Shimming is time consuming - sometimes it can come together quite quickly
often though depending a bit of luck (swear this applies to numerous stuff in airsoft)
quality of gears/box/bushings/bearings - even shims - Element ones seem to be cut or punched quite roughly so you get slight deviations
not a lot but if you place a 0.20 shim in caliper gauge and rotate it a little you can feel the rough punched edges varying the shim
not a great massive amount but say it can show up 0.25mm on an Element shim where as a SHS may show 0.21 or 0.22 at very most
it isn't the deviation so much but it just feels rough as well and not finished so well like SHS ones
Also depends on your fussy standards too BUT a LOT depends on how well the shimming is done
Bad shimming, crap motor height puts strain & wear on motor wiring and drain battery quick draw excess amps too
The box/motor will crap out quicker - heck fuses blow on badly assembled builds very easily pistol grips get bloody hot
And above all it just sounds $hit
It is not always simple to get it purring so sweetly but hopefully we try to make them as best as possible without sounding like you are kicking a dying cat being stung by wasps whilst jangling a bag of rusty old bolts on the field
Bearings - they would be fine for most "normal" builds of say 20rps or just over I'd say
But most insane nutty builds at 40rps+ will use bushings
You are using a high speed set on 11.1v so you are likely to hitting say 35rps - so yeah bushings or at least a mixture is what I would use personally
I use a mixture at least - some boxes the bushings has stuck out a bit and used a bearing instead of bushing but underneath gears a bushing over a bearing
BUT to each their own - and again depends how you use it - if you hose people then yeah it won't last ages
but if sensible semi & some spamming now n then it will last longer maybe - but how long is a piece of string ????
All this opening/closing box stuff - when inserting the M3 bolts usually by hand at first,
turn the bolt counter clockwise first and eventually you will see the bolt rise & clonk a tiny bit as it finds the threads
then do up the bolts - this helps to reduce chance of wear or stripping threads
This is more important on plastic components as often video consoles & stuff can have their threads on plastic cases worn or stripped very easily if you just jam the screws in and tighten - unwind-clonk-tighten will prolong the threads
Also unless you are very very weak do not go for a clenched fist when doing up fine screws and threads
Seriously - you should only need a thumb and forefinger to tighten the screw/bolt up with a mild nip if you feel it might really need it
Do not use a clenched fist to tighten you will strip threads very easily and might as well run it down kiwk-fit-euro to tighten with air tools
When you have closed the box up for the final time without stripping the threads....
If the box was assembled with gears and no real tension on spring you should still be able to feel a bit of play in them
As said - sometimes when you "think" you got it all perfect it is no biggie to re-open it to say change spring or check seals
coz at this point you can check stuff - clean/regrease and also just double check the pinion height again on bevel gear in other half of box
Wouldn't be the first time I have found the pinion a tiny tiny bit lower than I was expecting and so swapped say a 0.20 shim on top to a 0.15mm shim, adjusted motor height a bit but felt a bit more confident the gears were meshing a bit better
Note I'm talking very small amounts of adjustments if it is far out then something is really out of whack
This is why often that little toy gun won't just take a few hours but more like a few days on & off if you really want to get it as close to perfect as possible
(and that is if you got all the parts to hand in good working order, not on your knees looking for that little bastid AR spring or something - damn it better order a new one)
When it all works and you are pleased as punch or nigh on delighted with all your own work and celebrate with a beer & a large: