straffham

My M4A1 (semi)build is now finished. Saying its a semi-build as the receiver, hand-guard, and gearbox were already together. Put a Rogers Super-Stoc on the back, mounted a few rails to the TRX rail, rewired it from deans to mini-Tamiya, replaced the old hop unit with a new one, added a Madbull Hutu, spliced it into the existing wiring, spliced in a switch, broke the switch which fried the Hutu ground wire, replaced the Hutu ground wire, spliced in a new switch, bolted it all down, took it apart again (due to the wiring preventing the magazine from seating), simplified the wiring, put it back together, and it's working well now.
 
So what's here?
This M4A1 is from BigAl, so it's got a G&P receiver with Colt trademarks, a Star gearbox, Madbull Ultimate Hop Unit + tracer, Rogers Super-Stoc, Rogers GripPod with added RIS rails, Safariland torch, fake PEQ box for battery (soon to be replaced by another that is on its way), a decent green laser (too lazy to look up the brand), a GoPro bar mount, a GoPro RIS mount (not pictured), a Madbull version of the Troy TRX hand-guard with Troy trademarks, a Safariland single point harness, a Wilson Combat dual mag coupler, an ICS folding front sight, a TruGlo RDS, and a foam filled silencer which actually does bring down the noise some. I can also switch the GripPod out for a DBOYS M203 UGL if I am playing CQB.
 
*Edit
Moving this here from Loadouts, don't know why I posted it there in the first place.

I have mounted a clone holo sight on a Vector Optics RIS and it does work well. I would like to have fitted a dovetail side mount but being a gas blowback I wanted to be able to open the top cover which is hinged off the rear sight block without removing anything. But it does allow fast target aquisition with both eyes open.

^^Depends how much you want to spend and how close you want to be to historical accuracy and/or current furniture/sight packages. That side mount which the C-More style RDS is on is an ICS one which cost about £50 new but, if your AK has a dovetail mount on the side of the receiver, you can get a decent enough one pretty cheap, like this or the QD version like this, or a very simple one like this. Or, depending on whether your AK is a TM compatible design, you could go for a full RAS like this, which puts a nice and solid top rail in the more usual position without the need for the dovetail on the side. There is also another type which bolt on underneath and through the rear sight retaining screw, like this, but they're pretty shitty so I wouldn't recommend one.
 
There are also modern Russian stylee solutions based on the Zenit company's uber tacticool furniture - LCT do a B13 clone (which is a top cover with an integrated rail) but TWI have the best rep afaik, although none of the Zenit clone gear is what you could call reasonably priced, or even necessarily value for money. It does truly look TDB though
 
The thing is that red dots are supposed to be used with both eyes open so you may be surprised by how useful a 25-32mm RDS on an RIS handguard can be*, but another option is to put a £25 MRDS on one of these which replaces the rear sight. You can get a dedicated mount for a Docter MRDS which replaces AK rear sights, but that's not a cheap solution either. *I've tried running a clone EOTech 551 on top of an RIS handguard on my tac AK, but my 551 has an EOLAD laser on the side which means that the whole thing is a bit of a fat chunk to have in your point of view, so it only lasted a single morning of skirmish experimentation, but I expect that a simple 551 or 556 clone would work ok...

Shoot and Scoot Lee Enfield Number 4 Mark 1 - my WW2 British Loadout is slowly coming together!

Don't forget too that requesting a UKARA number in most instances is the EASIEST defence for a seller (retailer or private) to ensure they are complying with the legislation. Retailers in particular by and large don't want to be chasing site owners by phone/email to see if you have played there 3 times, its too time consuming.

The nozzle direction was because of the stress put on it by the gear, now they have been lowered and a slice of the tappet arm removed it flows freely. Simply shimmed too high.
 
After a weekend of tweaking, fiddling and contemplating taking up golf I have resided to the SPR taking a back seat and making it a shorty gun. With a 250mm barrel and maple leaf rubber it's now shooting 280-285 on .25 so just shy of 1j which was my target. I think I may get a better seal with a g&g green though so may try that.
 
With the aoe Un corrected again the cylinder head is leaking a little so I may have to open it up again to address that but for now it's fairly sorted. Not the monster of smoothness I wanted but hey ho, it's not bad.
It's shooting quite accurately so i have that going for me which is nice!
 
I can certainly forsee a G5 making it's way onto my credit card sometime soon...

The ZCI shell does take standard fit parts aside from the fire selector and trigger mechanism (though microswitch is a std electronics part).
 
