Ballistic wise it's the same. It's the 6mm ball.

Wanting a system that replicates a real firearm...then that is the role of a GBB.

 

While it's ballistically the same once the BB leaves the barrel you can, and most likely will, get large swings of velocity between the first and last shots from a mag. That makes it significantly harder to get consistent accuracy from a GBB.
Performance in various climates suffers as well since the power source of a GBBR is so temperature sensitive.

Airsoft guns will only fill the role of a Blue Gun if you are looking at emulating a real firearm.
There are too many unique problems with all airsoft systems and there is no way to get even close to the feel of firing a real firearm with an airsoft gun, however, just about every firearm platform has an airsoft equivalent so if it's your intention it can be used to practice weapon manipulation and handling drills with a great degree of skill overlap.

Depends how you want to play. A m4 aeg has thousands of aftermarket parts. So if it breaks you can fix it, a aeg mag can hold much more than a gbb mag.

However a gbb is much more fun to shoot, some hpa tap their gbb and add drum mags or aeg mags so that they can compete against an aeg with a larger mag. Depending on the gbb parts can be harder to find. But let's say you pick a decent hicapa, hundreds of aftermarket parts exist for it so you'll likely be able to run it for a very long time before having to replace it.

Gbb typically are easier to break down and repair. By just bringing a o ring kit, a spare nozzle and hop up rubber you will be able to repair it most the time, and within 15 minutes.

An aeg will require a small parts box if something breaks. And if your experienced a repair would take about 20 to 40 minutes depending on what happened.

There are also rifles like the Tippmann m4, it can be setup to take a co2 line and then just use aeg m4 mags. It has a recoil kit and Tippmann customer support from what I've heard is very good.

GBB's have a large aftermarket for parts. Not as numerous as Tokyo Marui-pattern AEG's, but enough for viable upgrade options to exist for most platforms.
A lot of stock parts aren't bad either. I've got stock WE GBBR nozzles and O rings that are several years old with 20,000-30,000 cycles on them and no issues. My KJW M9 from 2014 has over 5,000 cycles and all the stock parts are holding up without wear.

I've never seen any value in HPA tapping a GBB. It adds a tube to the whole setup, the drum mags are very heavy and the cost of the tank, regulator, new drum and fittings tend to be the same if not more than some aftermarket tuning parts and a handful of factory mags for your platform.

A decent HiCappa from Tokyo Marui or KJW will last a very long time without needing any aftermarket parts.
A large swath of GBBP parts exist because there is a very large airsoft IPSC scene in Asia, and with that comes the market for people to trick out their rigs with gamer parts ("Gas Pedal" thumb rest for one) because those parts can help in their competitions, but for most airsofters they are not relevant to the longevity of their setups because you can get some really robust GBBP's from brands like Tokyo Marui and KJW for cheap.

GBB's are a little easier to fix, but IME you will run into issues far more often then an AEG.
My stock G&G CM 16 lasted 20,000 BB's before I started getting parts breaking, my WE M4's get about 2,000 cycles before I need to check the trigger mechs or re-do the seals in a couple mags.
Most repairs can go quick if you have a full set of replacement parts, but even after running GBBR's for 8 years I don't have a full set of parts for any one of mine. I just have a secondary GBBR to pickup if one goes down.

AEG repair can take quite a while unless you luck out and only have "the problem". Most failures are because of a bunch of "a problem"-s that take a couple gearbox openings to fix. But again, IME those issues happen far, far less often an AEG than a GBB.

 

What are the benefits between AEG's & GBB's? Like is they're any difference with performance/accuracy also how easy is it to maintain them? Also what's the fun factor between the too as well?

Depends how you want to play. A m4 aeg has thousands of aftermarket parts. So if it breaks you can fix it, a aeg mag can hold much more than a gbb mag.

However a gbb is much more fun to shoot, some hpa tap their gbb and add drum mags or aeg mags so that they can compete against an aeg with a larger mag. Depending on the gbb parts can be harder to find. But let's say you pick a decent hicapa, hundreds of aftermarket parts exist for it so you'll likely be able to run it for a very long time before having to replace it.

Gbb typically are easier to break down and repair. By just bringing a o ring kit, a spare nozzle and hop up rubber you will be able to repair it most the time, and within 15 minutes.

