Benefits to Gas guns over AEG?
 

So, I always see people discussing the negatives of gas guns when AEG equivalents are available. And, to be fair, I can understand them. More maintenance, expensive to fix and easier to break, fluctuating FPS, dirty propane smell, et cetera... However, I've never once seen someone talk about the benefits of gas guns. What are they? Why would YOU use a gas gun over an AEG? I'm curious.

If we're talking just about the +:

No damn gear shimming
No stripping pistons
Less possibility to have an air leak compared to the more complex gearbox mechanics
Much more fun to shoot
Realcap (debatable +; It's a plus for me at least)
Much easier to fieldstrip and get to the guts when the need arise
If a problem happen, it is often much faster and easier to fix
...

Drake?

I was just about to quote your signature lol

the fps doesn't drop as quickly when you use heavier bb's ( i mean initial fps)

I did not know this! so gas guns generally use heavier BB's then?

they can.

the general consensus is that GBBRs are not for first time players

GBBRs are a little more pricey, and sometimes parts are harder to find.

Heh! reminds me of my buddy. He was absolutely adamant about using a gas gun, thinking they were the shit. Then on our first day out at the whitby field, he got his ass kicked by all the AEG's!

since then, he sold his gas gun and switched to electric...

Realism

Gas guns look, sound, and function much more than the real thing. In many cases, real steel parts can be used on a GBBR. AEGs are way too fussy, and they sound like sewing machines made for little girls. :rolleyes:

I LOL at that

Every time I hear an AEG go off, 'merrzip' is going to flash through my mind...

If you play with a group who's motto is "Hosing is the dance of my people" they may not be the best choice.

If you're broke and need to borrow 75 cents to buy BBs before a game they may not be the best choice.

If you're a bit seasoned and it bugs you when you have a battery wire break on the field as you unpack and as you discover the wire had been disconnected and the battery didn't take a charge so soldering won't save your day and then you proceed to have the connectors fall of your motor and the when you get that on you strip a pinion gear and so on you might be ready for gas. Or when four people you're playing with drop out because each has one of those failures on their AEG.

All the key parts on a gas gun can be fixed or swapped on the field. The most common point of failure is the magazines so with spares of those when one goes down keep you in the action.

You can tune a GBBR to be as accurate and far reaching as an AEG. You do loose out on the opportunity dump a 500 round high cap on someone but since most of the seasoned players will have moved past that style of play it's no great loss.

Shimming and other AEG mechanics aren't a problem in and by themselves when you know how to do it (albeit tedious on lower quality mechboxes), but a major downside is the difficulty/effort of getting to the mechbox in the first place: if its relatively simple on some guns, other require disassembling the entire gun just to get to the mechbox. On M4s and other V2 gearboxes, you can't test the mechbox without reassembling the whole gun (or a lot of it) either. Just to disassemble it again if you need to change something.

GBBRs are mechanically simple: there's only a small handful of moving parts. For my WE M4s, for example, I carry an extra spare bolt carrier group and a spare complete trigger box. They can be changed in a matter of minutes (seconds, for the spare bolt carrier) and that will fix most problems that could occur on the field. The only other thing would be a leaky mag (you're down one mag), otherwise someone needs to run over your gun with a car or something.

GBBRs will operate reliably in wet and extreme wet conditions: in fact you could leave them underwater for a while and they'd work fine. Obviously you don't want to fire an AEG while its waterlogged, you don't want to get a MOSFET or other controller circuits wet (e.g., PTWs etc) and you don't want to risk shorting a battery, specially a LiPO.

You also don't need to deal with wiring and battery-carrying issues. If you do a lot of custom work, specially if you want to create a small compact package, this is an important consideration. Wiring always tends to be problematic, too: how many times have I see, on game mornings, people with battery and/or wiring gun problems? Its happened to me on a few occasions, too. Wires get accidentally yanked, they break their solders, connector snap, wires get pinched, etc.

With an NPAS you can easily adjust your FPS, removing the necessity of having a separate "indoor" and "outdoor" gun. Yes, there are some mechboxes with quick swap springs, etc. but its not all AEGs, and it'll often force you to go into a certain platform (PTW, WE's Katana, etc) or buy an expensive mechbox. NPAS for WE is $20.

But for me, really, its a combination of all those little factors:

Someone could call me right this second and tell me we're going to play, Ijust have to grab my gear, mags, gun, BB and gas and I'm out the door. Compare this to years of Night-Before-Gameday spent charging a battery, a spare battery, test firing the gun to make sure the batteries are okay, checking the FPS to make sure the gun is okay, packing a spare gun (cuz if something happens to your main AEG, you may not be able to fix it on the field: occurrences of that happening are legendary), charging batteries for the spare gun, testing the spare gun. It's like 2AM by now, I have to get up at 5 and drive 2 hrs to get to the field, FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU.

