Internally Upgrading

[saintfire]

So I'm looking into upgrading some of the internals in my gun, but I have a few questions. My JG M4 is all stock, and I am not sure if I am able to upgrade the piston head without upgrading the actual cylinder, or if I would need to upgrade the piston and cylinder as well. Also, If I were to get a new hop-up, would I have to put it together and how difficult is it to install these. I was also wondering if my V.2 gearbox would be able to handle an aluminum or steel piston and cylinder or if that would be too much. Thanks for the help


Thought I'd throw this in as well. Here's a link to my gun: www.evike.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_44_222&products_id=36987

[Italian]

You can pop a new piston head in without changing the cylinder so long as you don't use a bore-up piston head.

As for the hop-up, it's pretty easy to put together and install if you know what you're doing. Otherwise you can really screw up. So yes, you could easily install a new hop-up, but make 100% sure you know you're doing it correctly.

Absolutely no need for a metal piston. If you want metal teeth, get an SHS piston.

[Ike]

Unless your piston head is cracked, you don't need to swap it out. If you think it's causing you bad compression, try stretching out the o-ring on it or replacing it with a #14 o-ring from the hardware store.

A "new hopup" is pretty vague, are you talking about the chamber, bucking, or everything hop-up related? A new bucking would most likely do the trick if you want better performance issues; although I've found JG buckings to be very similar to TM and never had a problem with them. Washing them to get the lube off and re-installing typically helps quite a bit.

For the piston, I'm going to say the same thing as the piston head- if it isn't broke, don't fix it. JG pistons are strong, and until it breaks just leave it in there. Correcting your angle of engagement will also help it last. If you want to have a backup piston ready, go with SHS like Italian said. I'd stick with a 3-steel tooth piston if I weren't using Siegetek gears, but that's just me.

I'm not sure what you mean by "wondering if my V.2 gearbox would be able to handle an aluminum or steel piston and cylinder,[/b]" but I'll say that unless you're drastically changing your barrel length, you shouldn't need to swap out your cylinder.

If you have a problem with your gun, try to diagnose it before just throwing in random parts. If you just want better performance, your piston head, piston, and cylinder aren't the parts to replace. A little hop-up work would be a step in the right direction, but at most all you would need is a new bucking (I really like Prometheus soft types).

[saintfire]

Thanks for the help guys, I was just looking into upgrading the internals a little bit. The thing about the hop-up is that I'd rather not take it off and apart due to my fear of not being able to re-install it. What I meant by that is that I've seen aluminum and brass and steel pistons/heads, cylinders/heads, and the like and I am not sure if they would work properly in my gun or if they would be to heavy.

[specks159]

I tend to avoid aluminum pistons and piston heads. The piston heads are just too heavy and cause too much force on the front of the GB. The stock JG piston head is actually one of the better piston heads out there. As for aluminum pistons, they are once again too heavy, and not significantly stronger then a SHS 15 metal too piston. As for the cylinder, unless whatever comes in your gun is the wrong size, just leave the cylinder stock. The stock cylinder head should be find too, just teflon tape it if there is a leak.

The hop-up, like many things related to working on AEG's, is actually simpler then it seems. Its not a walk in the park per say, but its easily doable. Also, if you have a plastic body M4, then you have to get the same style of hop that the gun comes with (two piece). In order to switch to a single piece metal hop, you have to switch to a metal body as well IIRC.

JG stock gears a good as long as they are shimmed well.

Pretty much, if it isn't broken, dont fix it. Most stock parts are pretty good with a little tuning, and there is no sense in wasting money on things that you dont absolutely need.