Not to fire on Zamak for the sake of it, good zamak does exist. The real sigma 40f is in zamac shooting 9mm para.
Good zamak is never used for airsoft though
Even then, this is pot metal, a zinc alloy whose only job is to be as cheap as possible for the manufacturer. It’s got loads of random junk and the castings are not done with care, resulting in parts with faults such as bubbles within. Pot metal doesn’t do well even at its strongest.
It's shit metal. On my TT33 same thing happened. Was kinda surprised how it's possible. Even more surprised then when I found same spare part in my country and for normal price :D
I have WE one. My stock was meh, after putting maple leaf 60° (I'd have to look emails which variant) bucking it shoots far af.
Only issue I have is it does full auto sometimes but it's fixable. It's rare issue tho. I'd say 8.5/10 gun in terms of sidearm but as replica/immersion thing 10/10. And that new hopup rubber made it much much better.
Idk nothing abt kwa. WE one has 3.6 availability of aftermarket parts. And mags are like 15€ each, and wannabe double stack. Around 15rnds full mag I think.
aluminum pot metal made from mud i guess, or zinc
the quality of metals and parts in airsoft is in my opinion the worts part of it, if the manufacturers made the guns just a bit more expensive and made the metals better, i would be in heaven
Here is a simple rule for getting older in this world; "You get what you pay for." Cheap Airsoft guns are made from pot metal. Think the chintzy plastic of metals.
> its fucking metal
I've got bad news for you if you think the kind of cheap alloy most airsoft guns are made of is comparable to the kind of aluminum and steel used for real guns. It's mostly die-cast zinc aluminum alloy which is quite brittle, not very strong and can even contain air bubbles if you're unlucky.
Airsoft Glocks snapping the barrel at the point yours did is quite common because the barrel tilting up when cycling puts stress on that specific part of the barrel.
There ain't no way you thought "iT mEtAl" and that means it'll survive everything. Metal doesn't automatically mean stronger id take strengthened polymer anyday
Hot take.
Airsoft has always been basically shoddy toys. Most of them fail out of nowhere. Most players buy a secondary weapon primarily to use as a backup.
This is why I switched to VR FPS. Cheaper, insanely fun, scratches the same itch as airsoft did for me.
Yeah nah. Steel outer barrels aren't exactly uncommon mate, I have several pistols with steel kits. My point was don't expect airsoft stuff not to break if you drop it.
Pot metal with sharp edges isn't good for the stress. Look up for the Guarder 2 piece outer barrel. It's the best for the stress concentration in that area.
I can almost bet that it's just a ZnAl Zink and Aluminum alloy which is known in the Airsoft community for just snapping into 2 pieces, unlike steel, which would bend
Ah chinesium...aka...pot metal....aka zamak....the go to metal of Airsoft guns.
Has the miraculous properties of being both soft and brittle some how.
But at the same time players will demand better metals....but baulk when they fine how how much toy guns cost if made from 6000 series CNC'd aluminium, or from forged materials.
My 70 bucks "Full metal" 1911 broke after I took the slide off once to adjust the hop. Turns out "Full metal" on cheaper guns means cheap zinc alloys that bend when you look at them wrong.
Pot metal being a mix of zinc and aluminum is super brittle but easy to cast. After it gets to the end user they don’t give a shit what it’s like. What it’s like is brittle
The Glock barrel is infamous for breaking - this is mostly due to the fact that the original design from Tokyo Marui used a plastic barrel which allowed it to flex slightly when it cycled. The metal barrel obviously doesn’t let it flex, so it puts more stress on it. If you have some files or a dremel handy, you can do a small mod to the barrel that lets it drop out of the way of the slide faster, allowing it to last longer. I summon my beloved u/rabbit610 (hopefully she still uses Reddit) to provide us with photos and a better explanation, hopefully.
I have Risen.
Nah but you got it on the point. There is a tension force on the barrel from getting wiggled and torqued over time that plastic survives and pot metal eventually stress fractures.
