The continuing travails of a returning airsofter.

[GraniteFraggle]

So after lets just call it at least a decade away I finally feel that I'm back, so I thought it'd be interesting to share my journey as attempt to get my head around the changes in tech & re-develop my loadout to match my play style which hasn't changed in the meantime.

First off, I'd forgotten just how much I'd missed this both mentally and physically. I've been laid up in and out of hospital the last few years - to the extent that I've gone from superfit to completely broken. I finally found something which I could actually do without landing me back in A&E last October & thanks to a push from my wife - I tried out a game at my local airsoft site. I sold up pretty much everything (it was around the time of the in-fighting over setting up UKARA - alongside some horrible personal issues that was the final straw).

So I had my old ICS552, my custom WA S&W 1911, my 8mm Redhawk & a battered CYMA M3 rip off. Despite the WA utterly failing in the cold weather, the SIG shedding parts & developing the fire selection switch developing the attitude of a teenager I had a whale of a time. Finally picked up my PASS & the intervening time let me try out the modern "toys" and get my head around what I enjoyed.

I've never been a kit nerd when it comes to fiddling/upgrading or to achieving a particular loadout "style". Instead I've always ended up picking out what for me is the "best of breed" in terms of what does what I need it to, hence you could politely describe my look as that of a scruffy mercenary - as opposed to that of someone as likely to sell you a big issue as shoot you. I did get an ego boost from being described as a "Ukrainian nutter" though

So in terms of clothing/webbing I just go with what is comfy. At the moment its a pair of yard boots (closest thing to trainers in terms of comfort), an old pair of combats, norge, appropriate layers & a russian OMON style vest. Its light, room for 3 spare M4 style mags, shotgun shells, 2 blank firing grenades & some high energy shack items.

I then go with a belt running two bianchi holsters & spare revolver shells/pistol mags. Its nice to be able to dump the belt at the safe zone or go down to one sidearm without having to reconfigure everything.

So my general "normal" loadout now is as follows ...

SA-15 Edge - Batteries have moved on! Being able to fit a single battery in the stock which is enough capacity for a full day's play is a revelation. Battery capacity was always a factor in the past - so its great to be able to pick something I love the feel of without worrying about having to change/carry a spare. Aside from the tight inner barrel I didn't think there was much point in going for anything gucci. My AEG has always been a tool first. Hops have come on - I remember the old TM hop with its tendancy to unwind randomly (I ran both an M4 & SR16 for a while) but this is easy to set how I want it - and it stays that way. I also hated M4 mags - partially a look & feel, partially having to spend so much time keeping them working & feeding. Very much a fan of the new S-Mag style, plus no feed issues with either hi or mid caps. 3 spare mags in the OMON vest.

Shotgun - a reliable backup and sometimes main for CQB/thicker woodland. I love tri-barrel shotguns. I sold my modded M3 when I quit - so I picked up a BO Fabarms one to replace the battered CMYA one. Its similar size & weight but definitely has more poke & consistency just like my old TM but at way less than half the price. Will run as a spare as looking to get hold of a Secutor one as its even smaller & looks sexier (sorry). I figure it'll be even easier to carry slung on my back but for the moment, for the money I'm liking this a lot. Spare shells in the sling which goes over my vest so she sits on my back. If I'm ditching the AEG then even more shells in the vest on the shell loops - saves having to take time out reloading in the safe zone

TTI JW 4 - GBB's are so much improved. And I say that as someone who loved them. This has now replaced my beloved WA 1911 and I can't believe I've gone back to a double stack 2011. I tried lots but when I picked her up something clicked. The hop/takedown are quick, mags suffer less cooldown and in terms of range once I got the hop set - well she's perfect for pulling out and "going light" with a BFG or two. Very much feels like one of the old WA Inifinities - after I'd spent a fortune on metal gubbins, internals etc. but better - out of the box FFS! Pair of spare mags in an old mil-tec twin mag pouch on the belt (will be replacing soon as its knackered), gun sits in a Bianchi M84 on the belt. Lovely - you can keep your new fangled plastic holster things

Marushin 8MM Redhawk - yes she's an antique but with a thorough clean and lube she's fine. Fill valve needs a strip and bit of plumber's tape every few months but in winter - on red - she's up to her old tricks. There is something so pure about considered shots with a 6 shot shell loader ... it honestly feels amazing. Pair of .44 magnum speedloaders on belt, she sits in a Bianchi Cyclone holster. When she gives up the ghost .... who knows. Might have to look at a den wesson if only to be able to keep my love of using nothing but a revolver & speedloaders in game occasionally Oh, and if anyone knows a source of 8mm BB's that's be great, although I'm down to my last 700 they should last a few years as I tend to only get through a dozen every skirmish.

