Initial Impressions of the TM SOPMOD M4 AEG

[Isamu]

The firefly rubber soft and nub (soft / normal) is mental, I've never seen every bb hold true to basically 50 + meters on full hop. I wouldn't have minded a little, you actually play with the assumption it's going to go one left one right of the target, but they all go on target so you have to be a bit more precise with your shots. which is good though.

 

Link?

[Richard Y]

http://www.fire-support.co.uk/product/fire-fly-buffer-rubber-for-marui-aeg-normal

 

its the combo that really works, its really flat you see, and as the bb hits it stays flat.

[GingaNinga]

The item pictured at that link is called the Firefly Namazu in Japan.

The Firefly Kurage looks more like the hop-up bucking.

 

Here is a link to all the Firefly products that you can get on Amazon Japan.

They have Both the Namazu and Kurage in stock.

I think there are options to shop in English.

 

Firefly

 

The Namazu

 

The Kurage

 

Sorry, looks like they only shop in Japan.

I can help out if people want some of them.

Edited July 6, 2010 by dstole

[Isamu]

Has someone tested a scs nub with the stock inner barrel and hop rubber?

[Zero Arsenal]

I currently use a firefly kurage bucking (soft) along with a KM 365mm/6.04mm barrel (currently the only upgrades in my rifle), but the BBs tend to curve a bit to the right. But I'm wondering if this is happening due to our field being windy; or my rifle isn't giving enough velocity to shoot straight at long distances in a windy environment.

Also I have on the way: Prometheus 20A fuses, Diamond Ring 24k coated contact bars, Prometheus 6mm bushing, Laylax barrel lock shim set, Laylax hard barrel base, Prometheus hard selector plate, Prometheus air sealing nozzle, Prometheus bearing spring guide, Prometheus piston head, Prometheus aero cylinder head, and last but not least Eagle6 M90 spring. Do you guys think this'll be a good combination of parts? Richard/guys I need your input, what do you think? I will also put up results and such after I install the parts.

Edited July 6, 2010 by Zero Arsenal

[AustinWolv]

Has someone tested a scs nub with the stock inner barrel and hop rubber?

SCS and stock hop rubber, yes. However, it has an EDGi tightbore in it, so 'no' on the stock barrel aspect of your question.

 

Very consistent performance, although I don't have actual test measurement numbers to share.

[GingaNinga]

My handguard came in today. A big thanks to CKinnerley for the advice and conformation that it would fit.

I have a 550mm Promethius TB running up into the compressor. That is the only thing I have done to the internals. It is shooting at about 84-86 meters/sec with .25 BBs. That is VERY CLOSE to the Japanese legal limit of 88 m/s with .25. I don't think I will be adding anything.

I ran a 20C Lipoi battery in it today, and on Full Auto I was worried that I was going to strip the piston or something...it sounded FAST.

I recorded it, so will give you some numbers in the next few days Richard.

Glad to have one of these again.

[Richard Y]

I currently use a firefly kurage bucking (soft) along with a KM 365mm/6.04mm barrel (currently the only upgrades in my rifle), but the BBs tend to curve a bit to the right. But I'm wondering if this is happening due to our field being windy; or my rifle isn't giving enough velocity to shoot straight at long distances in a windy environment.

Also I have on the way: Prometheus 20A fuses, Diamond Ring 24k coated contact bars, Prometheus 6mm bushing, Laylax barrel lock shim set, Laylax hard barrel base, Prometheus hard selector plate, Prometheus air sealing nozzle, Prometheus bearing spring guide, Prometheus piston head, Prometheus aero cylinder head, and last but not least Eagle6 M90 spring. Do you guys think this'll be a good combination of parts? Richard/guys I need your input, what do you think? I will also put up results and such after I install the parts.

 

 

loving seeing the eagle6 spring getting about

 

all good upgrades where did you source the contact bars from ?

 

The only thing i would change is the KM barrel for some reason on the packaging the firefly rubbers dont work with KM barrels, maybe its the way they are cut .. dunno id switch to a promy barrel to match all your other promy upgrades!

 

then you can fit the firefly nub as well..

[Zero Arsenal]

loving seeing the eagle6 spring getting about

 

all good upgrades where did you source the contact bars from ?

 

The only thing i would change is the KM barrel for some reason on the packaging the firefly rubbers dont work with KM barrels, maybe its the way they are cut .. dunno id switch to a promy barrel to match all your other promy upgrades!

 

then you can fit the firefly nub as well..

 

Thanks for the reply, the contacts were sourced out by my girlfriend in Japan along with some other harder to find items such as fuses, and etc. Promy barrel huh? What would you recommend a 6.03mm/363mm?

Edited July 7, 2010 by Zero Arsenal

[GingaNinga]

I think that Promethius only makes 6.03 barrels for AEG guns...but maybe that is just in Japan.

The 663 is the same length as the stock inner barrel, but some people have gone longer.

407 with still be in the flash hider, anything longer will need to be covered with a silencer.

You might also need to change the cylinder depending on the length of the inner barrel.

Edited July 7, 2010 by dstole

[Richard Y]

Thanks for the reply, the contacts were sourced out by my girlfriend in Japan along with some other harder to find items such as fuses, and etc. Promy barrel huh? What would you recommend a 6.03mm/363mm?

 

 

Yeah the 6.03 would be my choice... the 363mm one

 

they do 6.05 barrels now as well though...

 

The steel barrel is the key here.. nice and hard so it wont scratch or deform over time. Regular cleaning will keep it nice and lubbed and clean.

[GingaNinga]

Lol...my bad! That typo makes a big difference. would hate for someone to get a 663 instead of a 363

Thanks for the info about the 6.05. I wonder if these are the ash barrels on the laylax homepage. Good to know there is another option out there.

