Iceni

Mostly working on this this week. It's due a decent paintjob and a few parts. I have the wire stock, but prefer the solid one. It's just a straight swap so no big deal.

I saw one on the classifieds here. He wants £100 for a gun that can be had for £95 new. https://gunfire.pl/product-eng-1152215954-SW-020B-Carbine-Replica-Black.html It's got some funky plastic problem, looks like mould has eaten the stock a little. And it's got a big split on the front end where the upper meets the lower. And I'd be worried that has snapped the airseal nozzle or magwell plate. For a blind buy he'd be lucky if I offered £40. And even then it would be for the spares.

The only paint is the black. The LCT G3 is a steel body, so what you see there is metal with a layer of oil. No plans to do anything to the plastics, They interchange so having an older body with new furniture isn't a problem for the loadout. I may at some point get the wood kit for it as it's a direct replacement and not overly expensive.

LCT G3, Only had 1 skirmish with it, then weathered. Weathering was done with Tamiya 3000 grit sanding sheets, Not cheap, but very fine abrasive. The properties of those sheets allow the paint to be slightly polished or removed depending on the sheet wear and pressure used. https://www.emodels.co.uk/tamiya-sanding-sponge-sheet-3000-grit-87171.html

It's why it went in here and not in the load outs section. I'm not in any kit, Was a cold day so I decided with only 1 mag for that gun I was going to run in my warm jacket with a speedloader in one pocket, and a bottle of ammo in the other. Had I got into kit it would have been DPM since I don't have a German load out for the gun yet, But I can feel a Cold War 1960's kit might be in order. There are plenty of mag pouches up on Zib militaria, So I'll base a kit on what webbing and pouches are available. I'm already thinking about wood furniture for it, Zib Militaria again have a full set for a reasonable price, I think the only modification you have to make is the removal of the steel recoil spring and guide, and a metal buffer. Once those parts are removed the stock is already hollow, and there is a hole that you can put a wire directly through! So it's a very simple conversion. I also want a few more bits for it, The correct leather sling, A reproduction claw mount with something that looks like a Hensoldt Fero Z-24, The sight and claw don't need to be real steel a similar modern equivalent would be fine. I need a couple of high caps, and a couple more mid caps. Performance wise it's a hard comparison to the shelf models. The UK supplier I got mine off had requested a factory downgrade. So it shoots at 300 fps, The regular shipped ones are shooting at 400fps to other markets. The hop looks to be a marui and works well. 6.02 tight bore is standard. Wire is silver plated, and it comes on small tam connectors. 7.4 30c lipo is generating about 15rps. Trigger response is snappy but the trigger pull is quite long. I was able to get .25's to go sailing past the 80 mark on the range... Now what that 80 mark represents is up for debate, the site recon it's meters. Google maps on the other hand has more sensible number upon reflection Using Google I was able to go from the safe zone to bunker hill without a problem, That is 65M/213ft, That was a straight shot and pretty consistent, but without accuracy. 40M/130ft was about where I could land a shot accurately without having to spam a lot of fire. Anything closer than that it was like a laser. As for the collectors comment, I think the other way, this is a gun that can actually take the real abuse you want to give a rifle, Dive for cover with it and it's not going to snap or bend, Clout a tree running again no problem, Drop it you might chip the plastics but otherwise you will be able to pick it up and keep going with it. It's a rifle you can treat like a rifle, Rather than a rifle that you have to be super careful with all the time. In that regard I think it's worth it's price. Collectors will also want them, but I feel it's a wasted investment as you can look at a pot metal gun on a wall and never know it's virtually unusable. You'll also notice I'm holding the mag in the pictures. There is a slight defect on the mid caps. There is a void on the front side of the feed assembly that allows the assembly to rotate slightly, It's enough to rotate the BB catch on the mag out of the hop tube. I've since shimmed the mag internally with a few strips of 6x5mm plastic to stop this. The mag feeds perfectly now (the shims went in the front side of the mag, and I made a small block to prevent it been pushed directly down. It's the only part of the gun I think LCT messed up on. But it's a 5 minute fix so no biggie.

