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Newbie Discussion / Re: Newbie FAQ UPDATED 6/12/03
« on: March 11, 2015, 09:32:31 PM »
There's nothing wrong with simply spraying or dropping in a bit of silicone oil at the incoming gas fill port at the bottom of your magazine immediately prior to each fill as I've suggested. If anything, when done properly, it will most likely actually introduce much more than the small percentage of lubricant actually present in the proprietary airsoft gasses. You can even "test" this by visualizing the thin layer of lubricant that forms on the surface of the rubber gas route packing at its exit point at the top of the magazine; it will be as lubricated as with use of true airsoft gasses.
- Remembering that the retailers don’t always have your best interests in-mind
Again, I must emphasize that each GBB, regardless of brand of make, is an individual onto itself. Each individual GBB will have specific performance, durability, reliability, and gas-efficiency characteristics that are unique to that pistol itself, and cannot be generalized to include any other replica pistol. So instead of asking about comparisons in various posts and such, simply sit down, search, and read as much as you can about the replicas that you’re interested in – it’s the only sure way to go.
One important item to note about GBB’s is that regardless of what many retailers may say about their supposed durability – i.e. “x or y model can take a or b gas, straight out of the box” – NO GBB IS IMMUNE TO THE GENERAL LAWS OF MECHANICAL OBJECTS. This means that the more you stress the system, in this case, the GBB, with “higher-powered” gasses, the more likely it is that you will experience some kind of catastrophic mechanical breakage of a critical component, and for sure, you will experience increased wear and tear as compared to a counterpart GBB that’s been treated only to exclusive use of the “lower-powered” gasses.
If you are having a hard time believing me, just think of it this way: race cars.
These things are tuned to provide the most performance with commensurately the most stress placed on their parts – and while they are reliable enough and durable enough for the span of the race, they routinely get full engine and other critical items replaced, many, many times per season due to excessive wear on critical components. Furthermore, they are also much more prone to having a breakdown than our everyday commuter cars. Another example? Think of the “higher-powered” gasses as “nitrous” for your GBB. Sure, you can run your car on nitrous all the time, but I’d be willing to bet that sooner rather than later, you’re going to blow your engine. So please, unless you are a “power hog” and are willing to deal with the consequences of having a broken GBB due to use of the “more powerful” gasses, just stick with HFC134a or the other lower-powered alternatives. Don’t come crying to me later – ‘cause I’ll just say “I told you so!”
Section Three – Mock suppressors (“silencers”)
- AEG Sound Suppression
I've often been sighted on-line lamenting the state of our relative lack of airsoft knowledge -- true objective knowledge -- as Western enthusiasts. After having a look at some of the Japanese airsoft-hobby print magazines, it's quite easy to see that we truly lag behind their objective understanding of "performance," through true objective testing and organized data, by about 5 to 10 years.
And sadly, this applies to the tremendous hype generated about "suppressing" or "silencing" an AEG as well.....at this point, we Western hobbyists have only anecdotal tales and empiric evidence to go on, but it looks like our Far-Eastern brothers have already tired of such guess work and rumor, and decided to take things to the next level.
An article in the a past issue of the Japanese hobbyist magazine Arms (May 2003, issue number 179) detailed a laboratory-test of sound suppression for the P90.
Of course, I could not read Japanese (remember, I'm Chinese!) -- but hey, the graphs and pictures are easy enough to interpret regardless!
For this tech article about "silencing" the P90, they used an aftermarket mock suppressor (looked to be a KSC Knight's Armament Corp. suppressor for the KSC Mk23 Mod0 SOCOM GBB) and even stuffed the mechabox area full of rubber chips and also cotton padding. They also sealed, using tape and even plastics, various "holes" in the mechabox assembly that could emit noise before re-installing the mechabox and supplementing the suppression with the above-cited rubber and cotton insulation.
Result?
53 db. of noise at 50 meters.
Absolute noise reduction at around 35 meters went from a high of 82 db., stock, to -- get this, 80 db. with all of the sound-suppressant.
Not much difference at all, huh?
