Chock

The real trademarks are copyright (things like the Colt prancing horse logo, the words AR15, M16, M4 etc, and of course the text Colt Firearms Division, Colt Industries, Hartford, Conn, USA, next to the safety) so it would actually be illegal to have them engraved on without the permission of Colt, although it's doubtful Colt would come after you, especially since they would not know about it, although they have been known to be quite litigious in the past, they've sued a few other arms manufacturers for describing products as 'M4 type weapons' and even sued the US Army (and won) over who actually owned the M16 name. So finding a company prepared to break the law and engrave it might be tricky if the company is aware of how snotty Colt can be over their trademark. But, you could always simply do it yourself by knocking the trademarks up in Photoshop, printing a waterslide transfer off a laser printer, then fixing it with flat spray varnish. If you want assistance with that, I am an Adobe Certified Instructor in Photoshop, so I can knock it up for you.

I barely expect my GBB 1911 to get the entire contents of the mag off, let alone a reload of the thing, whereas my GBB MP5 mags could probably get off one and a half loads without a refill. A lot depends on the gun, the action of it, the seals, etc, regardless of temperature, although at this time of year you might see performance drop a little bit anyway. Personally, I regard any GBB mag as needing a re-gas any time I reload it, which is not a bad way to treat them, since you should never really let a mag go completely empty of gas, as it would allow the seals to loosen.

Welcome aboard. Quite a lot of milsim types on here, so I'm sure you'll get plenty of info on that. Incidentally, your 'MP5 with a 600 round mag' comment really made me laugh my ass off, so thanks for that. My GBB MP5K blows off its entire 20 round mag in about a second on full auto, so it's about as much use as a chocolate teapot unless on semi, although what it lacks in practicality on full auto, it makes up for in comedy value. Who said the Germans don't have a sense of humour eh?

Definitely want a notebook and something to keep it in so it stays dry, and don't forget a pen and a pencil. I use one of those crappy little short pencils you get in places like Ikea and in the booths at polling stations, and I've sharpened it at both ends on the offchance the lead in it breaks, other one is a short black felt tip type pen (biros will often stop working in cold and damp, so avoid those, but at a push, you can get a biro going in the cold by scribbling on the rubber heel of your boot). Make some notes at the morning briefing, as it's often difficult to remember all the details later on. I'd recommend having a plan view map of the site, with the scale and elevation marked so you will know approximate distances and slopes, especially if you don't know the place. You can 'google earth it', which will tell you elevations above sea level and distances, then use that info to draw a simplified version of the layout onto paper, or thin material if you want it to be easily foldable and more durable, you can 'laminate' paper with clingfilm and sellotape if you want it to be waterproof but still foldable, and doing that will also let you mark it with a felt tipped pen which can later be rubbed off. Your map doesn't have to be a work of art, keep it simple and you can use it to point stuff out to others. If it is a large site, then remember to take a compass, or your map will be useless to you unless you familiarise yourself with a few easily recognisable locations, after all, a recce is what any half decent soldier will do. At a push, it's often the case that moss will grow mostly on the northern side of trees and outbuildings, so you can (sometimes) use that to orient yourself if you don't have a compass. If you and your buddy don't have radios, then you should get some, ideally what you want is some PMR 446 radios. Don't have to spend a fortune, see here for some cheap (13 quid for a pair) but usable ones: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111331756228?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Don't forget some spare batteries for them (AAA), and check that they work, anyone who's ever read about Bravo Two Zero will know how tits up things can go if you don't have a working radio, and there is a very good chance that others at the milsim will be using PMRs, so make a note of frequencies and callsigns they are using in that notebook. Nothing worse than having a radio and not having the correct freqs, again, see Bravo Two Zero for some world-class stupidity on that score. Some sort of watch is handy, don't rely on the clock on your mobile phone, that's too much arsing about in a firefight, use an actual wristwatch, with a second hand, and make sure it is set to GMT exactly to the second, because everyone else who is taking it seriously will have done that, so that they can coordinate operations, and you don't wanna look like the 'FNG'. If you wanna go all 'authentic' here's where you can get a US army watch cheap: http://www.sofmilitary.co.uk/mwc-us-military-watch.-product,12312 If you wanna go all 'Nam', here's where you can get a period 1969 US army watch: http://www.sofmilitary.co.uk/us-army-vietnam-watch-product,14376 Obviously you need some cooking gear for making a brew and stuff, take some (waterproof) matches. You can simply rub ordinary matches on a candle to make them waterproof, although make sure they are not safety matches, you want the ones you can strike on anything. I'd also recommend a Zippo (or a cheap two quid knockoff copy of one will do, since a genuine Zippo is about 25 quid). A Zippo will light (and stay lit) even in very strong wind and rain, which is what you want when trying to light an army stove. Fill the thing up right before you set off and it will last all weekend, and make sure the flint is good. Don't put a just-filled Zippo in your pocket close to your skin, leave it a while to let some of the petrol evaporate or the petrol will irritate your skin when it comes into contact with it when in your pocket. If you don't have cooking gear, look on ebay for 'hexamine stove' (beloved of armies and survivalist nutters all around the world), you should find one for about three quid, although you might want to get more fuels bricks for it than it comes with. They are small and don't weigh much at all. Don't forget a mess tin and some utensils (wash them out if they are new). Note that hexamine bricks are a skin irritant, so don't handle them for prolonged periods, preferably use gloves, and don't use a hexamine stove in an enclosed space, the bricks emit some toxic fumes when burning, which is fine out in the open, but not good in an enclosed space. Don't let a hexamine brick touch your food either, they are not finger-lickin' good. When it comes to food to take, things such as oatmeal blocks, instant packet soup, crackers and that kind of thing are good, being light and providing a decent amount of calories (reckon on burning about 2,000 calories a day and you'll be able to work out how much stuff to take). A stiff tea with craploads of sugar in it will give you plenty of energy fast, and some teabags, sugar packets and powdered milk do not weigh much or take up much space. Don't forget a water bottle of course, it's hard to make a brew without water! Take some gaffer/duct tape and a folding knife. You can fix almost anything with those two things, so you should always have that in your webbing.