New LCT G3. Pictures at The Grange Coventry, Taken by Airsoft press. https://www.facebook.com/airsoftpress/

It's not the weight that got me today, I shot without gloves, and the thing has a few burrs on the steelwork so my hands look like I've just had a fight with a kitten! The bolt release was particularly vicious with a burr on the catch that has taken it's fair share of blood from me today! I've been sat with a ward file sorting out those edges this evening! Other than a conversion to deans tomorrow I think it's going to get left totally stock. I'm not even going to bother with a fet till it breaks as it's shooting so well! Pictures are done by the Airsoft Press. https://www.facebook.com/airsoftpress/

Went for a shoot today at my local..... Came away a few £ less, but I now have a nice olive LCT G3. Shot it all day with the single mid cap it came with... Getting 90M range by the end of the day on the range. Once the bucking is broken in I think it will be a monster! Edit to this, The site has a range all marked up. 10-90, in what they claim is meters. I did the google maps distance measure on that part of the site and they can't have measured right. The range is about 65M in total length, so that 90 mark is there for no good reason, in fact the whole range is inaccurate!

Yup Falklands Islands Defence Force. FIDF. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falkland_Islands_Defence_Force Going to get some embroidered Falklands islands flag patches as well for the shoulders, Not a uniform part but I think it will look nice. And help people understand the loadout. My friend is doing the same kit with a wood kit SLR. And then there are 2 more in our shooting circle who have L85a1 UK loadouts.

It's in bit's in a drawer ATM lol. I took it to bits last year to do a mosfet/rewire and never got round to putting it back together! The gun itself looks well worn and It's been krylon coated tan. It's nothing special internally. ICS motor, stock gears on bushings, Stock hop and barrel on older king arms V2 shells. It shoots and hops very well when built up. The original motor was robbed by the previous owner, and I'm pretty sure it's in his L85a1, not that it matters as I can drop a decent motor in it for not a lot of investment. When the time comes I'll drop some money onto it and do a full overhaul to bring it up to spec. It's barley a few hours of work to get it running well, motor, o-rings, and probably a new bucking, The mosfet I picked up last year and will give it 3 round burst instead of full auto.

Yeah it's true they get a very mixed response, but I love the format. I have a really nice M4, G&G GR300, full magnesium body, Absolutely gorgeous gun. I think I've taken it shooting once. It's just not an AUG. I might have a problem with them! https://www.evike.com/products/28229/

Just pulled the trigger an a new AUG A1 in olive to go with the AUG A3 I use all the time! It'll complete my Falklands loadout nicely. I also purchased a whole heap of upgrades for it, Bushings, POM head and cylinder head, UK legal spring, Fet, Wire, Motor. I don't even think I'll be shooting a BB through it stock! Can't wait if it turns out like my A3 it'll be a little monster. It's a gunfire GFC model, so a rebrand of an APS, that is a rebrand of a JG, that is a clone of a Marui. Figured it would be a safe buy since pretty much all augs bar the TM HC use identical internals give or take a plastic bushing. https://gunfire.pl/product-eng-1152203544-GFG29-A1-assault-rifle-replica-olive.html

G&G Gr300 CQB limited edition. http://www.evike.com/products/28225/ Got it for nothing because the internals are shot, there is no wire stock, It's also missing a mag release, and bolt release, and the original pistol grip. It's been painted so I have to strip it before I can repaint. Original parts are pretty comprehensive, Upper, lower, Barrel and handguard, cocking handle. It's super light and most of the main parts are lightweight magnesium casts. It's going to be a nice gun I think. All pins are tight, and everything is a good fit all round. Ready to go in from spare I have: New box. (king arms 8mm shell with VFC self shimming gears). G&G etu trigger and controller. Solid M16 stock. ZCI neo motor cage and rewound internals. Might stump up for a faster motor once it's built and I can see if there are any other problems. 416 style pistol grip. Mag well hand grip. Red dot. It's going to be rear wired, with the biggest 11.1 I can get to fit I may even see if I can get a hard shell 4500mAh one to fit. The front handgrip/battery compartment is in good condition and pretty huge internally but I want the weight on my shoulder. I may front wire it again at some point if I get another M4 variant.

