What goes around, comes around.
I couldn’t help noticing that this time last year I wrote a post about being very very tired. Is this the season or what? Today my staff and I finally finished a trio of projects that has taken me 20 hours this weekend and over 40 hours of overtime in the last few months. Thus, again, I am zonked. Completely.
On Tuesday I am traveling to Paris a guest of Gartner, who are paying (!!) me to attend the small business summit at the Hotel New York, Disneyland Resort, Paris. Frankly, I suspect that I will spend the entire time in bed asleep!
Popularity: unranked [?]
There is much debate regarding this on the airsoft forums, here is my take:
Women shot dead. Those are the facts. The rest is conjecture…the details of the shooting are clearly unknown, but in the past whereas I have always come down on the side of the police, these days I not so inclined. I feel that the police have made some horrendous mistakes and that this is due to too much pressure on the firearms officers.
Firstly, I disagree with shooting to wound. Any shot is only a wound. The FBI have proved in great and gory detail that the Mozambique drill is the only way to get an opponent to stop, let alone die. Intentionally shooting to ‘wound’ is actually a colossal waste of time and much more likely to engage a gun fight rather than a take down.
As for the wider reporting of this event, it is sham: the Metro reported that carrying an airsoft gun is only legal “with a special licence”.
The problem is essentially due to the definitions being blurred at the best of times. A BB gun can be an airsoft gun, a G10 metal BB plinker, a suped’up metal BB rat killer, a Stock TM, a cheap springer from the market, Lex’s patriot, or even with a big enough spring: a lethal weapon.
As for the conversion of BB guns to real firing weapons, well let us not forget that a .2 BB is the same diameter as a .2 bullet… Internals aside, such misuse is not outside the realms of possibility to the insane or criminally stupid.
It is not for the media to take our side in this debate (that we are completely harmless sportsmen and women) or to take the other side (that we are survivalist WACO style fruitcakes that like hurting people), but tragically; they do take sides. This is because, as far as they are concerned, if the police are shooting people carrying these guns, it must be that they are dangerous. Else why are the police nailing women in carparks? Such inferences are the suggestions in the reports (it is equally damming that they parade her martial arts prowess as some sort of character flaw). Should the police reaction to every situation involving any sort of gun go from peace to death without being able to pass through anything in-between? Where were the tasers? The beanbag guns? The negotiators?
The press, in my opinion, are conspiring to glaze over this policy of death when they immediately start with an assassination of their own; going after the women’s character.
I know that most newspapers write for the common man and that people think such a concept is a myth, but it isn’t. The common man is one who is easily riled, quick to judge and bored shittless by life. He watches ‘Enders, smokes tabs, drinks beer to excess, follows football, loves sensation of any kind, etc etc etc. I know buckets of people like that. Airsofters are generally “fringe” people and in numbers not that common. Thus we will always be reviled by the newspapers as a minority; something that is always reported as a character flaw above all others. We are different, they say, so we must be wrong. Like all good gossip and sensational reporting, the number one maxim is “there is no smoke without fire”. “She must have done something…”, is something I have heard many times. The last time was the Brazilian bloke shot on the tube; “He shouldn’t have run from the police… He must have done something, he must have had something to hide…” Yeah, he was late for his fucking train.
In my opinion, and following on from Blair’s point in his speech yesterday, the media are guilty and complicit in the building of an inference without any factual basis. They no longer “report” the news, they now comment on the motives. Motives are almost impossible to ascertain, but that never stops them from making them up. And the common man believes them. So all French become frogs, all famous people are special, all politicians are conspiring liars and all people carrying BB guns are a danger to the children and must be put down by our trigger happy police farce.
Basho
Popularity: unranked [?]
The boys from Snatch review the Classic Army SCAR.
- Why are we reviewing the SCAR Turkish? What’s wrong with your current AEG?
- Oh nothing Tommy, its tip top…I’m just not sure about the colour…
Classic Army were once the pariah of airsoft. Their guns were plagued with unreliability and their reputation was a joke.
Oh, how the worm has turned.
The latest generation of CA guns have been, well, something special. Powerful, specialist and much much more reliable. Not as reliable as Tokyo Marui’s guns, but much higher in spec. This change started with the amazing CQB, which very quickly became considered as the best “off the shelf” gun in the world. Sure some of them had problems, especially with the piston head, but CA were listening closely and the next generation on from that “classic” aeg has arrived. Kieran bought the first one; the Kitty Kat ‘alike SEAL CQB, a M4 made into the smallest form possible with a stock. He has been playing with it every week and loves the solid reliability.
CA then set to work on something very special indeed; the SCAR.
— My God, Tommy. What have you been reading? Fuck me. Hold tight. What’s that?
- It’s me Multicam.
- No, Tommy. There’s an AEG in your gunbag.
- It’s for protection.
- Protection from what? “Zee” Darkangels? Where did you get it?
- Boris The Blade.
- Boris The Blade, or Boris The Bullet-Dodger. Bent as the Soviet sickle and hard as the hammer that crosses it. Apparently, it’s just impossible to kill the bastard.
WIKIPEDIA:
SOF Combat Assault Rifle, or SCAR, is a modular rifle made by Fabrique Nationale (FN) for the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) to satisfy the requirements of the SCAR competition.
…The SCAR features an integral, uninterrupted Picatinny rails on the top of the aluminium receiver, two removable side rails and a bottom one that can mount any MIL-STD-1913 compliant accessories. The original SCAR prototypes used the same Pistol grip and lower receiver design as the FN FNC.
Stats.
— Tyrone’ll drive for us. He’s done a rally driving course.
- Of course I have
- You said he was a getaway driver. What the fuck can he get away from?
- Don’t worry about Tyrone. He can move when he has to. Worry about getting us a gun. What’s that?
- This is a SCAR, Sol.
- It’s a fucking anti-aircraft gun, Vincent.
- I want to raise pulses, don’t I?
- You’ll raise hell, never mind pulses.
My SCAR Loadout:
Basic stats are excellent,
- Unique Serial Number
- Metal Charging Handle
- 7mm Metal Bearing Gear Box
- Hi-Cap Magazine (300 Rd)
- Metal Flip up Front & Rear Sight
- CNC made Metal Upper Receiver
- Up to 9.6V Mini Type Battery can be used
- Fibre Lower Receiver & Retractable Folding Stock
- Magazine Released Catch can function in both sides of receiver
- Bearing Spring Guide, Bearing Piston Head, Sealed Nozzle & Cylinder
- Motor without screw type
Indeed the SCAR is very much Flavour of the month and raises both hell and pulses. Computer games like Ghost Recon have made the SCAR an almost perquisite for the ultra-SAS style lead-out. Lets have a look at some of the guns design features and how they add to a players capabilities in battle.
The Good.
— The fact that you’ve got “Replica” written on the side of your gun…and the fact that I’ve got “SCAR”…written on the side of mine…should precipitate…your balls into shrinking, along with your presence.
The gun is a proper rifle. Longer than perhaps you would expect, it is suitable for almost all ranges.
The folding stock obviously improves CQB performance and the multiple rails are a geardo’s best friend. The folding action is excellent and very easy to do even in midst of battle. The stock locks in the folded position but unlike the LR300, you can easily un-fold the stock. So quick changing as you move in and out of positions is simple and effective. I would say that it is almost identical to the G36 action. The cheek pad also moves but I personally think this is a gimmick rather and something that will make any difference at airsoft ranges.
Folded stock:
The upper part of the body is a solid single piece of metal, which gives the gun fantastic twist resistance and far exceeds a TM even with a body upgrade.
Nice trades:
The iron sights fold down for when using a red dot and this is a great feature if, like me, you change your red dot often. The selector switch is on both sides, making the gun lefty friendly, which is nice in CQB where even as a right hander you will be swapping shoulders all the time.
- Heavy, isn’t it?
- Heavy is good. Heavy is reliable. If it doesn’t work, you can always hit him with it.
