Leaderboard

Hey folks, Val/Tony, Site manager of Battle Lakes (not owner). First of all, I'd like to acknowledge and say thankyou for your kind comments in this thread - it means a lot at this time for unrelated reasons. As some of you already know I have been part of Battle Lakes for a considerable amount of time, through the good patches and the not so good patches, driven on purely by my love for the game/hobby/spobby. I have written many games and themes over the years that have been held at Battle Lakes. Ever since it's original inception by my predecessors, Battle Lakes has always been a site that 'offers more than a regular skirmish', with a staple of that being the 2x 2 hour game times, with the second half being either a reversal, or a continuation of the mission/storyline as opposed to having 4-6 shorter based plays. It has also long been 'a semi only unless LMG' site in order to provide better Firefights and reduced overkill through less hosing of BB'S. I think the only reason The Lakes has seen such a slower and sneakier rate of game play is down to the lower number of boots on the ground, than the filmsim playstyle itself. I have been told in the past the term 'filmsim' and the different ruleset can be off putting to players - (especially the LARP aspect) but also rules such as the semi only rule (n/a LMGs), the ammo limits per deployment, where you can/cant reload your mags, box mag restrictions. Feedback has also shown that players find some of the game briefs confusing, with too much going on. For this reason we opted to run the faster paced Battle Field event (domination followed by fall back) one week and then a more story line driven, slightly more mind working event the next. Despite this, numbers have still been low on both counts and we were forced to drop to one event a month. Whilst I know Battle Lakes isn't as developed as many other sites structure wise, there are materials on site that I am slowly working through in order to bring it up to date to meet players needs, and I'm always willing to listen to suggestions from players. In regard to social Media, I'm not the best at it (having only just joined this airsoft forum), But I do intend to implement this forum more, starting with getting a Battle Lakes forum up and running in the appropriate channel. Our dedicated Gunman Battle Lakes Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/share/15RAdYzKne/ Our new players hub group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/959490256013175/?ref=share And we have Instagram - @Gunman.battle.lakes (for ease of uploading pictures I take on site during events). And @gunmanbattlelakes (managed by other gunman staff). I have always been, and will always be appreciative of the players that play at and support Battle lakes as a site. I shall put the question to the forum - What do you guys want to see from Battle Lakes? What sort of games/events would you prefer to see happening? Thankyou for reading.

Bought a bare bones Magpul PTS Masada for a super fair price, always loved it.

Maruyama MP9 & APC223 GBBs at MOA 2024 MP9 can get straight in my basket.

VFC/Marksman carrying on with their retro AR15 range with an RO633 GBBR. More info tomorrow https://x.com/marsh1913/status/1854446099626704934?s=46&t=NdJgihVM_PX1DJj3MekUDQ

Well I was going to offer a free service if you cover postage each way 🤷

Not sure if this will help or scare people away but I'm now one of the marshals there again so watch out for some sneaky wet Willie's, I mean.... No that's what I meant 😂

Evening guys, I thought it was popular enough to merit its own thread so moved the relevant posts here.👍

