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The M14 is a platform I have always had a spot for. Between the classic look, smooth, sleek lines, and the (in my opinion) contrast between a fine wood stock and steel upper assembly is nice piece of eyecandy. I finally got a chance to pick up a CYMA CM.032A for a near steal and jumped on it. (traded a JG G36K I put back together in an afternoon for it).
This thread will document my travels with this particular rifle platform: the changes I make, notes about the rifle, and initial and expected performance. This will not be a project that will be done in a week, or even a few weeks, but I will do my best to keep this thread up-to-date with my plans and any modifications I make on a regular basis.
BACKROUND
Ive been playing airsoft for 10 years and teching for the past 7. Ive built and done just about everything, save for a DSG and ER hop. Although this build may just test my skills at ER hopping. We'll have to see
It will be the third 7.62-style rifle I have personally done, and the first M14 I have actually built into something.
(3/10/2019 EDIT: I finally did build a DSG...All thats left now is the ER-hop)
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
I obtained the rifle (and a few extras) from someone on HopUp. I will not mention names, but the person knows who they are
The rifle arrived in a large box, untypical of some of the more recent CYMA ones I have seen. Its decorated with a large picture of the rifle, model number and a few lines of text on a black background. Inside was the gun, 470rd steel hicap mag, the factory 9.6v battery and a G&P 9.6v the seller included. I made the switch to lipos years ago, so the nimh batteries are useless to me. Perhaps a few of my teammates who run them will have a use for them...
The rifle looks good initially. No obvious nicks, marks, scratches or other deformities are visible in the stock (more on that later) and the metal upper receiver and barrel also show no signs of being mishandled. The stock is something I would like to address. The quality of it feels very cheap and almost toyish. The way it feels along with the sheen it gives off when exposed to light tells me its made of ABS. Its clearly not the best ABS as if I grab the butt end of the stock and give a squeeze, it makes an audible "creak". It also has a sort of sandy texture to it that apparently is to help with gripping it. I think this is a bit counter-intuitive given how the stock is still fairly slick with this texturing there, but, whatever. My last complaint with it is the color. Some people like OD green, but in my mind this "OD Green" is more like pea-soup green. Almost there, but not quite. Im leaning towards this being an older model rather than one from a newer batch, but im not certain. As for rigidity, the only pieces that move around when the rifle is shaken are the front sling point and the wiring in the stock.
The upper receiver is all metal. No steel here except for the front sling mount and trigger guard. Everything else is potmetal. This is a bit disappointing as I expected a bit more to be steel. The finish on the metal parts does seem to be nice. Its all a consistent color with no visible blemishes. The orange tip is just a cap that is molded over a metal pin. Nothing 5 minutes, a dremel and a pair of pliers didnt fix.
Overall I give the rifle 6/10 on the externals. The stock and potmetal parts take away from the score.
PLANS FOR THE EXTERNALS
Its an M14. There are just as many things to do as things there aren't. The ABS stock isn't my cup of tea, and the faux woods ones just don't give it the look I want. A nice wood stock for airsoft is hard to come by state-side without paying a good chunk of change AND it being in stock. I have found them overseas in the UK, but am hesitant with the shipping, customs and import regulations between here and there. Even then, they are around $100 for just the stock. However, I have found surplus stocks from de-milled M14s for a good price depending on the condition. I will be taking that route for this build. There will be some [significant] modding to do to get everything to fit right, but that's what makes these sort of things fun. Depending on the condition and color of the stock, I may or may not refinish it.
As for accessories, a nice say, 2-10x optic and a bipod will complete this. I want to keep it simple and elegant.
PLANS FOR THE INTERNALS
Its been quite a while since I last opened up an M14. The last one I did was a G&G Veteran and that was some 5 years ago, and the one before that was a KART (for those of you who remember those) right around the time I began teching. My research turned up a polycarb spring guide, piston, cylinder head and air nozzle along with a brass cylinder. The stock gearset can be hit or miss depending on batch and QC. Hopefully I get lucky with them as the only replacements are, correct me if im wrong, Guarder, SHS and Riots. Not that any of those are bad per-se, it would just be nice to not have to replace them within a short amount of time.