Problem is different manufacturers standard parts are not standard: for instance SHS tappet plates are slightly different to say G&G, which are slightly different to TM and so on, and the slight differences can add up over several components to the extent of affecting air seal right up to not being able to function due to parts jamming etc. Parts should all work together but its not always the case annoyingly.

Is the tappet plate new? And is it able to slide right to the front of the gearbox shell wall? I had trouble with an SHS one where the plate which catches on the cam on the sector gear was too large/wide, so in its rest position (against the sector gear axle) the front face where the nozzle sits wasn't quite at the front of the gearbox hence the nozzle wasn't sealing against the hop chamber. I had to file the tappet plate slightly allowing it to sit further forward which cured the problem (a longer nozzle would probably solve the same problem, if it that).

Yeah not all older players will look down their noses at you, my son started playing when he was 13 and felt intimidated for the first few times he went (as did I when I started skirmishing in my early 30s lol), just takes a bit to find your feet, you'll find most people will be happy to talk about their kit in the safe zone if you show an interest.
Stick with it,you'll fit in in no time.

Yeah not all older players will look down their noses at you, my son started playing when he was 13 and felt intimidated for the first few times he went (as did I when I started skirmishing in my early 30s lol), just takes a bit to find your feet, you'll find most people will be happy to talk about their kit in the safe zone if you show an interest.
Stick with it,you'll fit in in no time.

Yeah not all older players will look down their noses at you, my son started playing when he was 13 and felt intimidated for the first few times he went (as did I when I started skirmishing in my early 30s lol), just takes a bit to find your feet, you'll find most people will be happy to talk about their kit in the safe zone if you show an interest.
Stick with it,you'll fit in in no time.

Ok so I picked up a Tokyo Marui mk23 Socom for £20 last week, and whilst I am yet to skirmish it, the all black look was bugging me. So I popped to Halfords and picked up a tin of their Olive green camo spray for £8. Removed and stripped the mk23s slide, scotch brited it and voila, results below
 

 
I got a bit carried away after this though, and ended up spraying the new 9 Led torch I grabbed whilst in B&M, as well as my spare goggles haha.
 

 
Not up to the standard of Sams work but I'm happy enough for now, put my own stamp on the Usp

is why I said a new build is perhaps the biggest bollock ache
 
at least if replacing old stuff and its crap after new parts, you can re-try the old stuff
(then compare new part to old (wise to check any bits before fitting I guess)
 
On a new build there is no 101% guarantee all $hit will work well together
tappet plates - had to trim one at back coz it came very close to hitting bevel gear spindle on a crappy SRC box
soz - got it wrong - SPUR gear not bevel - that thing majig one in middle I call it
nozzles - jeez there is loads of tiny discrepencies M4's can be 21 to 22 with a bit either way
but think SHS M4's are about in middle @ 21.47mm
(AK short 19.5 to AK long 20.5)
 
poor sod - I do not envy him one bit coz major trial n error but he is making progress it seems

Regarding being impatient I think we've all been there, rushed out to buy what sounds a bargain only to end up wishing we hadn't, thats why some will jump in shouting "NO DON'T DO IT"!
But if you're only losing £30 on something to tide you over and tinker with its not the end of the world, even if you go to a skirmish and end up being owned by the regulars! At least you'll be able to get an idea if you enjoy the games and what you'd like to move up to, what works for you etc and maybe then get your ukara sorted.

Nice job! Nice collection too.

Yeah thats exactly what I thought, since my other guns use the same motor too. I'll let you guys know how i do

Problem with these cheap guns is they are virtually impossible to dismantle without destroying them, have no spares available and are generally not compatible with standard parts which fit more expensive guns, and even if you could fit a decent gearbox/motor you'd be looking at upwards of £40 just for basic ones.So if you buy it just use as it is until it breaks, saving up for something better in the meantime. Plastic gearbox isn't the end of the world but if the GEARS are plastic then a. I'd be amazed if it gets anywhere near 290fps and b. it won't last long if it achieves a) !

before you fit all the gearbox components to the ZCI shell put the 2 halves together and check the fit of the hop unit into the front, its almost certain you will need to file a small amount away to get a good fit. I only say this as I didn't first time round and had to dismantle the entire gb in order to correct it and then thoroughly clean out the filings.
 
