Rogerborg

I wasn't joking by suggesting that some people will have it set to open because they really do relish the opportunity of feigning offence.

I reckon there's relatively little in airsoft that can have a "market worth" put on it. Volumes are too low, and there are so many variants and differences in condition. Markets work when buyers are selecting from a range of comparable sellers, and going with the lowest price (or best value service). Not so much when we're saying "Yeah, it would cost £X new, if anyone had it, but they don't". or "Something a bit like that, but not really, might have sold for £Y, three months ago, maybe."

That's not a completely frivolous point. I'd have a CYMA CM.045A at PatrolBase / TaiwanGun prices tomorrow, but it'll never reach me. At UK prices, nah. Also, it not being in stock helps with not buying it.

OK. OK. But which is it?

Sorry to hear this, and I do have some sympathy with TG, but you're the customer, you've paid them for a service, and you've got a broken item. I'd fire in without a moment's hesitation. Ignore whatever you've been saying directly to TG. Open a fresh PayPal dispute and just say that the item is completely non functional. Nothing else, no background, no "I used it for a bit and then it broke." If TG want to dump the history of your conversation in there, that's up to them, but you just stick to "Non functional, refund please." If PayPal don't resolve that in your favour, then you go on and do exactly the same thing with your credit or debit card issuer, and tell them to issue a chargeback against PayPal. Same process, just "non functional, seller refuses to fix." Best of luck, and hopefully it will be a simple fix. Worst case, you should be able to bin off the magic parts and just rewire it for a standard trigger, but then you're losing out on what you paid for.

It's very much an aesthetic thing. Some folk like big thicc silencers, but I reckon that just makes it look like, well, a carbine with a silencer. I prefer some pokey-out length to make it clear that it's all barrel, baby. Something like this. Although I'm personally rocking a SA-E02 DMR with a short M933 style Fudd handguard and a 5" extension. It would look horrible to a purist, but, well, that's one reason to do it. Good shout, and holy heck, and AK2M4 actually has them in stock: https://www.ak2m4.co.uk/internal-parts/hop-up-chambers/zci-rotary-hopup-chamber-plastic-m4 Although I've never really been sold on the omega nubs anyway. I actually like the Specna Arms nub which is sort of omega, but front-to-back rather than side-to-side, in combination with a Maple Leaf macaron (if I remember correctly).

Or was it more what you'd call a suspension until he'd begged / bribed / browbeaten them into letting him back? I hope not, there should be consequences for showcasing egregious dickery.

Hmm, now I'm fascinated to see how the air seal and feed mechanism would work.

Although L85s seem to come pre-loaded with a fair number of issues (making them historically accurate). Fair point though, get whatever gives you a tingle, they're much the same internally. +1 for CYMA, they're cheap because they make so many of them, not because they're badly made. The cheapest ones have toyish plastic, and basic internals, but they're robust enough and you're very unlikely to go far wrong with with a CYMA AK.

Things I didn't know existed but now desperately need. BAM, Ali Expressed. Good shout on the radiusing as well.

BUMP for completeness, I've since replaced this with about 1 1/8th turn of a coil spring on the RHS. I think it was from the inside of a suppressor rather than an AEG spring. This does a much better job of pulling the LHS selector tight against the receiver and keeping the nub engaged in the detents. You could use a piece of wire or perhaps a washer or a larger rubber o-ring than shown above, the full diameter of the circular part of the selector.

Hmm, the triggers are pretty mushy, but the bar does need to be pushed down in order for it to engage the trigger. I'd definitely want to replace that spring. Ah, I did take a (bad) picture of it. The stock one is slightly conical, larger at the bottom where it pushes on the bar, but anything that fits might help.

Indeed, but as a first gun, which will likely become a backup or loaner, they make sense. Cheap, plentiful, easiest to find spares and upgrade parts for, and fairly easy to sell on when you make the mistake of buying before playing and then realise that airsoft isn't for you. Although, all that said...

I heard all sorts about him being banned left, right and centre, but he still seems to have no problem finding filming locations for his fictional dramas.

To the massive nascent market for niche toys in a niche hobby?

It's actually surprising that prices haven't jumped faster and higher than they have. Retailers are missing a trick, fortunately for us.

No need to over think it. You already have a rotary hop, so just drop in a Maple Leaf rubber and you should be able to lift any BB that you can afford. 70 or 60 degree, I wouldn't go harder. Softer will wear faster, but changing hop rubbers is cheap and quick compared to just about anything else in airsoft. Buy a heavier spring or springs, depending on your site's energy limits. It's not an exact science, don't expect 140m / 459fps on a 0.2g out of an M140 spring, and be prepared to clip off a coil at a time and heat and flatten the end in order to tune the power. Get a chrono, and understand whether you need to tune for Joules at the BB weight that you're using (good site), or for fps on 0.2g (bad site). You can use an outer barrel extension rather than a silencer to hide a longer barrel, e.g. https://www.ak2m4.co.uk/external-parts/outer-barrels But bear in mind that barrel quality beats barrel length. I'm running an AOLS 455m, which to be honest is far longer than you need, it was just about willy waggling. AOLS or ZCI are fine at the cheap end. Internals, eh, leave 'em alone. Maybe a full cylinder if you need it, and a full steel rack on the piston - although stock CYMAs shoot at up to 1.5J using a plastic rack, there's no need to change it until and unless it strips. If your motor struggles, I'd replace that rather than fiddling with the gears. I like the Big Dragon M140 or M160 motors from Ali Express, you might as well buy honestly Chinese branded Chinese motors (or "mortors" as they say on the packaging ). Locking to semi is just a case of cutting a bit off the selector plate. I'd suggest buying a spare one for that and keeping the stock one safely aside in case you want to go back to full auto. Heaviest BBs that you can lift and afford, and don't expect instant magic from it, you'll have to tune and tweak it. One handy thing about having a longer inner barrel hidden inside a suppressor or extension is that you can remove the outer and rotate the inner if you have consistent curve to one side from the barrel being slightly rotated.

Sure, it would be interesting to see what you've come up with. It's not that insane an idea, you're just using a leaf rather than a coil spring to shove a piston down a cylinder, and let's be honest, we're all playing with toys. If it's draw-and-release rather than drawing to cock a latched spring, then consistency might be an issue, and CQB sites in particular might want to take a hard look about what it's really capable of, as opposed to how long a pull you use for chrono.

Damn, that's swole. Are you now, or have you ever been, an 8mm freak?

It particularly gets my goat because there will be folk out there with pistols shooting at over 1.3J, quite likely unchronoed, with nobody batting an eyelid about MED or ROF. Sites should be educating players that appearance and barrel length means very little in airsoft, not surrendering to the fantasy.

*Ahem*.