Yup, I reinforced the lens on my C8 too, also using blister pack clear acetate, fixed on with black electrical tape, which means it still looks okay, as I think it would be smashed by a 300+ fps BB without that extra protection. I saw a guy get his tac light shot out a few weeks ago, it didn't smash the bulb, but the front glass was gone, so I know it can happen, and in dark CQB, your light is going to be someone's aim point.

If it helps, a 100 watt bulb is about 1600 lumens, 40 watt bulb is about 450 lumens, my tac light on my M4 is 800 lumens, i.e. the one I put a link to on this thread (but it is a very bright light with a beam that will go out to about 500 metres, so probably way more than strictly necessary for CQB). What that tells you is that you can't easily compare the lumen output of a bulb with how decent it will be in torch, since a torch has a reflector that projects all of the light into one beam, whereas a bulb is radiating it in a spherical pattern. Therefore, a maglite with about 70 lumens will be fairly decent, and something that is 200 lumens will probably be pretty damn good. Just get that one I linked to, you won't be disappointed, especially for 15 quid, trust me.

Well if you are an engineer and good with your hands, then go for it, get something you like. One thing an airsoft gun will certainly allow you to do, is tinker with it, although don't forget, as others have noted, that you need to budget for other bits and bobs too. Not that getting those other bits has to be hugely expensive, but it might include a spare mag, some kind of get up to carry it in, some goggles and lower face protection (or a mask), some decent boots if you don't already possess some, possibly some combat clothing, gloves, maybe a tac light for the rifle, possibly a back up weapon, although that doesn't need to be another gun, it could simply be a training knife for a tenner, and of course, some ammo to fire at us all if you meet us on the battlefield. If you needed all that stuff, you'll probably be looking at at least another ton, probably more like 150 quid, although that'd still leave you with 250 for the rifle out of a 400 quid budget, and there are a lot of nice airsoft rifles kicking about for 250 quid. Of course the nice thing about airsoft is that it can be a relatively cheap hobby once the initial outlay is over and done with, although the temptation to keep on buying the latest shiny thing is strong in when it comes to airsoft, as no doubt everyone on here will testify. One look at the number of replies on the 'what have you just bought?' thread will confirm that; hardly a day goes by without that one getting a few new replies on it.

