Airsoft / Clearsoft - Long Term Reliability Study

[Tertion]

1) Manufacturer, Model Name
- Ares, Tavor Ctar-21 (compact Tavor Version) Canadian Version
2) Date Obtained
-September 2010
3) Initial Cost
- 670$
4) New or Used
- New
5) Mechanical Problems
- None
6) Esthetic Problems
- None
7) Rounds fired between failures
- 4,000 yet, no failure
8) Changes to Internals and Externals
- No changes
9) Resale Date and Value if applicable.
- Not applicable
10)Notes and Comments (Optional)
Jam and broken hop-up rubber sleave caused by faulty mag

[Colmac]

1) WE tech scar l gbbr
2) november 5th 2010
3) 525$
4) New
5) stock hinge broke (part #66)-
6) few scratches, nothing major-
7) 2000-3000 on co2
8) silencer
10)Notes and Comments (Optional)
great gun, broke in a skirmish, wasnt too happy with that but runs great on co2.

[fullfunk]

1) Manufacturer, Model Name
Crosman Air Mag C11
http://www.crosman.com/airsoft/pistols/SAMC11CB
2) Date Obtained
mid-summer of 2008
3) Initial Cost
$54.99 + taxes
4) New or Used
new
5) Mechanical Problems (Gearbox issues, hopup issues.. basically functional performance related)
None
6) Esthetic Problems (Paint damage, cracks in body, loose parts.. physical construction related)
none
7) Rounds fired between failures (think how many bags of BB's used before it failed)
2000-3000
8) Changes to Internals (upgrades, dates)
none
9) Resale Date and Value if applicable.
N/A
10) Notes and Comments (Optional)
The box says 400 fps, but most of them shoot anywhere from 250-350fps. Out of the group of about 10 people that bought these guns that year, only about 3 of them are left in our group. Although, it was a great starter gun.

[supermohawk]

1) Manufacturer, Model Name
- HK (Palco) Mp7
2) Date Obtained
-August 2009
3) Initial Cost
- $125
4) New or Used
- New
5) Mechanical Problems
- Slide jammed open (when adjusting hop up) and somehow impeded firing
once fixed no problems since
6) Esthetic Problems
- Clear (duh)
7) Rounds fired between failures
- at 3,000 rds .
8) Changes to Internals and Externals
- No internal. External: Coat of paint, Lazer and 40mm red Dot
9) Resale Date and Value if applicable.
- Not applicable
10)Notes and Comments (Optional)
- Good gun, great price and great for cqc

[mr carl]

1) Manufacturer, Model Name
G&G M4 light MAX plastic
2) Date Obtained
December 2010
3) Initial Cost
$344.99
4) New or Used
Brand new
5) Mechanical Problems (Gearbox issues, hopup issues.. basically functional performance related)
No problem
6) Esthetic Problems (Paint damage, cracks in body, loose parts.. physical construction related)
Laser etched logo got scratched off when I rubbed it with my sweaty hands haha!
Wobbly mag, wobbly fore grip, wobbly retractable stock
Bolt catch is driving me nuts! It will not lock in place!
7) Rounds fired between failures (think how many bags of BB's used before it failed)
Fired about 2 mags worth so ~900 BBs, still didn't fail
8) Changes to Internals and external
Nothing internal. I put on a red dot sight on the rails
9) Resale Date and Value if applicable.
Did not sell at the moment
10)Notes and Comments (Optional)
G&G guns are VERY reliable and good looking externally, I don't know much about internals so no comment

[fleuryfighter]

1) Manufacturer, Model Name
G&G GR16 R4 Commando
2) Date Obtained
April 2010
3) Initial Cost
$460
4) New or Used
New
5) Mechanical Problems (Gearbox issues, hopup issues.. basically functional performance related)
Piston Seize april 2010
6) Esthetic Problems (Paint damage, cracks in body, loose parts.. physical construction related)
Small Crack in the body right above the selector switch
7) Rounds fired between failures (think how many bags of BB's used before it failed)
Piston sieze 3000-4000
8) Changes to Internals and external
Internals:
Modify Piston head(May 2010)
Modify Cylinder(May 2010)
Modify Cylinder head(May 2010)
Modify Piston(May 2010)
Sorbo Pad(May 2010)
Modify Nozzle(May 2010)
Madbull M110 spring(May 2010)
G&P Hop-up(May 2010)
SCS Nub(May 2010)
Prometheus Soft rubber(May 2010)
Madbull 6.03 inner barrel (May 2010)
G&P Red dot(Oct. 2010)
9) Resale Date and Value if applicable.
N/A
10)Notes and Comments (Optional)
I only upgraded so much for personal preference G&G guns are amazing stock
I recommend changing the Piston head on all G&G guns to get a better airseal

