A few questions and concerns about my recent rifle purchase

[xylum]

Hi,

Let me start by saying I purchased the G&G M4 Commando MAX. I had a few questions regarding the spring, gearbox and a couple of possible future upgrades/downgrades.

My first question was regarding the high rate of fire (460-470fps). I plan on only keeping it at this for the next 6-12 months after which I will downgrade when I actually do start to play a real game of airsoft (currently just want to shoot at targets and practice). Anyways, after reading around I noticed that a lot of people said the high fps (m140 spring) will put a lot of tension on the gearbox (MAX Ver. 2) thus causing the gearbox to break prematurely. I was just wondering if 6 months of target shooting could cause much damage? Also, are these gearboxes very expensive or hard to replace (clueless about the gearbox).

This brings me to my second question which is; how hard is it to replace the spring? Eventually when I do downgrade for outdoor play, I will need to replace the spring (M100 included) and I was just wondering how difficult this would be for a beginner, and whether or not I would need to take it to a professional? Also, would anyone have a vague idea of what an M100 spring would bring the fps down to?

Lastly, if I wanted to turn it into a more CQB rifle (for indoor play), could I just purchase a shorter barrel. Are these hard to replace? Also, is it fairly easy to replace the flash hider as well?

Thanks in advance for any offered.

[slink182]

When you receive your "hot" rifle, check inside the box for a second spring. If there is one, it is likely the "stock" spring for the rifle. Swap out the "hot" spring in the rifle for the "stock" spring. The rifle's muzzle velocity should drop to anywhere between 340 to 370 fps (0.2 g BBs).

An M100 spring should shoot approximately 300 fps (give or take) under normal conditions.

Terminology note: Velocity (speed) is in fps. Rate of Fire (RoF) is the number of rounds that can be fired in a fixed period of time (e.g., BBs/s, rounds per minute); RoF is not speed related.

[Hectic]

Opening a gearbox to change a spring isint all that hard, but it is easy to screw up, mechbox.com has videos but prolly something to get a hand with till youve seen it done or helped do it once or twice unless your good at "fixing" stuff an m4 is already prety short, but the outer and inner barrels are available in all sorts of sizes and are prety simple to install, the flash hider should have a small grub screw on one side, prolly 1.5mm allen key, loosen it and the flash hider should be a -thread so righty loosey, and some outer barrels are two peice so you may be able to take the front few inches off by unscrewing it, it will be the same as the flash hider threads.
The could be normal as i dont know g&g stuff but thats it easy stuff besides the spring, and yes 400fps+ is tough on a mech box even a well buit one, 300-400 is a good range.
Rate of fire is how many bb's per minut or seccond the gun fire the fps is the velocity of the gun.

[xylum]

Yeah the spring in the box is the M100 spring. 300 FPS is not exactly what I was looking for, I thought it would shoot around 360 FPS with the M100 spring. Do you know how much an M120 spring would run? Would that boost the FPS ot 180 or would an M130 being required? What are some good quality springs? I did see a System M130 spring for $20 on Airsoft GI, would this be of good quality? Also, all the internals are metal (I believe) so would there be a need to replace the pistons, bushings or spring guide?

EDIT: Thanks hectic, I may just keep the barrel how it is for now. Good to know it's not to hard. I may watch a number of videos first before I attempt anything. Are you able to answer the above questions as well?

[slink182]

Originally Posted by xylum

Yeah the spring in the box is the M100 spring. 300 FPS is not exactly what I was looking for, I thought it would shoot around 360 FPS with the M100 spring. Do you know how much an M120 spring would run? Would that boost the FPS ot 180 or would an M130 being required?

Is the spring marked as a "100" spring? Otherwise, how are you sure that it's an M100?

Spring codes (100, 110, 120, etc) are expressed in metres/sec. Most folks run M120 springs.

[Ross]

300 fps for indoor is perfect.

[xylum]

Originally Posted by slink182

Is the spring marked as a "100" spring? Otherwise, how are you sure that it's an M100?

Spring codes (100, 110, 120, etc) are expressed in metres/sec. Most folks run M120 springs.

It was specified as an M100 from the distributor. Also, the field where I live is completely outdoors and therefore 350-400 FPS is the desired level.

I might just purchase a System M110 or M120 for outdoor and replace it if I ever get the opportunity to play CQB indoors.

[Styrak]

FYI M100 should be 330, M110 should be 360, and M120 should be about 400. It's not some sort of code, it's just meters per second converted to feet per second.

[xylum]

Ok, thanks for clearing that up Styrak. I never realized that's what the "M" stands for. I also thought that the power of the spring depends on the internals, guess I was wrong.

[Styrak]

Originally Posted by xylum

Ok, thanks for clearing that up Styrak. I never realized that's what the "M" stands for. I also thought that the power of the spring depends on the internals, guess I was wrong.

Well it does depend on your airseal (if you have leaks you'll be less than he optimal) which depends on your internals. But mostly it's just the spring rating.