Electric or Gas Blowback Discussion

tekkenman

Electric
advantage
cheaper than Gas Blowback
more mag capacity, usually around 300/mag
easy maintenance

disadvantage
no blowback, there are some with blow back but very expensive
not water proof, if you drop the gun in a pod of water, then it is done?


Gas Blowback
advantage
blowback makes you feel like shooting a real gun
water proof 100%?

disadvantage
more expensive
less mag capacity, usually around 30/mag
need to be looked after very well every time when you finish a game

i heard that in UK and US, some of the game site will limit the mag capacity to make the game feels more real, also i've been told by some friends that Gas Blowback will rule the market in a few years time.

personally i think Gas Blowback suits collectors and Electric suits beginners

what do you think?
what do you prefer?

Stonewolf

GBBs generally don't require followers which is handy.
They are also very very very satisfying to shoot.

On the other hand they tend to be more inconsistent between shots. Also If you use the wrong gas will be crap to useless in cold and suffer from a power dropoff when using full auto (CO2 fixes these problems but generally speaking GBBs are not built for it and getting mags can be difficult).

Lemming

tekkenman wrote: »

Electric
advantage
cheaper than Gas Blowback
more mag capacity, usually around 300/mag
easy maintenance

Cheaper to run, yes. Easier maintenance? That's subjective. Less maintenance intensive yes, easier? No. Not when you are having to crack open internals.

I also wouldn't consider magazine capacity an advantage. Mag capacity encourages different types of play and whilst a 300 round hi-cap may be fine and dandy for a new player playing all of three months, they make for very boring game-play in my opinion as they [hi-cap mags] encourage static game play consisting of 'sit in one place, and spray continuously in the hope of hitting someone'

disadvantage
no blowback, there are some with blow back but very expensive

To date, electric blow back guns have tended to have rather fragile blow back mechanisms.

Gas Blowback
advantage
blowback makes you feel like shooting a real gun

As Stonewolf has already said, they are immensely satisfying to shoot. I will also add that take-down and maintenance is much more realistic and simple (i.e. you don't have a gearbox with all its different parts).


Edit: One ... other advantage (in my opinion of course) is that since GBBR magazines are heavy, you'll be hard-pushed to find people running around with 10 magazines hanging off their tac-vests. In short, players are ultimately encouraged through practicality (weight of ammo carried, gas, etc.) to observe more conservative (read 'single shot') and tactical use of fire. That means actually aiming ones shots and upping your skill-game.

disadvantage
more expensive
less mag capacity, usually around 30/mag
need to be looked after very well every time when you finish a game

See my comments above regarding magazine capacity. If you are referring to GBB rifles, magazine capacity tends to vary between 30 and 50 rounds per magazine. Considering that mid-cap magazines for AEGs tend to be 80-110 there's not such a large cap between the higher end of gas mag capacity and the lower end of mid-cap mag capacity as one would think.

i heard that in UK and US, some of the game site will limit the mag capacity to make the game feels more real, also i've been told by some friends that Gas Blowback will rule the market in a few years time.

You'll find games (not sites per-se) organised all over the world - including Ireland - with limited ammunition and/or capacity restrictions. Ultimately, it stops games turning into static BB hose contests which, as I've said already, are are boring as hell and utterly pointless, save to make BB manufacturers very happy.

personally i think Gas Blowback suits collectors and Electric suits beginners

Most players in Ireland & the UK - and anywhere else I've attended - would disagree with you since most own gas blow back pistols and use them on a weekly basis alongside their AEGs.

Firekitten

I'd say electric power is going to be a mainstay for a long long time. It provides a level of consistency that gas, can not achive, without serious work. Don't get me wrong, Its possible. But its the type of possible that takes £1000 on top of a gas sniper rifle, not a gbbr.
To allow for automatic fire, or even semi auto fire, the tollerances are far lower, and thus, air and gas leaks and changes the shot each time, minute or not.

Gas makes you feel like shooting a real gun?
Till I get a gbbr that makes my shoulder sore, its not :P

Electric blowback guns are not always expensive, some can be fairly cheap and mid range prices now. You're not going to get one for €120, but id still say mid range.
Even they will be more consistent, and more suitable than a gas rifle.

you are right though in principal, gas is for the collector, but Electric, blowback or not will be for the skirmisher for a while yet.

Restricted ammo... well electric guns can use 30 round mags too :P and a lot use 100 round mags. All depends on play style, I'm sure some blithering idiot will invent a gbb hicap... give them time, they are as predictable as bankers thieving.
Limited ammo games occur around the world as Lemming said, and deffinately in Ireland too. You're right, it does change the game dynamic in a positive manner.

Interesting and nice post though

Inari

It all boils down to what you want to use.

Gas is an infinitely better system in pistols than electric, and you will find few that disagree with that.

However, AEG's have been around since the 1980's, and have a reached a stage in life where they are not quite perfect, but certainly are refined. With more sophisticated batteries, better hop-up technology etc, they are literally the gold standard.

