Well, you've got that Tokyo Marui VSR-10 G-spec. You may have had a few upgrades installed by Tyler Woo or have been thinking about what upgrades to install. Perhaps you're the "Do it yourselfer" and wondered what exactly what the various upgrades do for your rifle performance wise. In this article, I will be investigating how the power-plant plays a very important role in a great "Sniper Rifle".

What's the "power-plant" you might ask? The power-plant, simply put, is the cylinder, spring, piston, and cylinder-head in an air-soft rifle. The term "power-plant" is taken from the air-gun industry of which the Air-soft industry is a direct relative. The tuning of the power-plant has a direct influence on how your rifle will perform. There is another type of power-plant. It is the gas powered system which uses a gas (134a, green-gas, CO-2, etc,) and a valve to control the gas release to propel the bb. Between these power-plant systems, the spring powered system is inherently the most stable, isn't affected by temperature, magazine/gas chamber cool down, and gas pressure. The spring-powered power-plant will produce a more consistent bb velocity (fps) and therefore much more accurate then the best gas powered sniper rifle.

The air-soft sniper had only a few expensive spring-powered alternatives to choose from (Maruzen Type-92, APS-2 series, etc.) With the release of the TM VSR-10 G-spec, Tokyo Marui has challenged the normal convention that power is everything! While most upgrade companies chased after the highest fps, Tokyo Marui went after accuracy. Tune the G-spec with a little more power while maintaining its accuracy and you have a very formidable weapon. After all, what good does maximum range have unless you can put the bb to the target?

The G-spec is over a year old now and quite a few after-market parts to improve its performance. Of these after-market producers, Laylax, K&M, and PDI lead the forefront on quality parts to improve the performance level on both power and accuracy.

It has been a privilege, over these past several months to work with Tyler Woo of Impact Games in tuning the G-spec I purchased in early May. During these few months, Tyler and I tuned the G-spec for maximum accuracy (2-6 inch grouping) at ranges of 200-250 ft. After much experimenting, I can say we have achieved my goals. Or at the very least got very close!

Because of the increase of after-market parts from PDI/X-fire, Tyler and I decided to utilize these parts to achieve our goals. That's not to say we used PDI parts exclusively. In the attempt to achieve higher power out-put, Laylax APSII springs were utilized. The parts we will be examining are the heart of the power-plant, the piston and spring combination.

The Test-bed Rifle

1. Tokyo Marui VSR-10 G-spec
2. PDI 554 mm x 6.05 mm Stainless Steel Barrel
3. Tokyo Marui OEM Cylinder
4. PDI +1 Taper Cylinder Head
5. PDI Front Bull Barrel L Flute w/ base
6. PDI V-Trigger set

This is my personal primary weapon. Only the springs and pistons were changed to compare their characteristics.

The Test Pistons and Springs

1. Laylax Piston

2. PDI VC Piston

3. PDI Barikaru VC Piston Comp
4. Laylax APSII 150 SP

The Laylax piston was tested against the PDI pistons because it was one of the first after-market parts released for the G-spec. The Laylax 150 SP produces 430-450 FPS (ASH Limit) when combined w/ the PDI VC Piston and therefore my standard set-up when playing under ASH Rules. I very much like the PDI springs compared to the Laylax springs as the “pull” is much lighter to a comparable Laylax spring producing the same amount of power. The Barikaru Piston is the wild-card of the Pistons being tested. It is purported to produce a very consistent FPS out-put over other pistons due to its lightness combined w/ a vacuum chamber (VC). Although produced from Delrin, a high strength plastic material, there are some reservations as to what maximum spring it will be able to accommodate. As of this writing, I have used the PDI APSII 1.8J with no apparent damage to the piston itself, although the “cushioning “o-ring” on the piston did detach from the face of the piston. That’s easily understandable as it is difficult to glue anything to Delrin Plastic. I suppose we’ll find out through thorough field testing if this piston can withstand abuse associated w/ heavy field use.

Testing Procedures

During the following tests, I will only be using a single spring for every test. The spring we will be utilizing is the Laylax 150 SP for the APSII. Only the piston will be changed to compare their performance. After each piston is installed, we pressure check the piston and cylinder combination to ensure there is a proper seal. The bolt is then installed into the receiver then cycled 20 times to ensure the grease and seals have settled. 10 rounds are then fired so the rifle as a whole may settle. Then, using a Guarder Chrono, we measure the next 10 rounds with the hop-up off.

Test Results

The PDI VC Piston produced a fairly flat fps and thus will produce fairly consistent shot groups.

The Laylax also produced a fairly flat fps across the shot range and also produced a higher fps w/ the same spring. This is because the piston is a bit lighter than the PDI VC Piston and uses the spring’s energy a bit more efficiently.

The Barikaru piston produced the flattest and highest fps of the group! This is due to its light weight combined w/ a VC piston head (PDI’s propriety Vacuum Chamber). This piston uses the spring’s energy very efficiently and the VC Piston Head produce a very flat fps line compared to the other to pistons! This piston will produce a very tight shot group!

Here are the results on a single chart. As you can see, the Barikaru produce the flattest fps in a 10 round test group. The Laylax piston came in second. Finally the PDI VC piston came in third. Both the Laylax as well as the Barikaru piston performed very similarly. The Barikaru is the best performing piston on this comparison test, just beating out the Laylax piston w/ a flatter fps average. In conclusion the Barikaru is the most accurate piston. During some field games, I have made some very long shots using this piston. Still, the Barikaru‘s robustness comes into question. How long the piston will last is questionable. Only time can tell.

As of this article, PDI will soon be releasing their new line of power-plants during the month of September! It is their Precision line of piston/cylinder combination. There will be 2 versions. There will be a standard piston as well as the “VC” version. Hopefully in the future, they will release a Barikaru version! Perhaps I will do a follow up on this pistons performance in a future article! Until then, I’ll be sniping at you at the next skirmish! So keep your head down and keep movin’!