Why do people 'upgrade' cheap AEGs?

[Sitting Duck]

Depends on a few or number of factors....

Depends on gun:

The Noes or not really worth it - or avoid if possible

Bulldog 500A1 - forget it unless you are a sad bastid and love a big challenge for $hits n giggles

SRC - Sportsline's - depends some dragon's have a plastic box, most have metal box - but 1 piece hop

(SRC answer - nah not really - maybe a little but only when stuff breaks but ffs don't go nutz)

BBGuns4less - Krinkov bright orange AK plastic box - see SRC Dragon, can work but still nah

Cyma's 5xx range:

M4 - OK probably best cheapo gun out there sub £100

AK - the top battery dust cover is plastic and will require care or metal one

(tbh if poss buy the slightly more expensive 028 range or others - another £10or so well spent imho)

Better but more expensive Starter's:

Cyma's - the slightly better ones on offer, JG D-Boys blah blah blah

(£100 to say £150 or so)

G&G's - M4's nuff said but perhaps avoid the daft etu ones and just get something old skool that upgrades ok

ICS - another nice one

You get the idea...

NEXT - who is going to do the work/upgrades ???

Yourself - as long as you some basic common sense the why not ?

even as a large learning curve then yeah go for it especially if it is f*cked or semi f*cked

(what have you got to lose)

A shop or " Tech " and I use the term loosely coz there a few that may not be worthy of that term

This will cost so you need to use a good one with proven track record or reviews

Time is never free so this cost factor will have to be considered as well as the big question:

" HOW FAR DO YOU GO ? " or " WHERE DO YOU START & WHERE DO YOU STOP ? "

PRICE OF PARTS - let alone who fits it all:

Gearbox upgrades can vary from say £10 to oooh £100+ if you replace all plus motor/mosfet etc....

Hop-Barrel-Bucking can vary from £10 to £50 or more

On average say £50 - £75 might be average starting point but it is hard to quantify

but half of this might be needed at some point with just general wear & tear or a part failing

The issue comes from when you start/stop if box is open then replace/upgrade that too

(before you know it that original budget might be looking to double for example)

The other factor is down to the owner - it is their gun after all....

Whatever you do to a Raider it will still be a Raider or on the outside it will appear to be

Does this bother the owner - if not then no worries

If you have a G&G 18k motor fitted to most Carbine/Raiders and some others then that is $hit for upgrades

If you have the chrome blue "powerful motor" - this is better and might be in CM18's FireHawk's and maybe some others

The orange efrit neodym motor in some others like predator's are quite good

Why does this matter - well a new SHS motor is £30 so that could go elsewhere if not needed right now

(can always replace later but if going nutz with 13:1 gears then you might want a good motor & then maybe mosfet)

All of this adds up not just in money for parts but a very costly issue is time

time not just in fitting but trouble shooting any issues also - it can really mount up

(if you was paying somebody then either just repair/replace or go as nutz as you feel you want to but in one go perhaps)

Then things is - everybody & every gun will be vary on what they perceive is worth doing

It is hard to quantify what the level of nutz is, but I feel the manufacturers need to rethink their spec

If I was buying a gun over £200 -well deffo over £250 I would strongly expect it to come with:

a mosfet, AoE corrected, Deans etc....

Now I know Krytac/Alizzard was saying they can't use deans & can't use china copy deans but surely...

(Stop calling me Shirley)

Surely they could use Star power connectors:

but hey ho - there ya go my quick rough short thoughts - pah when have I ever given a brief quick response

it is not easy to give a simple one-for-all answer - depends on gun/budget/owner themselves etc....

 

[ImTriggerHappy]

I think sometimes people just get comfortable with what they use. My main gun is still my faithful Sig and that gets worked on all the time. Admittedly it wasn't exactly a cheapo when I bought it sort of upper mid tier but yeah you could just buy better but it wouldn't be the same. I have owned all sorts in the last few years Recoils, G&P, Krytac but none have lasted more than a few months and very few have ever made game days except the Sig because it's the one I feel most comfortable using.

Sometimes just buying more expensive doesn't get you what you need and familiarity is more important.  No gun I have ever used shoots better than it anyway.

 Can't see me ever changing from it now, I will still buy new guns but they will always be back ups or stand ins. 

 

[sniperslucky]

I think most have covered this point, but from my point of view, i brought an semi plastic M4 for around £70, i found a full metal upper & lower for £35 and then got a full metal floating RAS for another £30. All in all my son's Full metal M4 cost me £135 shoots good enough  to contend with all others and it was way less than £300.00. Thats why, also the retailers need to know that yes it would be nice to own a £300 gun , but being mass produced prob from china shouldn't come with such a price tag.

