Acquisitions

Recent acquisitions include a Tokyo Marui 4.3 Hi-Capa and a DBoys SCAR-H. A Biohazard M9 - the all-metal TM clone - is winging its way from Hong Kong as I write as is a PDI Raven barrel for the 4.3 Hi-Capa and a short stock motor for the spare UMG gearbox.

I also bought a number of bits off of Mike at the Elite Shooting Centre; mainly original TM part he had left over from building custom guns. A Hi-Capa Match slide, a Night Warrior slide and two 5.1 barrels as well as a complete chrome frame and slide for a Desert Eagle - all original TM, brand new and £70 all in. I also added the Nine Ball Hop Rubber and Nine Ball Gas Router which I will fit into the 4.3 when the barrel arrives. Of course, I forgot to order a dual-safety for the 4.3.

Externally, the Tactical 4.3 is looking the business - black slide and receiver, with olive drab Tanio Koba grip and dual safety. I left the original black hammer spring housing which I think looks better. The black 5.1 is getting the metal slide and barrel replaced with an original TM Night Warrior slide and barrel. Unfortunately, original TM barrels for the 5.1 are chrome so I've sprayed one black and it looks fine. If it develops a couple of scuffs it will still look okay since it's got the chrome underneath the Krylon. It's currently sporting a single sided safety but I'll get a dual safety off Mike soon.- I'm sure the Nine Ball ones are very nice but are over double the price of a TM original. I did discover that a 4.3 Hi-Capa, even with a Tanio Koba grip won't fit a Serpa without some serious Dremel-Fu. So its house is currently a UTG belt holster off of ebay.

The Dboys is very nice for the money. For £219.99 it's fine. Landwarrior were the only ones who had it in stock and I wanted a look at it first so I took a trip over at the weekend. There were a coule of niggles, the front barrel assembly was loose so I tightened it up but in the process noticed that the front allen bolt was just turning in the slot. When I managed to dig it out I discovered that it was stripped - no big deal but annoying. The fire selecter is a bit ropey with very indistinct selection but I've got a mod in mind to fix that. The battery is in the folding stock and power transfer is clever if somewhat agricultural but does solve the problem of wires showing - basically the hinge uses metal shims to transfer the power. through to the gearbox. The wire quality seems pretty poor but I'm looking to fit an AWS Stealth mosfet anyway - I would have preferred an AWS Raptor mosfet but I've got the rear-wired Stealth kicking about that was originally destined for the Dboys SPR. I'll renew the wires when I do that.