Battery and upgrades for TM Sig 552?

[Wyvern Claw]

Greetings all,
As is probably evident by the question and area I am posting in, I am very new to Airsoft. A guy in my town is selling a Tokyo Marui Sig 552 and I am seriously considering buying it. But it does not come with a battery or charger, and from what I've gathered, it is also a good idea to upgrade these guns to get more FPS out of them.

So more specifically, my question is, what exactly is the best battery to buy for one of these, taking into consideration I want to upgrade it a little? I am aware that these will only take smaller batteries, 8.4V or something like that. I am not planning on modifying the battery compartment or anything, so again, what would be the best one I can buy that will fit? And while I'm worrying about that, what would be a good charger to go with it? I'm trying not to spend much here, but at the same time, I don't want crap that won't power it well enough or die too quickly. Hence this question.

And the other part of this is upgrades. I want to get some more FPS out of this gun (Maybe around 350-450 if possible? I'm not too sure if that's realistic...), but being completely new to airsoft and all things involving maintenance and upgrades for guns, I am not exactly sure what I need in order to achieve this and exactly how I would go about it.

The sig 552 seems to be somewhat popular (relative to other guns I've looked at, but again, I am very new here), so if there's anyone out there who has any experience with this particular gun and can tell me whatever I need to know regarding the battery/charger and upgrade parts and how to install them, I would greatly appreciate it.

[ronin49v]

Hey Wyvern Claw,

I got myself 2xTM sig 552, 1xJing Gong Sig 552 and a ICS Sig 551. So I'm a bit familiar with the gun, not an expert mind you but I know a bit.
Regarding the battery. One, you can put up to a lipo in it to shoot faster and last longer or you can attach an outside PEQ box to shoot faster and longer.
If you upgrade your spring you run the risk of wearing down your TM gears a lot faster if not strip them altogether - depending on the fps your after. Around 350-360 you should re-shim and put in metal bushings for sure.
Remember its a CQB design so getting close is the key with these guns. They are very accurate stock guns. I would resist the urge to do any upgrading till something breaks in a TM gearbox. I have one Tm shooting a 400 fps and the other TM at 300 fps and to tell you the truth, I prefer the 300 fps. Seems to be more accurate, quieter and higher rate of fire.
I got a 7.4V lipo inside it.

That's my two bits.

[ap27]

There are two things to look at when going for a battery. Voltage and capacity. Voltage will determine your rate of fire, and capacity will determine how long the battery lasts (and how big it is).
For a stock TM 552 you should look at an 8.4V or 9.6V NiMH battery. Capacity can be whatever is suited to your needs. However keep in mind that the cells get larger as you go higher in capacity. Usually a 2000mAh battery should easily last you through a long game. It really depends on how trigger-happy you are.
If you go with a Lipo, keep in mind that they require special attention in terms of charging/balancing. A 7.4V Lipo would give you a rate of fire similar to an 8.4V or 9.6V is most cases. 11.1V Lipos would probably give you a ridiculous rate of fire...but it will wreck your gearbox without significant upgrading.

As for the upgrades, FPS isn't everything in terms of performance. Most outdoor fields limit FPS to 400, and indoor ones limit it to 350. This is a limit though, and not a goal. Stock TMs usually shoot around 280-300fps, which would be plenty for indoor games and reasonable enough for outdoor games (just use slightly heavier bb's for better performance, 0.25g or 0.28g would be nice).
In terms of upgrades, you could do a spring swap to bring up the fps. However using significantly heavier springs would probably warrant upgrading other components in the gearbox. If this is your only gun you should aim for around 330-340fps, which can be achieved with an m100 spring. If you don't have prior experience in working with the gearbox, I recommend finding a gun-doc or someone with experience to do the swap for you.
A lot of people will also recommend you get Age-Verified on the forums here. Once we know you are above 18, we can better direct you to find guns, parts and the people who can get them or fix them for you.

If you plan on just using the gun for 'playing with friends', please keep in mind that airsoft rifles are firearms and will be treated as such by the police or other bystanders. Do not play in public areas, in your backyard or in an empty field. Most cities also have by-laws that make it illegal to discharge a firearm within city limits.

[Wyvern Claw]

Alright, thank you for all the information so far. So I suppose I should severely reduce my FPS goal for this, maybe around 330-350 at most. Anything that gets me just a little more power but doesn't wreck the gun without more upgrades. So would an m100 spring be what I need for this? Or would even that put significant more strain on it and be cause for further upgrades?

