Just Bought a New Sr25 What Should I Upgrade?

[kohoniixi]

Hello everyone, I am new to this forum, and pretty new to airsoft too :)

 

I just bought myself a new SR25 from CYMA PLATINUM, the one with the extended gearbox. Been using it for 2 months now on the weekends and I really like it, however I would like to start upgrading it.

 

So the first upgrades I was thinking about were hop up chamber, bucking, and a barrel. That is so I dont have to open gearbox, thosse upgrades will come in later :)

 

But as you can imagine, I am pretty confused about everything even after watching lots of videos and reading articles, so I decided to come here for some advice and so on :)

 

Ok, so for the hop up chamber, I was thinking of getting the MAXX MODEL one, I have read a lot of positive reviews of it and seen some good videos on it.

 

For the bucking, I was thinking of going for either the maple leaf or prometheus purple. I am just not sure about the maple leaf buckings as the new ones from silicone, super macaron and mr. hop have some extra ridge on them to fit the maple leaf barrel, but then again, I seen some videos showing how you can just use it on other barrels too, but then you have uneven bucking on.

 

And for the barrel, I have no idea because I seen so many different opinions. Some are saying go for prometheus, some PDI, some lambda, some edgi, and so on...

 

So that would be it for the first post, I hope I am not asking for too much, but I really wanna make sure I get the right things.

[Adolf Hamster]

the first question is what is your goal?

 

given it's an sr25 i'm going to assume that you're after the usual range/accuracy camp. bearing in mind when it comes to suggestions for specific products you can ask 10 different people and 11 different answers, and while i tend to stick to reccommending stuff i've actually used myself that doesn't mean there aren't other perfectly viable (or even better) options out there.

 

as a general rule i tend to go with a particular order, in a rough order of effort-reward ratio:

 

1. clean the barrel- and get into the habit of keeping it clean, at least before and sometimes even during every game day. there's debate over silicone versus alchohol and what it does to hop rubbers which i avoid by doing neither. if your gun came with a plastic clearing rod that's the perfect tool for the job (won't scratch up the barrel) with a strip of microfibre wrapped round it. some folk use cigarette filter tips although never tried that one myself.
2. feed it good quality heavy ammo. it's amazing (especially with ak's) the number of times i've "fixed" a gun with jamming/feeding/accuracy problems just by emptying the mag and refilling it with geoffs. weight wise you want to be going as heavy as possible, the limit being what your gun can lift (which can be changed) and how much money you can afford to be sending downrange. for an assault style role i tend to find around the .3g range is a nice balance between cost and performance, but for a lower round count gun like a dmr then splashing out for the heavies is much easier. the best airsoft gun on the planet would still shoot like shit if you fed it crap ammo.
3. hop rubber/nub- this goes hand in hand the ammo choice as this will dictate how heavy you can go. my general go-to combo is the standard maple leaf macaron with omega nub, sometimes the longer feedlips can cause feeding issues and in those cases i tend to switch to the PDI W-hold with a standard nub. the hardness rating is something that needs to be appropriate for the weight/weather/energy considerations. a lower powered setup, colder climate or heavier ammo would preferr going softer (eg to lob .48's at 1j i need to use a green/tan) whereas a higher energy might just push the feed lips out of the way and leak air.
4. air seal- in short, you want every atom that's in the cylinder to be going down the barrel after the bb and nowhere else. a bad air seal will make for terrible shot-shot consistency (vertical dispersion) and a lower average fps. there's no point spring swapping until you're confident that all the energy you're making the motor wind up every time is going to be turned into useful benefit. you can get a rough guide to how good the gun is currently by seeing how much change there is in fps between shots on a chrono, you want this to be as low as possible. do make changes however you will need to crack open the gearbox, which can be a daunting prospect. for the basic air seal checks you can have a look here: 
5. energy- once you've got good air seal then you can look at the spring. you shouldn't worry about being 5-10fps under but if you're a big chunk under the site limit then you'll want to think about bumping it up. this will ofc mean a spring change.
6. barrel- we're starting to hit the diminishing returns curve now, and the gun should already be pretty decent. there are debates about tight versus wide bores however the one overriding factor for what makes a good barrel is quality, whatever diameter it's meant to be it shouldn't vary, it should be straight, and the inner surface finish should be smooth. some folks polish their barrels and can get very good performance out of stock brass, however a drop-in is a lot easier. in terms of specific products on a budget the ZCI 6.02's are fantastic value for money, if you wanna go a bit more high end then personally i'm a fan of the PDI stainless stuff, although remember we're hitting the diminishing returns.
7. hop unit- tbh unless there's a specific problem with the stock unit, i'd tend to leave it alone. one of the big problems you can get in airsoft is tolerances, and a good quality hop such as the maxx might still make the gun worse if it's not the right fit for that gun, the stock unit will at least be the proper size and fitment.  note that this rule tends to apply generally- simply throwing the most expensive/shiny of any given component into a gun isn't always going to improve it. what you do want to make sure is that the hop unit is being pressed up nice and tight to the gearbox, in many cases there'll be a little spring that does this however a larger spring wrapped around the barrel or a stack of o-rings can work quite nicely.