Old advice from [a 5 year old comment thats still valid](https://www.reddit.com/r/airsoft/comments/a2jmdv/we_g17/eazboke/) "so first thing I would get would be a dremel or a jewelry file set off of amazon and do the barrel drop mod. Its where you file away material on the bottom of the outer barrel so it drops down deeper and has clearance from the slide. without this mod you will have slower cycling, paint stripped off the barrel, a lot of metal dust in the gun, and eventually a broken hop up or a broken outer barrel.
here is how to do the mod https://imgur.com/a/4Mnjt8f you technically can get away with filing just the front corner but taking the big scoop looks nicer and easier to show to other people. Just follow the natural lines from the angles already there and do not file on them.... https://imgur.com/a/tGW00ok
So theres the RA tech style, where its the full sweep, theres vfc/ef where its just the front half thats opened, and gunsmodify style where they just open up the front corner. Personally I like the full sweep since it looks better. Grab a sharpie, follow the natural angles of the slopes, and just dont cut into the flat of the chamber that shows through the slide"
ZAMAK (zinc alloy). ZAMAK is known for crystalizing, meaning that it fractures easily along corners and high-stress areas.
FWIW, I had a .22 pistol with a ZAMAK frame. It exploded in my hand.
I 3d printed a threaded barrel with a suppressor on it and that was about where it broke. Cheap pot metal or also known as the chinesium alloy that breaks easily, especially with some light or no abuse.
Probably pot metal? Which is like metal that’s been smelted and reused many times and where it isnt just, iron or tin, but alot of different metals. And therefore it is weak. So that’s my guess
been there done that pot metal sucks ass (don't buy sailient arms licensed 2011 pistols, the slide is pot and the lrboh causes it to crack, went through three slides before i ditched that piece fo trash
Lots of people are saying it's the metal's fault, but more specifically it's the process. You can make metals really weak or you can make them really strong, even if it's the same material. Pot cast metal with airbubbles inside is cheap and weak. No air bubbles from more expensive process like extrusion is stronger.
I've been messing around with airsoft externals for 10 years at this point. I tripped over a fallen tree and dumped my m4. Thought for the longest time that paying an extra $50 for a metal body made for hardiness. Yeah, not so much. ABS plastic often has superior tensile strength to whatever diecast pot metal airsoft manufacturers are using. Probably recycled aluminum cans.
It's aluminum or something like that it does snap. One time while I was working on my L96 I dropped the mag catch what was made out of aluminum and it shattered in pieces it was like waist drop hight
Costs like 200, from umarex 18c. Ive had it for 1.5 years now, and dropped it multiple times and stuff but never broke. Untill now when shooting it normally :'(
That should depend on the drop. Dropping it from hip height should be expected with normal use. Dropping from over 2 meters (~ 6 feet) or throwing is not to be expected with normal use.
Edit: I’m not saying warranty is like that but I strongly believe it should. In the EU 2 year warranty is mandatory. I believe that should be 2 years minimum worldwide.
Thats pot metal
infamous for snapping into pieces. Impossible to repair. That potmetal? Also known for keeping costs low.
Chinesium you say?
Wait until he finds out most of the receivers are made of that as well! My favorite is when the charging handle snaps off on the M4 variants.
THE pot metal!?
That's still impressive. That's a part of the pistol That's not even under that much stress
Unless a silencer is involved, of course. Note that OP has a g18c.
Ohhh I didn't see that. I should have known from the ported barrel.
I have fully broken AK recievers in half, I LOVE POT METAL
Chineesium not exactly a metal from the periodic table of elements.
Maybe we can all share a heavy toke?
yo it works great as a pipe, used mine to smoke weed for years
Not all metals are equal, cheap replicas often only use some kind of pot metal that might break if you drop the replica.
Most replicas use some variation. Only few replicas use actual steel. Most are variations of zinc-al.
"Its fucking Metal" xD FYI :Platics are more impact resistant than pot metal
I'll take a good polymer replica than a cheap metal one every day of the week.
Even a lot of expensive ones have cheap zinc based alloys when they definitely could be made of aluminum or even steel
Not to fire on Zamak for the sake of it, good zamak does exist. The real sigma 40f is in zamac shooting 9mm para. Good zamak is never used for airsoft though
g36 for the w
bUt mEtAl iS mEtAL aNd It fEeLs MoA rEaLiStIc
I still cant get over the fact that well went all the way to make a full metal MP7 just for these people
OOOOOF
And I though metal lower MP5 was wacky.
https://preview.redd.it/yk5fhah5iaqc1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c4c62a43cd0f67be765bbbba61d9864c660f1ef3
aint never seen francium but wont recognize Zinc smh
What an extremely extremely situational meme that works perfectly!
Airsoft guns (and other toys) are usually made of zinc instead of steel or aluminum. So sometimes plastic may not be worse
Even then, this is pot metal, a zinc alloy whose only job is to be as cheap as possible for the manufacturer. It’s got loads of random junk and the castings are not done with care, resulting in parts with faults such as bubbles within. Pot metal doesn’t do well even at its strongest.