The true effect shown with their test was apparently from a much greater discrepancy in the frequency of the sounds emitted. This was also documented in graphical form from their testing equipment. The spectrum analysis changed towards a much lower frequency with the sound-suppressing measures installed, with reductions in the higher-frequency noises registered.
This would pretty much confirm the fact that these "suppression" methods would do very little good for our airsoft replicas in terms of having an OBJECTIVE noise-level suppression -- and instead, that it is our subjective inability to pinpoint the altered muzzle discharge noises (frequency change), combined with most likely a re-routing/re-directing of the muzzle discharge noises to be emitted along a different axis (i.e. instead of directly down-range, now more dispersed to either side due to the fact that the mock suppressor is "canning" the barrel), as the TRUE reasons why suppressors "work" for airsoft replicas.
Again, I'm not making this up -- this is from the latest issue of Arms magazine, a hard-core Japanese airsoft enthusiast magazine. Got problems with these findings? Go take it up with them!
What does this all mean for you?
Well, if you are really up-close and personal outdoors, or if you are indoors at all (with highly sound-reflective walls, furniture, etc.), you might as well discount any supposed advantage you have. The objective level of true noise reduction is just insufficient.
Rather, it is outdoors, at-range, where the alteration of the tone and direction of your "suppressed" replica's sound output that will truly give you a tactical advantage.
Use your advantage to GET close, but once you're there, as with much of everything that's airsoft, it is "violence of action" that's going to take the day.
- GBB sound suppression
Most airsoft GBB replicas will have aftermarket products designed to allow them attach aftermarket mock suppressors.
However, they will not affect much at all of your overall noise signature.
Why?
Do this simple test with your GBB - any GBB.
First, gas-up your GBB.
DO NOT, I repeat, do *_- NOT -_* load with BBs.
Instead only "gas-fire" the replica, placing the slide "ejection port" cut out next to your ear. Trigger off a round.
If your ear isn't ringing, I'll print out this FAQ and eat it.
Unless you can physically "lock" your slide and keep it from cycling, you'll get that gas-output noise from the magazine main outlet area right next-to/within the "ejection port/breech" each and every time, whether you have a mock suppressor on the muzzle or not.
If you want a truly "sound suppressed" gas-operated replica, look towards the purchase of a NBB as your starting platform.
GBBs just won't do it. Physically impossible.
- Remembering that the retailers don’t always have your best interests in-mind
Again, I must emphasize that each GBB, regardless of brand of make, is an individual onto itself. Each individual GBB will have specific performance, durability, reliability, and gas-efficiency characteristics that are unique to that pistol itself, and cannot be generalized to include any other replica pistol. So instead of asking about comparisons in various posts and such, simply sit down, search, and read as much as you can about the replicas that you’re interested in – it’s the only sure way to go.
One important item to note about GBB’s is that regardless of what many retailers may say about their supposed durability – i.e. “x or y model can take a or b gas, straight out of the box” – NO GBB IS IMMUNE TO THE GENERAL LAWS OF MECHANICAL OBJECTS. This means that the more you stress the system, in this case, the GBB, with “higher-powered” gasses, the more likely it is that you will experience some kind of catastrophic mechanical breakage of a critical component, and for sure, you will experience increased wear and tear as compared to a counterpart GBB that’s been treated only to exclusive use of the “lower-powered” gasses.
If you are having a hard time believing me, just think of it this way: race cars.
These things are tuned to provide the most performance with commensurately the most stress placed on their parts – and while they are reliable enough and durable enough for the span of the race, they routinely get full engine and other critical items replaced, many, many times per season due to excessive wear on critical components. Furthermore, they are also much more prone to having a breakdown than our everyday commuter cars. Another example? Think of the “higher-powered” gasses as “nitrous” for your GBB. Sure, you can run your car on nitrous all the time, but I’d be willing to bet that sooner rather than later, you’re going to blow your engine. So please, unless you are a “power hog” and are willing to deal with the consequences of having a broken GBB due to use of the “more powerful” gasses, just stick with HFC134a or the other lower-powered alternatives. Don’t come crying to me later – ‘cause I’ll just say “I told you so!”