A Players review PTC Warrington PTC is a small Outdoor Site in Warrington, Cheshire. Run in Conjunction with BUA HQ (Bomb Up Airsoft) PTC sits on the outskirts of Warrington, just near Rixton, and is about 2 minutes drive off the M6 Junction 21. It is a former clay pigeon shooting site and as such is surrounded by tall trees and fences to camouflage the site for the locals. To get to the site you need to drive down the A57 Manchester Road, then turn off onto Moat Lane, just after the Rams wood Plant Nursery, The Left at moss side lane, Left at Prospect lane and past the Blundells Fishery, then right onto the end of Holly Bush Lane. You can't go straight off Manchester road onto Holly Bush Lane as it's a private road and the owner doesn't allow through traffic to the site unfortunately. But access is easy to get to and gets you straight into the car park. There is always a Marshall at the end of Prospect lane checking to see if you are booked in, and if you are full day or half day in order to send you to the best parking area for you. Carpark, Safe Zone, Shop, Food, Toilets The car park is a good size, But this also serves as the safe zone and Briefing area, so on busy days it can be a bit cramped. You will have to use your car as your preop area. This is good for some, who come prepared with their own tables, chairs and cover. For others, especially hire, they can be restricted as no where to sit. this is one canopy tent, but it's usually filled by regulars before anyone else turn up. and it's only enough space for 4 people on it. Shop and Food There is a BUA tent which serves as check in and also sell all the goodies you would want or need. Including, Guns, BB’s Eyepro, Gas, batteries, Clothing, Chest Rigs etc….Also there is a snack van and hot food vendor. All Decently Priced for a site. Toilets This is a bit of a niggle as there are 2 toilets. 1)The women’s toilet - is good quality shed with a Portaloo in it. The staff make it clear that only girls are aloud to use this. It's basically kept clean. 2)The Men’s toilet - is a standard plastic Portaloo and is in terrible condition. The door doesn't even lock, not that you would want it too. It’s never clean, it leans, the floor outside is unstable. I would advise a gas mask and an NBC loadout to make sure you survive. It's horrible. The toilet areas are definitely the biggest issue on this site. I'd even go so far as to say they aren't fit for use. A decent shed or portacabin with a loo and a sink are sorely needed for men and women alike. Chrono In the corridor to the fire zone there is also a shooting table to test your guns, and a chrono, where the marshals chrono and tag each gun before the brief. PTC don’t allow dry firing in the safe zone at all. See Below for the limits The layout The site is split into different sections by large slat fencing, this is good as it defines zones to play in. But at the same time these fences are sagging in many areas and The site could do with a good bout of maintenance. it's easy to work around these areas though. It doesn't ruin the feel of the site. The Site is small for an outdoor site. but it feels a comfortable size with most areas having something of value in them. there are plenty of the usually wooden barriers , tyres, water tanks etc to get behind, there are also some cars, containers, a firebase and the trap covers to use. all in all the site isn't too small or too big to play in. depending on amount of players. The Area plays well, the south and east zones are better to play in, the north west area it's very barren of stuff to fight over. The playable area is defined by fencing around the north, east and south, on the west there is a berm that runs the length of the site. you can play on the berm, but not go over the other side of it. The zones Jungle - southwest - just outside of the safe zone - not often used unless starting at Alamo. Alamo - northwest - usually a spawn area, not often used unless as a spawn point to move through. Firebase - centre - a good place to defend and expand through to the village from. Village - south - an open area with barriers and cars, the tower (now out of use) was a good space to snipe from. No Mans Land - a small area between the back firebase and the fox hole - a bit disused at present, mostly used as a through road to fix hole and firebase. Fox Hole - thick trees and bush area with the old toilets building - good area mostly used to slow down attaing forces through most areas. GB1 - right of village - a good place if spawning from Trap 8 to cover attacking forces from village and main corridor. Traps - east between all other points and the trapland - used to be clay pigeon traps and most have defendable "sheds" to play through. Trapland - East - the large open land in which most snipers feel at their most useful. filled with tyres and barriers - but no to much that it closes down the area. Player Count - There is a regular attendance of around 70 - 90 players. At times there have been 120 players on this site, which is a bit much considering the overall area of the playing zones, and the size of the car park. The site, Ideally would be great with a maximum of 80 players on the day. But it seems they just really want as many players to turn up as possible, without considering it's too many for the site. Limits would help the management of the players, it would help with maintaining a clearer car park and safe zone, The Games Apart from the odd special day where they will come up with a story, such drug cartels, or invasion missions. The game days are usually set as either TDM's or Capture the Flag or variant type games. The games run around 45 minutes each, with a break after for rearming. The games can be a bit repetitive, the main issue wis that starting locations, with small site there are limited spawn points, and it usually goes along the lines of 1 team starts at Trap 8 and the other either starts at Trap 1, or the Alamo. Which can get repetitive. but usually, it's all about how the players adapt to the locations and gameplay that defines the game and days outcome. On average there are 4/5 games in the day Balanced Teams We’ve recently found that if a day start off with a team winning easily, The marshals make no attempt at any point through the day, to rebalance the teams to make it a better day for all, even after it being mentioned by many players. Which leads to gameday either being great for 1 team, and bad for the other. If the teams are set good at the start, this usually leads to