Understanding the Gear Box Assembly in AEG's

The gearbox is one of the most important parts of an automatic electric gun. This is considered the heart of an AEG for if it is broken or not properly maintained; the gun will not perform as expected or worse, will ruin the entire mechbox or mechanism box. For these reasons, it is vital to understand the functionality of the gearbox as well as its parts and maintenance.

A typical rifle like an Airsoft M16 has 3 gears. The Bevel, Spur and Sector gears.

The Bevel Gear is the one connected to the motor. It is slightly conical in shape to be perpendicular to the motor. It has another set of smaller teeth that is then connected to the Spur Gear.

The Spur Gear is the one that augments the spinning power of the motor from the Bevel to the Sector Gear. The smaller set of teeth of the Spur gear provides a much faster spin to the Sector gear.

The Sector Gear also has two sets of teeth. One set is connected to the smaller teeth of the Spur Gear. The other one doesn't have a complete set of teeth to surround the gear. This part of the gear acts as the catch and release of the piston. It catches the piston and pulls it back compressing the spring behind the piston. And because the gear doesn't have a full set of teeth the piston gets released and pushes the air towards a small hole where a BB is positioned.

These gears work in unison with the whole mechbox. It starts from the trigger as it connects the flow of power from the battery to the motor (in most electric Airsoft guns ). The motor then turns the Bevel Gear which turns the Spur Gear from its outer set of the teeth. The smaller set of teeth of the Spur Gear rotates faster and thus turns Sector Gear much faster. The Sector Gear then does its job of pulling back the piston to compress the spring behind it. The piston, when released, then compresses the air in the space in front of it through a small opening pushing a BB pellet out of the barrel at a certain speed. This process is repeated at a much faster rate.

To keep this gears working properly, they should always be cleaned of dirt. After cleaning it should be lubricated to reduce friction and lower the chance of heating up. It is recommended to stop firing and give sometime for the gears to cool down if it overheats. Gears that are made from plastic tend to melt with prolonged use while the ones made from metal tend to heat up faster but gives more power.

Nonetheless, it's best to go with an metal geared gearbox because it will last longer and won't break down as fast as the generic plastic gears. Most Airsoft guns comes with plastic gearbox assembly but the higher quality made Airsoft guns like the Airsoft sniper rifles are equipped with metal gears. Always do your research before you decide to pick out a gun.