24th Jan 2020
What is an R-Hop?
The hop up in your airsoft gun is one of the most important parts when it comes to accuracy and range. In simplified terms, it applies backspin to your BB and causes ‘lift’ to carry your BB further. For a more in-depth explanation of how the hop-up works on your airsoft gun, read our blog here.
However, the traditional airsoft hop-up is not the absolute best way to impart that back spin onto a BB and multiple different methods have been developed to try and produce better results.
Different hop types include Flat Nubs, H Buckings, M Nubs etc however, very few of them produce results as reliable and as impressive as the renowned ‘R-Hop’.
In a regular hopups the back-spin is applied to the BB by a small rubber ‘speed bump’ that uses friction to create the spin. The speed bump is an aggressive way of applying the backspin and because of this the BB vibrates and bounces down the barrel as it exits; this impacts on effective range and accuracy of your Airsoft Gun.
How is an R-Hop Different?
An R-hop still uses a protruding rubber bump to apply rotation onto the BB with friction, however it’s applied in a much gentler way over a longer period of time. R-hop is less like a speed bump and more like a gentle hill, both impart the same amount of backspin but an R-hop does it in a much gentler fashion.
Imagine hitting a speed bump at 60mph compared to a small hill. The added benefit here, is that you can apply more backspin to heavier BBs.
In addition to this, the 'speed bump' is now the same curvature as the BB (see diagram below), allowing the BB to be centralised in the barrel during firing. Resuling in more consistent and more accurate results.
How does it do this? Well, instead of using a small nub that enters into the barrel through the hop-up window, the window is “simply” seamlessly filled with a patch of silicon. The bucking, now with the aforementioned ‘speed bump’ removed, is placed back onto the barrel and put back into the gun.
The result is a hop-up that is functionally exactly the same as the ‘old’ style of hop-up, but with a much greater range and more consistent accuracy.
Which guns are compatible?
Any airsoft gun with a traditional hop-up can accept the R-Hop modification. Installation may be difficult on certain kinds of airsoft guns, however.
The installation of an R-hop is a notoriously tricky job. Attention to detail is key to getting an effective, improved hop up and should only be attempted by an expert, or a novice with time on their hands and spare parts.