Problems with hop-up in AUG

[blo0dx]

I picked up one of the phantom shadow augs from redwolf a few years ago and it came pre-upgraded to 350 fps. Right out of the box I wanted to disassemble it and managed to break the hop up within 15 minutes... So I ordered one of the G&P metal ones, and everything has worked great except for 1 minor detail:

After recently opening up my aug and removing the barrel to do some cleaning before the season starts again, I noticed the little clip that holds the barrel to the hop up assembly was broken into 4 pieces and the plastic edges on the side were almost completely rubbed off on the barrel. After searching the internet for roughly three hours this morning, I've given up on finding a replacement part.

1) I don't believe the hop up is loose, so how can I dampen the vibration between the barrel and the hop-up so it doesn't completely destroy what looks like to be an important piece?

2) Would you recommend trying to fabricate the piece somehow? Or am I going to be forced to buy an entire hop-up assembly for one $.10 plastic clip?

I'm worried when I go to play this weekend the barrel may fall out of the front of my rifle, any tips? I tried to find pictures of the piece on the internet, but all I can say is it is a 'U' shape with a small tab on the front side and two bumps on the inner part of the U.

[DemonicUnicorn2]

I know what part you are talking about, and regret to tell you that unless you can find somebody who has recently replaced their hop-up unit and who will send you that one small part from the former, you will have to purchase a whole new unit.

[blo0dx]

Ah, thats a little depressing. But if I replace it with another plastic peice I'm worried I'll have the same problem.

[bnagley]

I also know the exact piece your looking for and have been searching for one for a while. Best bet is to get ahold of Mr.Black see if he has one laying around that he might sell you. He's always got random parts like that.

[DemonicUnicorn2]

I do not believe that they make that one piece in anything but plastic. I've had my TM AUG for over a year now and that piece has no signs of wear on it. I've heard that the G&P metal hop-up units are not all that great, hardly an upgrade. My guess is that you either received a flawed part or that the gun was dropped or contorted the wrong way. I'd just buy a replacement hop-up unit. Try to find a TM replacement if you can, or just try the G&P or Poly units. Both are listed on Airsoft Arms.

Who installed the current unit?

[DemonicUnicorn2]

I also know the exact piece your looking for and have been searching for one for a while. Best bet is to get ahold of Mr.Black see if he has one laying around that he might sell you. He's always got random parts like that.

To my knowledge, Mr. Black no longer works at Airsoft Arms so you will be pushing your luck with that one. Maybe Strykers Blade or another smith, who is still smithing, may have the part lying around. However, if you need a new unit soon for an upcoming event, you're better off purchasing a new unit.

*Note: Did not mean to double, Bnag responded while I was typing.

[blo0dx]

For the life of the gun Ive never dropped it nor has it received any unreasonable amount of stress. The original reason I went with the metal hop up was because the area that the plastic split in my stock TM hopup was right where it was screwed into the assembly. I figured the metal one would be a sturdier piece. As far as the poly hop-ups go, Ive tried searching the net and nothing came up except TM and G&P metal. Where might I be able to find one of the poly ones?

Im going to try making a new piece for it out of metal over the next few days and well see where that gets me. Btw, I was the one that installed the current hop up and made 100% that everything went in the way it was supposed to. Actually the hop up has usually worked outstanding for me, and with .25g BBs Ive gotten very accurate results when target shooting it.

Thanks for the help everyone!

Edit;

I just finished installation of a full metal clip to hold the hopup and barrel together using spread stainless washers stacked at various lengths. After completion of the assembly it fit snugly into place and holds the barrel in beautifully! I loaded it up and test fired for awhile and everything is working great!

[DemonicUnicorn2]

Glad to hear your fabricated part works. Here is the Poly unit i referred (http://www.airsoftarms.com/view_product.php?ProductID=7878&product_name=Poly%2C+Metal+Hopup+for+AUG)