Adolf Hamster

presumably that's just how he has the mosfet setup, some people like it that way for some reason. wondering if that noise after firing is setting up precock? after the trigger is released. doesn't sound high enough of a rof to be getting pme, but that does depend on the spring strength. regardless, doesn't sound healthy.

what a world we live in, when a cyma ak has rarity value

^that personally i'm a fan of the wide port piston heads: https://www.ak2m4.co.uk/internal-parts/pistons-heads/xt-piston-head-5-large-vents-aluminium cylinder wise, unless the stock one is particularly scratched no real need to change that. if the stock cylinder head is sealing well then no need to change, same applies to the nozzle, although if your gonna change nozzle then be very certain about the length requirement and get one with a sealing o-ring such as https://www.ak2m4.co.uk/internal-parts/nozzles/ec-m4-metal-nozzle-double-oring-21mm you've already got a decent barrel/bucking/nub combo so with decent airseal and good ammo it should be most of the way there. the gearing i'd leave alone, if you're staying at 18:1 then changing the gears is only really relevant if the existing gears are weak (ie have broken) or you're super paranoid about gear noise (beyond what can be acheived with a decent shimming/motor height job) and want to do something weird like helical. indeed, that's the real big difference for "trigger response". mosfet choice is up to you, personally i like gate stuff but plenty of folks are happy with perun too. motor wise the asg 30k is nice enough on 7.4 but if you really wanna splash out then the warhead brushless motors are very snappy, although a tad more delicate (especially the contacts).

Few options. Dab of glue on the hex bit, let it set before trying to remove. If that doesnt work a torx might, but you'll want the right size. After that something like grinding a slot in the head to take it out with a flatblade screwdriver. And finally as mentioned get the big guns and drill it out. In future, i really suggest investing in a good quality set of hex drivers, really does make all the difference for the small screws you find in these things.

yeah if that persists you might wanna talk to a doctor about that....

so your aim is range and/or semi response for a semi-locked build?

quite possible. i have heard it theorized that white holes are responsible for similar phenomena, like the appearance of spoons, mugs, or individual socks despite the owners having never actively obtained such items.

maybe pulled from a secondhand gun? or if you ever work on other people's guns could be from there? i know thats where most of my spare parts collection came from.

thought the first pic was showing the markings where the ridge would be but isn't? now i'm getting even more confused.......

yeah it does look factory made, although one does wonder why they removed the keying ridge. they're definately a thing, but i'll admit i couldn't specify the brand. any time i've looked i ended up just modding my own or buying something like a maple leaf.

hmm removing the keying ridge is a common enough part of the flat-hop process, but as you say it doesn't look like it's been done by hand. if it were a pre-made flat hop then it would presumably retain the ridge as the only reason it's removed normally is to rotate the bucking to get a fresh contact patch. a mystery for sure. also, are the feedlips as torn up as they look in those pics?

what is your goal with this "upgrade"? because that's gonna define which of those builds suits your purpose, or if a different build would be even better suited.

see, what i read there is: i'll confess to not being the biggest expert on the intricacies of ak furniture, but i thought the 74 pattern was a side swivel not bottom? it's hard to tell from the pics but it looks like it might just not have a muzzle device installed, or at the very least just a thread protector. eh, wouldn't be the first time folk have run "incorrect" mags because either they don't care or couldn't find the ones they wanted in stock.

just in case any youtubers are watching and weren't sure what he meant by that.

that "off" pic defo looks engaged too far. that said, the "on" pic also looks a bit more than my hazy recollection of the last time i worked on one of those units.

they do? https://www.sixmm.com/products/we-akm-gbb-pmc-airsoft-rifle?variant=37052782018721 looks like the ad is one of those with the furniture replaced with RS stuff for the classic look. explains the gas tube change too if the original was railed, presumably the railed handguard and m4 stock adapter mentioned in the ad are the originals

except gbbr's, hpa's and bolt actions

when a site quotes a limit as "fps" they don't mean raw velocity, they mean velocity (in feet per second) using a 0.2g bb. this is a statement of kinetic energy, but instead of using joules it's using a convoluted unit that mixes metric and imperial and sounds like it's just a velocity measurement to really confuse people. kinda the same way you fill your car with 50 litres of petrol but measure the fuel economy in miles per gallon. we just have to be awkward in this country. so in the case of a 400"fps" limit, 400fps on 0.2g = 1.49J of energy, a 0.4g bb fired with 1.49J of energy will be travelling roughly 282fps fortunately, there are calculators available to help out: https://www.zerooneairsoft.com/airsoft_fps_calculator just because you've said that i reckon we should use obol-barleycorns per microjiffy and yes, apparently the jiffy is actually a measurement of time equal to 1/65,536 of a second.....

wonder if the arm was a bit tight/stuck it's not unheard of for guns to have a level of lift with the hop turned off, indeed i've done it many a time intentionally. however i'd be surprised if a stock arp was doing it.

at the risk of potentially giving out advice.... OP: have you considered what you're wanting to get with this £500? it's usual to have to factor in things like magazines, batteries, chargers etc for a starter purchase. reason i ask is that spending less on the gun, and more on accessories such as web gear, slings or a nice optic to partner with the gun can be just as valuable as the gun in the first place. eg a bone stock tm recoil with 1 magazine is gonna be a whole lot less useful than say a cyma platinum with a nice red dot, sling, bunch of mid caps and an odin in terms of overall skirmishability. i know i made that mistake first time, dropped all my cash on an f2000 and spent its first day out with 1 hicap and no sling, needless to say i couldn't bear to drop my new shiny toy on the ground so by the end of the day my arms were in agony.....

Also iirc isnt advertising only allowed in the retailers section? Citation needed

tbf, you'd be surprised how often you can tag people who just stand around thinking you can't hit them whilst i do agree, hpa isn't strictly a magic bullet. it still requires the rest of the system (hop, barrel, ammo, etc) to be of a good standard. it will also need dialed in properly, whilst this is easier to do than aeg's they can also be a lot fussier especially with voluming. certain systems, specifically the polarstar jack/F1 open-bolt systems can have real accuracy issues (as in worse than a decent aeg) due to the way they work, with the likes of the F2/Fusion being a bit higher end (ie over-budget). i can't comment on the wolverine stuff having never used it, but they claim closed bolt operation so probably the better pick for this case. of course that's assuming you're happy to deal with the air line (which isn't so bad), weight of the tank (which can be a pain sometimes), getting air (which can be easy if the site does refills or a real problem if they don't) and more importantly the de-facto hatred from other players.

lemme guess, were most of the parts sourced from the same company?

really depends on your definition of best. whilst the tm's reputation is mighty, it's not the only gun on the market that shoots well ootb. however as @Groot and @Rogerborg point out a few minor tweaks to a cheaper guns can get them up to that level, especially when you also give them good food.