dpms/panther arms a17 or aftermath kraken?
 

I have been playing airsoft in my backyard for a couple years now and have decided that I am going to finally get a decent AEG. I plan on setting up a field that me and my friends can play on (mostly 2 vs. 2 or 3 vs. 3), it will be about 50 yards by 30 yards, and I was wondering what would be the best choice out of these two for my situation. I don't ant to spend a lot of money on a gun because I won't be playing competitively, just having fun with some friends.

I've heard alot of mixed reviews about the a17, some people love it and others consider it "crapsoft". I know that this gun would never hold up in big battles and stuff like that, but do you think it would be an all right gun for playing non competitively for a couple of hours every weekend?

My other option would be aftermath's kraken. I've heard good things about this gun and would like to hear your oppinions on it.

So which gun would you suggest I go with?

Thanks

The A17 is actually a JG rebrand. JG are much more reliable guns than Aftermath. Of those 2 guns, that's what I'd choose. Not to mention that being an M4.

Unless you're under 18. Then you shouldn't have airsoft guns.

stock kraken is too hot for backyard shooting i wouldnt recommend that unless you guys have a proper gear.

Actually Crunch I'll have to correct you. The A17 is the piece of shit all plastic one.

Oh. If it's the all plastic one, then Styrak is correct. I may have mistaken it for the DPMS model that's the JG rebrand...

If you think neither are suitable options, then what are some other guns that are $100-200 that would be good for a 50 x 30 yard airsoft field?

In that price range, you don't really have any options. Airsoft isn't cheap. Even the cheapest AEGs are quite expensive in Canada.

A Kraken would be your best bet, as that's the lowest you can go and still call it an airsoft gun, and have a decent gun.

I'd have to agree with the Kraken also. But they're hit or miss. They're awesome upgrade platforms and can be quite reliable with a bit of internal preventative maintenance. But they're hit or miss out of the box, as is anything else in this price range.

I'm thinking of a getting kraken from cabelas. Since I'm pretty sure they are the older models and only shoot 300fps, how much would it cost to get it shooting as fast/hard as one of the newer models?

You're a new player, you don't need to upgrade your gun.
Use the gun stock for a while first.

But later on if I wanted to upgrade it, how much would that cost?

Oh, one more question.

Does anybody know if the $120 price tag on the kraken at cabelas is a sale price? And if it is, how much longer will it be on sale for?

1)if your going to upgrade, upgrade for reliability. Kraken parts are cheap and fragile. get good aftermarket parts so that it wont break on the field. Your looking at about $100 for a tightbore, new piston and piston head and cylinder head, metal bushings and new shims, new hopup rubber and greases. That should be enough for a kickass upgrade that would keep your gun running for a long time. Also, think about getting a good batter, Krakens have a tendancy to suck for batteries.

2) FPS is no way a sign of quality. lots of cheap guns slap 400 fps on their gun to make it sound better than a TMs' 280-320 fps range. Really, most games would require you to downgrade your fps. If youve ever been shot by a 400 fps gun from 5 feet away, its not fun.

3) i think thats the sale price for the Kraken, they typically run around $150-$180

Will a new spring increase fps? I'm thinking of getting a PDI 120% for this summer, then I will probably upgrade to a systama m100 or 110 for next summer. Are springs hard to install? I have no experience modding airsoft guns and I'm hoping it's fairly easy to do.

Also, would I have to buy a new charger when I get a new batter?And just to make sure I'm not mistaken, this battery would wourk fine in a kraken right? http://velocityarms.ca/index.php?mai...roducts_id=188

Thanks

Yes a spring would increase fps, but I wouldn't buy a new spring. Upgrade the rest of the internals, the parts that break the easiest. Those would be the parts worth spending for, because they would make the gearbox last much longer. A new spring to raise the fps without upgrading the rest will significantly reduce your mechbox's lifespan.

The spring is the last thing that you should consider changing in that gun. Keep the existing spring and worry about making it reliable as some have listed above. At the very least, install metal bushings, shim it and install a new hopup rubber. That alone should increase reliability and accuracy quite significantly.

What is the best place to buy this stuff at? Is it hard to install?

get age verified and you can get parts ,upgrades done here!

buy from www.airsoftparts.ca

You can get video tutorials on the AK at www.mechbox.com

That depends completly on your own mechanical proficiency. Mechboxs, generally, are not hard to understand, but like any other piece of precision machinery you have to install things correctly.

Correct. Mechboxes are actually pretty simple devices. However, they're also very precise. It doesn't take much to throw off the delicate balance, and troubleshooting problems can be a pain in the ass even for an expert gun doc.

I want through all of the things that diamond_SEA told me to get, and I've made a list of things that I should buy in the future as an upgrade, but could any of you tell me if anything on this list won't work with the kraken? Here are links to all of the things on my list.

