Build or Buy?

[MrKingTaco1776]

I just finished building my custom m4 project and I realized that I probably should have just bought a high end AEG instead of building one from the ground up.

What I'd like to know is what the rest of you think. Is it better to spend the cash up front and buy a premium AEG from a company or build it yourself? Companies like Umbrella Armory and Thunderkiss NW offer high end AEGs to your specifications.

Thank you to everyone for reading and I'm looking forward to seeing what y'all think.

[Crying Scum]

It think it all boils down to personally preference and skillset regarding building your own or buy AEG to your specifications.

If I as person who knows my way around the gearbox and internals, I definitely build it. I also think the cost would be much lower if you build it yourself, the only greater loss is the time spend on getting those parts and actually assemble it. Part of the charm with airsoft is actually tinkering IMO. Knowing how the everything works and what goes in that AEG is a freedom I like a lot, also a certain pride when people give positive feedback on your build   

If you don't have the knowledge to tinker or maybe time to build, sure, companies like Umbrella Armory is a viable option. I can see the charm of having a AEG build to your spec without need to worry if everything gonna work. Multiple times when I finally assembled a AEG and something still doesn't work, or *fruitcage* catastrophic failure that undone all the work you just done. At that point, I just want to throw everything out of the window and just quick this hobby  

 

[MrKingTaco1776]

It think it all boils down to personally preference and skillset regarding building your own or buy AEG to your specifications.

 

If I as person who knows my way around the gearbox and internals, I definitely build it. I also think the cost would be much lower if you build it yourself, the only greater loss is the time spend on getting those parts and actually assemble it. Part of the charm with airsoft is actually tinkering IMO. Knowing how the everything works and what goes in that AEG is a freedom I like a lot, also a certain pride when people give positive feedback on your build   

 

If you don't have the knowledge to tinker or maybe time to build, sure, companies like Umbrella Armory is a viable option. I can see the charm of having a AEG build to your spec without need to worry if everything gonna work. Multiple times when I finally assembled a AEG and something still doesn't work, or *fruitcage* catastrophic failure that undone all the work you just done. At that point, I just want to throw everything out of the window and just quick this hobby  

 

 

 

I know exactly what you mean! I can't tell you how many times I've put everything back together only to have to take it all back apart!! You are right in saying that if you have the skills, then build it. I'm not to sure of the cost savings because premium parts are still costly.

[Crying Scum]

I'm not to sure of the cost savings because premium parts are still costly.

Yes, premium parts are costly, but you are not paying the man-hour to build that gun. I assume a AEG build by a companies is slightly more expensive than same AEG build by you? 

[MrKingTaco1776]

Well, the one I just built was cheaper than a custom AEG built by Umbrella Company or Thunderkiss.

 

I see you're from the Czech Republic. Do you play much airsoft out there? I live in Germany and would love to play in another country.

[ED-SKaR]

Building is fun, sometimes it doesn't matter if that's more expensive, if that's what you enjoy.

[icolater]

Yes building is my favourite thing about airsoft.

[Alias1983]

If you buy a decent base gun you eventually will upgrade 80% of it.

 

Which means you have excess parts around you have no need for and most likely can't move.

Build it to your liking and know that you did save money

[ED-SKaR]

Airsoft logic

[jal3]

The rifles you get from Umbrella Armory (the products on evike's webpage) are super super cheap. I don't care who can sit at home and throw some SHS parts in something. If you sit down and count ALL the parts in the product, you realize that it's good value! Including scope, batteries, charger, 5 x good mags, hard case etc...

eg: http://www.evike.com/products/59888/

 

I can only assume that it also actually fits together and works.

[MrKingTaco1776]

Building is like a necessary evil for me. I love it an hate it at the same time, but the best part is standing back and seeing your work in action.

[jv83]

I seldom use my guns anymore but continue to build, this is what the hobby has turned into for me. Costs for guns and parts were so insanely high when I started out, that building was not an option. Also not many brands were available back then, whereas now the plethora of brands and lower costs has made it much easier. I can now afford to build all the guns that I wanted to back in the day.

 

I still don't have a lot of dough to spend so I keep costs down by buying used guns and parts on sale. The only problem is that I sometimes have to wait for ages for the specific parts I want at a price I can afford. But since I dont skirmish I have the time to wait.

 

I still remember upgrading a TM mp5k PDW that I got from a friend, the old receipt was with the gun and it had originally cost 3500 Danish kr ( more than 500 usd at the time) back in the mid nineties.  I proceeded to upgrade it with an expensive and hard to get CA metal body (also a complete pita to fit). Two months later CA came out with a full metal PDW that was fairly cheap!

 

If you like building and tinkering and making something unique then its worth it, but if you want the best of the best of the best and regard your gun as a tool for a sport buy it ready made.

[Crying Scum]

I see you're from the Czech Republic. Do you play much airsoft out there? I live in Germany and would love to play in another country.

 

Yes, I live in Czech Republic, but I'm here as expats. I do from time to time play here in Prague.

[Skarclaw]

Buy. I am useless at anything tech. I like skirmishing, I like *fruitcage* about on forums -  dislike literally everything about airsoft lol. Something goes wrong for me every time. I managed to break a barrel in half trying to remove a flash hider the day before a skirmish. Luckily I had a spare one haha.

 

Its always fun getting a new optic or foregrip or whatever and sticking it on but yeah that's it. A certain airsoft shop has made a killing off my repair needs haha

[Rob15]

I'm suprised no one has mentioned this yet but it's only really practical to build certain AEGs from scratch, mainly AR based guns, and imo they're really the only ones worth building from scratch. Try building something like a G3 or MP5 from scratch and you'll probably find most of the main parts but then struggle with all the little bits you need so starting off with a base gun is almost a necessity.