As for a battery, I guess a 7.4V LiPo is what I should be after? It's looking like I would have to buy online, there isn't much for airsoft gear around here, so where might be the best place to obtain one of these and a good charger for it?

Thanks again for the replies so far.

[phloudernow]

In terms of external upgrades theres a full metal hurricane kit available for the TM sig 552 . My first gun was a TM SIG 552 but sold it after a while wasn't my cup of tea

[L473ncy]

I would say aim for between 370-380 (others will have different preferred FPS'es, some even opting to run 330-350 and .28's which makes the BB even slower). I really like that range of speed for outdoor play. No real need to go to 400 FPS, however that said I have my rifle shooting a consistent 395 FPS but before that I was shooting pretty consistently at 355-360 the only reason I upgraded the spring was because I was in the gearbox doing maintenance anyways and thought I might do the spring as well.

As for the spring, I'd say go for an M110. M100 IIRC should do between 330-350 (depending on the consistency of your seal and air compression). M110 will do ~350-380. At the end of the day you're not putting significant strain pulling an M110 so it's probably good enough.

As far as battery goes, 7.4V is what I'd recommend for most people unless they want the best trigger response and a higher ROF. As far as battery care goes, get a good balance charger. I highly recommend the Imax B6 charger and the highest Mah battery you can comfortably fit. Also don't overdischarge your lipo or you may damage it or set it on fire (I'm serious), when you hear the ROF starting to slow down then disconnect your battery and switch to a fresh one (also you can get a lipo alarm that attaches to the JST-XH connector and will beep when voltage is starting to get too low).

Quick breakdown:
Voltage = electric potential difference (how hard current is pushed through the wires)
Capacity/Amperes = amount of potential work available to do, aka "juice". Generally it's 1-1.3 BB's per mah on most airsoft guns so for a 1000 mah battery should last around 1000-1300 BB's/gearbox cycles.

[abbadon]

For a battery i used one from my rc car
http://www.greathobbies.com/producti...d=TGHL15002C35
fit inside a peq-15 battery box no prob,then just mounted it to thr side rail.
i also installed a systema med motor, have not checked rof on a 7.4, but on my 11.1 it ran 35 rps way to fast so 7.4 is more than enough

[TaroBear]

Compact model SIG rifles have notoriously small battery bays. The Marui is probably already the most generous of the bunch. I believe there's a battery tray you can remove to make fitting a battery easier, but keep in mind that your battery choices will be limited by the physical space you have. An external battery box would be a good choice for a larger battery. A lipo would fit in nicely, but I'm not really sure a stock Marui 552 is up to using a Lipo.

If you ever decide to modify the front hand guard, there are a bunch of cheaper RIS/RAS options these days, although IMO it ruins the aesthetic of the SIG.

One upgrade you might want to consider, if it's not already installed, is a top rail. The drum sights on SIG rifles are pretty low, and I personally have a lot of trouble sighting in with my face guard on. Using an RDS or zoom scope helps with this. If you find that using the scope this way is uncomfortable, try wrapping some gauze around the stock where you rest your check as a DYI cheek rest.

*SIG Signal*

[vondnik]

This is the current setup in my wifes 552:

M100 spring
Super torque up gears
Tanio koba m4 lenght twist
Bore
Hurricane metal body
Metal ris
Tm peq box ( the small one)
running a 9.6v 1700mha battery

Shoots a steady 340 fps all day ( about 35 lowcaps worth)

[Wyvern Claw]

Originally Posted by L473ncy

I would say aim for between 370-380 (others will have different preferred FPS'es, some even opting to run 330-350 and .28's which makes the BB even slower). I really like that range of speed for outdoor play. No real need to go to 400 FPS, however that said I have my rifle shooting a consistent 395 FPS but before that I was shooting pretty consistently at 355-360 the only reason I upgraded the spring was because I was in the gearbox doing maintenance anyways and thought I might do the spring as well.

As for the spring, I'd say go for an M110. M100 IIRC should do between 330-350 (depending on the consistency of your seal and air compression). M110 will do ~350-380. At the end of the day you're not putting significant strain pulling an M110 so it's probably good enough.

