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First DMR build. Advice and help welcomed!

5600 Views 41 Replies 13 Participants Last post by  inthetallgrass, 
redraptor
Hello all!

First of all, lemme start by introducing myself. My name is Matt and I'm a 22 year old aspiring marine biologist and all around nerd. I live in Midlothian vs. A small town in central south east va. I have been playing airsoft for about 4 years, on and off, mainly off. I really enjoy the hobby and want to get back into it as soon as possible. I've NEVER worked on a gear box nor run anything other than stock. I'm mainly a woodland player and have enjoyed the up close assault like role. But after messing around with a standard g36 and several longer range rifles, I really like the sniper/counter sniper/dm role.

I enjoyed it so much that I went out and bought a vfc scar h ssr to tinker with and use as a long range scout like role. I used it in roughly 3 or 4 games and less than 500 rounds before tragedy struck. A fire ripped through my home, destroying almost everything I owned, including my scar. Bummer, right?! Well I am a firm believer in silver lining and clouds and all that, and luckily the insurance will be reimbursing me, in full, for all my losses.

Now the fire was nearly a year ago and I am praying that I will see this money within the next few weeks or a month. The good thing about this is that I can now start over from scratch and use the money to build something truly unique. I enjoyed the scar quite a bit, although I would like to go with something a bit different. I want to try my hand at a REAL DMR. Not just an AEG with a giant scope and tight bore shooting in the mid 400s. I want to make mine Lipo safe(for trigger responsiveness), semi ONLY, stronger spring and various other diy/install mods to make this a true designated marksmen rifle.


Now first up is the gun. my eyes have been darting back and forth over several different models and honestly, I can't choose. The few models I am interested in is the m14 ebr(g&g and ca), xm110 or sr25(ares g&g and ca, more so the ca for the higher fps stock), and the scar h ssr(vfc obviously). Now I'm leaning slightly more toward the sr25/xm110 platform for a few reasons. I really dig the aesthetics of the rifle(the ebr a LITTLE more) but the fact that it is a little cheaper(ca sr25 mainly) leaves me more money for upgrades and future plans. Plus I believe they primarily use a v2 gearbox which I'm most familiar with. Then again, I simply have a snipergasm when I see the ebr. Damn that is one beautiful rifle.

Almost done guys :) the last bit that I want to focus on is the upgrades/mods. I have read the sticky in this section and watched/read SEVERAL articles dealing with upgrades and general gear box maintenance. Like I said before, I have never worked on a gear box, but while I have been waiting(very impatiently) for my money to come to me, I have been doing constant research on various gearboxes and what makes them, them! I feel comfortable going into the gear box, reshimming(if need be), and upgrading certain parts. I'm serious about this whole thing! Ha ha. I'm obviously still VERY new and would not want to proceed with anything too drastic without the proper knowledge, so any advice, links, or suggestions to even the most basic things would be greatly appreciated. My biggest "uhhhhh" topics are things like mosfets, r hopup upgrade, and various other mods.

so that's about it for my wall of text and me as a whole. I'm REALLY excited to start learning what makes a real dmr stand out against the sea of mediocrity and attempt to make my mark on the battlefield with a really unique weapon.

thanks for reading!

-Matt (raptor)


ps. Just for informational purposes, I would prefer to not exceed the 550-600 dollar mark which includes th gun and optic(generic 50-60 bucks). I know having a dmr requires lots of money, but if I can get up and running with a truly competitive rifle for around that mark, I will be happy. More will probably be invested at some point, but for something that will be skimishable within a week after purchase would be best!
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nelsonho396
Cross out scar.
Someone is selling a Sr25 on the forums right now I think why don`t you look at it and get it. Might be cheap and good for your purpose.
Also why not save some money and just get the G&G M14 Vet.
The Sr25 I would not get a CA and where did you find a instock ares. I always wanted one.
Yes I highly rec. You try to get a sr25 for the commerce thread might save you alot of money.
http://www.airsoftsniperforum.com/phpBB/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=2226
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woogie
Welcome to the forum man..... but take a look at that link there. Make your intro there


All the rifles that you have listed are good rifles. The main difference between most of them would be the outside of the rifles.

Take a look at the guide that Vindi made in the AEG section. That should help you out a ton, regardless of what rifle you decide to start with.
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vindicareassassin
First up.... Welcome to the boards!!!


Now to the REAL buisness......

If you have read my stickied guide you'll see that I've upgraded both of the weapons you are considering, I, personaly, would go for the EBR, I've achieved much better, not to mention easier, results from the EBR as its already pretty much up there performance wise out of the box. Alternatively you could, as has already been suggested, the G&G Veteran version ;)

The one thing that goes against the EBR is its weight, mine weighs over 17Lbs minus mag and battery (I use an 11.1v Lipo), and this is more than the real thing
!!