[sear]

I don't know if anyone has fallen into this: you buy an rifle (aeg or gbb), tell yourself that stone stock it's already good enough. Then you read in a forum, message board, or from word-of-mouth that something needs to be upgraded, modded, or simply changed to ensure that your gun will last longer. That doesn't include all the things you add to make your gun look "legit". Not necessarily directly related to the subject but I feel that it is one of the things that drive us to modify what we have or just buy if it is available. 

[MrKingTaco1776]

I'm suprised no one has mentioned this yet but it's only really practical to build certain AEGs from scratch, mainly AR based guns, and imo they're really the only ones worth building from scratch. Try building something like a G3 or MP5 from scratch and you'll probably find most of the main parts but then struggle with all the little bits you need so starting off with a base gun is almost a necessity.

No kidding! In that case it would be better to buy a new one than try and build one from scratch. I've only had one mp5 and finding parts wasn't terrible, but they weren't as plentiful as parts for an m4.

 

 

I don't know if anyone has fallen into this: you buy an rifle (aeg or gbb), tell yourself that stone stock it's already good enough. Then you read in a forum, message board, or from word-of-mouth that something needs to be upgraded, modded, or simply changed to ensure that your gun will last longer. That doesn't include all the things you add to make your gun look "legit". Not necessarily directly related to the subject but I feel that it is one of the things that drive us to modify what we have or just buy if it is available. 

 

Peer pressure is a SOB. I think most stock guns fair alright, however, there is room for improvement. Once you start searching at all of the potential your AEG could have, then you want to start upgrading. Before you know it, you have a completely different AEG.

[sear]

I definitely agree. My first aeg worked well enough at first but since it was an acm, problems started appearing one after the other. It became a money pit before I decided to part it out and make back some of what I spent. My second gun, a jg g3 lasted 4 years. Most of it is still stock and only age and constant use forced me to retire it. I'm now looking for another to takes its place.

[Lone_Bullet]

To be honest, I simply can't go back to trigger contacts now I've tried ASCU and HT motor.

Other than that: hop/rubber/barrel.

That's obligatory. Swap from day one.

 

Optional are swapping out parts to tune the compression.

 

So all in all a few performance parts.

Don't need more i mostly buy high quality aeg. If i can afford them...

 

For example the scorpion evo. No way you can buy me a baby m4 with the same quality parts for the same price.

 

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[Beeingmyself]

With all the different specs from brandt to brandt today it can be a hassle with only simple tools available and not least the bottom line price tag I would seriously consider what to do.

 

Sendt fra min SM-G930F med Tapatalk

[Lone_Bullet]

Perhaps another idea: E&L and LCT sell ak receivers and front end kits. The innards are up to you. Start from a lonex gearbox and tune the living soul out of it. Less hassle, still 'your thing'

 

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[MrKingTaco1776]

To be honest, I simply can't go back to trigger contacts now I've tried ASCU and HT motor.

Other than that: hop/rubber/barrel.

That's obligatory. Swap from day one.

 

Optional are swapping out parts to tune the compression.

 

So all in all a few performance parts.

Don't need more i mostly buy high quality aeg. If i can afford them...

 

For example the scorpion evo. No way you can buy me a baby m4 with the same quality parts for the same price.

 

It's tough going back to trigger contacts, but I would definitely NEVER go back to having an AEG without a mosfet. How do you feel about the BCT Chimera?

[Lone_Bullet]

I have no first hand experience with them, but I can tell that the extra PCB is a bit of a PITA ( My ASCU has the exra PCB board aswell since its a version 1 ).

It works well once you find a good spot for it. Many praise it.

 

BCT seems a bit more reliable than ASCU so all the better! 

Though I ever had my ASCU faulty in any way so... 

 

Try it! 

 

Ps. I don't use a lot of functionality so I'd go for tha BCT Spectre, probably.

[3vi1-D4n]

As for buying custom vs off the shelf, it depends on what you are looking for and what is available. 

 

With airsoft, it follows a funny inversed bell shaped curve of cost verse effort required for performance:

 

On the low cost side of the Market, it takes more effort to get the rifle to performance and reliability than a mid range rifle. e.g. JG/Matrix, S&T, WE GBBRs

On the high cost side of the Market, it also takes more effort to get the rifle to performance and reliability than a mid range rifle.  .e.g Inokatsu M240, G&P M249, PTWs, Inokatsus and Vipers GBBRs

Mid range cost rifles are generally fantastic OOTB and doesn't require too much work for desired performance. e.g. King Arms, ICS, GHK.

 

Since I collect rare models, I mostly buy and tune.  Unless it is for a very specific purpose (e.g. a VFC AR15 7" PDW 6mm/22LR modular platform) then I will build from parts.

 

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I am still too old skool to switch over to MOSFETs.  Had too many faulty MOSFETS in my 20 years in airsoft.  That and aside from the random weather patterns, there is iron sand in our soil, which plays havoc on the digital circuits unless it is sealed. If the rifle is used for indoors I have no issues with MOSFETs but any chance it is used outdoors I would still go mechanical triggers.

 

Basically, install MOSFETS accordingly to your skirmish environment.

[MrKingTaco1776]

3vi1-D4n, that's the first time I've heard an airsofter talk about a bell curve! I'll agree with the cost vs. performance of a midrange AEG as they are the better bang for your buck in most ways. I personally have never had a MOSFET fail on my and I use them in each gun, however, we don't seem to have an iron sand issue.