8 minute read
THE CAGE: AT CLOSE OF PLAY
AS LOCKDOWNS ALL OVER THE WORLD SEE OUR LOCAL SHOPS SHUTTING THEIR DOORS AND THE CLOSE DOWN OF OUR FAVOURITE SITES IT FEELS LIKE EVERYTHING AIRSOFT HAS GROUND TO A HALT, BUT THE FACT IS THAT THERE ARE STILL STORES OUT THERE HAPPY TO SEND ALL MANNER OF GOODIES DIRECT TO YOUR DOORS THANKS TO THEIR ONLINE BUSINESS PORTALS! PERHAPS NOW IS THE TIME TO GIVE YOUR AEG OR GBB THAT “TLC” THAT IT’S BEEN MISSING! BILL GOT TOGETHER WITH THE TEAM TO CHECK OUT WHAT THEY’RE UP TO…
Let’s face it, sometimes we’re actually not that great at looking after our AEGs and GBBs are we? We spend a lot of money on buying the airsoft platform that suits us best, and then we spend even more on dressing it up in fancy party clothes to get it just the way we want it. We add new internal parts and external accessories to make it truly our own, or to resemble the very latest variant used by some uber-dark-ops Special Forces team, but then at the end of our game day we throw it into a gun bag or case until it’s time to join the fight again.
In my time playing airsoft I’ve seen AEGs stuffed away after a wet game day without even so much as a wipe down, battery still connected, and magazines still half full, and I’ve seen those same AEGs come out again a week later not having been touched in the interim. I’ve seen GBB pistols with slides so dry they grate, and mags bulging to the point that they won’t actually fit any more. As much as we say that we love our airsoft guns, we sometimes treat them very badly and then bemoan the fact that they don’t work as we want them too… and all down to the fact that we don’t maintain them, even in the very simplest way.
I grew up in a household where real firearms were
part of the furniture pretty much and from my earliest days I was taught to respect them. From memory, I fired my first pistol when I was about 7 years old, with my Dad, and straight away the mantra was “don’t point at anything you don’t want to kill”. Yup, the old boy took it very seriously but then he had fought in WWII and finished out his “Army days” as an Infantry Instructor, so his mantra became mine.
One of my favourite things to do with my Dad as much as the shooting, was the cleaning part afterwards, where a brew would be made, biscuits or cake put on the table and the rags, rods, and gun oil would join them. To this day I cannot smell gun oil and not think fondly of my Dad, and as I actually clean my airsoft replicas regularly and thoroughly, you’ll often find me in the man cave with a big soppy grin on my face while I do so!
Cleaning and maintaining your AEG or GBB should not be seen as a chore, but rather as an extension of your general airsoft day; when you get home the gun bag or case should be opened once again with a view to making sure all the contents are finally stored away for the week in tip-top condition. Another military mantra springs to mind for this, which is “First Weapon, Second
Kit and Then Self” and it’s a mantra that will see you right every time. Let it become an enjoyable part of your airsoft day and your AEG and GBB will thank you!
With this in mind and given the fact that our guns are now away for longer than usual, I got together with the team and asked them:
“What maintenance regime do you have for your AEGs and GBBs and what small and simple jobs can be carried out easily that will make a positive difference to performance?”
Scott: “I always fire it until it stops working, or unless I notice something isn’t shooting right. Generally a year or two before anything goes nowadays…”
Christopher J W: “Any issues, give them to a friend or just buy a new one! I did once when I used GBBs before swapping to TM Recoils strip one of them and re-lube… to be honest I have not taken apart a gearbox for over 8 years…”
Frenchie: “I clean everything before putting it away. Really boring I know but I swab out the barrels, clean the exterior then into the case knowing I could grab and go the next time. As for upgrades, commonly for a techie, I do very few to my own gear, just keep it running as necessary. Too much like a bus-man’s holiday to open guns just for shits and giggles!”
Craig: “AEG maintenance for me is just cleaning the barrels after each game day. For gas, mainly pistols, I’ll clean the barrel and check the slide isn’t catching or that it’s not bone dry on the internals and apply silicone or lubricant if needed. Easy upgrades? For AEGs almost every time would be a tight bore barrel, hop rubber and bucking. With the exception of my TM Recoil, I tend to buy cheap and upgrade because I enjoy the tinkering side of the hobby as well.”
Phil: “Having teched for years on other people’s guns I tend to leave mine alone until they need it now. Obviously a spring change if a gun is a little “warm” shall we say. Apart from that the only thing I do for pretty much every gun I buy is swap out the stock hop rubber for a guarder clear 50deg. In my experience across a number of platforms and manufacturers it is the best one around for UK power levels.”
Stu: “Run it like I stole it. Cry when it breaks. I need to be better at preventative maintenance! #haikustu”
Rob: “#1 is clean the barrel over and over as a dirty barrel (and hop bucking) is the first cause of inaccuracy. So I use clean patch, then a patch with alcohol and dish soap and water (usually several, this is a degreaser that is safe), then follow with just alcohol (removes any residue) and finally just dry. I want zero dirt and residue (most new and recently worked on AEGs still spit grease across the nozzle and down the barrel). #2 I clean the outside down with my degreaser (Alcohol, dish soap and water combo again) and in many cases will apply a very thin layer of coconut oil or grizzly-frog lube type, then warm the replica up with a hairdryer and rub the excess off, followed by a polish to keep tarnish and rust away.”
PULLING THROUGH It’s actually very interesting to me that, given we have a LOT of technical knowledge between us amongst the AA crew, there are actually very few of us that go in for major upgrades “off the bat”. This has been discussed before but it’s still uncanny when you find out that even some of the most experienced airsofters out there will “run their gun” pretty much stock until something goes wrong!
I’ll have to say that I’m in total agreement with my peers in this respect, as although I know what goes on inside and AEG or GBB, I’ll leave it pretty much alone until something really needs doing and even then I’ll usually hand it off to a dedicated tech who deals with internals day in, day out. As I regularly say, “I’m a shooter, not an armourer”. That’s not to say that upgrading is a bad thing; as Craig pointed out, sometimes you can buy a budget AEG and turn it into an absolute beast by installing the right aftermarket parts in the correct way, if that’s what you like to do. Don’t forget that most good retailers are still able to send out parts right now, at least if you order them online!
For me, well I still revert to those happy days with my Dad, make a brew and break out the cookies and depending on the model in question at the end of each day (including multi-day games and events where I’ll carry a little cleaning kit in my gear!) I’ll spend a few minutes “pulling through” or cleaning the barrel, brush everything down with a small paintbrush, wipe down the metalwork, and where necessary re-lube. I’ll also clean the glass on any optics and taclites I may have fitted. I’ll remove and test batteries both from the gun and accessories and empty magazines completely so as not to stress the springs. I’ll purge the gas from my GBB mags and put a squirt of gas back in and I’ll strip down my GBBs and lube internally where appropriate. Finally, I’ll test all the screws and hexes to make sure they’re nice and tight before I give a final wipe down and place everything safely back in safe storage.
I treat my AEGs, and especially my GBBs, just like the real thing and time and experience has taught me that if I look after my guns, when the time comes they will look after me in return! AA
