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

This is all so tragically jaded 😂. I've been playing for give or take about 20 years, and for the most part it's all about the same for me. The access to decent reliable GBBRs is a big win, as is my personal access to more disposable income and being able to transport myself pretty much where ever I like. There have always been idiots, there will always be idiots. Social media is fine, its been a great way to meet like minded people to chat shit about what is, and likely always will be, a very niche hobby. Biggest 'issue' I've seen creeping in more and more is how stand off-ish and 'clique-y' it's become. Everyone seemingly wants to find a reason to hate everyone else that isn't in the group they play with, and has an attitude going in to playing that it's going to be shit. Not that the latter is anything new, airsofters hating airsoft is a founding pillar of the hobby... for reasons unknown to me. Edit: I guess I'm not shocked by the general concensus given we're in the land of the dinosaurs... a forum.

I swear I agree so much with your first post (you started the same time as me) I could have written it myself, my dad and I also used to buy guns from the battle orders book and we still have a few to this day and I miss the days of airsoft between 2005 to about 2012ish But for me, Social media ruined the hobby in my eyes, it has attracted a massive wave of absolute knuckle dragging knob heads also the same goes for YouTube cheat calling bait bullshit videos, memes that call people out and start drama, players putting other players down about their kit and their guns, regurgitated false tech advice and self proclaimed airsoft fame seeking wannabe idols Take all that shit above and throw it in the bin, then it'll be a good game again

Big personal win for me today, these puppies arrived and the gamble of going with a small reg paid off (been gradually working down from a large reg for the last few years). Fit perfectly, over the moon.

If anyone needs one, Bullseye have the Cyma M14 scope mount in stock at the sensible price of £12

To me it sorta depends if you want to go the LSW or LMG route. RPKs are the quintessential LSW and by far the most common LSW, but for good reason. V3 gearbox, large amount of external customization options, smaller and lighter than pretty much all LMGs and a lot of LSWs, its just easy to work with. When it comes to LMGs the A&K 249 (old style or middleweight) is the starter of choice by far. Generally v2 gearboxes do not hold up too well to the increased strain of LMG fire (although in the UK lower power limits will help some) so the LMG gearbox found in most A&K replicas is the goto. Now a 249 build can be a simplistic or as complicated as you want - for instance mines now approaching the $1500 mark but a lot of that is unnecessary. A 249 *can* be run stock, but personally I consider the Bullgear hop unit a must have on any LMG they support. Keep in mind the box mag will die eventually - some people get a good few years out of theirs while some people's die almost out of the box. Bullgear does make inserts to fix this problem and I consider them upgrade #2 after barrel and hop work. They increase mag size, are massively more reliable, have tuneable feed speeds, wind with trigger pull and a button, and some of their standalone mags look ace (like the circular mag I got recently. For performance I guess they'll both preform similarly OOTB, and Id do the same upgrades to both before I would personally field either (Retro Arms AK hop, new barrel and bucking for RPK, Bullgear hop, new barrel and bucking for 249). Another thing to keep in mind, a 249 (besides the featherweight which I do not recommend) will come with a box mag while a RPK will come with a high cap, meaning theres added cost to either grab more mags or a drum for the RPK. At the same time, you can easily run high caps or even mids in a RPK, and while it is possible to do the same in a 249 they dont usually work perfectly in one. I personally own probably around 15 different LSW, LMG, and GMPGs by now and I dont own a RPK as to me theyre just everywhere and I am a bit fancier haha. Personally if I went LSW Id be grabbing my L86, Galil ARM, QJB-97, or AUG HBAR before I went for a RPK, but again thats just personal preference.

For me it's whenever the person gets their rose tinted glasses out. I remember being new to airsoft and hearing all these stories about amazing events that happened "just" before I got into the sport were.......cut to a few years later and I am hearing these amazing stories about events that I went to that I thought were shit but had nuggets of gold in them. The stories tellers made it seem like every game'/event was pure gold and it wasn't shit was a couple of good moments. Chat to people now about Tier one at Stanta and lots of people will reminisce with fond memories. At the time it was basically the same event 3 times in a row at stanta with almost no variation except for a decrease in the quality of the game play and event each time. They'll chat about CAG and their events at Otterburn.....that happened like twice. Or the sandpit and how amazing it was, despite the fact they used about 10% of the site (was amazing for big event games though!). I'd always encourage people to just make the best of it now, what's happening now, what events/sites are there that exist now. Sparta closed recently (never went) and people were obviously upset to lose a great venue, well.....if it's so great - go! Don't just settle for just going to your local week in week out - get out there, vote with your feet and do the stuff that looks interesting now, before you look back on whatever site/organiser it is, cause it's just a matter of time before they close down.

