As we head into a thus-far wet fall this year, an often asked question is: "Will my AEG work in the rain?"
The quick and short answer? "Yes!"
Unless you're a fair-weather airsofter who's afraid to get a little
dirty, there is absolutely no reason (or excuses) why you can't play in
the rain. Generally speaking, the body construction of most AEG's lends
itself pretty well to keeping rain water out.
Some designs accomplish this better than others (i.e. closed hop up
chambers or limited access ports to the internal mechanism.) Some
individuals have been known to go the extra mile and coat everything in
hot glue or silicone in efforts to keep water out, but I think this is a
lot of extra work for limited return, and in some cases could impede
disassembly or function.
In truth, one can actually SUBMERGE
their AEG and it will still be fully operational. There are numerous
YouTube videos and articles covering this topic. I have done this myself
(accidentally) with a Real Sword SVD that took a dunk in a
deeper-than-realized creek, and intentionally (just because I could)
with a Real Sword Type 56-2. In both cases, despite being fully
submerged and having full water penetration inside and out, once I
cleaned the water out of the barrel it was good to go for the rest of
the day. In fact, the gearboxes showed very little water penetration
themselves, just a few drops from the obvious entry points: the motor
mount area and nozzle.
Which brings me to an important point:
perhaps the biggest issue with water is within the barrel itself. Unless
you take the time to run a dry swab through it and clean out the water,
it will have seriously detrimental effects on your accuracy. AEG
barrels like to be run dry. Keep some swabs and a cleaning rod with your
gear and you'll be good to go.
"What about rust?!?"
What about it? 99% of AEG's are constructed of aluminum, plastic, or
cheap mystery-metal amalgamations. It doesn't led itself well to rusting
in first place. There are very few parts (if any) that are constructed
out of genuine rust-worthy steel on most AEG's. Notable exceptions
being Real Sword AEG's which are comprised of a great many steel parts,
including the external bodies. If you want to find which parts are made
of steel, take a magnet to your areas on interest to determine this. In
any case, treat your wet AEG the same as you would with a real firearm:
wipe all the excess water off, clean out anything on the inside if
necessary, re-lube, and reassemble.
Worst case scenario, make
sure you have spare fuses for your AEG just in case. I've never blown a
fuse due to wet weather or submersion myself, but it doesn't hurt to
have spares to keep you in the game - especially when they cost as
little as they do.
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