WORKSHOP
BASIC MAINTENANCE - PART ONE
LOCKDOWN
AIRSOFT
MAINTENANCE
FRENCHIE HAS BEEN MAINTAINING KIT FOR LONGER THEN WE DARE MENTION, AND STARTS THIS NEW SERIES
WITH SOME SIMPLE, BASIC MAINTENANCE TIPS.
S
tuck at home and nothing to do? Time to look after
your kit – assuming you don’t already!
With Covid-19 rampant and many of us finding out
that we aren’t actually essential workers, you may be
wondering what to do with all this time – given that you
can’t go outside…
Well, if nothing else, this is a perfect opportunity to do
some basic maintenance on your airsoft guns and gear,
so this month I’ll run down the genuinely basic stuff, jobs
that require few if any tools yet which will prolong the
life of your guns and improve their performance. Forgive
me if I’m teaching my Granny to suck eggs but we all
have differing levels of experience when it comes to these
things.
IN THE BEGINNING…
I’ll start with a couple of statements…
Airsoft guns, electric guns especially, need only simple
maintenance to keep going, often for many years. There
is no need to go deep-diving inside their guts on a regular
basis unless it gives you pleasure and I have always
warned people off doing so unless necessary. The old
rule of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” is one I have really
come to appreciate with age and experience! I encourage
you to think of the gearbox inside your gun as a sealed
system – it isn’t – but it can be treated as such, especially
these days. Overall reliability has improved over the years,
as has performance, which used to be the greatest reason
for opening gearboxes. With most sites happy with 350
fps, or maybe a bit more, the old Marui standard of
around 280 fps looks well out of place. Fortunately, the
likes of G&G, Krytac etc. are producing guns which are
performing far closer to player’s expectations these days.
Secondly, they do not need “servicing”. Most techs will
do it if you insist because why wouldn’t they? Most of the
ones I know will tell you that it’s not necessary.
So, what does need to be done? First and foremost:
cleaning. Good old fashioned getting rid of the muck.
Although functionally very different from firearms (I’ll
come to gas blowbacks in a later issue) airsoft guns work
better when they are clean and free from obstructions.
Therefore, if you are one of those players who treats his
guns very much as a tool – if it gets wet and muddy so be
it – then this is especially applicable to you. If your guns
are mucky, clean them, whether that’s a quick wipe down
with a damp sponge or something more convoluted.
There is seldom any need to disassemble an airsoft gun to
clean it, unless you have dropped it into a ditch filled with
liquid mud. In that case, yes, you are going to have to strip
it and if you aren’t confident with that, I suggest you wipe
the worst off, then take it to a tech. I have rebuilt a few
guns over the years following the presentation of a bag of
“THERE IS NO NEED TO GO DEEP-DIVING INSIDE THEIR GUTS ON A REGULAR BASIS
UNLESS IT GIVES YOU PLEASURE AND I HAVE ALWAYS WARNED PEOPLE OFF DOING
SO UNLESS NECESSARY. THE OLD RULE OF “IF IT AIN’T BROKE, DON’T FIX IT” IS ONE I
HAVE REALLY COME TO APPRECIATE WITH AGE AND EXPERIENCE!”
44
MAY 2020