The goal for this is a semi-locked 450ish FPS rifle to keep with local field and OP fps requirements. This won't be the stereotypical "I put a big*** scope on my gun and bipod and now its a DMR" thing, although some could see that. It will be a very finely tuned piece that will shoot as nice as it will look. I'll eventually post up a parts list of things that may or will be replaced based on my analysis of the gearbox, hopup, barrel and durability requirements. Obvioulsy a decent marksman rifle has good, crisp trigger response, range and the precision between shots to consistently place rounds on target.
The last picture is what I hope to [roughly] accomplish with enough time and elbow grease.
Will post updates as I tear into the internals tomorrow.
This thread will document my travels with this particular rifle platform: the changes I make, notes about the rifle, and initial and expected performance. This will not be a project that will be done in a week, or even a few weeks, but I will do my best to keep this thread up-to-date with my plans and any modifications I make on a regular basis.
BACKROUND
Ive been playing airsoft for 10 years and teching for the past 7. Ive built and done just about everything, save for a DSG and ER hop. Although this build may just test my skills at ER hopping. We'll have to see
(3/10/2019 EDIT: I finally did build a DSG...All thats left now is the ER-hop)
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
I obtained the rifle (and a few extras) from someone on HopUp. I will not mention names, but the person knows who they are
The rifle looks good initially. No obvious nicks, marks, scratches or other deformities are visible in the stock (more on that later) and the metal upper receiver and barrel also show no signs of being mishandled. The stock is something I would like to address. The quality of it feels very cheap and almost toyish. The way it feels along with the sheen it gives off when exposed to light tells me its made of ABS. Its clearly not the best ABS as if I grab the butt end of the stock and give a squeeze, it makes an audible "creak". It also has a sort of sandy texture to it that apparently is to help with gripping it. I think this is a bit counter-intuitive given how the stock is still fairly slick with this texturing there, but, whatever. My last complaint with it is the color. Some people like OD green, but in my mind this "OD Green" is more like pea-soup green. Almost there, but not quite. Im leaning towards this being an older model rather than one from a newer batch, but im not certain. As for rigidity, the only pieces that move around when the rifle is shaken are the front sling point and the wiring in the stock.
The upper receiver is all metal. No steel here except for the front sling mount and trigger guard. Everything else is potmetal. This is a bit disappointing as I expected a bit more to be steel. The finish on the metal parts does seem to be nice. Its all a consistent color with no visible blemishes. The orange tip is just a cap that is molded over a metal pin. Nothing 5 minutes, a dremel and a pair of pliers didnt fix.
Overall I give the rifle 6/10 on the externals. The stock and potmetal parts take away from the score.
PLANS FOR THE EXTERNALS
Its an M14. There are just as many things to do as things there aren't. The ABS stock isn't my cup of tea, and the faux woods ones just don't give it the look I want. A nice wood stock for airsoft is hard to come by state-side without paying a good chunk of change AND it being in stock. I have found them overseas in the UK, but am hesitant with the shipping, customs and import regulations between here and there. Even then, they are around $100 for just the stock. However, I have found surplus stocks from de-milled M14s for a good price depending on the condition. I will be taking that route for this build. There will be some [significant] modding to do to get everything to fit right, but that's what makes these sort of things fun. Depending on the condition and color of the stock, I may or may not refinish it.
As for accessories, a nice say, 2-10x optic and a bipod will complete this. I want to keep it simple and elegant.
PLANS FOR THE INTERNALS
Its been quite a while since I last opened up an M14. The last one I did was a G&G Veteran and that was some 5 years ago, and the one before that was a KART (for those of you who remember those) right around the time I began teching. My research turned up a polycarb spring guide, piston, cylinder head and air nozzle along with a brass cylinder. The stock gearset can be hit or miss depending on batch and QC. Hopefully I get lucky with them as the only replacements are, correct me if im wrong, Guarder, SHS and Riots. Not that any of those are bad per-se, it would just be nice to not have to replace them within a short amount of time.
The goal for this is a semi-locked 450ish FPS rifle to keep with local field and OP fps requirements. This won't be the stereotypical "I put a big*** scope on my gun and bipod and now its a DMR" thing, although some could see that. It will be a very finely tuned piece that will shoot as nice as it will look. I'll eventually post up a parts list of things that may or will be replaced based on my analysis of the gearbox, hopup, barrel and durability requirements. Obvioulsy a decent marksman rifle has good, crisp trigger response, range and the precision between shots to consistently place rounds on target.
The last picture is what I hope to [roughly] accomplish with enough time and elbow grease.
Will post updates as I tear into the internals tomorrow.
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