Madbull Ultimate Hopup Assembly

[kojak]

I did it the laziest way possible; just ran the included wiring all the way to the battery area (front wired 7.4V lipo) and tapped into the connector. I would have preferred not to stuff any more wires through the barrel nut but I needed to get past the MOSFET; at least they are very thin. It came with a simple connector that I left in the handguard so I can simply unplug it when it's not needed.

 

I don't think a separate power source is necessary; if I was to do it more "properly" I would have hid a micro switch somewhere and trimmed the extra wire.

[jdizzle921]

Had some extra time and installed my LED unit into my Hop-Up that has just been sitting here for the last 5 months.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Installed it with this wiring configuration which works perfectly with the setup I have.

 

VFC Knights Armament PDW w/PEQ-15 battery box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As far as function goes I'm fairly dissappointed. Normally I run this PDW on an 11vlt LiPo which I knew was going to be too much for the tracer unit. So I hooked up one of my 7.4vlt LiPo's since I fully expected the LED to keep up with the fire rate. It did not.

 

It seems that when you fire a burst longer than 5-6 BB's the illuminator ceases to function until you let off the trigger, and then begin firing again. This really isn't too bad of a thing since I don't normally fire any more than that anyways, but considering I've used other tracer units in the past that have allowed that, it's kinda dissappointing to see this one fall short. (Also, half the fun of glowing BB's at night is just holding down the trigger and watching the stream of BB's bounce around. )

 

One other thing I was somewhat surprised about is the LED (As bright as it is) only illuminates about 1/2 of the BB. This is obviously because the LED shines through one side of the hop-up chamber only, but with a light this powerful, I expected a bit more.

 

One thing I really like about this unit is the competitive price that will allow more players to get into the tracer scence since they don't have to worry about buying a $90-$100 tracer unit anymore. I hope more people will get a chance to use these at some night Operations.

 

 

EDIT: Forgot to ask. Is anyone else getting the LED cutoff after 5-6 rounds?

Edited August 13, 2010 by jdizzle921

[kojak]

What BBs are you using? It sounds like you are only getting a good charge on the rounds sitting in the hopup. I fired off some nice long bursts with no noticeable dimming; using the aforementioned Madbull .25s, and the recovered ricochets are glowing evenly.

[jdizzle921]

I gave it a test with some:

 

Vanaras .25's

Matrix .20's

 

I'll give it a try tonight with some Tokyo Marui .20's as well.

 

I'll admit that I wasn't surprised with the Vanaras BB's not fully glowing since even with my TM tracer units they don't really glow that brightly. But with the Matrix brand that I've used before, I normally get the effect you mentioned kojak where they still glow for a good 10 seconds or more after firing.

 

With this unit....nada.

 

I'll have to give the Madbulls a try soon, but I always hate it when a company produces a product that only performs as it should with their own products.

Edited August 13, 2010 by jdizzle921

[jesTer]

I setup my Madbull hopup with the Prometheus red bucking and SCS nub. Combined with a 300mm KM tightbore and the MAG magazine, I'm getting double feeds, misfires (ie no BB comes out) and wildly hooking BBs. I've tried SIIS 0.25s, Goldenball 0.25s and KSC 0.25s. Still same thing.

 

From reading through the thread here, seems like the main problem might be the Prometheus bucking?

Edited August 22, 2010 by jesTer

[bladerunner168]

I'll just add that if you have G&P M4's, expect to file down the wings a bit

 

I installed two of these yesterday, one in my G&P MRP with a MB 300mm 6.03, the other in a G&P M4 Magpul Sentry with a MB 455mm 6.03.

Took me about 30 mins to file down each hop unit but was an easy job after that, probably the simplest hopup units to put together IMHO.

[aznriptide859]

Just as a little FYI, I've sold my unit - it was causing so many problems for me I believe that a misfeed actually led to my piston stripping.

[kojak]

I'll have to give the Madbulls a try soon, but I always hate it when a company produces a product that only performs as it should with their own products.

 

 

I picked up some Digicon .25s and I'll try those when it gets dark; and if I ever make it to a night game I can probably bum several other brands to try. I don't think it was anything deliberate, but by design the tracer unit can only act on one side of the BB so if they are really opaque only one side will be charged. Also, I'm only running a 7.4 lipo with a standard gearset and 400 FPS spring, so the rate of fire is fairly ordinary. If your gun is a BB hose the rounds might be spending too little time in the light to pick up a charge.

 

From reading through the thread here, seems like the main problem might be the Prometheus bucking?

 

The chamber is a little tight for some buckings; you can test it by feeding a BB in by hand with the inner barrel assembly out of the gun. You could also Dremel the inside of the chamber or the bucking itself. Mine functions perfectly with the included Madbull blue rubber, so you might start there.