The SR is alot lighter but does take alot more work to get to the same level of accuracy as the EBR, also its gearbox casing wont take the 500+fps hammering anywhere near as long as the EBR box before it shows signs of fatigue.

You should also take a look at the Modded hop threads (R hop and LRB) in this section just to get a glimps of where we are taking our rifles now
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redraptor
vindicareassassin said:
First up.... Welcome to the boards!!!


Now to the REAL buisness......

If you have read my stickied guide you'll see that I've upgraded both of the weapons you are considering, I, personaly, would go for the EBR, I've achieved much better, not to mention easier, results from the EBR as its already pretty much up there performance wise out of the box. Alternatively you could, as has already been suggested, the G&G Veteran version ;)

The one thing that goes against the EBR is its weight, mine weighs over 17Lbs minus mag and battery (I use an 11.1v Lipo), and this is more than the real thing
!!

The SR is alot lighter but does take alot more work to get to the same level of accuracy as the EBR, also its gearbox casing wont take the 500+fps hammering anywhere near as long as the EBR box before it shows signs of fatigue.

You should also take a look at the Modded hop threads (R hop and LRB) in this section just to get a glimps of where we are taking our rifles now
Click to expand...
which of the ebr's did you work on and which do you most recommend? I've hear the g&p and we ones are stellar, but the g&p is a bit out of my price range and the we is pretty much stock, from what I've gathered at least. I like the ca since the fps out of the box I pretty decent compared to the g&g, but based on other people's suggestions, the g&g seems to be slightly better.

thank you all for the feed back! My mins is pretty well set on something a bit more modern looking, hence the scar and ebr. I have a large amount of respect for the older "standard m14's" but I really want a head turner, both performance wise and aesthetics wise.
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inthetallgrass
Just sayin, never buy a gun based on it's out of the box fps.
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vindicareassassin
I actualy made my EBR out of a cheap chicom EBR chassis and a G&G M14 (making a G&G EBR before even they did ;) ) that I upgraded to surpase Veteran standards.

The other manufacturers use a variation on the TM version 7 gearbox and hop unit, apart from CA who also use G&G copy parts.

Its a personal preference thing really, some prefer the TM box and hop, I, on the other hand prefer the G&G/CA.

The G&G box and hop I feel are much more user freindly and easier to work on, especialy for a noob, because they use alot of version 2 and 3 gearbox parts which are easy to find, its only the tappet plate that is specific to that box, and everything is inside the gearbox, the only weak point is the motor cage, which can be fagile and not easy to find to replace.

The TM on the other hand uses alot of propiatery parts, including the inner barrel which means your limited to the sizes other manufacturers make, and its delicate parts are on the outside of the box.

One plus point for the G&P is that it is slightly lighter than other models due to the machining and materials they use for the chassis, though I have heard that the CA and G&G are lighter still (according to their shpeel)

One problem with the G&G and CA is that 80 round low cap mags are like rocking horse s**t to find in stock, as they are not quite so prevelant on the maket as the TM derived weapons, which is a PITA at best
:(" title=":mad:" border="0"/>

Also those are wise words from young Mr grass there ;)
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redraptor
oh absolutely. Frye last thing I want to do is hastly run in thinking higher fps= better gun. But considering that the ca is a bit higher and fps and lower in price, I'm more drawn to it. Especially if the difference is negligible between the two.
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P
I have plenty of experience with CA and G&G AEGs and I would say that from what I have seen, a G&G is a much more solid internal build than CA. One of my friends has a G&G UMP which out ranged many CA M16 weapons. That's a 5 or so inch barrel mind you. SO I would suggest staying with that, while the CA may be cheaper and higher fps, the G&G is (likely) going to be more accurate and more consistant, which is a benefit for a sniper/DMR. Also, you should note that G&G external parts are also decent, and not anything less than acceptable for a mid- to high-priced AEG. I love Tokyo Marui, and in my backyard group, my TM is considered by far the best weapon on the field. The TM externals are mediocre, but the internals are very hard to beat. If it weren't for the proprietary system, I would put all votes on this system. Bear in mind these are AEGs and not M14 AEGs, so things are slightly different, however, I would anticipate a company following their standards of quality into the next gun.
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redraptor
oh absolutely. Frye last thing I want to do is hastly run in thinking higher fps= better gun. But considering that the ca is a bit higher and fps and lower in price, I'm more drawn to it. Especially if the difference is negligible between the two.
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M
redraptor said:
oh absolutely. Frye last thing I want to do is hastly run in thinking higher fps= better gun. But considering that the ca is a bit higher and fps and lower in price, I'm more drawn to it. Especially if the difference is negligible between the two.
Click to expand...
Except that CA is now off-spec to TM parts.
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explosive
Think most people here are telling to stay away from Classic Army's. The only nice CA's I've seen are usually owned by tech's who know all the little quirks with a CA.

