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ILLusion · June 2nd, 2007, 16:41

Okay, so I've gotten around to messing around with a bunch of other upgrade parts for the A.I.C.S.:

King Arms Striker Spring & Steel Impact Plate for Tanaka M700 / M40 / M24
So I originally bought this kit just to get this improved steel striking plate because stiffer striker springs will cause greater wear on the stock soft metal striking plates. I wanted to put this plate on to the magazine which I installed the "KM Custom Magazine Part for Tanaka M700". KM makes their own impact plate, but it's tough to find in stock anywhere.

However, I'll first start by mentioning the spring:
I was originally using the G&G striker spring, but one thing I noticed about it was that... yes, it's very stiff and provides a very positive, solid and consistent hit. My worry about it was how much added wear it was adding to the bolt parts, especially when closing the bolt ramp. Out of curiosity, I tried the King Arms striker spring anyways and was pleasantly surprised. It still provided a fairly positive hit... much more so than stock, while its reduced weight made closing the bolt easier. That pretty much solved my issue with added wear to the bolt ramps and considered it a good compromise. I kept the King Arms spring in.

On to the striking plate:
The first thing I noticed when I installed this striking plate: Steel. NOICE. That solves a lot of my worries about excess wear.
So the install is pretty painless, pop the retention pin out of the existing plate and put the new one in. Pretty simple.
Time for the first gas fill.

*PSSSSHSHHHHHHH* cold propane spraying all over my hand from the exhaust port. "WTF?!" I thought, and did an upright fill one more time to test potential causes for this. Seems like this new striker plate was keeping the valve open, even in a relaxed state. Further inspection revealed that extra material on the inner lower side of the striker plate (below the retention pin which also acts as a fulcrum) was forcing the top of the plate to prematurely depress the plunger arm.
Once I removed the plate, I placed it side by side with the stock plate to profile the shape. Indeed, from the pinhole to the bottom of the plate, there is about an extra mm of material. 2 minutes of filing later, I had the plate down to size and installed in the magazine, filling with no problems. Zero play on the plate also means I took off just enough material. I'm not sure if this was purposely done by King Arms. Maybe it works on the M700 short mags? Or maybe we can just chalk it up to poor QC? Who knows... it works now...

... or does it?

Time to insert the filled magazine in to my AICS for some test shots.

Uh oh. Problem #2. The magazine was extremely tough to insert now. To the point where I had to give it a really hard slap to get the magazine fully inserted with catch engaged. But I also noticed that when I gave it the finally slap in, each time, I would hear a pop of gas escaping the valve. Based on that observation, I surmised the striking point of the plate must be sticking out enough to rub against the magwell wall, and protruding enough for the hammer to hit it upon mag insertion.
Removal of the magazine with the striking plate in this state is extremely difficult. This may go back to Skruface's problem. One handed mag removal was pretty much damn near impossible, and two hands were required to yank the magazine out. Not acceptable.
Once the magazine was removed, inspection of the striking area showed that the surface definitely protruded past the plate's channels in the magazine by a good 1.5 to 2mm. A couple of more minutes with a file solved that problem. The mag was now freely going in and out of the magwell.

Now to give her a test run.

I had my PCS set up so that with a stock magazine, after firing off about 10 successive shots, I would *eventually* end up at around 445 to 450fps with 0.20g BBs shooting propane. Yes, the stock magazine is THAT bad. My test this time with stock magazine showed:
238fps
222fps
351fps
408fps
425fps
429fps
445fps
439fps
436fps
443fps
438fps
439fps
442fps
434fps

Avg: 399fps Spread: disgusting

Pretty horrible. One shot one kill? Not really. Completely unacceptable

Okay, now for my modified magazine that now had the following parts installed:
- KM Custom Magazine Part
- G&G Gas Route Connecter Spring
- King Arms Steel Striker Plate

Chrony results:
288fps
390fps
425fps
446fps
453fps
455fps
453fps
458fps
460fps
457fps
453fps
451fps
457fps
456fps

Avg: 436fps Spread: better

Much nicer. Much more consistent, and although first shots was still sort of low, it was MUCH better than the stock magazine setup.

Another thing I noticed, was that on a very full magazine of propane, the modified magazine could not be struck open. I'm inspecting to see if it's because this weaker striker spring is too weak to crack open this valve, or if it's because I need to file more of the plate down.

In any case, the numbers shown above are more of a reflection of the other components in this magazine (gas route connector spring and KM custom magazine parts), and may not necessarily have anything to do with the King Arms parts I've installed.

