Airsoft Action - January 2021

armoury
UMAREX KWA HECKLER & KOCH HK45
US owners certainly seem to be having the same
problems, so whether they are getting Taiwanesemade
versions, or the whole product line just has
a fault (which seems to be a mixed bag of working
perfectly, or having “bad day” type guns), I’m not
entirely sure.
I have, at this point, had mine for three years and
the last year or so mine has not seen any action as
such - being stripped down and in pieces since last
Christmas awaiting parts and my own repairs. At
least by now I literally know the HK45 - and the USP
Compact which uses effectively the same internals in
a slightly different guise or smaller external package
- inside out! Since moving to Taipei I’ve been able to
order spare parts direct through KIC Airsoft, instead
of KUI Airsoft insisting on sending guns back to their
respective local factories for any smithing or remedial
work. I’m more than capable of dealing with problems
and repairs myself after messing around with GBBs for
nearly two decades!
AIRSOFT STOVEPIPE
The main initial issue I had appears to be the
ammunition feeding protrusion just beneath the gas
feed nozzle. Apparently, the magazine springs are a
little too powerful in terms of the force they exert on
the BBs and this, in turn, causes long-term wear on
the feeding protrusion, which has to push them from
the feed lips and run them up the loading ramp, prior
to the gas nozzle above it seating behind the round as
the slide moves fully into battery ready for firing.
This problem manifested itself within the first few
months of me playing; before Christmas 2017 I had
to send it back to KWA’s facility for refurbishment,
with the culprit being damage to this protrusion just
beneath the gas nozzle. The symptoms were basically
being constant jams and failures to properly feed or
return to battery; multiple rounds would be dislodged,
one might be chambered properly while another
would fling around inside the closing chamber space,
getting mashed against the bolt face or insides of
the top slide. Essentially the airsoft equivalent of a
“stovepipe” jam, although from an additionally misfed
round rather than an already spent case but, either
way, the upshot is the same - a round in the chamber
with another obstructing the action.
Basically, the loading protrusion tends to wear
down, deform, or eventually outright break off in the
“ESSENTIALLY THE AIRSOFT EQUIVALENT OF A “STOVEPIPE” JAM, ALTHOUGH FROM
AN ADDITIONALLY MISFED ROUND RATHER THAN AN ALREADY SPENT CASE BUT,
EITHER WAY, THE UPSHOT IS THE SAME - A ROUND IN THE CHAMBER WITH ANOTHER
OBSTRUCTING THE ACTION.”
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