[reezo]

True, when I noticed the steel vs aluminum dilemma for that part 91 I also thought about weight..I have to make a lot of steep walk around these woods and the slightest reduction in weight is definitely welcome in the long run

 

[brickerenator]

Beautiful rifle! Awesome pictures!

 

[reezo]

Thanks Brick! I am glad you like it!

About the steel vs aluminum dilemma for that part 91..I thought about weight, too..I have to make a lot of steep walk around these woods and the slightest reduction in weight is definitely welcome in the long run

Little update on the upgraded piece: I opened my bag of tricks and found some awesome upgrades that I could do right away.

You can read more about it here:
http://www.airsoftsniperforum.com/phpBB/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=2523&start=0

 

[reezo]

Some more upgrades arrived! Here they are in all their shipping beauty (lol).

I successfully installed the G&G valve spring and the rubber set..I hope my hop up is back now

Here is a comparison between the stock and G&G Rubbers:

They look exactly the same (except for the color) but the G&G rubbers feel sturdier when you squish them with your fingers..so I am assuming they are made of a more resilient rubber polymer.

I could not install the King Arms Chamber conversion and tightbore barrel because I need a bucking first

I must say the G&G magazine valve spring is harder than the stock one but my custom spring was way harder..do you think the harder the better? (sounds dirty, I know..)

 

[Cheese Man]

Yes.

 

[reezo]

Nice, then I might even reinstall my custom one which was twice as strong (with the G&G spring being like 50% stronger than the stock one).

For 3$ I put that in my cart, having 34$ of shipping from Redwolf..

With the current upgrades set I must set the Tanaka M40A1 is fairly impressive:

- more than 60 shots fired (30+30, 2 gas refills total, 6 groups of 10)
- absolutely no fliers
- 100% hit-ratio
- firing from an unsupported, standing position
- to a tree at 50m (roughly 164 feet)
- tree width around 75% of a human torso
- .40g Madbull BBs
- almost zero wind

Since my signature is going to change, I am going to freeze the current upgrades set for posterity:
- PCS bolt (preban)
- G&G Aluminum Hop Up Set (part 91)
- G&G Gas Route Connector Spring
- G&G Rubber Set
- King Arms Reinforced Striker Spring and Steel Impact Plate
- Stock inner barrel, no spacers, no polishing (and no cleaning at the time of the test lol)
- HFC Top Gas
- Madbull 0.40 Heavy BBs

 

[Cheese Man]

Really? I get that with just the BGS hop kit... And a PCS... Maybe the BGS is just really great...

Ah, and a clean barrel and bucking. That will help your groupings a ton.

 

[reezo]

Nice! I was hunting for comparisons, indeed!

Tomorrow I am going to get a KA hard bucking and I will install the KA chamber conversion along with the 6.03 555mm tightbore barrel. I'll let you know how it performs, I am going to get some good feeling for it before I do any change, otherwise it will just be placebo

Today I've done some 70m shooting from a pile of wood logs into an abandoned building which had a glass window approximately the size of a 32 inch TV. Medium to strong winds (constant left to right crosswind direction) ..I recorded around 80% accuracy..I was supporting my rifle using the wood logs..not fully supported but still better than nothing The shots that missed were still REALLY close to the target.

Tests continue..I am going to purchase some lighter BBs as well, I was thinking .30g and .36g could be good for testing, what do you think?

 

[Wolfgeorge]

Oh man don't install the KA bucking it's completely crap! look for the 9ball hard bucking instead.


Wolf

 

[Cheese Man]

No! Keep the stock tanaka hop up! Just shim, etc. And align it, and it will work wonders. Don't forget to clean everything too.

Wolfgeorge is right, no KA bucking, go nine ball, if you must install the VSR kit.

I was using .3s, and getting a coat about 8/10 times at 105 meters with the stock tanaka cut. Was above field-legal, however, at about 630 fps/.2

 

[reezo]

Thanks for the info guys! I just got the KA bucking before getting the Nine ball which is still out of stock at a local store here.

I installed the VSR chamber conversion, 6.03 TB and KA nozzle along with the KA bucking.

I am still testing the gun, the accuracy for the moment seems impressive but then I was getting great performances before the change, as well. All tests I must take have to be done at least 200 ft in order to see the difference.

UPDATE 1: More tests done. Even if firing from an unsupported position, the accuracy is outstanding. I am having a hard time deciding which setup is going to be better but for the moment I am sticking with this one (just because the custom installed upgrade parts list is longer lol!)

I can't wait to do some groupings test because I can clearly see I am hitting the same leaf over and over..I did not think such accuracy was possible with spherical projectiles..wow.

Good thing I got the G&G Rubber Set etc. so I can always revert to the stock chamber and hop up when I want to do a comparison.

I've also installed two custom rubber spacers along the inner barrel, the whole structure is now incredibly solid and the barrel itself is so centered I could see it stand in the middle of the outer barrel without the final muzzle being installed..really cool, it is amazing how these little things work when combined..

..and I love the airsoft world, where no stock gun is outstanding without your own love, care, time spent tweaking and some additional bucks to get the good upgrades and test them out.