I'll not deny that I have been nostalgic of late about airsoft. I'm currently stuck at home in half-term with round 2 of the 'rona so have had plenty of thinking time whilst the kids have been entertaining themselves. I don't know a lot about the airsoft skirmishing scene around the early to late 90s. I started buying RiFs at the War and Peace Show, Sussex Model Centre and Battle Orders from about 1995 onwards. Most RiFs on offer were TM. The move from springers to gas felt like going from a Spitfire to a Tornado. For me, the pre-VCRA era of airsoft, around when I started (2005), was the best time. It felt like all of the mainstream AEGs where on a fairly level playing field performance-wise, there were dedicated magazines showing us weird and wonderful new releases, it was easier to buy what you wanted, especially from Asia and there were amazing retailers like GnG2, Battle Orders and such. There were several forums which were taking off and were a hive of knowledge and insight (obviously this one still is). High end surplus kit is eye-wateringly expensive and fairly hard to source. I got my first AEG in this time - TM Beta Spetsnaz AK47 - and it was like going from a Tornado to a Typhoon. Then, Facebook arrived, along with very affordable ACM AEGs. This my be, for many, when airsoft really became 'Golden'. Between 2007-2016, airsoft seemed to massively grow (in my eyes). The costs dropped, and importing was still pretty straight-forward with a UKARA number. But a few big brands started to disappear - at least from these shores - Systema, Western Arms, Tanio Koba, Classic Army, G&G, whereas others emerged; ASG, Real Sword, A&K etc. There also seemed to be a widening gulf between out of the box performance (QC?) and what could be achieved through tinkering. It is getting easier to buy high end surplus kit. Post 2016 to present day and the effects of Brexit, a weak Pound Sterling and costs have affected, for me at least, the ability and ease of importing from abroad, especially from the once cheap Polish retailers. But the technology, innovation and range of available high-end models has increased. Bolt, E&L and LCT have grown. High end surplus kit is very easy to find on ebay. This could be other people's 'Golden Age'... When was yours?

I've just renamed my WiFi network to "police surveillance van #1” That should keep the neighbours on their toes for a while!

Best: TM HK416 ngrs. The looks are amazing (everybody want to see it upclose), it shoots lasers and I love the overall feel of it. Pure quality! So far I only have a M100 Eagle 6 spring in it. In about a week I will put a PDI tb barrel with a r-hop in it. Looking forward to see it and how much it improves. Worst: Secondhand VFC SCAR-H with a widebore barrel. I only had problems with it. Locking gearbox and a horrible fire selector. I never finished a single game with it. Had it rebuilt twice but it never worked well. Upcoming: Next week my tm mp5 sd6 should arrive. Really looking forward to it! I’m also saving for a tm MWS.

Favourite: MWS, all of them I’ve had worked flawlessly, will be picking up another soon so that will make my 6th. Best: As above, boring I know. Though the new MP5 is banging…its electric 🥲 Worst: MP9, the UK lower power version, great ROF but thing just shit itself beyond repair too many times.

Favourite: Ares L1A1, because it is an L1A1. Best: Real Sword QBZ97; it just does everything right. Worst: SRC MP5, although it became excellent once I got rid of all the SRC internals.

Favourite: LCT AMD-65. It's had issues with it's inner barrel since I got it (Accuracy is balls), but I love the ergonomics. Best: Difficult to say, probably my E&L AKM as it's been utterly reliable. Special Mention: JLS RX4, its been upgraded and fires lazers with a really straight trajectory. Sadly it's not feeding correctly at the mo. But will be my best performing rifle. Worst: KWA/Umarex Gas Tavor. Utter crap and lost a tonne of money on it.

Favourite: For value for money was my JG G3, it just worked Changed the hop rubber and wired it to Deans. Nice and lightweight Served me well Best: My first RIF, Krytac crb mkII got it used, it had a prommy barrel and rubber, literally fired laser beams Not yet had anything that compared to it Worst: AEG (Asia Electric Gun) basically a sister brand of WE, P320-M17 Was reasonably well made, but the hop was so badly designed it couldn’t apply hop from tdc EVERY shot swerved left after 15m Sold it unfielded, as I just couldn’t stand the effing thing! (Special mentions) GHK M4, just cos gbbr innit APS CAM870, Shell ejecting is fucking PIMP 😎 Still got these two Just got a TM 416D Which I can tell is going to be “speshul” after a few mags through it First game day with it this Sunday 🤞

Worst: G&G MP5A4 simply because I haven't skirmished it since upgrades. Originally, it felt like the gun had lethargy and would barely cycle on semi. Full auto was hilarious. It was like I could hear the spring compress and struggle to get that last bit of compression before the gears would cylce enough and let the gun fire. Post upgrade testing; this thing is nuts. Turned it into a high speed build and holy shit, on a 11.1v LiPo it's fast af. Just wish they made aftermarket MP5 triggers. This worst gun could very quickly change as I think i'm close to securing a deal on (what I think is) a G&G CM18 Mod 1. The idea is to fix up some small issues with it, give it a bit of TLC and see if my brother wants to airsoft. If not, turn it into a little project gun, see what I can do myself. Best: Krytac LVOA-C. Aesthetically it's fantastic. Changed the stock to a Magpul CTR one, changed to a Prometheus 6.03 barrel. Only real negative about this gun is the hop unit, specifically the hop arm. Attempting to use anything other than the original Krytac nub/tensioner was pointless. I eventually gave in and bought a Laylax/Prometheus metal hop unit which has a much better hop arm that can accept aftermarket nubs without issue. Gearbox might be noisy but it's always performed well and, so far, just keeps on working.

Worst - Tough one as I've done work to almost all of my guns and they all shoot pretty decently, but if I were to name one it would be... Evolution m40a3. It's not terrible as it takes VSR rubbers out of the box and shoots at a decent 1.02J(ish), but it's not-quite-VSR-compatible on every part, despite being marketed as VSR compatible, and I have no idea about the innards of the cylinder itself. Haven't done any work to it, so it's my worst rifle; also I don't like spring bolt actions, so there's that too. Runner up - Time to make some people mad... but my TM 416D NGRS. It's not a bad gun; it's reliable, it shoots like a laser and it's generally nice. However, the lower receiver on mine has cracked near the stock tube (I've used it... 3 times and I noticed this after the 2nd, despite not being at all rough with it) and it isn't my MWS, which just trumps it for me. It's relegated to "hang on the wall to look nice" status at this point, since if I'm not sniping, I'm using one of my GBBRs (AKM or MWS), not this. If it's too cold for the GBBRs, it's the SR-25 or m14. Best - KJW m700. Is it my best performing gun? Nah, but it's by far my favourite. Effortlessly smooth bolt pull, absolutely silent and no bloody HPA tank and line in sight. It requires a bit of set up at the start of each game day to make sure it's shooting at the power I want (a combination of type of gas, width of gas router used in the bolt and fine tuning by adjusting the hammer spring in the bolt), but once it's set up it's more consistent than you'd think a gas bolt action would be and it shoots wonderfully! Runner up - TM HK45 Tactical. My go to pistol. It's amazing. With the Hadron TDC it eliminates my one gripe about it (the hop unit is a bit crap in mine and doesn't like to engage properly) as it replaces the hop arm entirely. If I'm using a GBB pistol (and it's not a Vietnam game), I'm probably using this as my sidearm, and as a sniper I use my pistols a LOT. Was a challenge to really pick for these. I've always been one for quality over quantity, so whenever I have a gun that doesn't shoot that well I tend to work on it to make it shoot well.