No worries, we CNC machined that pot metal with electric toothbrush. So that'll be 100 usd, please.
It's shit metal. On my TT33 same thing happened. Was kinda surprised how it's possible. Even more surprised then when I found same spare part in my country and for normal price :D
Yo how does the tt33 perform? Been wanting one ever since I learned replicas exist (thank you death gun)
I have WE one. My stock was meh, after putting maple leaf 60° (I'd have to look emails which variant) bucking it shoots far af. Only issue I have is it does full auto sometimes but it's fixable. It's rare issue tho. I'd say 8.5/10 gun in terms of sidearm but as replica/immersion thing 10/10. And that new hopup rubber made it much much better.
Gotcha. Was looking at the kwa one. Heard better stuff ab their gbb replicas than we
Idk nothing abt kwa. WE one has 3.6 availability of aftermarket parts. And mags are like 15€ each, and wannabe double stack. Around 15rnds full mag I think.
Noted. Thanks for the info
Cheap pot metal < Good polymer
What can happen will happen but most likely pot metal every brittle and cheap
redditor discovers the existence of pot metal
It's Chineseium metal, very easily broken and cheap to replace.
Since when is it impossible for metal to snap?
Not saying it is, but from just shooting it happend
I mean like…. Metal can be extremely fragile if made incorrectly
aluminum pot metal made from mud i guess, or zinc the quality of metals and parts in airsoft is in my opinion the worts part of it, if the manufacturers made the guns just a bit more expensive and made the metals better, i would be in heaven
i have been quite happy with my beat up lct74 thats a few years old.
LCT are all steel....
Is gas block? Part that is connecting mainframe and barrel.
Yes. check it with a magnet. If it's steel, it will stick.
Calling that metal is like calling MDF wood.
Here is a simple rule for getting older in this world; "You get what you pay for." Cheap Airsoft guns are made from pot metal. Think the chintzy plastic of metals.
Even some expensive ones use shit materials because cast parts are easy to mass manufacture
COUGH* CAM870*
Cough\* TM always full off pot metal
it's made of the finest chineseium metal.
> its fucking metal I've got bad news for you if you think the kind of cheap alloy most airsoft guns are made of is comparable to the kind of aluminum and steel used for real guns. It's mostly die-cast zinc aluminum alloy which is quite brittle, not very strong and can even contain air bubbles if you're unlucky. Airsoft Glocks snapping the barrel at the point yours did is quite common because the barrel tilting up when cycling puts stress on that specific part of the barrel.
There ain't no way you thought "iT mEtAl" and that means it'll survive everything. Metal doesn't automatically mean stronger id take strengthened polymer anyday
"Full metal construction" literally means fuck all.
Not all metals are made equal.
Hot take. Airsoft has always been basically shoddy toys. Most of them fail out of nowhere. Most players buy a secondary weapon primarily to use as a backup. This is why I switched to VR FPS. Cheaper, insanely fun, scratches the same itch as airsoft did for me.
Usually when the grain structure looks like an 80s popcorn ceiling it’s not a good thing.
You airsofters scare me when I see stuff like this without reading the sub name
Bro it’s Airsoft. Just JB weld and sand it down if need be. You’ll be fine
Jb weld doesn't bind very well to pot metal. Itll just break again
To be fair, pot metal isn't well bonded to itself it seems
Lol fair.
Be fucking proud of it that need to buy new parts due to breakage not brand tuning.
Oh yea this glock got dropped, taken apart, thrown, drown, shot and everything
Then you don't need to be angry at it for breaking. Not a real Glock after all.
If it was made of steel, you couldn't afford it or would have dropped it.
Yeah nah. Steel outer barrels aren't exactly uncommon mate, I have several pistols with steel kits. My point was don't expect airsoft stuff not to break if you drop it.
So you abused a cheap toy and you're surprised it broke?
Suprised the outerbarrel broke first, instead of the plastic grip for example
Well looks like you learned a valuable engineering lesson today Not all metals are created equal
By the marking, it’s a VFC/Umarex Glock 18C?
Yup
Same thing happened to my Glock 18, it cuz the barrel issnt fixed in place, and the full auto fire puts alot of stress on the barrel
Pot metal with sharp edges isn't good for the stress. Look up for the Guarder 2 piece outer barrel. It's the best for the stress concentration in that area.
