WE gbbRifles

[SBoardley]

Okay, I know these are quite an old and established brand now,with varying opinions on quality and usability, but I’ve searched the archives and can’t find anything meaningful. So here goes…

I am starting this thread as there seems to be a flurry of interest in the WE gbbr platforms recently. Whether you are interested, or own an m4/16, AK derivative, M14, G36, G3, SM8/ Mp7 etc (no pistols please), this is your opportunity to show boat your builds!!

External upgrades, or more importantly internal upgrades; if you would like to post what works for you, or what hasn’t worked for you? How did you get yours to be reliably skirmishable? Best hop upgrades, inner barrels? What’s your maintenance regime? What breaks or what haven’t you needed to change? Everything is on the table!

it would be nice to make this thread a source of valuable information for old hands as well as new owners to what I’ve always believed ( since 2007 and my closed bolt M4 cqb) is a great and realistic brand to own for both collectors and players alike. 
so fire away; let’s see your pics and tech tips please!

 

[JimFromHorsham]

nice thread ?

I’ve been playing around with Airsoft guns for a while , and WE GBBR for quite a while now too , if I’m right and recall correctly  since around 2010 . For a skirmish rifle back then the Ratech NPAS was mandatory , middle summer could see a GBBR hitting 450-500fps quite easily and they don’t last long at that on stock internals . When I played it was almost always on single shot (I also had PTW’s , all modded to semi & 3rd burst ) so living the semi auto life was an easy one and an easy transition  . So a simple power reduction was all I ever did unless something failed which in all honesty wasn’t very often at all , I don’t ever recall a “catastrophic failure” or enough of one to put the gun out of play . WE GBBR get a bad rep but like most things I’d say it’s mostly user error (like mag dumping on full auto in February)   and regurgitated nonsense from people who’ve never even owned one . Don’t get me wrong , gas rifles are not for everyone , you’ll be outgunned at most of your average walk-on days but used sensibly they are a lot of fun and easy to work on . 

Circa 2012 , a WE 416 GBBR in the wild ? 

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Roll forward a few years and I’m still tinkering about but not playing anymore , but I still give the guns a good work out . Quality imo has come on nicely with the WE rifles , my only gripe is that the trademarked versions are a bit more difficult to source , im still a kit slag but I can live without that detail (just about  ) . 
all my rifles now just get a basic inner barrel and hop rubber upgrade from maple leaf , crazy jet and 60dgr rubbers seem to give me a decent accuracy , minimal stoppages or jams and hop .30 nicely across the garden, if skirmishing presents itself again then I’ll probably go the NPAS route yet again.

externally , whatever I can get my hands on .I’ve found Rails from HAO offer great value and quality , upgraded buffer tubes over the stock ones , RS pistol grips / stocks all give the rifle a much higher quality feel at not a lot of money these days .

Here’s a few of my builds ,

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I’ll chip in some more later but if anyone wants to know parts / where from etc I’ll do my best to reply & help.

 

[SBoardley]

@JimFromHorsham great story, great  tips and fantastic looking rifs dude. 

 

[sjhirst]

I can wholeheartedly recommend the Apache for a GBB SMG. 

Been my go to for the past year. One quibble I did have was that for hop adjustment you have to remove the handguard and suppressor, but once set it hasn't moved since.

The upgrades I've done are a maple leaf green hop rubber and crazy jet barrel., and by god, this thing can reach out and hit someone from a very good distance!

The crazy jet barrel is shorter than the standard barrel so I made my own suppressors for it.

All the internals are still in really good condition, so hopefully will do for a good while yet.

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[JimFromHorsham]

@JimFromHorsham great story, great  tips and fantastic looking rifs dude. 

Nothing too technical which is the way I like it these days , but I will follow this thread with interest because I’m always up for learning a bit more . And I may call upon the masses at some point for help with this behemoth of a GBBR which ill be giving a full strip and service with a bit of a tinker into a true semi auto beast .

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[SBoardley]

@JimFromHorsham you sir have an amazing collection and also a great eye for detail. Looking forward to hearing more on the project. 
I have posted pics on here in the past, so one final time….

the short “A2”  has stock hop chamber with silicone maple leaf 60* autobot rubber which hops beautifully. Stock inner cqb length barrel and an angry gun MPA nozzle set to 300 fps on .25g using Nuprol 3.0 red. Suits cqb great. 
long “A1” stock chamber again with silicone maple leaf 60* autobot rubber in a RA tech 370mm 6.01 inner barrel. Power is controlled  using a white fh airsoft LFS restrictor disc, at around 300 fps on .25g? Again using Nuprol 3.0 red gas. 
I have replaced a trigger box a few years ago, in another defunct M4 and replaced a broken valve locker, but I find as I use semi only, these can go on for a good long while with minimal maintenance.  When I’ve got time I’ll try put a small list of rs parts I’ve used at various times ( Which can make the WE experience that little bit more special ) so newcomers can dip straight in!

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[Nick G]

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L119 A1 short (the top one is mine) and A2 long build in progress. 

Both have stock hop with Maple leaf rubber and omega nub fitted and Crazy jet barrels. The A1 has an RAtec NPAS but the A2 is a DMR so runs unfettered. The A1 has RA tec internals in the trigger box but not due to any failures just that I had them and decided to fit them. The A1 has had a lot of use with typically 1000 / 1200 rounds through it on a game day and loads in the garden. No failures of stock parts and both run red gas pretty much all year unless its a very hot day.

 

[SBoardley]

@Nick G love the a1. Classic. The new “long” has yet to grow on me.  

