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Initial Impressions of the TM SOPMOD M4 AEG


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While fiddling about with my SOCOM recently I noticed an expected benefit of using a Magpul MIAD grip. The swappable backstrap means you only need to remove the pistol grip base to get access to the a

Oh PureSilver, you do spoil me rotten sometimes.   PureSilver dropped half his SOPMOD off with me last weekend with some new goodies to install. Before we continue, you should note that the gun had

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Could always just cut and crown the barrel, takes only a couple of minutes and if done right (hard to do wrong) it'll operate just fine. If you ever decide to install an inner barrel, I had a CQB length barrel in my SOPMOD from PDI and it was excellent. 

Edited by akiraspeedstar
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I installed a first m100 spring to the sopmod. It drops the rps to 10 and have single shot lock up almost everytime. Maybe the shot cycle is too long that i Always release triggerr maturely. Why can anyone come up with high perfomance trigger set that solves most of the 11v issue. ( I use it to do target practices with single shot only thatz why the 11v theory)

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I'm told that for Eagle6's M120 (I'm upgrading to their M100 and enhanced recoil spring) you should also get a new set of gears (either Lonex' or Prometheus' Torque Up), a hard piston (I'm going with Prometheus'), and an enhanced piston head (again, I'm going with Prometheus). I won't say that all of these things are immediately required, but the extra stress of the stronger spring means you are very likely to need them quite quickly.

 

Also, Voxcaster, sorry about not replying to your PM - things are a bit hectic over Christmas. I'll get back to you ASAP.

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It's not a problem at all, I've pretty much all but scrapped my original idea (regarding the externals). Picked up a KA CASV-EL locally for cheap so I'm going a different (cheaper) route where the only external upgrades will be an EMOD stock and the CASV rail. Also got some help from some other members regarding the internals, still not entirely sure what to do to get it durable on an M120 but I'll figure it out.

 

The only thing I'm still a little unsure about it what I'm going to have to buy straight off the bat like the hard stock block, the terminal kit, and so forth.

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The hard stock block, yes, almost certainly. It's extremely pricey for what it is, but it is much tougher (being machined out of a single block of what looks like POM) and the original is almost always broken. As to the terminal kit, it's a nice upgrade but it is VERY expensive for what it is. The advantage of the terminal kit is being able to remove the original QD fittings from the stock without modifying it, and keeping them untouched for when you come to sell the gun. If you simply solder a Deans connector (and, if you're being cautious like me, fittings for a 20A mini-ATO fuse) onto the end of the gold-plated contact bars, you can just plug in your LiPos and be done with it.

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The hard stock block, yes, almost certainly. It's extremely pricey for what it is, but it is much tougher (being machined out of a single block of what looks like POM) and the original is almost always broken. As to the terminal kit, it's a nice upgrade but it is VERY expensive for what it is. The advantage of the terminal kit is being able to remove the original QD fittings from the stock without modifying it, and keeping them untouched for when you come to sell the gun. If you simply solder a Deans connector (and, if you're being cautious like me, fittings for a 20A mini-ATO fuse) onto the end of the gold-plated contact bars, you can just plug in your LiPos and be done with it.

 

Is there anything else besides those two that are relatively necessary?

 

>I also had one of those, performed very well even when I upped the FPS to 400. Though at that FPS the PDI did a lot better.

From what I've read about the hop-twist barrels they perform the best at about 1J.

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Is there anything else besides those two that are relatively necessary?

 

It depends on what you consider 'necessary'. If you want the gun to perform exactly as it does out of the box - that is, c.280fps, horrible battery life - then you really only need the Hard Inner Block. However, if you want the gun to be skirmishable, you really need to conver it to LiPo battery power; the stock batteries are extremely expensive and very underpowered. If I was upgrading a SOPMOD from scratch, in order;

 

The Stock:

 

As this is where the SOPMOD's only real weaknesses are, you should start your upgrades here. The stock is very easy to remove and disassemble, and you might as well do these upgrades at the same time. The first thing you'll need is the First Factory Hard Inner Block. Then, you'll want to do a LiPo Battery Upgrade. These two changes make a SOPMOD a very skirmishable weapon.

