First Upgrades - Advice Needed

[Lj24fit]

Hi ,

 

as title, I need advice! 
 

Just bought a nuprol pioneer breached m4. And I want to upgrade the gun to improve its performance. But I have ; 

 

1: never upgraded any of my previous guns .

2. Do not really understand what parts are needed.

3. Best place to buy. 
 

I’m quite competent in carrying out the work myself, but just require advice. 
 

TIA. 

[Adolf Hamster]

What areas of performance are you wanting to improve?

 

It really depends on your play style and what you want/need as to what path you should consider and what areas will yeild improvement compared to those that might not be worth the effort.

[Lj24fit]

1 minute ago, Adolf Hamster said:

What areas of performance are you wanting to improve?

 

It really depends on your play style and what you want/need as to what path you should consider and what areas will yeild improvement compared to those that might not be worth the effort.

Performance wise it’s pretty much a general increase, but I would say I’d like to increase the rate of fire and accuracy. 
 

I’m pretty much a NOOB with this again, so I’m back to square one with learning.

Like simple inner barrel upgrade (Or any parts for that matter), are they generic to all m4s? or do I need to buy a barrel specific for the “nuprol pioneer breacher M4”?

 

I haven’t played in about 7/8 years, I’ve only just decided to get back into it, so my play style is pretty much non existent other then target shooting at the moment. 

[Adolf Hamster]

I was meaning more specifically to you.

 

Whilst parts (especially for m4's) tend to be generic, the emphasis is on compatible-ish, and a good part that works great in one gun might make another gun worse.

 

For range and accuracy i tend to go with the following as a generic formula (in roughly increasing order of benefit/reward ratio):

 

Give the barrel a good clean

 

Good quality heavier ammo (as heavy as your wallet can afford), i find the ~.3g range is a good cost/performance balance for assault guns outdoors

 

Change the hop rubber/nub combo (especially if its struggling to lift heavier ammo), i like the maple leaf macaron/omega nub combo although some guns dont like feeding with the longer feedlips so the pdi W hop would be my go to in that scenario.

 

Air seal, air seal, air seal, i have a guide which covers the main areas to look at:

 

Once youve got the air seal sorted you can think about spring changes if you're a decent chunk under your sites limit, no point whacking a massive spring in to lose all the energy to leaks. Dont get too hung up on fps, yes energy matters and all things being equal more is better but if you're 5-10fps under the limit its not really worth the effort.

 

And after all that you can think about changing the barrel, the overriding factor for barrels is quality, a well made brass or stainless barrel is gonna be better than a cheap "tightbore". I'm a fan of pdi stuff but zci's 6.02 stainless offerings are very good for the price.

 

I wouldnt bother changing barrel length too much, doesn't much for accuracy except mess up your volume ratio.

 

 

Rate of fire is a tricky one depending on how far you want to go, however if what you want is a snappy trigger response then a precocking mosfet like the gate warfet will give a nice boost without the associated problems of a high auto rate.

[Rogerborg]

 

13 hours ago, Adolf Hamster said:

Dont get too hung up on fps, yes energy matters and all things being equal more is better but if you're 5-10fps under the limit its not really worth the effort

 

Normally I'd agree, but the Breacher only claims ~308fps (PatrolBase figures, so likely a real test).  That's 0.88J, I'd be wanting to get that up a bit for woodland.

 

However, I do absolutely agree with doing air seal first.  Stretch and silicon grease the piston o-ring or replace it if there's any sign of pinching or damage (after stretching and grease it).  Checking my eBay history, I see "Nitrile rubber O-rings. Size: 19mm x 2.5mm, Pack Size: 10. Total: £2.00"

 

An o-ring nozzle can help too - measure up your current nozzle as precisely as you can and get one to match.

 

I like the SHS rotary hop chambers, plastic is fine: https://www.ak2m4.co.uk/internal-parts/hop-up-chambers/zci-rotary-hopup-chamber-plastic-m4

 

And https://www.ak2m4.co.uk/ is my default go-to for any parts, brilliant service although he's having trouble keeping stock levels up at the moment.

 

 

[Adolf Hamster]

3 hours ago, Rogerborg said:

Normally I'd agree, but the Breacher only claims ~308fps (PatrolBase figures, so likely a real test).  That's 0.88J, I'd be wanting to get that up a bit for woodland.

 

yeah, that's what i'd call a significant chunk if the site's running a 1.3j outdoor limit for auto guns.

 

3 hours ago, Rogerborg said:

However, I do absolutely agree with doing air seal first.  Stretch and silicon grease the piston o-ring or replace it if there's any sign of pinching or damage (after stretching and grease it).  Checking my eBay history, I see "Nitrile rubber O-rings. Size: 19mm x 2.5mm, Pack Size: 10. Total: £2.00"

 

you sure those o-rings were for a cylinder? they're normally 1" (25.4mm) diameter.

 

which reminds me i need to restock my 26mm o-rings, i have like 3 left........

 

3 hours ago, Rogerborg said:

An o-ring nozzle can help too - measure up your current nozzle as precisely as you can and get one to match.

 

worth checking the measurements as you say, but i love these:

https://www.ak2m4.co.uk/internal-parts/nozzles/ec-m4-metal-nozzle-double-oring-21mm

 

 

[Rogerborg]

2 hours ago, Adolf Hamster said:

you sure those o-rings were for a cylinder? they're normally 1" (25.4mm) diameter.

 

Ah, I'm talking about 19mm ID rather than OD.  Sorry, I should have specified.

 

See:

 

 

[Adolf Hamster]

6 minutes ago, Rogerborg said:

Ah, I'm talking about 19mm ID rather than OD.  Sorry, I should have specified.

 

ahh yes, makes sense.

 

mine must be rated to OD then (well, outer radius)

[Rogerborg]

Yup, 19mm + 2x2.5mm = 24mm, i.e. 1".  And then I loosen my ring (Matron) by stretching it over the cylinder and heating with a lighter.

 

Oh, I also drilled another 4 ports into my M4 piston head, for funsies.

 

Working front to back:

 

229mm 6.02mm ID ZCI barrel

ZCI rotary hop

Maple Leaf 60 degree rubber + rip off Omega nub.

Rocket dual o-ring nozzle

Stock CYMA M4 cylinder, piston and guide.

Replaced, stretched and greased o-ring as above.

SHS M100 spring.

 

= 374fps / 1.29J, not quite a Section 5 firearm, Officer.

 

I had to go down to an M90 spring to get it to 340fps.  Air seal can make a big difference, which is why I'm now a true believer in sorting that first before even thinking about the spring.  Oh, you'll want a cheap chrono too, or else be prepared for embarrassment of one sort or another at the site chrono.