That shop isn't the cheapest for pretty much any component. I only linked it because it had good pictures of the CNC hop. I can't tell yo if the cnc hop is better than the regular plastic one or the metal one. Like I say I've not looked into them and dug about to find user reviews. My standard plastic one has been fine so it's never been touched. A new piston isn't needed, The polycarb/plastic one you have will be fine. The head set, Element make a dirt cheap silent set, You should be able to get the piston and cylinder head for less than £10. The problem is finding a site that has good prices and everything available! It gives me a headache upgrade shopping. I ended up putting an order into China and Poland to get all the parts I wanted at the correct price. Small things like the piston/cylinder head set that should be cheap were appearing on some sites at £30+ There were a few UK bargains but by the time you have spent a week looking for them then calculated shipping across all components it just worked out cheaper to put in a slightly bigger order with Ehobbyaisia or similar. There isn't a lot in terms of difference in a £10 element set and a £30 systema set... In fact if you put them side by side you would swear they were the same thing. Unfortunately Ehobby are showing 0 stock for a lot of the cheaper stuff. So it might be worth holding off and watching stock to see if things start to re-appear or new products appear. http://shop.ehobbyasia.com/upgrade-part/parts-upgrade-aeg/cylinder-heads/element-silent-head-set-for-gearbox-ver-3-1.html#.Vscx8OaQjZI}} http://shop.ehobbyasia.com/ufc-cnc-aluminum-hop-up-chamber-for-aug-aeg.html#.VsczEOaQjZI Spring guides are easy, get a metal or polcarb one, It doesn't need to be fancy. The plastic stock ones have a nasty habit of snapping. One with a hole is nice as it makes rebuilding easier with the screwdriver method. You shouldn't be paying more than £10 for one. There is a lot of choice for the V3 box. I put a solid brass one in mine thinking it might add a little sound dampening to the gearbox.

To get the gearbox out. Take out the backplate, Then slacken or remove the bolt nearest the motor. You can also slacken but NOT remove the one at the mag release. Work with the gun upside down. Then take 2 fingers and prize the shell apart near the motor while gently pulling the box back. It should just come out without any resistance. To get it back in it's the same in reverse. Work with the gun upside down, Slide the box in till it starts resisting then prize the shell and it should just fall into place. Once it's back together do a few checks. Look in the ejection port, The top of the gearbox has a slide on retainer that the baffles sit on, Make sure that retainer is in the correct position on the box, and that it is up tight to the plastic nub in the top of the shell. Check the wires to make sure there free and not trapped in the motor area. Drop in the back plate and put the screws in finger tight, Then tighten the bolts, Then finish tighten the screws. Augs are funny guns, not at all like most systems. Unless you have a stock TM you tend to find people have modified at least 1 part of it. It's one of the best bits about the gun. Loads of space to allow you to really make the insides do what you want them to do. For the hop pin, you need to have a good look at the unit, and work out if it's the arm, pin or mount that are allowing the movement. If it's the arm you might be able to shim it, If it's the pin replace the pin, if it's the mount you can either try and fix it, Enlarge the holes and use a larger pin, or pick up a new hop. The most promising hops look to be the metal CNC ones. I haven't fully researched them yet but there available and should be well toleranced. http://begadishop.eu/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=307_523_74&products_id=8095

I did it to stop piston slap. My gun was making me deaf when playing. I put the element silent set in minus the bearing. However my gun had a ported cylinder. No idea why it's supposed to be a non ported one, hence the new cylinder as well. And that certainly did increase consistency. You don't need a dremel to make the single fire mod. I'll take pictures of mine tomorrow. Files and something sharp like a scalpel, stanley knife or chisel is all you need. A dremel will overshoot then you'll just have an extra click that doesn't do anything. Too deep you'll go into auto, too shallow you won't fire single, and too wide you will remove the safe setting. It's literally a 3mm x 3mm square of plastic and a shallow V. Yeah I copied the mod from a post I made a few weeks ago, I picked it up from another local Aug guy. And it makes the gun so much more pleasant to use. It means when you have to have single shot you can stop having to over think the trigger. It certainly surprises the marshals when you do rapid single shots with an Aug at a new site. They watch me like a hawk in close engagement and normally come have a look at the gun at the end of the game to see what I've done to it to make it work like that. That could still be grease. If the piston has been over-greased it could be slapping it into the air nozzle and bucking. Drop a Q-tip in the air nozzle and see what colour it comes out as. You've already had a grease problem in the hop and bucking and now it's been shot it might have done the same thing again. If it has it might be prudent to strip the box and wipe down the cylinder and piston and put a smear of grease back in it doesn't need a lot.

