Rogerborg

I'd also suggest it as a bodge to ameliorate feeding problems, given that they tend to occur when the nozzle is too far forwards. I'd stress the very bodgy nature of it, but in the end it's just shimming to sort out ropey airsoft tolerances, and nobody thinks that's unusual or unnecessary inside the gearbox.

Nice to see an ungopped solution. Do you find that tracer deflecting your shots? I couldn't get on with a similarly sized Lighter-S and have had to go up to a Spitfire with a larger inner tunnel.

I am prompted to note that pleasuring yourself is fine, but rocking up in forums and demanding attention is tawdry.

It's not a great method, but in a pinch, it can work. I've verified it with my borderline hot CYMA, in case I need to do it on site. Of course, it being airsoft, "in a pinch" is likely to become "long term fix".

There's a lot of bad paint jobs out there - see the classifieds. Sounds like OP will do a proper one though.

I wouldn't use one on a fastening that size, i.e. with the tiny extractor that you'd have to use. There's a risk of snapping the extractor, and you might end up with piece of hardened steel to drill through as well. Ask me how I know (spoiler: see above). I contrast that with Irwins bolt extractors which I'll reach for in preference to sockets any time I don't care about saving the fastener. As to slotting it, I'd be surprised if you could do it without cutting into the selector itself. Just drill the head off, you've already got a nice centring hole for it.

I'd be fascinated to find out if Specna have gone flat hop and not even thought to list it as a feature. To be honest, I don't view it as one. I've never seen the point of shoving the whole bucking through the window rather than using a large mound, e.g. a Maple Leaf, or to press on a r-hop or s-hop patch. In this case, I can see marks and damage that I infer are from pressing the bucking into the window edges (and a standard nub or omega couldn't push it in far enough to even hop a 0.2g). Bought as new from PatrolBase, I couldn't see any sign of it having been touched by human Western hands externally, let alone internally. It definitely had the flat hop nub, I noticed it because it was so distinctive. I just never made the connection that it might also have a flat hop bucking. They both went into the bits pile, I've now bagged them up together. As an aftermarket part, it hadn't occurred to me that one might be fitted as stock. I think it might have been though, as it matches the nub and I can't think where else it could have come from.

Mmm, given how chewed out they are, even the hex bit is more of a token ritual at this point. Observation: money spent on tools is money saved on drill bits.

Oof, that's as good a job of rounding out as I've seen. As above, but you'll have a hard time putting a slot in there, and I've never got glue to work on anything that was so stuck that it had already rounded out. Reluctantly, I'd agree with: hex bit, then drill. If you can slot or glue, great, but since they both rounded out, I'd suspect that they might have been threadlocked by some sadist.

The very best of reasons. Indeed, in the context of wanting to play with toy guns, there are very few bad reasons.

Ahoy and welcome.

Are they still operating the genius strategy of not telling you that until right at the end of the order process?

Yup, @Lozartflagged that earlier, it does look like the black one, and is quite hard - which is why I thought it might be a ZCI 70. Oh, hold the phone! I know where I've seen that style of nub before... In this very Specna Arms SA-E02 Edge. Clearish rather than black, but that profile, I'd never seen one like that before, and that does seem to be advertised as a flat hop nub. Well, I reckon this could be the stock Specna bucking then, which I replaced with a Maple Leaf bucking and Omega nub right out of the box. I'd never seen them advertised as having a flat hop bucking, but mine did come with that style of nub, and I'm fresh out of ideas as to where else this bucking could have come from. I wonder if anyone with a stock Specna could shed any light on it. No, it's quite hard and stiff. Fnar.

Indeed, he should be a paying member of UKARA, or equivalent, or at a minimum have a company with liability insurance covering airsoft sales. Trying to sneak masses of RIFs in by abusing a site membership scheme for players, I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Huh, that is what it looks like, even down to being slightly dry and rough looking (e.g. rubber, "Perfect for using with R-Hop") rather than slick texture (silicone, for direct contact). But I've got no record nor recollection of ever getting one, or why I'd have done so. My DIY'd flat hop bucking was done to use with an S-hop (tried and abandoned), and I have no other use for one. @Adolf Hamstercould be right, I might have acquired it some other way than retail, but I'm struggling to think how, as all my AEGs (pauses to check...) were bought new. Maybe I've just acquired enough Bits in the Box that they are now attracting random parts from hyperspace?

