TM MP7A1 - maintenance and tinkering

[Uncle Pauly]

New TM MP7A1 GBB owner here. First impressions... wow! It's a mini-beast ?

I've been looking for info on general maintenance/cleaning and tinkering, but couldn't find much on here or elsewhere. So thought I'd start a thread akin to the mighty MWS one for anyone to share their experiences of owning this particular RIF.

Based on my brief time with it so far:

• It doesn't seem to need upgrading; fires great right out of the box. But I'd be interested to know if anyone can suggest any simple/useful improvements.
  
• Mags and general gas usage seem very efficient. Not sure if the mags benefit from an equivalent to the MWS green gas mod; or whether the MP7 platform is sufficiently durable for running higher pressure gas in cold weather - ?
  
• I've yet to field strip and clean it, but it appears slightly more fiddly than the MWS I'm used to (but that's probably just because it's an unfamiliar platform).
  

Feel free to chip in with any tips. In the meantime, here are useful disassembly/assembly videos I found on 'Tube:

 

[Uncle Pauly]

How to repair Tokyo Marui MP7 gas mags:

https://atrg.blog/2018/07/26/how-to-repair-tokyo-marui-mp7-gas-mags/

 

[DrAlexanderTobacco]

Feel free to chip in with any tips.

I'm not sure if this is a problem they solved, but "back in my day" you need to consider the nozzle a consumable part - it breaks easily when used with green gas, especially in summer. IIRC Creation made a good replacement nozzle which was far more durable.

 

[Tiercel]

Love mine to bits, its a stunning performer.

However I wonder if anyone has any suggestions, Ive never been able to adjust the hop unit on mine, I know youre supposed to lock the bolt back, push the trigger forward, and the adjusment wheel moves into a useable position. However my trigger wont push forwards. Im reluctant to take it apart because it looks like a ball ache and  the standard hop position seems perfect for the .28s I use but it would be nice to adjust it if I needed to.

 

[DrAlexanderTobacco]

Love mine to bits, its a stunning performer.

However I wonder if anyone has any suggestions, Ive never been able to adjust the hop unit on mine, I know youre supposed to lock the bolt back, push the trigger forward, and the adjusment wheel moves into a useable position. However my trigger wont push forwards. Im reluctant to take it apart because it looks like a ball ache and  the standard hop position seems perfect for the .28s I use but it would be nice to adjust it if I needed to.

It's been a while since I've owned mine but I can't remember having to lock the bolt to the rear. The bolt should be forward, and I'd imagine needs the safety off as well.

Found a timestamped video which confirms what I was thinking WRT the bolt not having to be at the rear

 

[Tiercel]

Ahhhh got it, works perfectly! Thats where I was going wrong, I just assumed youd have to have the bolt back! Ta

 

[Uncle Pauly]

I'm not sure if this is a problem they solved, but "back in my day" you need to consider the nozzle a consumable part - it breaks easily when used with green gas, especially in summer.

That's useful to know, cheers. I'm planning to run mine on duster gas for indoor CQB (e.g. Nuprol 1.0 or Abbey 144a) as I reckon that should be sufficient. I do run my MWS on green gas pretty much all year round, but I understand its internals are a little more rugged.

Also good tip about hop adjustment ?

 

[RossF]

On 11/02/2020 at 13:32, Uncle Pauly said:

New TM MP7A1 GBB owner here. First impressions... wow! It's a mini-beast ?

I've been looking for info on general maintenance/cleaning and tinkering, but couldn't find much on here or elsewhere. So thought I'd start a thread akin to the mighty MWS one for anyone to share their experiences of owning this particular RIF.

Based on my brief time with it so far:

• It doesn't seem to need upgrading; fires great right out of the box. But I'd be interested to know if anyone can suggest any simple/useful improvements.
  
• Mags and general gas usage seem very efficient. Not sure if the mags benefit from an equivalent to the MWS green gas mod; or whether the MP7 platform is sufficiently durable for running higher pressure gas in cold weather - ?
  
• I've yet to field strip and clean it, but it appears slightly more fiddly than the MWS I'm used to (but that's probably just because it's an unfamiliar platform).
  

Feel free to chip in with any tips. In the meantime, here are useful disassembly/assembly videos I found on 'Tube:

A great little  gun, so much fun to fire as well what with the fire rate and the small foot print emphasising the recoil.

Maintenance

It is a bit of a pain to strip right down as you have to remove the fire selector and the bolt release which feel at both an inevitable de-threading - I just clean the barrel after every game, pop the stock off and take out the BCG and give it a rub down and lube up. I don’t think you need to strip it right down to get anywhere else unless you have an issue with the hop or something.

Upgrades

Performs great stock, but I did drop in a crazyjet barrel and autobot bucking, gives me a reliable hit over 60m I’d say with .3s.

I heard the nozzle is destined to fail but I haven’t had any issues. I run Abbey  Predator Ultra (red can) in the summer (gives me around 340fps)

Hope that helps

 

[Uncle Pauly]

Hope that helps

Great info, thanks Ross! ?