Weight is in the middle, when the battery is in, but the gun is heavy for sure. I can still effectively single hand it, but smaller players will struggle.
It comes with all the clips needed to properly sling the piece and I have attached it to my Chalker with no problems.
In use, with the standard battery, its range is stock CA. Nothing special and at Longmoor I definitely had to ‘aim up’. But for Electrowekz ranges, the gun performs very well indeed. It is very accurate and all my BB’s are landing in a very tight circle. I have no problems at all in picking off a hanging chain 9 out of 10 times at 35ft. My SCAR ROF is fast and the gearbox sounds great. The gearbox includes a Teflon type cylinder as well as an aluminium piston head and spring guide with bearing.
FPS was measured as 310 straight (.2BB’s) . This is very nice indeed and I was very glad that the gun was not too hot for CQB.
The body comes apart with ease, only a few pins to remove and the whole breaks down into 3 main parts.
Upgrades are already out and CA have started selling a 10volt upgrade kit! This obviously means that the gears are made of stern stuff. The motor is a high torque so upgrading the spring is possible too.
CA SCAR Enlarge Stock (Tan) With 10.8v 1700mah Battery
ROF is good, but not amazing. Say around 800 a minute.
The stock 1700 8.4v battery lasted me 6 hours of combat. Now, I am not the most trigger happy of people and never fire in sustained mode. However, I do think that even with the small, it was very good.
The Bad.
- Do you know what Nemesis means? A righteous retribution as delivered by an appropriate agent. In this case an aeg; the SCAR.
So far so normal for a SCAR review. Lots of goodies and things to get you excited. However, this gun is not without its problems.
Firstly, the paint. Now I have a multicam loadout and the SCAR’s tan paint job fitted the bill. However, the paint on the upper part of the body come off very very quickly. My SCAR is strewn with scratches through the paint and I haven’t dropped it or stored it in any rough way. It is all through normal play where the gun swings against my rig. Very disappointing.
Secondly, accessing the battery is a nightmare. You have to fold the stock, use an allen key to undo and loosen the bolt. Then the stock slides out. Often it just falls out and the battery hangs by its wires, which cant be good for them. Finally you have to reverse all this to attach it back! In combat battery changes are effectively impossible.
Folded stock, getting to the battery:
Now, there is a way around this, but it is a mod in effect. Basically there is a small screw holding the stock to the bolt that the allen key attaches too. You can remove this and thus the entire stock will slide off if you pull the stock position back far enough. An answer, yes, but not a very satisfying one.
Thirdly, the rails are fixed using an allen key size that I couldn’t find in 4 different sets. This includes my US set, my leatherman, my bike set and all my random scope keys. This means that I simply cannot remove a rail form the side. Possibly not an issue for you, but for me; trying to attach a guncam, it was a bar’steward.
Finally, the rail is very low to the top of the gun. So low in fact that with a full face mask on you can hardly use it. I have had to buy a M4 scope riser.
ATN Holosight:
Results.
- Good dags. Do you like dags?
- Dags? What?
- Yeah, dags. Dags. You like dags?
- Oh, dogs. Sure, I like dags. I like SCAR’s better.
I like the SCAR. It is by far the best built stock gun I have ever used. Envious looks follow it around the battlefield (if that is your bag) and hit newbs will surround you in battle (it that is your bag). Its battery life is fine, its range is good, its power is heavy, its stock folds, it takes every type of extra.
However, most new style M4’s have all of this. So what are you getting?
Your’re getting the little details that make this gun special. The small touches that show a gun that has been designed to replace the M4. It has out of the box features that you would expect to be on an M4, but actually aren’t.
I love mine.
The DAs tool up:
Here is a movie of the gun in use at Longmoor. It is take from the point of view of a camera attached to the gun, but you can clearly see the ROF and accuracy.
Regards,
Basho
Technorati tags: airsoft, SCAR, basho
Popularity: 7% [?]
What was this?