 

I don't doubt that you could strip a piston with the wrong bucking, since there is nowhere for the nozzle to go if it's jammed.

 

 

[jesTer]

I've given up and switched back to the G&P with Prometheus bucking.

 

I've tried various combos: with or without the retention o-ring, Prometheus bucking with G&P nub, Prometheus bucking with Madbull nub, Madbull bucking with Madbull nub, Madbull bucking with G&P nub. All getting the same jamming of BBs (this time KSC 0.3). Too bad, really wanted it to work.

[Clot]

When I used this hop unit in my G&P Tank, it was fantastic. The hop also increased the FPS by 10. I had to cut off 3-5mm from the rubber to make it work though. Otherwise it would jam up. Great range aswell.

 

I am planning on getting another for my HK53 as it uses an m4 style hop unit. I am also thinking about getting two tracer boards and milling another slit into the other side of the unit to make it twice as powerful. Incredibly bright tracer rounds

[kelo 1 1]

I've just installed one of these in my G&P CQBR, and it works a treat. Granted it took about 1.5 hours of tweaking to get it to fit, had to sand down the wings and i also had to rotate the outer barrel by about 4 degrees clockwise ( which didnt effect the G&P hop), but now thats done the results are phenomenal. I have a guarder clear rubber and Big out H nub installed. Getting the right setup with these is key, the tolerances are so tight.

 

From reading this thread i think anyone using the guarder clear and h nub are getting good results.

[uscmCorps]

I've had incredible results with the following: Madbull HopUp unit + Guarder Clear Bucking + Element/SCS H-nub + KM tightbore barrel.

 

I've used the exact above combination in VFC, G&P and King Arms guns.

[Semtex]

Which colour H-num are you using the black or white one ?

 

cheers

 

Rich

[uscmCorps]

I use white. You can use the black one, but with my setup if you used the black one you have almost no margin for error. The white one is much more forgiving, and when dialed in, gives you optimum results (for the velocities I shoot at).

[kelo 1 1]

Yeah, I use White. I think the best way to think of it is White for below 400fps and black above that!

[Semtex]

Cool thanks.

[uscmCorps]

It's pretty easy to swap them out. So test either one and see which you prefer after a few mags (a few mags should hopefully reveal any feed issues that may occur). My guns shoot just shy of 415 fps on 0.2g Bio BBs (376fps on 0.25g BBs are the max for our area). I use the white nub, but I'm probably in the gray zone of being able to use either nub.

[kojak]

So the different H-nubs are harder or softer based on color? I'm using a hard plastic concave nub superglued to the hopup arm myself; I figure the bucking should be the only bit with any give.

[uscmCorps]

When it comes to the Element / Big Out H-Nubs, I believe the black and the white nubs are made out of the same material. Just that they have different curvature. I've had mixed results with super gluing the nub to the arm. It certainly makes it easier to install. Sometimes the arm places the nub centered on the bucking, sometimes it's slightly off line.

[alston251]

Corps, are you using the stock loading nozzle on your King Arms? I'm thinking of putting the Madbull Hop up into my KA SR-15.

 

Thanks

Edited August 26, 2010 by alston251

[uscmCorps]

Loading nozzle?

[Wingmann]

Loading nozzle?

He probably means the feeding tube of the chamber, so the whole chamber in this case.

 

 

 

[alston251]

Yea, like this one: http://www.redwolfairsoft.com/redwolf/airsoft/Accessories_AEG_Air_Nozzles_Prometheus_air_nozzle_for_M16A2_M4_SR_M733.htm

 

The hop up bucking has to have a good seal with the loading nozzle for the BB to not loose power and be accurate right?

Well, at least that's what my air-smith told me...

[kojak]

I tore my second Guarder clear bucking while changing flash hiders, so I tried the Lonex (black), G&G green, and KWA 2GX buckings. They were all too tight in the back to feed properly.

 

Before I go pick up another blue one; has anyone tried the red, clear, or black buckings with this hopup?

[kojak]

Quick update: My local shop happened to be out of the others, so I tried a Madbull red.

 

This bucking was also too tight for a BB to be easily fed once it was installed in the Ultimate unit, so I turned it inside out and carefully sliced the three retention fins off the inside of the small end.

 

I have tried trimming and Dremeling some other brands to alleviate the tightness, but each time it lost compression. To do it properly you would need a fine grain tapered shaping bit and something to support the outside of the bucking so you could reduce the inner diameter evenly.

 

Trimming the fins from the red bucking seems to have worked so far, and my initial impression of the performance is good. The hop seems more controlled than it was with the blue rubber--easily under- or over-hopped with a wider margin between, at least with .25 tracers. I'll do some daylight testing with other weights and get the FPS checked to see if it's sealing properly.