June 2nd, 2007, 16:41	#122
ILLusion GBB Whisperer Trader rating Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Toronto	Okay, so I've gotten around to messing around with a bunch of other upgrade parts for the A.I.C.S.: *King Arms Striker Spring & Steel Impact Plate for Tanaka M700 / M40 / M24* So I originally bought this kit just to get this improved steel striking plate because stiffer striker springs will cause greater wear on the stock soft metal striking plates. I wanted to put this plate on to the magazine which I installed the "KM Custom Magazine Part for Tanaka M700". KM makes their own impact plate, but it's tough to find in stock anywhere. However, I'll first start by mentioning the spring: I was originally using the G&G striker spring, but one thing I noticed about it was that... yes, it's very stiff and provides a very positive, solid and consistent hit. My worry about it was how much added wear it was adding to the bolt parts, especially when closing the bolt ramp. Out of curiosity, I tried the King Arms striker spring anyways and was pleasantly surprised. It still provided a fairly positive hit... much more so than stock, while its reduced weight made closing the bolt easier. That pretty much solved my issue with added wear to the bolt ramps and considered it a good compromise. I kept the King Arms spring in. On to the striking plate: The first thing I noticed when I installed this striking plate: Steel. NOICE. That solves a lot of my worries about excess wear. So the install is pretty painless, pop the retention pin out of the existing plate and put the new one in. Pretty simple. Time for the first gas fill. PSSSSHSHHHHHHH cold propane spraying all over my hand from the exhaust port. "WTF?!" I thought, and did an upright fill one more time to test potential causes for this. Seems like this new striker plate was keeping the valve open, even in a relaxed state. Further inspection revealed that extra material on the inner lower side of the striker plate (below the retention pin which also acts as a fulcrum) was forcing the top of the plate to prematurely depress the plunger arm. Once I removed the plate, I placed it side by side with the stock plate to profile the shape. Indeed, from the pinhole to the bottom of the plate, there is about an extra mm of material. 2 minutes of filing later, I had the plate down to size and installed in the magazine, filling with no problems. Zero play on the plate also means I took off just enough material. I'm not sure if this was purposely done by King Arms. Maybe it works on the M700 short mags? Or maybe we can just chalk it up to poor QC? Who knows... it works now... ... or does it? Time to insert the filled magazine in to my AICS for some test shots. Uh oh. Problem #2. The magazine was extremely tough to insert now. To the point where I had to give it a really hard slap to get the magazine fully inserted with catch engaged. But I also noticed that when I gave it the finally slap in, each time, I would hear a pop of gas escaping the valve. Based on that observation, I surmised the striking point of the plate must be sticking out enough to rub against the magwell wall, and protruding enough for the hammer to hit it upon mag insertion. Removal of the magazine with the striking plate in this state is extremely difficult. This may go back to Skruface's problem. One handed mag removal was pretty much damn near impossible, and two hands were required to yank the magazine out. Not acceptable. Once the magazine was removed, inspection of the striking area showed that the surface definitely protruded past the plate's channels in the magazine by a good 1.5 to 2mm. A couple of more minutes with a file solved that problem. The mag was now freely going in and out of the magwell. Now to give her a test run. I had my PCS set up so that with a stock magazine, after firing off about 10 successive shots, I would eventually end up at around 445 to 450fps with 0.20g BBs shooting propane. Yes, the stock magazine is THAT bad. My test this time with stock magazine showed: 238fps 222fps 351fps 408fps 425fps 429fps 445fps 439fps 436fps 443fps 438fps 439fps 442fps 434fps Avg: 399fps Spread: disgusting Pretty horrible. One shot one kill? Not really. Completely unacceptable Okay, now for my modified magazine that now had the following parts installed: - KM Custom Magazine Part - G&G Gas Route Connecter Spring - King Arms Steel Striker Plate Chrony results: 288fps 390fps 425fps 446fps 453fps 455fps 453fps 458fps 460fps 457fps 453fps 451fps 457fps 456fps Avg: 436fps Spread: better Much nicer. Much more consistent, and although first shots was still sort of low, it was MUCH better than the stock magazine setup. Another thing I noticed, was that on a very full magazine of propane, the modified magazine could not be struck open. I'm inspecting to see if it's because this weaker striker spring is too weak to crack open this valve, or if it's because I need to file more of the plate down. In any case, the numbers shown above are more of a reflection of the other components in this magazine (gas route connector spring and KM custom magazine parts), and may not necessarily have anything to do with the King Arms parts I've installed. __________________ *Advanced Airsoft Armaments and Enhancements* Quick to the gun, sure of your grip. Quick to the threat, sure of your shot. Diligentia, Vis, Celeritas Accuracy, Power, Speed Last edited by ILLusion; June 2nd, 2007 at 17:19..