After the massive success of last years event, Mac and Detty at Electrowerkz …very kindly given us thier site free of charge for another 8 hour Pistol and Shotgun only Charity extraveganza from 1200–2000 on SUNDAY 3rd JUNE 2007 being held at:ELECTROWERKZ.…This years charity is CLIC Sargent which is a charity which helps Children living with cancer…Tickets are strictly limited, the walk on fee for this event is £30 per person.…No AEG’s whatsoever, …AEP’s may be used, on single shot mode only, and the maximum ammo capacity must be no more than 50 BB’s. …Gas weapons are prefferred if you have them, spring is also OK. if you have a full auto firing gas gun, you may use it on full auto.
I was involved with this day as both a marshal and player and during my battles I carried a helmetcam and recoreded over 2 hours of footage!
I give you here two of the edited movies from those games. First is a trailer for the entire event and this is followed with an outline of day one.
Highlights of the trailer include the teabagging of both Janno and DA1!
Highlights for this vid include my getting laced in the ear on one assault and my taking out of the entire attacking team in one monster shotgun rush.
Hope you enjoy, comments welcome.
The final total that was raised was £2500!
Basho
Popularity: unranked [?]
Earth seen from 4 billion miles away, photographed by Voyager 1 on June 6, 1990.
Of the “pale blue dot,” astronomer Carl Sagan said, “That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every ‘superstar,’ every ‘supreme leader,’ every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there — on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.”
Popularity: unranked [?]
The M3 Super 90 from TM is one of the best non AEGs on the market. It uses the now ubiquitous 10 shot red shells and fires each pump with three BB’s from a triple inner barrel hidden inside the outer. Accuracy is best described as excellent. The BBs spread a little over range meaning that in all practical terms the weapon is not so much a shotgun but actually a 3 shot counter sniper rifle.
If you think of it in these terms then this lends you the most effective strategy for its use. As a rushing weapon against AEGs it looses out in the fact that it takes a long time, relative to an AEG, to pump each round and not a little strength. However, used either defensively or as a first strike weapon it shines very bright.
Defensively, the spread, power and accuracy are excellent for picking off runners or assaulting forces. Aimed at head height you can hit two people who are tightly grouped with ease and you can effectively put down a barrage of ammo.
First strike is the guns use in an assault. It is very hard to totally defeat a position defended by three or more on your own, but partnered with another player or another gun you can easily take out 6 opponents especially if they are caught on the wrong foot.
The only problem is the default configuration. The full size M3 is very long indeed. This makes it difficult to use in the second configuration of an assault and very hard to manœuvre through doors, etc in CQB. It also makes it hard to sling correctly so that you can drop it and switch weapons. I am going to outline the methods I used to correct these problems.
Firstly, the donor gun. The M3 Super 90 is an expensive gun bought new, but many people sell theirs through the net and they are often available on the forums. After a few days hunt I bought one second hand for £100. The only proviso is that you confirm and be sure that the gun is working correctly and hasn’t been broken. NOTE! The M3’s common fault is terminal to the gun, but invisible unless shooting. I will outline this later…
Modding for CQB.
CQB is known as follows:
Close Quarters Battle (CQB) or close quarters combat (CQC) is a type of fighting in which small units engage the enemy with personal weapons at very short range, even to the point of hand-to-hand combat. In the typical CQB scenario, the attackers try a very fast, violent takeover of a vehicle or structure controlled by the defenders, who usually have no easy way to withdraw. Because enemies, hostages/civilians, and fellow operators can be closely intermingled, CQB demands a rapid assault and a precise application of lethal force. The operators need great proficiency with their weapons, but also the ability to make split-second decisions in order to limit friendly casualties.
I slightly disagree with this defintion. For me CQB is fighting close, but not close enough to touch. CQC is fighting within arms reach. Both have different skill sets.
Bascially, when I am in CQB I use one gun, when in CQC I use two. So light guns are very important.