of course this is all improving the guns base ability to lob bb's with consistency, however there are other things that might be worth considering that can help improve practical use when accounting for actually having to use the thing:

1. trigger response (well, lock time)- while you can largely get around this by knowing your gun well it definately feels better to have less time between pulling the trigger and the shot actually happening. the simplest and easiest way to do that these days is a precocking mosfet like the gate warfet/titan or the higher end perun units. bear in mind as a platinum series your gun will already have an internal mosfet and might well be snappy enough for your preferences.
2. handling- doesn't matter if the gun shoots straight if it's so heavy/awkward to use that you can't aim it properly. we're very much in the hedgerows of personal choice and if you want to plaster your gun with grips/flashlights/lasers/bipods etc for no other reason than you want to/think it looks cool then absolutely go for it, just remember that extra weight comes with a penalty.

 

[Alimcd]

There’s one golden rule I feel that Mr Hamster has not mentioned in his, frankly, spot on and thorough advice 

 

Buy a second pew first

 

The chances of failure on a game day increase in a directly proportional manner to the amount of faffing around you do with the gun. There’s nothing worse than funnelling cash into a pew, having it fail on game day and having to sit games out. Once you’ve got a second gun in the bag to fall back on, follow Mr Hamster’s guide to the letter

 

Two is one and one is none

Edited June 14, 2021 by Alimcd

[Shaydee]

Both of the bits above are spot on - I'd echo the spare gun sentiment, at least be prepared to fork out for a rental.

One thing I will add is to budget for a chrono, unless you have one readily available at short notice. Too many times I've seen people fiddle with their toys, put it back together and go "it fires, ready for game day!" and it's either spitting rounds out underpowered or they're not able to use the gun at all as it's over the limit.

[Adolf Hamster]

35 minutes ago, Alimcd said:

There’s one golden rule I feel that Mr Hamster has not mentioned in his, frankly, spot on and thorough advice 

 

Buy a second pew first

 

yes, indeed i forgot to mention it.

 

i really should have a copy-paste answer for this as it's a common enough question/response.

 

11 minutes ago, Shaydee said:

One thing I will add is to budget for a chrono

 

as above, i forgot not everyone has one lying around, with improvements measured by chrono results it's definately worth having one if you're gonna tinker yourself.

[Tackle]

@kohoniixi

What's it's FPS like ?

What's it's accuracy like ?

 

If the answer to both questions is positive, IE an FPS of 330+ & your hitting what you point it at, then leave it alone, use your available funds to sort out another primary, maybe a short rifle so you've got a viable alternative for different roles, as well as being a valuable backup.

As for the sr25, if it's doing what's expected of it reasonably well, then leave it,if it ain't broke don't fix it, you might do more harm than good & inevitably create a money pit, something no one needs lol.

[kohoniixi]

17 hours ago, Adolf Hamster said:

the first question is what is your goal?

 

given it's an sr25 i'm going to assume that you're after the usual range/accuracy camp. bearing in mind when it comes to suggestions for specific products you can ask 10 different people and 11 different answers, and while i tend to stick to reccommending stuff i've actually used myself that doesn't mean there aren't other perfectly viable (or even better) options out there.

