Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.
2013/02/28 07:36:25
Subject: With minimal work, an airsoft gun can be made into a machine gun
As a professional in the weapons field I'd like to just say that ATF does boneheaded gak like this every day of the week, however this is impressive. Take that agent's badge and gun before he hurts himself.
Converting an airsoft toy to a no gak full auto machine gun? It'd be easier to build a machine gun from scratch.
Not gonna happen, and the Airsoft toy's "receiver" and "chamber" certainly aren't pressure rated to handle any kind of bullet to boot. Like the video said, it'd literally explode in your face.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Here's an update to the original story. With the ATF doing it's usual "We goofed" move. Which is to shut up and stick to what they did.
Then I found THIS gem of a response video. Check this kid out for a laugh.
I almost feel bad laughing at him.
Let's go through it shall we?
There are no pure plastic receiver ARs in the same sense as airsoft toys are made of plastic. There are Carbon and polymer receivers of various types, even if you could strip down a airsoft toy's lower to become a "stripped lower" which due to the design and build of those toys you cannot (I've owned a couple and competed on a team many moons ago in HS) there's a pretty solid chance it's blow up in your face. Which leads us to the upper. Similar issues, not built for the stresses, it's a straight barrel with no rifling to speak of, no bolt or charging handle of any kind except for a cosmetic one that on my old Tokyo Marui M-16 allowed access to the internals for modifications or maintenance.
So can you convert an airsoft toy into a rifle?
Maybe. At the level of work you're talking, it'd probably be easier to kit build your own actual rifle from scratch., also less likely to kill you.
Can you convert an airsoft toy into a rifle?
See above, but with the added difficulty of sourcing a lower receiver and various internal parts that would allow FA fire.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2013/02/28 08:04:12
I beg of you sarge let me lead the charge when the battle lines are drawn
Lemme at least leave a good hoof beat they'll remember loud and long
There are some Airsoft guns that have a metal frame for weight and verisimilitude but I still don't believe it would be easy to convert one to a real weapon.
You can strap a real gun to anything. You can convert a broom handle to a real gun if you're willing to attach real gun pieces to it. That's the equivalent here. No part of the airsoft gun is useful to a real gun. If you are doing a conversion, you are basically putting an entire real gun inside the airsoft frame, in which case, ok?
2013/02/28 19:26:32
Subject: With minimal work, an airsoft gun can be made into a machine gun
Kilkrazy wrote: There are some Airsoft guns that have a metal frame for weight and verisimilitude but I still don't believe it would be easy to convert one to a real weapon.
.
It wouldn't be. As I said completely different construction, tolerances and specs. They only look kinda like whatever they're imitating. It'd literally be easier to build a rifle from scratch then convert an airsoft toy.
I beg of you sarge let me lead the charge when the battle lines are drawn
Lemme at least leave a good hoof beat they'll remember loud and long
Kilkrazy wrote: There are some Airsoft guns that have a metal frame for weight and verisimilitude but I still don't believe it would be easy to convert one to a real weapon.
.
It wouldn't be. As I said completely different construction, tolerances and specs. They only look kinda like whatever they're imitating. It'd literally be easier to build a rifle from scratch then convert an airsoft toy.
Thats doesn't matter. It looks bad therefore it is.
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
2013/02/28 22:10:31
Subject: Re:With minimal work, an airsoft gun can be made into a machine gun
Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios
I imagine the accuracy, assuming you got the bullet to fire without destroying the gun, would be horrible as well.
The only thing would be taking the guts out of a real gun and hiding them in an airsoft gun. Which you could do with a squirt gun, paintball gun, or any other toy gun.
At which point, the original gun has really contributed nothing to making it a real firearm.
Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines
Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.
I wholly support the facts that prove that with some careful engineering work, you can make an airsoft rifle explode in your hands.
"By this point I'm convinced 100% that every single race in the 40k universe have somehow tapped into the ork ability to just have their tech work because they think it should."
2013/02/28 22:22:35
Subject: With minimal work, an airsoft gun can be made into a machine gun
From what I've seen when any government body/agency says that you need to file a request for information they're playing for time until the storm blows over. I'm sure the Martins will get the report from the ATF, but it'll be long after the story has left the minds of most people.
A big thank you to KalashnikovMarine for his input too.
2013/02/28 23:34:45
Subject: With minimal work, an airsoft gun can be made into a machine gun
feeder wrote: Frazz's mind is like a wiener dog in a rabbit warren. Dark, twisting tunnels, and full of the certainty that just around the next bend will be the quarry he seeks.
2013/03/01 14:16:44
Subject: With minimal work, an airsoft gun can be made into a machine gun
Gah, when this first came out, I raged so hard. I used to play airsoft 3-4 times a month for years, and I know from first hand experience that there is no way you could make a conversion. IF you got all the parts inside an airsoft gun, the sheer force of shooting would destroy it - most "metal" guns are made from pot metal and cheap steel. It's laughable that people would honestly think it would work.
Nothing new here - people have been converting air rifles to sniper rifles for years. I remember a star trek episode where Kirk made a primative musket from a bambook cane.
If you've got the skills and imagination, then it can be done.
"Our crops will wither, our children will die piteous
deaths and the sun will be swept from the sky. But is it true?" - Tom Kirby, CEO, Games Workshop Ltd
2013/03/01 17:58:40
Subject: With minimal work, an airsoft gun can be made into a machine gun
Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios
hotsauceman1 wrote: Arent most airguns made from flimsy plastic? How would that help in making a gun?
Good quality airsoft guns can be of quite solid construction, not real gun solid construction but hefty nontheless.
All the internal parts are what makes the gun heavy though, not the case or the ammunition.
Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines
Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.
Kilkrazy wrote: There are some Airsoft guns that have a metal frame for weight and verisimilitude but I still don't believe it would be easy to convert one to a real weapon.
Surely it's easier to buy semi-automatic rifles.
Yeah, that's true. They do not work the same way at all.
As a discussion grows in length, the probability of a comparison to Matt Ward or Gray Knights approaches one.
3100+
5000pts 
6000pts 
3000pts
And if you're drinkin' well, you know that you're my friend and I say "I think I'll have myself a beer" 
