PTW clones( DTW A&K etc)

[Isamu]

Well, first of all, im sorry for the double post, second, the DTW Max3 arrived yesterday and even after paying customs, im happy with it, and impressed

 

Its the first TW I own, so I cant compare it to any of the alternatives, I just shot a couple of times with a CTW a couple of years ago, so I cant really comment on both, but this Max3 surely looks good at first sight, feels good on hands, its light and the most important thing, it works! which after some terror stories I read its a feat in itself. If someone is curious, I used a 7.4v 20c lipo with the standard tamiya plugs which will be replaced shortly for micro deans or XT60s

 

More good things, the burst mode works perfectly, the inner barrel is ported like some high end ones, cant comment on the bore as I have no way to test it, magazine fits with no wobble, all the rail accesories fit and clipp with no issue unlike madbull rails, hop chamber, while not pretty, seems nicely casted. The front grip is fully Knights trade marked, which is not impressive, but a nice touch

 

Not everything is perfect, it has its imperfections, trigger pull is nice but a bit... "spongy", cilinder needs a thorough cleaning as it has some "metal hairs", probably due to the milling process, gearbox has them too, nothing serious, but it needs a bit of love/work, Power for a CQB gun is too high at 426FPS with 0.20gs and needs a downgrade a will perform later this afternoon. Selector if firm, stiff, too much to be honest but I expect it to improve with some use

 

Overall for a 300€ gun (shipping+customs+M95 spring) it is more than a decent gun, hope the motor holds for more than a couple of thousand rounds

[Leshy]

Before you down grade it can you do some long range shooting with it as I'm tempted to get one and turn it into a DMR.

[Isamu]

Wish I could, but the longest range I have now is like 4 or 5 meters... ^_^U anyway, I wouldnt use it stock for long range shooting, hop up mods are a must, being the sugru mod, hirobo mod or at least the MAG hop adjuster. Power wise I think its fine, I like my guns to be slightly below power limit to evade sudded power rises or *suitcasey chronos

 

BTW, which base or setup have you got in mind for the DMR platform? I am pondering one too if the platform satisfies me enough, I have been thinking in:

 

DTW DD 9.5" rail version for base, I think there is a 12" DD rail version coming soon

7" AEG barrel extension, interior drilled to fit the longuer inner barrel

363mm Vanaras inner barrel

various hop mods

Stock cilinder with spring spacers to fine tune power output

 

I might bite the bullet and buy one of those AEG barrel compatibility hop up chambers to test by myself

 

PS: I need to get out of the office to fiddle and fonddle the gun... ='(

[thatguy404]

Glad you are happy with it Isamu.
My inner barrel was ported at the end too!
Maybe JD updated an Old Gun to MAX 3 parts.

Before the hop beds in be warned for some really weird sweeping bb's that swing off wildly.
Lemme know how you get on with the AEG upgrade barrels

[Isamu]

Thanks thatguy404, the efficient decision for G&D would be to update the older models with the new parts and discontinue the old parts, but they should mark their boxes to reflect that, too bad they dont give a suitcase about leaving their customers in the dark, thats ACM thinking for us... did you try to "program" the ecu for burst mode? what colour is your hop chamber? black or grey?

 

I dont know If I will use the stock nub, my plan is to replace it for the MAG one and make some flat/R-hop tests I have in mind, which, if successful, will grant me the "commercial user" status

 

I need to use and abuse the gun before I decide spending 100€ in a hop chamber is a good idea...

 

Forgot to add that there is some play between upper and lower recievers, not much, but noticeable

[thatguy404]

Black hop unit.
Ecu programs no problem.
I leave it in 2 shot mode the entire time though

The play between the uppers is easily solved.
Get a small o ring, and put it on the upper where the front bolt goes through!

[Isamu]

Thats weird, new hops coming with programable ecus are supposed to be grey... well, its an ACM brand after all

 

I will test that Oring fix, have to admit that even though it is not a big deal, my OCD will start kicking soon

 

Next investigation, how to install a GBBR ASAP swivel

 

Anyone is willing to sell some polimer mags? 0=)

[BigD]

OK

I have read all 22 pages good reading   and bit of headache ( to much to take in one go )

 

My question is: anyone recently dealt with any of does products:

http://www.s-t-t-s.com/home/16-celcius-dtw-m4a1-training-weapon.html

or

http://www.s-t-t-s.com/500-999/12-mx-professional-self-assembly-kit.html

all sold by JD Airsoft I know

If yes would  you recommend them, if not why ? 

[Cacophony]

Can confirm that my MAX3 with the DD rail comes with the black hopup unit and a plastic selector plate. 

 

I have received my DTW from the post a few days earlier, but after test firing the rifle at home a few times an issue developed where the rifle would refuse to fire, upon opening up the rifle the red LED lights up. I found my battery was quite hot and the mosfet board has been burnt out. 

 

So I want to ask whether you fellas would know whether aftermarket mosfet boards would work with the DTW programmable black ECU and whether the issue is just caused by the mosfet or another fault with the rifle?  

[thatguy404]

Thats weird, new hops coming with programable ecus are supposed to be grey... well, its an ACM brand after all

 

I will test that Oring fix, have to admit that even though it is not a big deal, my OCD will start kicking soon

 

Next investigation, how to install a GBBR ASAP swivel

 

Anyone is willing to sell some polimer mags? 0=)

 

 

I fitted an ACM GBB ASAP no problem at all.

