Upgrades for G&G M14 EBR (short barrel)

[Shizbazki]

Hi all bit of a noob here (this may be a bit TL:DR)

 

First some background

 

So I only just got in Airsofting this year and enjoyed it so much i went and bought my own gun without consulting much (yeah i know stupid).

 

So I purchased a G&G M14 EBR short barrel from here: http://www.justbbguns.co.uk/product/529/AIRSOFT-GUNS-PRO/409/OTHER-PRO-GUNS/2289/GG-HBA-S

 

I plan to play with this gun on a balanced basis and chose it specifically because i can switch from DMRing to Assaulting so its kind of a medium to long range gun which suits my airsoft site well, I plan to get a PDW type weapon to fill the short range role later.

 

I also bought a harris style bi-pod and an extra G&G Mag.

 

Whilst i was at the JustBBGuns shop i also bought some batteries as the gun came without any, now i always preferred Lithium batteries over any other chemistry so decided to go for some LiPos, theses ones to be exact: http://www.justbbguns.co.uk/product/504/BATTERIES-AND-CHARGERS/268/LiPo-BATTERIES/2461/WE-1450MAH-11.1V-LIPO

 

Now you can't really read the specs on it from the picture on the website but its a WE 1450mAh 11.1 volts 25C, i also bought the correct charger for these batteries.

 

Out the box the gun fires about 310 to 320 FPS or about 0.9Joules using .2g BBs according to my X3200 Chronograph. Thinking this was a bit low i started to do some Googling and discovered conflicting reports of using LiPos, that they will strip the gearboxes, burn out motors, cause trigger arcing, explode on you whist charging (i have always known this about Lithium batteries).

 

But i also discovered that it can and should be upgraded, recommendations included shimming the gears, changing the spring, barrel, gears, motor, hop up, battery connectors, piston, piston head and a bunch of other things as well as adding a MOSFET.

 

At this time i know how to strip the weapon to pieces and put it back together (thanks to Youtube videos et al), I know it has a v7 gearbox with a V2/V3 gea rset but i don't know what piston, spring, barrel (though research suggests 6.04 tightbore) etc

 

So my questions are?

1. Is 310 - 320FPS ok? my sites limit for fully auto is 350FPS so my thinking is that this is a bit low
2. Will my LiPo batteries kill my gun? Are they too powerful? I have heard horror stories of LiPos stripping gearboxes apart
3. Should i upgrade the gearbox? If so what gear set would you recommend?
4. Should i shim the gears?
5. Should i get a MOSFET? If so what brand or model
6. The piston and spring assembly, should i change those? Also how do I make the seal better?
7. I the G&G stock motor decent? or should i upgrade this too?
8. Should i change the barrel to a tighter one or leave it as it is?
9. Should i change the hop up or even go for an R-hop?
10. Should i changed the battery connectors from Tamiya to Deans? So far i don't see an issue with the Tamiya ones.
11. Any other upgrades you can think of that will improve its performance?

TBH my main concern is that i am hoping my 11.1v LiPos don't kill my gun, and if it does strip the gearbox and piston apart too quickly then i'll know what bits i need, i am really looking at reliability, range and accuracy and consistent shots over ROF but don't want to kill the ROF too much. At this time assume that cost is not a problem as i won't be getting all these bits in one go.

 

Many thanks in advance, i know its a bit long winded but i would rather put all the info i know here in one go rather than have to answer the individually.

[Samurai]

1. Is 310 - 320FPS ok? my sites limit for fully auto is 350FPS so my thinking is that this is a bit low

   It's fine. I'ts not that 30 fps will get you shot.

2. Will my LiPo batteries kill my gun? Are they too powerful? I have heard horror stories of LiPos stripping gearboxes apart

   Yes. 11.1 lipo is a bit too much. 7.4 would have been enough.

3. Should i upgrade the gearbox? If so what gear set would you recommend?

   No.

4. Should i shim the gears?

   They are okay.

5. Should i get a MOSFET? If so what brand or model

   With that lipo you probably should.

6. The piston and spring assembly, should i change those? Also how do I make the seal better?

   No. How do you know it's not good now?

7. I the G&G stock motor decent? or should i upgrade this too?

   It's fine.

8. Should i change the barrel to a tighter one or leave it as it is?

   You souldn't.

9. Should i change the hop up or even go for an R-hop?

   No and oh god, no.

10. Should i changed the battery connectors from Tamiya to Deans? So far i don't see an issue with the Tamiya ones.

    Yes. Tamiya is made for much less currents. Deans (or XT60) have much bigger contacts. If the tamiya gets warm after some quick shots, you should definiately change it.

11. Any other upgrades you can think of that will improve its performance?

As you can read, my opinion is that you should use the gun and play a lot of airsoft. Currently the gun is not the weak point. Usually beginners think they get shot because others have better guns. An experienced player has the knowledge to get you, it doesn't matter what gun you have. Stock G&G is fine. If it's your only gun you probably shouldn't try to fix it (it's not broken) there is a very real chance it won't be better or even it will be worse.

 

Sorry, it sounds a bit harsh, it's just my advice based on my experience.

[Lozart]

What ^^^^ he said. Play more. When the gun won't do the things you ask of it THEN you start messing around with it. Until then, it ain't broke so stop trying to fix it!

[BrightCandle]

Just play with it first and try out some other peoples guns to see if theirs is more accurate/longer ranged before you consider any upgrades. Its only if its genuine deficient should you consider upgrading things and you need to know what its doing well and what its doing badly to work out which parts to focus on. The G&G gearset is pretty good and it'll cope with 11.1V lipo, but the trigger contact will wear out due to the arcing from that battery, I would also recommend dropping to a 7.4V lipo to increase the life of the gun and then you wont really need a mosfet and hence can avoid doing that sort of upgrade too soon.

 

If my G&G guns are anything to go by they do need work on the cylinder/piston/nozzle for airseal and the hop can be improved with g/r hop. But I wouldn't even consider it until you know its necessary, because if the gun is already working well there is no point messing with it.

[Shizbazki]

Thanks for the tips guys, I will probably step down to some 7.4 LiPos when i can.

[Shizbazki]

What mosfet do you guys recommend?

[Lozart]

What mosfet do you guys recommend?

Personally I'm a fan of the gate electronics ones. If you have the space a nano aab would be my recommendation.

[Shizbazki]

Personally I'm a fan of the gate electronics ones. If you have the space a nano aab would be my recommendation.

 

Thanks, I was looking at eBay and saw loads by Gate Electronics and did a few youtube lookups but still wasn't sure.

[Lozart]

 

Thanks, I was looking at eBay and saw loads by Gate Electronics and did a few youtube lookups but still wasn't sure.

 

You can get the Gate ones from Fire Support too.

[Shizbazki]

 

You can get the Gate ones from Fire Support too.

 

Many thanks.

I got a GATEs MERF 3.2 MOSFET and some Deans connectors plan to solder them on some time this week