Hatchet
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Posts posted by Hatchet
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I *think* I might have identified the problem. I started testing parts as I went and found I was still having locking issues before I even put the stock tube on. Broke it back down even further and was getting them without the piston in place...
It looks like the tip of the anti-reversal latch has sheared off at some stage, which as well as meaning more stress all round, meant it was possible for it to become reversed (as it was short enough to go past the bevel gear) and effectively act as an anti-forward latch.
I have a couple of spare ARLs in the parts bin, although not sopmod specific, and it seems to run okay with just the gears and motor in, so I'm going for a reassembly and test. I've also re-rewired to 18awg teflon so there's much more room in the motor grip (although interestingly the motor does still seem to get stuck when you try and bring it back down again).
I think a reinforced ARL may have to be on the shopping list.
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Well, I shall let you know the outcome. Once more unto the breach dear friends...
Incidentally, with regard to replacing the pistol grip, is this likely to have any unforseen consequences, being as it is looser than the standard Marui one?
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I've got three different springs and am getting the same results with all of them. They're all Eagle6 springs 90/100/110. I am running the bearing guide (prometheus I think), so I could try it without. I might be in agreement with you on the wiring. It's fine in the gearbox, but tight as hell in the grip. That said, I was having the same problems on the standard wiring.
Changing the bevel gear sadly didn't make any difference. I reckon I've got enough patience for about one more crack at this before it ends up getting sent for someone else to look at. Which is annoying.
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Still no joy. Looking at it, I'm beginning to suspect that the bevel gear is warped. Don't know how this is possible, but when the box is locked, there's no up/down play in it. When it's free, there's slight maybe 1mm. So I looked at all the gears and when I spin the bevel I can see it oscillating (like watching a record go round). The original gear doesn't do this. I'm going to stick the original back in and see what happens. Also managed to rewire it all to 16AWG, but the motor is tight as anything in the cage.
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No, I'll look into giving that a go today. I think I've got another motor I can try too. Not that it should be making any difference, but ruling out as much as possible can't hurt.
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Replacement hornbill piston fitted - eventually. Obviously wanted to do things properly and get the correct AoE this time round. Sadly, it appears to be made out of similar metal to that used in wolverines claws, so I had to wait a while for a diamond file to turn up. All has now been fitted... and I'm still getting random lockups which I'm currently at a loss to explain. Although I suspect the heat and having been at it for a good few hours are probably not helping.
All appears okay when tested by hand, but when firing normally it will cycle for a short while and then lockup, which is puzzling me. If it were completely buggered it wouldn't do anything. This is running the battery direct to the rear gearbox wires. Motor tries to turn but just clicks in a futile manner and won't turn it over. Drop the motor out and it's possible (although difficult) to complete the cycle with a screwdriver from underneath, so I'm at a bit of a loss. At this point I'm wondering about attaching an AK motor cage or similar (if that'd work?) so I can see more of what's going on as I'm trying it.
Any thoughts that don't involve spending even more money I don't have would be appreciated.
Oh, and thanks to the diamond file I can now lead a life of crime as I think I've filed one of my fingerprints off.
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That problem I mentioned earlier does appear to be shimming, at least in part. Now, having destroyed my piston, I understand a lot more about it than I thought I did before. I suspect the original issue, before I started messing around, was probably down to power transference and slightly poor shimming. The trigger contacts were tan all over with dirt, and when I cleaned this away I can actually see through it in parts, so I suspect that's part of it. That with the shimming meant that at random points during the day there wasn't enough power to fully turn the box and you effectively got the "semi lock" even in FA.
Another issue I discovered was incorrect motor height adjustment. I hadn't realised that unlike a lot of other aegs, the motor height adjustment disk/plate (that sits between the grub screw and the motor and pushes the motor up when you adjust height) has a small square of plastic that sits underneath it. This has obviously come out at some point as I found it an stored it away when I found it without knowing what it was. Its absence meant that the plate sometimes fell into the hole at an angle and gave inconsistent/no/full adjustment, which would have been putting a lot of strain on the bevel gear. I may also have trapped the motor wires on occasion, causing similar issues.