Honest answer is there isn't a perfect solution. You can mitigate it with foam padding on the inside of the magwell. You just double sided tape it in place the same way you do the backplate. And it is possible to make a magwell skirt I have not tried this myself yet so I don't know how well it works. http://www.filairsoft.com/forum/showthread.php?21160-Brotherhood-of-AUG-%28Steyr-AUG-facts-amp-tips%29&p=232525#post232525 The design of the trigger prevents any fixes been perfect. That skirt looks like the best overall option if you can get the shape correct. If you are after range then the Aug is a reasonable base gun. Get the FPS right and constant then have a good look round the gun for what you really want and need to upgrade. The parts I've done myself are mostly gearbox parts. Bushings, Spring guide, Cylinder, Cylinder head and piston head. Mosfet. And a gearbox shim. These parts are need only parts. You shouldn't be upgrading without a need for the upgrade, If the FPS is right and the box is smooth then leave it alone for a bit. I've added a 6.03 barrel but it doesn't increase accuracy or range with mine. Bucking and nub. I've ground the safety bar to add in a single fire only option. This is a great upgrade. It gives a 3rd position on the safety bar that catches the trigger plate. You cut a small chunk out of the bar, then add a V notch. You just need to grind the plastic safety bar to catch the trigger on a half pull, then make a V notch in the bar so it will lock on the metal shim in that location. Takes about 30 mins to make the modification with a small V file and a scalpel. You take off the upper receiver, pull the trigger to dry fire a single shot and mark it on the trigger plate then release. This gives you the measurement for the amount of material to remove from the safety bar. You cut a chunk out of the upper side left of the bar the same depth as the measurement, put the bar back in and move it while pulling the trigger to find where the bar needs to sit in the hole. Then you mark the point where the metal retainer clips dent is sitting and file the V at that point on the safety bar. When you put the bar back in you will have a new locking point on the safety that only allows single fire, and you still have single and full auto in the original position. The other upgrade I plan to do is remove the ejection port baffles from the top of the gearbox, and add in another rubber cover. It'll help stop dirt going into the gun, and it'll close that hole to make it a bit quieter. You could even leave the baffles in place and just add the rubber gromet for weather sealing. My body has been fully lined with foam to reduce noise, and once I remove the top baffles I'll pack out the top of the box as well. My aim is for a quiet gun, I play woodland but it's a site where been on a path is death. You have to be hidden, and stay hidden to survive.

I hadn't actually considered using both eyes with magnification as well. I'm not sure how I would get on with that, I'll have to borrow something with a bit more zoom and give it a go. At least I know I'm not a freak, It wasn't until he watched me shooting that he even noticed. Mos any optic is fine I shouldn't have put the 1x bit. That is my personal optic but it's pretty much irrelevant. I've edited the title and the OP to reflect this.

Just been told I'm not right. As in my mate can't get his head round the fact I shoot both eyes open with a red dot optic. It's the most natural thing in the world for me to do this, I have my relief set quite far forward, And use the dot like an invisible laser pointer. I don't even see the scope when I shoot. My chosen sight is a walther PS22, It sits nice and high and because of the extra relief I retain my RHS peripheral vision when shooting. Anyone else do anything similar, and what sights do you use?

