Gun does not shoot straight

[Slacker]

I got a Prometheus tightbore for my ICS M4 not too long ago, and when I was changing out the old stock one for the new upgraded one, that little black rubber tube fell out of the hop up assembly. Well I figured out where it goes and got it back in a couple days later, so my up/down function of my hop up is working now, but now my gun is very inconsistent. Sometimes it curves left, sometimes to the right, and sometimes it curves up, sometimes down, and sometimes a combination. Any ideas as to what my problem is? It's a brand new tightbore, which should be more accurate and I can tell that it's getting more range from it, but it's just being really inconsistent. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
~Slacker

[Rico]

Your rubber tube just fell out? That is your hop up sleeve. Take it apart and inspect the rubber for dirt/debris as well as any damage/tears.

Edit: whoops, meant sleeve. Misread his post. Advice is the same tho

[trufret]

he could aslo be talking about the little rubber bumper that pushes down on the bucking when the hop-up is adjusted. anyway seconded taking it apart and giving it a once over and putting it back together.

[Mantelope]

The big rubber tube that the BBs travel through is called the hopup sleeve. The little tiny section of rubber hose that is used as a buffer between the sleeve and the hopup lever is called the bucking. When you reinstalled the bucking, it's possible you put it in sideways or diagonally, check to see if that's the problem.

Clean your barrel. could be dirt or a burr
silicon spray
lube the shit outta your barrel and empty a mag

[CDN_Stalker]

Tightbores also make hop up adjustment really sensitive. That could be the problem as well. Good thing you noticed the bucking fall out and got it back in. I'd check it a second time as well to make sure it didn't shift at all.

Good addition to a tightbore? The Guarder 50% (clear) hop up sleeve & bucking. Airsoft Kelowna has them for the best price around, $9.95 plus shipping. They are probably the best rubber you can get. I have one in my MP5 (shoots within +/- 3fps each time and can get nice 1" groups at 30ft in my basement) and one in my M24 sniper rifle. I tend to buy them every 6 months or so to keep 'em fresh in my guns. Also handy to have spare buckings around since, as yo ufound out, they are mischievious little buggers that like to sneak out when you aren't looking! :P

[Slacker]

Yea, it was the bucking that fell out, but I got it back in and adjusted the hop up around a bit b4 putting the inner barrel back in to seat the bucking, so I don't know.

I thought it may be the need of silicone spray, but I'd have to go to my friend's house to get that cuz I don't have any, so it would be a couple days until I could get over there.

I'll check the hop up sleeve and the bucking again to make sure they're clean, but I'm already sure they are cuz they've never been anywhere other than on my bed, which is clean and dirt-free.

And on the ICS guns there is an o-ring at the end of the actual hop up assembly between that and the inner barrel, would it make it inconsistent if it wasn't perfectly straight or something, perhaps making an unbalanced air seal? Just a thought...

[CDN_Stalker]

Question unasked: What range are you experiencing these inconsistancies at? 30ft?150ft? Might help us to figure it out.

[Slacker]

Hmmm, not sure actually, probably around 50 feet or so, that's just a guess though.

[pinoyboy]

I'm having a similar problem as well. My TM G36 is not very accurate, usually curving to the right, and setting the hop up really doesn't help. I'm going to replace the hop up with the guarder 50%. Hopefully that will help.

[CDN_Stalker]

Could be in either case, that the barrel sits loosely (not installed properly) or is installed and is canted to one side or the other. Open up, try a few times to see if things stay the same or change.

[Goldman]

are you sure tha the gap for the hop up is lined up straight wit hte bucking? sometimes have the barrel slightly twisted in one direction or the other will cause un-even hop up pressure, causing poor accuracy.

[Kampfer]

Originally Posted by Goldman

are you sure tha the gap for the hop up is lined up straight wit hte bucking? sometimes have the barrel slightly twisted in one direction or the other will cause un-even hop up pressure, causing poor accuracy.

yes this is very common cause for a BB to "curve" left or right. You may have stretched/deformed the sleeve when you pulled out or push in the barrel. You should not feel any resistance when you push the barrel with the hopup sleeve into the hopup unit.

Also look through the nozzle side of the hopup unit to make sure the hopup sleeve’s lip is a perfect circle and not pushed into an oval shape.
different hopup sleeve have different thickness and the outer diameter of aftermarket barrel may also vary by very little.

if nothing works then just switch back to the stock barrel for now.

[CDN_Stalker]

Try this: Hold the gun upside down, COMPLETELY unloaded, and do a couple quick bursts while watching the nozzle move back & forth in the loading tube. When it rests in the open (back) position, put it on safe, grab a flashlight and look down the barrel from the muzzle end, shining the flashlight into the magwell. You should be able to see the bucking sticking into the barrel. Raise the hop up fully, then go fully the other direction to see if it's moving through it's full range. This will also tell you if it's crooked (to a point of course, slightly off to one side or the other will be difficult to tell).

This is probably the easiest by far to confirm what might be going on. Maybe your hop up is set full all the time and is causing all your problems. Another way to see if you can achieve the hop up completely off is to turn it all the way down, load a mag of BBs into it and fire a couple shots on semi. If your hop up is working, a single BB will fall right out of your barrel. Turn the hop up on a bit, the BBs won't fall out.

[Slacker]

I'll try that, thanks.

And I did have the problem pretty much fixed, with the BB's going in a steady stream one after another w/o much of any grouping. However, there was a lot of wind to the right, in the direction that the BB's were all curving, but I'm not sure if it was just the wind or if they were curving in that direction. But the other day I went over to my friends house and shot it some, and the BB's were in a huge grouping, not accurate at all. Then I sprayed it with some silicone oil and put a mag of BB's thru it, but never got any better than it was before. Any ideas as to what's going on now with my inconsistencies, even though it was working very well just the other day?

And my hop up is at least working because I have control over the up and down of the BB's, but their shooting in a pretty big grouping and just not accurate at all, even for a factory barrel and I'm using a tightbore.