I am that Wes guy everyone has been mentioning. I don't come on ASC much, except to see if their is another Katana for sale in the classifieds.
I have taken the time to tweak my Katana to a point that I do not need to open it up much anymore.
Since owning the gun, I have opened the gear box 3 times in 3ish years, just to clean and inspect everything prior to the opening of the following season.
The main tinkering, after modding the gearbox, is the hop up chamber, RHop and flat arm/nub mod and testing different barrels/lengths.
I have now settled on its current configuration and only need to clean the barrel and cylinder. Which I do before every game.
The accuracy, reliability and ease of maintenance/repair of this gun, makes me never want anything else.
To each their own.
Upgrades:
8mm Ceramic Bearing Bushings
ASCU or BTC Chimera MOSFET
Lonex Titan A1 Motor
Dense foam patch between the hop up and upper receiver
I have used the RHop with the stock hop up unit, custom made unit and Prowin with great results
I have used 363, 370 and 407mm barrel length with great results
I have switched out the Katana stock with a Normal AEG buffer and crane stock assembly
7.4v lips is more than enough for a realistic ROF at 420 fps.
The trigger response is near instant. I can't feel or see the difference between the PTW and Katanas trigger response ( Yes I owned a PTW)
The last game I was with all the PTW gents, I was able to single shot an enemy at 280-300feet.
If you take the time and have the experience with AEG rifles, are handy with the tools and can problem solve. You can make any gun a reliable beast.
What ever you get, I hope it works out for you.
Cheers
Wes