Before you go upgrade happy just have a check of the amount of play on the upper receiver. If you can rotate the upper in the plastic shell by a few degrees then that could be what is causing the BB's to fly off. I also think you may have got some lube onto the hop at some point. Generally my aug's hop is reasonably stiff to rotate, grips well, and doesn't move in usage. If yours is spinning then it could well have caught some silicone overspray. Strip it, wash it in soapy water and let it air dry. While you have it off you may as well add a new bucking. The bucking needs to go on either dry or with the smallest amount of lube possible. You then cut the bucking so the ring sits tight to the end of the bucking but doesn't cover the inner barrel cutout, You then use some PTFE pipe sealing tape and just put a tight few loops on the bucking to help the airseal. http://s269.photobucket.com/user/manoyelcid/media/hop11.jpg.html The inner barrel on the JG is pretty reasonable, It's not going to be causing the BB's to fly to the sides provided it is straight, The MB prometheus II 6.03 509mm is the standard length replacement for a regular a1 a2 a3 aug If you have a shorty then you will need a different length, I've got one on mine. Truth be told the difference in accuracy is negligible. And since your BB's are flying out to either side then I don't think the inner barrel is the problem. You might want to add an o-ring to the end of the inner barrel to remove any side to side play or you could wrap a few loops of PTFE tape on it just to make sure it's not wobbling about. The play on the upper receiver can be sorted with some thin foam and double sided tape. Use decent double sided tape like the stuff Halfords sell for sticking on number plates. And cut a square of sponge cleaning cloth. Stick the sponge with the tape to the inside of the backplate where the top of the gearbox sits. It'll push the box forward and that give you a better airseal, and pushes the upper receiver forward slightly. This makes the body pin lock a lot tighter, and removes most of the wobble and twist from the main body. IT will only need 1 layer of foam 2-3mm's thick. Any more you will stress the back plate mounts. Like this but less ghetto. And make sure you don't cover the plates contact points on the body or you will move the plate back rather than push the gearbox forward. http://s269.photobucket.com/user/manoyelcid/media/02-1.jpg.html http://www.halfords.com/motoring/paints-body-repair/adhesives/halfords--double-sided-tape--hst109 http://vileda-professional.com/en-GB/products/01-wiping/02-sponge-cloths/03-sponge-cloths/sponge_cloth_4colors_04198.jpg Barrel link http://www.patrolbase.co.uk/airsoft/madbull-509-barrel.htm#.VrukseaQhEA Augs are notorious for the airseal nozzle and aftermarket hops. The people that upgrade tend to post the most about these 2 components and how badly they can sometimes match up. If you are getting a good airseal, and you can clean and get the hop to work and lock well then don't upgrade it. You may create more problems than you solve. It is also important that if you do upgrade the air nozzle you get the Aug one, and you get the aug one that is the correct length for your manufactured gun. It is not the same as other gun models. TM, JG, CA all have slightly different lengths then the aftermarket ones can vary as well.. The hop and airseal is a mine field. These are all aug nozzles by different companies! http://s1189.photobucket.com/user/Tackett1980/media/8f7a1230.jpg.html Pretty much the rest of the gearbox bar the contacts is standard v3.

Augs can actually be modified without stripping the gun to have a single fire mode. You just need to grind the plastic safety bar to catch the trigger on a half pull, then make a V notch in the bar so it will lock on the metal shim in that location. Takes about 30 mins to make the modification with a small V file and a scalpel. You take off the upper receiver, pull the trigger to dry fire a single shot and mark it on the trigger plate then release. This gives you the measurement for the amount of material to remove from the safety bar. You cut a chunk out of the upper side left of the bar the same depth as the measurement, put the bar back in and move it while pulling the trigger to find where the bar needs to sit in the hole. Then you mark the point where the metal retainer clips dent is sitting and file the V at that point on the safety bar. When you put the bar back in you will have a new locking point on the safety that only allows single fire, and you still have single and full auto in the original position. The Aug is a nice gun if you spend time on them. Out of the box you get a reasonable gun that is really loud to use because of where the gearbox sits. A bit of time and some padding you can make them very quiet. The gun itself has a lot going for it, nice optic on the A1 and it comes with the gun (can't be removed). Good inner barrel length 509mm, Almost stock v3 gearbox. The only special bits are the airseal nozzle and a second set of contacts for full auto. In terms of parts availability, nothing is really special with them. A new plastic body can be bought if needed, all of the body pins are available, even the ejection port covers arn't hard to find and they tend to be petty cheap. Gearbox wise you can buy a full aug box or a V3 and put the old airseal and contacts on it. It's not modified in a way that means it's a gun specific gearbox at all. New uppers are also available. And there is nothing to go wrong on the trigger as it's a plastic slider with a spring. All of the mechanical parts of the trigger are on the gearbox. The main fault with the Aug is the noise, Your head is resting on the gearbox, the a1 style front grips are poor and some of the aftermarket magazines are poor feeders. Outside of that there a decent enough purchase, easy to strip and work on. It's 2 screws and the slackening of 1 bolt to have the whole gearbox and motor out. 1 bar to have the whole upper receiver off with the barrels and hop. If you had a full spare gearbox you could swap it out in 2 minutes.