In my most recent attempt to resolve all this, I had managed to incorrectly shim the sector gear. This meant that it sat too high and the half teeth on it engaged with the piston when they shouldn't have. This sometimes pulled the piston back using the half teeth and then released it early into the full teeth, or possibly meant the full teeth released the piston correctly at full tension, but the half teeth picked it up as it was flying forward, before it had expanded properly. Do this for a few hundred revolutions and it wears down the teeth at the front end of the piston, then the next tooth, etc. Eventually the mangled piston jammed.
I've now cleaned the contacts as best I can and reshimmed it. This time starting from the bevel gear. I hadn't understood that if the gear is shimmed too low you'll either have wobble/slipping or adjust the motor a really long way down and that if you set it too high the motor will either be pushing it down and generating resistance, or if it's really bad only be able to have part of the motor (pinion) gear touching the bevel gear. Previously I had just been trying to get little play using roughly equal spacing each side, and I had never actually put the pistol grip on and realised that you can still have play in "gearbox only" but have no play when the grip/motor is in place and correctly adjusted. I suspect in my case that being too tight combined with poor motor height adjustment due to missing plate was giving me a situation where only the top half of the pinion teeth were engaged *and* there was a lot of resistance. Not a good combination. Then I shimmed the sector gear due to the critical height relating to piston/pickup lever and did the spur gear last as of the two it's the most flexible in terms of position.
So, contacts clean, gears shimmed (bevel, sector, spur) and PTFE round the cylinder head with the o-ring then put over the top of that, rather than the other way round. Hopefully when I replace the piston, regrease everything and put it back together it'll do a little better than before. It also explains why the problem manifest itself more (blowing fuses) with a higher powered spring - too much total resistance overall compared to standard spring, even though the rest of the setup wasn't great in both cases.
I may actually revisit some of my older AEGs now just to see if I can improve them.
- Edited to add - I also hadn't realised it was possible to view the pinion/bevel gear interaction with the gearbox closed up and the grip on through holes in the gearbox, which helped a lot in working out what was wrong and getting much closer to the correct motor height from the outset.
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Right. Have taken 1mm shim out. I think the shimming is actually largely ok, but we'll see. M110 downgraded to M100. More importantly, air leak identified between cylinder and cylinder head. Wrapped with PTFE.
Intermittent electrical fault when trying to fire, tracked down to the fuse holder having been stretched by the ghetto fuse, hence making intermittent contact. While identifying this also noted melted plastic in this area, which is most likely the smoke (judging by blueing on the fuse holder).
Reassembled and tested, 325-330 on stock barrel, 335-345 on 6.02 407mm barrel, which is much more like it.
The only issue I now have is I've managed to lose/mangle the two screws that hold the wire cover rail on (underneath the sliding stock). Can anyone advise on sizes/replacements for these?
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Cheers for the suggestions. I'll take another look at the shimming. I did spend a while on it last time round and followed the guide, but I'll freely admit it's probably not my greatest strength. Not certain what I can do if there's an air leak from nozzle to hop - I can't exactly move it closer. I did forget to mention I have a complete spare hop/barrel assembly that I also tested it with and got much the same fps, which is why I didn't suspect leaking hop, etc as a cause. Oh well, nothing on this morning, I'll break out the screwdrivers...
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I've been having issues trying to get the power up on mine. Stock it was as expected (280 ish?) and compression seems good when tested, but I'm not seeing the results expected from the springs in it.
I've had an Eagle 90, 100 and 110 in it and currently it's got the 110 (allegedly 380-400) doing 330fps. Sadly I think this is too much spring for a standard gear set (hornbill) as it keeps blowing fuses at a rate of knots. It's using exactly the same setup electircally as it has the last year or more, it's just the spring that's different. Ghetto fuse modded it in the field on Sunday with the driver from a removable screwdriver. This worked fine up til the point smoke started coming out. Fortunately wasn't a lipo fire, I suspect just the "fuse" getting so hot it started melting wiring/solder. Still fires fine though.
Obviously I'm going to downgrade the spring again, but I'd certainly like to get nearer to 350 with the 100.
Upgrades wise - standard hop/barrel, hornbill gears, prometheus cylinder head/nozzle/gold contact bars/spring guide.