  • The original QD system involves eight unsoldered connections - two nickel-plated plug connections, six nickel-plated friction connections (two on each contact bar, two on the fuse), and nickel-plated conductors which is quite inefficient even before you get to the woefully underpowered stock batteries. Moving to Deans halves the unsoldered connections - two gold/silver-plated plug connections, two gold-plated friction connections (the contact bars), and nice 16AWG wire, which is a good deal better even before you get to the far greater power of LiPo batteries and the greater efficiency of Deans (as opposed to Tamiya) connectors.
  • To keep this procedure reversible, unscrew and remove the QD battery fittings, fuse, fuseholder and the original contact bars, and keep them in case you ever want to sell the gun.
  • Then, buy the Prometheus Gold Contacts Kit, a GENUINE Deans male Ultra Plug (and a female Ultra Plug for each battery; I'd recommend at least two), and some 16AWG wire (I like Deans Ultra Wire in red and black respectively). In an ideal world, to maximise efficiency the entire wiring loom should be no smaller diameter than the wires on the batteries themselves (which are usually 16AWG) so you may as well start here.
  • Buy some LiPo batteries, and a charger. The largest batteries I've personally used are Vapex 1450mAh 20C Crane Stock. These flat batteries have the added advantage of not completely filling the stock tubes, which means that you can fit the Deans connector (and a fuse, see below) in one of the tubes with the battery. This is useful because fitting a Deans connector in the cramped central space formerly occupied by the QD connector would be very difficult. If you think you can fit a Deans in that space, you can buy much larger cylindrical Hot Power 7.4v 3000mAh 15C Crane Stock batteries.
  • If you are worried about the removal of the SOPMOD's fuse, it is possible to include (on the positive wire) crimp connectors which will fit a 20A mini fuse (APR/ATM-blade type) fuse. Fit a female connector to each leg of the fuse, crimp tight, and heatshrink.
  • Solder it all together with an appropriate length of wire. If using flat LiPos, leave enough wire for the connector to be stashed away inside the tube. Mine looks like this:

    8315830646_f2d70371cc_z.jpg

  • Add Deans connectors to your batteries as appropriate. Mine have unequal-length wiring in order to fit inside the left-hand stock tube, like so:

    8315864446_7ae6ee500e_z.jpg

    8315864154_5ebfe3d8c5_z.jpg

    8314812227_73f2d717cb_z.jpg

    8314813145_bcfe371b04_z.jpg

  • The final thing to do is remove some plastic from the inside of the standard faux battery endcap (which fills the gaps in the stock when there isn't a QD battery inserted) to allow it to be fitted over the wires.

Note that the Hard Inner Block is not required by the TM SOCOM, and to perform a LiPo upgrade on the SOCOM you only need a male Deans Ultra Plug.

 

Gearbox & Barrel:

 

The SOPMOD (and the SOCOM) are subject to the usual JDM power restrictions, and like all TM guns fire somewhere around 280fps as stock. Many English airsofters - rightly or wrongly - consider this uncompetitive, and wish to bump the power to more like 320-350fps. There are a variety of ways of bumping the SOPMOD/SOCOM's power output. First, I'd fit a nice tightbore barrel - Prometheus' EG 363mm 6.03mm is the best, and then look into springs offered by Eagle6. As I mentioned before, if you're going to start fitting stronger springs, the TM's pot-metal gears rapidly fail. At the very least, you'll need a new gearset - again, Prometheus' EG Torque Up Hard Gear Set is very good, though more affordable alternatives (Lonex) are available, as are less affordable ones (Siegetek). You might find yourself needing a new piston and piston head, too.

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Thank you for the detailed response. I already own many deans lipos, but I've never had a rewire a gun completely like this. From what I can tell, I can unscrew the entire stock battery connection assembly, buy all the parts for a new assembly (deans connector, Prometheus gold terminal kit,16AWG wiring), assemble the above parts separate from the gun, and then install the entire new assembly? That would be great, if that's true.

 

How do I install the Hard Inner Block? Is it straightforward?

 

I'm probably going to leave the gun stock for a while and just use a TK hop-twist barrel for maximum accuracy, and then eventually upgrade it. I'm a filthy US-softer so the fps limit at my field is 500, and the engagement distances are pretty massive, so I'd eventually probably want to get into the gearbox. The M120 with an ER-Hop/EM-nub would probably do it for me using .36s... I'll probably invest in the Prometheus torque gears and the piston/piston head... hopefully combined with good shimming/AoE correction and some radiusing nothing will break.

 

But aside from rewiring it and installing the hard inner block, there's nothing you'd do to a stock SOPMOD?

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From what I can tell, I can unscrew the entire stock battery connection assembly, buy all the parts for a new assembly (deans connector, Prometheus gold terminal kit,16AWG wiring), assemble the above parts separate from the gun, and then install the entire new assembly?