So that's where I'm at. It kinda feels comfy - like a modern upgrade of the kit "style" I know and love. When the weather warms up a bit I'll start venturing further afield - heard great things about the "x" site in Mold. Much prefer sneaky, muddy bog snorkelling/woodland play rather than speedball - although in building CQB does lead to me making disturbing sounds as I play.

Airsoft is definitely more popular. the kit better, the choice in the UK so much wider (anyone else remember the says of WGC shop/Den trinity importing *everything*). People messing around with Western Arms kit - endlessly upgrading/fixing seems to have been replaced by a different bunch of people endlessly upgrading/fixing HPA guns - but I'm really enjoying getting back into this

 

[Rogerborg]

Ahoy and welcome back.

Are your local sites OK with 8mm?  Do they even know what it is?

I'd check about Dan Wessons as a few sites don't like them due to the ease of swapping shells after chrono.  Nothing that you can't do with most other guns, but sites ban what they catch.

 

[GraniteFraggle]

Ahoy and welcome back.

Are your local sites OK with 8mm?  Do they even know what it is?

I'd check about Dan Wessons as a few sites don't like them due to the ease of swapping shells after chrono.  Nothing that you can't do with most other guns, but sites ban what they catch.

Yep - theyre really hot on weights/fps etc & whats nice is just because you can run say a DMR youve got to prove you can play responsibly first. Thankfully there's a few old timers around who remember them - this time of year she's doing 210 with .4s so fine everywhere. Summer is 320 - so essentially hand sniper piece with the usual min 20m engagement rule. I've switch to pistol or shotty and bfg well before then. Once we get above about 10 degrees she's is superb for targets which are at aeg range. Very accurate and surprisingly quiet.

I'd love a 310 ish revolver with 0.25s & a speedloader just because .... its so cool to do

It's been way too long. Really nice just hanging out with other weirdos, getting plastered in mud and watching gun porn on a Saturday packing for the next days lunacy.

 

[1st commando]

It's very rare to hear from anyone that even remembers WA 2011s these days so welcome back. There aren't many of us left

 

[Impulse]

Welcome back to the hobby and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did when I returned from a similar bygone era as yourself. Mildly jealous of the WA 1911, as I was too young to afford such a piece when I started (same with Tanaka rifles, but I've since managed to get myself one of those without breaking the bank).

The hobby is way more accessible and mainstream now, though it is still a niche hobby there are a lot more people playing. Main issues now are social media and their algorithms promoting drama content which produces some real asshole airsofters who create such content and also their fans who emulate it. Chrono is a lot more prevalent and any site will ask you to chrono your guns at the start of the day, unlike back in the day where we all just turned up and most of us shot each other with hot guns as they tended to come out of the box when imported from Asia anywhere between 380 - 420fps. Hop ups are a lot better now as well, and people typically use heavier ammo with most running .25s - 28s in their AEGs, some even heavier than that, and .43s or heavier in sniper rifles. It's amazing what kind of range you can get with a well-tuned build these days, especially when you consider that 40m was a real achievement back in the day!

TM gas pistols are now king. They're the best gas pistols on the market and thanks to the plastic slide they tend to work all year round outside of the recent polar temperatures we've had the past few weeks, although I know people who have risked putting red gas through theirs and they've cycled fine for those game days. In theory they should be fine as the psi of red gas at 5 celcius is (probably) low enough to not explode them, but you won't find me risking it and I wouldn't advise risking it. The newer models have better blowback units and are even more gas efficient; as soon as the temperature is over 5 celcius, my HK45 tends to just... work. Reliably. On green gas.

Going with what's comfy is definitely best. If you can carry what you need and be comfortable doing so, then it works. Impression kits are great and I'm definitely guilty of enjoying a bit of dress up, but for regular airsoft skirmish you can turn up in trackies and walking boots if you want to.

Also, when charging LiPo batteries, get a good balance charger like an imax b6 or something like that. There are cheap chargers that will charge through the balance lead, but... well, LiPo horror stories are easy to find and chemical fires are no joke. I remember LiPo batteries being a thing back in the day, but they tended to be reserved for high rps builds and tended to shatter gearboxes, but these days most guns will be fine running 7.4v LiPo batteries, with some handling 11.1v out of the box. Just make sure you take good care of them and don't use them if they go all puffy.

