THE CAGE
CLOSE OF PLAY
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…
L
et’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
“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!”
32
MAY 2020