Maple Leaf Decepticons Silicone Hop-Up Rubber — VSR and GBB

Rubber buckings have one predictable weakness: they stiffen in the cold. A lip that has gone hard does not conform to the BB, so the seal breaks down and velocity wanders at exactly the time of year when nobody wants to be re-chronographing between games.

Silicone solves that by holding roughly the same hardness across a much wider temperature range. The trade-off is that silicone is slicker and a little less grippy than rubber at summer temperatures, which is why Maple Leaf sell both rather than replacing one with the other.

The fitment is unchanged from the rubber version. It is cut for Marui and KJ gas pistols and VSR-10 pattern cocking rifles, and the manufacturer also lists it as compatible with older-style WE-Tech gas blowback pistols and rifles.

Specifications

Good to know before you buy

Silicone earns its keep below roughly ten degrees. Above that a rubber bucking grips slightly better; below it, rubber hardens and silicone does not. If you only play summer skirmishes the rubber Decepticons is the better buy, and both sit in hop up units and hop rubbers.

Expect to re-chronograph after the swap. Changing bucking material changes the seal and usually the velocity with it. Fit it, chronograph it, and set your tensioner from there rather than assuming the old setting carries across.

The silicone is made across the full hardness range. All four options from 50 through 80 degree exist in this compound, so choosing silicone for winter does not force you into a harder or softer bucking than your gun wants. Match the figure to your chronograph reading using the spec table above.

Frequently asked questions

Is silicone better than rubber?
Not better, different. Silicone holds its flexibility in the cold, which makes it the sensible choice for autumn and winter play. Rubber has slightly more grip on the BB in warm weather. Plenty of players keep one of each and swap with the seasons.

Do I need to change my tensioner setting?
Probably, yes. A different compound seals differently, so treat it as a new setup: fit the bucking, chronograph, then adjust the tensioner and chronograph again until you are where you want to be.

Which hardness should I pick in silicone?
The same one you would pick in rubber. Go by your muzzle velocity against the figures in the spec table rather than by the compound — the hardness numbers mean the same thing in silicone as they do in rubber, and all four are made.

Will it fit a WE gas blowback?
The manufacturer lists it for older-style WE-Tech gas pistols and rifles alongside the Marui and KJ platforms. If you are on a current-generation WE, tell us which model and we will check before you order.