If you need a guide I can write up for ya.

 

Where did you get the MAX3 from Cacophony?

What colour was your hop Isamu?

[Isamu]

My hop is grey with the 10mm ported barrel. Didnt open it yet, but playing a bit with the adjuster, seems like it would work nicely. BTW: anybody know a trick on how to open the cilinder? tried both sides and both are shut like *suitcase, even heat wont ease them =S

 

Now, looking carefully to the cilinder, the piston is fully plastic, dont know how long it can hold a 426FPS spring... not that I will use it in this cilinder, but If I decide to build a DMR, im going to need those 426FPS and probably a bit more, adjusted with the vanaras/hornbill (cant remember the name) fancy spacers

[Stan-O]

Yes, vanaras is the RSov own brand, I meant the Magpul Pmags, Vanaras Mags are... well, not Pmags

 

Thanks for the info dude, I will try to get hold of one and test it, although it will be terribly hard as TW are not easy to find in Spanish fields, much less vanaras ones... =(

 

Worst case scenario some light filing in the magwell or mags should do the trick, right?

 

My gen1 DTW would NOT take the PMAGs. Not sure if the light filing would have fixed that, I don't think anything short of industrial machinery would. EMAGs might fit tho.

[Isamu]

Thanks for the info mate! I think I will take my chances with a set of ten vanaras mags once Im sure the gun is definetly worth the investment

 

I have discovered that the cilinder in my Max3 is a PITA to open, after a lot of swearing, sweat and a vice I managed to open it from the front, the back plate is imosible to remove, period. Orings are not in good shape, but they will suffice until my OCD kicks in. So now it is clean, lubed and downgraded. Once I fix the hop chamber I will chrono it.

 

Now, the chamber, the tab fixing the barrel to the chamber is impossible to remove, probably it was a bit wider than the hole and the operator hammered it furiously until it was soldered by pure anger. So I will try to remove it a last time and If I cant manage to take it off, I will dremmel it off and get an action set of three tabs

 

By the way, cant remember If I mentioned it, the inner barrel is ported and there is a slight wobble between it and the chamber, should be easy to fix with some tape

[LordElpus]

where as my gen 1 dtw had no problems with pmags. systema mags.. whoa. that took some hammering to get out.

[thatguy404]

Ordered some genuine PTS pmags from F-S so should let you know fitment on weds.

The DTW mags come in 2 varieties.
One with black inner, one with dark grey inner.
The dark greys are fine.
The black ones won't follow bb's up anymore, and the tab at the rear that activates bolt catch have broken.

 

My ported barrel had some wobble too, fixed with PTFE tape.

[Stan-O]

I'm sure I'm not the only one waiting for reports from the happy current-gen DTW owners on magazine compatibility.

[Isamu]

Definetly Stan-O, you are not the only one

 

Update on the chamber, the tab is still there, almost unrecognizable after all my efforts to remove it from the hop up chamber... it is there for good and wont budge, so it looks like I will be removing it in little pieces. Any one has information on the action tabs they only have a hole and are bundled with a screw, Maybe it is for the screw to make easier the removal?

[Cacophony]

Where did you get the MAX3 from Cacophony?

 

I got mine from airsoft global, therefore I don't think I have a warranty to cover my blown mosfet. But at least their delivery was unexpectedly fast. At this rate, I think I'll simply get a G&D replacement, if only the HK sites have them in stock. 

 

Regarding the mags, at least I can confirm PTS EMAGS are a good solid fit and with a few reloads they fit rather well. 

[Isamu]

Good thing about DTWs is that they are so cheap that if an expensive part blows, its better to get a new DTW and get the whole spare set and a nice upper to build from  =p

 

BTW, where do you get your PTS Pmags from? UK? HK? I have seen some in powairsoft but are stupidly expensive, more than the double of a Vanaras one, shipping and customs included @_@

[Leshy]

Does anyone know when g&d will release the tavor and will it be "PTW"?

[Isamu]

Dont know where I read it was a regular AEG, no TW-ish

 

I personally would prefer if they released a 7.62mm AR with TW features, much easier, cheaper, cooler and with a bigger market share, not as big as AKs, but bigger than a Tavor

[Kunlun]

SR-25 TW   Do want! 

[Isamu]

Yes, me too, researching for what potential buyers want is so easy its silly, what is really hard is to fail to deliver it. Airsoft brands are experts in the matter

[Lyng]

Been working on theese for some time now, i'm talking about G&D, A&K, SYSTEMA and FCC and they all share the same TW problem.

They are worth *suitcase* out of the box unless you tinker a little with them, just like normal aeg's if you want them to be reliable and performing as they should.

Hop-up has to be tuned ( new nub and cage has to be fixed ) motors arr to blaime for most of the mosfet issues as they use a lot of current from std.

They are easy and cheap to repare if you buy an exchange Etiny core, and even etiny makes cheap good mosfets.

A TW can use FA as well as semi no problem, thats just a bad rumor, most bad rep is from people seing a tw go down but most problems are motor related, especially core and brushes.

A few friends of mine have uprated their dtw with etiny electronics and king arms/shs cyl and they have worked flawlessly since.

[Cacophony]

Well according to the G&D site, it is simply just an AEG. 

http://www.95gd.hk/pro_detail.php?pro_id=67

 

Lucky I had a mate that was just over in HK a month ago that I asked to pick up a few mags for me while he was there.