Oh, and if anyone knows a source of 8mm BB's that's be great, although I'm down to my last 700 they should last a few years as I tend to only get through a dozen every skirmish.

https://www.outdoorandtactical.co.uk/product/ot-8mm-bbs-0-48g-1000-white-8mm

No idea how good they are, but they exist.

 

[Rogerborg]

Genuinely great to hear that you've got a site that knows what they're doing. DMRs in particular are super-easy to exploit.

I'd also love to find a revolver that's:

1) Gas not CO2

2) Safely reloadable in-game.

3) Effective out to 20m (0.8J+ with some kind of consistent hop)

I'm currently running a HG HFC-132 which satisfies 1 and 2 as you can just pop a BB in the front of each shell and rotate the cylinder to seat them.  However, out of the box it shot a disappointing and inconsistent 0.3 - 0.5J with either 0.2g or 0.25g on ASG ULTRAIR green gas at 15C. I saw over 0.6J after thoroughly lubing the o-rings and nozzle, but it's completely unhopped (despite what some sellers claim).  Fine for super-CQB killhouses, but nothing beyond that.

 

[GraniteFraggle]

It's very rare to hear from anyone that even remembers WA 2011s these days so welcome back. There aren't many of us left

Gone are the days of spending far too much from WGC Shop etc, hours filing the metal slide so it would fit etc.

Its also so much easier to find parts these days. Thanks for the link @Impulse - 8mm BB's GET (also so spare o-rings - so thankyou!)

Genuinely great to hear that you've got a site that knows what they're doing. DMRs in particular are super-easy to exploit.

I'd also love to find a revolver that's:

1) Gas not CO2

2) Safely reloadable in-game.

3) Effective out to 20m (0.8J+ with some kind of consistent hop)

I'm currently running a HG HFC-132 which satisfies 1 and 2 as you can just pop a BB in the front of each shell and rotate the cylinder to seat them.  However, out of the box it shot a disappointing and inconsistent 0.3 - 0.5J with either 0.2g or 0.25g on ASG ULTRAIR green gas at 15C. I saw over 0.6J after thoroughly lubing the o-rings and nozzle, but it's completely unhopped (despite what some sellers claim).  Fine for super-CQB killhouses, but nothing beyond that.

Obviously the Redhawk isn't an option - they don't make them anymore sadly!

But ...

I'm toying with the idea of a "site safe"/"low power" Dan Wesson 715 - possibly the 6 inch. I'd rather use the real steel speedloaders/pouches and it appears you can if you file the base of the shell. But we'll see - I'll have a look at the one which comes with it.

Don't really like the idea of CO2 - but given that a single mini-caplets are good for 70 shots that should easily do me. I'll let you know how I get on if I do go down that route!

When you say "safely reloadable" in game what exactly do you mean? I rather enjoy dumping the shells (into a zip pocket) & then using a speedloader under fire. Apparently I giggle when doing so - just like I do chucking a BFG at someone.

 

[Impulse]

I'd also love to find a revolver that's:

1) Gas not CO2

2) Safely reloadable in-game.

3) Effective out to 20m (0.8J+ with some kind of consistent hop)

Have you tried the Tanaka revolvers? They're gas, they have internal magazines (not shells) and probably have the best range for revolvers.

 

[Rogerborg]

When you say "safely reloadable" in game what exactly do you mean?

Not dropping a handful of precious shells in the mud / dark corners.  The HFC can be reloaded without removing the shells, they're essentially a bit of a gimmick.

Have you tried the Tanaka revolvers?

Bit out of my price range.

 

[GraniteFraggle]

Not dropping a handful of precious shells in the mud / dark corners.  The HFC can be reloaded without removing the shells, they're essentially a bit of a gimmick.

Bit out of my price range.

If you feel that they're a gimmick then they're not the gun for you.

I use mine when I know I have one shot - or I need to make that one shot count*. Its certainly not a close up or speedball weapon. I find its more suited to woodland - if I need to dump the AEG for maneuverability speed - such as getting into a trench or building - then its the 1911/2011 (and a BFG). Also makes a great last ditch backup.

I think it also matters that where you're playing is good on "hot" guns. The rules on my Redhawk are the same as for any other gun - we chrono (currently piss poor) then I know - but even now I only ever use it at more than minimum engagement distance. I don't go out to hurt FFS.

There's not really anything to be gained in using one which gets around the shell reloads - they're all more accurate single action - and its a slower more thoughtful rate of play. I guess what I'm trying to say is they're more like pocket snipers but slower?

WRT to Tanaka's they have all the disadvantages of a revolver but none of the advantages of the shell loaders.

