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Introduction:
Airsoft AEG springs are one of the most common upgrades done to an airsoft gun. By upgrading or downgrading the spring an airsoft player is able to adjust their FPS. This allows for either a speed build that uses a very soft or weak spring, or a torque build that uses a very hard or strong spring. The stronger the spring the high the FPS of the BB, the weaker the lower the FPS. The strength of the spring, the BB weight (example: .23 gram BBs), and the hop up all determine the range of the airsoft gun.Types of builds:
Airsoft AEGs focus around three types of builds: The Standard build, the Torque build, and the Speed build.The Standard build is what is found in most stock airsoft guns. It typically uses an M100 to M110 spring, standard or stock ratio gear sets, and a non-speed, non-torque motor. This build is the happy medium between range and high rates of fire. It can produces velocities between 310 and 360 FPS with a .20g BB, and usually has about 15 RPS (Rounds Per Second) on an 8.4v battery.
The Torque build is the most common upgrade path airsofters in the US take. This build maximizes range while sacrificing RPS. It typically uses an M115 to M130 spring but can be made to go higher. It uses Torque or double torque gears and a torque aeg motor. This build is meant to be used over extended distances, against dense brush and on fields. These AEGs fire typically between 360 and 420 FPS but can go higher using a .20g BB. Torque builds often have rates of fire of 15 RPS and below with a 8.4v battery.
Speed builds are optimized for a very high RPS but have to cut down on FPS and range to accommodate the high cyclic rate. They often use M90 to M105 springs and lower. They use high speed gears and a high speed motor that can't pull a strong spring back but can pull weak springs back very fast. These builds are favored in CQB and urban scenarios where range isn't as important as high volume fire. Because of the spring these AEGs fire between 280 and 320 FPS but have 16-24 RPS using an 8.4v battery. The battery is often upgraded as well to a 9.6 or higher adding up to 3 RPS.
Measuring Springs:
Springs are measured in the M system. The M system is the most common and easily referenced system for determining spring power. Originally it was based off of meters per second so an M115 spring should fire at 115 meters per second. Different manufactures use different specifications when making their springs and so the actual velocity can vary and shoot higher or lower from the estimate. To convert meters to feet, multiply the number of meters by 3.28.The M system:
The M system was developed for the first AEGs and exists today because of it's simplicity and the ease with which it is translated to FPS or MPS. Originally, an M100 spring meant: Meters, 100 per second. From that it was easy to find exactly how fast your airsoft gun should be shooting. Since then however, a variety of brands have messed around with the system, labeling an M110 as an M100 to make players think that one brand of spring is better than the rest. The draw back of this system is that different barrel lengths and cylinder cuts will affect your MPS (meters per second) and throw off what the spring should be shooting. Although this problem only really applies to shorter AEGs, as an increase in barrel length will rapidly plateau the increase in fps. This means that after a certain length of barrel, adding a longer barrel will barely affect the fps. The M system is considered the easiest and most relied upon system in use for upgrading airsoft guns.The % system:
The percent system was made in attempt to increase the understanding of the change in power from a stock spring. Rather than focusing on output like the M system, the percent system was based on a stock Tokyo Marui spring, or 100%. From there the increase in power from the stock spring corresponded in the increase of the percent. Thus a 160% spring was more than one and a half times stronger than the stock spring. This system however never corresponded to the FPS of the rifle, and as the fps increased, the percent increase had to increase dramatically. Additionally, the stock spring used varied by companies and either proved vary weak or of normal strength throwing off calculations. This proved to be an inaccurate way of measuring the output or end result of the upgrade, and lead to wildly varying FPS ratings.Special Spring Characters:
Many companies used one or both of the systems and also included a variety of additional symbols that altered the meaning of the rating. M typically stands for Meters and is universal, as is MS for meters second. Examples would be M100 or MS120. SP typically means special and corresponds to a bump in the M rating. So an M100SP is shooting more in the M110 range. Occasionally a specific stage may be mentioned, which does not correspond to any rating. Joule ratings were introduce for Europe which has a maximum joule rating for their airsoft guns (1 joule). Finding the joules an airsoft gun is shooting at is considered the best method for determining the airsoft gun's actual power. Joules are independent of fps and the weight of the BB, and can be determined using any kind of BB, where fps must be done with .20g BBs or the actual rating will be much lower.Most airsoft technicians have enough experience with testing spring strengths to have a feel about how hard a spring is. Often this is the easiest method for gauging upgrades when faced with nameless springs. Note though that if two spring are different widths, and feel to be the same strength the longer one will be stronger. Like wise, testing the part of the spring that is irregular pitch against a part that isn't will throw off which is stronger. Unfortunately, there is no set spring that will give you a set FPS, since FPS is a combination of the barrel length, cylinder length, speed of compression, weight and quality of the BB, and especially the seals throughout. It is best to shoot for a range rather than exactly 400 FPS.