Section Three – Mock suppressors (“silencers”)
- AEG Sound Suppression
I've often been sighted on-line lamenting the state of our relative lack of airsoft knowledge -- true objective knowledge -- as Western enthusiasts. After having a look at some of the Japanese airsoft-hobby print magazines, it's quite easy to see that we truly lag behind their objective understanding of "performance," through true objective testing and organized data, by about 5 to 10 years.
And sadly, this applies to the tremendous hype generated about "suppressing" or "silencing" an AEG as well.....at this point, we Western hobbyists have only anecdotal tales and empiric evidence to go on, but it looks like our Far-Eastern brothers have already tired of such guess work and rumor, and decided to take things to the next level.
An article in the a past issue of the Japanese hobbyist magazine Arms (May 2003, issue number 179) detailed a laboratory-test of sound suppression for the P90.
Of course, I could not read Japanese (remember, I'm Chinese!) -- but hey, the graphs and pictures are easy enough to interpret regardless!
For this tech article about "silencing" the P90, they used an aftermarket mock suppressor (looked to be a KSC Knight's Armament Corp. suppressor for the KSC Mk23 Mod0 SOCOM GBB) and even stuffed the mechabox area full of rubber chips and also cotton padding. They also sealed, using tape and even plastics, various "holes" in the mechabox assembly that could emit noise before re-installing the mechabox and supplementing the suppression with the above-cited rubber and cotton insulation.
Result?
53 db. of noise at 50 meters.
Absolute noise reduction at around 35 meters went from a high of 82 db., stock, to -- get this, 80 db. with all of the sound-suppressant.
Not much difference at all, huh?
The true effect shown with their test was apparently from a much greater discrepancy in the frequency of the sounds emitted. This was also documented in graphical form from their testing equipment. The spectrum analysis changed towards a much lower frequency with the sound-suppressing measures installed, with reductions in the higher-frequency noises registered.
This would pretty much confirm the fact that these "suppression" methods would do very little good for our airsoft replicas in terms of having an OBJECTIVE noise-level suppression -- and instead, that it is our subjective inability to pinpoint the altered muzzle discharge noises (frequency change), combined with most likely a re-routing/re-directing of the muzzle discharge noises to be emitted along a different axis (i.e. instead of directly down-range, now more dispersed to either side due to the fact that the mock suppressor is "canning" the barrel), as the TRUE reasons why suppressors "work" for airsoft replicas.
Again, I'm not making this up -- this is from the latest issue of Arms magazine, a hard-core Japanese airsoft enthusiast magazine. Got problems with these findings? Go take it up with them!
What does this all mean for you?
Well, if you are really up-close and personal outdoors, or if you are indoors at all (with highly sound-reflective walls, furniture, etc.), you might as well discount any supposed advantage you have. The objective level of true noise reduction is just insufficient.
Rather, it is outdoors, at-range, where the alteration of the tone and direction of your "suppressed" replica's sound output that will truly give you a tactical advantage.
Use your advantage to GET close, but once you're there, as with much of everything that's airsoft, it is "violence of action" that's going to take the day.
- GBB sound suppression
Most airsoft GBB replicas will have aftermarket products designed to allow them attach aftermarket mock suppressors.
However, they will not affect much at all of your overall noise signature.
Why?
Do this simple test with your GBB - any GBB.
First, gas-up your GBB.
DO NOT, I repeat, do *_- NOT -_* load with BBs.
Instead only "gas-fire" the replica, placing the slide "ejection port" cut out next to your ear. Trigger off a round.
If your ear isn't ringing, I'll print out this FAQ and eat it.
Unless you can physically "lock" your slide and keep it from cycling, you'll get that gas-output noise from the magazine main outlet area right next-to/within the "ejection port/breech" each and every time, whether you have a mock suppressor on the muzzle or not.
If you want a truly "sound suppressed" gas-operated replica, look towards the purchase of a NBB as your starting platform.
GBBs just won't do it. Physically impossible.