We gbbr

[John Spartan]

Calling all WE'tards ...

As hardcore WE GBBR users you probably know the truth behind how reliable using WE GBBR's really are. I have see comments, and have received personal feedback, that a WE GBBR is a great weapon to shoot but it takes intense maintenance and the swapping of parts right out of the box to even get the GBBR to shoot well. Add to that the fact that the WE mags seem prone to leakage, more so then pistol mags.

Your opinions on how much work it takes to get the WE's to shoot and how reliable they are is requested please ... and many thanks.

P.S.
What is all this fuss about the Open Bolt versus the Closed Bolt? What is the difference between the two systems?

[Ross]

Our opinions on what?

[Disco_Dante]

The 30 round mags aren't really any "leakier" than WA or competing mags. Like any GBB mag you just have to take care of them, and a little preventative maintenance can go a long way. The 20 rounders are little brick shithouses, no problems there.

The WE open chamber models are very accurate, decently long ranged shooters out of the box. WE skimps on the internal parts, so while the guns work fine out of the box, the performance will decrease as wear increases, until you reach the point where replacing your internals is the best option. Some people skip the wait and toss in steel parts immediately, but that's not "required" in any sense of the word.

I've only owned WE armalites, so these comments are more relevant towards those models. The general maintenance is hardly intense. Pop out the rear body pin, pull out the charging handle and the bolt carrier group, clean em, lube em, and put everything back where you found it. Then clean the barrel. Takes 10 minutes if you're drunk.

[John Spartan]

Originally Posted by Ross

Our opinions on what?

Sorry Ross, my question has been clarified in the first post now.

[Boyso]

I own a WE M4 OB as well as 8 mags for it.

I've never gamed the gun, but fired at least 500 BBs so far without a single issue.

The mags however are really bad. Worse than any other GBB? I don't know.

I've had all my mags leak from the knocker valve as well as the "back plate".

Fixing knocker valves leaks is super easy, oil bath and just getting the orings back in their grooves.

Backplate are trickier, needs Gasket maker, and ALOT of it.

[Disco_Dante]

Originally Posted by John Spartan

P.S.
What is all this fuss about the Open Bolt versus the Closed Bolt? What is the difference between the two systems?

Closed bolt is the original WE design, when the bolt is retracted there's a brass tube visible in the chamber of the rifle. The Open bolt version does not have this visible brass tube. Mags are not compatible between the two version, and the Open Bolt version accepts TM style hop up rubbers, which gives it a huge accuracy advantage.

Open Bolt when applied to WE rifles does NOT refer to the same thing it would when referring to a real firearm. The "open bolt" WE m4 fires from a closed bolt position.

[John Spartan]

Originally Posted by Disco_Dante

Closed bolt is the original WE design, when the bolt is retracted there's a brass tube visible in the chamber of the rifle. The Open bolt version does not have this visible brass tube. Mags are not compatible between the two version, and the Open Bolt version accepts TM style hop up rubbers, which gives it a huge accuracy advantage.

Open Bolt when applied to WE rifles does NOT refer to the same thing it would when referring to a real firearm. The "open bolt" WE m4 fires from a closed bolt position.

Thank you Disco_Dante (and everyone else) for your feedback, it is much appreciated.

In terms of the Open vs Closed Bolt design, is this change only for 'cosmetic looks' or does it actually provide a different function or purpose? Is the newer Open Bolt approach suppose to make the WE shoot better or more reliable?

[Qlong]

For the M4 platform I can give the following opinions:

The stock open bolt system is MUCH more accurate than a stock closed bolt system, or Falcon upgrade.

I've been using the stock trigger box for almost 2 years now over numerous games, and last spring I switched to an open bolt kit using the old trigger box. It's well worn, but it still works. I've probably put in around 3000 rounds or so.

Mags tend to leak, but not as nearly as difficult to fix compared to WA mags.

[John Spartan]

Anyone have any hands-on experience with the new WE AK74-UN or WE G36 GBBR's yet?

Has the reliability of these new WE's improved in your opinion and do these WE mags still leak?

[Disco_Dante]

There's lots of reviews out there, including a recent discussion on the AKs74un on this site.

Arnies Airsoft also has excellent 10+ page discussions on WE GBBRs that can be very helpful if you have the time to sift through them.

[Brian McIlmoyle]

I have every model except the m 14,
Good guns, and reliable if you know how to care for them.
Mags leak all gas mags leak eventually. Consider them consumables

[John Spartan]

Originally Posted by Brian McIlmoyle

I have every model except the m 14,
Good guns, and reliable if you know how to care for them.
Mags leak all gas mags leak eventually. Consider them consumables

Thank you Brian for your input!

Speaking to some of the local WEtards they mentioned to me that they had to replace certain parts in the WE M4's right out of the box because they were prone to breakage. Was that your experience too?

Do you have an idea as to how long the mags will last before the leakage problem starts? I have seen z0ng's mag sealing process and it seems like a lot of trouble.

The reason I am asking all these questions is that I am thinking of getting a WE AK74UN but I have heard/seem problems with the WE GBBR's in the past so I am leary.

[Eeyore]

Some mags will leak out of the box, others will last thousands of rounds before leaking. And once again the parts all depend too. I recommend only changing parts once you have to. But if you do change parts to steel be prepared to change them all as the steel striking the stock pot metal will cause the stock parts to fail quickly.

[Disco_Dante]

Like Eeyore said, there's no way to accurately predict how many, if any of your mags will leak. I have 10 WE m4 open bolt mags. I've owned all of them since mid June at the latest.

6x 20 round vietnam styled magazines.
Bought all six at the same time. 5 worked perfectly, never even been opened to apply gasket maker or oil orings. 1 leaked out of the box, just filling it with oily propane and emptying it a couple times and it started to hold gas, and still does.

4x 30 round magazines.
2 were brand new, 2 were used HEAVILY by Thenooblord. TNL's both still work fine but one of the ones that was brand new (and held gas for months out of the box) must have developed a leak at some point, because it's not holding gas any more, even with oily propane being run through it.

So out of ten mags that I've owned for a few months there's only one that needs the Zong treatment.

[John Spartan]

Much appreciation to everyone for responding, I'm done for now.