An aeg will require a small parts box if something breaks. And if your experienced a repair would take about 20 to 40 minutes depending on what happened.

There are also rifles like the Tippmann m4, it can be setup to take a co2 line and then just use aeg m4 mags. It has a recoil kit and Tippmann customer support from what I've heard is very good.

 

Yeah owning two GBB pistols I seem to find them easy to work on when I need to. Also I've been looking at the Tippman M4 lineup but can't find their latest GBB offerings. I just figured AEG's would be a pain in the butt to work with specially the gear box & motor parts.

 

I see where you are coming from but i still feel like GBBRs are still more basic when it comes to teching. An AEG has more fail points. If a GBB breaks you usually know right away what is wrong. I have seen too many AEG problems that just couldn't be figured out because of gear timing or incompatible nozzle or a million other possibilities.
Yes a well made GBBR does not have to be made out of metal, but then Tokyo Marui plastic AEGs exist too so well made guns are beside the point.

 

I see where you are coming from but i still feel like GBBRs are still more basic when it comes to teching. An AEG has more fail points. If a GBB breaks you usually know right away what is wrong. I have seen too many AEG problems that just couldn't be figured out because of gear timing or incompatible nozzle or a million other possibilities.

You are comparing apples and oranges because you are talking about simply replacing parts in gas guns vs troubleshooting modified AEGs. No stock gun that is working within its design parameters should have problems with gear timing or incompatible nozzles. If you wanted to get technical with modified gas guns, you could talk about sear reshaping or playing with valve knocker lock reset timing to tune gas consumption, which - just like AEGs - require a comprehensive understanding of the system in order to modify and/or troubleshoot successfully and safely.

I had a hard time learning about gas guns in the beginning because there was no comprehensive system function article or animations on how they work, but now I (and probably you) consider them relatively simple systems. I come from an electronics and RC hobby background so AEGs were simple for me but back in the day they were just as complex to me as you find them now. Just because there are fewer failure points does not necessarily mean it is easier to fix - finding a mechanic for a Mazda rotary engine is much more difficult than say a Chevy pushrod V8.

Yes a well made GBBR does not have to be made out of metal, but then Tokyo Marui plastic AEGs exist too so well made guns are beside the point.

I only brought it up because you did. I am well aware of this, and three of my favorite long guns are plastic bodied (G&G and GHK, not even Marui).

 

AEGs v. GBBs:

I would've thought this thread would have a lot more traction. Is there an AEG vs GBB super-thread somewhere?

I've only just returned to the hobby after a brief stint in the mid-2000s with only a Umarex MP5 and a CO2 blowback-pistol in my arsenal back then. I've since re-dipped my toes in the water and as you can see in my sig, I've got some of each: AEGs and GBBs.

Guges has been immensely helpful and probably over-polite in commenting on my first choices. Apparently, I have "cheap" guns (I thought my F1's $360 MSRP was a lot of money!). So I've been told my EMG F1 is based on a crap platform and my pride and joy A&T M4A1 GBBR is another low-end model. To me (a novice), they appear to have fantastic builds and look and feel gorgeous. Of course, I have no idea of the "look and feel" of their internals (where it counts).

Haven't even shot most of my new guns yet since I don't have my battery system yet and I've been working a lot lately and can't shoot at night due to noise.

As I inevitably approach Phase II in my gun-buying story, I will eventually be buying one really good Tokyo Marui or WA M4 AEG, and one really good Tokyo Marui GBBR, and then probably every gas pistol Tokyo Marui makes. Back on-topic:

Gas:

Whoa! Very fun! My Sig Sauer and KJW 229s are heavy as hell, all-metal, and look super-cool. Green gas charging is a breeze-BB-loading not. Mag-loader is next on the list (didn't know they existed). Not overly concerned about their low-FPS; though, I do wish it were higher (may get at least one CO2 pistol at some point).

• Fun to shoot.
• Blowback slide-action is just awesome to watch and play.
• Fast and easy to charge.
• One 600ml. green gas can seems to last quite a while.

Electric:

My H&K MP5 was a blast to shoot at 600RPMs back when I was shooting it over a decade ago. But I got so tired of trying to jam the battery into its forestock, I gave up on the whole hobby. I think the AEG market would really take off if the industry began adopting external charging ports. If I could just plug my AEG into a charger, life would be grand. Perhaps I can hire someone to perform a mod like that?

