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Upgrading an L96 AWS platform

56K views 94 replies 32 participants last post by  nyros 
#1 · (Edited)
Hey folks,

I recently finished my L96 AWS platform, and I thought I'd share the process with the forum, this may help some people looking to upgrade this type of rifle.

In this case I'm looking at a WELL L96 AWS (mb44xx).

The main differences between an L96 AWS and a conventional VSR or type 96 is the way the feeding system works and the design of the hopup chamber. There's a loading ramp and fin which push the bb's from the magazine to the chamber and it requires all sorts of different parts. The cylinder, trigger, barrel and bucking are fully upgradeable, but the chamber is not. You can however use the TM chamber which is fairly decent, but you can also do with the stock WELL chamber, you'll just have less consistency and worse airseal.

The barrels and buckings are VSR compatible, which is a good thing. Everything else is unique to this gun. Taking the gun apart is not as straightforward as a VSR or type 96, I'm going to refer you to this guide on how to do it :tup:

http://www.airsoftsniperforum.com/44-others/2398-tm-l96aws-detailed-hop-up-spacer-fix.html

Cylinder/trigger group

There are three brands that I know of making L96 AWS parts: PDI, Edgi and Airsoftpro. I went with airsoftpro. The first thing I upgraded was the trigger, because 45 degree triggers suck. I also swapped out the rest of the cylinder and added a metal loading plate, but you can do with the stock cylinder and cylinder head if you want. All these parts were procured from airsoftpro.cz:



This covers the entire cylinder & trigger group. Installing it is fairly straightforward, but I have found that the airsoftpro cylinder is wider than the stock one. The same seems to be the case with the PDI cylinder. In order to get smooth cycling, I removed the guide rings from the receiver. Take out the screws on the side of the receiver, remove the entire assembly, remove the guide rings and put the rest back in again. It should look like this:



It does wear your cylinder quicker, but in my experience that's not much of a big deal, the steel cylinder can take it and it'll last long enough, even an aluminium cylinder does fine for thousands and thousands of shots, it just yields a lot smoother cycling so I'd recommend doing it.

Another part causing poor cycling is the little metal ring that the screws go into to secure the outer barrel:



Simply take it out and widen it a little by pushing it out by hand. It should have a little play when you slide it over the cylinder. When you've done that you're good to go and you can put it back in :tup:



One more important thing to note when using the airsoftpro trigger set is that the piston benefits a lot from proper lubrication. Poor lubrication of the piston head results in tough bolt cycling, so make sure you put some grease on there. For the outside of the cylinder I just used a bit of silicone oil.

Barrel group

For the bucking I went with a maple leaf monster (diamond) 70 degree bucking along with a ML concave nub. As for the barrel, the gun has a cylinder volume of about 28000 cm^3, so I went with a VSR G-spec barrel, yielding a ratio of 3.3:1. I used a 6.03x303mm AA VSR barrel. Do not use the stock length, it is way too long for pretty much all bb's other than .2's.



Installing this is not as straightforward, so I'll explain it here. Take the barrel. Put the small part of the hopup chamber over the barrel first, then slide the arm assembly over, slide the inner chamber over the barrel and then put the bucking on:



You will then want to teflon tape the bucking and slide the inner chamber over it so it's a nice & snug fit:



Next, put the nub on the bucking and put the nylon spacer over that, it can only really go in one way:



Put the arm over that and insert the pin to keep it in place. It helps to shim the arm because the stock WELL arm has a bit of play, but considering there is already a spacer in between the arm and the nub I don't know how much influence it really has.

You also need to put the little nylon C-clip on. It helps to trim down the outside diameter of this C-clip a little, it makes the installation of the outer chamber a LOT easier. You can use some sandpaper for that, you don't need to take a lot off, it just needs to be flush with the rest of the assembly:



Put the spring in between the nylon ring and the inner chamber and slide the part of the outer chamber towards the assembly. Again, this can only go one way:



Slide the outer chamber over this and secure it with the two screws. Adding barrel spacers is also advised.



Put this back into the outer barrel and screw the two pieces back on. You're now done. You will have to repeat this process every time you take the gun apart to clean it, which is a lot of work. Again a reason why this platform isn't as good as a VSR or type 96 when it comes to practicality, but it works, it just takes a bit more time and effort.



You may also note that I have left the two little spring-loaded spacers or whatever they're called out of the hopup chamber. This is because they interfered with the airsoftpro nozzle when chambering bb's. I have not yet had any loading issues because they were gone so I'm not going to put them back in yet, but if you use the stock nozzle and they don't cause any trouble, you might as well keep them in :yup:

You can screw the outer barrel back in and reinstall everything. Don't forget the little metal piece that the screws screw into. I've also found that it is best to not over-tighten these two screws to allow for smooth bolt cycling:



A few more things...

-If you're getting too much hop, trim down the white spacer in between the hopup arm and the nub, that should solve your problem.
-It's a good idea to drill out the end cap of your barrel a little to prevent bb's from hitting it. My barrel is 300mm, which is 200mm before the end cap, which means the bb's can deviate from their path a little and hit the end cap rather than going perfectly through. If you drill it out to 8mm or so the bb will have 1mm play on all sides which is perfectly fine. Besides, 8mm is closer to the bullet size of a real sniper rifle so it looks better. If you use a different muzzle device (like me) then you can also just completely take the end cap out :tup:
-The loading fin requires you to pull the bolt all the way back (beyond the locking of piston by the trigger), otherwise you won't chamber a bb. This means you can't pull the bolt back, put a new mag in and push it forward to chamber a new bb, you NEED to pull it all the way back to chamber a bb. Not really an issue during normal operation, though. It also means it is pretty hard to get a double feed.
-If you get a jam, DON'T force it. The metal loading fin won't break but you can still break your loading ramp. Just try to figure out what exactly is jamming (most of the time the loading fin isn't aligned properly or something like that) and fix it rather than forcing it through. In a type 96 or VSR brute force would just smash a bb and carry on, in this platform brute force will break parts and render the gun inoperable.
-You could TDC mod the gun like any other BASR:
http://www.airsoftsniperforum.com/32-general-sniper-talk/4634-top-dead-center-mod-tdc-guide.html
It would yield better consistency but a screw on top of the gun isn't very realistic. The stock hopup adjustment isn't half bad so I've opted not to do it, since the whole point of an L96 AWS is "looks". If you want a practical gun, this is not the platform to go with in the first place.

I'll be taking it to a game next time I get the chance, eager to see how it'll perform. I hope these pictures helped some people who are looking to upgrade this platform, and if you have any questions regarding the L96 AWS platform, don't hesitate to ask!

Cheers, :)
Reliku

 
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#4 ·
One more mod that can be done to help the feeding and cocking process is to remove completelly the C-clip, then drill a small hole on the fin right below the c-clip gap, then use a narrow ziptie to lock the fin on the nozzle. Some small sanding on the ramp and voila! No more C clip broken or jams
 
#7 · (Edited)
Good guide. Most important thing that you mentioned i probably the cylinder volume/barrel length. Can recommend the short fluted barrel outer barrel from PDI, to go with the shorter inner barrel, really solid and good looking.

First factory/Laylax also makes upgrades, and I'm sure there are other brands as well. Mine is full PDI, except from the loading fin which is Creation.

There are essentially two kind of jams with the L96 AWS platform. The first is that the BB doesn't enter the hole in the chamber and instead is jammed between the chamber and the nozzle. The solution to this is to retract the bolt somewhat, tilt the rifle downwards and shake until the bb gets into place. The gently try to push the bolt forward again.

The second type of jam is that the nozzle is stuck on one of the two spring loaded guide rods in the chamber. The solution to this is to make sure you push the bolt completely straight forward, without any form of bending motion. To further ease this issue (perhaps even eliminate it) you can try to round the edges on them so that the the bolt will center itself. Haven't tried removing it, which seems may be a solution as well, but they are there for a purpose, so I'd keep them.

EDIT: Should add that I do not like the PDI piston very much. On the L96 AWS it is unventilated unlike their other pistons, making good airseal somewhat difficult.
 
#8 ·
I haven't had any jams since I removed the guide rods, so I'm glad to have removed them :)

That being said, I still keep them, should I ever need them again...

The airsoftpro piston is fairly nice, it gives a 100% seal but the bolt push gets a tad stiff because the O-ring is slightly too large I think. Can't compare it to the PDI one though since I don't have one :shrug:

But as always (lol), I'd recommend airsoftpro, especially for the price :tup:
 
#9 · (Edited)
TM AWS L96 Platform ;)
There are two more possible jams:

1. BB may stuck between loading ramp rails, then you push bolt back.
2. BB may be crushed in place where loading plate goes after complete cycle.

I have this issues on my TM L96 and want to fix them.
 
#10 ·
Do you guys find that the TM platform is a viable base for a performance sniper? I've heard that the Maruzen is better in terms of internals, but I am getting a steal on a TM model. Would it be a mistake to go with the TM L96?

