Why do people 'upgrade' cheap AEGs?

[Sacarathe]

I'm not referring to replacing broken parts or servicing old and out of warranty guns. When it comes to parts AND labour, I struggle to see the advantage to upgrading a <£300 AEG unless it's a form factor not available at a higher quality stock.

 

[DarkAssassin]

Because myth busters proved you can polish a turd!

Seriously though people don't always have disposable income so once they have a gun (probably a first gun) they would rather do that up with the bit of money they have than fork out loads more for better base gun then spend even more to do that up.

 

[Jedi_Master]

It could be simply a money issue.  A limited budget meant buying what they could afford at the time instead of saving up and having to wait longer.  Or because they did not do due dilgence first and just bought any old BB gun.  When they realise that the stock gun is not good enough and have to upgrade it to be on par with other players.

Alternately, some players just like tinkering with toys and seeing how they work or experimenting with different set-ups, so upgrading is more of a hobby.

 

[Rock-climby-Dave]

isn't fucking up a perfectly good gun the best bit of the hobby?

 

[lemon191]

Why do people fix cars after they are over 3 years old ?  Because it's cheaper to upgrade than buy new constantly, plus If you like your gun and just want a little more out of it then there is no sense in changing 

 

[Samurai]

Because those cheap guns perform exactly the same as the £300+ ones. I would take a Cyma AK anytime over a G&G or G&P. If you know what you are doing, you can get better stuff for cheaper. If you don't then it's a safer choice to go for the expensive guns.

 

[Hangtight]

Same reason people upgrade mundane cars to sometimes ridiculous levels of performance. Whether it's cost effective rarely comes into it. It's not uncommon to see the £2000 car with £20000 of upgrades and work outperformed by the untouched car that cost £10000. But I think it's very possible to take a £120 CM16, spend £100 on carefully selected parts and have it perform at least as well as a £350 rifle. It would arguably be a better Airsoft gun... Lighter, tough polymer that can take a few knocks... But given the choice between the Plain Jane that works really well or the average performing but high spec appearance, which do you choose?

 

[L3wisD]

For me, it's because it's easier to say to the wife:

"I've just ordered a new part for my rifle"

Instead of

"I've just bought a new gun"

She'd go livid if I kept buying guns.

Upgrading the existing gun is good for keeping her sweet.

Plus I'm well happy with my rifle since ditching the standard barrel and hop unit for a Prometheus/Prowin combo, so I don't need a new rifle just yet (saving my pennies for a TM Recoil mind...). Just could do with a better spring in the Specna and it'd be perfect.

 

[Lozart]

Because they can.

/thread

 

[Albiscuit]

Having been guilty of this...

Started with a Raider CM16. Felt out ranged and not so impressed with ROF and trigger response I spent 80 odd quid on a speed upgrade at my local shop as I played with another rifle they had done it too and it was a beast.

Obviously it wasnt the same as my raider was not as good as the other to start with.

However I wish I had spend the money on other upgrades as the trigger response is still rubbish and I have found I dont use full auto so the upgrade was pointless for me.

I guess it was being naive on my part and not knowing too much about available parts and how airsoft guns worked back then.

Its currently in pieces in a drawer at home because (apparently) the piston needs replacing and I do not want to pay a tech any more money to fix it as I feel I have spent too much on it already and want to tinker with it myself

 

[ImTriggerHappy]

Because if you build it or even get someone else to do it for you it becomes more your own gun. If everybody just bought stock guns then every gun would just be another brand A or brand B gun and that's kind of boring.

There is also the cost factor, if you have a gun where the externals are ok you could reach the same levels of performance for half the price of a new higher quality gun.

 

[Jedi_Master]

Because ... it becomes more your own gun.

As does giving it a name

 

[Sacarathe]

Why do people fix cars after they are over 3 years old ?  Because it's cheaper to upgrade than buy new constantly, plus If you like your gun and just want a little more out of it then there is no sense in changing 

I have specifically excluded this from my question.