(Please correct me - it has been - 15 years - since I tried a non SAA one!)

I've owned and skirmished with 2 6 shots  (a 6 inch M29 and a modded M629 full metal Zeke body) as well as handled and shot a lot of them. All of them (Pegasus 2) were horribly inaccurate at anything more than 10m - sometimes 5m - on green. The FPS varied wildly from <pointless to >400 with a .20 BB on propane (green) and were OK at springer range on duster gas. Its worth mentioning that I used it at sites which didn't have an issue with potentially this powerful being used at its effective range .... it couldn't hit a barn door. I say it - BB's would go vertical, horizontal, fucknowswotal .... and occasionally straight.

The exception to this are their (or were) SAA's. I've owned two - one I still own. The first was the "fast draw special" which put out around 340 on green but the fixed hop worked great with 0.25's. The second is the removable cyclinder artilery (basically a six inch barrel) but I've buggered up the cylinder - long story but I'll see if anyone can help me fix it. This was around 320 with 0.2's - which the hop worked with. The SAA's were really consistent.

I've now ordered a 6 Inch DW 715 (yeh well, what's the worst ....) so I'll let you know.

Only because I know at some point I'll break my Redhawk - and I love having something for when you can definitely get a kill - or need it with style

 

[GraniteFraggle]

Woah first proper day with kit that isn't 20 years old falling apart! Lessons learnt - a 1000maH LiPo isn't enough (or I'm charging it wrong) for 600 rounds on a single shot DMR running an M120.

Second I need a better holstering solution for a 6 inch DW 715. Tried a miltech shoulder holster - again maybe I set it up wrong but wasn't secure enough and I couldn't access the shells as they were tucked in too deep.

So I either belt holster and swap holsters between that and the Redhawk ... or continue as now to take either one out and get a better holster for the 715. Any other decent shoulder options?

Third the TTI JW 4 is easily as good as any fully upgraded WA 1911/2011. Easily.

Fourth I mounted a red dot, set it to circle with cross and spent a happy few hours absolutely loving using a spring tri barrel shotgun. Was absolutely brilliant. 

So currently I'm toying with the idea of abandoning my much loved OMON vest for some kind of bare bones MOLLE which I can mount the 2011 on (chest height), revolver on belt and whatever pouches for mags/shells/grenades.

TLDR - Loving being back. Spring shotguns rule. Rig confusion ? 

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[heroshark]

I've had a few Tanaka revolvers over the years and skirmished them. As said DA is always iffier on all Airsoft revolvers and always better used SA if only for a short crisp trigger break. Some shot terribly but others have been pretty good. One thing to note all recent ones are not like the old ones with crazy high FPS as they are all made with smaller gas outlets in the cylinder. In fact they are often a bit wimpy. I've tuned all my modern ones by drilling it out to increase the flow.

 

[GraniteFraggle]

I've had a few Tanaka revolvers over the years and skirmished them. As said DA is always iffier on all Airsoft revolvers and always better used SA if only for a short crisp trigger break. Some shot terribly but others have been pretty good. One thing to note all recent ones are not like the old ones with crazy high FPS as they are all made with smaller gas outlets in the cylinder. In fact they are often a bit wimpy. I've tuned all my modern ones by drilling it out to increase the flow.

Having picked up the ASG SW 6 Inch - well it's not a Marushin Redhawk(!) but then nothing is. For the money it's fine and once I got the hop adjusted its fairly consistent - fine for using it as "fun" piece out past the 20m min engagement distance. Not good enough for a pocket sniper - but great for getting some stylish kills.

Some would also suggest it would also be great on teflon timmies closer than that but I couldn't possibly comment.

With the Co2 though it does mean I can holster it and not worry about recharges but we'll see. Suspect it'll be more of winter long range bit of kit when the temp is too cold for the old 'hawk and I'm out of range with the shotgun but the shot is too tempting. My favourite style of play is still sneaky, get in close with odd long range shot along the way. The AEG is for when I'm too knackered to do that

Back to the revolvers tho' - the drop in FPS isn't an issue with the Tanaka's - are they finally consistent and usable? I love a bit of CQB and it would be fun to pull one out that isn't going to hurt people. I don't know - it's always been something I enjoy when everything else is out. A last stand weapon - preferably with a BFG to take everyone out (including you!) if you're the last person in a room.

WRT to the other kit I am finding it streets ahead of what I'm used to. The consistency & accuracy of a modern AEG in particular makes me feel a bit like I'm in cheat mode. Now if only I could find a short Secutor tri shot spring shotgun in stock somewhere I'd be in kit heaven.