[MillerBRo]

1) Manufacturer, Model
- A&K Dragunov SVD

2) Date Obtained
- June 2011

3) Initial Cost
- $165

4) New or Used
- new

5) Mechanical Problems
- Barrel wobble is common with these guns and as a result the hop up chamber wasnt mating with the air nozzle- electrical tape around the top of the hopup unit takes the wobble out and now it meets the air nozzle
-the set screw and ball bearing nub that prevents BBs backing into the bolt chamber is a problem with this desgin, it either jams or the repeated action of the air nozzle rubbing past it works it out and you lose the set screw and bearing. In fact with my set screw if I put it in far enough to stop a BB from backing out it would often stop the air nozzle from coming forward- if I backed it off ever so slightly it would let the air nozzle forward but the BBs would back in- NO WIN :P every SVD I have seen so far has this issue; THEN BBs back into the chamber and break and the air nozzle wont go forward all the way; several solutions are online (most involving drilling into your hop up unit)
-the hopup for the SVD is this gummy (silicone?) sort of bar that goes under a set screw through the hop up unit- mine ripped like bad gel so I cut a length of O ring and it fits- also replaced the funky 2 prong hop up rubber with a standard rubber (which needed to be trimmed to fit)
-July 2011 removed the standard piston catch and put in the C&C White Dragon Airsoft piston catch, however once you do this the soft metal of the piston begins to wear down so its sort of a no win situation (unless peple start making C&C pistons I guess?)
-replaced the O ring that goes on the hop up unit with a fatter O ring- now the feed chamber lines up perfectly so I dont get the BB jams from when the piston pushes the hop up unit forward
-after seeing the same model of gun crack in half one day I looked at mine and sure enough it has a micro fracture just ahead of the magwell. Looking at two other Drags as well as mine and the one that broke provided some clues : What casues this? Well everyone here put 170 springs in to get their snipers up to arund 500 fps. WELL HERE IS THE THING- the AEG springs seem to fit but are in fact slightly longer than the stock spring and as a result if you use and AEG spring it will actually be 1/2" longer and when it fires it slams the piston into the nozzle which slams the bolt into the reciever and eventually the pot metal cracks :\ The spring also develops a corkscrew twist as it is too long even when not compressed(and if you take out the spacer then the piston slam fires so you need the spacer but a slightly shorter spring); in addition becaust the heavier spring puts so much more torque on the bolt it creates a groove that slowly wears the path of the entire nozzle so that eventually instead of going forward and back it literally wears down the hop up metal and develops a wiggle- then you lose compression and even with a 170 spring you can only get around 420 fps- so I went back to the stock spring and 400fps- lesson to be learned: a heavy spring doesnt work well with the design of the gun because the metal will slowly deform in places and crack in others I guess you could use a regular AEG spring and cut it down
6) Esthetic Problems
Slight outer barrel wobble which can lead to the mechanical issue mentioned above

7) Rounds fired between failures
- like 10 before I saw that the wobble made the air nozzle slam into the hopup unit; about 200 shots until my set screw worked itself loose and fell out.

8) Changes to Internals and Externals (upgrades, mods, dates)
- Installed a modify 140 AEG spring, this is pretty close to the stock spring that came with the gun but is slightly longer. Other SVDs at our field have went as high as a 170 spring but cocking the bolt becomes difficult if not painful for any long games
-This gun uses AEG barrels & springs- in fact you can swap a spring by merely removing the upper receiver (2 screws) and then the spring guide (2 more screws)- so 4 screws and 2 minutes later you can have your SVD shooting at a whole new fps.
-the silicon tube that presses on the hop up ripped- I cut a length of dense rubber hose and fed this in and it seems to be a tougher fix

9) Resale Date and Value if applicable.
- N/A

10)Notes and Comments (Optional)
- In many ways this springer is what almost all springers should be- the spring and many of the parts use easy to get AEG internals. Changing a spring takes a mere 2 minutes at most so you can easily upgrade or downgrade to suit any fields fps limits.

