Troubleshooting a new Airsoft Gun--> BACK TO BASIC

Here are few things to check on your new airsoft gun before you contact your retailer for a return. These are also good things to check on your gun periodically as part of a good preventative maintenance and operator schedule.

Step 1. Charge the battery
The battery that comes with your airsoft gun will likely be discharged or close to dead when you get it. That said you need to put a good charge on it before using. Trying to fire an AEG with a drained battery can cause damage to the motor, spring or gear box as it won't have enough juice to operate those mechanisms properly. Your best bet it to invest in a good quality smart charger with overcharge protection. But, if your using the wall charger that comes with most AEGs, follow this rule for length of charge. With a completely discharged battery, Battery maH / Mah or charger = charge time. For example a 1200 maH battery on a 250mah hour wall charger will take approximately 5 hours to fully charge. Once you fully charge your battery, move to step 2.


Step 2. Fill that magazine
Some airsoft guns come with tube/speed loader type, 40-round magazines. Those rarely cause any problems, unless the spring or BB locking mechanism wears out. The magazine that causes the most trouble (mostly based on not knowing how to use it) is the ratchet-type, high-capacity airsoft magazine. Please keep this in mind, the last 10-20 BBs in these magazines will not feed due to lack of spring tension. Because of that you need to keep these magazines filled at all times, and fully wound to keep BBs moving into the feeder tube. As you run low you may start to experience feeding problems, this is normal. Your best bet is to fully load the hi-cap magazine, wind it until you hear the distinct "Click" sound, and then fill it up with additional BBs. Make sure the Magazine is fully-seated into the Magazine well before firing. It may take a good 30-45 seconds of winding before you here that click. Keep winding, it builds strong finger muscles.

3. Properly set the hop-up
One thing that new Airsoft users do is neglect to set the hop-up or worse, turn it up to full. Hop-up is the mechanism that puts spin on the BB helping it keep a flat trajectory. To little hop-up and the BB drops quickly. To much hop-up and the BB will arc up, or worse won't fire at all and/or will jam. A properly adjusted Hop-up will give the airsoft BB a nice, flat trajectory. To properly set the hop-up, follow the manufacturers directions. Turn it all the way off, shoot a round. Adjust slightly as needed. Wash, rinse, and repeat until you get a flat BB trajectory. Also be careful as some Airsoft guns have the Hop-up in close proximity to the battery cover. With these guns it can be easy to bump your adjusted hop-up dial when re-installing the battery cover if your not careful.


4. Clean and lube it
Even a new Airsoft gun can be dirty and can usually stand a little lubrication. Always use a silicon based lubricant and do not use any lubricant that is Petroluem based. Use small amounts of lubricant, as it goes a long way. To much will attract dirt and dust, another enemy of your airsoft gun. Spray a little into the BB feeder point (in the magazine well) and down the barrel. Also any hinged parts (like the spring on a folding stock) can stand to be slightly lubricated. Using the included clearing/cleaning rod, use .22 caliber cleaning cloths to lightly swab the inside of the barrel. Change cloths until they come out clean. We recommend doing this procedure to your airsoft gun after every 4000-5000 rounds. An easy way to remember is when the bag of BBs runs out, lubricate and clean! Also, if your Airsoft gun has been sitting a while, the hop-up can dry out, so give it a lube job! Please note your airsoft gun may shoot a little erratically until the excess lubrication is expelled out of the barrel.

5. My trigger stuck in semi
Sometimes, when firing on semi-the trigger may get stuck or not pull. This is a common occurance and easily remedied. Stop what your doing to risk further damage to the trigger. Place the weapon on Full-auto and fire off a few rounds. Return it to Semi and continue firing, problem solved!

Final thoughts

• Eye protection, use it! If you damage your eyes you've got worse problems than a malfunctioning airsoft gun.
• Avoid Long trigger pulls - Holding down the trigger in full-auto fire is a recipe for a burnt out motor or damaged gear box. Keep your firing burst to 3-5 seconds at most. It will save your gun and ammo
• Remove the Barrel Cover. Some guns come with a safety cover for the barrel. Take it off before firing, you'll notice a huge difference in range.
• Check the fuse - One of our readers suggested to check to make sure the fuse is not blown. If you pull the trigger and nothing happens it could be the fuse. Changing the fuse is going to vary from gun to gun, check your owners manual.
• Use only high-quality BBs and never reuse them (ignoring this will result in damage to your guns internals).
• Read the manual! Yes we know it's in difficult to read "Chine-English", but they do have pictures which illustrate how to use it properly. Besides that, sometimes the translations can be pretty funny and entertaining.

If you have followed all of these steps and your still having problems with the Airsoft gun then it is time to contact your retailer. They will probably have a few more advanced steps to follow before recommending you return it for repair or replacement.

Credit to: OIFVETERAN
Link: http://hubpages.com/hub/Troubleshooting-a-new-Airsoft-Gun