[Gunfighters808]

dstole, yes, those are Ash Barrels. I still don't know if it's a brass barrel with tn style coating or a steel barrel with a chemical treatment like palsonite. with it's price point, I"m leaning towards brass..

someone go by one!

Edited July 8, 2010 by Gunfighters808

[Feindflug]

Finally I had the first chance to test my SOPMOD, yesterday.

And what to say....this gun is pure sex!!!!!!

 

 

Unfortunately in the heat of the battle it seems like I pushed one mag in too hard, which caused on of the lips on the to of the mag to bend. This resulted in the Hop-Up unit to be pushed upwards and putting too much pressure on the Nozzle, which in the end broke....(just my guess).

But since there is already the replacement part available the only thing I'm now worried about is taking the guns apart and changing to Nozzle..

[Number5]

Finally I had the first chance to test my SOPMOD, yesterday.

And what to say....this gun is pure sex!!!!!!

 

 

Unfortunately in the heat of the battle it seems like I pushed one mag in too hard, which caused on of the lips on the to of the mag to bend. This resulted in the Hop-Up unit to be pushed upwards and putting too much pressure on the Nozzle, which in the end broke....(just my guess).

But since there is already the replacement part available the only thing I'm now worried about is taking the guns apart and changing to Nozzle..

 

You must have REALLY given that a WOLLOP!

 

I worried about the mag lips at first, but they've never shown signs of any 'stress'. after months and months of...well, abuse! lol

[elanaiba]

Very weird, I kind of slam my magazines in the magwell, never had a problem.

[Feindflug]

to be honest, I really don't have a clue on how this could happen. I just noticed that the magcatch wouldn't hold the mag properly (it just fell off the mag well), so I slammed it back in. This maight have been the point where the it gave the first stress on the HU, with the bend lip, and caused the first crack on the nozzle. It (the nozzle) worked for another 4-5 hours feeding and accelerating BB's but then it finally gave up and completely broke.

 

But I blame myself for it and not the gun.

[GingaNinga]

Sorry to hear it broke, but glad you enjoyed the SOPMOD while it was up and running. You are probably aware of this already, but the SOPMOD uses a different nozzle than a regular AEG. It is longer and has a spot on the bottom that slots into the tappet plate.

 

You can see it well in this image from the laylax homepage.

http://www.laylax.com/products/detail.php?product_id=4020#

 

Apologies if you were already aware of this...I bought a regular one the first time I opened my mech box, so wanted to save you same shame

[Richard Y]

first time out i dropped my mag on the concret and bent those lips, i couldnt believe what i did lol. pair of pliers and i bent it back into shape worked fine after that, its worth checking over the offending mag just incase it isnt in the right shape, also tighten up the mag release catch with a little 1.5 allen key. Just incase thats loose too..

 

That said youll have to do this anyway to change the airnozzle..

 

oh and welcome to the sopmod club

Edited July 12, 2010 by Richard Y

[AnakChan]

So my buffer tube & lower receiver finally gave out - assembled/disassembled so many times the threading just got worn out. In need of a new buffer tube & receiver. I think I know the answer already but in case I missed any announcements, did anyone else make (3rd party) receiver/buffer tubes for the Sopmod? Otherwise it's back to the manufacturer for parts order.

 

Just trying my luck in case some obscure company made a Magpul receiver for the Sopmod (yes then it'll no longer be a Sopmod ).

[elanaiba]

Ha! Welcome to the club.

 

Please let me know how much the lower receiver / buffer tube costs you. Maybe you can replace just the lower receiver?

 

At the moment I'm thinking of adapting an UBR stock on my broken SOPMOD, so I don't have to replace the lower receiver. I'll let you know how that works out

[Richard Y]

yeah if your going to do a stock pipe order / lower reciever order, id happily jump on that band wagon, just to have the spares lieing around just incase, i know it will happen one day. Its simply due to the amount we take them apart i think. Id take 2 x stock pipes and 2x recievers if you can get them ill sort you out the cash of course

 

Make sure that the gearbox aligns inside the stocktube before you screw it on, then as you screw it in the tube will go around the gearbox.. if it doesnt it will only go on about 1cm and then will put strain on the thread as its not fully screwed in.

[TheFull9]

My handguard came in today. A big thanks to CKinnerley for the advice and conformation that it would fit.

*snip*

I have a 550mm Promethius TB running up into the compressor. That is the only thing I have done to the internals. It is shooting at about 84-86 meters/sec with .25 BBs. That is VERY CLOSE to the Japanese legal limit of 88 m/s with .25. I don't think I will be adding anything.

I ran a 20C Lipoi battery in it today, and on Full Auto I was worried that I was going to strip the piston or something...it sounded FAST.

I recorded it, so will give you some numbers in the next few days Richard.

Glad to have one of these again.

 

Nice to see the end result mate, looking very nice, good work.

[AnakChan]

Richard, sorry mate...I didn't see your message before. I stopped by the shop to make my order (seem it'll take a few weeks). I didn't even bother asking for a price. However, they advertise another company that was going to do a 3rd party receiver (not buffer tube though :-() for the Sopmod - but it was going for about USD$600 - and my brain switched off. Didn't bother to see who or what brand, etc. I'll make another visit soon there to find out who's making it. At that cost, I'd doubt if anyone will wanna but though.

 

Yes you're right by the number of times we assemble/disassemble that causes the wear - not a mechbox misalignment. Although these are metal, I believe they're cast which is how TM manages to keep the cost down. Highly unlikely TM would sell CNCed as stock.

[Richard Y]

yeah nah not at 600 dollers, id only be interested in spare standard parts from TM for the sopmods i repair.