Re-thought my money-spending plan - time to change my L96, a lot.

[Liam Porter]

I must be the most indecisive person ever when it comes to airsoft and spending money.

 

I wanted to sell my L96 to fund an SR25 for a while.

 

I then used my L96 for a few games after not using for a while and decided I want to keep it.

At this point, I decided I want a gun for urban - an M4. So I put together a complete parts list, had it all planned out etc.

 

And then when I last went airsofting (Sunday) my mate bought a sniper (brand new Well MB04, upgraded for £250).

This made me want to literally max out my sniper and get all the best parts as currently it's somewhat inconsistent (FPS and accuracy).

 

So, over the past couple of days, I've decided on a complete revamp of my L96.

Here's my planned parts list and cost:

 

External:

-PDI Fluted Outer Barrel: ~£115

-PDI AI Flash Hider Type 1: ~£40

-Replica TASCO 3-9x40 Scope with 55mm Sunshade: £35

-Harris Style Bipod: £27

-Stock Well MB01 receiver/bolt housing, bolt handle and stock.

 

Internal:

-PDI Hop Chamber: £61

-PDI 495x6.05mm TB: ~£80

-Laylax Zero Trigger: £179

-Laylax Cylinder Head: £21

-Laylax Teflon Cylinder: £107

-Laylax 3-Element Piston: £33

-Laylax Piston Head: £10

-Laylax 9mm Spring Guide: £23

-Laylax 8.55mm Barrel Spacer: £15

 

Not sure on hop bucking or spring yet, which ever is recommended and gives 500 FPS. Spring will be Laylax.

 

Also going to pick up some Krylon and paint it OD.

In theory, once I've thrown another £800+ into it, it'll look like the rifle at the bottom of this page: http://www.x-fire.org/type96/e.t96_hider_ai1.html

 

Plan is to clean and polish barrel after every skirmish and to wash all BBs before I use them.

 

Should be able to hit 100m+ shots, others can with the same setup on 500 FPS.

I can manage 75m shots with mine as it is now, although not consistently.

 

So, what do you think?

 

 

Also, is anyone else as undecided in what they're going to buy as me?

It seems that what I'll get is whatever just happens to be in my mind when money comes into my bank account.

[M_P]

Just a thought you might need a bull barrel base. You do for VSR's not sure about the type 96 rifles, thought best to point it out at least

I'm (trying) to do a similar thing with my vsr, but I'm no good at saving

 

And about being indicisive, in a way yes I constantly have new ideas and change what I want every other week. Though there are a few things that I'll stick with- only thing on that list atm is the ASW though so I'll need to find something else soon

[Liam Porter]

Bull barrel base?? What's that, and what's it do?

 

I was originally going to do this from the start, but got upgrades from Dazz instead as they were cheaper .

 

 

In the last few weeks, I've gone from SR25 - M4 - 500 FPS SR25 - M4 - L96 - M4 - L96. It's not good. It's going to be either L96 or M4 that I get, depending on my mood when I get paid. I want everything

[Finius]

Sounds like a good plan tbh, you're going the right way doing all the little bits like proper cleaning etc, though when washing bbs it may be best to just use warm, clean water, detergents etc can stick/alter plastic surfaces and that might cause issues.

[Liam Porter]

Read up on washing BBs. Warm soapy water to remove the factory crap from them, then rinse with cold water then allow to dry apparently .

Rinse with cold water as warm water has more impurities and higher deposits of limescale.

 

Decided a change on the scope, rather than spend £60 on a 4-16x50, I'm gonna get a TASCO 3-9x40 with sunshade for £35, seems a bit better then.

[M_P]

I had a look, never mind about the base, you don't need one. On vsr rifles, bull barrels come in two pieces, the bbb attaches to the receiver and the bull barrel screws into that.... though they have actually now started making one piece ones anyway

[Liam Porter]

Okay, I was gonna say I haven't seen/read anything about it for the L96.

 

Do you know if there's an equivalent site to x-fire.org, but for Laylax parts rather than PDI parts?

[M_P]

Laylax have their own website but its pretty crap (unless they've changed it) but unlike xfire which is PDI's own site, I don't think they have one.