Right little update. I stripped and rebuilt the gearbox. (several times!) New full cylinder, m90 spring, shims, Silent head and piston head, solid brass spring guide. On the m90 the gun is shooting 295fps. It's right where it is expected to be since it's running without any spacers on the piston or spring guide. And the new spring guide is a lot thinner at the base. The spring guide came with a plastic 5mm spacer, and there should be a bearing on the piston head that looks to sit very proud, Had I left them in the fps could be up to 320-330 ish. I may test this because 330 is ideal for me. I may get some stainless rod and make some spacers so I can dial the m90 to spec. The single shot has been stripped to the contacts, removed from the gearbox, it's had the trolley polished and cleaned. When I rebuilt it the contacts were out by a fair margin so they got fettled. I also dropped the auto contact to be a touch lower, and filed the housings and trigger stop so full auto has more in-swing and a larger distance between single shot and auto. I've ground the safety to add a single shot setting. Padded some of the internals. The larger side walls, the sides of the magwell, the rear pressure plate and the handgrips. On rebuild this has removed a fair bit of noise but there is room for improvement. It's also 100% fixed the play in the upper receiver, and made the body pin a lot tighter. The body pin has had the top leading edges filed, This makes it push better when you slide it to a locked position. So far the gun feels 100% better, single shot is working well, and is selectable. The gun is pretty consistent on the m90, and it's not slapping so hard. The padding wedged into the handgrip has reduced a lot of the vibrations (I did both the front guard and handgrip). I've also removed one of the dendents from the trigger to make the auto setting smoother now that single shot can be isolated. Jobs left: Rewire with 30 amp multicore and the mosfet. m90 spring tuning. More padding. My bike grease is working well on the gears, but I got some frog lube for the cylinder. The only thing I've broken is the dust cover under the trigger. I figure that bit is mostly for Ak's that have an open trigger at that point so I may not even replace it.

Right I've picked up some grease. I got 125ml for £5.99. http://weldtite.co.uk/products/detail/cycle-grease-with-teflon-tube-150ml I'm soaking some O-rings in it now to check for any swelling or embrittlement. As far as I can tell it's a mineral oil and teflon based formula. So it should be good for gears and safe with nitrile o-rings, Definitely not safe on rubber o-rings tho. The reason for going to a racing bike grease is simple. It meets a lot of the criteria for airsoft, whilst also have a big industry that has plied research and money on the problems they face. The grease they use for the gear cassettes, wheel bearings, and cranks has to work well. Has to have low friction but also stick to steel, Needs to be highly water resistant, And has to function at great speed. You don't always thing about cycle mechanics but a racing bike at 40Mph is doing 18M/s on a 70c rim that's about 9 revolutions a second. So racing grease is good stuff. I've also picked up the padding for the shells. I couldn't get the self adhesive type without putting it on order, but I found some nice mid desitiy floor matting, It's about 3mm thick and has a woven inner core. And some industrial grade double sided tape. I'm going to start cutting and fixing it later this week.

Yeah the spring was under full tension, Teeth all checked both on the piston and the sector gear. It even has a nice final metal tooth on the piston. The whole thing looks like new bar the grease taint so that is good to go back in. It was the JG piston and head. Flat poly piston head, Poly piston, Counter weighted with the spring lock. I was already looking at the element V3 head set so I'll keep the piston as it was in good general condition, and replace the heads. I'll remove the bearing on that upgrade part as I don't like bearings under shock loads. The element set sits in a good position price wise, and should help with the piston slap as well. I'll lock everything up with threadlock on the rebuild, as for swiss cheesing it I'm not running the gun at a silly ROF so it's not needed. If I wanted ROF then there are better base guns with bigger battery capacities, shorter inner barrels, and less movement on components. Might be a future project building an MP5 or P90 to do that. Been a Yorkshireman by birth BB consumption or rather the lack of it is more of a concern atm. Less BB's of a higher quality on target, Win Win. With an oem spring that has been using the piston spring lock thingy can I just clip and file the extra bit off the spring or is it advisable just to add an M90 and forget the OEM one even existed. I have a chrono so I can test away, I may also see if My friends have a spare M90 or similar for the rebuild so we can gauge it from a known point rather than an OEM unknown. Once I get my parts sorted I'll start to rebuild. This weeks mini project will be the shells. I'll get the trigger blocks out split it to nothing and start to work out where padding can go.