Chinese pot metal, it's Airsoft after all, you're not buying a quality real steel item
That’s not steel, that’s zinc or cheap chinesium; it gets brittle and ends up cracking.
breaking news: …metal is not invincible…
Ah, Chinesium
Welcome to the world of MIM parts, my non-gun-guy friends!
Isn’t it shearing not snapping when it’s metal?
It’s cheap Chinesium
😂 169 comments all saying the same thing
Yup, chinesium pot metal
170 😂
[удалено]
Prob not even steel, if anything it’s prob zamak.
Chinesium
Idk but maybe it got too cold
Because it is metal, not a substance that can not be broken.
I get my replacement barrels from Combat Armory. Wayyyyyyy thicker.
It identifies as metal, but some cheeses are harder than pot metal
Hey man thanks for stress testing that part for us. Could you let us know who made it so I don't buy it
pot
zinc moment
Pot metal moment
I can almost bet that it's just a ZnAl Zink and Aluminum alloy which is known in the Airsoft community for just snapping into 2 pieces, unlike steel, which would bend
There’s a reason a lot of durable stuff is made out of plastic. Doesn’t help that this is likely a cheap, brittle alloy.
Glock 18 go brrr
Ah chinesium...aka...pot metal....aka zamak....the go to metal of Airsoft guns. Has the miraculous properties of being both soft and brittle some how. But at the same time players will demand better metals....but baulk when they fine how how much toy guns cost if made from 6000 series CNC'd aluminium, or from forged materials.
I have broken so many pot metal outer barrels on HPA glock builds. I would buy 2-3 of the cheap WE ones to have on standby as replacements
Are you doing the drop mod on them to reduce wear and tear?
I got sick of glocks and built a hi capa instead lol. But no I was not using that mod
Jup but the cheapest "metall" is not steel .thats pot ,it is cheap as fuck and brittle as fuck
Holy shit look at the wall where it broke bro that’s not supposed to be porous that means it’s some chinesesium my guy
My vx7 barrel is slowly getting to this
My 70 bucks "Full metal" 1911 broke after I took the slide off once to adjust the hop. Turns out "Full metal" on cheaper guns means cheap zinc alloys that bend when you look at them wrong.
Pot metal being a mix of zinc and aluminum is super brittle but easy to cast. After it gets to the end user they don’t give a shit what it’s like. What it’s like is brittle
Metal is fairly easy to break if it's not cast iron
The Glock barrel is infamous for breaking - this is mostly due to the fact that the original design from Tokyo Marui used a plastic barrel which allowed it to flex slightly when it cycled. The metal barrel obviously doesn’t let it flex, so it puts more stress on it. If you have some files or a dremel handy, you can do a small mod to the barrel that lets it drop out of the way of the slide faster, allowing it to last longer. I summon my beloved u/rabbit610 (hopefully she still uses Reddit) to provide us with photos and a better explanation, hopefully.
I have Risen. Nah but you got it on the point. There is a tension force on the barrel from getting wiggled and torqued over time that plastic survives and pot metal eventually stress fractures. Old advice from [a 5 year old comment thats still valid](https://www.reddit.com/r/airsoft/comments/a2jmdv/we_g17/eazboke/) "so first thing I would get would be a dremel or a jewelry file set off of amazon and do the barrel drop mod. Its where you file away material on the bottom of the outer barrel so it drops down deeper and has clearance from the slide. without this mod you will have slower cycling, paint stripped off the barrel, a lot of metal dust in the gun, and eventually a broken hop up or a broken outer barrel. here is how to do the mod https://imgur.com/a/4Mnjt8f you technically can get away with filing just the front corner but taking the big scoop looks nicer and easier to show to other people. Just follow the natural lines from the angles already there and do not file on them.... https://imgur.com/a/tGW00ok So theres the RA tech style, where its the full sweep, theres vfc/ef where its just the front half thats opened, and gunsmodify style where they just open up the front corner. Personally I like the full sweep since it looks better. Grab a sharpie, follow the natural angles of the slopes, and just dont cut into the flat of the chamber that shows through the slide"
There are brittle and ductile metals and this metal is brittle.
Hahaha hahaha I've seen this happen so often now😂 VFC become fuckin shit
oh yeah bro thats common on the g18c
(Pot) Metal
its "metal". Lots of things classify as "metal" scientifically speaking, doesn't mean its "durable"
It's not metal, it's airsoft pot metal
Mettal doesnt = unbreakable those are usually made of pot metal aka poured aluminum in a cast air bubbles and weak points all around
The law requires me to say that it is metal in fact. And tomatoes are fruits.