Any thoughts?
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Hardboiled - difficult to say without seeing it, but could the silver cylinder be part of the fake gas tube assembly? The front part is more obvious, but the rear part of it sits just behind the delta ring on a little spigot.
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Yes, I understand the principle. It's more to confirm that it does actually work as advertised.
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On a battery related note - just fitted the Prometheus gold Stock Terminal Conversion Kit and there was a notable RoF improvement (using Eagle6 lipo). Thought it worth noting since a lot of the time with upgrades it can be questionable if they're of any value or not. It may be that if you do direct wiring it's even better, but for those who want to keep the stock.. errr, stock, it's nice to know.
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I'm guessing lots of places. Just Google on Marui EMOD stock - for example http://www.redwolfairsoft.com/redwolf/airsoft/Accessories_Grips_and_Stocks_AEG_Tokyo_Marui_EMOD_Stock_Flat_Dark_Earth.htm
I don't own the SOPMOD, but I'm going to go with "Really easy" on installing the EMOD. Should just be a question of pulling down on the stock adjustment lever and sliding the whole thing off.
I'd have to re-read this thread for the standard stock answer. My initial response would be that you can't, although I know some people have. I *think* these were with SOCOMS though.
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Voxcaster - The EMOD stock (as used on the CQB-R) doesn't need the hard block stock.
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£53.28 shipped from TT, + £22.78 customs/parcelfarce. so £76.06 all in. Which is expensive, but always the way with orders from the US unfortunately.
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No, but those carrying the LAM are - in my view few and far between (note, there may not be a great deal of Science! to back this up...). It requires you to have upgraded the LAM so it's actually useful and have a scenario in which to use it, which is basically urban. I would suggest a higher proportion of those using the MK23 are woodland players who don't require that feature. If you do, you're probably going to have to stick to the big black drop leg bag type holster.
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Marui's MK23 SOCOM is largely viewed as the best Non-Blowback pistol going. It shares the same hop rubbers and barrel cut as the highly regarded VSR and makes for an excellent silent backup weapon for snipers, or reliable cold weather pistol. It's main disadvantage (other than its large size) is the lack of decent holster for them. It's possible to get a safariland that will fit, but you cannot carry it with the suppressor fitted. This is a major drawback for the sneaky beaky types among us, because of the hassle involved in attaching it, etc. under pressure.
For this reason (and the cost of safarilands!), fabric holsters tend to be most common carrying option. However, there are few that are designed to fit the mk23 specifically, and even fewer that aren't drop leg.
Enter the Tactical Tailor MK23 holster.
This is a modular holster, which is designed to accommodate the MK23, and can be molle mounted for left or right hand draw. The molle seen in the picture is the same on both sides, and allows you to mount long malice clips whichever side you prefer and any accessory pouches you might desire on the other. There is also a row along the spine that can be used for a single Molle item (such as a pistol mag or suppressor holder).
As it's a molle mount it can go on assault vest, belt or dropleg panel (if you must). Due to the long malice clips, normal warbelts will allow a little movement compared to a drop leg or vest mount, but I found it didn't cause any issues - certainly no flapping about or feeling insecure.
Additionally, the thumb break is velcroed on and can be switched too.
The outer construction is of heavy duty cordura and appears to be well stitched. This has been built around a stiffener of some type as the holster retains its shape and is designed solely for the MK23. When I initially received it it was quite a tight fit, but leaving it in the holster for a week between skirmishes has definitely helped. It is held tightly, even if the thumbbreak is not applied, and, crucially, the magazine release lever is not exposed when the gun is holstered. I trialled it today for the first time and did not drop any magazines at all, which is most unusual.
The holster proved easy to use, even with a suppressor attached. Overall I'm very happy with this purchase. It comes in at $45 direct from Tactical Tailor. For those of us in the UK, expect the usual shipping and ParcelFarce charges, sadly. Delivery is quoted as being 4 weeks, but I had mine in under two. Available in Black OD, coyote brown and multicam.
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I don't have a decent camera or the skills to use it, but you can get an idea...