Your best bet is to look on one of the bigger foreign retailers, they'll probably have all the parts- try WGC and ehobby, maybe red wolf too.

[Liam Porter]

I've found all I want in the UK, apart from the PDI inner barrel, outer barrel and flash hider.

 

Everything's in stock, apart from the Laylax piston and PDI hop chamber.

Fire Support are getting more PDI hop chambers in a few days, and I've emailed Zero One about the piston but no reply yet.

 

Gonna order from PDI as soon as possible as I want this done by the NAE

[M_P]

You'll be better off calling z1 they never reply to emails

Doesn't the zero trigger come with a piston?

[Liam Porter]

I've never had any problem with them not replying to emails. And I don't do phone calls.

 

Not for the Type 96, it does for the VSR and the Marui L96 I think.

 

 

Couple of questions;

Can you recommend me an AEG hop rubber and nub to use, shooting 500 FPS with .20s, but needs to lift .40s?

 

And, PDI do barrels in 6.01, 6.04, 6.05, 6.08 inner diameter. I've chosen the 6.05 because it's the closest to 6.03 (current) that ins't expensive.

The 6.05 is about £80, the 6.04 is about £100, because it is 10mm thick outer diameter rather than 8.55mm. Is it worth the extra £20 or so?

Also, recommend any other brand barrels that do an exact L96 length and are better than PDI ones?

[M_P]

I've heard good things about PDI's w hold bucking or whatever its called, not sure if its made for high powers though.

Might be best of buying a couple and seeing what works best.

Not sure on the barrels, I guess a thicker one would vibrate less though so would probably increase accuracy a little, but with barrel spacers all the way down I cant see it making a huge difference once stabilised anyway.

 

PDI make the best barrels, unless you can find an EDGI, but I've never seen any in the UK and am not sure which US stores stock them

[Liam Porter]

Okay, I'll get a few buckings and experiment.

 

That's the idea with the thicker one, less vibrations and more accuracy. Apparently the fluted outer barrel increases accuracy too as it's also thicker so vibrates less, although can't see that myself.

 

I'll have a look for an EDGI one, never seen any either. I'll have a look.

A lot of people seem to use Prometheus barrels, but they don't come in the exact L96 length, so the means either cutting or silencer, don't really want either.

 

 

Also just got an email back from Zero One (sent mine last night), said it'll be in stock in 2-3 weeks.

Not sure if I trust them though, as last time they said that, it was about 8 weeks before it was in stock.

 

 

What Laylax spring gives roughly 500 FPS?

[Airsoft-Ed]

If you're using .40s then the fps will drop below 400, so a soft rubber ought to work just fine since they're for lower fps limits. Right?

 

The rubbers are hard for high speed sets ups, low speed high joule sets up are not the same.

 

I'd try with a Madbull blue, or red.

[Liam Porter]

I'm not getting another Madbull red. In my current set up, Madbull red with the nub that came with it over hops .4g BBs so they land behind me..

 

Didn't think of it that way, I'll still get a few and test them all.

 

 

Any idea on which spring for 500 FPS?

[Airsoft-Ed]

Depends on your barrel length and quality of compression really.

 

It's probably achievable with an M130 if the gun's set up right.

 

I'd try an M150 and if it's too much you can cut it down. I've read that getting over powered springs and then cutting them to the right fps causes them to stay consistent at the same fps for longer, because they're under less overall pressure than they were designed to be under.

 

If that makes sense?

 

I really need to get in on this sniper lark, I was born to be a sniper lol. Your plans sound awesome, it's going to look like a .338 when it's done, minus the folding stock.

[Liam Porter]

I'll get a 150sp or even 170sp and cut it down then. I've now found everything I need in stock, mostly in the UK. Found the piston on LWA, although slightly more expensive than Zero One.

 

May get a G3 mid cap and make a dummy magazine for it to, just for the looks.

I was considering buying a separate folding stock, but that'll be harder and cost more than it's worth really. If I see one going cheap on any forums, I may get it.

 

Now this is all planned, I need to wait for Amazon to refund my laptop. It was collected a week ago!!