 

as a general rule i tend to go with a particular order, in a rough order of effort-reward ratio:

 

1. clean the barrel- and get into the habit of keeping it clean, at least before and sometimes even during every game day. there's debate over silicone versus alchohol and what it does to hop rubbers which i avoid by doing neither. if your gun came with a plastic clearing rod that's the perfect tool for the job (won't scratch up the barrel) with a strip of microfibre wrapped round it. some folk use cigarette filter tips although never tried that one myself.
2. feed it good quality heavy ammo. it's amazing (especially with ak's) the number of times i've "fixed" a gun with jamming/feeding/accuracy problems just by emptying the mag and refilling it with geoffs. weight wise you want to be going as heavy as possible, the limit being what your gun can lift (which can be changed) and how much money you can afford to be sending downrange. for an assault style role i tend to find around the .3g range is a nice balance between cost and performance, but for a lower round count gun like a dmr then splashing out for the heavies is much easier. the best airsoft gun on the planet would still shoot like shit if you fed it crap ammo.
3. hop rubber/nub- this goes hand in hand the ammo choice as this will dictate how heavy you can go. my general go-to combo is the standard maple leaf macaron with omega nub, sometimes the longer feedlips can cause feeding issues and in those cases i tend to switch to the PDI W-hold with a standard nub. the hardness rating is something that needs to be appropriate for the weight/weather/energy considerations. a lower powered setup, colder climate or heavier ammo would preferr going softer (eg to lob .48's at 1j i need to use a green/tan) whereas a higher energy might just push the feed lips out of the way and leak air.
4. air seal- in short, you want every atom that's in the cylinder to be going down the barrel after the bb and nowhere else. a bad air seal will make for terrible shot-shot consistency (vertical dispersion) and a lower average fps. there's no point spring swapping until you're confident that all the energy you're making the motor wind up every time is going to be turned into useful benefit. you can get a rough guide to how good the gun is currently by seeing how much change there is in fps between shots on a chrono, you want this to be as low as possible. do make changes however you will need to crack open the gearbox, which can be a daunting prospect. for the basic air seal checks you can have a look here: 
5. energy- once you've got good air seal then you can look at the spring. you shouldn't worry about being 5-10fps under but if you're a big chunk under the site limit then you'll want to think about bumping it up. this will ofc mean a spring change.
6. barrel- we're starting to hit the diminishing returns curve now, and the gun should already be pretty decent. there are debates about tight versus wide bores however the one overriding factor for what makes a good barrel is quality, whatever diameter it's meant to be it shouldn't vary, it should be straight, and the inner surface finish should be smooth. some folks polish their barrels and can get very good performance out of stock brass, however a drop-in is a lot easier. in terms of specific products on a budget the ZCI 6.02's are fantastic value for money, if you wanna go a bit more high end then personally i'm a fan of the PDI stainless stuff, although remember we're hitting the diminishing returns.
7. hop unit- tbh unless there's a specific problem with the stock unit, i'd tend to leave it alone. one of the big problems you can get in airsoft is tolerances, and a good quality hop such as the maxx might still make the gun worse if it's not the right fit for that gun, the stock unit will at least be the proper size and fitment.  note that this rule tends to apply generally- simply throwing the most expensive/shiny of any given component into a gun isn't always going to improve it. what you do want to make sure is that the hop unit is being pressed up nice and tight to the gearbox, in many cases there'll be a little spring that does this however a larger spring wrapped around the barrel or a stack of o-rings can work quite nicely.

of course this is all improving the guns base ability to lob bb's with consistency, however there are other things that might be worth considering that can help improve practical use when accounting for actually having to use the thing:

1. trigger response (well, lock time)- while you can largely get around this by knowing your gun well it definately feels better to have less time between pulling the trigger and the shot actually happening. the simplest and easiest way to do that these days is a precocking mosfet like the gate warfet/titan or the higher end perun units. bear in mind as a platinum series your gun will already have an internal mosfet and might well be snappy enough for your preferences.
2. handling- doesn't matter if the gun shoots straight if it's so heavy/awkward to use that you can't aim it properly. we're very much in the hedgerows of personal choice and if you want to plaster your gun with grips/flashlights/lasers/bipods etc for no other reason than you want to/think it looks cool then absolutely go for it, just remember that extra weight comes with a penalty.

 

Hey, thank you very much everyone for replies, wasnt expecting such a response

I forgot to mention yes, what I am going for is the maximum range and accuracy. I pretty much dont care for RPS.

