Double Eagle M904g – Aka the Original Q Honey Badger

[RostokMcSpoons]

Took my M906c out for its first game today... First kill was sniping someone's foot poking out underneath a tarpaulin... Oh the glamour! 🤣😆🤣

 

The gun was great.  The lowish rate of fire was noticeable when shooting at moving targets at range though.  The temptation to get an 11.1v battery (which will necessitate the PTS EPS stock purchase)... will be something I'll have to live with for a bit

[MattBawden]

Hi All

 

I have a DE Honey Badger which I love, however, after a year and a half of use it doesn't work, I connect the 11.1v lipo battery and it registers and I can go through the binary firing changes but when I move to to semi or auto it just does a faint click...any ideas as to what's wrong? Also, I've lost the manual that came with it, do you have a pdf you can send me or direct me to somewhere that does? I live in the Isle of Man so can't just nip to my local airsoft dealer (there are none here) like in the UK and I don't really want to buy a new rifle, I'd like this to work.

 

Thanks for any help.

 

Matt

[JVacation]

19 hours ago, MattBawden said:

Hi All

 

I have a DE Honey Badger which I love, however, after a year and a half of use it doesn't work, I connect the 11.1v lipo battery and it registers and I can go through the binary firing changes but when I move to to semi or auto it just does a faint click...any ideas as to what's wrong? Also, I've lost the manual that came with it, do you have a pdf you can send me or direct me to somewhere that does? I live in the Isle of Man so can't just nip to my local airsoft dealer (there are none here) like in the UK and I don't really want to buy a new rifle, I'd like this to work.

 

Thanks for any help.

 

Matt

Hey mate, Double check your motor orientation, flow of positive / negative from battery.

 

Also check the AR latch.

[RostokMcSpoons]

22 minutes ago, JVacation said:

Hey mate, Double check your motor orientation, flow of positive / negative from battery.

 

Also check the AR latch.

As a curious bystander who doesn't know about the AR latch, I googled and found this:

 

 

... is that what you mean and is it useful?

[JVacation]

On 23/11/2021 at 16:16, RostokMcSpoons said:

As a curious bystander who doesn't know about the AR latch, I googled and found this:

 

 

... is that what you mean and is it useful?

Pretty much, find the latch, hook it and pull down. 

[Fatboy40]

I thought I'd add a bit of info here about my M904E that others may find useful, as all DE M90X's are the same inside, and some work I'll be doing on it in the coming week or so.

 

I've had my M904E for around six months, played six full days with it, and shot 15k to 18k of 0.25g BB's (I take well placed shots, but also enjoy playing a "support" role, so can get through them) all of which are having an effect on it. First of all the stock spring compressed, dropping 15 or so FPS, and replacing that got things back to how it was out of the box at around 345 FPS on 0.20g. However, my heavy use is now taking another toll, in that the gun is now down by another 15 or so FPS.

 

I'm assuming the air seal is dropping off after heavy use, so I'll be cracking open my first ever gearbox (which I'm getting excited about). I've just bought various parts from AK2M4 as well as I thought I may as well swap out a few things, XT 14 tooth piston (CNC rack) + XT cylinder head + nozzles and a few other bits and bobs (plus a slightly weaker spring as I may possibly run hot after this).

 

I'm still 100% of the opinion that DE M90X's are great guns for the money, my son has Santa dropping him off one, however I'm starting to see where potentially their cheaper parts / bill of materials / build is having an effect?

[ak2m4]

12 hours ago, Fatboy40 said:

I'm assuming the air seal is dropping off after heavy use, so I'll be cracking open my first ever gearbox (which I'm getting excited about). I've just bought various parts from AK2M4 as well as I thought I may as well swap out a few things, XT 14 tooth piston (CNC rack) + XT cylinder head + nozzles and a few other bits and bobs (plus a slightly weaker spring as I may possibly run hot after this).

 

Let me know how that Gearparts M105 spring works out for you, plus any problems.  I've not opened one of the new DE yet, will get hold of one soon though.

[Fatboy40]

2 hours ago, ak2m4 said:

Let me know how that Gearparts M105 spring works out for you...

 

Was my order that obvious 😆

 

I'm thinking the piston head with a bearing, as the DE M90X's spring guide has a bearing as well, will probably compress the spring a bit more and with a better air seal take me over 350 FPS. We'll know in a few days...

