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It's a very silly and ludicrously expensive hobby played by overgrown kids who take it all far too seriously. It's also great fun if you don't take that description of it too seriously. You'll have a huge adrenaline hit from your first couple of games, so I'd rent first and put off making any purchases until you're sure that you're going to stick with it. The classifieds are full of what we might call "Renters Remorse" packages from people who bought early and then realised that the long term reality is a bit different from what carefully edited YouTube videos will show you. This isn't to put you off, just a cautionary note about enjoying it for what it is.

Pretty much sums it up for me

I feel like its worth pointing out that whilst this is a joke thread, CO poisoning is absolutely no laughing matter. N2O poisoning however.....

Why are wives like grenades? You remove the ring and boom, the house is gone

I had to remove the battery from my carbon monoxide detector. The constant beeping was giving me a headache and making me feel sick.

Just a bit of fun. Feel free to play on your next game day.

Tokyo Marui M4A1 AEG. Second hand, mind you. I still have it but much like Triggers Broom, it bears little resemblance to the original!

Tokyo Marui AK47-S Yup, still got it, still shoots (though not feeding very reliably on full auto), currently wearing a set of Cyma tactical polymer grip / handguard and a stubby grip, as the original plastic handguard was a bit creaky. Honestly can't remember how long ago I bought it, it could be as far back as 2001 or so It's still a cool gun, and light and small enough it'll maybe come back from the "retirement home" (my loft) once I start playing CQB

I did about 5 years of doing weekend events every 3-4 weeks along with regular skirmishing. Lots and lots of weekend events - have quite a few cool stories from it but they are massively outnumbered by the "yeah, it was an ok event, nothing super special", thankfully they also outnumber the poor hit taking and the "I just want to quit and sell it all" moments. My last weekend event was around October 2021 (kids!) For context get dropped off by a rhib in the dead of night to perform a tasking (stirling airsoft, the sandpit around 2015/2016), perform dawn raids on target buildings listening to chatter on the comms between the "apache pilot" and ground based aircraft controllers followed by pyro and lighting effects (tier one, stanta - around 2013), stayed awake for far too long on stag in woodlands with my mates ripping the piss out of each other (Stirling airsoft, the trees, the valley, the sandpit, caerwent, multiple times!), watched the sun come up over afghan style villages (Stirling Airsoft, stanta, around 2014), broken contact from far superior forces using appropriate tactics (Stirling Airsoft, Spain, around 2016/2017), set and executed a variety of ambushes (Stirling Airsoft, Sandpit, trees, caerwent, numerous times), crept through buildings trying to be super sneaky (Stirling airsoft, catterick loads of times, urban assault night games) taken out callsigns 3 times my squads size through little more than applying some grey matter (Stirling Airsoft, the trees around 2017). There are a bunch of other highlights but The more memorable ones really stick out because they aren't run of the mill, it's involved hours and hours of travelling (including to Spain) to sites and probably 100+ weekend events plus skirmishes. Getting to Catterick is an 8 hour round trip for me and I have probably done it 20-30 times and even then, you could do Catterick 5 times and not get any experiences that are stand out (like above) or aren't much different to a standard skirmish. Sadly some of these sites aren't even operating anymore. Ive done countless skirmish days that I now can't even recollect. I dread to think how much I have spent on this hobby.....

