly, but it works. I also cut one of my rail covers in half and arranged them so that the rails are mostly covered. Allows for 3 grip positions that are all comfortable.
And now for my latest build. I call it "the bastard". It is part Classic Army AK47S, and part Echo 1 AK74U. Not sure what I'll use it for, but it sure is fun. Yes that is a P90 flash hider, I don't have a propper one and that one is the closest thing I've got. I'm thinking of building a dual sector gear 50+ rounds per second box for it. Figure it would be a fun challenge.
Oh yeah, I've got some mags for it too.
I'm sure most will hate this, but I think it's hilariously fun to use. Auto wind drum mag. I call it the Taliban Typewriter.
Also, I finally got a set of real Hogue grips for my KJW M9. I waited far too long to pick these up. They feel like they are actually grabbing my fingers when I hold it.