Skara

Won't be less expensive, but at least your money will go in the right parts. TDC: wobbly, useless, needs replaced with a Hadron anyway. Barrel: completely unnecessary, stock TM barrel is perfectly fine, so is the STTI Hop rubber: they come FILTHY from the factory, though this does not really affect performance. It's €8 anyway for a new one. Metal slide: useless, expensive and adds a bit of, again, unnecessary weight. All the springs and moving parts on the TM are infinitely better, smoother operation and will last 10x longer. The springs on my SSX23 fucked themselves after less than a year. That doesn't work unless fully assembled, and at that point it's longer and wider than the TM. Back to the OP: Get a TM Mk23, leave it alone for now as it's perfectly useable out of the box with the exception of the hop up adjustment being a tad annoying. At a later date get a Hadron TDC (it's more quality of life than anything else) and maybe a new hop rubber.

Now try the same with a 400mm barrel

Yup, I also have a Combat Union unit that is essentially the same, but shorter. Unfortunately that one doesn't fit unless I go mad and mill out a chunk of metal from the outer barrel. Might keep it just in case I decide to build a vityaz of some sort. Legit the most terrifying feature an AEG could ever have.

CM.045's current state: Sprinkeld some obnoxious Retro Arms parts: And a new hop up chamber to test: It's missing an optic rail of some sort and a different buttstock (debating between a simple buffer tube adapter or a Zentico PT-1). And a spare upper handguard I can bolt a tape switch onto.

Not really. Yours is very, very vague, almost "how long is a piece of string" vague. This is what I mean. You already have a no MED "sniper rifle", which you don't seem to enjoy (if you were, you wouldn't have made this thread). Then you ask for a no MED "sniper rifle". That you already own. And that you don't like. You can get away with a basic M4, a good air seal and a good hop rubber, while retaining the fun switch. HPA if you can afford it and your site has the logistics to keep you going (compressor/fill station). As you can see there are a million + 1 possible answers to your "reasonable" question. No need to go full new age feminist in here. Not a good start. For silly, completely unnecessary "advice", Facebook and Reddit are great places where the various Skylar the bedroom techs will always tell you to use PTFE and sorbo pads and that high speed motors are better. I suggest you rephrase the question, this time with more details on what you actually want.

I wouldn't, most of them are full of elitist fucks who recommed a stupid expensive build no matter what the original question is, or whatever flavour of the month their favourite celebrity runs. It's the bolt action equivalent of those videos of gearboxes with pistol grips and a battery attached with a voiceover on how the gun feeds every single round at 700 RPS and never breaks. To the OP: If you want a "DMR" style replica, then go for it. I have never seen an M14 internally so I can't comment, but an SR25 style replica that uses a v2.5 gearbox would be a good start (avoid Ares and G&G as they use a regular V2 box but with an absurdly long nozzle). If a 7.62 replica is not essential, you could go with a Steyr AUG replica, it's easy (and fun) to make stupid quiet.

Another protip: Test sound and motor height with the lower receiver installed, in some cases (most of them AcHkChUaLlEeE) the receiver will slightly pull the grip away from the gearbox. If you don't take this into account when shimming/adjusting the motor, your gun will always sound like shit. Don't need to put on all the crap, you just need the grip, rear and flora pins.

Nope, it does not sound okay. Either the motor is too high or the bevel gear is shimmed too low. Or a combination of the two. Also it's an Ares gearbox so it's shit by default.

Hard to quantify. Even two guns with the same exact parts will have different energy outputs. Also depends on your cylinder/barrel volume ratio, generally a longer barrel will boost energy output but only until a certain point, after that you'll experience a decrease. What's your gun's spec?

Yup, I asked for it a while ago because I like to keep my eyes relatively intact

Surely looks much better, but I couldn't justify the extra €40 for parts I would have replaced anyway. Maybe in the future I might buy the gas tube cover, but for now shitty plum cover will have to do. If I don't zenitco the fuck out of it Love you too 😘

A Cyma CM.045 from Taiwangun to replace my utterly fucked E&L 74u: Already replaced ALL the internals, I just need to sort out the power and feeding on high caps and then install the 5ku B11 lower handguard for my torch, tape switch + a random vertical grip of choice. Got giga lucky with the inner barrel length. It's 290mm stock, about 260 with the flash hider removed and 248 with the thread adapter removed. I had a spare ZCI 6.02x247mm inner and it's a perfect fit! Also transplanted a few parts from the E&L, hop chamber and hop chamber spacer block because they're much better than Cyma counterparts, and Selector linkage + Selector switch because the Cymas didn't like the Retro Arms gearbox. Now, though, the E&L selector is a touch too thicc and when in safe, it pushes the dust cover up (still engages the safety, but it's no bueno regardless), I'll replace them with Retro Arms parts (specifically a Type B Selector and corresponding screw), in red. Just so I can trigger stitch counters @Lozartdid I mention I got it from T A I W A N G U N ?