Complete agree with everything in this comment! If you objectively look at pretty much any hobby, it can be silly and expensive, pointless etc. Football - watching 22 over paid blokes run about kicking a ball, what does it actually achieve? Oh wow, x/y/z team won etc. Hiking - wow, walked up a big hill and down again, saw some lovely sights.....well there are lovely sights you can see from car parks etc. Ultimately its all on whether you enjoy it, we're all only alive once and at the end did you make the most of your journey. From airsoft, I have had a reason to walk through some pretty amazing sites, get dropped off by a rhib in the dead of night to perform a tasking, perform dawn raids on target buildings listening to chatter on the comms between the "apache pilot" and ground based aircraft controllers followed by pyro and lighting effects, stayed awake for far too long on stag in woodlands with my mates ripping the piss out of each other, watched the sun come up over afghan style villages, broken contact from far superior forces using appropriate tactics, set and executed a variety of ambushes, crept through buildings trying to be super sneaky (both in the dark and daytime) taken out callsigns 3 times my squads size through little more than applying some grey matter. I've also shot that guy in the grey sweat pants and he hasn't called his hits, had days of where I just wanted to sell all my stuff and never attend again. When I look back over the 10 years or so of me doing airsoft, there are some great memories, great friends, special times etc. it's not all perfect, it's not for everyone. If you look at the number of new players vs how many of them are still playing in 6 months to a year, not getting giddy, excited and buying all the things is a sensible recommendation.

State of mind. Did you know keeping fish in an aquarium is good for your mental health and has a calming affect on the brain? It’s because of the indoor fins

Dan Dare ray gun. 5 years old. Sparks everywhere and frozen finger after blasting thousands of Mekons. Kept me from being abducted at bedtime. I hope the older members on here know what I'm talking about otherwise Im looking like a grade one,card carrying nutter.😜

Blue two-tone WE P226 from JustBBGuns in December 2015! I then just plinked in my garden until the second half of 2016, when I thought it'd be fun to be able to use it against other people (in an insured and consenting game format of course). Booked my first skirmish at my local site and loved the concept but hated the rental guns, so sorted UKARA ASAP and bought a G&G Predator. Oh and have long since sold both, spending waayyyy too much money to achieve very little difference in performance.

TM M16A1 springer, still shoots well enough 20 plus years later!

Cybergun (the old G&g version) f2000. A great way to learn that the path less trodden has potholes, generally it was quite solidly built and was easy to work on, but it suffered dearly with a few key areas notably the proprietary hop unit which wasnt quite strong enough and the rube golberg trigger mech that means reliable semi auto fire is basically a pipe dream. Kept it a long time although it was rarely fielded once my collection started including less awkward options. Did eventually go.

Hey, looked at your posts cause I see you are new and planning to attend Gunman Tuddenham, my local site (which is awesome). I haven't got much experience with recent entry level RIFs, but Gunman use the standard G&G raider as their hire weapons, so when you do your first game with them you'll get hands on experience with what it is, whether you like it etc. The players at Tuddenham are great - ask around, check out their kits, look at the rifs they sell onsite but don't rush into it, do at least your 3 games before buying, I know renting feels like dead money, but way better than spending £250+ on a rif and then not loving the sport and only attending once/twice.

I don't have all the stuff at hand to check them individually, so I'll list off what I can remember. I have it on safe - semi - semi. I have shredded pistons before from full auto and burst mode (when I used 11.1 lipos.....don't do that) so not a fan of anything but semi, this also stops me from being tempted to use it.....even if I know I shouldn't. Battery protection mode is switched off, I now use 7.4 lipos and occasionally have had the error message come up about the battery being too low, even when I know it's a good to go fresh battery. Even when I have used the titan battery. I don't use the 30 round limit feature. I tried this and frankly hated it, I didn't know if I was able to shoot or not and it just wound me up. I also don't the sniper delay part. The delay thingy between shots is set to the maximum, I don't want a sewing machine for a rif. Pre cocking is switched to automatic, basically the version where you fire a shot, hold the trigger down and then move the safety to auto and pre cocking is on. This is so I can switch pre cocking off at the end of the day and I know I am not storing it with a compressed spring. Cycle detection is on. The main reason I got one is for the trigger response, I absolutely hate any delay between me pulling the trigger and the thing actually firing. Any other fancy stuff it can do it really not something I am interested in.

Appropriate that the chap was a member of the Rifles!

Cue Michael Yon photo of the Rifles ….. Desert DPM dyed ‘green’ to allow for the mixed terrain of Afghanistan, and resulted in the introduction of MTP

Days? Ive bounced between being John Wick and a bb sponge from one game to the next, but had just as much fun. Definitely. Whilst winning is a nice bonus, it's not that important. Some of the most fun games I've had I've been on the receiving end of an arse kicking

TM USP Springer (non-hopup) - back in the days where you had to cut the order form out of Gun Mart, send a payable order and wait three weeks for delivery. Good times. When I started playing Airsoft, it was a Classic Army Tactical Carbine - at the time ('04ish) one of the better reasonably priced 'from the factory' metal-bodied guns (along with ICS MP5s). It was a bit shit by modern standards (and frankly, TM's at the time), but it got the job done even with the ridiculous stock.

But the TM is bit vanilla. If they started doing Gucci versions, then yeah. Or just do a 416a5 MWS and then buy an island with the profits.

True post is true. Its a game that when you get a good site, good weather and a good crowd can be an amazing experience that'll leave you happy, exhausted and broke in equal measure. Sadly like any competitive game there's those who's objectives centre more about "winning" at the cost of sportsmanship and it doesnt take many creative implementers of game mechanics to spoil the fun for all. If you approach it from the right frame of mind with the goals of just having fun doing something that's realistically pretty stupid but with like minded people then it's a decent sink for your time, energy and cash.

Warrior L96 (now known as a Well L96) about 17 years ago. Yes, my first gun was a bolt action! Do I still have it? Hell no. Sold it when I was in Spain to finance a Cyma m14. Oldest gun I still have is probably my Bell 1911. Bought it in Spain about 13/14 years ago and it does NOT like the UK climate. It shoots, but with the heavy slide and tiny mags it's not great unless it's at least 20 celcius, though really it needs 25+.

Perfect! Looking at YTA at Barnsley on Sunday! Thanks for the help. Rob

Wow, just read @Emergencychimps post there. I'd add the cautionary note that I've never had any of the first set of awesome experiences, but rather more of the bullet-proof teens in joggers... and yet I'm still "gripped" (and indeed "sorted", for Fast Show aficionados) by the damned thing. If you like the idea of messing around with military stuff on the cheap (relatively speaking!) then there's fun to be had even when you're not actually pew-pewing at people. I've got a collection of guns that have me given me pleasure in spite of the fact I've only fired a few hundred rounds through 'em in the back garden since May... I'm easily pleased, it seems. Anyway, enjoy yourself

Be wary of what materials and colours you use If you can, chop up something and dye each piece …… or the easier option would be to buy some DPM

Yeah, I'm excited by the idea of this but I've got a few guns already that haven't been skirmished - I don't need another gun right now. So I'm not going to be the guinea pig. I'll happily wait for a couple of YT reviews. $455 shipped does feel rather close to the price of the known (stellar) quantity that is the TM MWS, so it needs to prove itself

Top edge wants to be roughly level with the notch between your collar bones: Back plate wants to be about the same position...except on your back. Obvs.

【CUSTOM GBB WORKSHOP】 M1A1 Paratrooper Carbine king arms gbb base deep marking remove paint Anodizing Handmade black dye wood Handmade dye detail fix ]

I've got a ghost ring rear sight on mine, it's pretty nice and more solid than the stock sight. Works really well with a fibreoptic front sight. It's worth putting some mild threadlock on the top rearsight screw; it has a tendency to work itself loose, especially if you're using higher power gases.

Not sure that you'll get green material using green dye on tan shades.

