A couple o' questions on Pistols

[bobbunny]

1. How comparable are the mags with each other? Like, does each separate gun have it's own mag for it's own company?

2. Any way to distinguish what mag is from what company and/or model?

[Thor]

Most companies have different designs for their magazines from other companies. The exception to this is when one company copies another's design. For Example, there are some models of KJW and HFC pistols that are copies of Tokyo Marui designs, so the magazines are interchangeable. I believe KWA and KSC also have some designs that can use the same magazines. However, it's generally easier to just buy the mags that go with your gun.

Telling them apart can be harder if they're not marked, but I want to say most of them are in some manner. Usually only the low-end guns don't have anything on them to indicate what brand they are.

[bobbunny]

2 more.

How do I discharge the gas from a mag without shooting it in a gun?

Does water damage the mag?

[paul202]

You can either hold the gas release valve on the mag, or you can hold the slide catch on the gun down and dry fire the pistol. (The second method isn't really reccomended.)

To my knowledge, water does not damage a mag, and a good way to test if a mag is leaking is to fully submerge the magazine in water.

[Knief]

Mar 5, 2012 20:37:26 GMT -5 paul202 said:

You can either hold the gas release valve on the mag, or you can hold the slide catch on the gun down and dry fire the pistol. (The second method isn't really reccomended.)

But don't do that. Not only is it healthier for your mag to keep gas in it (the pressure and the lubrication keeps the seals in better shape and the reservoir protected against grime), but it's awful for your mags to purge them manually. When you release gas, you cool the mag. When you release a lot of gas, you cool the mag a lot. That cooling can and will dry and crack your rubber bits, rendering your mag useless. You can also blow the gas route packing right out the top of the mag. If you're in your bedroom and its relatively clean, that's maybe not such a big deal. If you're in a parking lot, good luck tracking down a 1/2" piece of dark rubber that blew off in a cloud of dust.

To my knowledge, water does not damage a mag, and a good way to test if a mag is leaking is to fully submerge the magazine in water.

Water doesn't damage the mag in the same way that water doesn't damage a lot of metal things. If it gets dunked, you want to clean it and re-lube everything. The pressure in the mag will keep the water from getting into the gas reservoir, but it will get in the outer shell, bb chamber, gas route packing, around the valves--basically every nook and cranny of the thing. And, since pretty much all mags are made out of some pot metal alloy that uses iron, they'll rust if you don't dry them off. If you're playing in the rain, give them a good wipe down. If you submerge them (I would never use that to diagnose a leak. The location of most leaks is obvious when you're filling the mag), you'll want to break them down entirely, dry everything off, and re-lube them.

[bobbunny]

How so? In what way would it be easy to find leaks?

[Tank]

When I'm trying to see if my mags have a leak, I fill them and wait 2 to 4 days and then fire the pistol. I know how many rounds I can get out of a full gas charge so I just count how many rounds I can fire. If I get most of the rounds I would expect (or usually all), I call it a day.

Time consuming yes, but you usually have a minimum of 6 days between events.

[Da Vinci - Да Винчи]

Well, if you don't feel like submerging your magazines, charge the magazine with gas until you know it's full (A small cloud of gas should puff when you pull the can off), and put the fill port up to your ear, and listen for a faint hissing sound. If you don't hear one at all, you're good. If you do, determine if it's coming from the fill valve or not by placing your finger over it, forming an airtight seal. If you can physically feel pressure, it's the valve, and fix it accordingly. If you don't feel anything, but hear a hissing noise, make sure the plate on the bottom of the magazine is completely seated, and that no gas is escaping from there. If it's neither of those, chances are it's your "rocket" valve, which is on the back of the magazine towards the top. Again, fix accordingly.
Does that help?

[bobbunny]

Yes it does.
I'm about as sharp as a baseball. That's why I used stupid text speak. all.