[Sport] Airsoft Field Gear and Weapons

[Nestor Makhno]

Went paintballing this weekend for the first time - Delta Force in Crawley - a very big operation... so big that you get about 20 per team.

This meant my team was combined with a bunch of Pakistani guys from the local mosque - the full monty, big beards, skullcaps, white pyjamas, speaking Urdu.

God (or allah) forgive me but the second I saw my team-mates I thought "Uh-oh, training camp for jihad". It was particularly funny as one of my mates there used to be a sniper in the marines...somehow our moslem brothers got the idea that he was ex-SAS, which really p***ed him off.....

"SAS are ****ing army - I'm a Marine !"

Anyways, I had a great time fighting alongside both the marines and the trainee talibs but now I completely ache from head to toe.... I am not 17 any more and should not be trying to forward roll out of cover whilst shooting at the same time... especially with a steamed-up visor.

 

[{Core}Craig]

The Tippmann brands are heavily customisable and that can lead you to many, many, many different functions and even that milsim look.

They are also the worst made products on the market.

Get something exclusive and cool like MACDEV. Then you win an internets

 

[Ska Wars]

Anyways, I had a great time fighting alongside both the marines and the trainee talibs but now I completely ache from head to toe..

lol I seem to always come back crippled too. Once got stuck on the top deck of a bus as my legs were fine on the way up but wouldn't bend on the way down

 

[C_Gibby]

They are also the worst made products on the market.

Get something exclusive and cool like MACDEV. Then you win an internets

A speedball gun?

They definitely are advanced and they work very well and they have all sorts of features "under the shell" but I can't shake the feeling that those things look like they should have the Toys R Us logo somewhere on them.

Personally, I prefer Tippmanns. They're very metallic (as in they're hardcoar :V), they're greasy, they make loud noises, they often look all scratched-up.

They're manly. :IS2:

I still prefer any form of paintball to airsoft, though. (not saying that I won't want to try airsoft out at some point...)

Yes.

Spoiler!

No.

Spoiler!

 

[Grobut]

Oi! Who told you paint sniffers you could loiter about here then? Clear off!

And also: Yes.

Spoiler!

God No!

Spoiler!

 

[C_Gibby]

I tend to prefer the pain with paintball.

But those airsoft guns are awesome-looking, it's the one thing that makes me wanna get started.

How would you describe the airsoft milsim experience?

 

[LemoN]

God, all those paintball guns are so f***ing ugly.

 

[C_Gibby]

God, all those paintball guns are so f***ing ugly.

I can say the same thing about some of the airsoft guns I've seen.

Spring-powered, transparent parts, orange tips, wierd vivid colours. Wat.

And then you have the sexy ones.

Same thing with paintball. The RAP4 does a lot of milsim paintball guns (the one I posted isn't an example of proper milsim paintball, it's just one that doesn't look so speedballish).

 

[Grobut]

I tend to prefer the pain with paintball.

But those airsoft guns are awesome-looking, it's the one thing that makes me wanna get started.

How would you describe the airsoft milsim experience?

On the whole, i don't expect it's much different from the Paintball variety, but with a couple differences in the form of Full-Auto weapons beeing the norm, and Airsoft guns have a longer effective range, mostly due to the Hop-Up mechanism, but also because the projectiles travel quite a bit faster.

Though i think the dominance of Full-Auto weapons is going to be the biggest difference, even a bog standard cheapo AEG will fire between 15 and 18 rounds per second, and if you tinker with the gun a bit, 25 rounds per second is easilly obtained with the right upgrades, and if you really want to, 50+ rounds per second is also possible if you sacrifice muzzle velocity a little and use a giant battery, so yeah, there's allways lots of ammo flying at you, forcing the need to play very tactical, you definately don't want to be caught out in the open.

This is also why you may find Airsoft also can hurt, because chances are you wont be hit by one BB, or even 3 or 5, but a good Full-Auto blast of them, and thats when you start bleeding and generally feeling the owies.. pack some bandages, they can come in handy, i allways carry some.

