Please Help: Drunken BB

[appa609]

Hello everyone,
I'm a newbie-novice player from the great lakes region who plays marksman with my 50 dollar bolt action rifle :snipe:. I realize that this fact alone may make some of you want to skip to "Spend some money on a quality rifle," but being a freshman in high school who makes money by cutting neighbours' lawns when demand exists, I don't really have that option. Anyways, my problem.

Normally, my gun works perfectly fine, shooting mostly straight and true. I didn't do anything with it for a few weeks, and now, the BB seems to drop immediately. I tried to correct this with more hopup, but this lead to the titular problem; the BB exits the gun, and after initially curving slightly upwards, as would be expected, it starts to curve towards the right, and from there, performs a steady, clockwise barrel roll. Obviously, this does horrible things for aim, and dissipates so much energy that my range is instantly halved.

Now, as I stated before, this gun is cheap, and having owned it for almost a year, I have existing knowledge of several extant problems. I know that the aluminum barrel is slightly bent in one direction. However, the last time I took it apart, it was curving upwards, and I haven't modified it since. Also, the hop up bucking leans slightly to one side, about 10 degrees.

Additionally, 3 factors are unlikely to have caused this problem: wind (being nearly 0), reduced velocity (my poor-man's chrono reading almost the same as last month when it was working), and BB quality (I use rather nice G&G .28g biodegradeable rounds, guaranteed to be within .01 mm of 5.95mm).

Thank you all for reading about this problem, and unless you're one of the people who I have previously specified, then any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[appa609]

Just in case this is important, my rifle is a TSD spring M-160 B2, M-14 style rifle which is essentially all plastic except for the barrel, rear sights, and cocking handle. Same model as the Matrix, UkArms, or AGM spring m-14's.

[Bolt]

I'm no gun tech by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm afraid you may be suffering from "worn out gun syndrome".

As you said, the gun is cheap. Things wear down, wear out, bend, and warp with use. For 50 dollars, a years worth of play isn't a bad life for it. I think the general rule for those is "use it 'till it breaks".

That being said, you can probably find someone here who may offer suggestions as to what you can do to correct the problem...but you also have to consider if you really want to be shelling out for replacement parts on a budget gun.

[surebet]

Just so we are clear, we're not going to say "spend money on a quality riffle" but "spend your money on something else for a few years".

You seem to have a decent grasp on the issues with the gun though, so you already know our answer.

No way you can save this, especially since there is no aftermarket support for it. These guns are meant to be tossed when they break.

[appa609]

Originally Posted by Bolt

I'm no gun tech by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm afraid you may be suffering from "worn out gun syndrome".

As you said, the gun is cheap. Things wear down, wear out, bend, and warp with use. For 50 dollars, a years worth of play isn't a bad life for it. I think the general rule for those is "use it 'till it breaks".

That being said, you can probably find someone here who may offer suggestions as to what you can do to correct the problem...but you also have to consider if you really want to be shelling out for replacement parts on a budget gun.

Thank you for your opinion. Considering that I have seen some (superficial) cracks start to form in the plastic, this is a real possibility. However, I've only played about 5 games since the purchase of this gun, none being especially abusive towards the gun. Then again, there's very little quality assurance, so perhaps I received a lemon.

Update: I have partially disassembled the gun, and rotated the barrel. this seems to have corrected the problem to some degree. Now, it simply fires a wicked curve to the right. Any suggestions?

[Alceister]

Originally Posted by appa609

Now, it simply fires a wicked curve to the right. Any suggestions?

Aim more to the left.

[appa609]

Originally Posted by Alceister

Aim more to the left.

Thanks for that innovative suggestion.
The reason that doesn't work out is because you would have to adjust leftness based on range, and I'm good at judging neither range nor leftness.

[Grudge]

keep rotation your barrel till you find the best orientation!

[appa609]

Thanks. I did so, and it's now 2 ft off the mark at 100 ft. Not as good as hoped for, but good enough to hit someone at that range given 2 or 3 shots.
Thank you everyone.

