Post by Foxhound on Jan 8, 2015 21:24:10 GMT -5
AirsoftPro Full CNC SCAR-H HopUp Review (Still under testing)
(Mods, if this should be in the AEG section go ahead and move it there. I figured this was an appropriate place for it though since it's not a review on a full AEG system.)
Overview
The AirsoftPro Full CNC SCAR-H HopUp is a full CNC one piece VFC SCAR-series style hop-up unit. As owners of the VFC SCAR series rifles know, there has only been one hop-up on the market for a long time, that being the stock plastic VFC unit. This is the first, and only that I know of, aftermarket hop-up unit for the VFC SCAR-series rifles. On top of being the only known replacement hop-up unit this unit is fully CNC made which is another very appealing point for SCAR owners.
The AirsoftPro Full CNC SCAR-H HopUp can be found exclusively on Airsoftpro.cz for approximately $37.50. Seeing as this unit is made on the Czech Republic that means it is going to be shipped internationally. I placed my order on Monday, December 29th and it arrived on my doorstep Thursday, January 8th. Coming from Europe I was very pleased with the speed of their processing and shipping.
Included in the package:
• The hop-up unit body
• Three adjust gears
• Adjustment arm
• Arm pin
• Two retainers
• Main adjustment screw
• Arm tension spring
• Gearbox seal spring
• Locking “C” clip
• Small shimming O-ring
• Brass barrel stabilizer
• Blue bucking
• Clear rubber nub
• SCS type nub
Finish
At first glance, this hop-up unit is very well made and has a great finish to it. The red finish gives it a very unique and clean look, very aesthetically pleasing. At a close look, there are obvious CNC marks and a few deeper scratches on the exterior (hard to see, but purely cosmetic). The interior looks very clean and even with no obvious burrs or deformities. Once inside the replica, it has a very pleasant look with the mock bolt locked to the rear.
Assembly
I’m not going to cover a step-by-step install of the hop-up unit as it fairly straight forward and nothing unusual from a standard hop-up but I will cover the issues I faced when assembling it. For review purposes, I installed this unit in my VFC MK17 (SCAR-H).
From the start I struggled getting the adjustment arm in place as the pin was larger than the hole in the actual arm. This required a good deal of hammering to get the pin all the way through the arm, however once it was in place the arm was very tight and didn’t have much play. This could be seen a good thing in some people’s eyes as there’s less play, but I thought I would point it out anyway.
The next issue I found, well more of a nuisance for the time being, is the quality of the plastic adjustment gears. When trying to the place the metal retainer on the top wheel, the plastic was fairly soft and deformed when trying to install the retainer. Mostly a nuisance at the time, but it could be an issue down the line.
This next issue, isn’t entirely a huge problem but more of another thing that should be brought to your attention. The spring that is included with the hop-up unit that pushes it against the gearbox to ensure a good seal is too long and will get bent out of shape if you try to use it. To remedy this, just take the spring off of the stock VFC hop-up and use that instead. It will fit loosely on hop-up itself but it works much better than the included one. Once this spring is changed out, the unit will fit perfectly within the outer barrel and will have very little to no play at all.
While all of these problems exist, they’re easily remedied and not huge deal breakers. However, this last issue is the largest and will require more testing on my part to determine the real issue. The c-clip that was included with the unit was too small to properly fit my barrel (433mm 6.03 Lonex) and lock it into place within the chamber. Because of this issue, there is a twist-like play in the barrel causing the bucking to be off-center and curving the bbs to the side. In an effort the fix this I tried the stock VFC c-clip instead. While this clip fit better, there was still a bit of play so the barrel was not perfectly centered. I have a Mabull barrel on order that I’m going to test and determine if it’s just a Lonex barrel issue or not.
UPDATE 2-27-15:
I received my Madbull V.2 barrel and had a chance to test the c-clip issue again. Upon further inspection with both the Lonex and Madbull barrels I've decided that the issue is not a barrel problem but a c-clip issue. I have taken a green G&G c-clip from my G&G MK16 and it fits much better and leaves very little play on both the Lonex and Madbull barrels. I would recommend that you have multiple c-clips on hand if you are going to order this hopup and you will just need to test which one fits the best. Below is a picture of the G&G c-clip paired with my Lonex barrel.
Performance
The adjustment gears and arm on this unit are very tight and seem to keep stay in place very well. Only extended use and time will tell if these continue to stay this way or loosen up any. But right now I’m very pleased with the performance of the gears and arm.
Due to the issues I stated above I didn’t feel it was appropriate to perform any firing and range tests as I didn’t believe they would provide any useful data at this time.
However, I would like to point out that the blue bucking that was included with the hop-up unit is very unique and I am very interested to what results it will yield. The closest bucking I have knowledge of that I can compare it to is the PDI W-Hold bucking, but more of a wider middle area and more contact on near the sides of the bb.
Notes
These are the only issues I have encountered so far, many of which are simply fixed. As I get more time to test it I will update with any more issues and fixes I find. The firing and range test will definitely be conducted but at a later date once I get the c-clip and barrel dilemma figured out. If you have any questions or comments please comment below or PM me.