Grease: http://www.airsoftparts.ca/store2/in...roducts_id=414

Hop-up rubber: http://www.airsoftparts.ca/store2/in...roducts_id=867

Piston: http://www.airsoftparts.ca/store2/in...roducts_id=523

Cylinder head: http://www.airsoftparts.ca/store2/in...roducts_id=775

Piston head: http://www.airsoftparts.ca/store2/in...roducts_id=465

Tightbore: http://www.airsoftparts.ca/store2/in...roducts_id=300

Bushings: http://www.airsoftparts.ca/store2/in...roducts_id=743

Shims: http://www.airsoftparts.ca/store2/in...roducts_id=649

Battery: http://velocityarms.ca/index.php?mai...roducts_id=188

Your help is greatly appreciated.

ya all those parts look good.

If you dont want to spend the money on a G&P grease set, i use silicon grease on the pison, lithium grease on the bushings and gears.

I see no need for a bushing installation tool. i use the end of a rubber coated screwdriver to gently tap the bushings in, but for the mostpart, i find they just drop in with little or no effort.

I hear about problems with madbull tightbores, but i know nothing about it. search it here on ASC and see what comes up

the piston, piston head, and cylinder are something I personally like to upgrade on any lower end guns because i find the O-rings on them sometimes crack and leak easy, but you dont have to do it. Buying a new piston is not absolutely neccessary, but if you worry about cracking a tooth on the stock one, id replace it. Otherwise, its something you can worry about later if you want to save some money.

If your worried about compatibility problems, the Kraken has a Version 3 mechbox, any internal parts that specify they work with a V3 should work. most parts work with both though.

and +1 for airsoftparts.ca its a great company with an amazing reputation. thats where i get all my parts from

Save yourself alot of money and trouble... Get this for a Kraken:

http://www.airsoftparts.ca/store2/in...oducts_id=1062

and this for a M4:

http://www.airsoftparts.ca/store2/in...oducts_id=1060

I'll probably end up getting these things one by one withing the next 9 months instead of buying all at once.

I totally second you on this Amos, but that tuneup kit is more than he's even willing to pay for a gun, let alone the gun and tuneup kit.

Well, he's got 158 dollars worth of mis-matching stuff lined up from ASP.ca, and he'd be using the gun's stock gears (yuck!)

When upgrading a gun... It's really good to use all the same parts, that way you don't run into any tolerance issues in between upgrade parts... This is especially important when upgrading a clone gun... because those things have enough tolerance issues as it is already..

Edit: Also, don't buy a Systema hopup bucking... They're really over-rated. Go for a Guarder clear, they've got some of the best performance at that price level, Also.. Why the 455mm inner barrel? Are you getting an AK or an M4?

455mm inner barrels are for Ak's and M4's are shorter (can't remember the length off hand... 350something I think....)

Yeah, I totally agree. But for the $300+ that would cost, he'd be better off getting himself a JG that would be assloads more reliable out of the box.

But I suspect he's underage anyway so that's not an option.

I switched the hop up rubber on my list, and do you think it would be better to buy a whole bunch of different parts over time, or get that kit in a couple of months?

Also, where can I get a prometheus barrel? From what I've read on here, they're much better than mad bull tightbores.

Amos, I plan on going with the kraken.

How long it takes you to buy it is your choice (one big order saves on shipping!) but you'll want to open your mechbox as few times as possible. I'd personally go with getting the parts at whatever pace you see fit, but wait until you have them all before swapping so you can do it all at once.

do you guys know if the cabalas kraken has the v3 gearbox?

All AKs and AK varients have a version 3 mechbox.

This may sound like a stupid question but where do the bushings and shims go?

Hmm. I'm thinking you should try and meet up with some local players to get them to show you around a mechbox. Trust me, it will be worth it.

Also check out the videos on www.mechbox.com

But to answer your question, the bushings go in the holes on the side of the mechbox. They're the things the gear axles turn in. The shims are very small spacers that go on the gear axles to make sure the gears are spaced properly.

What's the difference between a piston with full teeth and a piston with half teeth?

Ok dude, seriously, you need to start doing some of your own research. Even a simple google picture search would answer that for you... unless your question was what are they used for, because that's actually a good newbie question. Half-teeth pistons are used with helical gearsets. Full teeth pistons are used with normal gears.

There is literally TONS of information on different mechbox components scattered throughout the internet. If you don't know any of this stuff, stick around for a while and READ.

Some suggested sites:
mechbox.com
airsoft retreat
arnies airsoft
airsoft canada

Thanks for the sites, I allready watched the ak dissasembly video and the mechbox dissasembly video on mechbox, and I allready knew the obvious about half tooth and full tooth pistons, I was wondering what they are used for.

I believe the time has come for the hand holding to cease.
Its time to let the new entry level airsofter to try and fly on his own and find his own means.

yjb63, this website has a wealth of information through out its its multiple sections. Please feel free to use the search function to try and find answers to any questions you may have. Although we do have this newbie section for asking questions, many of the questions you have right now have already been answered in the past. Just poke around, Im sure you will find alot of info and enough reading to keep you occupied for a while.