GBBR's are the new kid on the block, and have a rake load of problems. The biggest one is that they are the new kids on the block, and that there are very few experts in the field, so if something goes wrong and you cannot fix it, then good luck to you finding someone who can.

GBBR's, as with GBB pistols, are infinitely more fun to shoot than their NBB counterparts...simulated recoil is better than no recoil, and the noise is very satisfying. There is, however, no denying that gas systems still have a LONG way to go. Even avid GBBR users will admit that there is room for improvement, even though they'll argue until the cows come home that AEGs are not necessarily better

Personally I'm holding off for another while - in my opinion, when the system has aged a little more, then most of the kinks will be worked out. I await the day that GBBRs become the gold standard eagerly

Leftyflip

Inari, I'll be picking up an el cheapo AEP for the winter - after Dave got me his a while back, my faith has been restored in them - one of those days where even CO2 NBB pistols were struggling, along comes Dave with an AEP Glock and braps me

Inari

Leftyflip wrote: »

Inari, I'll be picking up an el cheapo AEP for the winter - after Dave got me his a while back, my faith has been restored in them - one of those days where even CO2 NBB pistols were struggling, along comes Dave with an AEP Glock and braps me

That is greatly surprising - although if the AEP is TM then it explains it, as even TM gas pistols tend to dispel most of the rules of thumb. But generally speaking, Co2 tends to trump AEPs, but quality is key. TM's stuff is exceptional - I truthfully did not believe their quality until I used their PX4 and Five-SeveN

NakedDex

I want a GBB G36, and possibly a GBB L85, but you couldn't pay me to skirmish them (ok, maybe you could pay me to, but that's what it'd take). My intention is to, at some stage, get one or both of these rifles with a couple of mags each and have them for nothing more than plinking. Until such time as someone can make a reliable GBB rifle that can do .94J +/- .02J consistently at 15rps (which isn't an excessively high target for rate of fire) then I really want no part in skirmishing a GBB rifle.
Sure, the GBB rifle is more fun to fire and offers more realism, but in an average game, or even a milsim game, it offers absolutely no advantage over an AEG. Some argue that the ammo capacity of 30 rounds is more realistic, and they'd be right, but who said you had to fill your high/low cap mag to the brim? Why not just put 30 into it? Or buy a pack of real-caps, they're almost cheaper than mids as it is.


Basically, GBB rifles are fun in the same way that a track-day car is fun; it's great to take out a Toyota MR2 on a circuit once in a while and really play around with it, but it's not going to be the car you drive home in, or to work the next day. For that, you'll probably be wanting the Toyota Corolla instead - not as satisfying, but infinitely more practical and reliable.

gerrowadat

EBB

Pros: None
Cons: Leeches off your gearbox, gearbox wears out quicker, breaks a lot, your AEG sounds like a skeleton having a **** in a biscuit tin.

Conclusion: ****ing pile of ****e. Pointless.

GBB

Pros: Epic blood horn.
Cons: Maintenance gives you a pain in your face, can't be skirmished (not in Ireland, anyway), expensive as ****. Pain in the hole to get parts.

Conclusion: Fun to shoot, but having a gun you can skirmish is more fun.

tekkenman

just edited the main post about waterproof

Firekitten

Aegs are about as waterproof as a gbbr. You could swim a river with both, and use them just fine. Both are 100% fine in the rain, so unless you plan to play scuba soft, I'd take a padded stick instead.

tekkenman

Firekitten wrote: »

Aegs are about as waterproof as a gbbr. You could swim a river with both, and use them just fine. Both are 100% fine in the rain, so unless you plan to play scuba soft, I'd take a padded stick instead.

Really? didnt know i can swim with AEGs, the owner of the airsoft shop told me not to try this at home.....

Firekitten

I did it with a classic army m15a4, and It was grand.

TheDoc

Tried two GBB rifle, thought they were pants and moved them on.

When you want performance and to be actually useful on the field to your team you need electric.

GBB is as good as looking good and sounding good, but typically useless.

Even in milsim games with limited ammo they were so dissapointing with terrible range and accuracy

tekkenman

Firekitten wrote: »

I did it with a classic army m15a4, and It was grand.

interesting, will give it a try in one of the lakes in Mullingar. lol

tekkenman

TheDoc wrote: »

Tried two GBB rifle, thought they were pants and moved them on.

When you want performance and to be actually useful on the field to your team you need electric.

GBB is as good as looking good and sounding good, but typically useless.

Even in milsim games with limited ammo they were so dissapointing with terrible range and accuracy

didnt know GBB has less range than AEGs? um...

Firekitten

Doesn't necessarily.... Just typically the systems are not as refined, and hop units not as good, propellants as stable sometimes... Plenty of gas sniper rifles are great... but the lower tollerances required in aeg means theres air leakage... or gas in this case, which can reduce effective range, accuracy and stability.

TheDoc

tekkenman wrote: »

didnt know GBB has less range than AEGs? um...

They require alot of work out of the box to get them even close to a clone AEG.

Alot of work went into mine and the performance was still pony so I just made the call to avoid them, just not impressed one bit.