G&G G36 (GEC36) - M4 Magwell adapter

[RostokMcSpoons]

Having just bought a beautiful used GEC36, I thought I'd stick on the mag well adapter I'd bought in anticipation of this moment.

Well, I did feel like a bit of a d*ckhead tbh, it turns out I'd bought another G36 magwell, not an adapter!

However, fitting it did reveal some things I'd have otherwise missed if I had just gone straight off to order one now:

 

1) Aren't G36s fantastic?  I love the bodypins with their little retaining wires, and the fact the stock has holes to store them in while you work on the gun.  And the way the mag well fits and can be replaced - very clever! 

2) The G&G mag well has a different feeding tube arrangement than the JG / Cyma gang - there's a metal tube down from the barrel / nozzle area to meet the top of the magazine, whereas the JG arrangement has a feeding tube up from the mag well instead...

G&G G36 mag well : 

 

 

 

JG M4 adapter : 

 

 

3) The mag well I bought looked very much the same as the G&G one, had the tube on the top.  Turns out it was from an Ares.
It fitted fine once I'd hack-sawed the tube from the top, but I then noticed the hole didn't quite align with the gun's feeding tube.  The hole was slightly ahead of the gun's tube by ~1mm, enough for a BB dropped down to not reach the barrel.
 

My questions are therefore:  

It seems the G&G is built to a different design than the Ares.   Is the Ares likely to be the outlier, or the G&G?
... if I buy the JG adapter, hack the tube off the top, what are my chances of success (that the holes/tubes will line up)?
 

I've obviously found a number of sources for the JG style adapters, but I also found this one at Dave's Custom Airsoft. 
https://www.davescustomairsoft.co.uk/the-g36-type-to-the-m4-type-magazine-adapter
The absence of feeding tube on the top gives me hope, but the spec says it's for GFC guns, which I'd never heard of... does anyone know anything about them?

 

Any thoughts welcomed!

 

Edited February 5, 2023 by RostokMcSpoons

[mp5a4]

Iirc the G&G G36 magazines are proprietary, only slightly but it's a huge pita, not sure why specifically but the spacing issues you're having might have something to do with it.

 

There's two main versions of G36 hop and magwell, the original TM (CA etc copy it) has the feed tube on the magwell, the alternate version was first done by SRC, and has the tube on the hopup, later JGs copy this but it's pretty uncommon. If you look for a SRC magwell you might have better luck? But the spacing might still be off, G&G G36s were always pretty rare and never caught on so it's hard to find concrete info.

[RostokMcSpoons]

Damn, so that's the reason this gnu was so well priced, I guess. 
It's so well made I can't stop picking it up to 'feel the heft' so I'm not begrudging the expense, however it turns out

 

Well, I've fired off a message to Dave's Custom shop to see if they have an opinion, but the lead time on an order is quite long. I'd quite like to have this ready for next weekend.

In the meantime I'm going to order a JG adapter, which should arrive quite quickly. 
I'll saw off the tube, and then either adjust the fit of the whole thing onto the gun
Or drill out the feed hole backwards so it lines up... I'll then have to pack the front of the tube to make sure the BBs align correctly, but hopefully I can make that happen.

I kind of enjoy these mini-engineering projects (or bodges, as everyone will call it when they see the results!)

[RostokMcSpoons]

A bit of an update, just to round this thread off, in case it's useful to someone in the future:

 

I ordered one of these from Patrolbase.  

https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/army-armament-ar36-sl8-adapter-for-m4-ar15-magazines

It's only £6 so I figured I could hack a couple around with denting the bank balance too much.

One was enough.

I was quite excited by this as it obviously has a loading / feed tube that runs backwards at an angle - I was hopeful this might bridge that 1mm offset I'd seen in the Ares mag well.

 

Well it seems the geography of the various parts of the M4 magazine, versus the nozzle / hopup position inside the GEC36 are just too far apart.  "Never the twain shall meet" as the feed tube would have to be at a crazy angle to bridge the gap between the top of the mag and bottom of the tube.

 

I'm just going to buy an original G&G high cap to go with the two mid caps.   Unfortunately they're £40 a pop, but at least I get to skirmish the gun (and it is a lovely gun)

 

https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/g-and-g-armament-gec36-400rnd-high-cap-magazine

 

Edit: Bullseye to the rescue, £24 for the high cap

https://www.bullseyecountrysport.co.uk/gg-airsoft-magazine-gec36-g36-series-black-400rd-6mm-bbs-51080-p.asp

Edited February 9, 2023 by RostokMcSpoons