a good day for all in general. Half day bookings Players can book in for half days in the morning, and in the afternoon, pm bookings are recommended to attend half days in the afternoon, as the mornings are slow to start, and are taken up more by the safety brief and simply Marshall not pushing everyone enough to be ready on time. The safety brief for players in the afternoon is done during lunch. Hire guns Hire Guns are available, though I’ve not used them, they mostly seem to be G36c aeg's. I've not heard of any players complain that they don't work or shoot badly etc. but they have onsite tech staff who can fix or replace them if needed. FPS Limits Site limits are decent, The Marshalls make sure to chrono every gun and make sure no one is breaking fps limits. the guns are tagged, and random checks are made through the day if there are any issues. They don't however base the fps on the actual weight on the bb. They have a variance chart they run off, and don't check to make sure player stating their bb weight is genuine. It’s a good idea to use this variance table when you chrono at home to make sure you don’t go over their limits. It's also been known that players have come back after a game saying they weren't running on what they said when Chrono’s i.e.. .36’s running at 350 fps instead of .2’s. Standard - 350fps on .2's (the chrono of different weight is on a comparison sheet) DMR - 420fp on .2's and engagement range of 30 metres. (again, weigh variance off sheet) Sniper - 500 fps on .2's and 40 metre engagement range (again, weight variance off sheet) They are very strict on these results and if a gun is 1fps over the limit they refuse it as they state the limit is already at maximum hence "the limit". Which is fare. They do pull up players reported for possibly running hot and inspect guns at random. Briefings - The Safety Brief - depending on who does it, is a bit random, some have a habit of going off the list they have for safety and rant on about how everyone cheats and stop doing it. Suring a brief the Marshall said, "what do you do when you get hit?" everyone raised their hands and shouted "hit". At that point he replied, "Well why don't you do it then?" which led to an awkward silence. The safety brief need to be scripted in a way that's friendly to the players, and it's a brief, not a heavy contract, it shouldn't take 30 minutes to give a safety brief. It should be simple and quick. Marshalls shouldn't go off on a tangent. Maybe even putting a big board on the container next to the game map with these rules would help keep the brief, well, brief! The Game Briefs - Are to the point, there have been many times where the marshals get confused as to what the rules are to that game, especially if it's not a regular game. Depends who you speak to. We made sure to confirm with the Marshall who gave the brief and during the brief make sure to ask those questions, so everyone gets the same answer. There have been moments where a Marshall would come over tell you not to do what you are doing as it's against the rules, even though it was the objective of that game. Some Marshalls don't seem to pay attention to the game brief themselves. which can be a problem. other Marshalls are spot on. If the Owner does the brief, it's done well. The Marshalls - Some are good, genuinely helpful and nice people. Some I wouldn't advise interact with the paying customers are they are short tempered, ratty and can be a bit shitty to players. The owner is fantastic and is onsite every game day to check on customers and his staff alike. It's often also to see children in masks and hi-Vis Jackets that say they are Marshalls, but i think maybe the parents are marshals and just tell them that so they feel like they are involved. Which is seen as a bit of a not funny joke to the regular players. It's also been mentioned that the children often are in the way of players on the field, as the marshals will move around players to get out of the way and the kids, well, don't. Breaking the Rules - PTC are clear that there are Penalties for breaking the rules Players are to inform marshals of any issues with other players. It's made clear not to throw accusations out to other players while in game, but it's stressed to report those issues to marshals for them to follow up on. If you are found not taking hits by Marshall doing random hit checks, you will be sent out of the current game, if you do it again then you also miss the next game. If you are found taking your mask off it's the same deal. And rightly so. Depending on how bad the issue, they can also make player to leave site altogether, also facing a ban. And they’ve done this before, all for legitimately serious reasons backed by the other players. Pausing a game - Only marshals are allowed to hold the game, no one else is allowed to pass on the message - anyone found doing so will also be thrown out of a game. Any abuse, or even criticism at Marshalls, or other players is a no no at this site. Marshalls don't have any issues throwing people off site for this. They have been known to state that if you don't like it then go somewhere else. The owner, however, is open to some criticism and questions regarding the rules etc. But has limits. Gameday Costs The cost to play this site is decent, especially for members who can play a full day without hire at £20 for the day! Ful day with Hire - £45.00 Full Day without Hire - £30.00 Half Day with Hire - £25.00 Half Day without Hire - £15.00 Members - £10 off (so full day without hire would be £20!) Summary - a decent size site to play at, If the Player size, Marshall management and site issues are resolved this could be a go to for anyone. Due to it's low cost and it's location, this could be an epic site. The owner is great, the shop staff are great, the food is good, but due to the attitude of some of the of Marshalls, the lack of maintenance, and the horrible loos, it knocks it down a level or two. I would recommend at least attending this site at least once. Give it a try, you might be surprise at how well some days can go. Repeat only if you enjoy it. There are far better....And far worse, Airsoft sites. Location – 9/10 Size – 7/10 Playability - 8/10 Maintenance – 2/10 Marshal – 5/10 Services everything but the toilets 9/10, Toilets 1/10 Car Part and Safe Zone 5/10 Total 6/10 BUA HQ Website https://bombupairsoft.co.uk/?srsltid=AfmBOorMJ__I3r70MW0ap98SvEG_3UXmYYCt7SeamVDO9Rfx09hNsNUx PTC Booking https://bombupairsoft.co.uk/pages/ptc-airsoft-warrington

