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It's not for me personally. My eye has a tendency to twitch when people say the paint job is "easy to remove". Surely returning a gun as close to its stock condition as possible makes it more resellable?

Raresoft preorder is £740. Which is mildly absurd given the other retailers. If you want to really save money, the cheapest way is buying from ProAct, as its $506USD with free EMS shipping - so even after customs and parcelfarce take their pound of flesh it'll only be £460ish.

Hi guys, Just wanted to say hello to everyone. Im new to the forum and pretty new to airsoft. Both me and my Mrs have been doing it for about 4 months now. We are midlands based and just bought our first guns and are getting all our own kit together. Glad to be on here and looking forward to interacting with other enthusiasts on here.

My current Eastern Bloc collection....

My last RIF for a while.... A Vintorez to replace the one I regretted selling a while ago!

A bit like when a fault is an "easy fix". If it's that easy then why not just do it and increase the value? Having said that it's certainly not the worst paint job I've seen

Tell that to @leez be prepared for fireworks...

VFC PPSH-41 now available in U.K. shops. Shop around though as prices vary.

Building the Ultimate Lightweight HPA LMG: My S&T M249 MK2 SAW Project Going through my airsoft collection, I realized I was missing one key piece — an LMG. Naturally, I thought: why not? I didn’t expect it to become one of the most frustrating builds of my airsoft life. From the start, I knew I was going to HPA it, especially since I had a Backdraft Phoenix engine lying around — a solid engine, though a bit inconsistent in DMR roles. Why I Picked the S&T M249 MK2 SAW Let’s be real — the S&T M249 is just a rebranded A&K Featherweight (also sold under Cybergun), but with a few advantages: V2 gearbox (sounds great at first… more on that later) Lightweight — only 4kg, compared to 5.5–6kg for most other M249s Cheap — cost me just £200 At first, the V2 gearbox and light weight seemed like a win. But that big proprietary nozzle and body flex quickly turned into a massive headache. Out-of-the-Box Performance Running a 7.4V battery, it gave me: 12 RPS 1.1J 30m accuracy with a torso-sized spread Not bad for £200. Decent compression, a metal rack piston, basic MOSFET locked to full auto. It worked — but it wasn’t good. Goals for the Build Fix the weak plastic stock Tighten up the shot spread Increase rate of fire Get consistent mag feeding The Build Process Body Flex & Rail Replacement Because the gun is so light, body flex was a huge issue — even minor misalignment can cause major problems with HPA. I replaced the plastic top and bottom rails with metal ones and added bracing plates. This significantly stiffened the gun and improved alignment. Engine & Electronics Installed the Backdraft Phoenix HPA engine and wired it to a Gate Aster II for better control. Problems started immediately: Sporadic shots Inconsistent feeding Laser shot followed by a 2-meter fart Hop-Up & Feed Ramp Hell The stock hop-up is garbage — cheap, flimsy plastic with lots of flex. Swapped to: Bullgear Featherweight M249 Hop-Up — improved consistency, but feeding issues remained Tried: Drilling stock feed ramp — BBs jammed Anttech feed ramp — flimsy 3-part design, reintroduced flex and made things worse Final Solution: Found a 3D model of the original feed ramp by Gazadonf77 Printed in PA12 nylon (MJF) via 3D People Game changer — fixed all feeding issues Bucking & Barrel Testing Bucking Results: Prometheus Purple: Good but had flyers every 5 shots Quantum: Best range (50–60m), but overhopped everything and grouping was meh Maple Leaf 60°: Winner — torso-size grouping at 50–60m with 0.30g BBs, great price-to-performance Tip: With Bullgear hop-up, use high elasticity buckings. Stiffer ones perform worse. Barrel Results: XT 6.00mm: Tight bore, low PSI, bad consistency ZCI 6.02mm: Better, but still not quite there Stalker Morpheus 6.03mm: Extended crown = more range (70m), but groupings were wild PDI 6.05mm: Winner — 55–65m range, best consistency, 2–3 inch spread. Uses more air but totally worth it. Magazines: A Comedy of Errors The stock S&T mag (9V battery) fed only 12 RPS — upgraded to 7.4V LiPo, gained speed, then shredded the gears (poor plastic internals). Tried: Lonex 200rd & EPM1: Fed great, but too low capacity for an LMG Classic Army M249 mag: Worst of all — inconsistent, weak, loud motor Novritsch M249 mag: Winner — actually a rebranded A&K 2000rd box mag, fed up to 30 RPS on both 7.4V and 9V. Responsive mic, auto shutoff, and only £75. Stock Upgrade The original SAW stock is huge and ideal for batteries, but looks awkward and feels cheap. Didn’t want to pay £50 for a CNC adapter, so: Found an STL file by CitrusPers - Stock adapter Got it printed by 3D People Now using M4 buffer tube + compact stock = lighter and more ergonomic Final Build & Cost Breakdown Part Price S&T M249 MK2 £200 PDI 6.05mm Barrel £60 Backdraft Phoenix HPA Engine £250 (already owned) Gate Aster 2 £65 (already owned) A&K 2000rd Box Mag £75 Bullgear Hop-Up Unit £60 Custom Feed Ramp & Stock Adapter (PA12) £50 Total: ~£760 Final Verdict What I have now is a lightweight LMG, feeding 0.30g–0.32g BBs reliably, with: 55–65m effective range Consistent grouping (~2–3 inch spread) 30 RPS at 1.1J 3,500–4,000 rounds per 48ci tank @ 70 PSI Great for suppressive fire, fun skirmishing, and surprising people who think it can’t reach them. Would I do it again? Probably not. Am I happy with it? Hell yes. Little video of the bad boy shooting

Welcome to the forum. I'm also Midlands based. Hopefully meet one day at a game.

