THIS IS MY M4
PART5: BARRELS
time I splashed the cash. I bought the
“DDwrench” by Mad Bull but there are
many others to choose from; heavier duty
units will survive more builds if you plan
on making a habit of this.
Once that’s done, you can pull the
barrel assembly out. You might want
to tap on the rail from the rear to free
it. Now you can release the inner barrel
and bucking by pulling back on the
plastic assembly that nestles into the
gold-coloured collar. Gently remove the
O-ring from the front of the inner barrel
- ours was an utter PITA to the point of
being impossible without jamming a tiny
flathead screwdriver underneath to lever
it out and risking damaging it. There’s also
one just behind the unit’s front edge, but
you can just pull the assembly to the rear,
spread it open and then pull the O-ring
off.
This is a good time to pay attention
to which way around each part came
out, because you’ll be putting them back
together soon.
BUCKING THE TREND
Before fitting the new inner barrel, it’s
a good idea to make sure it’s clean. You
know that long plastic unjamming rod
that came with the MWS? It has a use
other than dislodging BBs. Split a piece
of lint-free material maybe 1cm high by
4cm wide - a bit of clean T-shirt will do at
a push - and poke it through the holes at
one end of that rod.
Dip the fabric in isopropanol solution,
insert it into the barrel and move it
through the length while twisting to scoop
up any extra gunk. You’d hope there
wouldn’t be any on a newly manufactured
barrel, but it can’t hurt and might just
improve performance. Once you’ve let the
barrel dry - it takes no time - reassemble
the parts with the new inner barrel in
place.
The raised ridge on the outside of the
bucking - which by all accounts is good
as standard - should be to the rear of the
barrel - in our case to the right - pointing
towards the perpendicular slot to the far
side of the window. Depending upon
the bucking you choose, you might find
a raised ridge on the inside that handily
slides into a groove on the barrel. It wasn’t
very pronounced on the standard item,
but you could just about feel it when it
slotted into place.
To improve air seal, we added a
wrap of PTFE tape, then reassembled
the housing, swapping out the standard
two-part hop arm with a one-piece unit
from Laylax while we were at it. Since
you have to position lugs in holes, there’s
really only one way to fit this part, which
should ensure both a more effective hop
performance and greater consistency too.
It might seem weak that the unit is
held together by a single O-ring right now,
but it will be far more secure once you
reinsert it into the cut-out in the outer
barrel. Slide the inner back into the outer,
then squeeze the plastic housing together
until you can seat it firmly. Push it back
into the upper, with the hop arm to the
top under the rail.
We thought we’d quickly see if there
were any improvements from the internal
upgrades by briefly refitting the barrel nut
before further mods. Looking more like
a paintball marker than a RIF without its
handguard, everything works fine and
without taking any measurements, it’s
already effectively reaching longer ranges.
Next month: Rails. AA
“LOOKING MORE LIKE A PAINTBALL MARKER THAN A RIF WITHOUT ITS HANDGUARD, EVERYTHING
WORKS FINE AND WITHOUT TAKING ANY MEASUREMENTS, IT’S REACHING LONGER RANGES
EFFECTIVELY ALREADY.”
www.airsoft-action.online
61