 

[ImTriggerHappy]

As does giving it a name

Yes but one actually serves a purpose and the other is a bit sad.

 

[L3wisD]

As does giving it a name

If you're coming to the Mall Game I'll introduce you to my Custom (has a foregrip and a tracer) M4....

She's called Esmeralda Hasslewaithe the 3rd.

<3

 

[Careless]

one reason is that upgrade parts are pretty cheap and everyone is allways looking to upgrade even the best of guns so why should the cheap ones be any different..with my JG ak spetz i had to change the spring to lower fps ,so at the same time i replaced the piston/head for the silent type, mainly because i thought its less then £15 so what the hell , amongst fitting a jefftron mosfet and all metal hopup and branded hop rubber + 9.6v battery the guns shoots really well for what costs have been put into it,

 

[Sitting Duck]

Think the more important upgrades are the owner of the gun....

With me - deffo could improve my skill level - a LOT but I have an medium chill level I think (most times)

with others - upgrade to a more chilled level - sometimes see players with a higher stress level than their guns

plus there is a few downgrades where some have a high w@nker level on the field - I'm not perfect btw

(this w@nker factor is normally more annoying tbh)

The dick factor though is much more dangerous and this should be removed or reduced as much as possible

(dicks are a possible risk to all especially the main player's health if others administer their own downgrades)

ahhh wtf - when Mrs Duck says I'm immature  ( I know you are ner ner ne ne ner nahh I mutter under my breath )

Great - I don't feel so worried about being an old fart playing with toy guns still

As been said - your gun so do what ya want

 

[Sacarathe]

So to redirect this. When is it appropriate to suggest persons not upgrade their [stock/undamaged, but not necessarily new] gun and instead replace it and then upgrade the new gun later.

When operating by the caveat that AEGs with no version in the £300-400 price range exist, I struggle to find any AEGs (excluding ICS/TM) in the £160-£280 price range which appear to be good value when compared to an AEG in the £80-160 price range or £280-400+ ranges.

I always feel like the general advice for AEGs given here is buy cheap or buy expensive for your first gun, so spend £80-140 or £280-450, rarely are users without specific preferences advised otherwise and often advice indicates buying cheap to ensure the eventual 3-6 month later expensive purchase is done with better knowledge of airsoft.

Which brings me to this thread, most people asking about upgrades are not holding guns in the £280-400+ range and if they are they're put down quickly unless evidence of personal experience is adduced. Those asking about upgrades on cheaper guns are generally encouraged because when something goes wrong the loss is minimal and as noted above sometimes a mergre £100 upgrade budget + labour can hugely improve an £80-160 gun quite efficiently. Or alternatively depending on resources they're direct to buy in the £280+ ranges.

So why is it that we're a bit hit and miss on the on mid range guns. I have received the general impression that rarely can a £160-£280 gun be brought up to the quality of a gun in the range above that for the same costs but that the cheaper guns can.

So should mid range guns be upgraded at all, or just replaced with expensive guns? Do mid range guns even have a place in airsoft (when their form factor is far from unique.

Just rambling because the other day I wanted to tell someone to scrap their guns - as others eventually did.

 

[Roundel91]

Not everyone has tonnes of money to shell out on their hobby. certainly not me anyway.

If i could improve the performance of my AEG by buying some relatively inexpensive parts and fitting them as time and money permits then what's the issue?

As long as your happy with what you're doing, what you have and you still get enjoyment from playing with it then that's just fine.

opinions are like bumholes. everyone has one

 

[Hangtight]

I wonder if it's because broadly speaking we can categorise different price ranges as follows.

Cheap and cheerful. Can be made to shoot really well with some careful mods.

Expensive. Built with good parts and attention to detail. Works straight out of the box.

Mid range. Looks the nuts but a quick look inside reveals the same internals as the cheap and cheerful gun, OR not all that exciting to look at but actually really well made and put together (eg ICS).

Just a quick look around my local site puts most of the guns in the first three categories, with a surprisingly small number buying the sensible, well made mid range item.