Yep, will have to get into the habit of cleaning the barrel. I got the rod with my replica so thats good. Do I need to fully take out the barrel, even from the hop up chamber?
Also which silicon spray would you recommend me for lubricating the bucking when getting it back into the chamber after the cleaning? Also would it be good to soak the regular kitchen paper towel in alcohol and clean the rod?

For the ammo, I would have to buy a few different bags and test the different weights to see what would be optimal. But probably something around 0.32 or 0.36 I guess? Also would you say that BLS is good quality? Easy to get them here in EU and the price seems very good.

 

Yea, currently I have the macaron but I dont have the omega nub, I believe I have a flat, stock one. I didnt want to buy the omega nub yet as I was planning on buying MAXX MODEL chamber that has a similarly shaped nub included, but now I am not even sure if I should buy that chamber.

 

For the air seal, I will need to chrono my replica as I dont have it at home or available.

 

Do you have any  experiences with lambda or prometheus barrels? I have read some good reviews of those two, especially lambda five.

 

And for the hop unit, I dont think I have any problems with the stock one, I just wanted the MAXX MODEL because I seen some videos saying how good they are and because all the included nubs and so on.

 

Thanks again for everyone's answers and the time.

[Lozart]

1 hour ago, kohoniixi said:

 

Hey, thank you very much everyone for replies, wasnt expecting such a response

I forgot to mention yes, what I am going for is the maximum range and accuracy. I pretty much dont care for RPS.

Yep, will have to get into the habit of cleaning the barrel. I got the rod with my replica so thats good. Do I need to fully take out the barrel, even from the hop up chamber?
Also which silicon spray would you recommend me for lubricating the bucking when getting it back into the chamber after the cleaning? Also would it be good to soak the regular kitchen paper towel in alcohol and clean the rod?

For the ammo, I would have to buy a few different bags and test the different weights to see what would be optimal. But probably something around 0.32 or 0.36 I guess? Also would you say that BLS is good quality? Easy to get them here in EU and the price seems very good.

 

Yea, currently I have the macaron but I dont have the omega nub, I believe I have a flat, stock one. I didnt want to buy the omega nub yet as I was planning on buying MAXX MODEL chamber that has a similarly shaped nub included, but now I am not even sure if I should buy that chamber.

 

For the air seal, I will need to chrono my replica as I dont have it at home or available.

 

Do you have any  experiences with lambda or prometheus barrels? I have read some good reviews of those two, especially lambda five.

 

And for the hop unit, I dont think I have any problems with the stock one, I just wanted the MAXX MODEL because I seen some videos saying how good they are and because all the included nubs and so on.

 

Thanks again for everyone's answers and the time.

 

1) Maxx hop units. I have a couple and they're great but if you don't NEED the extra funtions (built in tracer, BB retainer, flat hop/R-Hop nubs and arms) then a cheap ZCI rotary hop unit or even the standard one will be fine. The Cyma hop unit is pretty decent. If you're using the Maple Leaf rubber you need to use the Maple Leaf Omega nub, they're designed to work together. The shaped nubs that come with the Maxx hop unit are machined aluminium and are designed for R-hop/flat-hop and they're too hard for the ML rubbers, they tend to make the shots pretty inconsistent!

 

2) BLS ammo is decent, I've used some myself and quite liked them.

 

3) Barrels. Prometheus EG are very good, I have a Lambda barrel but have yet to fit it so can't comment. I do like the ZCi barrels as they're good quality and priced well. The main thing to remember about barrels is that it's more about the quality of the bore (how smooth it is, how accurate it is, how straight it is) than anything else.

 

3) Cleaning. Yes, standard kitchen towel will work as long as it doesn't fall apart. Cut a strip rather than tearing it so you don't leave loose fibres behind. Better would be a Jeye Cloth https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=jeye+cloths&adgrpid=104274814512&gclid=CjwKCAjwn6GGBhADEiwAruUcKgiUOoYT2ZBItbEu8ffgmtmH3YcYwAdXh6wzYZPXBwzvuwWTTSC8hhoCiIMQAvD_BwE&hvadid=447271061678&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9045742&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=4483414666538663342&hvtargid=kwd-317469785021&hydadcr=28146_1752652&tag=googhydr-21&ref=pd_sl_5j462045qj_e_p49. Alcohol is fine for cleaning, any half decent silicone spray will work for lubing your rubber but make sure you don't overdo it and make sure you don't get it on the inside if you can help it! Don't use WD40 though.

