WGC threadlock warning

Fiach Dubh

I'm putting up a warning for anyone thinking of buying an AEG from WGC. I was on Arnie's Airsoft earlier and noticed a post from a guy who couldn't get the flash suppresor off his VFC HK 416. Apparently VFC are putting threadlock onto their AEG's regardless of them being shipped to the U.S. or not.

Now I ordered my VFC AKs74N from UNcompany but they in turn got it from WGC who are the official distributers. My VFC has a WGC sticker on the box. To date I hadn't taken my muzzle break off, I had no reason to, untill now. I ordered a Classic Army GP30 grenade launcher and 6 grenades from UNcompany the other day and they shipped today. As soon as I saw the post on Arnie's I got paranoid and checked the muzzle break. Locked solid! Even the retaining pin has threadlock on it and won't move at all. As far as I know you have to remove the entire front sight block on an AK to install a launcher so that's me screwed if that's the case.

After checking around I've seen that some people have managed to remove the threadlock by hitting the barrel with a blow lamp for a few minutes :eek: However WGC have apparently taken to only recently using some kind of firelock which is even stronger and since my model AEG is very new chances are good it has it. WGC are threadlocking their AEG's as standard even though most countries don't require it, WTF? As I said, some people have managed to get the threadlock of with brute force but caused cosmetic damage to the AEG in so doing. My VFC AK cost me 450 Euro and the thought of having to damage it because of WGC's ****y practices makes me want to puke.

/rant off

liamo333

Thats vrey annoying:( Is there a small allen key thats holds the flash hider in place or is it screwed on directly?

Fiach Dubh

There's a spring mounted retaining pin, AK standard. You just push it down and unscrew the break. Everything's been treated with threadlock :mad:

kdouglas

heard about that a while ago alright but didn't really think anything of it at the time, that sucks that they are doing that, even in the us an orange tip is only required for transport in some states from what i've heard

liamo333

Is there a thread lock solvent? That should work.

o1s1n

Hang on, is your muzzle break a standard one or blaze orange? If it's a threadlocked orange one I'd be getting on to the manufacturers very quickly. That's absolute bollocks.

Fiach Dubh

No Oisin it's not an orange break. That's why I thought nothing of checking it when I first got the thing. I've sent an e-mail to UNcompany's tech support so I'll see what they have to say.

o1s1n

What's the point of locking it on unless it's orange? I don't see the reasoning. Unless of course the manufacturer doesn't want other peoples parts going anywhere near it.

Still, seems like a bit of a weird practice.

Fiach Dubh

I doubt VFC would want it man. They're bring out a grenade launcher for the AK at a later date. With threadlock you couldn't use it.

o1s1n

Just had a read through that thread on arnies. It would seem people are having some luck with those wind resistant lighters. Although as you were saying, I don't know if they'd be any use on heat resistant thread lock types.

It's absolutely ridiculous that you have to potentially damage your gun to take a part off. What the hell are the suppliers thinking? I'm sure a large percentage of VFC customers would be the type of people who would want to add things on to their guns too.

Fiach Dubh

Indeed. Moreover VFC sells AEG's on the strength of high quality realistic bodies. Potential losing that just to perform normal stripping functions just defeats the whole purpose

ED E

My dad says there might be a solvent for heat resistant threadlock, though it may be the type that is designed never to come off!:eek:
He also suggests Benzing from your chemist but he wont sell t to you unless he knows you.

kdouglas

gotta love that, won't sell it to you unless he knows you? unless it's a restricted chemical (like potassium nitrate et al) or a prescription drug, the chemist has no requirement to know his customers....

ED E

I just qouted my dad! Its cause you can get hooked on it quite easily.:D

Irish Trinity

are they metal or just plastic if plastic you could try freezing and the get a wrench and pull it off

Fiach Dubh

There's no plastic on the VFC AK74 body, everything's metal.

o1s1n

Fiach Dubh wrote:

There's no plastic on the VFC AK74 body, everything's metal.

(He says with his nose in the air)

Fiach Dubh

Well at the moment I don't feel that high and mighty about it

liamo333

Fiach I was talking to my dad and he said that he would let me borrow his car. If we attach one end of a rope to the barrel and the other end to the tow bar on the car and then put the gun in a vice and accellerate that it will come off no problem:D:D

Fiach Dubh

ROFL Actually the thing would come apart in the middle most likely

kdouglas

ooooh, that sounds like a fun way to destroy an aeg... anyone want to offer one up?

o1s1n

Sure, how about your p90?

kdouglas

o1s1n wrote:

Sure, how about your p90?

er..... i think not :mad:

liamo333

You can use my sr-16 when it arrives:D

Miscreant

You could always try dabbing Acetone on the part with the thread locker on. It is the same stuff they use in nail polish remover but it can even dissolve Super Glue so it would be worth a try. Only downside to this would be that it would also dissolve any paint on the part. Might still be worth a shot though. Nail polish remover should only be a few quid.