Worst - my Cybergun F2000. Got it because the F2K is my favourite gun in the Battlefield 4 game, and I wanted to make a build that looked vaguely similar. I've done that, and really enjoyed that journey, but the problem was my first test-fire I thought "hah, that's a slow and noisy, must be able to make that better", so I immediately embarked on a journey of upgrading the internals. It's had one outing to a skirmish and it locked up after a handful of shots. One day it'll be great. But it'll need a proper tech to fix it, because as it stands I've rather ruined it (and feel the disappointment in myself every time I look at it). Best value - Double Eagle M906C. Keeps on truckin', it's reliable, accurate, decent range, nicely built, has all the fancy features I could want (but don't need). Of all the guns I take to skirmishes, this has been the one I end up using. Superb for the £160 I paid. Best - Really it's still the 906C at this point, but the Umarex / VFC HK416 GBBR is just wonderful in terms of wanting to pick it up, rack back the bolt (full real-steel travel!) to hear it slam back, great build quality with all the trades. And firing it is so satisfying. I don't know how accurate it is at range yet, though, hence the 906 might still 'win'. But this gun is just great from a 'gun nut' standpoint. Mentions of the Cyma M14 mean I'll look forward to taking mine for its first skirmish (next weekend). I don't think it'll ever become my favourite, the plastic stock is just too creaky. Perhaps I should've bought the SOCOM version, but this one was a very good price from the classifieds.

My worst gun has to be my Tokyo Marui XDM.45, the feed nozzle gets stuck in the feed lips, the return velocity of the recoil spring is variable depending on the weather and sometimes needs a solid palm to the rear to seat it into battery. When it does fire though, it's snappy as all fuck, basically a laser beam. Most of the time though you're locking the slide back, dropping the mag out and wondering why the fuck this thing still doesn't work before brutally slamming the slide forward to get it working again. Best gun has to be my Krytac Trident MK2, it may sound like a box of spanners smashing into each other, but it does just work. It's never skipped a beat, locked up once in it's whole life, has no modifications besides Maple Leaf bucking and ZCI hop unit. It's my backup gun that I know will just work no matter what, I have 10.3" and 5" upper receivers for it so no matter where I am playing it's always a usable backup gun whether it's CQB or outdoors. Only issue with it is it feels like a literal toy compared to my Cyma AKS74U and TM 416D Recoil. It's super light and has humorous proportions in places like the silly small charging handle. I took for granted that when I first started airsoft and bought a Krytac that despite not being the best, it was reliable, how I would love to go back to my guns just working...

Worst is pretty easy - Socom Gear M9A1. Rattled like a bag of spanners, mostly vented gas at random points through any given mag. No discernable accuracy. Looked nice though. Best for out of the box range and accuracy has been my Cyma M14 SOCOM. Whether it stays that way remains to be seen, repairs are underway after my tactical tumble. Overall best though is probably my Specna SA-A03. Bought it bloody ages ago when SA were a new thing and still OEM'd by E&C. It has one of the old red Maxx hop units with the tracer bits, ML rubber and a ZCi barrel, and a Gate Titan with an Ultimate Infinity 30k motor. Anything else is cosmetic but it's been ridiculously reliable, decent range and good accuracy.

Current worst: Cyma AKS-74u. It was a journey to make it feed on high caps, currently awaiting a nozzle swap (might do it tomorrow, once I've swapped mosfets on my M4s), hopefully I can play ONE game with it before retiring. On its defence there's fuck all left of the original gun, since I had already built a gearbox for the Dead&L krink. Current best: King Arms PDW. My least expensive build (sub €500 excluding the base gun), yet the most consistent and fun. Compact, relatively lightweight and good performance on a "budget". 9mm mags on an AR platform look mega cool and being MP5 mags they're easy to source. Best value (ever): TM Mk23, 'nuff said.

worst- agm mg42, in it's stock form the gearbox design meant it'd average about 1.074 shredded pistons per bb fired, the reciever was weak and incredibly easy to bend and the magazine mechanism was laughable literally relying on it's weak motor stalling out to prevent overfeeding. even after fixing all of these issues using in order; hpa, steel bars and an entirely different magazine all you ended up with was a pew that was far too unweildy to have any effectiveness firing from the shoulder and frankly i've never found airsoft to be very conducive to emplaced fire. it's one redeeming feature was scoring "cool points" in the safe zone. in contention- cybergun (i wanna say kwc oem?) 1911, because even if you could get it to hold co2 long enough to actually fire you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from inside said barn. was pretty though best was my jg aksu, because whilst i've had pews that were better in just about every way, that came as a result of significant expenditure of both money and effort, and when you've emptied your wallet labouring over getting a pew to shoot really well then it shooting nicely becomes a case of "well of course it does", whereas the jg always got given second place, it was assembled entirely out of secondhand parts that i either got cheap or were leftovers from other builds. it shouldn't have been good, and yet it would consistently and reliably punch well above it's weight, not sure i can ever recall fielding it and being dissappointed. in contention, the "king arms" m4, not because the gun as i got it was actually any good, quite the opposite, and not because the hideous Frankenstein it became was even really a king arms, but because it represented a journey for me. it was the gun into which i ended up becoming obsessed, chasing the fever dream that is an accurate airsoft pew, trying to acheive peak bb lobbing performance, the full circle from making all the dumb mistakes we all make in the beginning right through to the epiphany that achieving perfection was pointless in a world where the target will just shrug and play on.