• Shoots like a million rounds.
• Magazine-capacity 100s-fold higher than gas.
• Virtually no consumables-expense (i.e., no green gas to buy).

All that said, I didn't buy the best on this first round. But I got a lot of good-looking, full-metal guns for not a lot of money. If my AEGs break and parts are impossible to source, so be it. By then I probably will have had the $139-$289 worth of fun each gun was worth by then. My shooting will be so infrequent, this may not be a problem for some time to come (let's hope).

Same with the GBB rifles and pistols. A lot of fun for not too much cheddar. The two P229s I got have three magazines each for about $150 per set.

 

Revised opinion:

I finally had a chance to shoot some of my new weaponry this afternoon. So a quick summary appraisal and new perspective on AEG v. GGB.

• Sig Sauer full-metal ProForce P229 + three mags: $164 Evike Epic Deal:
• KJW Swiss Arms-licensed full-metal SA229: $99 Evike Epic Deal:

Both weigh about the same-all metal-so pretty hefty. Both are identical in size and appear 1:1. Both have full-blowback slides which are really cool. Plus, there's nothing more satisfying than when you're out of ammo, the slide locks back. However, loading is a huge PITA. Perhaps a speed-loader will make it less tedious, but this is a giant checkmark in favor of AEGs. I will only be buying rifles in AEG from now on.

• S&T Colt-licensed full-metal M4A1 GBBR: $246 Evike Epic Deal (regularly $300):

Looks beautiful-motherf*cker to load. Non-functioning out-of-the-box. Shoots a single shot with no projectile and doesn't re-cock. Can barely get any BBs into the mag and the gun hasn't been able to fire a single shot. This is going straight back to Evike.

• A&K full-metal M4 RIS AEG 11.1V-ready: $139 Evike Epic Deal (regularly $219):

Loaded up a hi-cap metal Matrix magazine into my new A&K and went to town. Able to shoot holes in Coke cans at close range even using the cheap 7.4V NiMH battery I got for free with my FN SCAR.

The initial 50 rounds had several mis-feeds-if this keeps up, this is going back as well. Perhaps mid-cap mags have fewer loading issues? I'm using .25G Matrix Maximum Precision BBs (black). But still, funner than hell. I haven't fired an AEG on full-auto in over a decade, and it feels great.

AEG pros:
• Virtually unlimited ammo.
• Pour several hundred BBs into a mag in a few seconds.
• Zero expendables-cost (i.e., no green gas to buy).

GBB cons:
• Far too much trouble to load for full-auto weapons.

Loading hassles just aren't worth the added realism to me for automatic rifles when expending such large volumes of ammo on full-auto.

So going forward: GBBs for pistols, and AEGs for rifles, exclusively. I don't care to own even a single gas rifle. The only GBBR I own, the S&T M4A1, is getting returned ASAP.

Will now move on to Tokyo Marui GBB pistols (Glocks only), and a G&G or WA-Tech M4A1 + M4 RIS in AEG. Will keep my all-metal P226s since they're a pretty good value.

 

Most gbb mags have a slot to drop the bbs in if the follower is all the way down. Typically it takes about 15 seconds to load a gbb pistol mag. But if the mag lacks this feature, like some gbb rifle mags then you need a speedloader.

Many also tap their mags, but that's extra $

 

Tapped mags are unrealistic...and would not serve his needs for "realism".

 

It does have its benefits tho, some gbb rifles allow you to use regular aeg midcaps and have the air line connect like hpa does. For example the tippmann m4.

 

Shudder...I beta tested Tipmann M4....it was bad...let's dump a whole CO2 jet with a mag change...

 

So your telling me I'm not supposed to treat the mag as a co2 propelled rocket when I reload?

Lol yeah that is a major flaw. But when you switch them to hpa mode and put a line through the grip they seem to work okay, at least the later models. Not my cup of tea tho.

 

My stance is no to the tether...if I want to be tethered to my projectile dispenser...I would have stayed in Paintball.

 

Those hpa stocks are becoming more common or the grips that mount tanks as if paintball.

The second option would be silly on a gbb as gbb is for realism tho.

All expensive...