As far as battery goes, 7.4V is what I'd recommend for most people unless they want the best trigger response and a higher ROF. As far as battery care goes, get a good balance charger. I highly recommend the Imax B6 charger and the highest Mah battery you can comfortably fit. Also don't overdischarge your lipo or you may damage it or set it on fire (I'm serious), when you hear the ROF starting to slow down then disconnect your battery and switch to a fresh one (also you can get a lipo alarm that attaches to the JST-XH connector and will beep when voltage is starting to get too low).

Quick breakdown:
Voltage = electric potential difference (how hard current is pushed through the wires)
Capacity/Amperes = amount of potential work available to do, aka "juice". Generally it's 1-1.3 BB's per mah on most airsoft guns so for a 1000 mah battery should last around 1000-1300 BB's/gearbox cycles.

Okay, so you're saying a spring upgrade to an M100 or even an M110 will not require any further upgrades to the gear box or other parts? That seems contradictory to what I hear from most, although I have also heard in a few places that the stock internals of a Tokyo Marui can usually handle most spring upgrades without the need for more changes.

Also, for the battery, I'm still really only wondering if there is any particular brand and model of battery/charger I should get. Give me some specific ones to choose from, because I want something good (but not overly expensive, if possible) for both the battery and charger, but have no idea where to begin. So if anyone can link me to some specific choices that will fit this gun, or even at least just tell me what to google or something, I would appreciate that a lot. Same with the springs, though those sound like they would be easy enough to find. And lastly, for the spring once again, I'd like to know for sure if I really can upgrade it just a little without risking damage to the gear box or anything. I'm hearing conflicting opinions on this, so I'm still not sure. From what I can tell, the TM sigs can handle a heavier spring without other upgrades, but I don't know if that is a fact.

[L473ncy]

First I'll say that the Sig 552 uses a V3 gearbox. By design of the shape it's slightly stronger than a V2 gearbox but that's not really saying much since part of the strength comes from design and some of it comes from the construction materials.

Now that that's cleared. I would start worrying about cracking gearboxes and stuff after you start going with a M120 and above springs. You can get reinforced V3 gearboxes if your stock one does crack so don't worry about that too much (should run between $40-45 + shipping if it's in country).

As for charger go with this combo (you might be able to use a laptop power supply to power it, but might as well buy the power supply at the same time while you're at it so you don't have to share one between your laptop and the charger):

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s..._GENUINE_.html
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...0_240v_5A.html

As for the battery, I know the Sig has a pretty tight compartment, but maybe one of the Turnigy Nanotech "airsoft" ones from Hobbyking will do the trick. I don't want to recommend any specific one and have it not fit so take a look and see if you find one that has around the same dims that you're looking for.

[TaroBear]

Claw, if you're not changing the handguard or adding a battery box, I seriously recommend sticking with an 8.4 Mini pack or Lipo.

[Wyvern Claw]

Alright, it's looking like I'll be going with the charger/power supply recommended by L473ncy and the battery linked by abbadon. Just to be sure though, I'll ask the rest of you about that battery (found here - http://www.greathobbies.com/producti...d=TGHL15002C35)

The dimensions are even smaller than the 8.4V mini that I found (This one: http://shop.ehobbyasia.com/intellect...mini-type.html), and the mAh is just slightly higher too, which I'm assuming is good (?) and it's also very inexpensive. But if anyone has any reasons as to why this shouldn't work, might be a bad idea, or just has some better suggestions, please let me know soon. And thank you all once again for your input and all your help, I know I ask a lot of questions and request a lot of clarification, but as stated, I am very new to all of this. So it helps if I can get more than one person to agree on recommending something to me, or give advice that seems to follow closely with advice given by others. I just really don't want to wind up screwing something up in my new gun and then having to pay even more on top of some parts I thought would work to get something else repaired or replaced. I'm sure you'd all understand.

[TaroBear]

8.4 Mini 'should' fit just fine, as long as its not randomly oversized.

[Wyvern Claw]

Originally Posted by TaroBear

8.4 Mini 'should' fit just fine, as long as its not randomly oversized.

Yeah, I figured as much, it is what is recommended for this gun. But I was asking about the battery that abbadon linked to, the LiPo one that's a bit smaller than than the 8.4 mini. I was seriously considering getting it, since it's under $15, but I've read in some places that cheap batteries can somehow be bad for your gun or something? I'm not entirely sure how that would work, you'd think it would either work or it doesn't, but I'm still just trying to be safe here.