 

[pod2k2]

The wife got me one for Xmas and its my new fave.

Been running it on ASG Ultra Air on .25's and it hasn't missed a beat.

My only issue is if i cock it with a mag in it doesn't fire, cock it again and it inevitably loads a second bb. If i cock it then enter the mag it works fine. I assume that is the correct way or is there something wrong with it?

 

[Albiscuit]

Love mine, was so happy I found a decent deal on it. 

Only issue I have is with the mags being so bloody heavy   

 

[DrAlexanderTobacco]

Does anyone here have experience with the FMA QD suppressor? This chap:

View attachment 57328

I've got one, and there's some wobble/flex. I'm worried about BBs striking when firing, and subsequently wondering about whether I can shim this easily.

 

[SSPKali]

My only tips would be "be prepared to order spares from Hong Kong" ?

I love mine but it is not as sturdy as the MWS. So far mine has had a broken stock catch, broken bolt stop lever and broken safety.

All these are down to poor design (tiny spindle...with a flat face ground onto it...and a screw hole through it. Really TM?! Or the usual pot metal used in places where it is taking an impact. 

I would suggest a stronger recoil spring (or add some o-ring spacers) and a sling mount to fit on the top rail to take the impact of the bolt off the top take down pin (and prevent it cracking the internal shell, they are expensive and tricky to find) You can also add a cut down section on sniper rifle spring to the rear plate to cushion the bolt more.

The fore grip is pants, I recommend finding the MP7A2 kit and running a proper RIS foregrip. ATRG.blog has the details on that.

Mine is used for CQB so I keep it short and run a Vortex red dot and 1200lm Olight Valkyrie torch. I have just fitted a sound hog to it and boy is it loud! Green gas with stock barrel gives me 330-340fps with 0.20g but I usually run 0.25g so I can take advantage of the range when needed. Cold weather seems to have minimal effect on its performance, no idea if that is due to the mag shape, size or location in the pistol grip but it is great!

Lees Precision makes a neat adaptor for the Xcortech 301 tracer that avoids it sticking out the front a mile. Defo useful in night games!

 

[Davegolf]

I loved mine, kept a spare nozzle but never had any issues running green in the summer.

Modded the hop and fitted a Super Nub which made it as accurate as an MWS.

Also this vid is a must watch for any TM MP7 GBB owner, works are well worth doing.

 

[Crazy_Crystal]

Does anyone here have experience with the FMA QD suppressor? This chap:

View attachment 57328

I've got one, and there's some wobble/flex. I'm worried about BBs striking when firing, and subsequently wondering about whether I can shim this easily.

I have one I use and it's definitely worth shimming if you want to use it at any range otherwise as you say it makes the point of aim a bit inconsistent.

in the end I used the stock flash hider and had a shim 3D printed which makes the whole thing a lot more solid.

 

[SSPKali]

I have one I use and it's definitely worth shimming if you want to use it at any range otherwise as you say it makes the point of aim a bit inconsistent.

in the end I used the stock flash hider and had a shim 3D printed which makes the whole thing a lot more solid.

A couple of thin o-rings in the slot in the flash hider can also make it less wobbly

Some good info about polishing the bolt and internal body to avoid the out-of-battery issue and where to add some tape to avoid the sloppy trigger take up. Was very handy when I got my MP7 secondhand.

 

[Justjay1986]

The fore grip is pants, I recommend finding the MP7A2 kit and running a proper RIS foregrip. ATRG.blog has the details on that.

Agreed! This is what I did to mine and love it! 

Great thread guys 

View attachment 57357

 

[Cipher-032]

I can confirm my little monster of a MP7 is still working fine. I lost the nozzle return spring but found some in europe, and bought some generic spring from china, once trimmed works a charm. And I can run it on 2.0 now. Thats the only updates I can give from that thread of mine.

As long as you look after the gun, and treat it with mechanical sympathy, it should serve you well. Its a shame that the metal parts are really not that great and do break.

Im looking forward to using mine again once lock down is lifted.

 

[Willyg1981]

On 13/05/2020 at 22:14, Davegolf said:

I loved mine, kept a spare nozzle but never had any issues running green in the summer.

Modded the hop and fitted a Super Nub which made it as accurate as an MWS.

Also this vid is a must watch for any TM MP7 GBB owner, works are well worth doing.

I too discovered a second hand Tm mp7 gbb and followed both of his vids religiously and I think I watched the longer one around 30 times lol , I filed and polished the sears and got it working like a brand new gun again , spent quite a few hours/ days upgrading and tuning and ended up with a seriously awesome little rif 

kicking out 375fps (Playing in France )  ?

 

[Albiscuit]

How to repair Tokyo Marui MP7 gas mags:

https://atrg.blog/2018/07/26/how-to-repair-tokyo-marui-mp7-gas-mags/

I need this right now