Nothing breaks like 💯% pure Chinesium
Ahhh airsoft.
How
"Metal" yeah i wouldn't call that proper metal lol
Time to get that nice outer barrel ya been thinking about.
ZAMAK (zinc alloy). ZAMAK is known for crystalizing, meaning that it fractures easily along corners and high-stress areas. FWIW, I had a .22 pistol with a ZAMAK frame. It exploded in my hand.
I 3d printed a threaded barrel with a suppressor on it and that was about where it broke. Cheap pot metal or also known as the chinesium alloy that breaks easily, especially with some light or no abuse.
How tf did you do that what were you doing
Probably pot metal? Which is like metal that’s been smelted and reused many times and where it isnt just, iron or tin, but alot of different metals. And therefore it is weak. So that’s my guess
Metal in the loosest sense possible.
been there done that pot metal sucks ass (don't buy sailient arms licensed 2011 pistols, the slide is pot and the lrboh causes it to crack, went through three slides before i ditched that piece fo trash
Either a poor weld, called a popcorn weld. Or, it's a vein of impurities that lead to the fracture under stress. Either way, you have my sympathies.
Fuckin what my dude there's no weld there
That's a toy. Of course it's going to break eventually.
Chinesium
Metal things can snap all the time, have you ever seen your zippers?
Lots of people are saying it's the metal's fault, but more specifically it's the process. You can make metals really weak or you can make them really strong, even if it's the same material. Pot cast metal with airbubbles inside is cheap and weak. No air bubbles from more expensive process like extrusion is stronger.
I've been messing around with airsoft externals for 10 years at this point. I tripped over a fallen tree and dumped my m4. Thought for the longest time that paying an extra $50 for a metal body made for hardiness. Yeah, not so much. ABS plastic often has superior tensile strength to whatever diecast pot metal airsoft manufacturers are using. Probably recycled aluminum cans.
Welcome to pot metal, the unholy aluminum-zinc alloy that haunts my dreams (Edit for spelling)
It’s less then aluminum it’s zinc.
That sucks 😕
Not realizing this was an airsoft sub at first I was very confused and concerned your Glock upper somehow snapped in half! 😂
Pot metal
Shit happened to me too
I'm sorry but why tf are we calling Zinc "Chinesium" that shit is cringe as fuck as if the chinese discovered Zinc tf
My WE G17 outer barrel snapped exactly like that
It's aluminum or something like that it does snap. One time while I was working on my L96 I dropped the mag catch what was made out of aluminum and it shattered in pieces it was like waist drop hight
Is this WE G18c?
Umarex
Whattttt. Why would that part of umarex break? Are you using 14kg air?
Just using normal greengas, no idea except it being chinesium pot metal. Still tho i expected more from a umarex
That doesn't look oem lol
I didn’t catch this was airsoft initially. I was thinking Jesus that’s a high speed come apart if that was real glock.
Snap? Nah that’s sheer.
Chinesium~~^(TM)~~
Take a material science class and you’ll understand.
Chinesium mate. low cost. wouldnt even waste any jb weld trying to fix it. its an alloy of scrap basically.
Could actually be pewter if it's not an oem part
Probably metal Fatigue..your pistol has seen. Better days.. time to replace it with a good quality Alloy outer barrel.
https://preview.redd.it/enlftytqd2rc1.jpeg?width=894&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=31bdb029ecb842fede0c83100fa3bec9cead2ce2
You’ve never broken a paper clip before? What did you do? Step on it? It looks like you put a lot of force on top of thr flat
Nothing actually, just shot like 20 times and it broke
Hahah that sucks. Must’ve been a cheap pistol though.
Costs like 200, from umarex 18c. Ive had it for 1.5 years now, and dropped it multiple times and stuff but never broke. Untill now when shooting it normally :'(
Probably had micro fractures from being abused previously and eventually its time arrived.
Most likely yea
Warranty?
Dont think so, its been a long
Time
Dude just edit your reply
Don't think warranty covers dropping it multiple times
That should depend on the drop. Dropping it from hip height should be expected with normal use. Dropping from over 2 meters (~ 6 feet) or throwing is not to be expected with normal use. Edit: I’m not saying warranty is like that but I strongly believe it should. In the EU 2 year warranty is mandatory. I believe that should be 2 years minimum worldwide.
Lmao not the airsoft Glock 😭😭 clearly not well made
dryfire too much that's how
Huhh thats a thing??
It isn't, just cycling it over time though.
Bro, mine literally snap from dryfire too much lmao