Did Airsoft GI lie about my gun, or is it goofed up?

[captainkirk05]

For peace of mind and troubleshooting, I chrono'd my new SR12 once more at a shop. 385 fps each shot with .20g. Airsoft GI's chrono report paper they sent, after I asked them to ensure that what they sent performed as advertised, read 396 fps average. It's been on the low side since day one. I finely cleaned the hop up and barrel (soapy water, rinse, dry), and ensured hop up was always off.

Soooo, does anyone have an idea as to where the few fps disappeared to?

[SteevoLS]

You're chrono'ing about 3% lower than they did. That's a piddling difference. Their chrono could have been off, or yours. Alternatively, the spring may have settled a little bit.

Long story short: 396 vs 385 = essentially no difference, and nothing is wrong.

[captainkirk05]

While I understand there is little performance difference between the two, it does jump at you when you are the one who has laid out almost $400 for a gun that is widely advertised for it's consistency to shoot at 400 fps, in rare cases in the 390's, and when you specifically ask the seller to check that it fulfills those claims before sending it to you.

Let's say you bought a Ferrari claiming to run at no less than 300 mph, so you could compete in races against another guy's same model Ferrari running at 300 mph, but found out your car's max speed is 290 mph. You would be wanting to chat with the car dealers making those 300 mph claims I guarantee.

It's a matter of getting what you paid for. But honestly, before dealing with the headache of warranty this and that, or just giving up and living with it, I was looking for any common occurences that can happen to guns to tweak their fps by just a bit.

[Gerbilizer]

You could buy a higher power spring and install it.

[SteevoLS]

Every single retailer on the internet probably pads their numbers to the nearest 10. Your gun comes with a M120 spring, or 120 meters per second with a .20g BB. That amounts to 393.7FPS assuming that compression has no effect. For a gun to be shooting 385 with a M120 is perfectly normal, and to be expected.

Your KWA works fine, and works like every other factory KWA with that spring. For all you know, the guy who chrono'd it at AirsoftGI forgot to decompress the spring when it was boxed up to ship to you.

You probably have also not considered the fact that almost all airsoft chrono's are horribly imprecise and cheaply made. What chronograph are you using? A Madbull chrono might read a gun to be shooting 430/.20g, whereas an XCortech might read the same gun shoot 370/.20g. If you're not using the exact same chronograph that the other guy was using (and I do mean the same one... not just the same model) you can not be guaranteed the same result.

[captainkirk05]

Good point. Well it may be a good thing it's a bit low, if it's due to something other than the spring. Considering I'm putting in an M130 soon, I would hate to bump over 400 w/.25 and have to be semi only.
The compressed spring during shipping has been on my mind as well, but I've heard it takes a while for fps to drop from that...

First chrono was the one at Redfox last week, 347 w/.25. Drove to Battlecats yesterday, they had a Madbull chrono, which read 385 w/.20. Well at least I know the gun is consistent, that has to count for something.

[SteevoLS]

What it counts for is that it's working fine.

[captainkirk05]

I talked with KWA customer service just to get their take. Surprisingly the minor issue is covered under warranty. The question is, do I want to pay $20 to ship it to them...

[marpat96]

If I were you, I'd just hold onto it. It shoots fine I assume, and probly has good range. Why ship it back?

[SteevoLS]

It's not even an issue! You're wasting your time, and if you ship it back you're wasting your money.

[Echo1 Operator]

I think the real issue here is that you paid $400 for a goofy looking M16 with a rail.

[Star_folder]

It's not even an issue! You're wasting your time, and if you ship it back you're wasting your money.

^

You're being too picky about your gun, this happens all the time, and is a normal, regular occurrence.

[captainkirk05]

I've thought it out and think I'll hold on to it. Thanks for everyone's input. I do realize I am picky. I've just been on a picky quest to achieve picky results since they have seemed readily available.
But yeah, 5 fps for $20, I'll pass now that I think about it. If the gun explodes in my hands I may change my mind though.

[marpat96]

It won't explode, you'll be fine. You bought a very good and reliable gun, you can't go wrong.

[captainkirk05]

Sorry to correct you marpat96. My "reliable gun" just had the stock magazine crap out on me... It won't wind up bb's for more than 2 to 10 shots now, giving me tons of dry fires and jams. So it looks like the gun really is going back now. Good thing I got a shipping discount to send it back, UPS was going to charge me $76 to mail it to California (no way Jose).