However the typical Chinese quality means that each and every one of these guns will need various tweaks and modifications for it to work out of the box. The design of a small nub held by a set screw to prevent BBs backing into the bolt chamber is a faulty design as every SVD based on this design seems to run into this issue within a few hundred shots. In fact all the set screws seem to loosen, like any gun regular care is needed to avoid losing parts

Overall I am very pleased with the gun- though if this was any other sport I would ironically be pissed off: Even if I were to have gotten it at the 'low' price of $60-100USD I would think that any product that fails as soon as you open it would make the designers fix the issues... heck sh*t like that nearly ruined Microsoft when the Xbox 360 had a 25% chance of getting the red ring of death.... but of course airsoft is the one sport where you can spend hundreds on a purchase then discover you need to spend hundreds more to fix it or to get it to even work right so I guess it is par for the course lol.

[MillerBRo]

1) Manufacturer, Model
- JG G3 SAS

2) Date Obtained
- June 2011

3) Initial Cost
- $175

4) New or Used
- new

5) Mechanical Problems
- none so far

6) Esthetic Problems
nothing really- orange tip was melted then cut away with easy

7) Rounds fired between failures
- no probs so far

8) Changes to Internals and Externals (upgrades, mods, dates)
- none- will keep as stock firing around 370fps

9) Resale Date and Value if applicable.
- N/A

10)Notes and Comments (Optional)
-when the battery is low it wont fire on single... but it will fire on full auto lol

[The Chad]

1) Manufacturer, Model
- JG (VA) M4-SIR

2) Date Obtained
- March 2009

3) Initial Cost
- $485.00

4) New or Used
- new

5) Mechanical Problems
None.

6) Esthetic Problems
None.

7) Rounds fired between failures
No failures.

8) Changes to Internals and Externals (upgrades, mods, dates)
- none- stock fired ~350fps with .2g at last chrony.
9) Resale Date and Value if applicable.
March/April 2011 - $250+

10)Notes and Comments (Optional)

[L9OBL]

1) Make and Model
-- Crossman Stinger P32...? (the Shotgun)
2) Date Purchased
-- 2006
3) Cost
-- $120
4) New/Used?
-- New
5) Mechanical Problems
-- none, well its touchy with ammo (bad ammo = jams mags and gun)
6) Esthetic Problems
-- small crack in the heat shield under the grip from messing around with it taken apart
7) Rounds Fired Between Failures
-- thousands (but I use high quality ammo)
8) Changes to Internals
-- N/A
9) Resale Date and Value
-- never and if so hopefully 50$

[L9OBL]

1) Make and Model
-- KJW SW40F sigma
2) Date Purchased
-- 2006
3) Cost
-- $90 at forest city surplus but online i see they're about 200$
4) New/Used?
-- New
5) Mechanical Problems
-- none, well its touchy with ammo (bad ammo = jams mags and gun)
6) Esthetic Problems
-- small crack in the slide as I accidently dropped one on some concrete
7) Rounds Fired Between Failures
-- thousands (but I use high quality ammo)
8) Changes to Internals
-- N/A
9) Resale Date and Value
-- never and if so 50$

[L9OBL]

I know it say no second hand friend of a friend stuff but I service my buddy's G36KV and play with it quite a bit so I know his gun better than he does.