Worst Classic Army Sportline P90, felt cheap, sounded like a rubber band when it shot and had sod all range. Best value CYM1 M14 sold build great range. Best gun TM 416 Recoil, just feels quality and just performs. Funnily enough had an ICS Galili had no power but great range. regret selling it considering how much they cost now.

350 for aeg 400 for DMR 500 sniper

as a general rule for accuracy overall barrel quality is more important than the nominal diameter. the limiting factor (at least mechanically) far more likely to have issues from other effects, like gas sealing, cooldown, loose barrel mounting (as in the whole hop unit/barrel subassembly not being held solid to the frame) etc.

Yeah I agree. Site design has a big part to play in this, but it feels like at a lot of sites the cover can be placed just out of range of the rental/ stock gun performance and just within range of really well set up replicas. This leads to a huddle of players behind both barricades just sat there unable to push up because there is no more cover and unable to take each other out because they don't have the range. The people with worse performing guns end up getting stuck in stalemates all the time and can cause a lot of the 'they aren't calling their hits' when they see some people can shoot that far and believe with the amount of shots they have put at the opposite cover there is no way that they could have missed even though they're just not reaching out that far. Good layouts should have some areas at longer range like this, but they should also have alternative routes with cover stacked a lot more densely to allow those without the range to move up and not get stuck in a stalemate. It isn't just rentals and new players that this affects, anyone that wants to run anything that is 'sub optimal' say a spring shot gun (heck even a gas shotgun that hasn't been HPA tapped) or some other obscure replica that is fun to use but is never going to match the performance of the completely upgraded M4 platforms. Ideally Sites would be set up to offer opportunities for both longer range slow playstyles but not discourage people pushing up and keeping the game flowing. Now when I get people come along to play airsoft for the first time I tend to lean towards suggesting going indoors because it removes the element of new players being stuck or unable to play because they feel like they don't have the range to compete with the regulars. Yes they can still be overly cautions and end up stuck places, but that is just a mental barrier to overcome not a physical limitation of the range on the replica that they are using. I will say that this is different for some big outdoor fields that host much longer games, but the ones that cater to generic weekend woodland skirmish's should try and do as much as they can to equalise the discrepancy in range and accuracy between those who have dumped thousands into their kit and those who have turned up with their mates for the first time and just want to have fun running around with a rental G36. Maybe it is just rose tinted spectacles, but I am sure that people used to have more variety of guns that they ran. The M4 platform was still popular, but now it can seem like 90% of the AEGs at a game day are an M4 variant of some kind. I somewhat understand, but it still makes me a bit sad when there are so few people I can talk to about their interesting primaries. Even some more people running AK's would be a start but they seem less and less especially as a starter gun, more and more start with an M4 rather than the AK or G36 or even MP5 that used to be more common I am sure. The whole YouTube thing bothers me because it is so far removed from what an actual gameday is like. It isn't even the fact that they cut out most of it and only show curated parts, they have to make content that is interesting to watch after all. It is that the stupid stuff they do and pass off as normal, glorifying cheating/cheater justice, making it seem like they are only going for headshots, staging things for better content or focusing on drama on/off the field gives airsoft a bad name. It makes it look like the wild west for people who have never played and gives the impression that everyone is angsty and against each other all the time. Most airsofters are nice friendly people who will help you out in the safe zone, talk about their cool kit and gear and are there to have a laugh and have fun. I guess people just hanging out, having a few laughs and a good time doesn't make for good clicks and you have to focus on the tiny amount of bad things and arguments that do happen. Also people turning up to just take pictures for their social media are just mildly annoying. So long as they aren't affecting the game play and keep them selves to themselves I don't have a problem and can't complain. But if you turn up to pose in the safe zone, then go out and pose for your mate or girlfriend to take pictures of you in game and don't actually play and then leave at lunch time why did you bother even turning up; also who is even looking at what they are posting?

