I am a gunsmith...

.... not yet anyway.

With the past operation that went belly up on us. I was left with a broken (not to mention expensive) gun with 2 problems:

1. The pistol grip came off




2. The part that secures the upper and lower receiver together broke






Seeing the urgency and need for tools during times like these I bought some simple tools and a toolbox to complete the package. The pistol grip issue was easily remedied by adjusting the screws. I was feeling like a gunsmith at this point.

Then I applied metal epoxy on the broken part of the receiver and reinforced it with a metal strip. After waiting for a couple of days to set the epoxy properly, I tried it out yesterday. I had to do some minor sanding to get a fit for the retainer pin and then I was set. I was really feeling like a gunsmith now

JM was with me as he was getting some BBs from me and testing out his "new" gun (he didn't even tell me straight that he just bought one, I had to fill in the blanks to find out... the b*tch). We fired a few shots with his gun and I was feeling pretty excited to fire my "fixed" gun.

Unfortunately, it was misfeeding somehow. I started troubleshooting and was thinking the hop-up mechanism (particularly the O-ring) was the culprit since I tinkered with it when the weapon was in disassembled. But upon further inspection, it looked like the fit of the retainer pin was loose causing a slight wobble between the two receivers.

It had something to do with the alignment of the inner barrel and the air nozzle. Anyhoo, as I was looking at the wobble and explaining to JM what could be happening (like I said... gunsmith) the "fixed" portion came off... confirming my worst nightmare. The epoxy wouldn't hold.

I felt really low... my mind was racing for possible solutions and alternatives. Buy a new gun? Try to fix it? How much would I be shelling out? I wasn't a gunsmith anymore. More like a kid who just got his lollipop stolen or worse... dropped into the dirt.

I still have 2 options though... try the venerable Mighty Bond solution or secure the receivers with zip ties.

Hopefully I can still get this fixed...