Madbull X-Factor Piston Review

After several delays my reviews on Madbull's recent AEG upgrade parts are finally coming online.  We already looked at the Ultimate V2 Spring Guide which is a solid product that does what it's supposed to do.  Now I'll be showing you the X-Factor piston - Madbull's new lineup of nylon fiber pistons.  I have here the full tooth model.

First Look

I received this product directly from Madbull for this review.  It came packaged like so.

After opening the box, which includes some information on the product, we get this.  A nice looking reddish piston.  Hey, it almost matches that Ultimate V2 Spring Guide!  As you can see this piston features a fifteen (or sixteen, people count differently) full teeth with the first seven being made out of heat-treated steel.  What I like here is that the teeth are fully supported on both sides, contrary to the piston it is replacing.

The X-Factor piston includes three lubricant grooves on each side which is more efficient than the usual one per side.  It's made out of nylon and fiber, similar to Deep Fire pistons which I've used in the past.  This makes it lighter and softer than usual polycarbonate pistons, allowing it to absorb more impact rather than transmitting it.

Unfortunately this piston does not have the second and third teeth closest to the sector gear removed.  The downside to this is that the sector gear might first engage either the second, third or even fourth tooth instead of the first tooth.  This is known as premature engagement and it can cause a number of problems and failures.  Now I'm going to have to use a sharp blade to remove these two teeth after this review.  Other manufacturers have removed the second tooth already (such as VFC, G&G and SHS) so it would be nice to see everyone do it.  Removing the third tooth as well would be better.  

Finally here is the backside of the piston.  The usual seam line runs down it, and unfortunately there are no ports anywhere on the piston to reduce its weight (known as swiss cheesing to some).  Not many pistons come like this, in fact the only ones that come to mind are the Airsoft Elite skeletal piston and SHS 14 tooth piston.  The X-Factor piston is not terribly heavy however, it feels about the same as the stock ICS polycarbonate piston.

So my first impression of the X-Factor piston is what I expected.  I'm impressed by the decent teeth supporting.  I expected it to be heavier than it really is.  It seems sturdy - after mildly flexing it through a rag with pliers it can move a little but go back to its original shape.  Now lets move onto the installation.

Installation

For this section I'll briefly go over the installation process into the upper mechbox assembly of an ICS M4A1 R.A.S.  Installing pistons might not always go as planned - some may be too fat to fit properly.  We'll see how this one goes... cross your fingers!

First I must access the mechbox.  Since I have an ICS M4, I only have to remove the rear body pin and then I can slide the upper mechbox assembly out of the gun.  You can find more installation details on mechbox.com if you need them.

Ah, here's that potmetal mechbox.  Lets open that sucker up.  All I need is a Phillips screw driver and a hex key for the rear screw.  Here we have a bunch of stock ICS parts, with the exception of the Madbull Ultimate V2 spring guide I reviewed not so long ago.

We can see here that the Madbull piston looks considerably better than the stock ICS one.  No, I'm not referring to the color aspect.  I'm referring to the fact that only the first metal tooth on the ICS piston is supported, while all of them are supported on the Madbull.  The X-Factor piston also has three lubricant grooves instead of one as well as a more solid feel.

To remove the stock piston I had to twist off the piston head and then remove the spring assembly, which has a little metal end cap which is what the piston head attaches to.  After doing this, I install the spring and end cap into the Madbull X-Factor piston like so.

The next step is to twist on the piston head.  We'll be using a stock ICS polycarbonate piston head which has a nice o-ring seal, but no ports.

Now I install the cylinder assembly, followed by the piston assembly.  I did not bother polishing the piston tracks on the mechbox casing. 

After compressing the spring I then clamped the mechbox shell together and re-installed the screws.  Now we're finished with the mechbox assembly.

The Madbull X-Factor piston fit into the ICS mechbox with no issues, so now there's only one thing left to do... performance testing.

Testing

The test setup for the Madbull X-Factor piston is as follows.

