Rogerborg

The thing about airsoft barrels is that ~200mm is enough to comfortably reach typical 1.14-1.2J UK site limits (and you can get there with less). There's no real benefit to going longer for <1.2J, as the BB won't remember anything about its time inside the barrel once it's out. You might even find yourself losing power and consistency as you go longer, depending on your cylinder porting and air seal. https://www.ak2m4.co.uk/internal-parts/inner-barrels/xt-inner-barrel-aeg-601mm in 300mm would give you enough extra to support the suppressor, with some baffling space left. Airsoft is the art of the possible, there's no perfect configuration.

(Runs to get AAP-01C for comparison purposes)

Ahoy and welcome. Airsoft is a blast, just pace yourself and keep hydrated. Fogging is a sod of an issue for a lot of us, and the number 2 rule (after don't be a dick) is to never, ever remove your eyepro in the game zone, even to clean it. It looks like TM rent out paintball style sealed masks rather than mesh, which will make it more likely that your glasses will steam up. I've tried various potions and lotions for anti-fogging, with the most successful (and expensive) being Revision anti-fog wipes, followed by Cat-Crap (yes, really) paste. Ventilation is the real solution, and if you stick with sealed goggles, Ex-Fog fans (and knock-offs) are available, or you can DIY something with a computer/3d printer cooler fan and some ducting. I run goggles in CQB for the light transmission and lack of spalling, but for outdoors, I've switched to mesh. The gold standard is @heroshark who does made-to-order and custom goggles, which means you'll need to wait quite a bit as he's always got more demand than time. Jumping off point for that is https://www.facebook.com/Heroshark/ However, more basic mesh goggles or masks work too, and your glasses will deal with the fragment problem. While I've got no love for the brand, I do think the mesh on these Nuprol goggles looks solid enough for airsoft, and they're hopefully big enough to cover your regular glasses. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nuprol-Pro-Mesh-Eye-Protection/dp/B0797R9TJ4 You'll likely want to remove the foam on those, or anything else you get, to increase airflow.

Ahoy and welcome. Barrel and bucking is a perfectly sensible place to start tinkering. The issue with BBs clipping your suppressor may just be down to shooter's-droop, with the suppressor slightly misaligned. I've certainly had that on an MP5K where the front end isn't very secure. Once you have a longer inner barrel in there, you can pack it out with rubber rings, tape, stiff foam, whatever you like, to help support the suppressor and keep everything aligned. Huh, I'm seeing both 190mm and 210mm listed for the SA-12. Either way, it's the extra length of the suppressor, and how far down you want it to go, that really matters. AK2M4 would get a hearty recommendation, but inner barrels are a bit thin on the ground at the moment: https://www.ak2m4.co.uk/internal-parts/inner-barrels The XT 6.02mm is decent enough. Going too tight can lead to issues, I'm getting a few wild fliers out of an XT 6.00mm barrel, even with the end opened up with a deburring tool. Sight unseen, a 260mm or 285mm is probably what you want, pending measuring. Bucking and nubs, my default is Maple Leaf and omega-style nubs. Religious wars have been fought over the exact model and hardness, but you won't go far wrong with a 60 degree Macarona and an omega: https://www.ak2m4.co.uk/internal-parts/hop-up-buckings-nubs/maple-leaf-macaron-60-nub Macarons works and feed fine with every M4 hop and nozzle that I've used them with, and specifically the Specna Arms blue rotary hop, which is a decent enough unit. If you do come out a bit over power, the spring change on the Specnas is easy enough, and you can cut off a coil, or just heat and squish the end coil, to cool it down a little.

Huh, it's impressive that the seller managed to sneak it past the eBay "not allowed" commissars. But it does rather sound like you've been deliberately sold a pup, maybe out the back door of a retailer. If @Convert doesn't manage to sort you out, they're super easy to open up and then it's a case of looking for whatever's not engaging. Easy to do if you have a working example to compare it to, a bit of a mare if you're going in blind. But a few high quality pictures or a video of the internals might let us spot what's broken or missing.

I like to act as a firebreak for those by saying "It's airsoft, he's probably saying the same about you."

Is this for a milsim that mandates real-caps? I ask because if you want to shoot 30 rounds from a magazine, you can buy any midcap and put 30 (well, more like 34) BBs in.

"has worked perfectly" They usually do, until they don't. I love that he provides so many pictures of what he's not selling, that's a nice touch.

I'd ponder on whether you're being invited to do something that's almost, but not quite, entirely unlike the thing that you enjoy being good at.

Nice, that's pretty committed. Loving the shinobi shoes. Inspires me to get a bayonet or stabber or chainsword.

And £60 plus postage for the AAP-01C at JustCos AirsoftWorld, if you want a stubby version. In stock, I don't know why "pre-order" is in the URL. https://www.airsoftworld.net/action-army-aap-01c-shinobi-gbb-airsoft-pistol-black-pre-order.html

We'll await the update in 48 hours.

Sorry to hear that. While I have no problem repairing airsoft guns after a reasonable amount of use, and have just bought an AAP-01C on that basis, I'd say broken-out-of-the-box is more of a case of haggling over whether you or the retailer is paying the return fee. If you don't like the answer, you can just start down the chargeback route with your payment processor, which can result in a retailer suddenly remembering your consumer rights. If you do want to investigate, I'd also suggest doing it with their agreement and under their guidance. It may be something simple that they can send you a part for, but if you go poking and prodding around, it might result in a warranty rejection. One thing, can you see any signs that you've been sent a "pre loved" gun? It wouldn't be the first time.