I know there is a huge following behind the VSR/BAR platform, but I like to stray from the norm. I know there will never be as many parts for the TM L96 as there is for the VSR/BAR platform; but would I be stuck in a situation of not being able to find parts anywhere? It seems most places are sold out or don't sell L96 parts at all.

Any insight would be lovely, thanks guys!
 
#11 ·
Hi FD, the L96 AWS can viable in its own way. It may not have excellent airseal as a VSR but it is about the same with the TYPE 96 and APS2 rifles. It's really up to you. The only problem that would arise would mostly be the bb loading ramp or arm but they are easy fixes. Ah do not forget to post an introduction post in the new members thread. Thank you


Razinger | The one, The only..
 
#19 ·
They guide the bb as it is chambered, I don't know what to name them either :hehe:

@sadice, that is a common problem and the big drawback of the L96 AWS system versus a type 96 or VSR. Some bb's feed better than others I have found, but I don't really know what causes the issue or how to solve it :shrug:
 
#20 ·
I have never had any loading issues with BB's up to 0.36g. The 0.40g I use sometimes do get jammed (all BB's madbull's - hate the grey colour). The rifle (my signature) is otherwise great.

BTW what dimensions have you printed those barrel spacers?
 
#22 ·
I have never had any loading issues with BB's up to 0.36g. The 0.40g I use sometimes do get jammed (all BB's madbull's - hate the grey colour). The rifle (my signature) is otherwise great.

BTW what dimensions have you printed those barrel spacers?
Same with me for the most part. The 0.36g sometimes get jammed but is easily fed by tilting the front of the gun down slightly.

0.40g and above requires the tip of the barrel to be pointed nearly straight down to feed. Such a pita....

I ordered the metal feeding fin. Does anyone here have experience with that part? I really hope it fixes the feeding issue but I feel like the poor quality of the plastic feeding ramp is to blame too.
 
#21 ·
I'd have to look it up what exactly, but they're 20mm long. The ID is a bit wider than the OD of a barrel (8.5mm) and the OD matches the hop chamber. I used electrical tape as the last layer to turn it into a tight fit :tup:
 
#24 ·
Regarding different bb's giving feeding issues: From what I can tell, soft bb's will have issues going up the ramp because they get "grooved" by the two sides of the loading ramp. This is causing me a lot of issues.

The biggest issue I have now is that because it happened twice when trying new bb's (.40g bbs I got from a friend to try out), my loading ramp is now too flexible, and even the bb's that I used to have pretty much no issues with (.30g Green Devil bb's) are also getting jammed quite often.

I'm looking at getting a replacement, and maybe try and make a reinforced one or such in alu/hardwood - without a corner at the bottom but instead use a curve, and maybe a more "U" shaped grove instead of the boxy shape it has now. The 40g bb's flew crazy good, but they jam way to often for me to be able to actually use them - esp since when a jam occurs, I either have to push the bb all the way through the ramp, damaging it even more, or I have to get out a screwdriver and take the thing apart to get at it.

Once I have some more time, I'll look at getting some pictures taken.
 
#25 ·
You can pull the bolt all the way back and with the magazine removed, the bb's still in the ramp will roll out if you pull the bolt backwards and tilt the rifle backwards :tup:
 
#26 · (Edited)
Not really (at least not in my case, could be that my ramp is already to ruined), I've tried :D Due to how soft the .40 bb's are, they really get stuck. I will look at taking a picture of one of the bb's after it's been stuck, there are two grooves cut in them when they come back out. Even with the gun dissasembled, I have to put a decent amount of pressure to get it out.
 
#27 ·
If they actually get jammed in the loading ramp then that's a problem yeah. But I'd say that's more than just soft bb's. I've put some pretty soft bb's in it and while it does get jams in the barrel I have never seen a jam like that in the loading ramp :shrug:
 
#29 ·
I've had a better look today and it really seems to only happen with one type of bbs (I think they are madbull .40's, could be valkens tho... Got a few from a friend to test with so I'm not sure.). No issues with the .30 green devils that I always used before so if all else fails I'll just stick to those.
I'm gonna look at grinding a small thin sheet of metal to shim between the sides of the ramp and the metal frame in the stock of the rifle, see if that helps.
 
#30 ·
My hop up is pretty inconsistent, is it just the stock AWS hop up chamber? Could there be something else wrong with it? Using DIY eraser nub with maple leaf. Would the shimming of hop up help, or should i just go for TDC for maximum performance?
 
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