Update 5 in an ongoing series about my Tokyo Marui M-14.At the
Sept. 24th game at ACO's field, I ran into my first major problem with the M-14. Those of you who have played there know how sandy some of the terrain is. This was my downfall, as in the first game of the day, I
bunker-hunkered for dear life while dispatching enemies with grim efficiency. Apparently, in some of my wild maneuverings, I dug the barrel into the sandy ground. And not just once. I specifically remember shooting dirt and grit out of the flash-hider with the force of a BB. Real sloppy, I know, but the beast kept shooting. But only for a while. By the end of the second game, I had a jam that couldn't be fixed by brute force, and that's all I'm familiar with.
During lunch break, some kind dudes from
TAC gave me a hand, quickly determining the problem was a sand-induced jam. Unjamming rods proved futile, and it was determined that removing the barrel to force the stuck BBs out from the receiver end would be necessary. So the other day, I did just that.
Here's the gun field-stripped. I also took this opportunity to install my real-steel handguard, the brown knobbly thing with white lettering on it.
Here's the problem: the arrow points to one of about 10 BBs stuck in the hop-up and also further in the barrel.
Trusting myself not a whit to do this properly (it was my first AEG disassembly!), I documented by digicam every disassembly step. That way, I have a step-by-step guide to reassembly in the event of major cock-up. As it turned out, everything went fine and they weren't needed. This one was shown for two reasons: it's my best shot of the underside of the gun (including bolt spring and guide), and it shows my mini-fridge, from which all
beer-y goodness issues forth.
Here's the maximum level of disassembly I needed to do. Notice that the hop-up is still attached to the [enormously long] inner barrel. Counterclockwise inwards from top right we have: GI-issue sling, stock TM stock, standard mag, all-metal outer barrel, bolt spring guide, bottom barrel clamp, gearbox and shell, inner barrel with hop-up, stock handguard, real-steel handguard, trigger assembly, bolt spring, cleaning patch, hop-up adjustment dial.
Here's the [admittedly blurry] culprit! This bastard was jammed in there tight, all deformed with ground-in sand particles.
After pounding it out with the unjamming rod, it was time to clean the barrel. This pic demonstrates my method: cut a real-steel cleaning patch into ΒΌ the size, apply a
liberal, even radically so [link incredibly
NWS] dollop of silicone, and twist gently into the barrel. Repeat until patches come out clean, then swab a dry patch through. Well, that's what I did, anyway.
Pretty much every other spot on my gun had some sand in it, and duster gas proved to be an invaluable aid. Here, I de-sand the flash-hider.
For those really tough, ground-in grains of sand, a toothbrush (
?) proved invaluable. Also, it helped in applying silicone oil to hard-to-reach areas.
I had mentioned earlier that during it's first outing, my M-14 lost a part. The faux stock bolt on the left side fell out, never to be found. In true ghetto fashion, I whittled a
mostly-accurate-from-10-feet-away replica out of a chunk of plastic. Some superglue and a mini C-clamp later, and the stock is sealed to the elements.
Reassembly can be a pain in the ass with the TM M-14 due to the battery wires. Feeding them through the interstices of the buttstock is difficult and fiddly. Of great use to me were my ultimate geek tool - the forceps. They're like very long, very thin needle-nosed pliers. You can see them in this pic pulling the battery connector through a spot so tight even my 5ive year-old nephew couldn't reach.
So almost everything is fixed up now and working great. Unfortunately, I lost a piece of the hop-up adjustment dial - a spring and chunk of plastic that keeps the dial in place and allows single-click adjustments. Not a huge loss, as I plan to fabricate a replacement out of a ballpoint pen spring. Even so, owner beware! If you back out your hop-up dial all the way, you could easily loose these parts!
Until next time!