Tools you will need:
- Hacksaw
- Rino tape
- Masking tape
- Long thin screwdrivers
- Pliers
- Diamond file
- Hex keys
- NOTE! Many of these are found on the better Leathermans
Things you should buy:
- More shells — I have 9, bought whenever I saw them on the forums, £10
- Shell holder — free, came with tack vest, Velcro backed
- Torch and barrel mount — £12 eBay
- Smokeys TM M3 front grip — £30 Wolf Armouries
- G&P sliding M3 Stock — £65 Wolf Armouries
With all of these ready, let’s go!
Barrel length:
The default M3 barrel is an amazing 1040mm long or 41 inches! This is frankly madness. The inner barrel length is a good 6 inches shorter. In other words, the extra length is not needed at all. So let’s get rid of it!
Pull out the little round cover that is in the bottom of the two pipes.
Measure the length of the inner barrels and mark this on the outside of the outer barrel. I used a ruler and pencil.
Unscrew the clip that attaches the two barrels.
Wrap the top and bottom barrel at the cut point with masking tape. This is to give you a line to follow and to stop slips marking the barrel.
Using the hacksaw cut the top and then bottom barrels off. Make sure that you hold the gun steady, observe all safety precautions of using saws and most importantly line up your cut with something so that it is straight. Leave enough barrel to get the clip back on and the laser mount on later.
Using the diamond file smooth off any burrs.
Done!
Next, the stock:
Pull off the rubber stock plug and unscrew the loooong screw.
Pull off the stock and hand guard.
Mark 1.9cm on the stock tube and be sure.
Put masking tape around the cut line as before.
Cut the tube.
The correct length is such that then you put on the new grip it will be flush on the inside.
Take off the sliding stock from the new tube
Using the long screwdriver, unscrew the holding screw while holding the round packing plate with the pliers.
Discard the round packing plate
Put the new grip on the tube, check that it is flush.
Using the long screwdriver feed the screw back into the tube and, while holding the tube at such a rotation that the bumps are at the top, screw it to the gun. Be careful with this screw. It is crap. I managed to wreak the stock screw and had to follow the procedure below.
- If you screw the screw then don’t panic. If you can’t get it back out (the head threads) then simply put some superglue on the screwdriver and then hold it in place on the screw head. When dry you should be able to get it out.
- In the original grip there is a similar screw to the new one, but it is longer. Using the hacksaw cut it to the required length. File it down to a flat end and it should work fine.
Once tightly on, replace the new butt and you are done here.
Extras:
- Remove the two screws on the underside of the front grip. Basically on the pump. Place the new Smokeys grip in place and, using the Allen keys, screw it in.
- Attach the barrel mount to the front of the stock and either place a laser or torch in this mount. I use an AA Maglite that has been converted to LED using the small £9 kit you can get almost anywhere. This also comes with a push button on/off.
- Either glue or tape the shell holder to your required position.
- Remove the shell guard that holds the shells it. It is a pain to use in combat, the shells never fall out anyway and it probs’ will get busted before long.
Done!
Now the gun is modded for CQB.
- The stock can now be reduced in length so that when you are attacking you can hold the gun away from the body and manœuvre the backend with ease. On the other hand, when defending you can now extend the stock and improve your aim.
- The barrel is much shorter, but importantly has not lost any accuracy. The new length is much easier to use in close quarters and around corners. Aiming time has been reduced and the focal point looking over the barrel is now closer, meaning that very fast snap shooting it possible.
- These two mods’ mean that the gun can be easily slung in many ways. Personally, I use a Chalker quick sling; the best sling for CQB ever invented.
- The front grip mods’ makes the gun much much easier to rack in a combat situation and will stop the arm ache this gun gives for days after. It also acts as a stabilising point, like a tripod, when defending.
- The barrel mount allows you to overcome the lack of rails on this gun without resorting to the massively expensive RIS kit. NOTE! The RIS kit is also very very heavy. This guns weight is already forwards and you don’t want to add any more if you ever intend to use the gun in one hand.