And from my understanding, Snipers are somewhat limited to what they can do in Paintball, i've heard that 150 feet (aprox 45 meters) is the most you can expect before the Paintballs refuse to splat, and the projectile drop is likely to make even that a matter of skill or luck, but in Airsoft, Snipers can easilly do 80+ meters (aprox 263 feet) before projectile drop and general inaccuracy makes them hard to use, though windage is more an issue in Airsoft, so on a very windy day you may just get to live


Honestly, i expect the two games to be much the same, also Adrenaline wise, because, whilst Paintballs are likely to hurt more, you are probably more easilly killed in Airsoft by the Full-Auto fire and snipers, so you definately have keep your wits about you, and hearing a shower of BB's impact all around you definately presses all the right caveman "fight or flight!" buttons, as does beeing pinned by a sniper who you know is out of your guns effective range, you wont be bored, i'll promise you that much.

 

[C_Gibby]

Sounds pretty awesome actually.

In fact, I wanna start now. Shame that the only airsofters I know are complete pussies that use springpowered guns. (the gun bit isn't the pussy bit)

I would love to get myself a fullmetal L22A2. (Like the one in Killing Floor)

 

[Grobut]

Sounds pretty awesome actually.

In fact, I wanna start now. Shame that the only airsofters I know are complete pussies that use springpowered guns. (the gun bit isn't the pussy bit)

I would love to get myself a fullmetal L22A2. (Like the one in Killing Floor)

That's no way to play, you'd have to find a propper field where they play propper games, with propper guns, toying about with "springers" isen't really Airsoft, it's just wasting time with an Airsoft gun, and a bad one at that.

Hopefully there's a good place near you, else, you'll be in the same situation i am with Paintball.. well lets hope not.


As for an Enfield L22A2, you should go sniff around the "Arnies Airsoft" forums, it's a british community, so naturally lots of them play with Enfields, so that's bound to be a good resource.

 

[C_Gibby]

Hopefully there's a good place near you, else, you'll be in the same situation i am with Paintball.. well lets hope not.

That's so true, it's funny. ._.' Wanna switch lives for a bit?

Sure, I'll check out arnies airsoft now!

 

[C_Gibby]

*A bumpy-double-post-which-was-rather-naughty-of-me.*

I've had a good browse, and I'm ordering off of Evike.com and I've had a good look at some gear and I'm getting closer to deciding what to get.

My Main

Features:
Real Wood Grip Stock and Handguard.
Full Metal Body and Barrel.
Dual Trigger action, one trigger actives each barrel / shell.
Holds two shells at once.
Opens like the real thing.
Super High Power.
Unique real Dual Barrel / Dual Trigger Actions.

Review:
This shotgun basically acts like a mini revolver launcher holding two 6 round grenade shells.
On each trigger pull, the shotgun will activate a gas powered shell and launch all the bbs within.
Giving the lower capacity on each shell, this shotgun does fire at super high power yet being ultra compact at the same time. Measured over 400 FPS!

Spoiler!

My secondary

Manufacture: KWC / Distributor: CyberGun / SoftAir USA.
Dimension: 270mm x 3 lbs.
Range: Effective 70 feet Maximum 120 feet.
Muzzle Velocity: 290 ~340 FPS.
Magazine Capacity: 25 + 1
System: Gas Blowback
Gas: Green Gas, Propane Adapter.
BB: 6mm. 0.20g~0.25g. Best performance with Matrix or High quality Japanese bb.
Maintain: Silicon Lubrication when needed.
Package Includes: Desert Eagle Gas Blowback, Magazine, Quick Loader, Manual.

Features:
- Adjustable Hopup System.
- Realistic Blowback Action.
- Genuine Licensed Product by Desert Eagle / Cybergun with Israeli Weapon Industry logo.
- Ambidextrous Safety.
- Light Weight / High rate of fire Slide.
- Serrated Slide.
- Rubberized Grip.
- Semi-Automatic Gas Powered Action.
- Great accuracy and range.

Spoiler!

My alternative secondary

Package Includes: HFC M11, Manual, Mock Silencer, loading tool, a pack of bb and Magazine.
Dimension: 16" x 10" Weight 3.5 lbs.
Range: 70~100 feet
Muzzle Velocity: 300~330 FPS (0.20g Matrix bb)
Power: Gas Powered. Green Gas or Propane Adapter
Magazine: 41+1 rounds. (Included)
Fire Modes: Semi / Fully Automatic / Safe
Manufacture: HFC / Made In Taiwan.
Hopup: Yes / Built In.

Features:
- Insane rate of fire on full automatic model up to 20 RPS (Rounds per second).
- QD Mac 11 / M11 Type Mock Silencer Included.
- Retractable Telescope Stock.
- Newest Version with reinforced internals.

Spoiler!

