Now it's time we take a bit more in depth look at this CQBeast with a peek under the hood.
Disassembly of this rifle is very easy to do. However, it was important that I watched the video from WE that explains how to do it so that I didn't do what I normally do whenever I try and take apart a gun on my own without watching or reading any kind of tutorial on it: break important parts that render the gun useless by forcing something that wasn't designed to be forced.. So here's the video below. Watch it, but don't leave just yet, hot shot. I've got more info for you afterward.
Alright. You'll recall this photo. As you could see if you watched the video, assembly is a piece of delicious cake. I will walk you through it a little bit further than the video did, primarily focusing on the barrel assembly.
Here's a shot of the cylinder & hop-up dial still inside the upper.
I placed a BB in the chamber to illustrate where it sits when loaded in the gun.
Now, let's rip this thing apart a bit. If I haven't done so already, I think it would be safe to say that I'm going to go ahead and void whatever warranty might be offered at this point.
Here's where that handy hex wrench is located that James (the WE guy in the video) was talking about.
Here's where that handy hex wrench is located that James (the WE guy in the video) was talking about.
You don't need to flip up the front site to get to the wrench, it just makes it easier to do so.
Voila.
Remove the two screws securing the bottom rail.
Loosen the screw on the front of the right-side rail. This is one of those spring-locked screws, so don't panic when you get to a point where it won't unscrew anymore. WE was trying to do you a favor.
Now loose the same screw on the left side.
I'm pointing to the piece that secures the outer barrel front-end in place.
It needs to be removed.
Now simple pull the barrel out. It should slide right out.
Here, we have the outer barrel separated from the upper receiver and the bolt assembly pictured at the bottom.
The pin to the left of the hop-up retention spring needs to come out to release the inner barrel from the outer.
You can also see the hop-up system in much greater detail here. There are three parts to focus on here. The black dial, the grey metal ring in the middle and the retention spring. Right now the hop-up is fully engaged, as indicated by the exposed threads of the brass cylinder. If it were turned completely off, the dial would move to the right to sit up against the cylinder piece.
You can sort of see what I'm talking about in this photo, where I am removing the inner barrel from the outer barrel after popping that retention pin out.
You can also see the hop-up system in much greater detail here. There are three parts to focus on here. The black dial, the grey metal ring in the middle and the retention spring. Right now the hop-up is fully engaged, as indicated by the exposed threads of the brass cylinder. If it were turned completely off, the dial would move to the right to sit up against the cylinder piece.
You can sort of see what I'm talking about in this photo, where I am removing the inner barrel from the outer barrel after popping that retention pin out.
Peek-a-boo.
That little bearing, if you couldn't guess, is what the gray ring uses to press down on the hop-up bucking. It comes out very easily and is very small. I suggest handling this part of the disassembly with caution so as not to lose that little ball.
There's another little retention pin that you can see the top of to the left of the hop-up window on the barrel. This pin needs to be removed in order to slide the cylinder/hop-up chamber off of the inner barrel to access the bucking itself. However, I don't have anything small enough to use to punch it out at the moment. Sorry, grown-men-who-play-with-toy-guns. You'll just have to wait. Hopefully I'll get something lined up so that I can show those of you that are just dying to see the hop-up in more detail.
For now, let's move on the the air nozzle system for a look at what's going on there.
Here's the part of the nozzle that sits inside the brass cylinder seen above. The port where you can see a smaller o-ring inside of the main housing is where the gas enters from the magazine. The larger view would show this is still attached to the bolt carrier. That's because somebody put some glue on the clip that you are suppose to be able to just pop off. WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT?!?! Are they trying to save me from myself, or what? I didn't feel like trying to force it, which would inevitably lead to me breaking it, so I left it as alone.
Here's the part of the nozzle that sits inside the brass cylinder seen above. The port where you can see a smaller o-ring inside of the main housing is where the gas enters from the magazine. The larger view would show this is still attached to the bolt carrier. That's because somebody put some glue on the clip that you are suppose to be able to just pop off. WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT?!?! Are they trying to save me from myself, or what? I didn't feel like trying to force it, which would inevitably lead to me breaking it, so I left it as alone.
Seen at the bottom of the image, is something that reminds me of a GBB pistol piston head with a kind of cup-seal rubber around it.
During the blowback action process, the nozzle, while inside the cylinder, gets pushed back towards the piston head, using that metal bar as a guide rod.
Lastly, here are a few shots of the trigger mechanism.
Hammer (with silver wheel) is cocked back, with the valve knocker pin visible, waiting to be struck.
Here's a little better close-up, still cocked.
Trigger gets pulled, releasing the hammer and striking the pin. You can now see the valve knocker protruding into the mag well, where it would have hit the gas valve on the magazine, releasing gas into the system.
My overall opinion of this gun still remains quite positive. There are not very many plastic or flimsy parts on this rifle. Most of it is metal of various types and quite solid. If I was to make a prediction as to where I thought would be the first point of failure in the rifle, I would probably guess it might occur in the trigger unit. The spring used is quite heavy for a trigger, which causes the hammer to slam down pretty hard. Depending on the quality of material WE used here, it could end up to crack something over an extended period of usage. But time will tell. I would also imagine the o-rings in the air nozzle system might get worn out or possibly blown out over time, similar to the issues common in GBB pistols where the piston head o-ring gets too stretched and needs replacement over time. These are just guesses since I haven't had this thing for too long and haven't seen much out there on other people's experiences with it.
If you've had any actual experience with this rifle and have something to contribute, please feel free. I'm hoping to make this a valuable resource for other WE Mk16 users out there.
So that pretty much wraps up the disassembly viewing party here. I've got some Chrono data and performance analysis coming this week as well so stay tuned for that.
2 comments:
were can you buy a new pin that connects the inner barrel to the outer barrel
Hey Nickolaz, Pyramyd should be getting some in stock within the next two months. They'll be adding them to this section: Airsoft Upgrades & Replacement Parts Let me know if you've got any other questions.
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