1) Make and Model
-- SRC G36KV Gen 3
2) Date Purchased
-- January 2011
3) Cost
-- 400$ plus S&H
4) New/Used?
-- New
5) Mechanical Problems
-- It has a folding stock that holds the battery and the wiring was a bit short at the bend point so it tore off the tamyia connector there the first time it was folded
6) Esthetic Problems
-- N/A
7) Rounds Fired Between Failures
-- like 20. coulda went on forever if the stock wasnt folded
8) Changes to Internals
-- N/A
9) Resale Date and Value
-- never probably and if he ever did it would be many many many years from now and probably to me so idk 200$ maybe

[Beaker]

1) Manufacturer, Model
- CA P90 Sportline
2) Date Obtained
- 2008
3) Initial Cost
- $325
4) New or Used
- New
5) Mechanical Problems
- Nada...unless you want to count the high-cap that came with it...broke in three places inside lol.
6) Esthetic Problems
- The protective plate in front of the RDS got hit once and shattered. Lucky shot by my roommate...
7) Rounds fired between failures
- Hasn't failed yet
8) Changes to Internals and Externals (upgrades, mods, dates)
- New mags, other than that everything is stock, including the battery it came with.
9) Resale Date and Value if applicable.
- N/A was going to sell it, but changed my mind
10)Notes and Comments (Optional)
- This is the only gun I've owned that hasn't had any performance issues...I would definitely recommend it to anyone

[Red62]

1) Manufacturer, Model Name (name of weapon on box, and weapon replicated if different from model name)
Daisy Airstriker 240
2) Date Obtained
unknown: 2001?
3) Initial Cost
$25?
4) New or Used
Used
5) Mechanical Problems (Gearbox issues, hopup issues.. basically functional performance related -- supply date of issue)
Piston broke 2005 (due to replaced spring)
6) Esthetic Problems (Paint damage, cracks in body, loose parts.. physical construction related -- supply date of issue)
Piston backplate broke 2007(fall damage)
7) Rounds fired between failures (think how many bags of BB's used before it failed. If no failure, list rounds fired up to this point)
6000? maybe.
8) Changes to Internals and Externals (upgrades, mods, dates)
Exchanged pison, changed trigger spring, exchanged piston back plate (2006)
9) Resale Date and Value if applicable.
N/A
10)Notes and Comments (Optional)
Really cute toy for beginners, though work on the piston may be nice if you want to upgrade: easy to take apart to rotate barrel when needed.



1) Manufacturer, Model Name (name of weapon on box, and weapon replicated if different from model name)
Crossman M4
2) Date Obtained
May 2006
3) Initial Cost
$100
4) New or Used
New
5) Mechanical Problems (Gearbox issues, hopup issues.. basically functional performance related -- supply date of issue)
crocked hopup (from start), attachable forgrip broke (Mar 2009)
6) Esthetic Problems (Paint damage, cracks in body, loose parts.. physical construction related -- supply date of issue)
fragile body, stock broke (Dec 2007), repaired and broke again (Feb 2008)
7) Rounds fired between failures (think how many bags of BB's used before it failed. If no failure, list rounds fired up to this point)
1000
8) Changes to Internals and Externals (upgrades, mods, dates)
painted, holographic foresight was used for something else,
9) Resale Date and Value if applicable.
unknown
10)Notes and Comments (Optional)
Great for target practice: hits targets at 15m well once you get use to your gun's hopup.


1) Manufacturer, Model Name (name of weapon on box, and weapon replicated if different from model name)
KJW M9 Elite (plastic lower)
2) Date Obtained
Apr 2010? 2009? my memory's bad
3) Initial Cost
$240
4) New or Used
New
5) Mechanical Problems (Gearbox issues, hopup issues.. basically functional performance related -- supply date of issue)
mag valve stuck (first game in) and selfdestructed.
6) Esthetic Problems (Paint damage, cracks in body, loose parts.. physical construction related -- supply date of issue)
none so far, not from the gun itself.
7) Rounds fired between failures (think how many bags of BB's used before it failed. If no failure, list rounds fired up to this point)
not yet
8) Changes to Internals and Externals (upgrades, mods, dates)
none
9) Resale Date and Value if applicable.
?
10)Notes and Comments (Optional)
This thing is amazing as my primary: 360fps this thing also kicks back nicely too. Mags would be nice to have though.

[slingray120]

1) Make and Model
-- JG M16A4 RIS DMR (2011)
2) Date Purchased
-- September 2007
3) Cost
-- $164
4) New/Used?
-- New
5) Mechanical Problems
-- N/A
6) Esthetic Problems
-- Slight barrel wobble
7) Rounds Fired Between Failures
-- N/A (1000 to date)
8) Changes to Internals & Externals
-- Tightbore Barrel
9) Resale Date and Value
-- N/A