[Liam Porter]

One huge f**k off scope arrived today, thanks to StealthyAirsoft . UTG Leapers 4-16x50 Red/Green Illuminated.

 

Pictures:

 

And the old scope for a comparison:

The new one's a lot heavier!

 

 

Next up will be the PDI AI Flash Hider, PDI Fluted Outer Barrel, PDI Hop Chamber and PDI Inner Barrel.

[StealthyAirsoft]

Woah! Well she looks very nice on there!!

[Silent7Sniper7]

Sounds like a great plan, just quickly where did you find the PDI Fluted Outer Barrel? I can only find it on US sites.

[Liam Porter]

Straight from PDI themselves: www.x-fire.org

[Liam Porter]

Next load of parts arrived earlier:

PDI Type96 Fluted Outer Barrel

PDI 6.05x495mm Inner Barrel

PDI Type96 Hop Chamber

PDI AI Flash Hider

PDI Type96 Barrel Spacer (2 Pack)

 

 

And how the gun looks now:

Yes, the Xbox controller and TV remote are important parts of it.

 

Having a lot of trouble getting the outer barrel to screw into the bolt housing. The threads on the old and new barrels are exactly the same (there's slightly less thread on the PDI barrel).

It simply refuses to screw in, at first, it would do have a turn then lock completely.

After a lot of brute force and ignorance (and ripping my hands to shreds on the fluted barrel), it now does 10 full turns and locks up. Screws in just over half the way it needs to.

 

Can't really install the hop chamber until I get a good bucking.

 

Rest of the parts should be ordered tonight, to be here for the weekend.

 

Should be almost complete on Sunday.

[Airsoft-Ed]

Just keep at it with screwing the barrel in, I had exactly the same issue with a barrel extension I got last week for my L119 build. The threads were right but it just wouldn't move.

 

Lube the living shit out of it, tighten it as far as it will go and then give it a heave further, then unscrew and repeat.

 

You just have to keep turning it a tiny bit more at a time. Ended up taking me about half an hour, but it's on there now. It's a pain to get off though. Kinda destroyed my plans for switching to and fro between long barrelled and CQB set ups lol.

[Liam Porter]

I've been doing that for hours Ed, hands are so sore and stingy now it's unbelievable.

 

It's really easy to screw until the last half turn, then it gets so hard and locks. Then it's really hard to unscrew and gets easy after about half a turn.

 

Planning for completion by the weekend now though. Ordering the trigger and cylinder from Fire Support, to collect Saturday at Urban Assault.

So will finish it off lunch time on Saturday and test/set hop etc. then.

 

 

 

EDIT:

 

Put the PDI barrel and flash hider on now:

Close up of the flash hider (for Ed's sake):

 

To put the barrel on properly, I had to cut 2-3mm off the end (threaded end) where the thread stops.

I think it's supposed to be like this, because then it will fit all clone L96 rifles as well due to different thread lengths in the bolt housing. Good idea if you ask me .

 

Still to do:

- Buy hop bucking, trigger and cylinder parts.

- Install all Laylax/PDI internal parts.

- Paint the stock OD.

- Set the rifle up to hit 100m+ targets.

 

Total spend so far:

Base rifle: £180

Scope: £40

Outer barrel: £120

Inner barrel: £90

Hop chamber: £45

Flash hider: £40

Barrel spacers: £15

Total: £530

[Liam Porter]

Now I have everything, apart from one little bit for the hop. Should hopefully come tomorrow or Monday.

 

The piston head is deformed and doesn't fit in the cylinder, so currently the only part of this lot in the rifle is the trigger.

Getting a replacement at Urban Assault tomorrow.

 

Laylax Type96 Zero Trigger

Laylax Type96 Teflon Cylinder

Laylax Type96 Cylinder Head

Laylax Type96 Spring Guide

Laylax Type96/APS-2 3-Element Piston

Laylax Type96/APS-2 170sp Spring

Laylax Type96/APS-2 Accuracy Cup Piston Head

And not in the picture; Prometheus Hard Bucking

 

New parts:

Close up of the zero trigger, simply because it look amazing: