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whats better then a Mk23 ... 2 off them (brand new TM on the left, my old ASG on the right)

NOPE - THIS Just pure gun porn here: http://www.everything-airsoft.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/POSTER01.jpg http://www.everything-airsoft.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/POSTER02.jpg http://www.everything-airsoft.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/POSTER03.jpg http://www.everything-airsoft.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/POSTER04.jpg http://www.everything-airsoft.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/POSTER05.jpg http://www.everything-airsoft.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/POSTER06.jpg Soz - mods please delete if this offends as we have younger members on here plus not wishing to appear too sexist & upset any female members But jeez wtf - who says sex doesn't sell - even in airsoft sorry again was looking for spoiler button but couldn't seem to find it as for the sliding butt stock - yes please I want some of that (soz best take a cold shower to calm down - delete if to over the top)

A Noobs HPA Engine Build - My Wondrous Journey So I thought I’d start a thread on here to document my latest Polarstar (“P*”) build, documenting what I purchased, where I purchased it from, my experience of the retailers, progress of the build, any problems/issues, some general FAQ’s and finally the finished project. I’ll be doing this in the evenings after work, making sure to cover each step and uploaded pictures for reference. Hopefully this can also serve as a basic guide for those people looking to get into HPA engines such as “P*”, alongside providing basic how to’s and answers to common questions. I'm starting this tonight and will continue to update with pictures and progress in the evenings when I can. Please feel free to PM me with any questions or additional tips and I'll look to included them. Happy Reading Firstly….what did I buy and where: G&G GC16 MOD0 30th anniversary Edition - Airsoft World, Link here. Polarstar Jack (V2 Edition) - Beesting Airsoft, Link here. Ninja LPR + 36" Braided Line (In Red) - Beesting Airsoft, Link here. Retro Arms Speed Trigger (In Red) - Beesting Airsoft, Link here. Retro Arms Selector (In Red) - Beesting Airsoft, Link here. ZCI 6.02mm Stainless Steel Barrel - AK2M4, Link here. ZCI Prowin Clone (I have both polymer and CNC in red) - AK2M4, Link here for polymer and here for CNC. ZCI 12" Keymod Rail - AK2M4 - Link here. APS Ver.2 Tactical Dynamic Trigger - AK2M4 - Not on website currently, was a direct order. APS Evolution Tech Flash Hider - Ak2M4 - Not on website currently, was a direct order. Maple Leaf Bucking and Omega Nub - Milspec Solutions, link here and here Big Dragon Butterfly Aluminum Cocking handle - Airsoft Peak, link here Element M16 Tactical Target Grip - Airsoft Peak, link here VisionKing 1.25 x 26 Short Dot Scope - Ebay (VKTechLTD11), link here Paracord - Ebay (md-flashlights-etc-ltd), link here Pictures: http://imgur.com/gallery/XR7VQ My experience with these retailers: Airsoftworld - Had no communication with them really, I simply found the item, paid for it, it arrived next working day. I've used them before though and not had any issues. Beesting Airsoft - I cannot comment on how helpful this company has been (Danny in particular). I've purchased all of my HPA parts from them, in fact this is my 2nd P* build, 2 x Jacks, lines and regs. I can see myself using this company time and time again, happily recommending them to friends, family and fellow airsofters. Ak2M4 - Another great company I use a lot for internal parts, especially the barrels and hop units. Honest to god, best value for money and great customer service. Milspec solutions - Ordered from these guy quite a few times now, Spoken to Ian on a few occasion about upgrade parts etc. Always happy to offer advice, well packed and speedy delivery Polarstar - I spoke to these guys after they did the post about adding pictures, put both my builds on there and got speaking to a chap, I told them about my experience with their products and my small issue with the short FCU, they immediately offered to send me two extended cables. Absolutely shinning example of customer service, would certainly recommend them Airsoft Peak - My products arrived after a few weeks, took them about 6 days to process my order, but the items did arrive and the prices were great. Now I know the timelines I'd definitely use them again, but for items I don't mind waiting for. md-flashlights-etc-ltd - Ordered some paracord, was unsure on colour/length so I gave them a ring, they were polite and helpful. I even asked about next day delivery on this order and some other paracord and I only got charged the cheaper option but had them in my hands the next morning. Will be using them for all my paracord related purchases in the future. vktechltd - Made a best offer on a sight, then accidentally bought it now, ebay in it's wisdom then tried to make me pay for both. The guy was nice enough to cancel one of the orders......the cheapest best offer one lol I wasn't to annoyed though, would use them again as the quality of the scope is great and the item was well packaged. Overview and quality of the parts: This particular P* build is going to be a DMR, I'm aiming for range, accuracy and consistency, which is why I've chosen the parts I have as they've served me well in previous builds including my last P*. My base gun is the G&G MOD0, I got this as I've installed a Jack into other G&G's gearboxes and I found them easy to work with and give good alignment. Not to mention the price for AirsoftWorld was great considering it's full metal. I picked up another Jack as the I was really happy with the first one and for the price it's a great start in the HPA engine world. The regulators I use are the Ninja LPR's, they are easy to use, easy to maintain and once broken in they offer great consistency. The barrel I'm using for this build is the ZCI 6.02mm Stainless Barrel, normally for a DMR I'd use something a bit wider, however the last ZCI barrel I bought was great and I've been using them in other builds. Not to mention they have a slightly wider hop window than most stock barrels and Madbull barrels. The hop chambers I've got are the ZCI Prowin style, one is polymer and another is the RED CNC'd one. Again these are great and apply a nice pressure, with good range of adjustment, alongside good build quality. In regards to buckings/nubs......this is pretty much personal preference, I have tons of barrel/hop combos set up in various rifles at the moment. The ones that work for "me" are: ZCI 6.02mm barrel + ZCI Hop Chamber + maple leaf bucking with maple leaf omega nub. ZCI 6.02mm barrel + ZCI Hop Chamber + G&G green bucking (flah hopped) with Prommy purple tensioner. Tanio Koba Twist Barrel, this is in my custom Tippman M4, running standard nub and G&G Green bucking. considering the barrel is 200mm ish....it's great. For this build I've ordered various nubs/buckings and will update my experience with each. Where to start: First thing first, I needed to get the gun apart, which as I’m sure more of us know isn’t the most difficult of things to do on AR style guns. Stage 1 – Removing the gearbox: 1 – Remove front body pin, slide the upper receiver forward* and pull the charging handle back and slightly up in order to unhook it from the top catch on the gearbox. *If the gun is front wired, you’ll need to unclip these tabs in order to remove the upper as the cables will get caught. 2 – Remove the motor by undoing the 2 small screws on the base of the pistol grip. Once removed you will need to unhook the motor wires from the motor itself and then remove it entirely. Once removed you’ll need a long phillips screw driver to remove the screws which hold the pistol grip to the gearbox. 3 – Next remove your stock; once again you will need a long phillips screw driver to remove the retaining nut holding the stock onto the body/gearbox. Once you’ve undone this, you should be able to remove the stock tube. 4 – From here you should have a gun that looks like this. 5 – Next you will need to remove the gearbox from the lower receiver, which is a case of removing the rear body pin , small body pins and the mag release. 6 – Once the gearbox is removed from the lower, proceed to strip it, I won’t cover this part as there are loads of guides online. The only parts you’ll need are the trigger (I’m changing mine), trigger spring, spring guide, trigger board screw and safety cut off lever. Stage 2 – Installing the Polarstar Jack: 1 - Put the Jack into the front half of the gearbox, where the original cylinder was, there are small dimples on the Polarstar Jack which will line up with the gearbox shell. Simple 2 - Next you will need to install the new trigger board, which is a simple case of pressing it GENTLY into place, once lined up, proceed to secure it using the original screw you kept earlier. 3 - From here you will need to connect the wire from the Polarstar Jack onto the trigger board and also attach the harness, it should look like this once done. 4 - Put the trigger back, check to make sure that it's all in place correctly and the spring is secured. * will vary gun to gun, trigger to trigger. At this stage you may also need to put the spring guide back in, in order for the stock screw to have something to anchor to. * again it varies on the AR variant you have. 5 - Depending on how the airline from your jack is lined up, you may have quite the bundle of fun trying to close everything up lol. On my first Jack it laid flat and was easier to work with. This one however pushes up against everything. *A quick note at this stage, the Polarstar Jack is meant to be rear wired into the stock, however you "may" be able to front wire it or have the battery in the pistol grip and FCU in the stock tube. Our own Qlimax kindly sent me a custom made battery cable which should give me enough length the have the FCU in one place and the battery in another. 6 - Once you've worked out your cabling arrangements, reassemble everything again (part 1 in reverse), making sure not to pinch any of the cables as you do. The airline at this stage will be coming out the pistol grip. 7 - Make sure that you get the gearbox in and lined up nicely. This is achieved but making sure the gearbox is in a straight line as is the nozzle, you can check by reassembling the upper and making sure the nozzle enters the hop chamber straight and without the nozzle getting pushed all the way back. This part can take some time, it may involve tightning/losing either the stock screw or pistol grip screws, as both of these will affect how the gearbox sits in the receiver. The Externals: **Ongoing** So I've done the bulk of the build now, stuck all the externals on that I currently have, However I'm still waiting on a pistol grip, suppressor and charging handle. Externally I'm trying to set this up to be light and low profile. Hence the use of the Keymod rail (Brought from AK2M4, Here. Quality wise was just as good as the other ones you see from retailers at double the cost). I added the red trigger and red selector....because it just looked cool. That and the fact they were kindly donated from Beesting Airsoft as I thank you for using them to purchase my HPA bits from. I will be revisiting my other P* build and using the APS trigger provided by AK2M4 as it's a nice dark grey and will suit the worn look. The trigger was fairly annoying to install, purely because the return spring in the G&G was stupidly strong* and a pain to hold in place. *This will differ by gun. The fire selector was also a PITA to fit, as the small plate that sits on the inside of the gun, was too wide for existing hole, so I had to widen it a bit. Also to this day I'd never actually removed/installed a selector.......and to tell you the truth it was so stressful, I had to put everything down and walk away lol. Basically you have to pop the dummy selector which is pressed/glued in. Then use a small screw driver to remove a small screw which holds the plate to the selector. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DO THIS ON A WHITE PIECE OF PAPER, there's a tiny spring and even smaller ball bearing which will drop out, roll onto the floor and disappear forever leaving you to raid through your spares box and remove them from another receiver you had laying around.......you have been warned. There's a handy video on removing the selector here. With the keymod rail I had to use some barrel washers (2) in order for everything to line up and be rock solid, I'm not going to explain installing it as it's pretty self explanatory Luckily for me the G&G MOD0 outer barrel lined up perfectly with the 12" Keymod rail, which means a suppressor will sit flush with the rail. I'm hoping to get a better suppressor on there shortly. (Payday). Once the charging handle turns up with the PSG-1 grip, I'll update with some more pictures. Hop and Barrel Combo (inc nub, bucking and chamber): **ONGOING** So I'm currently running the ZCI 6.02mm Stainless Steel Barrel and Polymer Prowin Hop Unit (Purchase from AK2M4) and for the moment I've just popped in a Maple leaf Bucking (75 degree) an Maples leaf Omega Nub (courtesy of Milspec Solutions, thanks again Ian). I'm going to be experimenting with other barrels and buckings etc to see which for give the best results for "Me". Here are some simple pointers though: A benefit of a tight bore barrel is less air (PSI) is needed to get the correct FPS. When using a wider bore barrel (6.08 - 6.20) you will have to up the PSI to accomodate for the large volume of air required. As an example in my first P* when running a 6.02, my PSI was set to 75 ish and I got 346 FPS on a spare TK barrel of the same length but wider bore (6.08?) I had to run 85 PSI. This basically means tighter barrel = Less PSI = Less Air Used = More shots per tank. and the opposite for wider barrels. The current argument is that for longer range, wide bores are better when used with HPA and set up correctly. However for air efficiency and short to medium range, TBB's are good. From my experience, it's all relative....at 150-200" any decent barrel, bucking, nub and chamber should perform alright. So from that perspective get a TBB a it's cheaper and more air efficient. However if you're going down the full DMR route and want that 250-300" range then get a decent wide bore. You'll have less shots per tank, but you'll be using a DMR on potentially higher FPS anyway, so 700 shots on a 13cl tank should be more than enough for semi auto. It really depends on how YOU play and the ranges that YOU engage people in. You won't need a wide bore, flat hop and all the time required for a full DMR if you're running and gunning at 100". In that case a decent bucking and barrel would be more than enough. In regards to flat hops, they are pretty easy, they work great and are worth the 15 minutes or so needed to do. Heres some buckings and nubs I've had success with: G&G Green and Purple Prommy pensioner or black for higher FPS Prommy purple bucking and tensioners The buckings AK2M4 sell work really well and due to the material they trim down well with a stanley blade, the prommy/G&G are "squidgy" and move alot without actually being cut lol Prommy blue sucks balls...end of. Madbulls are OK, but I noticed they didn't seal well once flat hopped. Falcon bucking, ripped at the mere idea of being flat hopped. Wouldn't use. Another note about flat hops is they are only as good as the barrel you put them in, so it's worth going for a good barrel. Another reason I used the ZCI barrels is they have a slightly wider hop window than some other brands, which is perfect for flat hopping as it allows for more contact. Setting Up The Polarstar Jack (FCU Settings): **TO BE UPDATED SHORTLY** The finished project(s): **May also include my 1st Polarstar Jack** Performance: **TO BE UPDATED SHORTLY** Common Problems, Simple Fixes: **'ll be adding to this after tonight lol* FAQ's: **TO BE UPDATED SHORTLY**, hopefully everyone can chip in and we can add to it HOW IT LOOKS TODAY: "updated"

Will you be making the shelves.... I'l get my coat!!!

FireSupport & Zero One are the best/most popular UK airsoft retailers. Both sell all the kit/bb's etc, just don't buy bulldog and the rest for sale on these sites will be ok. Don't get a sniper (yet, perhaps once you've played awhile, are more familiar with woodland skirmishes and can upgrade one to make it vaguely worthwhile, and seen them being used enough to decide if a few metres extra range and sitting in a bush is worth it (I and the majority of players think not, hence why woodland skirmish isn't just a sniper battle)) As for M4, I'd recommend either an ICS (starts with 'sportline' or plastic bodied versions) or G&G (starts with Combat Machine). FireSupport stock more ICS, Zero One stock more G&G. They're generally about £150-£300 and considered the best place to start, as it's an M4 so can upgrade/swap bits out all you like and they're good base to start from. I personally prefer ICS If you got money to burn, it'd still prob be best to get one of these M4 first and get a feel for the game and exactly what gun you like best, can always sell it when you're fully familiar with the huge range of airsoft guns on the market and their comparitive pro's and cons. No-one seems to end up using the same type of weapon they first bought let alone the gun itself, so best to wait before splashing serious cash. P.S. Have a look in the guides section of the forums, there's actually some well written new-starter guides in there.

If I can get my m4 sorted by then I'll take a drive down lads

Be sure to ask everyone to wash there bbs before use. Save u a job after.

Ah Okay so I'd have to look for a mask a well... Well spotted Tad... Also what are the different sizes of bbs and do the guns take all different sizes?

Welcome. If the battery doesn't come with the gun, forget NiMh, go for LiPo. That means the battery charger also should be swapped for a lipo charger. Those are much better batteries and shouldn't cost more. Don't get 0.20g BBs. Use 0.25g.

Hey Conrad. Welcome to the forums. First things first: I mean this in the most polite way possible - all the questions you're asking have been asked before and the answers can be found by searching on the forums. I don't say this because we're lazy, but that you may get an answer much quicker and more completely if you check other people's threads first. That looks like a good setup for a first game. The only thing I might add is a couple more bottles of BBs and maybe an extra magazine, though the BBs can usually be bought on site. As far as ownership and purchase of an airsoft gun goes, there's no 'licence', but what you do need is something called a 'valid defence if questioned' (basically you need to be able to prove you play airsoft occasionally) if you want to own something that's an RIF (i.e. isn't 51% brightly coloured and looks very, very similar to the real thing). The most common form of defence is something called UKARA membership/registration - it's a database of airsoft players and, to cut a long story short, you can get one by printing off a form and attending a UKARA registered site (basically all of them) and getting this form stamped 3 times (once every time you go) in no less than 2 months between the first and last game. This gives you the ability to register with a UKARA registered retailer (again, basically all of them) and obtain a number tied to your name and address so that you can prove your defence easily when buying a gun. It is not the only form of defence, but it's the easiest to check and has a bit of paperwork. That's why people mistakenly think it's a licence - which it certainly is not as the liability for the purchase of a gun is on the seller, not the buyer. Again, this does not apply to you right now as a brightly coloured gun is an IF (Imitation Firearm) not an RIF (Realistic Imitation Firearm) - easy to get confused. As far as IFs go (i.e. brightly coloured guns), all you need to be is over 18 years of age to purchase one. Your son is completely fine borrowing it and using it and sites won't mind at all. More on this in the UK Law forum stickies: http://www.airsoft-forums.co.uk/index.php/forum/12-uk-law/ and this thread: http://www.airsoft-forums.co.uk/index.php/topic/12854-new-player-guides-info/ - also a tip I wish I'd been told when I started: 'VCRA' is not a horrible misspelling of 'UKARA' - they are two totally separate things. VCRA (Violent Crimes Reduction Act) is the law around owning RIFs and IFs and UKARA (United Kingdom Airsoft Retailers Association) is an organisation set up to provide easily provable defences for players (and the ability to check those defences by retailers). For your first purchase you seem to have everything covered - the G&G CM16 series are solid guns and ones we recommend to a lot of first time players. Full face protection (i.e. both eyes and mouth) is required by I think all sites for players under the age of 16-18 for insurance liability reasons so you're covered on that front too - see Tad's post. Over this age you're only required to wear eye protection, though face protection is recommended as teeth have been known to go missing. Also, boots or at least hiking shoes are a good idea as well as we go into Autumn. However, I should note that buying a gun is not totally necessary if you don't want to. Many sites offer rental at around ~£15-25 ontop of your entry fee, so that's always an option too and indeed recommended in some cases if you want to get that UKARA form stamped up for the first 3 games whilst renting before buying something that's an RIF (i.e. black or not brightly coloured) instead of an IF. Edit Added some links

That's the spirit!

I'd be happy to come along to an event ! I'm happy to try all types of airsoft

I think the term less is more soz I'm jumping back in the shower

I'm honestly surprised you've managed to get through extended all-outdoor games with the kit shown and not been, at best, very uncomfortable. IMHO, no clothing system is fit for purpose without a hardshell layer and a loft insulation layer; all standard issue stuff with many militaries for good reason. The vast majority of softshells are not waterproof (never seen one that was tbh), neither are issue smocks; hell water will get through goretex under the right circumstances. My issued softy jacket and goretex jacket are by far my most valued items whenever I've gone on any exercise or detachment. I don't rate cotton t-shirts for airsoft either, any clothing item with cotton content will be poor at sweat wicking and hence slow to dry once wet, plus it'll be cold once it gets wet; synthetics wick and dry substantially better and wicking is the main thing you need in your base layer. Good video overall and I liked watching it. I think there's some good advice on food, water, eye pro, boots and sleeping kit (most of the main priorities), backpacks, bringing plenty of spares, transport options and I think your choice tac gear is solid. To my mind your clothing is a bit lacking in some areas, but that's the only 'criticism' I might have really. Not saying it doesn't work for you and I'd imagine it does so that's fine, but if I were giving advice to people for a kitlist that's just where I'd differ as to my mind the kit in the video would only really suffice for summer use. Maybe that was the intention? I may have just missed something if so.

Why does it have to matter how or why you do what you do? If someone takes what they do more seriously why are they wrong/right? We're all running around the woods with toy guns FFS.

Well thanks for the heads up regarding makes! Doubtless I'll be back clogging up the forum With some useless questions in the future! Thanks again

i think you said it right Neil, go along hire a gun and have a play see what other people are using etc

It begins.

First Update Complete: Covering the installation of the Polarstar Jack, will be uploading pictures and more content tomorrow.

Again, all the brands worth a look are in that thread. Don't consider anything else because there are a lot of naff GBBR systems out there that aren't worth having. If you've not played yet then certainly keep a very open mind. I love gas stuff - I don't have a single electric gun, but it's been a lot of money and hard work to get them to a stage where they're reliable and I just can't recommend many brands to someone who's new that wants something to work competitively out of the box. You've got the cost of gas, the cost of magazines, different lubricants, excessive magazine maintenance (we're talking disassembling all of your magazines every game), NPAS to bring your gun within site limits, you can't use ultra-cheap optics as they break and then there's the biggie: Cold weather - even the best setups with the strongest green gas struggle with UK winter. The issue is the same as with many people who look to buy a sniper rifle when they start - you have nothing to fall back on. If you have a £130 G&G CM16 then you can blat all day with that and it'll keep chugging, but if you have an issue with your GBBR and you've already put upwards of £450 into the gun, magazines and everything else I've listed then it can totally grind the hobby to a halt for you.

Unfortunately Neil, if you don't have ~£450 to spend (that's including a couple of magazines) you're going to have a terrible time. That thread outlined the brands you should bother with - G&G and King Arms aren't one of them. King Arms is a Western Arms system so in theory you could upgrade the hell out of it, but G&P make better WA-based stuff. Magazines are a lot of money and maintaining them it's a bit of a battle at times. Seriously consider whether this is a good idea as a starter gun as you will need to be heavily invested in it to get the results you want.

Real life First Person Shooter - entertaining and gratuitous Call of Duty style action. I expect some airsoft players imagine this very scene www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWURz6HvTVw

Those videos are really well done, I also like this one:

Just a quick update on this, I've got my face pro, Gear ready to go for Sunday at the Asylum :-) One more day after this and it's purchasing time!

My 2p for what it's worth, Ditch the motor and gears etc, install a P* jack and a silencer jobs done

Welcome! I hope you stick around to tell us how it goes for your first day! That setup looks to be pretty decent for his first gun, the CM raider should last him a long while so long as care is taken for it! Only thing missing from it is eyepro (Safety glasses / goggles) which is the only major must have item. As for the License, Firstly it's not a license. It's a registration database which is used to show that you are a member of a certain site and that under the VCRA you hold a 'Defence' or reason for the purchase of a Real imitation firearm. I'm sure someone will point you to the VCRA thread detailing what you should know. However to purchase that setup, you are free to do so as I assume the Bright green is 2-tone over 51% of the imitation firearm, which you do not need a Defence to purchase.

Perfect shimming and a high toque motor will make it very quiet.

This little beauty for my sig, didn't just buy it but just received it so close enough (:

Thank you for the support

And discuss the virtues of milsim v skirmishes . Must remember to pack my sandbag to collect up all those used BBs too

We could all give each others bb's whilst holding each others guns! Go TEAM fluffy unicorn

A

Its clever advertising. If you look round most safezones its not hard to spot the fact that a fair proportion of airsofters have probably only seen a girl naked by accessing the Internet. So put the two things on the advert that will get them salivating the most. Probably the only way they could get better advertising is if they stuck her in some world of warcraft armour.

Action Hobbies do a couple of springer pistols - they are pretty reputable: I've bought from them several times with no issues, however some people have reported bad experiences. That said, they are one of the larger retailers so you'd expect that out of the thousands of sales they make, some will always cock up and people do tend to shout louder about their shitty experiences than they do about the good ones. The thing to bear in mind is that a cheap springer is a very poor introduction to how much fun you can have with an actual airsoft gun, because no matter what ammo you choose, the range is going to be poor and the accuracy is likely to also be less than ideal. They are the kind of thing you give to 9 year olds to mess about with, because even if they don't listen and do something unsafe, like not wearing eyepro/shooting at someone who isn't/shooting in a direction whereby misses end up in the neighbours' garden/etc, the chances of blindness being the end result are much much less. For a cheap springer, I would recommend an imitation shotgun: something like this if you're skint/young - ignore the mini-paintballs, because they have a poor rep for splitting inside the gun, and get a pot of 5000 .12's and you'll be just about able to hit a man sized target @40m / @20m in still air you could have A4 sized target shooting competitions, but i'm pretty sure that you can get two tone Franchi SAS shotguns without paying patrolbase.co.uk to actually paint the two tone on and they are good enough to skirmish with. Another good make which is cheap is the Double Eagle M56 range (everything else DE make is shit, but their shotties are OK) but i'm pretty sure you'd have to get them from bbguns4less for two tone (they are not as bad as justbbguns whom you just cannot defame enough to actually be slandering/libelling them). BTW, how old are you?

Issue resolved !! :D :D Thanks guys for your help. Lowe and behold the issue in the end was the piston head! After rulling everything else out, my only conclusion was to replace the piston head. Though the origional worked and was sealing like a boss, it was a very tight fit. So in goes pom asg piston head, build back up. Carefully check piston on rails .. al good. Pop the xcortech, shot 1 355 shot 2 353.... . Many happy shots later and its consistently back up to the 350fps mark i was so used to. Also due to the piston fitting happily, the rps has also increased . All back together and ready to go for stormforce on sunday !! Cheers guys. George

How did you find the Nuprol 3.0 compared to Abbey Predator? At the voltages we use even a good soaking that definitely causes a short circuit does not actually prevent power flowing to the motor - i expect if you put a digital multimeter on it you'd be able to notice the difference in power delivery between wet and dry, but in use there's more difference between a fully charged battery and one that's 1/2 run down than the amount of current that can be leached by a water only short circuit and a dry AEG. The only thing to beware of really is that water tends to carry dirt into places it might ordinarily not build up at all quickly, so it's well worth giving AEG's a good clean after a soaking. Oh yeah, and if you don't already, carry your mags upside down so that even if the 1st BB gets wet in a pouch without a flap, the rest will stay dry, because a wet BB will not behave the same as a dry one in the hop up chamber.

Some comments (I'm not meaning to be offensive so please don't take it that way) reminds me of the photo floating around on Facebook "Spends thousands on kit/gear & f***s off home when it rains" lol The team I'm part of spends all year outdoors but sometimes we go to indoor sites even when it's blazing sun outside

Yea, play indoors

I agree with deebo, i think its seems to be the two differences more between the have a laugh skirmish and they take it too seriouse milsimmer. I just want middle ground, i want the organised feel of milsim but to still be smiling and having fun. If i wanted to be so hardcore i felt like i was in the army or to the point where i feel like im on an sas training ground id go join the forces.

One of the biggest mistakes made by new players is not having their kit set up very well and/or understanding the limitations of their kit. By that I'm specifically talking about hop units being set properly, and in woodland this will improve your range. I see it with most rental guns, site operators don't set these often or ever in some cases. It's not practical in many cases for them to spend 5 minutes per gun, often 20 or 30 guns a day to do this. So if it's your own gun, learn to set the hop before you go next time. If it is the site rental guns either ask one of the marshals when they aren't looking busy or one of your team mates who seems to know their stuff with kit. This will improve your range. It only takes 10 or 15 rounds. In CQB setting hops isn't as important as the ranges you are shooting are much shorter so less likely gravity will have a big impact on your shots. The next is your bb weight. If renting you may be limited to the sites standard rental ammo which will likely be 0.20g. You might find that a site owner will allow you to use 0.25g if bought from them. If it is your own gun switching to 0.25g is advisable. It is heavier but counter intuitively actually gives better range, is less affected by wind and less likely to have its trajectory altered by grass or leaves, giving slightly better penetration.

Unfortunately people will probably still skip it. In an age of lazy typing and even lazier, impersonal interactions on the internet it's all too easy to just ask your question and expect someone else to do the leg work for you. It's unfortunate because when I started out it was just before the whole VCRA changes in 2007 and no one had any idea what it meant anyway so I had to go and look it up myself - I never go on a forum and ask a question without searching first because I get the answer quicker. A nice side effect is that I also don't waste people's time. The answers are out there if you just Google for 30 minutes, but some people can't even be bothered to do that a lot of the time.

Which just goes to show you how totally unenforceable and poorly written VCRA is in many cases. UKARA was made as a means to make sure airsoft alone could continue in its current form and to defend a lot of the flack it gets, but you're quire right in that many cap guns look realistic are are actually meant to be solid in the same way if they're a replica. What you may find is the size is different. I'm not sure on the exact figures, but I think it's between 50-70% of the size of the real thing makes it no longer an RIF or even an IF. I remember reading about this somewhere years ago as that's what stops the same VCRA legislation applying to something like a keyring in the shape of a gun. Also, many have glued on orange tips which is apparently enough I'd assume.

The use of real cap magazines does force players to do mag changes, which adds more realism to the game. Possibly makes them think a bit more before pulling the trigger and ammo conservation.

As Lozart said, one man's excessive is another's acceptable, my main gun is about as good as I can possibly get it and I am 100% happy with it's performance so there's no requirement or desire to spend money there now. Instead I spend my airsoft budget on kit, I have a pair of Crye trousers and a couple of shirts (didn't pay anything like £220 for them though, that's daylight robbery!) I find they're much better fitting and WAY more durable than the claw gear and emerson etc knock-offs that I'd used in the past, the stitching etc is designed to handle a military deployment in afghanistan or similar so I'm confident that whatever I do in an airsoft game they're going to take it and will continue to do so for a number of years. Same goes for my load bearing kit, yes I could buy a warrior DCS for £100 and probably be very happy with what it does, instead I spent £600 on a Crye CPC, is it better? I think so, but is it £500 better? no, not even close, but I had the money and I wanted the best I could get so I got it. (the harness really helps distribute weight evenly too, so I don't feel like a 90 year old man after I've been wearing it for 17-18 hours 3 days on the trot!) As for the 'strictures of milsim' I think you've been listening too much to people who haven't really played milsim games... yes it's more organised than a skirmish (I can't imagine anything being LESS organised) and you'll be assigned to a team of guys that you'll stick with all weekend but all the tasks you'll be given are ultimately optional. No one is your 'commander', your team will have a designated leader for the weekend but their job is just to decide how to implement the requests/instructions of the overall force commander. Really it's just being organised to allow things to actually get done! Going into the topic further, people tend to mix all milsim in together, I'd say there's really a spectrum of 'milsim' games on offer in the UK; from the low key stuff at places like Longmoor run by companies like ambush adventures which are just a skirmish with no arm bands and camo restrictions (green vs tan)... all the way up to games run by tier1 and stirling where your team could quite feasably conduct a night insertion onto a headland by boat completely blacked out wearing gen3 NVGs (if you've got them, obviously) in order to do a rescue of a captured member of your force. There's a whole LOAD in between too! As an afterthought, I'd like to point out that the people I've encountered who've taken themselves (but not necessarily the game) least seriously are those who have attended the 'serious' weekenders and have spent upwards of £3-4K just on what they're wearing for that night boat raid! Some of the most up themselves "I'm awesome because I wear multicam" middle management pricks I've ever met have been people who thought they were 'hard core' milsim players because they went to a themed skirmish without a lunchbreak once every couple of months! I guess it's the big fish small pond thing, where they're viewed as the 'elite' by impressionable kids at their local skirmish place because they're 'milsimmers', while the guys who go the extra mile don't tend to even go to a sunday skirmish anymore.

I like your review. That's a nice bag!

One man's excessive is another mans totally acceptable! If you can afford what you've bought without going hungry or into debt then personally I see no issue with the cost of your kit. Anyone that says otherwise is probably jealous (either of your disposable income or your gucci trousers).

Hahah

could not resist some inert link on my A&K M249 para

Spoon Feeding is one thing BUT I ain't f*ckin' BREAST FEEDING - no thanks (normally I'd post a daft silly pic but this thread is designed for short n simple answers - very difficult for me to comply with btw)

I know you've probably been told this, but Daytona Gun kits are very expensive and can require a fair bit of expertise to install depending on the kit you buy. If this is your first HPA build then you're going to incur more costs for the line, refill tank etc. that you may not have considered. Just worth bearing in mind before you dive in - hell of a lot of fun though. My accumulation of knowledge for the DG stuff thus far. Going from their discussion forum on Facebook, advice from Tony Rizzo (who builds and distributes them) and others: Get a 4500psi for a DG - they eat a lot of air (especially during the break in where you're going to need to be shooting it a lot to get through those 8000rds). Would also recommend bigger than 62cl if you go for the M249 or M240 kits - Guerilla do a 88cl/4500psi too but I think it may have been discontinued Do not try to import a tank from the US - pressured containers cannot be transported by Royal Mail or Parcelforce and the hydro testing standards can be different (explained later) Consider a 300bar (for the 4500psi) or 232bar (for the 3000psi) scuba tank for refills or you're going to be doing a lot of driving if your site doesn't offer refills. Check eBay - I got mine for just shy of £100 and they're about £200+ new, so there are good deals out there Be aware of what 'hydro testing' is when it comes to both your tank and possibly your scuba cylinder. The majority of pressured air containers are hydro tested every 5 years and expire after 20 - so if you buy something second hand then find out its 'born date' (when it was made) and when it was last serviced Remember to buy a refilling station if you go for a scuba tank. Get one that fits DIN if you go with a 300 bar cylinder or Yoke if you go for a 232 bar (again though, would not recommend 232 bar as that would mean a 3000psi tank) Make sure you have a single quick detach Redline - order direct from TNK Guns if you need to. Amped Airsoft also do customer Firebases for DG, but in the UK they are double QDs which will require slight modding. Double QD restricts the air flow - this is fine for other HPA setups, but the DG needs a lot of air Consider a Ninja regulator over the Guerilla. Even the G3 isn't that brilliant from what I've been told on the DG group and they all swear by the Ninja Pro (and Pro V2) regs If you want to remove the G3 reg that comes with your bottle, then you will need an anti-slip mat, big spanner and a heat gun. If not, you need a big spanner and a clamp. Honestly this is more of a problem than it seems. Ask the retailer to provide the tank with the regulator pre-removed if at all possible as adding it back on is super easy Backpack wise, I'd consider a small pack like the WAS Cargo Pack - anything that size will hold a tank fine. Anything bigger you won't need for a tank but that's of course up to you if you want it for mags and stuff. I got my pack second hand for £35, which is still quite a bit but it's really very good. It can attach to molle or you can use the straps. It has an elasticated interior too which stops the tank rattling when you run Hydration/bladder carrier are also a good idea as you say. Sizes are fairly uniform and you'll be fine if you stick wit ha 62cl, but if you go any higher than you may need a backpack instead Wide bore is a good idea. Problem is it's expensive. Prometheus do a 6.20mm barrel for an affordable price, but the plastic hop up window will get smashed to pieces by a DG during the break in. The ORGA Magnus 6.23mm barrels are the only other real choice. I can point you at a good retailer as they're hard to source in the UK, but they're still a lot of money (£50-90 depending on length) R-Hop as well if you're going wide bore. You'll get 75m+ out of a broken-in and tuned DG so it's a good idea to do so. I'd recommend the cold weather patches as they are slightly easier to install due to being translucent - also, you can make your own R-Hop material if you don't feel like spending a lot of money R-Hop patches can sell out frequently on Airlab and are considerably marked up in price. I'd recommend ordering directly from Hunter Seeker Armouries in the US. You won't pay import duty as they come in an envelope and you can get the installation aid. Buy lots of GetSome 1000 when you buy your DG (2-3 bottles). There's no retailer in Europe yet (though that may change soon) and get the needle dropper bottles - trust me You will end up paying 20% VAT and import duty unless you were to er, umm... ask Tony to mark the value of your DG differently on the invoice Buy a spare DG bucking when you buy your gun. Most people tear theirs during the break-in Don't lube your fill nipple as you will quite possibly blow your f*cking arm off when the sheer pressure of the tank ignites the petroleum derivative in your lubricant like a diesel engine. Do not lube the output on the scuba tank (if you get one) as you'll blow this into the tank as well (resulting in the aforementioned issue) Also with regards to RPS: Daytona Guns will get up to 25-30rps on some builds so the stigma is still there when it comes to overkill in CQB. The recoil makes them a billion times better than other HPA setups though as far as I'm concerned. Edit Updated bit about VAT, exploding tanks, tank regulator and removal