Fiach Dubh

Unfortunatly that's been tried by others with the same problem. It's not strong enough to remove the threadlock.

nonex

boiling water and then ice water
an old divers way,god i'am i that old

Fiach Dubh

Thanks Nonex, I'll try that. At least it won't damage the body.

sidneyreilly

Irish Trinity wrote:

are they metal or just plastic if plastic you could try freezing and the get a wrench and pull it off

Is the component you wish to remove also metal? If so "give it fire"

Mr.Magoo2007

thanks for the warning man i have been enquiring about getting some guns from wgc and i have no intention of paying a fortune for one and then having a gay orange tip on it. sent them a e-mail telling them so too

Fallschirmjager

well i got my mp5 from wgc and it had no threadlock mularky on it so it isnt every aeg and it was a metal one but not from the same one u ordered. i just dont understand why they would do that? as o1s1n said, if the tip isnt orange , surely they are pissing off a lot of US customer by making the aeg illegal to import?

fireproofed treadlock...wtf...is some pissed off anti war type working in shipping??

as nonex said, the freezing and warming will definitely work..will take a while tho but if it works in the sahara on rocks it will work anywhere..

one final thing dude, i think uncompany sell it..u can buy the metal blueing washes and black washes, if you do scratch it badly...so dont despair to the odd scratch...

Fiach Dubh

Got it! Only the retaining pin had threadlock on it, not the muzzle break threads. Jammed the barrel tip into hot water then cold a la Pauls advice and then wedged it down with a flathead screwdriver. No body damaged what so ever, I'm chuffed to bits now

CrazyRabbit

Fiach Dubh wrote:

Got it! Only the retaining pin had threadlock on it, not the muzzle break threads. Jammed the barrel tip into hot water then cold a la Pauls advice and then wedged it down with a flathead screwdriver. No body damaged what so ever, I'm chuffed to bits now

Paul should start selling his advice....€20 per post.

Glad to hear you got past these annoying 'feature'.

kdouglas

cool, nice clean removal

ED E

Thats Lucky but I beleive if you overdid it depending on the alloy it could have shattered(one bit expands/contracts more than another). But it worked for you:D

Fallschirmjager

in the history of dumb ideas tho, treadlocking it that way is right up there...

i would love to hear the reasoning behind it..

CrazyRabbit

Fallschirmjager wrote:

in the history of dumb ideas tho, treadlocking it that way is right up there...

i would love to hear the reasoning behind it..

Well Mike was having a really bad time. His manager had realised that he wasn't doing any work and had threatened to sack him if he didn't start doing his bit for the company. Mike spent 6 weeks working on a MS Powerpoint presentation and came up with a fantastic new design that would revolutionise the Airsoft industry and make the company a market leader. He showed the presentation to his managers who 'suggested' a few changes. Although these change were terrible, Mike wanted to stay on friendly terms with his manager. So he gave in and made the changes. The manager then passed the idea on to 2nd line management who in turn passed it on to the executives. Along the way, a few more 'enhancements' were made to the idea. A project manager was then assigned who decided he wanted to change the idea abit so that it looked like his idea. He then passed it to the engineers who drew up some schematics. A prototype was made and given to a test audience who never actually used and airsoft gun previously. Based on their feedback, a few more changes were made. Eventually, the idea went into production, and the project manager got a promotion. The end result was threadlocking....a useless & irritating design that made customers unhappy and caused a reduction in sales. When this was realised, the project manager blamed Mike, and Mike was subsequently sacked for coming up with such a poor idea. To date, nobody has figure out why threadlocking was introduced.

Shiva

CrazyRabbit wrote:

Well Mike was having a really bad time. His manager had realised that he wasn't doing any work and had threatened to sack him if he didn't start doing his bit for the company.......

I think Scott Adams has copyright on that plotline......

o1s1n

Fiach Dubh wrote:

Got it! Only the retaining pin had threadlock on it, not the muzzle break threads. Jammed the barrel tip into hot water then cold a la Pauls advice and then wedged it down with a flathead screwdriver. No body damaged what so ever, I'm chuffed to bits now

Yay! excellent.

The orange tip was thread locked onto the top of my m324. After ages of twisting it with a wrench it finally came off. What did I find? the inner barrel protruding out the top.

So back on went the orange tip :mad:

Fallschirmjager

o1s1n wrote:

Yay! excellent.

The orange tip was thread locked onto the top of my m324. After ages of twisting it with a wrench it finally came off. What did I find? the inner barrel protruding out the top.

So back on went the orange tip :mad:

jaysus..i hate dat....

just paint it dude...

o1s1n

Fallschirmjager wrote:

jaysus..i hate dat....

just paint it dude...

I did. I sanded it down and coloured it in with permanent marker. Which eventually came off. Then I used a matt acrylic black paint. Most of it's still on but there's a rim of orange around the top.

Really annoying. Not annoying enough to warrant buying a can of spray paint though.

CrazyRabbit

o1s1n wrote:

I did. I sanded it down and coloured it in with permanent marker. Which eventually came off. Then I used a matt acrylic black paint. Most of it's still on but there's a rim of orange around the top.

Really annoying. Not annoying enough to warrant buying a can of spray paint though.

I have a black spray paint can you can use. Designed for spray painting motorcycle exhausts (high heat tolerence), but it should do the trick nicely.

o1s1n

CrazyRabbit wrote:

I have a black spray paint can you can use. Designed for spray painting motorcycle exhausts (high heat tolerence), but it should do the trick nicely.

I'd appreciate that

Must remember to bring the tip out some weekend.

CrazyRabbit

o1s1n wrote:

I'd appreciate that

Must remember to bring the tip out some weekend.

Just remind me about it the next time you are coming to HRTA.