 

[Nick G]

@Nick G love the a1. Classic. The new “long” has yet to grow on me.  

Yep I prefer the A1 to the A2 tbh, but I had the front spare after i swapped my aeg A2 to a short , so ....... ?

 

[SBoardley]

M4/16 tech tip. 
 Even though there are a few vids on YouTube regarding this, I just wanted to put this up as a short cut for anyone who needs it…

Bolt stop function. 
probably the most ( and generally only) disappointing thing about the m4 platform for me was the quickly deteriorating bolt stop function. I scratched my head and tried several mods to improve this; adding material to the underside of the bolt stop arm, removing material from the lug on the side of the bolt stop arm, even removing the spring behind the bolt stop. 
then I found a YouTube channel which explained that if you bought some aeg gear box shims, and placed one either side of the bolt stop, held in with the pin, this solves the issue by stopping the bolt stop from moving laterally, taking any play out. 
to my surprise and joy, this solved it immediately, resulting in 100% bolt lock on empty. 
so , don’t despair. There is a simple fix that anyone can do in less than five minutes!!

 

[sjhirst]

Anyone with an ak74su, and looking to fit a different handguard, the cyma keymod one fits, with a fair bit of dremelling.

The front of the top handguard still needs to either be drilled and secured to the bottom or adapted another way. It is a good tight friction fit, but I'm going to secure it down further.

The insides have to be widened to allow for the WE fitments, but all good in the end

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[Regamuffin]

Hey guys,

long time gbbr owner, own no AEGs , purely a gas guy.

normally run TM or VFC, but had an opportunity to get a we m4a1 open bolt cheap, needed some work, now seeing as over the years I’ve upgraded fixed all my gbbr rifles I thought hey why not I can fix a we , specially as it’s a more simpler system than the ZET system 

this issue I’m running into is my loading nozzle is broken one side chasing Jams then venting all the gas, that also said I believe that the pressure fleut inside Could be knackered as not t enough gas through.

I’m going to purchase a new nozzle from milspec but my t is , does this nozzle include the fluet valve already inside normally.

i am waiting to hear from the shop too anyone experienced any similar issues 

note i dont wanr a npas as im going to try out these lfs discs 

 

[SBoardley]

Hey guys,

long time gbbr owner, own no AEGs , purely a gas guy.

normally run TM or VFC, but had an opportunity to get a we m4a1 open bolt cheap, needed some work, now seeing as over the years I’ve upgraded fixed all my gbbr rifles I thought hey why not I can fix a we , specially as it’s a more simpler system than the ZET system 

this issue I’m running into is my loading nozzle is broken one side chasing Jams then venting all the gas, that also said I believe that the pressure fleut inside Could be knackered as not t enough gas through.

I’m going to purchase a new nozzle from milspec but my t is , does this nozzle include the fluet valve already inside normally.

i am waiting to hear from the shop too anyone experienced any similar issues 

note i dont wanr a npas as im going to try out these lfs discs 

Yes. The nozzles come complete ready to drop in. I use a white lfs disc in one of my m4’s which chrono around 300 on .25g. I use .25g as one of the cqb sites I play at limits weights to max .25g 

angry gun mpa works pretty well too. Complete nozzle with plastic npas. Though I had to swap out the oring on the back for the stock WE one as it was a little baggy and jammed up the bolt. 

 

[Regamuffin]

Yes. The nozzles come complete ready to drop in. I use a white lfs disc in one of my m4’s which chrono around 300 on .25g. I use .25g as one of the cqb sites I play at limits weights to max .25g 

angry gun mpa works pretty well too. Complete nozzle with plastic npas. Though I had to swap out the oring on the back for the stock WE one as it was a little baggy and jammed up the bolt. 

You bud are an absolute star

thank you 

 

[sjhirst]

Id say the same- get the angry gun nozzle. I prefer them over the ra tech stuff!

LFS discs work a treat aswell. Milspec can be a bit..."temperamental" in regards to replies, judging by past comments ive seen lol.

 

[Regamuffin]

Ive gotlne for the standard we nozzle, but should it

play up in the rhe future il ltry the angry gun ones, i have them in my mws’s

 

[Regamuffin]

I guess i got another question, ive checked the nozzle return spring all sound.

but I’m struggling to get the bolt cycled in turn causing it to stop half way back into battery and causing the mag to vent al its gas

bolt cycles freely manually, anyone had this before

 

[SBoardley]

I guess i got another question, ive checked the nozzle return spring all sound.

but I’m struggling to get the bolt cycled in turn causing it to stop half way back into battery and causing the mag to vent al its gas

bolt cycles freely manually, anyone had this before

Have you checked the buffer detent? If this is loose ie sticking up too far, the bolt can catch it and not cycle back to reset. 

Also the nozzle guide may be damaged… the little piece on the side of the bolt that locks in. If this is damaged the nozzle can twist causing friction. 

 

[Regamuffin]

So as it stands ive got a new nozzle on order, the bolt carrier looks all smooth and ok.

buffer detent? 
 

i

 

[SBoardley]

So as it stands ive got a new nozzle on order, the bolt carrier looks all smooth and ok.

buffer detent? 
 

i

The buffer detent is the stud that keeps the buffer in the tube ( receiver extension/ buffer tube) on older WE’s these can sit a taddle high or work loose; in effect they rise and catch the bolt. The bolt has a groove that lets it ride over the detent. Look for scratches or damage to the groove or rear of bolt. These are signs it’s moved.