 

Yes, you can unscrew and remove the relevant parts, and assemble the above parts separately and just slot it in. Once it's all assembled, it literally slides in and out; fitting new batteries takes about ten to fifteen seconds.

 

How do I install the Hard Inner Block? Is it straightforward?

 

It's quite easy. You need to remove a retaining set screw from the locking collar (you need an Allen key, somewhere around 1/16th I think), then unscrew the collar (holding it with a Phillips-head screwdriver through the top of the stock) and remove the lever and pin. Then, unscrew the original block from the front. It takes about five minutes all in; you might also wish to file a groove in the top leading edge of the block to clear the screw that holds contacts on the stock tube.

 

I'm a filthy US-softer so the fps limit at my field is 500, and the engagement distances are pretty massive, so I'd eventually probably want to get into the gearbox. The M120 with an ER-Hop/EM-nub would probably do it for me using .36s... I'll probably invest in the Prometheus torque gears and the piston/piston head... hopefully combined with good shimming/AoE correction and some radiusing nothing will break.

 

I thought you might need a bit more power, yes. The SOPMOD isn't the ideal high-power gun (owing to its 6mm gearbox limiting you to bushings) but with appropriate components I'd say you were good up to about 420fps. At that power level, though, you should be thinking about upgrading the gears, piston, piston head, bushings, spring, recoil spring, and possibly even the motor and the wiring to the stock tube terminals.

 

But aside from rewiring it and installing the hard inner block, there's nothing you'd do to a stock SOPMOD?

 

Those two things will give you a faultlessly reliable and accurate 280fps gun. The only other modification I would consider making is replacing the delta ring assembly, which is pointlessly convoluted and has a very weak 'weld' spring, with G&P's Delta Ring Set. However, you need to take my advice in the context that I don't take my own advice, and that so far my SOPMOD has/will have;

  1. Upper Receiver: Gas tube stub ground down and drilled for full length gas tube, upper receiver rethreaded to M31.8x1.5mm. Original barrel base replaced by First Factory Hard Barrel Base, and original faux delta ring assembly replaced by Inokatsu delta ring assembly.
  2. Barrel Assembly: Handguard cap removed and replaced by Inokatsu handguard cap. Two-piece gas tube removed and replaced by one-piece Inokatsu gas tube. Inner barrel replaced by Prometheus EG 363mm 6.03mm tightbore.
  3. RIS: RIS replaced by Inokatsu RAS. The reason for replacing the gas tube, hanguard cap and delta ring assembly is that I had an Inokatsu version of KAC's RAS which I liked more than TM's (the RS KAC rail panels were a better fit on the Inokatsu rail). The Marui faux delta ring assembly, in addition to having a pitifully weak spring, is smaller than RS and won't properly seat any RIS but the original; the same is true of the handguard cap. Since I have an Inokatsu donor to steal a replacement delta ring assembly from, I'm rethreading the upper receiver to suit the RS threading of that gun; otherwise, I'd use G&P's and wouldn't need to fiddle with the gas tube or the handguard cap. To get a threading die on the upper receiver, you have to remove the stub that retains the upper receiver portion of the two-piece gas tube; with that gone, I can't use the two-piece anymore so I'm nicking the Inokatsu's and fitting that too.
  4. Gearbox: Gears replaced by Prometheus EG Torque Up gears. Bushings replaced by as-yet-unknown 6mm bushings, possibly Systema. Piston, piston head, cylinder and cylinder head all replaced with Prometheus. Springs replaced by Eagle6 M100 and upgraded Recoil Spring. It's possible that I'll eventually fit the upgraded Surus recoil unit, too.
  5. Stock: Stock block, original batteries, QD connector, contact bars and fuse replaced as above. I'm working on a drop-in replacement for the parts that will improve on all the existing options.
Edited by PureSilver
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Sorry for double post, do you think the Lonex bearings/bearing spring guide are necessary?

 

EDIT: Posted that right when you posted your post. I am in the process of constructing a response

 

So what I'm looking at getting right now is the First Factory Hard Inner Block, the Prometheus Gold Terminal kit, a male deans connector, some 16AWG wiring, and the Firefly flat nub and bucking (because Eagle6 recommened it). Will toss in a spare TK hop-twist 363mm barrel I have lying around when it gets here.

 

Eventually, I'm probably going to run it off an M110 (I really don't have the cash to do an entire gearbox revamp with Prometheus internals so M120+ isn't going to happen). Do you think I'd be safe with the Magic Box bearings and bearing spring guide, Lonex gears, and the Prometheus hard piston? Should I get the piston head as well?

 

Thanks again for your help.

Edited by Voxcaster
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