As always it is the people that make these events what they are, if you are up for it I would be willing to be the 'person you know' to get a ticket. If you joined the sovereign team that is....😉

I know we're talking about quiet, but since the thread title is "ideal sniper sidearm" I feel obliged to bring up the other side of the argument of "loud and proud". Yes the TM mk23 is, in my opinion, the best quiet sidearm, but the only time we use our sidearm when sniping is either on the move or if somebody gets too close and even then you're likely not taking out 2+ people if they're close to you with a mk23. So I introduce to you the other side of the debate and say that a compact SMG like an mp7 or mp5k or p90 would also serve as a good sidearm for a sniper. Nowhere near as silent, but if you're moving and don't want to give away your position, trust in your stealth and go to ground. If you're moving and you want to engage, you'll have a much better chance of winning that engagement against 2+ people (though the mk23 is better against 1 person by themselves for sure). Similarly, if they're within your MED and they don't know where you are, you can go to ground and wait for them to pass, or if they do know where you are again you're far more likely to win that engagement with an SMG than a mk23. Basically, a mk23 is a great pistol and I have one and would highly recommend one as a sniper sidearm if you want to go quiet. It's by far my best stealth sidearm and I used it essentially as a primary weapon with a Cyma spring tri-shot as my "secondary" at a private game at the UCAP tunnels; was hilarious people having no idea where they were getting shot from and it went well with my costume as a cyberpunk/noir corporate operative silently taking people out. Even managed to knife kill the juggernaut (knife kills were the only way to temporarily remove the juggernaut and his scary full auto LMG from game). However, it's awful at any kind of quick shooting because the trigger pull is long and squishy thanks to it being a NBB. I also have an mp7 that I carry in a thigh holster, an mp5k I carry on a sling, and more GBBs than I can shake a stick at because I love pistols and I would say they ALL have their uses as sniper sidearms (even if GBB pistols have their main selling point as "they're fun and cool to shoot") Anyway, feel free to also ignore me as your son says he wants something quiet. I'm just highlighting other considerations for sniper secondaries as someone who has been doing it for 17 years or so.

Thanks for all your input guys! I'm playing this Sunday and going to try all my mags at 30 rds plus a 90rd speed loader to see how it goes. I do want to get used to smaller capacity as I plan to get a gbbr in the future. I will update yous all after Sunday how I found it 😎

HICAPS?

It seems to be a maintenance thing, in the belief that it'll keep the bucking material (which may or may not be silicone itself) supple. Which it may or may not do. It's not going to harm them though, and if you have ten year old buckings, and silicone lube to hand, it's worth a try.

still a WIP , not based on anything other than stuff I like , not built for skirmishing just for pleasure

Bloody great German shepherd crapped on my lawn again this morning. To make matters worse his dog did a shit too.

To be honest.....there's only a couple of tweaks. If you're having fun then you're already doing it right. Personally I'd move the dump pouch to the rear and a more appropriate size helmet

Huh.. sounds a lot like what I wrote in the OP.

Could be the piston. How well maintained is it? More information is needed really, also a video of the issue.

I have got to the bottom of what’s occurring and thought I would share so anyone having the same issue might have a chance of setting it right. So the hop assembly is perfect. Absolutely nothing wrong with it. The bucking itself is in perfect condition with zero wear and everything else is exactly how it should be. the anomaly I found was on the nozzle guide. I noticed some abnormal wear along the edge where the hop dial goes over when the BCG is in its forward position. It looks like the nozzle guide plastic is ever so slightly warped towards the front end. There is a slight increment/curve upwards in the plastic which from what I can gather is causing it to catch on the hop dial (there was a slight knick out the dial in the spot I would have my hop set and wear/burs along the edge of the guide). As the dial is click forward to turn off it stands to reason that with every shot fired, as the carrier is returning to its forward position it is catching on the dial and turning it off with a few clicks every shot you take. This all rings true to the symptoms so I believe I have my culprit. the nozzle guide is very malleable so I have bent it a little, flattening out the curve and I have also shaved a mm of the plastic away along the edge in question incase it rides back up again. Inevitably I will order the AG Nozzle Guide as it’s made of a harder plastic and less likely for this to happen again but in the mean time the temp fix seems to be working as intended. I hope this information helps people experiencing the same issue now or in the future. From looking around it doesn’t appear to be a common issue so it’s nice to have an actual cause and solution.