Hi Guys, What are the pro and cons? It is purely user comfort and user asthetics, or is there some real truth about longer barrel / more accuracy in an Airsoft environmemnt which realistically isn't often much more than 30-50 metres. Thanks, Pat.

Oversimplified, but yeah, it's mostly a cosmetic thing. Keep in mind that the shorter the barrel is, the stiffer the spring is needed to achieve X level of power compared to a longer barrel. On the other hand, anything over 10" is essentially useless. Barrel length (assuming the cylinder, piston stroke and spring are the same) mostly affects power output. What brings the most to the table is BBs, hop up and air seal, the more consistent those three are the tighter the "groupings"

Watched that Iranian remake of Rocky tonight. Good film, but the theme songs stuck in my head. I can't stop humming Ayatollah of the Tiger.

That is, wow, sure brand new from a shop it might come to that but, damn. I want what they are taking

We’ve got another one.

Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be

That’s what happens when your swordless?!? 🤔

The op hasn't been on for nearly three years, you join & 1 minute later put up a post wanting to buy his gun that everyone else has said is not worth messing about with. Is this a school holidays thing ??? 🤔

It's a tough one for me, honestly, and so this is going to be a long post. I think I'd say that personally I enjoyed airsoft the most around when I started in 2004 up until about 2010 when I took my first break. The VCRA was a bit of a kick in the nuts, but it wasn't the end of the world, but I remember game days fondly from back then. However, I'll be talking about the reasons why the modern day is still good. Airsoft is a constantly evolving thing and that comes with both positives and negatives. Anyway, I'll list the reasons why 2004 - 2010 was my golden age: Social media wasn't as prevalent. This is THE big one for me as social media breeds a lot of what's wrong with airsoft these days. Whether it's people like Kicking Mustang making yet another "I RUIN NOOBS DAY WITH SAVAGE HEADSHOTS FROM OVERPOWERED PISTOL" video, or the milsim-elitist-geardo crowd showing off their ridiculous loadout with real NVGs and a thermal imaging drone and real-steel everything and telling you, directly or indirectly, that your gear is shit (you know the types). I think social media is the root of a lot of negative things, not just with airsoft but that's a discussion for another time I never had anywhere near the number of issues back then than I did today, with the only glaring example being when a bunch of guys from the year below us at school decided to come to a game day and rampantly didn't take their hits, but they didn't last long and after another game day or two they were completely gone. We were slinging .2s and *maybe* .25s if you were going heavy, but people still were able to take their hits reliably. It was a bit more trustworthy. Nobody chrono'd (and I'm not saying we shouldn't, definitely think it's needed these days), but we didn't really need to as there were never really any issues with people running hot guns or people getting injured (unless they came out of the box hot, which some did, but even then I don't remember seeing any injuries). I know my Dboys m4 was about 390fps out of the box or something, and I had a Warrior L96 sniper rifle without a sidearm, but I never full-auto'd people up close and never took shots within my MED. Similarly, I never had any issues with someone running some stupidly hot gun and injuring people. When I played in Spain between 2008 - 2010 (probably my absolute favourite time playing and my true "golden age") we didn't even have marshalls as "official" airsoft sites didn't exist at that point; we just showed up to abandoned urbanisations, of which there are a LOT on the south coast of Spain, and played BB wars and it was a LOT of fun. We also hired the land next to a hotel (and booked a lot of rooms at the hotel) for a weekend event and it still remains my favourite event I've ever been to; again, we had no marshalls, we had some players who organised what the games would be and the objectives and we just had fun. As you said, it was a mostly even playing field. There were some guns that were just... really good, but even fine tuning guns didn't create such a divide. The best guns I remember from back then were... A sniper on the team I was a part of had a Tanaka m700 or m40a1 or a TM VSR-10 (can't remember exactly, but it was one of those) which he had tweaked a whole lot, two German guys in Spain had KJW m700s that they had tweaked and my Cyma m14 SOCOM were the ones that immediately come to my mind. Less ghillies. I know, me, a bush wookiee, complaining about ghillies, but they're bloody everywhere now. Back then we didn't have anywhere near the number of them and if you wanted one you had to make it. I still remember as a 17 year old going to a fabric shop and buying a bunch of burlap, dyeing it three different colours in a bucket on the outside terrace in the Spanish townhouse we lived in at the time, and then tying it onto a Webtex concealment vest, supplementing it with natural foliage on the day. Nowadays, anyone can just buy a Novritsch rifle and a KMCS and be done with it. I don't think that's a bad thing (development and offering more products is generally good) but I think combined with the social media point it's making a lot of players play timid. Guess I should touch on that as well. People weren't anywhere near as... fragile(?) as they are now. People flung themselves into games and had a laugh when they got lit up, but nowadays it feels like everyone sits out of range of each other just spraying BBs at barricades. Also, if you hit someone with more than a single BB, there's every chance they're going to throw a hissy-fit over "overshooting" because 5 BBs hit them. It's part of the reason I'm ditching my ghillie for the next few game days at least, to see if I can galvanise some activity. However, I would also argue that today is the golden age: There are a LOT more players nowadays. A "very busy" day in my golden age was like... 30 players. Now, you're looking at over 100 at my local site and I know some get even more. New blood in the hobby keeps the hobby alive The sheer range of internal upgrades and how effective they are. Getting a 1.1J build to shoot accurately to 60m is pretty simple these days, where getting a bolt action to shoot 60m back in my golden age would've been considered witchcraft. I think my Cyma m14 SOCOM was a DMR at 420fps (1.6J) and it probably fired to 50m(ish) Accessibility for newer players. As I said when I was moaning about there being too many ghillies, it's incredibly easy for people to get into the hobby and do what they want. This is definitely a good thing and contributes to the hobby having a healthy player count. The guns are way higher quality than they were. Back then, you either paid a LOT for a TM, Tanaka, Systema etc, or you bought a Cyma that would probably break because the externals were made of pot metal, or you bought something where the internals would crap themselves after a small amount of use. Gear is way higher quality than it was. I remember Viper gear was utter shite back when I first played, so like with guns you either paid for some expensive Warrior Assault Systems kit, or you bought a Viper rig that fell apart. Nowadays, I have nothing against the repro brands like Viper or 8fields and have a lot of their kit; it's sturdy and does the job at a fraction of the cost, though I will always love my WAS stuff, since I still have the chest rig I used in Spain and it still works just fine and shows no sign of breaking any time soon. I'll stop waffling any more than I already have. TL:DR, 2008 - 2010 was my golden era when I was living in Spain, though that's also partially down to the sites we played at!

