How to be an expert Airsoft Gun Tech

[Daddy Foote]

Do it once. Do it right.

I actually can't tell you this apart from work in an armoury and fall into Airsoft, or another way is to just start doing it...

Having the basics in mechanical and electrical understanding and fault finding, basic engineering skills, the different ways thing fasten together, and knowing when you don't know something is a good start... Oh, and access to YouTube. ?

And access to another Gun Tech...

And if you know a great Gun Tech who also supplies parts. Will also source parts and give you the heads up on what will fit in what and with what modifications because they have done it, Give me their number straight away...

I'm sure their are some out there but they seam to be like magical Unicorns...

I started off fixing boilers in 1993. I charged £15 for every single job I did no matter how long it took.

That was extremely cheap so I got lots of work. In 3 months I'd Seen and took apart almost every single type of boiler. Figured out how each one worked, and repaired it.

So what I actually got from every repair was £15 plus swift education.

That's not the only industry I've applied that strategy. And not always physical work. When you have a certain amount of intelligence and determination you can learn almost anything.

That doesn't mean you have to be clever. It just means you have to know where you are lacking and either educate yourself or find another way around the problem.

The biggest hurdle I've come across is using parts to repair or upgrade that are not made by the manufacturer of the particular thing you are working on.

And that is a big part of Airsoft RIFs. Sometimes you just can't get what you want due to low stock and have to look at alternatives.

In other industries the retailer/wholesaler is usually quite knowledgeable and you can ask for a part and they will give you an original part or a part from another manufacturer they know will fit/do the job.

This doesn't seam to be the norm within the Airsoft world.

The many people I have talked to about which parts will work in what. They don't know. They either say they just sell them and they are not techs or they say it should fit, then after some further prodding a 'should' is thrown into the mix...

If you want to get into upgrading, servicing and repairing Airsoft RIFs is to do what I did. Buy original parts untill you are confident how things go together and work, then to start taking the odd punt. If it doesn't fit then that's the cost of education.

My Dremel is indispensable sometimes... 

My spare parts are slowly growing and this gives opportunity to see if parts swap out with different manufacturers.

If you are not sure about something ask.

Be aware of who you are asking though as just with any industry there are lots of people who give advice who haven't actually got the knowledge to give it.

I hope this helped in some way.

 

[Tactical Pith Helmet]

I learned how to rebuild engines through poverty.  Poverty and the belief that if not dealt with by force, it is hard to break something more than it is already broken (electrics aside!).

 

[ak2m4]

This doesn't seam to be the norm within the Airsoft world.

The many people I have talked to about which parts will work in what. They don't know. They either say they just sell them and they are not techs or they say it should fit, then after some further prodding a 'should' is thrown into the mix...

The reasoning behind this is down to the huge amount of variables involved.  I always try to help where I can and never give any guarantees when I personally haven't installed the various part in the same gun from the same era.  Dates are important as well since manufacturers change their products from batch to batch.   It's a minefield.  I don't know any tech who considers themselves an "expert", "competent with certain brands" is probably how they would describe their skills.  Always something to go wrong or surprise you ?

 

[Rogerborg]

Be aware of who you are asking though as just with any industry there are lots of people who give advice who haven't actually got the knowledge to give it.

Mmm, it's a constant risk that the first or only person to answer a question might be Billy Bullshiter.  I'm a serial replier (hello), but will always try to distinguish between what I've heard and what I've tried. I prefer "I don't know, but have a hug" than giving a Redditard answer just to harvest dopamine.

Even within the personal-knowledge category, I'll caveat it out the wazoo with "for the specific examples that I received, when I received them" because of @ak2m4's point that last week's widget made in a batch by Genericorp, distributed in a container by Wholesellers Inc. and grabbed off the shelf by Tactical Customs Ltd may be entirely unrelated to what you'll receive next week.

 

[heroshark]

My mate Dave is a tech stickler and has winced many a time at my methods and non-gun parts I've stuck in guns to make them work again. It makes me proud?.

 

[Cannonfodder]

Tbh there's an awful lot of people who claim to be techs, but in reality don't have a clue. 

 

[Daveoc33]

My mate Dave is a tech stickler and has winced many a time at my methods and non-gun parts I've stuck in guns to make them work again. It makes me proud?.

Nothing wrong with using non-gun parts. I think of it as being resourceful. I have one gun which has a purple calpol syringe tube as part of the hop up - just happens to be the perfect size to feed bbs from an M4 mag. This fix is one that I'm most proud and ashamed of at the same time.

 

[heroshark]

Nothing wrong with using non-gun parts. I think of it as being resourceful. I have one gun which has a purple calpol syringe tube as part of the hop up - just happens to be the perfect size to feed bbs from an M4 mag. This fix is one that I'm most proud and ashamed of at the same time.

Exactly if it works it works and that's it.