Properly tuned, GBB FPS won't always fluctuate that much. I find the accuracy quite good, better than a lot of AEGs I've used (AEG FPS can fluctuate too). They accept a lot of RS parts and the balance more realistic (ie., no heavy battery on one end). The trigger response is obviously lightning fast and you can double tap like the real thing. A proficient shoot will experience a clear edge over most AEGs: I can get two shots off in the time it takes a lot of AEGs to get their first shot fired. Only highly tuned guns, PTWs etc can compete at the same level.

And obviously it's fun as fuck to shoot. Completely new experience that breathed a second life into airsoft for me.

I like the trigger response of a GBBR in CQB settings.. Some people I see playing with stock AEGs and shitty batteries seem to have a huge delay between when they pull the trigger and when the bb actually makes its way out of the gun. In CQB that delay can cost you a kill..

I've had less problems with my AEG then with the guys who use GBBR in the team.

Main recurring problems with GBBR comes from leaky mags so having an extra or 2 is good but costs more but fixing leaky mags is easy when you have the parts like said before me.

The only thing I find annoying safety-wise about GBBR is temperature fluctuations that affect them.

In the summer it's not all that different but a day that the temperature goes from low to high in a short period like it's happened, the GBBR may go out of FPS specs and you'll have to pass it through the chrony again and re-ajust it with your NPAS.

On the other hand, I've found them to be really easy to repair and/or upgrade compared to AEG gearboxes. For me, it's still easy but GBBR were less hassle.

For a new guy, buying an AEG first and upgrading later on to GBBR is the best option.

The only ones I recommend buying GBBR from the start is someone getting into the sport with veterans already using GBBR and bother buying the same ones as them first to get your experience done before trying to go for new ones.

We all end up getting something else at some point so there is no point in getting that exotic thing from the start. It just may crap your fun before you get into it because you end up not playing because of crappy performance and I say this because it's happened to 2 people in my team early on.

I've found that having both an AEG and GBBR is the best solution.

This said, it all boils down to one thing : GBBR really is more fun to use then AEG's and there is no denying that as this quote testifys :

Good point, forgot to mention that one.

GBBRs are usually less likely to break down than AEGs, it's the mags that usually develop leaks.

AEG's are all TEMPERATURE, GBBRs can't short out in the rain (HPA can be all temps)
GBBRs tend to have better stock range and accuracy, have fewer upgrades & therefore cost way less to upgrade fully, and typically have REALLY good performance in their temp range.
Ease of maintenance, need a gundoc to do anything cool to an AEG, anybody can work on a GBBR, there's almost nothing you can screw up.
AEG's always shoot around the same FPS, GBBRs change muzzle energy based on temperature, weight of ammo, maintenance (dirty bolts reduce fps), and gas used.
GBBR's will perform better with heavier ammo vs an AEG shooting the same relative velocity, since the inital pressure is much higher and allows you to impart more hop to the BB without losing drastic velocity.
EX: an AEG shoots 330fps without hop with a .3, you add hop and now it shoots 270
a GBBR shoots 330fps without hop on a .3, you add hop and the fps may very well increase!
Now you could increase the spring in the AEG to maintain the fps after hop, but that would most likely breach the field limit since most people test guns with the hop off.
AEG mags are dirt cheap, GBBR mags are probably going to cost you as much as or more than the gun.
trigger response....well AEG's have potential to be just as fast, but GBBRs are typically quicker.
Good all season workhorse vs realistic awesomeness

Pro's and cons to both.

One thing i've found about GBB's of any kind (Especially the more loud ones) is that it makes people more willing to stay behind cover when they're being shot by them. When I was attending Operation Keystone Strike 4, some guy was using a Mac11 GBB, and when that thing let rip everyone stuck behind walls and windows, haha.

Other than that, most of the other benefits of GBBR's have been spoken already

I'm not sure if the Gas isn't for new guys is valid anymore.

I've seen new players go a season on a KJW rifle and not be let down. They may have a couple issues but nothing career ending.

I've also seen more than a few players in their first season with an AEG that broke who never returned because they couldn't get it fixed.

There is a pretty big knowledge base around gas guns now and they've developed since the first boom a few years ago.

You can fit an effective gas system in a small package for gas guns. Thats why almost everyone uses gas pistols and small submachine guns. You can't put an effective gearbox in a glock!

It's a question of reliability. Every shot out of my finely tuned AEG is the same and I eat GBBr on the field. Also, mag reloads take about half the time and you don't smell like gas.

Of course, I've hit that point where I'm able to do anything mechanical or electrical to an AEG so my view is a little biased.

GBBr feels way better, though. My M14 is sweet as fuck to fire.

Also, SAW. Enough said.

Polarstar SAW?

I have owned both and built both aeg and gbbr.

Gbbr is my preference but is not better IMO.

Gbbr is more realistic (especially g&p woc) and more fun to operate.

AEG is good for consistency and reliability in cold weather which is why I'd say aeg is better.

Polar star doesn't have blow back so its not a Gbbr :/

I can do anything required to repair or refine an AEG but I don't want to.