ParcelForce48 is the only postage service that officially take RIFs https://send.parcelforce.com/ Typically its around £12 for a boxed rifle

Given the amount of airsoft gubbins under that bed, it looks like you would be able to remove the bed frame without the mattress moving!

I really don’t get why there’s not a semi auto gas tri shot SPAS 12 in production. Feel like it’s a job for someone like North East Airsoft to take on. wouldn’t want it to eject, just run off the Marui shells would be fine

Not quite finished, but it'll do for now. I need to do a Brownells order to get a magpul angle grip, bipod and QD sling point, all m-lok direct mounts, but for now a few picatinny segments and the accessories from my mk12 MWS will do the job. At a glance it doesn't even look like an HPA gun. Alas, the 3d printed tournament lock on the "buffer tube" and the MTW markings are what gives it away

ITP Groza kit for TM Saiga 12 at MOA 2024

If you know…

As an owner of 5 ICS M4s - I would say that this one is the amongst the least desirable of their lineup due to being somewhat ugly, front-wired with the gopping PEQ box for the battery. I would also wager that this has the older internals judging by the receiver markings and the white piston (anything made in the last 8-10 years has a black piston), with an old spec upper GB casing that doesn't like new spec CS4 receivers (ask me how I found that one out). You have to bear in mind that you can now buy an ETU-equipped gun, with a better internals and paths for upgrades, for not a lot of money. So on that basis - if I saw this for sale, I wouldn't pay more than £85 for it.

Appreciate your assistance, bud.

PF48 is the only way Royal Mail will knowingly send a rif They will NOT insure anything that is gnu shaped So additional insurance is a waste of the seller/senders money

Urgggh my pet hate, pistol calibre carbines. Fucking ugly. Burn it. Why waste development time on this when there still remains an airsoft SKS missing?