[RostokMcSpoons]

@Fatboy40 please please please either video / take pics / make notes as you do the gearbox tear-down, as I might be following in your footsteps shortly, and I'm less 'excited' and more 'nervous' 

[ak2m4]

1 hour ago, Fatboy40 said:

 

Was my order that obvious 😆

 

I'm thinking the piston head with a bearing, as the DE M90X's spring guide has a bearing as well, will probably compress the spring a bit more and with a better air seal take me over 350 FPS. We'll know in a few days...

 

the general consensus is you don't need a thrust bearing on both the piston head and spring guide, it won't do any harm but it will put a little more stress on the spring. again every aeg is slightly difference, worth experimenting with both.  personally i only ever fit the single bearing on the spring guide.

[EDcase]

20 minutes ago, ak2m4 said:

 

the general consensus is you don't need a thrust bearing on both the piston head and spring guide, it won't do any harm but it will put a little more stress on the spring. again every aeg is slightly difference, worth experimenting with both.  personally i only ever fit the single bearing on the spring guide.

Agreed.  FatBoy40, better to have a bearing on the spring guide only.

The piston head should be as light as possible to reduce impact forces on the gearbox shell.

[Fatboy40]

6 hours ago, ak2m4 said:

the general consensus is you don't need a thrust bearing on both the piston head and spring guide...

 

I know, but I've got a bit more time on my hands at the moment than usual so fancied playing around a bit 😁

 

To be honest I could probably just get away with just re-greasing the stock piston head and seeing what happens, but I've an itch I want to scratch.

[Fatboy40]

Well, I had a few hours spare so I thought why not try and break my M904E by taking the gearbox apart (my first ever gearbox disassembly!) to see if I can get back my missing 15 FPS, which turned out to be far more stressful than I thought it would be (and a test firing of just the gearbox in the receiver failed, s**t, until I realised the battery was flat).

 

Bottom line is that right now I have to disassemble it again as the combined XT cylinder head and nozzle are too long so BB's are not feeding, the XT and stock nozzle are the same length though, so maybe a cylinder head or tappet plate problem? I see though that MAXX make all sorts of lengths of nozzle so I've bought a few of theirs as well (they do a 21.25mm, lengths seem to increment up or down by 0.25mm).

 

The disassembly did throw up two interesting things though. First of all the bottom of the pistol grip is cutting into the motor wires...

 

https://i.imgur.com/IhUDTtt.jpg

 

... and secondly I'd seen on some websites that the DE M90X's allegedly had a bearing on the piston head as well and they do!..

 

https://i.imgur.com/LVlAPn6.jpg

 

... and this has had no effect on my my Guarder SP100 spring which is still 17cm after around 10,000 shots.

 

Edit: I also bought a Guarder tappet plate, on which the "fin" on the rear that connects with the sector gear is wider, and with this swapped in this morning we're feeding again and back to 345'ish FPS on 0.20g BBs 😁

Edited December 11, 2021 by Fatboy40

[Rogerborg]

Congratulations, you are now a fully Reddit-qualified airsoft tech. 👍

 

Surprising to see that bearing piston head, these DE90X's really are making a strong argument for themselves.

 

On the wiring, you'll have found that there's a fair amount of stuffing required to get everything to fit, so it's not something that would particulary bother me (with a plastic base).  That said, you could remove some material from the base plate as long as there's enough left to keep the motor aligned - it's only the adjustment screw and shim that should really be pressing down (well, up) on it.

 

That would make you a God Tier Redditor.  

[Fatboy40]

2 hours ago, Rogerborg said:

Congratulations, you are now a fully Reddit-qualified airsoft tech. 👍

 

I thought I needed a MAXX hop unit in order to qualify?

[Rogerborg]

1 hour ago, Fatboy40 said:

I thought I needed a MAXX hop unit in order to qualify?

 

I reckon the real pro move is to recommend them without having ever fitted one.

[GoodeyAirsoft]

Hey, so ive not long got the DE Honey Badger M904G with the 11.1v battery and i love it but im looking to upgrade it.

 

a few things im looking at getting but have some questions about.

• Maple leaf macaron 60 degree 
• Maple leaf omega nub - what does this actually do??
• ZCI 6.02 barrel- what size inner barrel do i need??
• ZCI motor high torque - do i need the long or short version??

[ak2m4]

@GoodeyAirsoft The nub is used to apply pressure onto the bucking (backspin), for barrel length grab the closest to the stock length, I think the stock is 215mm, ZCI do a 200mm and 229mm, depends on how much length you have.

 

I used to love the ZCI HT motors but they never improved the design, must have asked them a dozen times to stop using the tab design and shim a little better but they never did. It's why I moved to stocking the XT motor range and back to the SHS HT motor.