I can't remember the last time I attended a skirmish and it took longer than ten minutes to hear "Those cheaters aren't calling their hits!" When did that become so prevalent?

Certainly true for the agm version, it's a question of when, not if, the split box messes up the aoe enough to eat a piston. The magazine mechanism is also incredibly weak, relying on the motor stalling out to prevent overfeeding. And the reciever as described by the fella i sold mine to is "pasta" although it is possible to fit reinforcing bars inside. Can't comment on the g&g version but it's out of budget anyways.

I run an lct rpk, standard v3 gear box and AK hop unit so spare and modification parts are very easy to get hold of. Feed from a verity of mag from 2000rd auto drum mags to 30rd low cap mag, so it has some cross mag compatibility with my other guns. Full steel and laminated wood, has the look of an lmg but nice and relatively light weight to be carried/ used all day. Has a massive battery space in the stock I can fit a 7.4v 2200 mAH lipo. Only internal mods I have done is a pro win AK hop unit and a Modify flat hop up bucking for 25.g and above. I have added a lct rpk side mount to replicate the RPKN so I can use optics. The ppn3 nvg scope was to show that if the side mount can support it weight, any other optic is not a problem.

With regards to the M249 there are the G&P (uses V2 gearbox, Classic army (proprietary gearbox), A&K ( clone of Classic Army) Ares (Clone of the Classic Army gear box except the nozzle is off set and uses a proprietary tappet plate). anything else is mainly just a rebranded A&K. The classic Army clones have AOE issues and strip pistons( but are easy to work on) RPK uses a standard V3 gearbox, A&K PKP uses the Classic Army gear box, MG42 (proprietary gearbox, the gun it's self is fragile). Classic Army Stoner 96 (basically M249 internals). Oh forgot A&K M60s again ( clone Classic army gearbox same issues). Personal choice would be G&P MK23 but they are hard to get hold of and over budget. Land warrior have some relatively cheap A&K m249 in the moment and have decent parts support.

If your shoes dont feel like your shoes then they may not be your shoes. -Ghandi or some shit 2020

*ahem* Obligatory post of the thread of all threads

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