Sunday, January 26, 2014

Airsoft Rifle Repairing Help

So now you have acquired your first electric airsoft rifle, who knows perhaps you have a whole collection of airsoft rifles. Well your next step is to learn how to properly maintain them between battles. Unless you have unlimited funds at your disposal you and your mates will need to learn repairing and upgrading techniques to keep your weapons functioning "Top Gun".

Think of your rifles gearbox like the engine in your car, if you do not maintain either, over time the performance will decrease. If you continue to neglect them and fail to do proper maintenance, they will breakdown completely. While you cannot predict or prevent catastrophic breakdowns of any mechanical equipment you can take precautionary measures that will ensure the least amount of downtime possible.

Airsoft Gun Troubleshooting Guide

Start with good airsoft ammunition. Precision bb's are worth every dime. BB weight is critical to both accuracy and distance. Never use lighter than 0.20g as lighter BB's will not fly straight and are a safety hazard if shot from a higher powered gun as they may shatter inside your barrel. If your rifle shoots 350 FPS or higher and your target groupings are erratic then you may need to use heavier 0.23 or even 0.25 gram bb's. If accuracy problems persist and your sure your ammunition is not the problem, then you may need to check your hop up unit for proper operation.

Airsoft Rifle hop up units stabilize fired rounds by placing a specific amount of backspin on the airsoft bb as it exits the barrel. A rubber bucking or sleeve provides the air seal and a "rubber nubbin" provides the pressure point for backspin. Hop up units should be dialed in (adjusted) one click at a time, like a rifle scope until desired accuracy is achieved.  CAUTION Over-hopping can cause severe bb jams and place extra back pressure on gearbox, causing internal damage. Rubber bucking and nub should be replaced once a year with moderate operation to avoid drying. Bucking should be kept oiled between uses and backed completely off (0 hop up setting) during longer storage periods.

Airsoft rifle barrels should be kept clean and oiled to avoid excess jamming. After-market barrels are available in tighter bore and longer length options. Keep in mind the smaller the diameter of your barrel the tighter the air seal achieved. This will improve performance but you MUST use precision BB's with tight bore barrels to avoid frequent jamming and damage.

Airsoft Rifle battery and wiring must be maintained in good working order for best performance. Airsoft batteries due have a shelf life and are best replaced once a year for best performance. Battery voltage can have a large impact on your airsoft guns Rate Of Fire. Lets say your rifle come's standard with an 8.4 battery and the stock gear set is providing a ROF of 10-11 BB's per second. By using a 9.6 volt battery you will increase your ROF to 13-15 BPS. Please note you will increase rate of wear and tear to your internal parts with faster RPM's. Check your airsoft rifle repair manual for specific ratings.

Airsoft Rifle Metal Gearbox units are the heart and soul of all airsoft guns. If your gearbox fails in a battle...You Fail! If it fails on the range you can just fix it. Knowing the smooth sound your gearbox makes when firing correctly can go a long way to preventative maintenance and avoiding costly major crashes. Great upgrade and repair kits are available for most airsoft electric rifle repairing projects.

Novice airsoft rifle repairing free DIY help can be found all over the internet to assist you with airsoft rifle repairing. Make sure to do some research on your airsoft model so when the time comes for repairing your rifle, you can handle the project.

Well till next time...
Mr. Necessary OUT!!

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

LG Airsoft Guns

Repairing and upgrading airsoft gunsSo have you checked out the build on the LG airsoft guns? (Lih-Yng Toys) Some serious custom design engineering going on here. Parts for these models had been hard to find but are now becoming readily available here in the United States.

 I have now had the pleasure to work on 2 generations of this design, and I like it. The gearbox is much like the split design introduced to us years ago by Systema. The Gen 1 series had the poly-resin gears shown in the photo, but featured many of the design upgrades that seem to make these guns much more durable ie: heavy duty cutoff lever, re-designed anti reverse lever and a compacted trigger contact shuttle assembly. With the Gen 2 series came full metal gears, steel bushings and high amperage electrical contacts along with an auto dis-engaging anti reverse system. Although the gears for these models look very much the same as in standard AEG's, they are not the same dimensionally. The whole semi auto-full auto fire selection system has been re-designed as to be much more durable with an elongated sector gear cam that solidly engages the cut off lever which enters and disengages the trigger shuttle assembly from the top instead of the traditional backside engaging design used by most manufacturers.
 
LG airsoft gun piston replacement Now the upper unit has gone through a complete airsoft design make over. Notice where the piston ends at full stroke or TDC. Yep, right out of the gearbox and into the buffer tube where the waiting spring cycles it back for the next shot. The real beauty in all of this is that you can upgrade or down grade the FPS on these models, by simply unscrewing the buffer tube cap and changing out the spring. The alloy metals used on both the upper and lower gear box units is extremely hard and well casted. The full metal bodies on the M16 model is extremely well made and very heavy duty. The external build on the rifles I have used, is quite solid with 0% barrel wobble, very accurate at 150 feet with a build that feels just as solid as some of my high end guns. The price point lands between 300 to 400 dollars depending on the model, so, that's pretty great. I could go on and on forever about the small changes that have been made to these airsoft models but after all, I am not a represenative or paid spokesman, just a fan who also runs his own airsoft gun repair company. Keep up the good work.
 
Armsdealer...OUT!!! 

Monday, October 19, 2009

Airsoft Type 89 Gun Repairs

The type 89 Japanese assault rifle has recently been cloned by airsoft gun manufacturers. I benched one of the Both Elephant brands recently for an internal review, plus I wanted to see how BE's new mechanical 3 shot burst was configured mechanically. The type 89 airsoft gun sports a full metal body, barrel and gearbox and features the mechanical 3 shot burst feature. Other "airsoft replica cloners" have incorporated 3 shot burst features by using an electronic MOSFET control which seems to be prone to premature failure due to the extreme field use most airsoft guns are subjected to. I was delighted to discover that the type 89 uses M4/M16 standard magazines. I tried out JG, TM and AGM brands and all worked fine. I did find it disappointing that...