M4 upgrades

mikeyod123

I hav a classic army m15a4 sportline and want to upgrade it a bit.
I was thinking along the lines of a tb barrel and a silencer to have a longer barrel. Is it possible?
Any other upgrades (not to costly) that u no of please tell me and if u want to suggest a barrel i shud buy or silencer please do
Thanks

Inari

There are many many upgrades that are available, but it depends on what you're looking for.

So, what are you looking for? There is an ethos in Airsoft for upgrading guns for no real good reason. If it shoots straight, shoots accurately and consistently, and you're not looking for anything in particular, then you have nothing to change.

Buuut, things you may be looking for:
- Higher Rate of Fire (ROF)
- Increased Trigger Response
- Increased Range
- Greater Consistency
- Better Reliability/Durability
- Higher Quality Externals

Each one of those goals have a whole host of parts, and cost involved. What are you looking to do?

mikeyod123

Mostly increase range and accuracy wat do u recommend for that?

Inari

Range and accuracy are the gruesome twosome...well, not gruesome at all actually, just common and almost mandatory.

Tightbore Barrel + Enhanced hopup rubber & nub.

Everyone will recommend their own paradiso of brands & combinations. The main ones you will hear are:
- Prometheus Barrel (Expensive, but top notch)
- Madbull Black Python Barrel (middle drawer in cost)
- Vanaras Barrel (Cheapest)
- G&G Green Hop up rubber
- Guarder Clear Hop up rubber
- Madbull Blue Hop up rubber

There are more, but I'm quite tired at the mo.

mikeyod123

Is that just the rubber or is it a whole unit
Thanks for helping me when im sure you could be doing somthing better

MonkeyGuy

Just the bucking would be cheap enough maybe €15 for two? The sportsline has a plastic hop up unit which some people might complain about but others say has a better seal than metal. So, basically I'd recommend a bucking and barrel and maybe the whole hop up unit in the future.

mikeyod123

Cud i get a longer barrel than the standard 363m so wud that make a big difference? Can i put a silencer on the end to cover up the barrel?
Thanks for the help

CpcRc

Yes you can get a longer inner barrel and cover it with a silencer.
As far as I have learnt,the things to consider are;
volume size of the cylinder in your gearbox (this determines the maximum length barrel usable, but stepping up 20-30mm should be ok)
Is your AEG very close to 1 Joule as it is? A longer tightbore barrel could put it up about 10-15fps and put your AEG over the legal limit.
If you are adding a silencer to you AEG, it will be longer which means that it will be more difficult to use in CQB and will be better suited to outdoors skirmishing.
Also, find out what size thread your barrel has and whether it is clockwise or anti-clockwise. No use in buying a silencer if it won't fit.

Finally, a longer barrel in most cases can improve accuracy and range.

An expert will be able to explain things much better, but I just thought I'd say what I'd consider to be the stuff to know.

MonkeyGuy

CpcRc basically said it all. I wouldn't recommend getting one much longer as I've learned recently (from Firekitten) that a standard m4 length barrel is about as long as you should go with a standard cylinder. Anyways, a few centimetres won't make a noticable difference, especially not one that's worth adding 20-30cm onto the length of your gun for. (IMO)

mikeyod123

Wat do u mean by cylinder? Is it just the cylinder head or other things aswell

MonkeyGuy

mikeyod123 wrote: »

Wat do u mean by cylinder? Is it just the cylinder head or other things aswell

As far as I know it's to do with the capacity of the cylinder so it'd be the whole thing. Although like I said, As far as I know isn't conclusive so you'd be better off waiting for FK or someone to verify that.

mikeyod123

Thanks monkeyguy
I was thinking of adding a 100-130mm silencer wud that be too much for the cylinder and if it is wht exactly do i have to change.
Thanks

MonkeyGuy

The silencer doesn't matter it's the barrel but if you're only adding a few centimeters on it'll be fine.

mikeyod123

so its a standard 363mm so if i got a 450mm (so it will go to the end of the silencer) wud it be too much?

MonkeyGuy

I really couldn't know for sure man, sorry.

mikeyod123

Ok thanks for all your help anyways monkeyguy

CpcRc

mikeyod123 wrote: »

so its a standard 363mm so if i got a 450mm (so it will go to the end of the silencer) wud it be too much?