Of the last two years. Best: Mayflower Gen IV chest rig. Most practical and comfortable piece of kit I've ever tried. Worst: E&L 74u, nothing but problems for two years.

We don't even need to aim, for that matter

To give a more detailed answer, I have a C-02, currently there is not much left from the stock gun, but: The gearbox casing is fine for the money, runs on solid steel bushings and has a quick change spring guide, the gears are okay, standard 18:1 ratio, compression isn't the greatest but nothing that a new nozzle (with o-ring) and new piston head o-ring can't fix, motor is the standard ferrite piece of junk. Cylinder and cylinder head are good and together they provide good seal, so no need to replace those. My gun is, in fact, still running those two parts after two years and many upgrades. Hop unit is okay, won't perform as good as a Maxx, but it's serviceable. Barrel is actually decent and hop rubber I have no idea, but I guess it'll lift 0.25s just fine. Overall, for the price, it's hard to beat and with just a few parts changed you will have a nice budget shooter. Probably because it's dirt cheap and not a big loss if it cracks in half. As long as it fires, it's fine for a rental, but to be brutally honest it is not a gun I would spend my hard earned on, especially given the amount of VFC based AKs cyma makes.

According to this chart, the AK is a TM clone, so avoid it like the plague. Between the two, get the Specna, more (good) parts available.

Nope, leave it alone.

I guess people realized a more natural stance means less strain on your neck. The best solution was the old carryhandle optic, when prone you could still use irons comfortably, and guess what? The new fancy unity mounts have integrated irons at the same height of carryhandles (that don't really work btw because they're literally one inch apart and focusing them correctly is fucking impossible).

We only play at night during summer. You don't need a torch nor an expensive set of NVs. Yes they make life easier in some situations but for the most part you won't use them (too many retards flashing powerful torches everywhere and there is a high risk of damaging the image intensifier tube, at the same time so many retards flashing powerful torches and giving away their position). As others have said, it's a completely different game, you see with your ears, not with your eyes. So every movement is amplified by 100, a piece of kit that is loose and rattles is like running around with a bright neon sign over your head, so is stepping on a twig. You will learn how to properly walk in the woods, heel first and then the external part of your foot, this to minimise the chances of breaking twigs and leaves. Close encounters are the norm, if someone's staying still you won't notice him/her. Make sure your gear is tight, straps are tucked in and taped, silence any metal bit like a sling mount with tape, boot laces tucked in, any cable firmly secured. Also know your kit, routing through all your pouches to find a magazine isn't a good idea in general, more so when you can't see shit. If using a torch, it's good practice to move as soon as you turn it off, your opponent will be blind for a couple of seconds and will most likely fire in the direction of the light, but if you aren't there anymore, he won't hit you. Don't be tempted to use your torch against a close range bush, it'll only blind you and you won't see shit anyway. Don't be like me, use clear lenses!! Don't wear black, it's super obvious unless you are in a pitch black area, and even then green is much better. Tan/fde stands out a lot too. Don't look directly at things, the way the eye works makes it easier to spot things while not looking directly at them (cones and sticks, something something, I'm not a medic). Speaking of NV: having a set won't make you able to see everything as if you were in full daylight, you need to learn how to use them. It's very far from the perfect picture you see in movies, depending on the generation. You still look for disturbances in skylines, patches of different colours, humanoid shaped blobs. Having an IR illuminator does wonders, but only if nobody on the opposing team has nods, otherwise he'll just see the beam and know where you are. Built-in illuminators suck.

Well VSRs are not TM spec, don't force yourself to buy non standard parts. Cyma makes decent VSR repros, of course being TM clones they will need pretty much everything replaced, but at least they're compatible with most parts.

It's a well known fact Though I didn't think they'd copy ESSTAC too, only the mainstream brands like Crye and Eagle!

Oh wow, totally not a KYWI clone.

No clue where you can get them in UK. I'm EU based.