A new member posting a well written and, seemingly, balanced review is something of a rarity. I was expecting a glowing review that it is the bestest site in the whole wide world and everyone should go. Well done @Matt Gordon and welcome to the dorum.

For that price you could get a TM with a spare magazine but if it's going to spend 99% of the time in a holster then an Army Armaments one would probably be ok (and alot cheaper) If you're looking at doing a British loadout Well do a copy of the Webley revolver, which being non blow back and CO2 shouldn't suffer from the problems which affect GBB pistols in cold weather

Also, just don't buy a gun with those massive cut-outs in the receiver. They do nothing other than give mud and crap a way inside it.

Congrats. Well on the way to becoming a tech 😜👍

Some thread taps. Can make my own muzzle devices now.

New helmet time

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/375766898829?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=7kdQFA1ESS2&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=HXtoCyiDS72&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media= Imagine what a 1kg bottle would cost

The platform definitely needs some work. As said, it's painfully reliant on people checking in regularly because the notification system doesn't seem to work consistently. Some people have been forward thinking enough to leave their number to contact them directly. Actually the first part isn't true. I do enquire about bargains and have bought from there as recently as within the last couple of weeks. I just happen to see a lot of questionable pricing that I would rather not see a newbie get mugged off by. 😁

I've wanted a G3 for the best part of 20 years, not sure why it's taken me this long to finally get one, and by one.. I mean a G3 and all the bits n bobs to claim five guns in one 😁 - such a modular system for it's time 😎 Started off life as a Classic Army G3SG1 Standard G3A3 config with the slim hand-guard, no rail up top, bare bones... still probably my favourite config (LCT hand-guard and stock added) : G3A4 with slim hand-guard: This is how I've currently got it setup... but where does the battery go? 🙃 Then we have the A4 with the wide hand-guard; with bipod in this case, technically making it the cod4 configuration I believe: Then the A3 with wide hand-guard - my least favourite config tbh: And then finally the G3SG1 : A few notes and ramblings on this project: By some measurements of an HK RIF this CA was a piece of crap - cocking lever made of literal margarine came flying off after maybe 5 slaps... wth is the point in having an HK replica if I can't slap the crap out of it. Anyway replaced that with a steel LCT cocking lever. slap slap slap slap... too many times a day 😏 - needed some minor modding to fit well with the CA cocking tube. The LCT furniture is NOT compatible with the CA (TM) style body and front set - both slim hand-guard and OD stock needed an annoying amount of dremeling and filing to get them to fit - but they did... eventually. LCT ribbed magazine also needed work - too tight of a fit for the CA metal body - filing of the shell needed as well as the well known fix for LCT mags - shim up from the bottom to raise the feed lips to get it to feed reliably. I've wired in a second battery harnesses through the receiver - one to the front for A4 and one to the back for A3 configs respectively. A4 stock mod 1 - added lock grooves all the way along the sliders to allow one inch increment stock position adjustments, the Original A4 stock had two positons, fully open or fully closed - I like to run mine 1-2 inches shorter than fully open: A4 stock mod 2 - I love the look of these, however they are quite uncomfortable as they sit into your collar bone, firing a real .308 off of one must be nasty. Replaced the hard rubber but pad with an inch of EVA foam cut to shape and screwed in using the original holes: I plan to add some sort of cheek riser/pad to the A4 system, thinking maybe canibolising an SVD one 🤔 Finally the most annoying mod I had to carry out was to excavate five tons of material out of the LCT slim hand-guard in order to fit a 1300mah 11.1v lipo inside around the barrel - but it's working great now and surprisingly is not that difficult to get the battery in.

My Classic Army HK53 would disagree with this statement from LCT about the LK53: "The Taiwanese company LCT is thrilled to offer the first LK53 subcarbine replica on the airsoft market."