Spring vs. Gas vs. CO2 - Pros and Cons

[Mazuran]

Afternoon all...

 

Come the new year, I'm looking at getting an Arctic Warfare/L96 type platform. AFAIK, it comes in all 3 power sources... So...

 

What's the advantages of using one power source over the other? And does it really matter? Any differences in accuracy between them? Differences in Range/FPS?

 

Cheers y'all

 

Dan

[The Bushman]

Spring = consistant power, works well in all temperatures. Harder to cock (dependant on spring fitted and other parts). free to use.

 

Gas = inconsistant power, works poorly when cold. Easy to cock (can use little finger). Expensive to buy the gas.

 

C02= better consistancy than gas, worse than spring. Works OK around freezing point or above. Reasonable running costs.

 

I have rifles that use any of these power sources. My advice is to always buy a spring rifle first. It's consistant and thats most important for accuracy. Gas or C02 is better as a summer rifle imo. The only main advantage of expanding gases is that you can cock the action slowly without changing your position, which is great for going unnoticed to get a second shot off.

 

My last bit of advice is to buy a VSR over an L96, as its simply the best system out there imo.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Good Hunting

[Mazuran]

Cheers for that!

 

General agreement round here is that VSRs are the bee's knees. Might look into getting the Pro sniper or G-Spec version then.

 

They're spring right out of the box aren't they?

 

Cheers

 

Dan

[Dagonet]

Yep VSRs are box fresh springers.

 

Tokyo Marui run around 290fps, the Clones run around 420fps.

 

Your in the right place, take some time for a mooch about the pinned topics all you need to know is there, it kept me quiet for a few nights reading through it all.

 

Spares backup for VSRs is very good, and a stack of aftermarket upgrade parts are there. The cheaper higher power clones are based on the TM so most TM parts will cross fit.

The TM is dearer but overall better quality materials, many in the VSR thread have upgraded clones to very high standards as well.

 

Set your budget, decide what FPS you want to run then go shopping also VSRs are lighter than L96 types, many prefer a lighter rifle.

 

If possible try one out at a game before you buy.

[Mazuran]

My local site limits bolties to 450fps - how easy is it to upgrade a VSR to shoot that sort of velocity?

[Hatchet]

Easy, but not necessarily cheap, a Zero trigger (or upgraded sears, etc) and a bigger spring will do it. As always I'll suggest checking second hand as you can get a lot for your money, especially at the moment.