DerDer

Yeah it was a complete horror show. Remember there was a thread on Arnies with a chap that was going through the various problems. That particular individual was one who has made his own replicas from scratch. God help the average airsofter trying to get one running.

It's certainly a different choice. At the moment you can get airsoft versions of Makarovs, Tokarevs and a Grach as well. The odd thing is that Raptor/TWI are releasing a Stechkin this year too. So there will be a choice in 2023 for one after that particular pistol.

Yeah, that would be sensible. Also be careful of the wiring when putting it back together. Can be very frustrating to do internal work and then pinch a wire during the reassembly phase.

The hope would be the price to drop by a good bit later. All the same, would certainly agree as regards some of Dave's pricing. My particular favourite was the >£1000 guns where you would also be charged the guts of a fiver extra for deans or XT60 connectors.

Interesting and disappointing at the same time. Remember from reading a thread on Arnies that one user had to remove quite a few bits and replace them. That was gearbox related. Annoying to spend that amount and then have to switch the internals to Lonex/Prometheus/SHS parts. That's manageable at a push. However a crap hop up unit is a deal breaker. See that Bullgear have a unit for the MK48. Would probably be extremely unlikely that would come out with one for such a unicorn MG as a £>2000 GPMG. Had a A&K PKM and enjoyed it but ultimately it started to fall apart. The VFC line of Support guns would also seem to be questionable in some of their internal choices. Seems the quest for a nice support gun continues.

One for those with particularly deep pockets. Lambda Defence and Dave's Custom armory seem to have teamed up to fill the L7A2 shaped hole in the market. Pre-order up at the site for the sum of £2500. Will be curious to see how the project turns out. https://www.davescustomairsoft.co.uk/dca-gpmg

Think you might be right unfortunately. Might have to be more realistic with the choices in the new year. Been waiting since 2018 at this stage.

To their credit, the seem to be claiming that the L1A1 re-stock will be at the end of 2023. Something to look forward to in the new year. Might pick up a different gun or two between then.

Green devil bio BBs were quite well regarded. Think they did batches in brown and green.

VFC M249 series seems very impressive. In particular, the large number of accessories. Also glad they are still going ahead with a DX version of the LAR. In terms of other brands, LCT seem to have finally gotten round to their SVDS. While the G3K seems a good addition to their G3/33 series. Also Lambda defence seems to have a M240L, which might precede a more vanilla m240 or even FN MAG. Poor effort from King Arms at their stall, no L1A1 or FAL. Also they seem to be ignoring fans on social media asking after them.

Yeah unfortunately no developments on that front. Their Facebook page has them claiming no updates on the FN FAL. Might be a case that VFC pursue an AEG version or another manufacturer steps up. We have the MOA show in Taiwan in December so perhaps something will emerge? There's always hope....

Elcan wins it. Also like the back up sight integrated into the unit. As regards brand, Theta optics seems decent. Alternatively you could cough up more for the G&G model.

The gearbox looks like it could have potential. Seems almost like an ICS system. The barrel and hop up seems like it could be a problem true. Certainly wouldn't be in a rush to be an early adopter.

Some interesting looking replicas. Hope this means we get an APC 308 some day.

Not anytime soon. Although at least VFC has a history of making some replicas available in both GBBR and AEG form. So there may be hope in the future. On the other hand we have King Arms claiming they will re-release their FAL line. Although the last time I checked they were claiming to do be doing so in the coming years, which lead me to stop checking up on their offerings.

Fairly thorough video.

Going on admittedly fuzzy recollection, think the ASG basic line were fitted in the earlier Evo Scorpions. Wouldn't be surprised if that was the type of motor fitted to US spec Scorpion Aegs.

One way is the use of red loctite. Another is to try a snugger fitting pinion, for instance Siegetek make different sized ones e.g. https://www.brillarmory.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=36_55_68&products_id=526&zenid=d1e4d2828303acd2f294dff4d286d2e1

See that VFC have a railed cover to be released soon. Available to pre-order from WGC shop. Promising omen for more accessories. https://www.wgcshop.com/collections/new-arrivals/products/vfc-vf9-mws-lar-bk01

VFC Have their website for this replica operational. Interestingly the manual has the inner barrel at 360mm. https://www.vegaforce.com/LAR/index.html

Have used a 14:1 gearset with similar motor in the past with no ill effects. Another variable, is what type of battery are you using with your set up? A stick 7.4v lipo might run for a gearbox for an extended period of time while a beefy brick 11.1v could implode the thing.

Could try cleaning it again and try a different brand of BBs. Alternative might be to try cracking open the gearbox. Could be whoever put the gearbox together was overly generous with the application of grease or utilised the wrong type of lubricant.

Did you clean the ZCI barrel before installing it? Out of the box barrels can have a lot of gunk in it.

Reckon if these are good, G&G might just scrap their plans for one.

Just to say these have gone up for preorder at WGC shop, with the admittedly vague date of Summer 2022. Just the standard version at the moment. Still seems a closer step than KA have gotten with their re-release. https://www.wgcshop.com/collections/new-arrivals/products/vfc-lar-fal-standard-type-i-gbb-airsoft