That sounds a bit too much I think. You could get a 390-400mm barrel maybe. When people fit silencers to an AEG because the inner barrel is too long, the barrel is usually just sticking out a little bit beyond the flash hider. The silencer isn't used to cover the inner barrel to the end usually. So don't worry about getting a barrel of that size just so it fits inside the silencer.

The cylinder size is the volume of air that it can push out in one cycle. This volume of air should not be lower than the inner barrel of your AEG. The SR25 for example, has a specifically built longer cylinder with a bigger volume so it can take longer inner barrels (450mm,510mm,etc.). But your regular AEG isn't usually designed to take a inner barrel much longer than it's stock one, as that is the size is was designed to work with. 363mm to 450mm is a pretty big jump (best part 10cm).
The cylinder head feeds the air out to propell the BB.

Like Monkeyguy said, an expert such as FK,Leftyflip,Deburca, to name a few, would be more qualified to explain the meaning behind it all.

Leftyflip

Well you're on the right track CprRc.

The different cylinders are to do with the volume of air, when the volume of air inside a cylinder matches the volume of air inside the barrel, you'll keep your FPS. If the volume of air in the cylinder is too much for the barrel, the air will get forced around the BB due to the sheer volume, thus resulting in a low FPS. When the volume of air inside the cylinder is too little, not enough air will reach the end of the barrel, meaning you'll get very little fps. It's all simple physics. I can do the math if you want but I'm not the best at it.
That's my understanding of it anyway, it's the most logical reason I could muster up.

If you currently have a 363mm barrel, you may get away with a 455mm barrel with the current cylinder, I've seen it happen, but for maximum consistency and accuracy, you want to match the cylinder to the barrel. Element make a very nice stainless cylinder for a 455mm barrel, which I've found to be of excellent quality.

Also another thing to factor when changing barrel, which has been said, TBBs can increase fps by up to 30. So you may need to do a spring change or cut a few coils off (if you cut the coils, file, heat and bend parallel) the spring.

"What if I don't change the cylinder and add a TBB, will the increase be enough?"
Unlikely, purely due to the physics, yes it's a smaller volume (very slightly), but you could still need the cylinder.

When it comes to hop units plastic one's offer a better seal and don't damage the air nozzle over time like metal, but metal one's last longer.

Rubbers? Madbull blues are great, but I love Guarders, they make my BB's go "wheeeeeeeeee", ask Whydave

Ger.

mikeyod123

Thanks lefty
So if my gun was firing around 280 +-5 and i get the new barrel and hopup will it still be under the limit? And are the cylinder heads costly and if ya cud can ya link me 1
Thanks very much for the help

Leftyflip

mikeyod123 wrote: »

Thanks lefty
So if my gun was firing around 280 +-5 and i get the new barrel and hopup will it still be under the limit? And are the cylinder heads costly and if ya cud can ya link me 1
Thanks very much for the help

No bothers mate!
It should still be under yes. There's no need for a new cylinder head, only the cylinder. Here's the cylinder I was refering to. One similar to that and you should be laughing!

mikeyod123

Im not actually sure were the cylinder is but i read ur gearbox basics very helpful. Is postage much from ehobby or do any irish reatilers stock em
Thanks again

Leftyflip

mikeyod123 wrote: »

Im not actually sure were the cylinder is but i read ur gearbox basics very helpful. Is postage much from ehobby or do any irish reatilers stock em
Thanks again

You'll see it if you open the dust cover- on a sportline it's usually blue aluminium. Most retailers stock them, ask around for the best price!

DeBurca

SE Airsoft have the B type cylinders in stock

mikeyod123

Leftyflip wrote: »

You'll see it if you open the dust cover- on a sportline it's usually blue aluminium. Most retailers stock them, ask around for the best price!

Is it in the gearbox cos i open up the dust cover and theres a piece of metal
But its not a full circle just enough to cover the dustcover

Leftyflip

mikeyod123 wrote: »

Is it in the gearbox cos i open up the dust cover and theres a piece of metal
But its not a full circle just enough to cover the dustcover

[Embedded Image Removed]
See the brass bit behind the airnozzle? Thats the cylinder.

mikeyod123

A yes i c it now and it is blue. R they hard to install?
Thanks for the link deburca and again for the help lefty