• ICS M4A1 R.A.S. AEG
• High Current T-Plugs (knockoff Deans)
• 25A automotive fuse assembly
• Extreme-fire SW-S MOSFET
• SHS high speed motor with gold plated connectors
• SHS 16:1 gears
• Stock alloy 6mm bushings
• Element trigger switch assembly with silver plated wire (I believe 18AWG teflon wire)
• Madbull Ultimate V2 Spring Guide
• Stock spring (about M100 - M105)
• Madbull X-Factor Piston
• Stock ICS polycarbonate piston head
• Stock ICS brass type-1 cylinder
• Stock ICS polycarbonate cylinder head
• Stock ICS polycarbonate air nozzle
• Stock ICS hop-up bucking and inner barrel

This test weapon fires at approximately 350 FPS and 25-27 RPS with 0.20g BBs and an Intellect 9.6v 2000mah Ni-MH battery.  I will be firing approximately 10,000 BBs through it, making avid but not excessive use of fully automatic.  After doing this, I opened up the mechbox to inspect the piston.

Here is the piston after the testing.  After wiping off some of the gunk that it may have picked up from the mechbox's piston rails and cylinder, we can see that the teeth are in perfect condition.  Do keep in mind that this was only done at 350 FPS and 25-27 RPS.  I will be putting it through more tests over time as I continue to upgrade my gun, which I hope to have shooting at around 400 FPS and 35 RPS soon.  Compared to the stock ICS piston, there is no noticeable wear however I only use the ICS piston in stock configuration (350 FPS and 15-16 RPS).  So I must say here, job well done.

Conclusion

The Madbull X-Factor piston performed well and lived up to my expectations.  It has a moderate weight, similar to the stock piston, and came out after 10,000 rounds at 350 FPS and 25-27 RPS looking brand new.  It didn't damage any other mechbox either due to its moderate weight.  I'll be using this piston as I tweak my gun even more.

• Build Quality: The Madbull X-Factor piston is strong, has moderate weight, features three lubricant grooves, and includes seven heat-treated steel teeth.  In addition to this, all of the teeth are fully supported on both sides.  However I'll take off a half point because of the fact that the 2nd and 3rd teeth closest to the sector gear are not removed, increasing probability of premature engagement.  4.5/5
• Performance: The piston came out with no noticeable wear, and it didn't damage any other parts.  The test weapon's rate of fire was not affected since there isn't much of a weight difference between the stock piston and Madbull piston.  5/5
• Value: Airsplat has both X-Factor pistons listed at $20, which is the same as the Ultimate V2 Spring Guide I just reviewed.  Just like with Madbull's spring guide, this price is higher than many other options out there although it isn't the most expensive piston either.  I think I'll go with a 3.5/5, considering the results shown by others with sub $10 SHS pistons in extremely demanding setups.  Decent but not great value here.
• Overall: Averaging the above scores, we get a total of 4.33/5

PROS

• Strong nylon fiber build quality
• Not too heavy
• Three lubricant grooves
• Seven heat-treated steel teeth
• All teeth are fully supported on both sides

CONS

• Does not omit 2nd and 3rd teeth to reduce chances of premature engagement
• Doesn't include ports anywhere to further reduce weight
• Price is higher than other tried and true pistons

Madbull Ultimate V2 Spring Guide Review

After tedious delays due to weapon malfunctioning, I've finally gotten the review up on some awesome new Madbull AEG upgrade parts.  First we will be looking at the Ultimate V2 Spring Guide.

First Look

I received this part directly through Madbull for this review.  As you can see it comes in a clear plastic bag and is very straightforward.  This spring guide is easily recognizable by its pinkish color.  Now let's get a better look at the product itself.

There it is, a pinkish ball bearing spring guide constructed out of CNC machined anodized aluminum making it lightweight yet far more sturdy than stock plastic parts.  The guide shaft is actually than thinner than usual, allowing it to accommodate any type of AEG spring and making it easier for the spring and piston to compress.

Here it is at another angle.  The shaft and top plate are made out of a single piece of aluminum, increasing rigidity and allowing for full decompression.  At the top are ball bearings, allowing the spring to spin freely.

Here is a shot of the top plate with ball bearings, which spins on its own very easily with little friction.  Now lets compare it to the part it will be replacing, an ICS plastic spring guide.

As you can see the ICS spring guide has no bearings, it's plastic and the shaft may be a tiny bit thicker.  Plastic spring guides are not desirable for the long term especially with high FPS setups.

Installation

Now we'll move onto installing the Madbull Ultimate V2 spring guide into an AEG.  The test setup is the following.

