Silent Piston sets - Are they really quieter?

[Col.Thumper]

Im just wondering if ti is worth is putting a 100.00 silent piston in my CQB gun ....... I have a silencer on it which seems to cut down the noise a bit , but want to be sure before i spend the $$$

Please keep the posts to actual experience ...

[ILLusion]

The only ones that I've found to really make a difference are the Angel ones. The Systema ones don't really make much of a difference in sound.

[DarkAlman]

I've held a half dozen guns with slient piston heads and I haven't noticed much of a sound difference.

A couple locals swear by them just because it reduces gearbox wear.

[Kid]

Originally Posted by DarkAlman

A couple locals swear by them just because it reduces gearbox wear.

I am the same way on that.

Haven't heard of Angel ones, but I would suggest them in general after having a SystemA to reduce gearbox wear.

As for noise, it kind of gives a 'thump-puff' instead of the normal 'snap crack'. I really liked mine and it sounded really nice on the gearbox. Seemed quieter, but I didn't ever test it.

[HaZarD SFD]

You will notice a drop in FPS because of it just to warn you.. max of 20FPS drop

Have seen that on a couple of guns that had them installed. But they mostly
lower the high pitch slap to a low thud and addition to a silencer will be pretty
quiet and mostly will only hear mechbox winding.

[ILLusion]

MadMax once did some empirical tests that showed that the Systema silent head set provided a significant reduction in impact to the gearbox compared to stock. The Angel, however, provided unparalleled impact reduction to the gearbox.

The design of the Angel head is much different than any other piston head - rather than use a convex or nippled surface like Systema/Guarder silent head sets, it used a soft rubber concave suction cup that had a diameter less than the cylinder wall. Behind it sat the ventilated polycarbonate piston head. On impact, the suction cup makes initial contact and contain most of the impact in the materials and through the structure.

The result is a very unique and rather quiet sound signature - moreso than a Systema silent head set on a KM cylinder head. I concur with HaZarD SFD's statement in that it may cause a reduction in velocity, although this is dependent on what your cylinder to inner barrel ratio is. If you are already pushing your cylinder to its volume limits, you will see this velocity reduction greater than if you were at the bottom end of its scale.

[Col.Thumper]

Originally Posted by ILLusion

MadMax once did some empirical tests that showed that the Systema silent head set provided a significant reduction in impact to the gearbox compared to stock. The Angel, however, provided unparalleled impact reduction to the gearbox.

The design of the Angel head is much different than any other piston head - rather than use a convex or nippled surface like Systema/Guarder silent head sets, it used a soft rubber concave suction cup that had a diameter less than the cylinder wall. Behind it sat the ventilated polycarbonate piston head. On impact, the suction cup makes initial contact and contain most of the impact in the materials and through the structure.

The result is a very unique and rather quiet sound signature - moreso than a Systema silent head set on a KM cylinder head. I concur with HaZarD SFD's statement in that it may cause a reduction in velocity, although this is dependent on what your cylinder to inner barrel ratio is. If you are already pushing your cylinder to its volume limits, you will see this velocity reduction greater than if you were at the bottom end of its scale.

You would think he was trying to sell me an ANGEL one .....humm ...

[ILLusion]

Originally Posted by Col.Thumper

You would think he was trying to sell me an ANGEL one .....humm ...

I am, only because I really do support the Angel product.

If I really wanted to just make a sale, I'd try to dump the Systema ones on you instead. I have way more stock on those and I'd rather horde the Angel ones for myself. They're pretty rare. I picked up every single version 2 set that I could find when I was in Hong Kong and I came back with only 5.

Another downside of the Angels are that they don't come with the thrust bearing. If you want that, you'd have to source out the bearing.

[LUTNIT]

reduces impact...so you can (greatly?) reduce the chance of blowing a ver.2 gearbox? Learn new things every day...now I might want to get a G3-SG1

[damage]

Originally Posted by ILLusion

The only ones that I've found to really make a difference are the Angel ones. The Systema ones don't really make much of a difference in sound.

+1

Helical gear is a must have too if you want a quiet Aeg.

I was at a game oneday and I was aleast 5-8ft away with this other player and I noticed his Aeg is quiet. All I hear is a faint thump sound even the gear whine is unnoticable. So after the game I asked him whats his set up and told me he had a Angel Silent piston hed set and Systema Helical gears. Compared to my Aeg I had a Systema Silent head set and Prom Double torque up gear(Helical) All I hear is a loud thump and a bit of gear whine from a stiff spring set up but I am sure the systema will give me durabilty on my Gbox.

[ILLusion]

Originally Posted by LUTNIT

reduces impact...so you can (greatly?) reduce the chance of blowing a ver.2 gearbox? Learn new things every day...now I might want to get a G3-SG1

Yes, your piston head plays a very big role on gearbox impact. Metal ones sound GREAT if you want a loud and scary sounding gun (and you can also "feel" the shots), but puts the most stress on your gearbox, whereas a silent head set provides the best impact protection.

On the scale of highest impact to least:

- Systema hard recoil kit
- Aluminum piston heads
- Stock Tokyo Marui / Polycarbonate / Silicon / POM piston heads
- Systema Silent Head Set
- Angel Silent Head Set

[CDN_Stalker]

FYI...........

http://www.airsoftmechanics.com/reviews.php?aid=17

[DB19]

I would suggest on getting a Angel Silent piston head. I bought one off of illusion and it works great noise is down and with a silencer would work good aswell.

[SavageInsight]

When selecting the piston head, do you go with the gearbox (the replica body) or do you match it to the cylinder (like using a 407mm barrel in a P90 body).

Thanks!

[ThunderCactus]

I had an aluminum piston head in my G3 for a year before the front of the TM mechbox cracked, only lost 10 fps and still shot great after it broke. I put a guarder shell in about a year and a half ago and it's still in one piece lol
The only different cylinder heads you can buy are for different types of mechboxes (V2, 3, 6, etc). Piston heads are all the same interchangeable between all mechboxes (except special gearboxes like MP7). Your barrel length has nothing to do with what piston head or cylinder head you use.