Second question; As "marksman," I am defenseless even against a couple of spring pistol slingin opponents if they are within 30 ft of me (yes, that does make me an atrocious sniper.) and my old faithful spring pistol stopped being lost it's patience after 3 years and the piston sear broke off. Trying to get my money's worth, I tried to epoxy it back on. Not so lucky. Thus, I am now in search for a sidearm. Here are my most obvious options.
One is an old (really cheap) AEG which had it's air nozzle break due to my misdirected abuse. I managed to put the gearbox back together, and replaced all parts I lost in the past 2 years of negligence, except a working air nozzle. A suitable one is to be had from The War Store for $12, but there's no guarantee of success, as it was a $100 AEG to begin with.
Next, is a $30 P9 springer pistol from the local DSG which looks to about the same quality as my previous 3 year springer, but is less powerful at 215 fps* .12 g or so.
Also tempting from DSG (feel free to flame me about gratuitous mention of that forsaken place) is the Remington Tac-1 shotgun for $50 which is bigger, but will give me more range at 350 fps * .20 g, and based on my research, may have a 240 round hi-cap magazine compatible with my current rifle's 25+12 round mag. It does have some bad reviews, ironically involving mostly feed issues from the magazine.
Finally, I can get a 50 dollar package free shipping package from airsplat. The sidearm of choice there is the wingun 304 1911 from Tokyo Marui and WE (http://www.airsplat.com/Items/GP-WG-304-SIL.htm), for just $20. It fires at an impressive 350 fps* .20 g, and receives universal praise. However, it does have the obvious maintenance cost of gas (propane) for the rather low long term price of 0.00043 dollars per shot. Unless you haven't noticed, I'm leaning towards this. The only issue is that aside from a propane adaptor, I haven't a clue what to fill the rest of the $50 ($15) with. Perhaps a cheap shotgun or a bag of ammo?

Thank you all. If you intend to respond with suggestions, please know that the absolute budget of this venture is $60. Thanks.

[George Burdell]

Originally Posted by appa609

The sidearm of choice there is the wingun 304 1911 from Tokyo Marui and WE (http://www.airsplat.com/Items/GP-WG-304-SIL.htm)

TM and WE don't make that; they make much better pistols. Also it's illegal to ship airsoft guns from outside canada, so don't bother trying.

[MultipleParadox]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but you just can't order a gun out of the country like this, you'll lose all of your money as it will be seized by the CBSA.

Given your situation, the best and most reasonable option you have, IMHO, is to stop playing a few year, stack up a pile of money and then buy something decent.

Airsoft is expensive and there's no way around this.
You could buy cheap guns like you did but will have crappy performance and headaches for a short while and will have to eventually have to replace all that stuff again. Yes, "real" airsoft guns are way more expensive, but they'll last much longer and you'll actually have fun playing with them. On the long run it will probably have been less expensive and worthwhile

Again, don't order out of the country (gear and accessories are fine though). Read the FAQs and stickies, all of this is covered there

Good luck

Edit: I don't know your age, but if you're 18 (which you should be to buy any guns, again read the stickies), get age verified. I just saw a few non-blowback pistols right in your budget. You HAVE to be Age verified in order to buy them or even see them for sale.

[Bolt]

Originally Posted by appa609

Thanks. I did so, and it's now 2 ft off the mark at 100 ft. Not as good as hoped for, but good enough to hit someone at that range given 2 or 3 shots.
Thank you everyone.

Second question; As "marksman," I am defenseless...please know that the absolute budget of this venture is $60. Thanks.

One: A proper propane adapter alone will run you 25-35 dollars, depending who you buy it from. For you budget, invest in a springer. It will last you longer and cost you less.

Two: Don't try to ship airsoft guns from the US into Canada. It doesn't matter if the site offers "international shipping" or "shipping to Canada". 95% of the time airsoft guns are going to be seized at the Canadian border as "replica firearms", in which case you lose both the gun and the money you spent on it.

My best advice is to you would be to find out what is sold locally (at Cabelas, Walmart, Canadian Tire, etc.), and make a choice from there. You can still check reviews of any gun that catches you eye - I'm sure someone, somewhere has written up something on it.

Don't like the clear bodies? Get a can of flat black spraypaint, cover any bits of the gun you don't want painted with tape, and go over the gun in 3-4 light coats. I did this with my first airsoft gun years ago- also a cheap spring pistol - and the result looked great.

[surebet]

Originally Posted by appa609

Thank you all. If you intend to respond with suggestions, please know that the absolute budget of this venture is $60. Thanks.

And he also edited out the bit in the OP where he presents himself as a 13 year old kid.

Original question answered, please don't give this kid additional resources to get guns.

[Scouser]

Sorry surebet, Bolt is a bit new, I let him know already not to do that, I think hes just excited about getting into the sport (he has been reading a lot lol)