• ICS M4A1 R.A.S. Full Metal AEG
• High Current T Plugs (knockoff Deans)
• 25A automotive fuse
• Extreme-fire SW-S MOSFET 
• SHS high speed motor with gold motor connectors
• SHS 16:1 gearset
• Stock 6mm alloy bushings
• Element V2 switch assembly w/ silver plated wire (I believe 18AWG teflon wire)
• Stock ICS spring guide and Madbull Ultimate V2 spring guide
• Stock spring (roughly an M100)
• Stock ICS polycarbonate piston and non-ported piston head
• Stock cylinder/cylinder head assembly and air nozzle
• Stock bucking & inner barrel

Installation is quite simple.  First I need to access the upper mechbox shell of the weapon (doesn't apply to normal AEGs with a single piece gearbox).

Now I will remove all of the screws (Phillips screws except for the back one which is a hex screw) and open the mechbox.  Once open, I simply remove the piston assembly with the spring attached and swap out spring guides.  Please refer to mechbox.com or similar videos for mechbox disassembly, if you're not familiar with it.

After this is done I must compress the spring and re-assemble the mechbox.

After I assembled the mechbox and the weapon, I moved onto testing.  

Testing

Now obviously a durability test is out of the question - no way I can destroy even a plastic spring guide with a ~350 FPS gun.  What I did test was FPS consistency with my Palco Sports Swiss Arms chronograph, and the results are as follows after firing ten shots with each spring guide.

Stock ICS Plastic Spring Guide: High 354 FPS, Low 341 FPS, Average 347.5 FPS

Madbull Ultimate Spring Guide Version 2: High 353 FPS, Low 344 FPS, Average 348.5 FPS

As you can see the result of the Madbull bearing spring guide is slightly improved FPS consistency.  Previous deviation was 13 FPS but now it is 9 FPS.  With a metal spring guide I can also safely increase the FPS of my gun, which I plan to do in the future.  Plus with a bearing spring guide installed the spring will have less stress, thus improving its lifespan.  A metal bearing spring guide is a necessity for anyone looking to upgrade their AEG especially if they are making a high powered long range weapon, and the Madbull Ultimate V2 Spring Guide certainly does what it's supposed to do.

Conclusion

The Madbull Ultimate V2 Spring Guide has earned the following scores.

• Build Quality: Being made with a single piece anodized CNC machined aluminum shaft and top plate, and completed by a set of ball bearings, you can't exactly find any flaws in the build quality.  Therefore the Madbull Ultimate V2 spring guide receives a 5/5
• Performance: The Madbull Ultimate V2 spring guide improved FPS consistency and it will reduce tension on the spring, doing exactly what a bearing spring guide is supposed to do.  5/5
• Value: Looking at pricing, I see the Madbull Ultimate V2 spring guide listed at about $20.  This is not as expensive, but you can find other metal bearing spring guides for a lower cost such as ARS, Super Shooter, SHS and Modify to name a few.  4/5
• Overall: Averaging the above scores, the Madbull Ultimate V2 Spring Guide scores a 4.67/5

Pros

• Solid build quality with the shaft and top plate made out of a single piece of aluminum
• Ball bearings included, reducing tension on the spring
• May improve FPS consistency by a small margin

Cons

• Price is on the high side for metal bearing spring guides

Madbull Sling Adapter QD Swivel Review

Madbull is a name widely recognized in the airsoft world for their variety of products, including grenades and grenade launchers as well as various external and internal upgrade parts.  Thanks to Madbull airsoft, today we're looking at one of their smaller external accessories - the SA03 which is a sling adapter with a quick detach swivel.

As you can see there are three models available - the SA01, SA02 and SA03.  The SA01 is a fixed mount with a horizontal loop while the SA02 is a fixed mount with a vertical loop.  We're looking at the SA03 which includes a QD swivel adapter.  The specifications are listed below.

• Aluminum T6 6061 metal construction
• Quick-detach design
• Matte black finish
• Steel mounting screw
• 100% made in Taiwan to the highest standards
• Fits picatinny MIL-STD-1913 rails
• Slim profile design
• Quick-detach sling swivel included

So this product is constructed out of aluminum to keep weight down, with a steel mounting screw for durability.  It attaches to any standard picatinny rail and includes a QD sling swivel so it's quite a universal sling adapter.  Now lets take a closer look at the product and its packaging.