The microswitch is a standard electrical component which you can get quite easily from places like Maplins if need be. However note that it is wired so that it fires when the actuator bar is REMOVED from the pressure switch (rather than it having to press the switch as in Ares guns), no biggie, just seems a bit "huh?" until you realise its a clever system that prevents half cycling as juice goes to the motor until the actuator returns to its correct position, presses the switch and cuts power. It works very well. Got 2 of these boxes and not had any problems despite neither having mosfet fitted.

Morena with a new sight:

Yes it is! Apart from the lugging around bit lol! I have a Star M60E4 and its great fun (as in my username pic), its not especially heavy but it is awkward to carry around, even with a sling, due to the box mag sticking out one side and cocking handle the other, but none of that matters when the opposition see you walk past, on the way to dig in ready to hose them down! That said I don't use it half as much as I really should. And it has the original plastic gearbox shell still (which I trust more than their cast metal ones)!
 
Most Support Weapons (not all) have a quick change spring facility so you can easily tailor it to suit the site being played. Box mags can on occasion be troublesome though, had loads of bother with mine until I rewired it.

Ignore the ladies flapping handbags at each other.
 
We would recommend: Fire Support, Zero One, Pro Airsoft, Land Warrior, Socom Tactical (in no particular order). What are you looking to buy and does it need to be two tone? Also - take a look in the "Places to buy" thread as there are many reviews of shops (both online and bricks and mortar) which may help your decision.

That would suck if we had to all have twotone/see through guns but the game would continue. I dont really have much sympathy for anyone who quit airsoft due to this, or ditched a friend due to differing political beliefs.

In my mind the Green party is abit 50/50 between good ideas and morally good bad ideas.

I can def agree with not renting nukes off the yanks anymore, why bother as we cant fire them independantly and theyve got thousands sitting in US subs/silos. And if anyone fires one we're all fooked M.A.D style anyways. The subs themselves would still be there and free to house more conventional weapons. It would mean there'd be many many billions of extra cash in the defence budget, about 5-10% of the total. Even if they cut some it could leave enough money to care for the actual soldiers more, give them better equipment and especially healthcare/support/pay and hopefully make charities like help for heros unnecessary.

Green party will never get in anyways, the odds of them even being involved in a coalition gov are very very slim. I would find it hysterical if everyone went more extreme; past tories all vote ukip and past liberals/labour all vote Green. Then we could have a UKIP/Green coalition government. I think theyd need Harvey Dent to run the show and do the coin flipping

before you fit all the gearbox components to the ZCI shell put the 2 halves together and check the fit of the hop unit into the front, its almost certain you will need to file a small amount away to get a good fit. I only say this as I didn't first time round and had to dismantle the entire gb in order to correct it and then thoroughly clean out the filings.
 
The microswitch is a standard electrical component which you can get quite easily from places like Maplins if need be. However note that it is wired so that it fires when the actuator bar is REMOVED from the pressure switch (rather than it having to press the switch as in Ares guns), no biggie, just seems a bit "huh?" until you realise its a clever system that prevents half cycling as juice goes to the motor until the actuator returns to its correct position, presses the switch and cuts power. It works very well. Got 2 of these boxes and not had any problems despite neither having mosfet fitted.

First off the thread title is a little sensationalist to say the least. I don't think I'm alone in saying I'm not going to lose any sleep over this "threat". Airsoft isn't currently in danger of being banned, certainly not compared to what was threatened in 2006, when thankfully a consortium of players and retailers convinced the Government to grant defence to allow airsoft to continue with the proviso of the specific defences specified in the VCRA. It might not be a fantastic Act but its better than the alternative at the time of no more rifs. Its worth mentioning that the Govt at the time did not really realise what airsoft skirmishing was, but were enlightened to our pastime and the "suspense of disbelief" factor which was part of what allowed legit skirmishers to be able to keep the ability to buy rifs. Skirmishing has of course grown massively since 2007. But for any future threat to be met we would again need to rely on retailers and players to fight that threat.
 
ANY Government in future cannot just ban airsoft overnight, it would require a change in the law by way of an amendment bill, which takes time to progress through parliament, allowing it to be challenged. A majority would still then need to vote in favour for it to proceed.
 
Its best we keep playing, be seen to be responsible, and support our UK retailers, and worry about challenges when we KNOW they are happening, rather than panicking that a minor political party wants to stamp on us.

Just bought a Sig 226 Gas pistol. It was cheap but decent, I'll probably give it to my mate, who's just getting into airsoft; the Sig 226 is his favourite pistol.