Honestly I think most CA's are made with lesser quality materials than some of the other leading brands. Most my collection now are KWA's, but I own two G&G's.
At first I wasn't a big G&G fan, but once I became more familiar with them, the more impressed I was.

I knew nothing about G&G M14's and tuned a basic, plastic stock M14 rather easily to hit a small mailbox repeatedly at 190-200ft. Then I tuned a G&G M733 "CAR 15" (custom build) and it shoots damn near like the longer, higher FPS M14. I've seen some slight quality issues with G&G plastics and metals, but they are far superior to the Classic Army's I've owned and encountered.

M14's can be quirky over all, but just shoots really well, rather easily.
GR 25's are beautiful and my preference over M14's, Mk14's etc.
Takes a bit more work and tuning to make a GR 25 shoot as nice
as a G&G M14, but nothing impossible.

My buddy has a G&P M14 DMR and it's alright. Not sure if he's upgraded the internals, because he has a few TM type M14 gearboxes and parts laying around.
The gun shoots really well on full-auto, but semi it lacks consistency. He recently bought a G&G M14.
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redraptor
Hmmmm maybe it would be better to stick away from the Ca. im unfortunatly still waiting on my money from the insurance, so all im doing is gathering ideas and advice. The more knowledgeable I am, the better off I'll be in the long run. Thanks again guys!

On another note: I'm down here in Richmond va and traveling up north to manassas to check out airsoft CQB's selection this weekend. Ihave recruited my friend intothe hobby and he wants to check out things before he buys. I wouldnt mind doing the same, especially the EBR. Do you guys know of any places in central to northern va that have a decent selection?
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R
If you're not set on building the DMR yourself, check out this rifle.

http://www.airsoftforum.com/board/DMR-get-G36-CM-t230907.html

Made by Major9, one of the most respected techs in airsoft. R-Hop installed, along with everything else on your list and way more. I believe he's asking $600 for it, which is totally fair, but you could probably get him to drop the price a bit.

He claims 420ft of range using the R-Hop. It might be a slight exaggeration, but you should hit 350ft+ easily.
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redraptor
Although i trust airsofters on these sites, i prefer not to buy until I am more comfortable buying second hand at lower prices. With that said, it is a beauty of a rifle:)

Now I am almost certain on the g&g m14 ebr, my biggest question is: what upgrades would be needed right of the box to make it a decent skirmishable weapon? Obviously scope and bipod are the top of my list, but I'm talking more internally/mods. Would you recommend a lipo on the stock platform?

Oh and on a slightly other note: does the ebr need a special scope mount to mount optics or will the stock rails be sufficient? if i need the scope mount, will any m14 scope mount do or will i have to buy the super expensive g&g licensed one?

Pray for me guys, the check should be here this week!
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vindicareassassin
I'd recommend a good AB MOSFET and an 11.1v Lipo to start. the other thing you might need to do is boost the fps to your desired output, so a spring change will be called for.

Then buy some descent .28s/.3 bbs and just play with it for a while and see if you need to upgrade anything from there.

Re your scope mount.... Any M14 mount should fit, but I'd stay clear of the cheaper ones, I use a King Arms mount on mine as its alot lower than others available, you may even be lucky and find a RS one fits, I wouldn't know as such luxuries are not available here in the UK ::)

The other thing I'd get is some standard mags for it, CA or G&G, if you can find any, as they rattle less and feed more consistently, you should only need 2 or 3 ( I played last weekend and didn't fully use the 100 rounds I put in 1 of my CA mag all day ;) )
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redraptor
Hmmm good suggestions. In order to upgrade the spring(+30-40fps), would I need a stronger motor to go along with the lipo?

Also, bit of a noon question: what exactly does a mosfet do?
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M
A Mosfet is a metal-oxide semi-field effect transistor. General idea is that it prevents arcing of the trigger contacts. All active braking does is just wear your motor faster.
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C
Then why do they sell the A/B mosfets? Marketing ploy? I know HS5 doesn't like them, but they might have some use...
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M
Cheese Man said:
Then why do they sell the A/B mosfets? Marketing ploy? I know HS5 doesn't like them, but they might have some use...
Click to expand...
It does stop over-spin at low output levels, but I like the unintentional pre-cocking.
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