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I'm using an EMDOM inner belt, whch I put an AustriAlpin buckle on. I would think any sort of similar stiff inner belt would suffice. I've never used the press stud as the couple of times I have it's seemed to pop open pretty quickly, but I don't have any issues catching my hand on it. It may be because I'm wearing gloves or because the way I dump into it the palm of my hand would hit it, not the back of the hand.
For packing it to get to site I use a pilots bag which every sort of loadout in the world can be chucked into. Initially I had used a roly poly dump on my belt for the compactness, but you have to run with it open all the time anyway, so why not have a dedicated one with a proper stiffened opening? I've not used one of the drawsting "chalk bag" style dumps, so can't compare to them.
TT belt looks similar to a lot of the others (like my Bozzer Belt), the only downside to it is you have to put your subloads on exactly where they have them. I've got a belt mounted low ride UBL Safariland mounted on mine, and because of the ability to open the ATS right up I can still mount it on the belt and put it *exactly* where I want it. It may also be an issue if you use the Serpa type drop legs (split straps on belt attachment) as opposed to the safariland single strap style.
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Also, combining the facts that I find the belt mount for the pistol more solid, the Emdom went far better when directly on to the belt, and the MALICE clips were putting so much tension on the PALS that they were yanking the stitching out, the Brokos is essentially a $100 belt pad right now. A very pretty $100 belt pad, but a pad none-the-less. Since the TACOs aren't 100% fixed in their position when put straight on to the inner belt I'll be swapping those out for a double Ten Speed that can just go right on to the MOLLE.
Can you clarify this at all? Do you mean the Brokos can't deal with Malice clips generally, or just with TACOs?
Question: How are you getting on with the Emdom dumper? I had one and I found it incredibly bouncy (or, rather, the mags were bouncy in it), so I went back to the Maxpedition RollyPoly (again - I've owned four so far!)
Just to stick my oar in - I'm running a ATS warbelt with the EMDOM dumper. No problems at all. I've found it bounces less than my old roly poly due to the stiffener on it, and mags are less likely to come out due to the half cover. That's running it at about the eight o'clock on my belt line. Only good for around 6 M4 mags though - you can probably get more in if you neatly arrange them, but who does that?
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I have one of these and they also fit in the back of the 5.11 LBE vests, which gives you another option if you're not a plate carrier sort of person. In that setup they also help balance out mags, etc. on the front quite nicely. I ordered mine online from the source website without really thinking about it and was surprised when it turned up shortly afterwards with post tags from Israel.
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Unbelievably I have actually managed to fix mine.
Eagle6 bits turned up in a couple of days despite being Christmas, so not bad. As mentioned earlier, the sector gear had broken a tooth, which had then stayed where it broke in the spur gear and caused the jam on the next cycle - which ended up blowing the fuse as well. Then I sheared off the rear power cables when trying to unscrew the stock pipe. Oh, and one of the bearings had shattered too.Replaced bearings with Prometheus ones - I found using a gas valve tool to apply pressure worked quite well, no hammer required.
Replaced original gears with Lonex ones. Much bigger tappet plate pickup on the sector gear, generally look better.
Disassembled, unsoldered and rewired trigger switch.
Made up new motor spade connector for black terminal.
Correctly reassembled tappet plate (first time through the notch was off making the nozzle point at an upward angle)
Bought a vice in order to unscrew locking ring from stock tube.
Unsoldered and rewired rear rail pickup connectors.
Replaced fuse.
Put back together. Gun still fires (motor height needed a lot of adjustment initially) and bolt lock still works! We shall see if it stays that way after the next skirmish...
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Nice review. I'm assuming the suppressor in question is the Gemtech G5 copy or similar? If you still want to put one on you're probably going to need to look at a copy of one of the Knights Armaments QD types instead.
Initial Impressions of the TM SOPMOD M4 AEG
in Rifles (AEG)
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You know what? I have no idea what I'm doing.
However, somehow, despite repeating exactly the same steps as every time before, I've managed to fix it.
I'm not going to call it permanently fixed until I actually get through an entire day of gaming with it, but RoF is drastically improved, and fps is now bang on 350, which is much better than previously.
Now all I have to do is never touch it again...