Hi guys, this is Tang with Fox Airsoft. I’m here to share another set of tech tips. This time, we’re talking about using AEGs in the cold. The cold weather is a tricky beast and can affect your AEGs, gas guns, and anything that relies on rubber seals, and that does not exclude HPA.
Here in Colorado, we see all four seasons and try to play year-round as best we can. We’ll see hot summers as well as below-freezing temperatures, so I want to talk about tips for using your AEGs in cold weather. I'm not a native of Colorado myself, so I have had to adapt how I play when it gets cold and snowy outside.
Starting with the power source, we’re going to talk about batteries. Batteries of all kinds do not perform well in the cold, so you’ll notice that your batteries will not last nearly as long. Your best way to work around it is to carry more batteries, especially conventional NiMH batteries. Using LiPo batteries could give you the extra oomph needed to run your gun at a comfortable pace, and this is due to the higher discharge rate on tap. In the automotive world, people in colder climates must buy better batteries because their cars might not crank with a basic and cheap battery. To keep your batteries from getting too cold, you could get creative with hand warmers, such as stowing them in your gear or in your pockets where some of your body warmth may keep them ready. Just be careful about how you do that because you don't want to cook your batteries, either!
Next, we’ll talk about the guns themselves. The cold does many things to the internal components of metal and rubber. Some airsoft guns, such as those by ICS, feature some of the most heavily reinforced gearbox shells and can handle this with no problem. For standard guns, just be mindful of playing in below-freezing temps or have a winter gun that you don’t mind running just for the season, as the cold does contribute to wear and tear. Temps of 10 degrees Fahrenheit or below can take a toll on your gearbox. If you ever talk to European players who see colder temps regularly than we do, they’ll agree that you have to live with this if you play in freezing temps.
You might expect fluctuations in your FPS. This is because the seals in your AEG, namely the piston o-ring, might constrict in the cold weather, leading to a poor air seal. Your gun will probably behave as before if it should warm back up. Nothing could prevent this, but if you shoot a few rounds out of your gun, the friction from the piston o-ring to the cylinder warms it back, and the gun will start to get better sealed again. In terms of your gun functioning, your gun will still run regardless of this. This is also not readily obvious, so it’s not a deal breaker, and you can work through it. Before the round starts on a game, you could cycle your gun (empty a few times) to counteract that and then load it. Do NOT do this in the staging area at your field.
Another rubber component that is not like the cold is sometimes the bucking. The bucking is responsible for backspin, thus giving you more range with your BBs. The rubber could freeze up or wear out sooner due to the constantly changing temps, which dries it up and creates too much friction. Though you might not experience it when you play, you may, at some point, need to replace your bucking. For guns, I run frequently throughout the year. I like to do it every year during the change of the cold season because I expect this to happen. This would be a good excuse for you to learn how to change that part because it is a worn item regardless of temperature. Perhaps I’ll do a simple video for you Version 2 M4 people out there since that is the most common and easiest platform to work on.
That covers the aspects of what is affected in an AEG in cold weather. Playing in the cold is not that big of an issue, and you’ll be able to overcome those problems with the tips we gave you today. AEGs, in general, can still cycle due to the lack of required compressed air or gasses that react to extreme cold temps.
Do you have any stories or experience using an AEG in cold weather? Comment below or shoot us an e-mail. As tech and new techniques are discovered, we like to revisit old topics and add to them to enhance the knowledge base available to our readers.