As far as packaging goes, this sling swivel includes no surprises.  It's inside a sealed bag and on the opposite side you'll find an image and short description of the SA01, SA02 and SA03.  Opening the packaging reveals the hard anodized aluminum sling adapter and QD swivel.  It's considerably lighter than the sling mounts on my M4.

The swivel rotates in place and works like any swivel.  To remove it, press down on the button and then unscrew it with your fingers.  The adapter and swivel come pre-installed to a picatinny rail adapter.

The picatinny rail mount utilizes a flat head steel screw which works with small or large flat head screw drivers.  This is how I will be installing it onto my ICS M4A1 R.A.S. AEG.

To install it onto a picatinny rail, simply loosen this screw, attach it to the picatinny rail and then tighten the screw with a flat head screw driver.  If you want to mount it to a gun without a picatinny rail, you can use the included sling swivel.

Now it's attached to the bottom picatinny rail on my M4's R.A.S. unit.

One thing I noticed is that the paint scratches off quite easily with a screw driver or key, but not with your fingers.  However if you have it installed in such a way that the sling mount flaps around and hits a part of the gun, you will lose some paint over time.  Thankfully it isn't mounted in such a way - the sling mount is clear of any obstructions aside from my M4's connector.  Now lets install a UTG 3-point sling onto it.

Thanks to the picatinny rail mount on the Madbull SA03 sling adapter/swivel, I can now remove the triangle front sight post and pre-installed sling adapter and switch to a longer R.I.S. unit, while not losing my front sling mount.  This product is a great accessory for any rifle in need of a sling - whether it needs a front or rear sling mount.  It can be mounted onto virtually any gun thanks to the QD swivel and picatinny rail mounts.  Now it's time to sum up this review with a list of pros and cons and then a final score.

PROS

• Universal mounting options - sling swivel stud or picatinny rail options
• Full metal construction - combination of aluminum and steel for light weight and durability

CONS

• Paint scratches off rather easily

The only website I've found this product listed at is albertaairsoft for $35 although it should become widely available in the near future.  

Careful...

This is another post regarding airsoft.  To those who don't know, most replica AR magazines are slightly shorter than the real 30 round STANAG magazines.  The only exceptions I know of are the ICS 450 round hi-cap and G&G 450 round hi-cap.  I wanted to find a full size mid cap mag and I found the ECHO 1 Extended 120 round mid capacity magazine.  Very interesting product, I must say...

What a long mag!  It's also grey which is a nice contrast in my opinion.  Here it is next to an ICS 450 round hi-cap - it's about a half inch longer.

Why so long?  Why that's because it's based on a 40 round magazine.  So for what it is, it's actually too short.  It's made out of metal although it seems like thinner metal than my ICS magazine, but I suppose it's robust enough.  It has nice trademarks on the side.

The bottom shows a Noveske trademark.  That's funny... looking on their website I don't see a 40 round magazine anywhere.

Here are two more shots of it in the gun.

So it looks nice... but how is the functionality?  Well I have one word for that... horrible.  They advertise it as a 120 round mid cap but it only holds 75.  To drive my point even further, it jams all the time.  Don't blame the BBs... they're made by the same company - ECHO 1.  And the properties of their BBs are very nice.  You'd think they'd test their own magazines with their own BBs right?  Even if it does not jam and you get to run one o these through your gun, it will not feed the last 15-20 BBs.  So this "120 round magazine" is only good for 55-60 rounds, about half of what it is rated for.  This might be a lemon but either way don't bother with it, it's not an accurate representation of it's real-life counterpart.  I need to get some JG quickwind mags...

I also got to try out a Mad Bull blue bucking, made of 60 degree rubber.  So it's nice and soft... softer than usual 70-90 degree buckings although not as soft as Guarder's clear 50 degree one.  But buckings this soft are a PAIN to install... so much so that I gave up on it.  The thing just stretched out too much and blocked the C-clip from installing property.  To hell with it.  Looking at the bucking though I'm sure it would have made a nice upgrade... it's softer so it can give a more crisp backspin on the BB and the better contact with the BB would definitely help.  I might try again one day but not any time soon.

I also got my SHS 16:1 gears and SHS high speed motor.  My pics of the motor disappeared but I have some pics of the gears.

The shimming is still off however, as the ROF of the gun has not changed.  I hate shimming...