Hmm... it all seems to be based on my choice weapons when I play as the Support Specialist on Killing Floor...

Well, whatchathink? :IS2:

 

[Nimsky]

I see you like cheesy weapons

 

[Alexander Ostmann]

My first AEG:
Classic Army M15A4 SPR

Solid, full metal, great range and power. I highly recommend it as a first weapon for anyone starting out.

My second:
King Arms FN FAL

At first, this was a solid weapon. After a lot of use, the semi-auto started failing. Semi went to full, and full got stuck shooting. All parts are sturdy as hell, and you can actually use the carry handle, but it was not too reliable after a few thousand rounds. Great range and hop-up, however. I would not recommend this to new airsofters.

My third:
G&G RK105

Out of the box, the weapon did not work. The fuse was not put together correctly. It had to be rewired. Afterwards, I tried to use MAG magazines. Those jammed and destroyed the hop-up resulting in constant jamming. I sent it back for a new one, and this one had no problems. It was perfect. The realistic field stripping was epic. Power and range were alright, but the hop-up was great. These are on and off, so I do not recommend it to new airsofters.

My fourth:
ICS M4A1 R.I.S.

One of my favorite AEGs to date. The split gearbox was EXTREMELY convenient. Power was good, and range was good. Hop-up was also good. It was a very solid rifle. You can only fit a small battery in the R.I.S., however, which could be a pain to fit sometimes. Overall, however, I HIGHLY recommend this AEG to anyone. Noobs or veterans.

My fifth and last:
STAR FN FNC

This was my favorite rifle of all time. Ugly, but sexy. It had AMAZING power and range. The whole rifle was a tank. The only flimsy part was the charging handle. If it was pulled back and let go multiple times, it would have come off. The dust cover would also lift when it came into contact with the bolt. The battery had to be a mini, so this is not cold-weather recommended. If you want to install the R.I.S. on it, you have to install a PEQ box and put the battery in there. It also had mechanical burst-fire. Some rifles use electronic burst, which would not function in extreme weather conditions or would burn out after some use. Mechanical burst has proven far superior to electronic burst. It was a very costly rifle, but it was a blast to play with. I don't recommend this rifle to new airsofters, however.

 

[Grobut]

That's not really giving yourself a good start there Gibby, uhmm.. yeah, right then.

The shotgun (aka: bang bang, now what?):

They are fun and all, but i'm afraid they are not really all that combat effective, they lack the range and accuracy needed to act as a primary weapon, not to mention the magazine capasity, people with Full-Auto AEG's will make you their *****, in other words.

It can make for a fun back-up gun, and if you are really bored one day and feel like giving yourself an impossible challenge, it can also be fun to just take that with you and see how long you can last against overwhelming odds, sure that'll make for an interesting break from the norm, but that's all this is made for, and don't expect it to do anything more than that.

On the whole, sure buy it if you really like sawnoffs, you'll get some fun out of it no doubt, just don't go thinking it's a primary weapon.


The Desert Bagle of cheap nastyness:

Ohh my word, you don't want to go there, DE's are really cool in games and movies, but a nightmare to deal with in real life, and there just isen't one on the market that isen't crap.

Trust me, what you really want for a backup pistol is something dependable and practical, something you know works when you are caught with your pants around your ancles and you need to go to Plan-B in a hurry.

Prefably, you should look for something tested and proven, like KSC's "System-7" range of pistols, thouse work great, or anything recent from Tokyo Marui, thease are the most dependable pistols you are going to get at the moment.


The MAC-11 of gas wastage:

Another fun gun, much like that Sawnoff above, it's mechanically more interesting than an AEG, it's lots of fun to shoot also, but.. it's just not the dependable and reliable all purpose BB-spreader that you'll need to get started out in the game.

If you have lots of disposable income, then by all means, buy one, have fun with it, it's a laugh, but also buy a good AEG, because that's what you really need to get started off, especially in the colder months that we're headed into now, where full-auto gas-guns start to work unreliably (gas-cooldown effect, it's really annoying).

Basically, what you should be looking for is a good AEG Assault-rifle, the AK and M4 series is usually the best for starters, because they are proven and tested designs, they are avalible in various price ranges, and they are neither too short nor too long, which means they are good all-rounders, and you get to try your hand at various playstyles on just about any field.


