Airsoft guns like to break....

[BrightCandle]

Yesterday I played and I managed to break not only my primary weapon (S&T Tar 21) but also my seconday (We F228) within minutes of each other. The tar 21 went first and then I switched to the pistol for the last short game and that failed in the last 20 shots of the game, it kept firing but something was clearly wrong with the accuracy.

I took apart the Tar 21 and its one of my new upgrade parts that failed. The new piston head fell apart! Looks like the spring flex undid the piston head screw. That was unexpected but there is no damage done to anything in the gearbox or head thankfully. The original head has no bearings on it so I might run it without them when I fit the replacement head again (ASG ultimate) and hope that works better.

Then I took apart the We F228. There is a piece on the side that impacts on the rail as the barrel rises on recoil and the part on the hop unit that takes that impact has snapped clean off. Its clearly done a few shots after that as I have impacts on the right hand side of the rail from the outer barrel as well, the gun didn't stop working, and indeed I suspect it will fire again but I am doing damage to other parts.

So far I have been pretty forunate with my guns, the worst that has happened on game day is a temporary jam that was cleared with switching to full auto. Then yesterday two guns broke at the same time. One I can just fix but the pistol needs a new hop unit and I think based on this its time to get a KWA pistol as well, as a backup to my backup!

 

[Sappysid101]

Not sure this counts as a break but my TM Scar stopped working today in the rain. In all fairness it got pretty wet and refused to fire with 4 different batteries tried. Got it in the airing cupboard, gonna try it tomorrow. Fingers crossed!!

Hope your guns turn out okay!!

- Ant

 

[Sitting Duck]

Unless you use stuff like Loctite thread glue them piston heads will come undone very soon

(Blue is mild, use Red and you may have to dremmel the bitch off next time)

another thing is perhaps include a spring washer but still add a drop of blue glue to be sure

To be honest they add about 4 gms+ to piston's overall weight & near 5mm spring compression

(use a 5mm plastic spacer instead as they don't undo or loosen & disintergrate/scratch cylinder)

G&G use these plastic spacers & can be sourced easily on fleabay as plastic marine spacers in

various widths/lengths - aprox 15mm diameter x 5mm - centre hole is little small but widen with file/drill

or 15mm x 10mm - seems about right size for using shorter pistons in L85 aeg's (3x3mm teeth extra)

"Fit a bearing spring guide and drop the piston bearing to save weight on piston"

is what I have seen by people aiming for high rof & lightweight pistons/swiss cheese etc....

some complete piston's can be 15gms (no cheese) right up to over 30gms with full steel teeth & bearings

All this crap can really add up a bit - plus I feel that much heavier pistons "could" mean greater impact force

that "might" increase the chances of gearbox cracking at front/cylinder head area especially on gearbox's

that are not radial on the cylinder edges - well that is my gut feeling theory

(certainly ain't gonna make it better with 30gms smashing into right angled cornered cylinder casting over time)

But Bearing - I never bother with as I will fit bearing spring guide now and leave piston bearing/washers in parts box

1 or 3 steel tooth piston & stay under 20gms is what I now go with - without a piston bearing

Hope some of this crap helps - soz can't help ya on ya pistol I'm afraid

but yeah I feel ya pain - think we have all been there and any gun can be 1 or 2 shots away from being bollox'ed

 

[two_zero]

well the trd 21 s&t is pretty infamous... wait, kwa as a backup to a we? ^^

 

[BrightCandle]

well the trd 21 s&t is pretty infamous... wait, kwa as a backup to a we? ^^

The original S&T tar 21 was terrible, it had a plastic gearbox and so that right there tells you everything you need to know about the qualities of its internals. However last year Elite force licenced S&T to make a new model of the Tar 21 and this is the Tar 21 professional and the old one is sold as the sport. The professional is a decent metal gearbox, decent gears and the other parts are OK. I wasn't impressed with the airseal so I replaced the piston head, piston, cylinder head and nozzle and that has tightened the groupings a fair bit. But that replacement piston head is what failed, not the original part which has been flawless since I got it.

My main concern with the Tar 21 is two fold. 1) is the special parts like the bullpup connectors for the trigger switch box, the trigger box itself and all the other special parts like the gearbox shell. These are all custom to this gun and are going to be a pain should they ever break. 2) The hop unit is plastic and its not great. Its not terrible, it can lift a 0.25g BB reasonably but it can't really overhop it. It undoes a little bit as the day goes on and its something I would really want to replace. Its basically an M4 hop unit but with one difference, where the spring would be on the top there is a small raised area with a hole instead which a metal pin goes through to attach it to the outer barrel. If I could find a decent metal hop replacement I would have it immediately, and its one part I think is always going to hold the accuracy of the gun back.

Saying that the tar 21 is currently putting out a chest shaped hit at its maximum range (350 fps), so its accurate enough. My upgrades helped quite a bit in that regard, the airseal was bad as the original piston head and nozzle were kind of rubbish but it was actually pretty good out of the box and it took me a while to get around to the upgrades.

As to the KWA pistol it won't be the backup, it will become my new side arm. Now the We F228 has finally given up the ghost and I don't know how long a replacement part will be I think its time to get a decent one. I'll probably get a full size gun this time, a HK45 or a Glock 17.

 

[Esoterick]

I'd highly recommend the TM HK45, it's my favourite gun that I own and I really like my other guns so that's saying something.

 

[joshcowin]

Tms or we are the way forward in pistols imo.i had a we and a tm g17 both worked a treat had to upgrade the tm before putting green gas through it though

 

[jcheeseright]

You didn't have to, you chose to. My stock TM glock has been running on propane since the day I got it.

Stripped it down to component parts this morning and the only part with any wear is the magazine valve striker, which would wear exactly the same if I were filling the magazines with harsh language!

 

[n1ckh]

I'm thinking of going over to propane as I've now got 2 gas pistols but......unsure what size bottle and other bits needed to fill the mags ???

 

[Mack]

I'm thinking of going over to propane as I've now got 2 gas pistols but......unsure what size bottle and other bits needed to fill the mags ???

Can recommend bullseye, as im sure plenty of others on here can. Not sure why it says the shops in afghanistan though lol hes in Caledon, Co Tyrone. Just drop some silicon into the propane can, screw on adaptor and bobs your uncle

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AIRSOFT-INNOVATIONS-PROPANE-ADAPTER-GREEN-GAS-/371262333271?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item5670f5a157

As for propane, colemans.

http://www.surplusandoutdoors.com/shop/stoves-and-lanterns/gas-and-fuel/coleman-465g-non-refillable-propane-855191.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=base&utm_campaign=S&Outdoors&gclid=CK6rouap-cMCFUbKtAodjlkAGQ

 

[Undieing_Lust]

Can recommend bullseye. Been to the place myself and spoken to the owner, dead on chap

 

[Mack]

yep, Tommy is sound. Used to play at GZ regularly but aint seen him in ages

 

[Undieing_Lust]

One of the few places in NI were you can seeairsoft stuff in the flesh.

(sent from phone)

 

[BrightCandle]

The rifle is fixed. I used Loctite red on the screw and put it in nice and tight so hopefully this time it will stay together forever. Thankfully its shooting as accurately as it did before.

As to the pistol proairsoft still hasn't gotten back with a price and likely date for it yet, and mispecsoluitions never responded. I am getting the distinct feeling I am going to be without a backup pistol for a while at this point.

Airsoft guns like to break, and due to the way the retailers work it always takes longer than it should to get the replacement parts. The fitting work is super quick, its the sourcing the parts that is near impossible.