If I wanted to play with electric trains or make jewelry then those would be my hobbies.

Quotable lmao

GBBRs and temperature:

MAPP/Pro in propane mags works in colder weather and is less subject to cool down when shooting. CO2 also works in cooler weather. NPAS really helps with consistency.

Daytona then

What he said

I think he meant AEG saws as he was leaning towards aegs are better.
But +1 to what coach said a classic m60 is boss lol, wish all th classics werent so damn pricey these days. We need to get the new as companies to buy the old designs and start makin that shit again.
I always yearn for a YE mp5sd6

You actually save money since you use less BBs, I'm running a VFC G36 gbb and have 10 mags, 300 rounds is my max capacity. Make your shots count since you don't have many and your rifle is much louder than your standard AEG. Had someone say my gun was too loud when we were in a bunker at Finchs.

I started out with a GBB but don't get me wrong, it's been almost a year and I have 1x GBBR, 2x GBBPs, 4x AEGs and 2x springer/bolt =D

My GBBR is my primary but I don't use it for indoors since it'd be a bitch to have to reload after other game.

If you guys never face a Daytonagun used in suppressed role, it'll scare you.

One thing to note, since switching over to gas, I've had to upgrade my tool set, as what I had was woefully inadequate. I find that working on my gas weapons is much more satisfying. While the internals on my AEG's are a complete mystery to me, I quickly learned that I can dissassemble my GBBR's with complete confidence. Its hard to mess things up when you're putting a gas gun back together. And as many here have stated, the realsitic operation and firing, for me, is totally worth it. It requires a much different strategy, where victory can't be acheived through overwhelming firepower. I find it can make you a better player in general.

Fixed for ya

I agree with what Drake said. When I came back into airsoft about a year ago, I didn't know GBBRs and never heard about them. When Drake explained to me what they were and how they operated I had an instant boner since I managed to shoot the real thing in the CF. That instantly gave my airsoft experience a second breathe as well since I was using AEGs forever back then in 2003-2004.

Being a guy who regularly cleaned his rifle to be QM-Clean-As-Fuck, I enjoy how you can take apart everything and clean it up after a game while taking a cood brew. And since i'm not a trigger happy kind of player, the realism that brings the GBBR is perfect for me.

I know this maybe something on sidenote, but if you were to invest in a GBBR platform which would it be?

Cleaning the internals is always a joy it's the frustration from a fragile and lack of reliable mags that turn me off GBBR, I was so hard boned on firing my GBBR I forgot that I was using airsoft for a moment and did a Costa style mag eject and phfhhhssst 1 expensive Prowin mag gone

WE Open bolt by far the most reliable one for me, parts are cheap and readilly available and if you fuck up a mag doing a Chris Costa impression it woont break the bank

Definitely a WE PDW. My buddy had one, and it was a great little gun.

What I learned here is I can now go with a GBBR as a first weapon ever in airsoft. Not that I'll automatically go with GBBR but now thinking about it. Thanks to this thread.

Always wonder why everyone say go with an AEG and then improve and gradually go to Gas. From my point of view, both are completely different and both have simple and complex parts. Taking experience from AEG and then going to gas. WHY? It's a new beginning.

I have a +10 years experience with production, R&D, custom projects in electronics and I play soldering iron like Jimi Hendrix plays guitar (I mean, I'm left handed). Some of my solders still in use at NASA, USAF an CF. So for wiring, connections, mosfets, no problems.
I have a 5-6 years of RC car racing in clubs and competitions so for me brushed motors are thing of the past but I played with everything inside them. Modifications to timing, windings, placement of magnet inside...Break-in of the brushes in water/alcool/etc...
Went brushless a while ago.
I know more than 95% of people about battery chemistry, charging/discharging/storing and using them of course so an AEG was the natural way to go fo me since I know a lot about some parts, shimmings, fittings, playing with small gears etc...

I can't buy an AEG and not opening it the same day to see whats inside and cleaning, lubing, shimming and improving the insides the following days and I'll probably succeed because before to do so, I'll take the time to find tutorials, exploded diagrams and find as many infos as I can and I'll use quality tools to not strip every screws. I'm not a kid that want to shoot with the highest FPS possible withour considering the impact on all other parts involve with a spring swap. I'll do about the same with an GBBR or GBBP.

I found here pretty much all the pro's about GBBR/P in a very short thread. Thanks to all the contributors.

What I retain the most is: bang! Bang! instead of mrrrrzip! mrrrrzip! and thats what is more tempting for me to buy.

Both have equal pros and cons and can take advantage of specific situations but in the end it is a matter of personnal preferences and personnals skills for the maintenance and fixes. The ''go with an AEG for a first weapon'' really takes is place after asking few questions about the person and what kind of game he wants to play and what he likes and after couples of key questions he will answer by himself to the question.

So, I'll go with both! an AEG and GBB. Looks to be the best of both world:)

Thanks