Internals: Who's the best?
 

I want to get my M4 shooting as good as possible and some kind folk on here have already given me some ideas as to what I should upgrade to achieve this.

Basically, Im looking to get a high end hop up chamber, some good quality hop-up rubber/bucking and a tighbore barrel (madbull?)

My questionis simple: Who makes the better product? I know personal preference is an issue, but Im interested in the stuff thats made properly and performs as stated by the manufacturer.
So far I've seen the following makes for M4 Hop-up chambers:

-ICS (These look diferent from all the others for some reason)
-Systema
-CA
-SRC

And Madbull seems to be the big guy on campus as far as tightbore goes. That the case?

Also interested to hear any other part upgrade suggestions. Max. Range and accuracy is what Im after.

Many Thanks,
J

Regardless what company you go to for your updgrades your best to try to keep the majority of your parts to that company to avoid fitment isssues.

On the note of one piece hopups I would recommend prometheus or systema and maybe even G&P. As for rubbers for the hopup that really depents on what FPS you are currently shooting at. If you are under 400FPS I would recommend the guarder clear hopup, I hear firefly hopups work pretty well also.

The ICS hopup is different because the ICS mechbox itself is also different from your standard version 2 mechbox, its uniquie split mechbox design allows users to perform quick spring changes and simple repairs with ease. Atleast that is why assume the different hopup would be due to the different mechbox shell design. If im out in left field, someone please correct me.

As for tightbore barrels, madbull are up in down, some people swear by them some swear about them. My answer is pretty much the same for this as it was for the hopup chambers, Prometheus or Systema.

Don't bother replacing the hop-up body unless you have to. If it's really old, it might have worn a groove in the top where the bbs feed, leading to jams or the nozzle movement might have worn away some of the inside, causing compression loss.
Barring these 2 things, there should be no need to replace the body, just the sleeve and bucking.

For sleeves and buckings-it depends on the application. A high fps gun needs a stiffer sleeve and bucking. Guarder Black hop-up sleeves are very good and reliable.
For accuracy, get a sleeve with the v-groove in the center. haven't tried them myself, but I've heard good things.

If you want a high-speed setup, you might want to get the madbull shark-fin hop-up sleeve. It has fins to prevent double-feeding.

For a tightbore, madbull makes them good and cheap. However, they have thinner walls than most and because of that, many hop-up sleeves don't fit too well(loose fit). The madbull sleeve I mentioned earlier is thicker to accomodate the thinner barrel.

The reason ICS stuff looks different alot of the time is because ICS uses a split-mechbox design. Some of the parts are compatible, many are not.

Internally, Prometheus makes excellent ones. No one has anything bad to say about them except that they are pricier than others. They make the best inner barrels around.

Madbull black python v2 barrels are a really good bang for buck....but they're not the best of the best.

Good "old" Systema 6.04's are great...Prometheus are great....just more expensive.

As long as you're shooting "minute of body" at your typical engagement ranges...then what's the difference?

ICS Hopups are almost identical to "regular" one-piece hopup but the lip around the feed tube is different. Litterally the front part of the reinforcing is missing to accomodate the receiver. Otherwise I'm 99% sure they're the same. There's a sticky here somewhere (ICS Bible or something like that) that shows what to remove to fit an AEG hopup to an ICS.

Guarder Clear hopup rubbers/buckings are great. Guarder Black's are good go-to rubbers. Dirt cheap...get a couple of each and try them out. Whichever one gives the tightest cluster of shots with the fewest fliers...go with that and buy a spare. Softer (clear) will wear out faster...but again you're talking about a part that is really cheap, and relatively easy, to replace.

I like the KA Enhanced hopup unit. It's my go-to one. Freakishly tight tolerances.

Have fun,

Tys

I know everyone here in MB is going crazy for firefly hopups. I hear they are amazing, considering getting one for my m15

prometheus, modify, systema
in that order

Prometheus, Modify, Systema for internals

Prometheus for hop-units

Firefly for hop-rubbers

Agreed keep EVERYTHING the same manufacturer is ideal, air nozzle mating with hopup chamber will also important,

Agreed in that order The prometheus chamber makes the systema one look like a pile of crap, the systema one makes the G&P one like a pile of crap. The G&P does the same to any plastic hopup.

Prometheus, Firefly, Systema, TM make the best hopup rubbers at a reasonable price. TM ones won't last all that long at the 400FPS setups. The systema rubbers come with the brass ring that people seem to lose all the time. Prometheus hard and soft rubbers have a break in period. soft is about 200-500 rounds. The hard rubbers can take up to 2000 rounds to break in. The hard rubbers are terrible on setups less than 400 FPS and the break in time will increase. Firefly is pretty pricey and hard to find, THE BEST GBB rubbers i cannot comment for AEGs.

I swear at Madbull. Prometheus, Systema are great, if you want to go high end try a EDGI barrel. Clean your barrel before you install it. Their is a surprising amount of debris in barrels out of the box.

Prometheus makes the best M4 hop up unit, Systema is second.

I tried a FireFly bucking and was not impressed.

I use TM and Systema buckings with a Big Out "H" nub, that combo works well.

I use both Prometheus and Madbull 6.03 barrels. They both are excellent.

Good luck.

Prometheus makes the single BEST hop up unit for M4s. Systema and Prometheus are also the best for hop up rubbers.

hope that helps

It's more about the rubber than the actual hop up unit as long as yours doesn't loosen on its own or anything. I use Guarder still... $8, very durable. I tried a Prometheus but it actually had feeding problems but I think it was just something about my setup because everyone else raves about them.

Prothemus barrels are awesome, but the madbull coated V2 barrels aren't really noticably worse, and much cheaper.

KA enhanced hop-ups are nice, as are systema, but prothemus are the best

Gaurder clear rubbers for anything under 370ish FPS, i wouldn't know what to use for over that, because none of my guns shoot over 370.

As for general mechbox parts, Modify are amazing...always try to stick to the same brand.

I'll also chime in for Guarder clear hopup rubbers. They've always performed admirably in my guns. I've tried both Systema and Firefly hopup rubbers as well. Firefly was ok, but used to get a lot of wild fliers every few shots. Systema worked ok, but completely wore out after about 3000 rounds and had to be replaced (380 fps gun - go figure). Never had an issue with Guarder. Under 400 fps, use the clear silicone one. At $8, buy a couple of spares too. You can't go wrong. I have them in all my guns and they're perfect in every way.

For internals, I've become VERY fond of Modify, especially their modular gears.

For barrels, I like both Systema 6.04 and Deepfire 6.03. I've had good results out of both in AEGs. I've got a Madbull Black Python in my KSC Glock 17, and that thing is a tack driver. Also isntalled the Black Python II in a couple of friends' AEGs and they've worked out quite well.

hop up rubbers can't really "wear" out. What you are noticing is the BBs leaving residue onto the hop up rubber after each shot. So eventually it's going to build up and work against your hop up performance.

to fix it, you just need to wash the hop up rubber in hot water and kitchen detergent. It usually increases your accuracy and consistency as well.

So far the BEST hop up rubber i've ever used was hands down Systema, great friction and great compatibility. Next is prometheus, also great friction and airseal. Guarder clear hop up rubber is simply over-hyped it's very easily torn and swells over time. However it does have good friction on it.

Don't want to hurt any feelings here but it's what I observed from 4 guarder clear hop up rubbers I ve owned in the past.

I can get my 400FPS gun shot out to 180~200 feet(Measured) with 0.25g Metal Tech BBs(Very Accurately), even farther with 0.28g BBs. This is using washed systema hop up rubber.

My 2 cents