Magic Pin

 

I hate wobbly receivers, but I’ve only owned one PTW which was truly afflicted – a Factory 2012. I got away with dampening the wobble on that gun with an Accurizing Wedge, but I never saw that as a permanent or satisfactory solution. I’ve also had a bit of wobble with a couple of Prime receiver sets. One was so negligible, it didn’t inflame my OCD. The other was solved by adding a single thin shim behind the buffer tube end cap. So maybe the shimming had been off all along.

Now, according to the experts, as long as the buffer tube end cap is properly shimmed, wobble doesn’t affect the way a PTW functions. Many will argue that wobble is authentic to the RS and a consequence of owning a rifle which is designed to be split in the field without tools. Experts on RS forums will often relate that the takedown pins at the front and rear of the receiver should be capable of being pushed out using only your fingers.

Regardless of this, wobble is ugly.

I’ve been considering wobble moderation options for some time and have read about solutions from both the airsoft and RS communities. The solution which spoke to me didn’t include gaffer tape, or stretching an O-ring over the upper receiver’s front takedown pin lug. It concerned expanding takedown pins.

There are two types of expanding pin. The first, represented by RA Tech’s Magic Pin, is a solution for the front takedown area. The second, like the JP Enterprises Rear Tensioning Pin is for the rear takedown area. Given that my current wobble issue (though slight) emanates from the front, I decided to take a closer look at RA Tech’s solution – and I’m glad I did.

RA Tech’s pin (ostensibly for G&P, WE, KJ, INO, and Prime GBB) is segmented and its expansion is controlled by a hex screw. As the screw is tightened, the segments realign – with the middle segment applying downwards pressure to the upper receiver lug. This serves to eliminate wobble.

Cheapest UK price appears to be at Milspec Solutions, although I got mine from Airsoft World who were blindingly fast as usual. Thanks to Pier and his Startpage skills for the Milspec link.

Now, a few words of caution…firstly, this isn’t exactly a drop in solution. The flat of the pin’s head needed to be milled/filed to fit the PTW receiver.

Secondly, the pin is fitted and seems fine, but clearly it introduces additional strain on the receiver – so don’t over-tighten and use at your own risk. I’d have thought CNC’d receivers were better suited to this application.

Lastly, at time of writing, Tackleberry doesn’t see anything wrong with wobbly receivers in terms of how a gun performs – as long as the buffer end cap is shimmed correctly, as stated previously. Removing wobble is simply down to the user’s desire. So, when you receive your new PTW from a reputable source, don’t complain if it exhibits any wobble: it’s not the responsibility of the vendor to correct it.