 

As ever, if you're going down the DMR route then this is a must read https://www.reddit.com/r/airsoft/comments/5g58ia/holy_grail_dmr_guide_updated_for_20167/ Good consistency shot to shot is the key.

 

[Adolf Hamster]

4 hours ago, kohoniixi said:

 

Hey, thank you very much everyone for replies, wasnt expecting such a response

I forgot to mention yes, what I am going for is the maximum range and accuracy. I pretty much dont care for RPS.

Yep, will have to get into the habit of cleaning the barrel. I got the rod with my replica so thats good. Do I need to fully take out the barrel, even from the hop up chamber?

 

not always, plenty of guns where pulling the barrel for cleaning just isn't practical. but certainly given it's easy enough to pop the top it wouldn't hurt to be able to look down the barrel and check every now and then.

 

4 hours ago, kohoniixi said:

Also which silicon spray would you recommend me for lubricating the bucking when getting it back into the chamber after the cleaning? Also would it be good to soak the regular kitchen paper towel in alcohol and clean the rod?

 

you're going a bit more complex than i do, i just have a scrap of microfibre (literally glasses cleaning cloths) wrapped around the end and shove it down there.

 

lubricating the bucking is a contentious issue, on the one hand folks are alarmed by the idea of oiling something that's supposed to be grippy, on the other hand it's meant to be good for the longevity of the rubber. certainly i used to use silicone and it only took a few shots to get the bucking gripping again.

 

tbh it's a wear component, especially if you're using a softer compound and it ain't gonna last forever.

 

4 hours ago, kohoniixi said:

For the ammo, I would have to buy a few different bags and test the different weights to see what would be optimal. But probably something around 0.32 or 0.36 I guess? Also would you say that BLS is good quality? Easy to get them here in EU and the price seems very good.

 

depends on your budget/playstyle, i've run games firing .48's in an assault style role and whilst it was hilarious how it turned airsoft into a point and click adventure it did grate a bit how much money's worth of ammo you could burn through in a day.

 

yes bls are one of the brands i've heard are pretty decent, although not used them myself as geoffs tend to be easier to get here.

 

4 hours ago, kohoniixi said:

Yea, currently I have the macaron but I dont have the omega nub, I believe I have a flat, stock one. I didnt want to buy the omega nub yet as I was planning on buying MAXX MODEL chamber that has a similarly shaped nub included, but now I am not even sure if I should buy that chamber.

 

i'd get the nub now and wait a bit before splashing out on the maxx, for example that money spent on a chrono will be more helpful if you're going to be doing your own teching.

 

not that the maxx is a bad unit, but it can be a bit of a pain to work with/fit/get setup right. and more importantly any benefit it can provide is gonna be lost if say the gun has bad airseal.

[Pewpewpetie]

I wouldn't bother upgrading the cyma, maybe I have a lemon but I've had nothing but issues with mine. Swapped cylinder for type0 24mm o ringed nozzle etc. Still only 390fps on an m130 with perfect internal airseals. I believe it's a problem with there hop/bucking. Be aware the cyma platinum Sr won't fit standard m4 hops without some modding as the back of the hop hits on the tappet plate when nozzle is fully forward

[Tackle]

Exactly my point, sometimes tinkering with them in the hope to "improve/upgrade" them just opens a bigger can of worms lol.

[Sneaky]

I have installed in my CM098 a gate Titan and a 6.02mm TN barrel which is in the process of being r hopped by the guys at combat south. Why change anything else as the seals and parts are great as they are?  I changed the nozzle on mine.

Edited June 28, 2021 by Sneaky

[Pewpewpetie]

On 28/06/2021 at 10:24, Sneaky said:

I have installed in my CM098 a gate Titan and a 6.02mm TN barrel which is in the process of being r hopped by the guys at combat south. Why change anything else as the seals and parts are great as they are?  I changed the nozzle on mine.

As stated I must have had a lemon as I had no internal air seal. Mosfet micro switch trigger stopped working so had to replace with a perun, bucking was split etc... The list goes on. After alot of hard work and patience she's up and running beautifully now

[Sneaky]

Glad you got it sorted now.