UPDATE 2:
The whole thing works really nice! I opened it up after a hundred shots and noticed the KA bucking developed a small dent, because the metal bar from the KA conversion started digging in it, against the inner barrel..good thing I have another KA bucking to use (if I want) before getting the Nine Ball.

I cut a small patch of aluminum adhesive paper and put it directly on the spot where the hop up metal piece presses against the bucking. This will make it a little more resilient and prevent air seal problems (if any).

I don't think this is going to cause any performance drop, although I am trying to get all the information possible to prevent the future Nine Ball purple bucking from developing even the smallest tear.

Are tears on the rubber bucking normal? I know it is rubber against two metal pieces (the hop up dent and the inner barrel cut) and I know the hop up nut is not pushing too hard against it.

Maybe the KA bucking is crappy in terms of durability?

 

[Cheese Man]

Yes. Mine broke on me, even with my maintenance schedule.

 

[reezo]

Thanks CM..Since this is the first bucking I've ever used (Airsoft noob, as told before ) I was starting to worry about all the metal-pieces interactions with that bucking, thinking that maybe I had forced something or assembled it the wrong way, even slightly.

Truth is, there is little to no chance to install the VSR bucking in the wrong way and I was extra careful.

So I guess it IS a crappy rubber polymer used...

 

[blackfoot1]

Are you hitting the same leaf at 200ft? I doubt my KJW could hit the same forest at 200 lol.
It's good having another non HPA gas rifle to compare mine with... Even though it does show up how rubbish mine shoots.

 

[reezo]

Are you hitting the same leaf at 200ft? I doubt my KJW could hit the same forest at 200 lol.
It's good having another non HPA gas rifle to compare mine with... Even though it does show up how rubbish mine shoots.

Lol the same forest one made me crack laughing

Anyway the casual leaf-hitting tests and the 200ft sentence were not related.

I was about to get the same leaf (approximately the size of a hand open palm) from approximately 30 meters, from a standing unsupported position. That just meant that nothing "is wrong" with the current way the rifle operates.

However, to really get into serious testing, I will need to get at least to 200 feet if I want to compare the KA chamber conversion (which implies a new inner barrel, the KA chamber, the new bucking etc. etc.) against the stock barrel with the G&G rubber set hop up.

That is what I meant, only this time I made sense eheh

 

[blackfoot1]

Sorry, it made sense the first time. I was just double checking.

 

[reezo]

No problem at all I am going to get some BBs and start a more serious zeroing of my sights. Since I installed the latest upgrades I need to reset its zero.

I am shooting a little to the left and I can't seem to have any more "room" for going left with my zero..something could be wrong with the scope mounts...mh.

 

[blackfoot1]

Is your scope fully wound over to the left? That's a lot of correction for "a little to the left".
My KJW shoots "a little" in every direction lol.
Scope rail on straight?
Scope mount on straight?
Scope mount twisted piece of cheap crap?
Scope rings tightened evenly front and back?
Free floated barrel? (Sometimes outer barrel pulls inner barrel in odd direction if front bolt is over tightened)... I'm just guessing here.

 

[reezo]

Thanks for the assistance!

This is my scope:
Guarder 3-9x40 Illuminated Mildot Scope

..and this is its mount:
Accushot 30mm deluxe edition high rails

"A little" does not make much sense, you are right

I tightened the middle rail screw first and then, using both hands simultaneously, I tightened the first and third screws.

I put the scope on its rings, placed the rings by hand and tightened them just a little (by hand), then rotated and moved the scope to adjust for best field of view and orientation. I then tightened the two screws on the rings that are closer to the muzzle, little by little by keeping them even and looking through the scope to see if it was changing orientation (tilting left or right).

I then moved to the two screws on the rings that are the furthest from the muzzle (or closest to my eye) and tightened both evenly. I then moved to tighten the rest.

The rings look evenly tightened from one side to the other, I know this does not mean much but..

I am going to do all the zeroing with zero to minimum hop up, preferably ZERO as I have no way to determine how much is "minimum"

I wouldn't care much about elevation zeroing, I used to shoot a little higher than my zero when shooting at targets closer than 40-50 meters. It's the windage zero that gives me the creeps

I keep my Allen wrench in my stock pouch because I tend to lock the knobs when I am done shooting, at least until I get a super uber zero setting that works

PS: I might have set the windage zero right..(I mean "correctly" not "right" as in the opposite of "left" LOL! ) it is too early to say because I wasn't able to set a paper target correctly: too many people around my house and my cat being incredibly cheezburger-ly curious about the rifle muzzle..plus my girlfriend who could pop up of the front door any minute

..but I've been shooting to a nearby chimney from the inside of my bedroom, keeping the windows slightly open just as much to let the BB out..and shooting only when a car passed by (the reinforced striker spring from KA makes it a lot noiser!)

 

[cerboknight]

I don't understand why you're shooting with no hop up? Not saying your methods don't work, you say they do and that's fine but I'm just wondering why, surely having hop up to increase your effective range can only be a good thing.

I'd have thought that with zero hop up you're not going farther than 70 yards