I have finally built my own AEG from the ground up.
It used to be my old Well M4, the cheap Chinese knock off gearbox in a springer body.

It was entirely plastic except for the trigger, trigger group pin, the screws, the 1913 rail, and the screws. Comparing it with the other M4 and M16's I have it shows up as an eyesore almost, holding the front end with zip ties and duct tape. In some spots it was coming apart so readily that I had to use epoxy and glue!

I've completely replaced the body with mostly Echo 1/JG parts, some D-Boys metal pieces, MadBull tight bore, Systema hop up with Guarder bucking. I've stripped and replaced the majority of the gearbox, keeping only the shell itself.

Despite the horrid petroleum-based jelly they used internally the gearbox and shims themselves are pretty good. Metallurgical testing shows a Rockwell hardness of "B" making it stronger than, say, aluminum. I bet it's cheap untreated steel, but that's good enough since I wasn't going over an M100 anyway.

Using some Classic Army original gears, standard ratio, ICS lithium grease 80/20 mix with molybdenum. An ICS spare nylon/polymer piston, with type 1 cylinder, echo 1 nozzle and tappet plate. I've replaced most of the springs with Systema steel springs and a MadBull trigger. The trigger guard is a really nice one from D-Boy, really comfy.

I'm outfitting it with a PEQ2 box and an 8.4 1100mA battery (with an M100, it'll last long enough for a full day of CIMM action). A Tokyo Marui front end completes the piece with custom 16AWG wiring a la Chazbot. I like the TM front end (everything past the receiver, including the slip ring) more than really any of the other ones from CA or Echo 1 or JBU - it just looks right. Shown here is a scavenged ICS handguard.

I've also installed a D Boys ambidextrous trigger and hand crafted my own fake bolt plate with tin shears and a few well placed hammer blows.

Replaced the weak retaining spring with a real steel leaf spring (modified to fit of course, now the damn thing evokes swearing when trying to disconnect the battery) which makes the front end 10 times more secure.

I'll always have this replica handy as a loaner in case someone needs to borrow one. I've definitely gotten way to much into building and modifying airsoft gear - good thing I'm not married, ha ha.
