straffham

Cheers for that, could be just the job, not heard of your website before tbh so thanks for letting me know. Ref the ZCI QD shell does it come with trigger and contact switch/wiring as the photo implies? Edit: just read the full description which confirms it does!

http://gunfire.pl/product-eng-1152202321-Complete-v-2-Enter-Convert-TM-gearbox.html This is what I had in mind.

Actually had a reply from Ares confirming I want a V2 case as opposed to full gearbox, no prices yet though. So, if I'm going down the replacement route, Specna Arms do complete V2 gearboxes with 8mm bearings for around £50; are these anygood?

Nice one - Do they require any special service to be used?

Looks like the stubby M16 stock not the full length version. Should fit your gun ok but you may struggle to fit a large 3300 battery in it. Connector would prob be different too.

Cheers again guys. So in the main consensus seems to be use Parcelforce 24 or 48, though costs seem to vary a lot judging from the above posts depending if you declare it for what it is (and pay the extra) which looks to be the only way for peace of mind. Lambster, yes thats a good idea, I used to work for a firm which had a parcel collection twice a week by Parcelforce where each parcel was charged an average price (total weight cost divided by number of parcels) so was cheap to use, though as said no insurance or tracking unless added as an extra.

I'm inclined to think that may be the only way. I do have a spare V2 shell so will see if it fits if Star don't reply (pretty much what I'm expecting). The Ares M4 has various non standard V2 features though outside of the gearbox so I'm not sure how these will fit against a standard version hence wondering if anyone had done the conversion before. Needless to say I'm now firmly in the "Don't buy a Star/Ares gun" camp!

AK's need either 1) the receiver side rail specific mount (generally on AK74s), or 2) an aftermarket mount in place of the nomal leaf sight, or 3) a railed upper handguard. The Upper receiver cover generally wobbles a little on most airsoft AKs so is generally no good for mounting a sight on. There is also a sight mount available for TM (Marui) style plastic bodied AK47 variants which screw mounts ahead of the magazine well without modification to the gun. Modern Cyma guns are pretty good value but as said you'd probably find you need to have it downgraded as they are a little hot (powerful) for most (if not all) sites. In which case get the shimming checked and have it re-lubricated at the same time. Everyone has their own preference on retailers but I've found Airsoft World & Action Hobbies good for Chinese AEGs (EG Cyma, JG etc) and Firesupport good for Top end stuff and parts, spares etc.

Cheers guys, very helpful - what sort of cost are you looking at to send say an M4 within the UK?

My Mrs doesn't mind me going at all in my "playing out clothes" as she puts it, says to play nice and remember to have juice and a biscuit at break time lol! (I'm gradually winning her round to come for a game one day!) (PS I'm 44 not a school age noob!)

Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere? Thinking of selling some RIFs in the appropriate section on here, but before I do I wondered how to go about posting them? Last time I posted one (several years ago) I was told by my local Post Office that with it being a RIF it required some sort of Special tracking as normal Registered postage with Insurance wouldn't cover it if it got lost, and it would cost £20 plus. Would appreciate feedback from people who have posted RIFs, who they used, what service to ask for, what it cost etc, any problems encountered, that sort of thing? Cheers all, Martyn.

Not had much luck with this, I've heard that backup with Star/Ares is lamentable in the past and this seems to be the case. Firesupport said to try Action Hobbies, Wolf Armouries or failing that Hong Kong! Neither of the Uk retailers mentioned nor Redwolf have the gearbox shell in stock and I can only assume from their reply that Firesupport don't hold any hope of restocking them. I have just contacted Ares direct via their website so will see if anything comes of that . . . . .

I bought an Ares M4A1 in 2010, brand new, from Action Hobbies as a back-up weapon in case my primary gun went down. Its had about a dozen skirmishes since then and still looks pretty much as new. Never had any issues with it, nor has it been upgraded in any way. Even the microswitch trigger works fine. However, took it out of the box the other day and found it was down on power. Took the upper receiver off and a couple of pieces of metal fell out. Not good I thought! Looking at the gearbox casing/shell, the metal has fractured in several places on both halves of the shell just ahead of the cylinder, around the cylinder head, to the extent pieces were loose and would fall off. The metal here is unbelievably thin but it looks more like a case of metal fatigue / poor manufacture than stress fractures. Either way its bad on a 4yr old gun which hasn't had a lot of use. So it now needs a new gearbox shell. (See WANTED / PARTS if you can help or PM me) Being a copy of its Star predecessor, does any one know where I can get a replacement shell (its different to most V2 boxes as it has a quick change spring facility, and of course the widely unliked microswitch. Failing this has anyone dropped a standard V2 box into a Star/Ares M4, and was it straighforward? Cheers, Martyn.

Always found them to be good. If you like to see, compare and try before you buy their almost warehouse sized shop is out of the way for most, but its an Aladins cave. Best place I've seen (which isn't many tbh ) for tactical gear and clothing from WW1 to present by a country mile. Worth noting its only recently they've returned to stocking airsoft rifs.

You could try "the Airsoft Shack" on Facebook (located in Buckley, North Wales) they had a load of ex hire AKs from a local site last time I was in there so may be able to sort you one by post?