Popular sport Exploit the player 

Quote :Krytac free draw for a chance to win a Vector (buy a new gun to be entered) 

 

[PT247]

I am cool with folk buying then 6 months later wanting to upgrade.... but to me it makes no sense to buy a gun and shove bits in it straight away when there are guns that perform better out the box than yours would after a new barrel and bucking. So if you can but better in that instance you are a mug to not do so.

Sniper rifles are a tad different though as they do need upgrading out the box.

 

[Sacarathe]

Sniper rifles are a tad different though as they do need upgrading out the box.

Oh yeah, keeping this discussion strictly AEG.

 

[Lozart]

I am cool with folk buying then 6 months later wanting to upgrade.... but to me it makes no sense to buy a gun and shove bits in it straight away when there are guns that perform better out the box than yours would after a new barrel and bucking. So if you can but better in that instance you are a mug to not do so.




1

I think a lot of people see the aftermarket widgets and constant chatter about upgrades and just assume that you have to upgrade things straight away. 

 

[Samurai]

Or seeing how they suck at their first games they think: it must be the gun!

90% of the guns don't need any internal upgrade. The 10% is when the hopup bucking is crap or the barrel is bent or scratched.

A good clean, 7.4V lipo with deans connector, using good, heavy BBs and setting the hop properly brings every AEG to about the same performance level.

 

[Albiscuit]

I remember my early games with my raider. I felt out ranged, out gunned and useless compared to most other players. Reading things online (here included) didnt always help.

There is lots of misinformation around. Longer barrel, better hop = more range and super fast bbs change battery for better ROF etc.. I had a complex about my gun compared to everyone else as I knew it was entry level and el cheapo it was frustrating watching bbs float off at the end of their range or dropping at peoples feet whilst I was getting hit.

But actually playing for a while and playing to my personal style and using the gun in different scenarios allowed me to learn my limits, just because I could see someone did not mean I could shoot them!!!

I learnt to play sneaky where needed to get closer, aggressive where needed to keep people in my range on my terms not stand behind a tree 100m away looking through a scope wondering why I couldn't hit anyone!!!

Maybe it was a combination of me expecting more from a cheaper gun / or me not being as super snipey ninja as I thought I was  B)

personally I wouldn't have got a raider if I started again, I would go with something a bit better/faster/accurate but by starting with a cheap gun it has molded the way I play and made me realise range is not everything as I can get closer to most players even in woodland than they are comfortable with anyway

Sometimes people need cheaper guns to learn how to play and how things work. How many times have we seen people admit buying a AA12 or sniper rifle as their first gun is a mistake? Better to buy cheap, learn and upgrade to a decent standard if you decide to keep it than buying a £400 quid gun and regretting it.

 

[djben9]

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.

Just do what I do, take an empty gun bag to Firesupport or other retailer, say your getting it looked at, come back with new one in bag....done that twice now and she still thinks I have 2!!!

my AEGs are £180 and the other 3 between £280 and £320, only had rubber replaced on all 4 and spring on 2, one firing low on a M90 the other a DMR upgrade 

doubt I will do anything else unless broken as they are all firing fine 

 

[Sitting Duck]

Just do what I do, take an empty gun bag to Firesupport or other retailer, say your getting it looked at, come back with new one in bag....done that twice now and she still thinks I have 2!!!

my AEGs are £180 and the other 3 between £280 and £320, only had rubber replaced on all 4 and spring on 2, one firing low on a M90 the other a DMR upgrade 

doubt I will do anything else unless broken as they are all firing fine 

But next you open a gun bag expecting it to be empty and find a dozen pair of her shoes...

The game is up - hang on where did she get the money....

More important - where the f*ck have my other guns got to ???

 

[L3wisD]

I can just imagine opening a cupboard chock full of airsoft guns and them all cascading out like a tidal wave, and trying to explain it to the missus who thinks I only have two rifles and a pistol  :lol:

 

[Sitting Duck]

I can just imagine opening a cupboard chock full of airsoft guns and them all cascading out like a tidal wave, and trying to explain it to the missus who thinks I only have two rifles and a pistol  :lol:

Yeah - the classic:

" I'm just looking after them for a friend.... " - that probably won't quite cut it

 

[lazybike]

I've had my cheap raider for over a year now, it's had the trigger contacts cleaned, a fresh spring and been s-hopped, it's easily my best shooting gun 

 

[Ali-G]

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.

For me... I've got a new born child to buy for and my partner wouldn't be best pleased if i got a new gun, since i just bought two. So instead, i've bought external and internal upgrades from Ebay for relatively low prices to build myself a MK18, it won't be EXACT, but it'll look like one and will do me.  I'm using a Nuprol base to build onto that, changed the internals and handguard so far, aswell as added grip and sight (and other general asthetics)

P.S, i know i'm late the show.