Hmm, I can't think of any candidates, and it clearly requires use of a flat hopped arm and a thicc eraser nub, or an S/R-hop patch to work at all - it would be (and is) instantly noticeable when used with a standard arm and nub. I've only got one flat hopped AEG arm, and I did that myself, along with one rubber, and it's not this one. Good point, the damage on it (the lips and near the shoulder) look like rubber, rather than the smooth splits you tend to get on decent silicone when it gives way. I'm pretty sure that I've found the ZCI 70 now, and it's better quality than this. That just makes it even weirder. Why would you manufacture a flat hop rubber (a premium / upgrade piece) out of sub-standard materials? Small issue, big head scratchings.

No, the ridge is around on the other side, this is where the contact patch should be. Those lines are just barely visible but not tangible. Now that I think about it, they're probably just from pushing the rubber on, then the nub trying to push it through the barrel window. Oh, and I've found what is likely to be the ZCI 70 (apologies to Mr M4), so I suspect this is indeed a factory flat hop rubber. I just have no idea how I got it, or from where.

They didn't. To be clear, it's got a an unmodified and distinct keying ridge on it. It's exactly how you would make a factory flat hop rubber, I just can't find any evidence that I bought it as such.

Yup, I removed the ridge on the other rubber. If I'd modified this one, I'd have done it here as well, so I'm pretty sure it came this way. Yup, again. If someone is selling flat hop rubbers, and I've bought one, this is what it would look like. But I can't find any evidence that I did, or anyone selling them. Oh, I probably did that while turning it inside out with a set of ridged surgical forceps because sod it.

When I FOI'd them a few years back, they didn't even have records of how many times (or even if) they'd checked UKARA numbers. That doesn't mean that they don't, and they may have cracked down now, mind.

Curious stuff. I threw an M90 spring, a short barrel, a random hop rubber into my DMR'd Specna Arms and took it to a CQB site. All good, except for a complete lack of hop. OK, no worries, I'll just pop in the spare random hop rubber that I thought to bring and... no hop. Well, no biggie, it was the backup-backup-backup AEG. But why no hop? On examination today, it turns out that I'd flat hopped one of the buckings, with the contact bump and most of the keying ridge clearly sanded off, with just enough of its memory remaining to fool me on site in a hurry. I mention this to make it clear that I know what a flat hopped rubber is and what it looks like (inside out, in daylight). The other, well, it has a clear keying ridge, no signs of cutting or sanding anywhere, but no contact bump. There's a rectangular section visible where it should be, bounded by straight, very slight lines running along and across it, but they don't look like anything I did or could have done. It seems like the contact bump is just missing, like it's been pre-flat hopped, but retaining the keying ridge. The rubber, inside out, showing where the contact bump should be (the ridge is on the opposite side). And highlighting the very faint lines. The cratery bit near the shoulder looks like a tiny moulding imperfection, it's not the result of cutting or sanding, I couldn't do work that fine without scuffing up the whole area. What sorcery is this? I've checked my purchase history but can't found that I've bought a "flat hop bucking" or anything similar. What I think this might be, based on the hardness, is a ZCI 70 degree bucking bought from @ak2m4 (and not fitted, it was bought as a backup in case I got DMR Maple Leaf feed issues onsite) although I'll go through my bits box to see if I can find that still packaged elsewhere. [CORRECTION] No, it's not that, the ZCI has been found and is perfectly fine. Either way, a bit of a puzzler. Does anyone make and sell rubbers like this, or have I just ended up with a mutant?

Ahoy and welcome back to the money-sink.

Word. I'd just note that at this point your only real concern isn't possession of a RIF or how you got it, but possession in public. Firearms Act 1968 section 19 makes it an offence to possess any imitation firearm (realistic or otherwise) in public, without a reasonable excuse, the proof whereof lies with us. In other words, only have it with you when you're on your way to an insured airsoft skirmish site, ideally with pre-booking, and have the site details to hand. Other than that, you're golden. Or, black.