The AEG is not the most sexy thing ever, they run on RC-plane batteries and sound a bit like a sowing machine that's about to explode, but they have become the backbone of Airsofting for a reason, they just plain work, they get **** done, and they look good whilst doing it too, so you really should have atleast one in your arsenal, if nothing else, then as your backup plan if your fancy gas gun breaks down.

Actually, if you can afford one, then here's my recommendation: Go get a RealSword Type-56, the thing's rock solid, build from hardened steel and solid wood, and the gearboks is made of win and awesome, most dependable out-of-the-box gun i've had, bar none:

 

[C_Gibby]

o_______O

So airsoft is a lot deeper than I thought, then.

Well, what would you think about a full-metal Beretta M9 and what assault rifle would you suggest? Personally, I can't stand the sight of M4/M16/AK-47 kinds of guns.

 

[Grobut]

o_______O

So airsoft is a lot deeper than I thought, then.

Well, what would you think about a full-metal Beretta M9 and what assault rifle would you suggest? Personally, I can't stand the sight of M4/M16/AK-47 kinds of guns.

The M9 is no problem, you want the Tactical version with rail?
[url]http://www.wgcshop.com/wgc2008/main/product_detail1.php?search_From=category&item=KSC-PS-M9A1-FM&search=special&rs=KSC%20Handguns&catid=7&cat=19[/URL]
Or the standard version?
[url]http://www.wgcshop.com/wgc2008/main/product_detail1.php?search_From=category&item=KSC-PS-M9-FM&search=special&rs=KSC%20Handguns&catid=7&cat=19[/URL]

Thouse are both Full-Metal KSC guns, build with the new "System-7" Gas blowback system, which has proven very reliable and sturdy, if it where my money, that's what i'd spend it on.


As for an AR, well, what do you like? are we talking classics like the M14? more modern looking guns like the G-36? Bullpup guns like the AUG/FaMas?

Point me in the right direction, and i can find you something good and reliable.

That's really the opperating word there, reliable, because Airsoft AEG's are by no means all the same, some of them are cheap crap that will fall apart the moment you pick them up, and break down after only a few hundred shots, and others are so sturdy you could beat a man to death with it, and they will just keep going and going and going like the Energizer bunny.

For this reason, i can't promis you that the exact gun of your dreams is a good one, some of them only exist in the crap versions, but i can find something that looks like it that is worth buying

 

[C_Gibby]

That M9 is nice O_O Cheers for digging it up!

I'm not normally a fan of "tacticool" weapons (I prefer a different kind of finesse, i.e. the shotgun) but I would love it if you could find me a full-metal L85 variant. <3 :IS2:

 

[Grobut]

The L85 is problematic.. There's two brands worth looking at, G&G and ARES, problem is though, they are both infamous for building very nice looking guns, but with really dodgy and unreliable gearboxes, and as such, they are definately not newbie freindly guns.

I would not recommend an ARES, as they use propriarary Gearboxes that are impossible to find spare parts for, so that just leaves G&G really:
[url]http://www.wgcshop.com/wgc2008/main/product_detail1.php?search_From=category&item=GG-AEG-L85A1&search=special&rs=GG%20AEGs&catid=6&cat=274[/URL]

But would i really recommend it? ehhh.. well no, not as a beginners gun, it seems everyone who has bought them have also had to tinker with them constantly, rebuild the gearboxes and so forth, not the sort of thing you want to dive right into with your first gun, prefably, your first gun should just plain work.


But here's a kinda similar looking alternative that i absolutely can recommend, the RealSword Type-97:
[url]http://www.wgcshop.com/wgc2008/main/product_detail1.php?search_From=category&item=RS-AEG-R091&search=special&rs=RS%20AEGs&catid=6&cat=444[/URL]
And:
[url]http://www.wgcshop.com/wgc2008/main/product_detail1.php?search_From=category&item=RS-AEG-R092&search=special&rs=RS%20AEGs&catid=6&cat=444[/URL]

Thouse are good sturdy guns, and absolutely reliable, the only problem i have ever heard about from thease guns, is that changing the battery in them is a little fiddly, but that's really a small complaint.

Either of thouse would definately serve you well, and whilst they are not desperately pretty guns, they do bear some similarity to the L85, and they are not a common sight on the fields (most people are put off by the fact that they haven't seen this gun in their favorite videogames and whatnot), so it's a nice attention grabber aswell (that's allways a good thing, when people want to have a look at that strange gun of yours, you get to talk with people and make some new freinds in the community).