Ahoy and welcome. Wait... are you telling each other the truth about how much the guns and gear costs? That's not how it's done! ?

Welcome.

Another small update. 2 more rifles and an adapted acog. First, is the L2A1 SACTARASS (semi-automatic counter terrorist assault rifle and sniper system). (HK 417) This has been seen used with uksf for many years now. With 3 different variants. 12", 16" & 20" versions. Mine is a vfc 12" version with a surefire suppressor and acog. It's current set up as seen in a few reference pics that have been floating about. The acog has also had to be adapted. So the uksf were known for sticking with the TA01, but with the RMR. Meaning it has an off set front sight and larue mount. For airsoft, they never done this. Meaning I've had to pretty much butcher 2 acogs to make one. A box standard TA01, then a TA31 rco for the RMR and off set front sight blade. Second weapon is the L80A1 (MP5K) This has been In Service for decades. So nothing special to really report here. There was another version of the MP5K, that had its sights removed!... This was known as the L90A1.

I now have one Doug

After every game I dunk it in a bucket of warm water with some sports wash or white vinegar which kills the smell generating bacteria, I used to do this with my running / football kit when the washing tablets stop working. If it gets very dirty/muddy I take the pouches etc off it and give it ago in the washing machine with the rest of my washable kit @40 degrees.

Ah, the old M202; the rockets had a nasty habit of self-igniting when being loaded.

Welcome to the money pit of fun!

Welcome aboard! What site(s) do you play at?

Welcome.

coincidentally, Evike did a video on this a couple of days ago

TBH, I just disassemble my rigs and throw them in the washing machine. I just take the pistol holster and the grenade clamps etc off the vest. But i leave the mag pouches on, as they are velcro close pouches with no dangle bits of elastic or string to get snagged in the mechanism. Run the washing machine on 40°C on sports setting with a liquid detergent tab and some scent booster granules in the drum, fabric conditioner in the drawer. Then where possible, hang outside to dry

As above, and if there's any sign of mould, dilute white vinegar spray.

Funnily enough this popped up in the whatsapp chat recently. Airtac doesnt listed it but they recommend running the N4 between 100 - 150psi ( i wish they would put it on the website it would save so many problems). As Gaintkiwi said run it at 100pis and use the NPAS. The best ones to recommend are Feda concept or Jager precision. On the stock nozzle some people complain the npas doesnt hit well but they fit great into the Guns modify nozzle.

Most times I just hang it up outside to air off. If it gets particuarly bad, put some washing gear in a bucket with warm water and give it a couple swirls/dunks. Leave for about 30 mins, rinse in clean water and hang dry.

Most of the time I just hang it up and leave it to air. If it's bad, I'll give it a hose down first.

This. Also it's worth remembering that we're using things which are relatively mass produced and put together without any precision or tuning so 2 identical guns could easily produce different noise levels depending on whether they were put together at the start or 10 minutes before the end of shift

These look insane for the price! Absolutely gorgeous gun ?

Having done a bunch of RS shooting and a lot of airsoft, there is definitely some stuff that translates over (breathing, manual of arms with GBBRs etc), but there's also a lot that very much doesn't translate over. And I always say this to people. There are a few instances where it helps to have a bolt action or DMR and I had one of those instances last game day where me and my friend were picking people off at 80m down a path with our DMRs by dropping shots onto them, while their 1.1J guns were falling well short of us. However, the vast, vast, vast majority of the time, an AEG will win the direct firefight with that bolt action or DMR because it's very easy to spray full auto at an angle and hit out to 70m+, while a bolt action or DMR is not a precision weapon in airsoft because smoothbore muskets firing spherical projectiles at less than 2.3J with a backspin to combat gravity is far from precision. Accuracy by volume is very, very applicable in airsoft. Especially with the magazine capacity of most AEGs and it's also why while I love filmsim, I dislike the rules when they say that everyone has to use RS capacity mags (and that's coming from me who basically only uses gas guns). Airsoft guns don't behave anything like real guns! A leaf won't really affect a .308 round from a real m24 that noticeably, but it will definitely affect the .48g BB coming out of my airsoft m24

feels good to get back out again photos taken by danger close airsoft photography

The marksmanship principles do translate directly into airsoft, just probably not in the way you imagine. Having the rifle butt in the shoulder is irrelevant - and not something that is dictated by the marksmanship principles. Indeed there are plenty of RS techniques that don't demand this, yet meet the principles for any particular application. With guns that are generally much lighter than the RS equivalent, and recoil that is non existent to negligible, the first two principles can be achieved rather easily, and without particular reference to more traditional positioning. The third principle (sight alignment) is clearly fundamental, but the fourth principle (shot release) is largely irrelevant, unless the gun is really being wildly waved around by the trigger pull. Factoring in the generally short airsoft ranges + inherent wild inaccuracy of our platform, fast trigger pulls will generally be better practice than a slow deliberate follow through after a shot - perhaps the exception being using a very well set up sniper rifle at the extremities of its range....

The paid promotions in reviews really puts me off. So many reviewers for other products out there that get paid from the manufacturer to do a review they like especially in my other interest of cars, so many car YouTubers I refuse to watch as the endorse terrible products just so they get a pay day from the manufacturer. Makes them dishonest reviews then.

My latest acquisition... A Kw15k pistol run with my ratnik loadout... Just need to wait for the holster to arrive and the magazine pouches so I can add them to my 6SH117

Just an update for anyone who might be interested, the above Novritsch hop unit is a direct fit for the A&K 249s, and is a beautifully-made piece. AirsoftPro also make a nice CNC hop unit, which i also have but the Novritsch is easier to get. Price is about the same, Novritsch has infinite adjustment while AirsoftPro has (i think) 10 different adjustment settings that click and lock in place.