[Rogerborg]

Omega nubs are shaped to match the curvature of the barrel and BB, so in principle apply pressure in a more helpful way. While I'm a big fan of Maple Leaf rubbers, I'm not personally so convinced about the nubs (although I am currently running some).  Contrary opinions are available.

 

All V2 gearboxed M4s use long shaft motors.

 

PatrolBase reckon you've got a 210mm inner barrel, so I agree that you're either looking at 200mm, or a longer barrel hidden inside a suppressor.  You can cut barrels down to exact sizes, but it's generally advised to re-crown them (put a conical lip in the end) - whether this actually makes much difference is another of those airsoft tenets of faith.

[GoodeyAirsoft]

So I have had a little look online regarding the inner barrel and it says its either 210mm or 215mm on different websites so I'm not to sure.

 

So would it be better to go to a smaller inner barrel (200mm) or goto a bigger size (229mm) but I have never worked on a gun before so I wouldn't be to sure or happy to cut something down.

 

So would you recommend the XT or SHS motor over the ZCI??

 

Also would I go with a motor with or without a fan??

Edited December 16, 2021 by GoodeyAirsoft
More questions :)

[Skara]

If you go for a macaron, I suggest the Super variant, the contact patch is wider and it has two convenient shoulders that sit on the barrel window for better alignment and rigidity. Also go for a 70, I got better results with 70s than 60s or 50s in terms of consistency and range.

 

Omega nubs are fine albeit you want the hardest one you can find for a more consistent hop.

 

Motors I use both SHS HTs and ZCI 22tpa motors, the latter is much slower but runs super cool, the SHS will run a lot faster but heat up more.

[Rogerborg]

2 hours ago, GoodeyAirsoft said:

So would it be better to go to a smaller inner barrel (200mm) or goto a bigger size (229mm) but I have never worked on a gun before so I wouldn't be to sure or happy to cut something down.

 

200mm is sufficient for airsoft, you really don't need much barrel length to get up to UK power limits.  I've seen 0.95J out of a 110mm x 6.01mm and an oops!  1.3J out of a 229mm x 6.02mm, both with M100 springs.  Switching from a stock 210/215 to a tighter 200mm shouldn't effect your power much either way.

 

I wouldn't recommend cutting barrels down, just noting that it's an option if you want to get every last mm of length out of it.  There's no particular need or benefit though.

 

 

2 hours ago, GoodeyAirsoft said:

So would you recommend the XT or SHS motor over the ZCI??

 

I'd recommend the Big Dragon M140 from AliExpress, because I chisel every penny.  

 

They're really surprisingly decent for the price, with magnets that could pull a satellite out of orbit, although I've never sprung for anything brand-namier to compare them against.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Skara said:

Also go for a 70, I got better results with 70s than 60s or 50s in terms of consistency and range.

 

Omega nubs are fine albeit you want the hardest one you can find for a more consistent hop.

 

You play in 30C heat though.  I'll be playing at 3C on Sunday (if I'm lucky), which is why I'd suggest 60 for UK year round use.  Although as with most of airsoft, it's really a matter of sinking in more money and finding what works best for your gun at your site at your latitude, depending which direction the wind is blowing.

[Skara]

14 minutes ago, Rogerborg said:

You play in 30C heat though.  I'll be playing at 3C on Sunday (if I'm lucky), which is why I'd suggest 60 for UK year round use.  Although as with most of airsoft, it's really a matter of sinking in more money and finding what works best for your gun at your site at your latitude, depending which direction the wind is blowing.

I did the testing in winter, where it doesn't get much warmer than you guys

I mean I'm in southern Europe but I'm not in the Sahara yet

[ak2m4]

@Rogerborg I've got one of those BD motors around somewhere, do the new one still use that tab can design?

[Rogerborg]

55 minutes ago, ak2m4 said:

@Rogerborg I've got one of those BD motors around somewhere, do the new one still use that tab can design?

 

Tabs as in these?

 

 

Yes, still got those.  They're not magical quality, I did have to take one apart (bending and then re-squishing the tabs) to pop another shim under the shaft, there was just too much inny-outy play for my comfort.  Decent enough in use for the money though, a big step up from any stock motor I've had.

 

Could be (potentially) worse.  I have a Tornado where the screws on either side go into a common collar inside the shell.  Metal screws going into a common metal collar.

 

The only thing that stops it shorting out are micron-thin non-conductive washers under the screws, to keep them isolated from the plates.  If you lose or damage them and don't realise that they're vital while (for example) adding a diode, it will happily short out.  That was a lesson hard learned.