- Two gunning. Now the gun is lighter, you can hold it in one hand and CQC with a pistol in your other. This enables you to shoot very close targets with the pistol and mid range threats with the increased accuracy of the shotgun.
Limitations:
TM stock M3’s eventually break. The damage is terminal to the guns operation and can only be checked by shooting some test rounds. Basically, the back-end of the inner barrels gets cracked by a stray BB being loaded. Fixing this is harsh. You need to cut open the barrel to get to it and have custom made metal tubes placed over the cracked plastic ones. Once this is done you can also upgrade the springs and insert better inner barrels. When mine breaks I will write up how to do it with images, but you can find a good page on Google. If it has gone, I have a print out so PM me.
Gun in Use:
Happy newb owning!
Basho
Technorati tags: airsoft, basho, electrowerkz
Popularity: 2% [?]
The M3 Super 90 from TM is one of the best non AEGs on the market. It uses the now ubiquitous 10 shot red shells and fires each pump with three BB’s from a triple inner barrel hidden inside the outer. Accuracy is best described as excellent. The BBs spread a little over range meaning that in all practical terms the weapon is not so much a shotgun but actually a 3 shot counter sniper rifle.
If you think of it in these terms then this lends you the most effective strategy for its use. As a rushing weapon against AEGs it looses out in the fact that it takes a long time, relative to an AEG, to pump each round and not a little strength. However, used either defensively or as a first strike weapon it shines very bright.
Defensively, the spread, power and accuracy are excellent for picking off runners or assaulting forces. Aimed at head height you can hit two people who are tightly grouped with ease and you can effectively put down a barrage of ammo.
First strike is the guns use in an assault. It is very hard to totally defeat a position defended by three or more on your own, but partnered with another player or another gun you can easily take out 6 opponents especially if they are caught on the wrong foot.
The only problem is the default configuration. The full size M3 is very long indeed. This makes it difficult to use in the second configuration of an assault and very hard to manœuvre through doors, etc in CQB. It also makes it hard to sling correctly so that you can drop it and switch weapons. I am going to outline the methods I used to correct these problems.
Firstly, the donor gun. The M3 Super 90 is an expensive gun bought new, but many people sell theirs through the net and they are often available on the forums. After a few days hunt I bought one second hand for £100. The only proviso is that you confirm and be sure that the gun is working correctly and hasn’t been broken. NOTE! The M3’s common fault is terminal to the gun, but invisible unless shooting. I will outline this later…
Modding for CQB.
CQB is known as follows:
Close Quarters Battle (CQB) or close quarters combat (CQC) is a type of fighting in which small units engage the enemy with personal weapons at very short range, even to the point of hand-to-hand combat. In the typical CQB scenario, the attackers try a very fast, violent takeover of a vehicle or structure controlled by the defenders, who usually have no easy way to withdraw. Because enemies, hostages/civilians, and fellow operators can be closely intermingled, CQB demands a rapid assault and a precise application of lethal force. The operators need great proficiency with their weapons, but also the ability to make split-second decisions in order to limit friendly casualties.
I slightly disagree with this defintion. For me CQB is fighting close, but not close enough to touch. CQC is fighting within arms reach. Both have different skill sets.
Bascially, when I am in CQB I use one gun, when in CQC I use two. So light guns are very important.
Tools you will need:
- Hacksaw
- Rino tape
- Masking tape
- Long thin screwdrivers
- Pliers
- Diamond file
- Hex keys
- NOTE! Many of these are found on the better Leathermans
Things you should buy:
- More shells — I have 9, bought whenever I saw them on the forums, £10
- Shell holder — free, came with tack vest, Velcro backed
- Torch and barrel mount — £12 eBay
- Smokeys TM M3 front grip — £30 Wolf Armouries
- G&P sliding M3 Stock — £65 Wolf Armouries
With all of these ready, let’s go!
Barrel length:
The default M3 barrel is an amazing 1040mm long or 41 inches! This is frankly madness. The inner barrel length is a good 6 inches shorter. In other words, the extra length is not needed at all. So let’s get rid of it!