I hear a few of those cases are still being argued out.

Quiet, over AEG power levels, no cocking issues? Lightweight as well, right? How about going down the Mk23 route? Buy (e.g.) a mid-range ASG, feed it the heaviest BBs it will hop and see what power and consistency you get with and without the silencer / barrel extension, then start tinkering. There's no end of uPgRaDeS that you can do to them. Or skip to the end and buy an SSX303 carbine. One thing, if he's using something hotter than an AEG, then he should be carrying a sidearm as well anyway. The Mk23 is very popular for that purpose, so you could get it, run it without the extension as a secondary for close quarters (although it will shoot as far as most long guns) and then think about upping the power and using it as his primary. I mean, technically he could run a high power Mk23 primary, with a sub 1.2J VSR as his close-quarters secondary.

I would be a bit careful, as the plastic on the CM.5xx series is easily desiccated, even by isopropanol, let alone brake fluid.

After an unfortunately long hiatus, I finally got back indoors again, at Biohazard in Ardeer. What a blast, CQB is how I got into airsoft, and it's where I have the most fun. It's a small site, but with well thought out buildwork, and they know how to get the best out of it. Slightly overcrowded, and a bit too much "You all know what you're doing, right?" ass-u-me-ing at the briefings (turns out many people didn't), but a very good natured day with fair play all round. Top laughs when I found an alcove in the wall just big enough to fit an Imperial Guardsman, and started capping fools[*] as they walked past unawares, then popped grenades until they started to wonder out loud if I was spawning them from a magic bag. [*] With my delivered-last-night AAP-01C. Quite liking the little snappy boi, might throw some money at it.

Fairy power spray (before they changed the recipe) used to be recommended for "cleaning" paint to the point where it wasn't paint any more, so I suspect that might be a bit of a ...

UK police training weapons, circa 2009. I've seen (but can't now find) them using blue G36s now.

D'oh, yes, I missed that. One hail-Mary to try is drilling a very slight detent into the top of the hop chamber, directly above the feed tube. A few gentle-pressure turns with a 6mm drill bit put up the feed tube, just enough to create a little inverted dimple that BBs can seat into. This fixed, or seemed to fix, a similar issue on my MP5K, although as with anything airsoft it might just have been sorted by another round of disassembly-reassembly. (Detouring...) No worries, and you're right to ask because it's not obvious. What your gun is telling you is that the motor can draw enough current to over-spin, and will do so if the battery can supply it. By using a lower-C battery to fix that, you're now in a situation where the motor is trying to draw more current than the battery can provide. It's probably marginal, and many players are likely in the same situation without even realising it. However, you might find is that the battery heats up with use. It's not likely to become seriously toasty, but it'll be shortening its life to some extent. I mean, it's really not a huge deal in the grand scheme of airsoft lifetimes or costs, but I'd keep an eye on it for any signs of puffing up or alarming overheating. The tl;dr version is that ideally you want a battery that can comfortably supply more current than the motor can draw, and that you fix the double-shots another way, e.g. checking for a worn cut off lever, using an active-brake mosfet (although this then increases strain on the motor), or even by a mechanical bodge like limiting the trigger travel so that the trolley can disengage faster (I've used a blob of hot-melt glue between the trigger contacts to achieve this).

Urgh, tell me about it, by the time I pulled the trigger on buying an XR-5, I could only find it in DayGlo Blue, and the paint and varnish keeps wearing through on the rub points. I'll likely just start taping over it. Thomas, the legal position is that it's a strict liability offence to modify a non-realistic imitation firearm into a realistic imitation firearm, even temporarily, in private: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/38/section/36 However, it's a defence to do so for the purposes of playing airsoft at a site with 3rd party liability insurance: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/38/section/37 as amended by https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-violent-crime-reduction-act-2006-commencement-no-3-order-2007-firearms-measures There's no age limit on the defence, or particular criteria to claim it. The UKARA-style 3-games-over-8-weeks scheme providing the level of evidence that retailers considered necessary. You can make your own decision on it. Practically speaking, it's only going to come to the attention of the state if you do something silly with the gun out in public. At that point, Firearms Act 1968 Section 19 applies, and it doesn't matter if it's a realistic imitation or not. Since you already have the gun, and haven't gone on a rampage with it, I think you can be trusted not to do so if it happens to get blacked out. However, I'd agree that the lowest risk option, particularly while you're under 18, is to use sniper tape, which comes in solid colours or camos. If you tape up on site then remove it at the end of the day, then you're satisfying the letter and the spirit of the law.

Hmm. It's cheap because it has a plastic gearbox, and is running at under half the power of a typical metal gearbox AEG, which likely means a light spring and a cheap motor. However, as you only need it to get the dimensions right then it should do the job. It even sounds like it has a modern rotary hop unit rather than the older dial style - both types of unit are interchangeable, and taking TM mags is a good sign. One consideration is that even the cheapest CYMAs come with a basic NiMh battery and charger, which will let you test the shooting performance. The Double Bell does not, so you'd have to spend extra on a battery and charger, which will push the price up by a surprising amount. It's a pity you're not in the UK or I'd have sent you a M4 from the spares box. That 42K LARP looks amazing, I'll look into that - thanks!

Except that you're trying to draw more current than the battery can provide, which will, best case, heat it up and shorten its life, or worst case spark it up.

And bear in mind that the incoming fire that you're trying to emulate could be coming from a hot gun, or a DMR being trigger-spammed.

Sadly corrected, "interruption" gets you the jail.