by Beran » Sat Jul 02, 2011 8:02 pm
unless they are broken or just plain garbage, there is no need to replace the majority of the internal parts if you are looking for an accurate long range rifle.
here's what i consider the requirements for a "DMR" as covered by the current ruleset:
1. 380-400fps. upgrade it to this velocity if its not already there. this may be a new spring, better compression, and stronger parts to compensate for the spring (the primary ones being bearings if they arent already there). gears/cylinders/pistons are unnecessary, unless they are already broken or just crappy parts. MAYBE a new piston o-ring to fix any compression issues. MAYBE a new motor if your old one isnt strong enough, or you want a slightly faster trigger response.
2. a good tightbore barrel, as long as you can manage (to a point. i find that the 510mm M16 length barrels are just about right for my taste). opinions vary on brand and ID, ive had good results with DBC 6.01 and prometheus 6.03.
3. a good hopup unit. crappy hopups will cause compression loss due to loss of seal around the nozzle, and if badly made even inserting a certain brand of magazine can cause the unit to pull slightly off the front of the gearbox, and drop the rifles velocity considerably. im partial to the mad bull and modify one piece hopups.
4. a good bucking. this can make a huge difference. i install the madbull blue buckings in just about every gun i want to be able to hit a target with past 150 feet. they can be tight fits sometimes, but if you are careful that just means a better seal.
5. heavy ammo. at LEAST .25g BBs will improve your accuracy considerably. look at ammo specifics, not all brands are created equal. quite often these days you will find manufacturers listing outer diameter on their ammo, you wouldn't think .03mm would make a big difference, but the accuracy increase of 5.98mm ammo (if you can find it) over 5.95mm is noticeable.
6. a scope with 2x-4x magnification. you don't strictly speaking NEED an optic, and you cant assume that the BBs will fly to the crosshairs every time, but after you get used to your rifle and watch where rounds are flying you will get a much better idea of the trajectory of your shot. i actually like my optics to be off, so i can watch the path of the BB more clearly and adjust for followup shots if needed.
lipo batteries are also nice to have, as the higher output rating makes for snappier trigger response in semiauto.
i have a six or seven year old G&G M16A4 at 385fps with a DBC 6.01 barrel, a madbull hopup with the blue bucking, and a 4x ACOG. shooting some really nice 5.99mm .25g BBs out of it three or four years ago, i got hits on the same guy twice in ten minutes from a range we paced out to 275 feet, firing on semiauto. i took 3-5 shots to hit him each time. the moral of the story is, you don't need a jillion dollars worth of parts to have a rifle that is accurate at long range.
Let your plans be as dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.