Just caught up with this thread, some hilarious and some scary posts lol! I've never used JBBG and doubt I ever would but there are a couple of comments I would make: my interest in airsoft guns started in the late 1980s with LS 1:1 scale plastic kits of 1911s, Berettas etc for about £15, and M16s for about £30 in my local toy & model shop. These were decent replicas (for their time) with full trade marks which built up into firing BB guns. Then ready made guns appeared by names such as "Gunze Sangyo" which were slightly dearer. So far all these were single shot springers with no Hop up, sold pretty much as toys, by toy/hobby shops, and made for garden plinking. I remember one seriously expensive purchase around 1989 was a Marui H&K G3 springer (still all plastic and no hop up!) which cost my weeks wages of £90! Then came some gas NBBs and eventually AEGs and GBB pistols from Marui, Maruzen etc at ever higher prices. Still aimed as plinkers initially until the idea of skirmishing in the UK got off the ground and Hop up started to be fitted to AEGs etc (praise the Lord!). My point is my interest in airsoft came about from cheap garden plinkers, as I'm sure it has for many. Now as then, some manufacturers make different grades of guns for different budgets and uses eg I have a Cyma CM.023 (MP5A5) "AEG" which was bought from a market trader, brand new, boxed & sealed in cellophane, for £25 in 2005, complete with battery, charger, 2 mags, suppressor and 'aimpoint style" scope and mount, plus adjustable hop. This gun was total crap, as I half expected; plastic gearbox, gears, in fact plastic everything apart from the stock rails, 200FPS and nothing compatible with ANY upgrade parts! But ok as my kids garden plinker. (Annoyingly it still works, functions better than some "pro airsoft MP5s" in that the fire selector works properly 100% of the time, it has a high rate of fire and the mag feeds every last round grrrrrrr DOH!). Nowadays however Cyma make some decent guns, not perfect sure, but they are getting better (I have the full metal Galil SAR and M16A3, both cost about half what a King arms or G&P would, and upgraded a few parts (because I'm budget conscious and enjoy tinkering with AEG gearboxes), and they are now decent, reliable skirmish guns. Likewise SRC do make some quite decent AEGs, but it may be possible they also make cheaper ones specifically for the likes of JBBG to sell to the plinkers (as I was all those years ago)? So its horses for courses. Anyway point being the advertising needs to be really specific as to the intended use ie plinking OR skirmishing. If its not then buy from somewhere reputable that gives full details like is it a "full metal V2 gearbox with steel gears" etc. If lies are clearly made about it then AVOID THE SITE, or better still if its flagrant and this can be proved then tell Trading Standards department. Likewise if the customer service is poo. It is admittedly of course, a fact of life that every shop, site, gun and accessory will be viewed differently by different people and herein lies the biggest problem to noobs looking for advice on what gun and where to buy. It is a very individual perspective. I would always say to anyone starting out in AIRSOFT to visit an AIRSOFT shop rather than order online from the cheapest supplier and get a feel for different guns and manufacturers, and also chat to people on the forum & ideally play at their local skirmish site with hired or borrowed guns, decide what works for YOU and get UKARA registered BEFORE parting with cash.

It was excellent to be honest as standard, though a little hot at 365FPS hence the spring change. Now runs at 330ish.

Just checked the box mine came in, it is marked up as Golden Eagle but was retailed as JG from the website I got it from (Airsoft World a few years ago) though as said it was a plastic M16A2 receiver on mine as per your pic. If they do a metal body one then yeah it would be worth more, but not if its getting towards G&P prices. All the parts on the one I have dropped straight into a G&P M16vn receiver no problem. I did have to reduce the power by fitting a 90 spring though.

Didn't the gun come with an exploded parts diagram in the instructions? I've not seen that gbb mechanism but on the couple of others I've worked on generally the spring goes into the nozzle first followed by the regulator (bit with holes in / hollow middle, and usually a long prong which goes through the spring) then a hollow spacer which fits around the regulator, then the long tube bit with the piston head which is itself held in place by a pin or screw. assuming you've not lost any parts trial and error should be able to sort it?

Yeah the DE M56 range are great, feed well and reliable. Got the full length/fullstock one with a stock shell holder and sling which looks the biz, its a big gun and quite bulky as a backup though and does flex a little being all plastic. If you're looking for a backup I'd go for one of the shorter barrel ones with or without the full stock.

The JG M733 is basically identical to the one in your pic (apart from the accessories). I picked mine up a few years back for £90 new. Its a straight clone of the TM one, though like the TM it has a plastic body. Its since been converted to an early CAR-15 carbine with a G&P receiver and flash hider and an even shorter (cut down) 10" barrel. You may be able to get a cheap one secondhand?

Looks like a Colt Commando M733? G&P, Marui and JG make / have made them if you can find one . . . . the QD silencer and other bits should be easy to source?

It appears there are global issues with, particularly, stuff coming from China. The factories just can't keep up with demand generally. This isn't just in airsoft, several other hobbies are experiencing the same issues with availability (as an example, Hornby Model railways which is having terrible trouble with production/availability/quality control allegedly). The reasons are many; politics, factories going bust/ being shut down, massive orders taking precedence over smaller ones (airsoft is a small scale concern in global terms, with relatively small production runs), price hikes etc etc. Some companies are looking elsewhere for production capacity (I read in Airsoft Action that ASG (if I remember correctly) are looking to have their new Scorpion Evo AEG made in Europe). Basically the upshot seems to be if you're after a particular model of AEG that originates in China (ie most of them) get it at the first opportunity as you may not get another chance for a long time once its gone. I expect most UK retailers are doing their best to get stock in and are no doubt just as frustrated as us players a lot of the time.

And there in lies the snag in finding one! Still, shows the demand is out there!

Had a similar problem after servicing my M16. Turns out the small spring between the fire selector plate and the cut off lever had dislodged so wasn't lifting the cut off. Works fine now its been replaced.