After having to deal with some problems with some of my airsoft guns, I want to pose this question to those of you who work on real steel as well. What's easier to work on, real steel or airsoft?
For example, a real steel AR-15's lower receiver group has like what, around 15 or so parts. If every part, hole, and thread is in spec, there should be no issues in assembly and function. For an AEG, the gearbox alone has how many pieces inside?
Taking down an AR-15 or real steel pistol, I don't have to worry too much about small pieces getting lost.
For those of you who have experience with a REAL 2011 frame pistols (Barsto, STI, SV, SPS), are these easier to diagnose and fix than their gas blow back cousins?
Yeah, this may be comparing apples to oranges, but just curious and venting...
Electric Sucks to work on, Gas is awesome to work on. Never worked on real steel, but its very similar to gas.
having only worked on AR's (building one) the internals are far more simple than an aeg. that said maintenance/cleaning on an AR is much worse than an aeg. you realistically don't need to take your aeg apart every time you shoot, but for ar's you should clean & oil it every time you shoot.
Cleaning and partial disassembly is easier on real ARs for me, but complete strips take special tools and mounts.
Real 1911 are a nightmare in comparison to WAs, TMs etc.
Amen on the gas powered AR's. The inside of the lower receiver (including the bolt carrier) of a WA M4 looks almost like the real thing.
As for AR's that depends on what kind of gas system you got on it: gas impingement or piston driven. With the excess gas of a fired bullet being redirected to the bolt carrier to cycle the gun, there's going to be a lot more carbon fouling on the bolt carrier. Therefore, the inside of the carrier, gas key, and bolt need to be stripped down and cleaned.
The piston driven uppers are pretty cool cuz there is no fouling of the bolt carrier. A piston conversion kit runs like $200+, and it may be something to look at if you're tired of cleaning the bolt carrier constantly.
Discovery Channel segment on the Heckler & Koch 416:
http://www.yourdiscovery.com/video/elite...416/?cc=US
Sort of funny how a real AK and M1A have piston driven bolt carriers, while the AR-15 still has the gas impingement system. However, a piston driven AR can now come stock from the manufacturer.
The one big difference I see between shooting real steel and their airsoft cousins is the cost of ammo! $10 to $15 for a bottle of 5000 BBs versus $300 - $500 for a case of 1000 .223 Remington (5.56 Nato).
I don't have much experience with the 1911, but with a 2011 frame pistol, you don't need a bushing wrench to take it apart. One less tool to carry in the range bag.
(08-09-2010 01:07 PM)Glockracegun Wrote: [ -> ]Amen on the gas powered AR's. The inside of the lower receiver (including the bolt carrier) of a WA M4 looks almost like the real thing.
As for AR's that depends on what kind of gas system you got on it: gas impingement or piston driven. With the excess gas of a fired bullet being redirected to the bolt carrier to cycle the gun, there's going to be a lot more carbon fouling on the bolt carrier. Therefore, the inside of the carrier, gas key, and bolt need to be stripped down and cleaned.
The piston driven uppers are pretty cool cuz there is no fouling of the bolt carrier. A piston conversion kit runs like $200+, and it may be something to look at if you're tired of cleaning the bolt carrier constantly.
Discovery Channel segment on the Heckler & Koch 416: http://www.yourdiscovery.com/video/elite...416/?cc=US
Sort of funny how a real AK and M1A have piston driven bolt carriers, while the AR-15 still has the gas impingement system. However, a piston driven AR can now come stock from the manufacturer.
The one big difference I see between shooting real steel and their airsoft cousins is the cost of ammo! $10 to $15 for a bottle of 5000 BBs versus $300 - $500 for a case of 1000 .223 Remington (5.56 Nato).
I don't have much experience with the 1911, but with a 2011 frame pistol, you don't need a bushing wrench to take it apart. One less tool to carry in the range bag.
I don't buy into the whole "gas piston is cleaner than DI" hype. Having exclusively shot DI ar's I have not noticed any excess fouling or a lot of carbon buildup (I don't shoot like they do in the magpul dvd's I'm a precision shooter). The inside of the carrier & gas key don't see that much gas as opposed to the bolt which causes more malfunctions that the other two. Shooting supressed throws the whole GP is cleaner out the window, because of pressure the barrel fouls fast either way.
The biggest drawback with a GP AR is carrier tilt. The AK & M1a were designed as a gas piston not retrofitted so they don't experience it, but since the AR was designed as a DI then you run into issues.
To me is alot easier to work on 2011 vs airsoft. The main reason is breakage in the 2011 is few and far apart. Airsoft seems to break quite often and parts seem to be mostly found overseas. They are cheap though. I work on my 2011's myself. Learned how to do it to save money. Nothing worse than shipping a gun to a gunsmith for a $20 part and end up costy $150 total due shipping.
Flyin
I may be comparing apples to oranges here, but check this out.
This is an airsoft Limcat pistol:
http://www.ipscgm.com/index.php?main_pag...anguage=en
A used real steel STI (not necessarily SV) will cost just about the same perhaps a bit more depending on the gunsmith and accessories (standard and big stick mags). One shoots real bullets, the other shoots 6mm pellets.
Do the custom airsoft raceguns with all of the parts made out of CNC'ed metal last longer and won't break down as much than the ones made with pot metal or plastic ABS slides?
The aimpoint is the real deal. Look at the bottom of the page.
And I think its a given, yes. If pot metal parts dont break after time, they certainly will wear down and give not so consistent performance.