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[note: Most of this can be found in your AEG manual.]
1) Tools
For basic maintenance, you'll need 100% silicone oil. Some hardware oils
are rumored to claim 100% silicone but not deliver it. Some RC car shock
oils are a common choice(I do not have any idea which brands), as is
a spray type that can be found at most reputable airsoft retailers. The
spray type is generally considered to be a little harder to control, but it
has worked well for me. In some cases, Teflon oil may be suggested as an
alternative, but silicone oil seems to be the standard.
Other things you will need are your cleaning/unjamming rod and some 100%
cotton cloth(an old T-shirt will work fine, just make sure it's clean). I
find cotton swaps to be a very helpful addition to the tool set.
2) Keeping Your AEG Powerful
Firing an AEG in full-auto can sometimes leave the spring partially or
fully compressed. Leaving springs in that state can weaken them and hence an
AEG can loose power if the spring is not decompressed.
To decompress the spring, you need to fire your AEG in semi-auto mode(the
PSG/1 has a lever by the trigger to decompress the spring and the Fa-Mas has
a button by the selector switch for this purpose). The Marui manuals
recommend removing the magazine and dry firing(shooting without bbs) on
semi-auto. Dry firing can be hard on mechboxes (particularly if they are
upgraded) due to energy not being lost in providing bb propulsion, so I have
always just single fired and avoided dry firing.
3) Keeping Your AEG Feeding Properly
To make sure bbs feed properly, the magazine and the feed tube need to be
lubed.
For magazines, lightly oil the stopper(the latch that keeps the bb's from
spewing everywhere) and the little plunger thing in standard mags that
pushes the bbs. Also for standard mags, oiling a few bb's and then loading
them as the last shots(loaded first, shot last) in a full mag can help.
The feed tube in the mag-well needs to be lightly lubed. Marui manuals
recommend a short burst from a spray oil, but I find using a cotton swab
lightly treated with oil is perfect for getting inside the tube and making
sure it is not over lubed(too much oil will gimp the hop-up and attract
dust).
With standard mags, the spring needs to be decompressed, just like the main
mechbox spring. I've seen some VERY weak mag springs before, so I always
keep mine unloaded until just before a game. Also, to aid in the
preservation of my mags, I only partially load them(50 bbs in my 70 round G3
mags).
4) Hop-Up and Barrel Maintenance
The hop-up rubber needs to be kept from drying out, or else it will not
perform properly. To do this, you need to put a slight amount of oil
on it from the feed tube in the mag well. It will take about 100-200 bb's
fired through the gun until the oil stops throwing off the hop-up. This is a
very rarely needed part of maintenance.
The barrel needs to be cleaned to keep grime from reducing velocity and
accuracy. Start by turning the hop-up off, or you will risk damaging it. You
need to cut a piece of cotton cloth to ~10mm by 25-30mm. Lightly moisten the
cloth with oil(if it is too moist with oil, it can throw of hop-up). Put the
oiled cloth half way through the eye hole in the end of the cleaning rod.
Twist it around the end and insert that end into the barrel first. Twist the
rod as you slowly push it down the barrel. Stop when you have the red mark
on the rod even with the end of the muzzle of the gun. I have seen some rods
without red marks on them, in this case, stop when you can just see the end
of the rod in the feed tube. Pull the rod out and then, if it is really
dirty, repeat the barrel cleaning process. After you're done, you'll need to
readjust the hop-up and make sure it isn't being affected by excess oil.
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