Pull out the little round cover that is in the bottom of the two pipes.
Measure the length of the inner barrels and mark this on the outside of the outer barrel. I used a ruler and pencil.
Unscrew the clip that attaches the two barrels.
Wrap the top and bottom barrel at the cut point with masking tape. This is to give you a line to follow and to stop slips marking the barrel.
Using the hacksaw cut the top and then bottom barrels off. Make sure that you hold the gun steady, observe all safety precautions of using saws and most importantly line up your cut with something so that it is straight. Leave enough barrel to get the clip back on and the laser mount on later.
Using the diamond file smooth off any burrs.
Done!
Next, the stock:
Pull off the rubber stock plug and unscrew the loooong screw.
Pull off the stock and hand guard.
Mark 1.9cm on the stock tube and be sure.
Put masking tape around the cut line as before.
Cut the tube.
The correct length is such that then you put on the new grip it will be flush on the inside.
Take off the sliding stock from the new tube
Using the long screwdriver, unscrew the holding screw while holding the round packing plate with the pliers.
Discard the round packing plate
Put the new grip on the tube, check that it is flush.
Using the long screwdriver feed the screw back into the tube and, while holding the tube at such a rotation that the bumps are at the top, screw it to the gun. Be careful with this screw. It is crap. I managed to wreak the stock screw and had to follow the procedure below.
- If you screw the screw then don’t panic. If you can’t get it back out (the head threads) then simply put some superglue on the screwdriver and then hold it in place on the screw head. When dry you should be able to get it out.
- In the original grip there is a similar screw to the new one, but it is longer. Using the hacksaw cut it to the required length. File it down to a flat end and it should work fine.
Once tightly on, replace the new butt and you are done here.
Extras:
- Remove the two screws on the underside of the front grip. Basically on the pump. Place the new Smokeys grip in place and, using the Allen keys, screw it in.
- Attach the barrel mount to the front of the stock and either place a laser or torch in this mount. I use an AA Maglite that has been converted to LED using the small £9 kit you can get almost anywhere. This also comes with a push button on/off.
- Either glue or tape the shell holder to your required position.
- Remove the shell guard that holds the shells it. It is a pain to use in combat, the shells never fall out anyway and it probs’ will get busted before long.
Done!
Now the gun is modded for CQB.
- The stock can now be reduced in length so that when you are attacking you can hold the gun away from the body and manœuvre the backend with ease. On the other hand, when defending you can now extend the stock and improve your aim.
- The barrel is much shorter, but importantly has not lost any accuracy. The new length is much easier to use in close quarters and around corners. Aiming time has been reduced and the focal point looking over the barrel is now closer, meaning that very fast snap shooting it possible.
- These two mods’ mean that the gun can be easily slung in many ways. Personally, I use a Chalker quick sling; the best sling for CQB ever invented.
- The front grip mods’ makes the gun much much easier to rack in a combat situation and will stop the arm ache this gun gives for days after. It also acts as a stabilising point, like a tripod, when defending.
- The barrel mount allows you to overcome the lack of rails on this gun without resorting to the massively expensive RIS kit. NOTE! The RIS kit is also very very heavy. This guns weight is already forwards and you don’t want to add any more if you ever intend to use the gun in one hand.
- Two gunning. Now the gun is lighter, you can hold it in one hand and CQC with a pistol in your other. This enables you to shoot very close targets with the pistol and mid range threats with the increased accuracy of the shotgun.
Limitations:
TM stock M3’s eventually break. The damage is terminal to the guns operation and can only be checked by shooting some test rounds. Basically, the back-end of the inner barrels gets cracked by a stray BB being loaded. Fixing this is harsh. You need to cut open the barrel to get to it and have custom made metal tubes placed over the cracked plastic ones. Once this is done you can also upgrade the springs and insert better inner barrels. When mine breaks I will write up how to do it with images, but you can find a good page on Google. If it has gone, I have a print out so PM me.
Gun in Use:
Happy newb owning!
Basho
Popularity: unranked [?]