Me too. I know it's a bit boring in comparison to some other weapons, and loads of people use them (including me). But getting something like a Combat Machine M4 is a very good starting point and one which won't leave you either bankrupt or unable to do CQB and woodland fighting.

I think the 'lack of stealth' issue from rattling high cap mags is a bit overstated. True, the noise is annoying and it doesn't help with the sense of realism, but it sounds worse than it is in terms of stealth because you are holding the gun close to yourself; it's not like others can hear those BBs rattling from vast distances and instantly have a terminator-like bearing on your position, even less so if you keep the mag topped up at respawns and breaks so those BBs aren't clanking around in a mostly empty mag. And let's not forget that the sound they make is usually a reasonably okay guide to how many rounds you have in there, so it's not all bad news if you are expecting a protracted firefight. Yes, if you are on one side of a doorway and someone is on the other in CQB they might hear it, but to be honest, they'll probably also hear the scuff of your boots, footsteps, the rustle of equipment, see your tac light flash on a wall, hear your team's voices, hear your radio, or if you have a metal AK that is anything like the real thing, most likely hear the fire selector switch going 'clack' from 2,000 yards away as you put it on semi. If that rattle does bother you however, you can simply get some extra mags and change to a full one, then dump the contents of the half-full one before you stick it in your vest and move out. Sorted.

Grover, the above quote from Ian is some of the best advice you will find on this thread. You will discover your own 'style' based on experiences at skirmishes, and you may be surprised by what that style eventually turns out to be. After all, it would be a shame if you spent 400 quid on a gun which offered pinpoint accuracy, only to find after a few skirmishes, that what you'd really like to be doing is giving the bad guys a quick burst to keep their heads down, followed by lobbing a grenade at them, meaning you could have got a 150 quid carbine or SMG and had 250 quid left over to spend on grenades. In other words, you are wise to not be in too much of a rush to line an airsoft shop's pockets with 400 notes, before you know exactly what that would be best spent on.

True enough. Eye of the beholder and all that, and of course anyone can put anything they like on their gun, because it is their gun

In airsoft there is a reason to have an optic on an AK, since the externals are largely cosmetic, thus with similar internals to other weapons, an airsoft AK47 can be as accurate as any other rifle, but in terms of a realistic - or even aesthetically pleasing - look, I completely agree that an AK looks preposterous with an optical sight on it, it's just not what the AK47 is about. It looks about as right as putting a telescopic sight on a shotgun would. The AK47 is an assault rifle - it was never intended to be a super-accurate weapon, it's designed to be operated by troops with limited training, specifically for peppering fire at the bad guys to keep their heads down whilst your comrades move up into grenade tossing range, - i.e. it is a rifle for making an assault with. In fact, in Soviet doctrine, the AK is pretty much regarded as a disposable weapon if need be, which is hardly the thing you'd do if it had, and could make use of, an expensive optical sight. Even the SVD, which was designed to use an optic, was never regarded as something which would always make one shot kills, that's why the Soviets made the SVD a semi-automatic weapon. At the time the SVD was considered unusual by Western analysts for what they regarded as a 'sniper rifle', when in fact it is - and always was - a squad marksman's rifle rather than a sniper weapon, intended to be deployed in fairly large numbers at section level. The Soviets have always been pragmatic realists when it comes to their military, well aware that intricate plans almost always go awry the moment the shooting starts, thus their doctrine is about fielding large numbers, ease of use, ease of production, and weight of fire. It's rarely, if ever, been about pinpoint accuracy. Putting an optical sight on an AK is like putting a set of spoilers on a milk float.

I think most people who do airsoft go for at least some sort of 'look' that they personally like, be it a fully accurate military unit appearance, or something more esoteric. You'll find a lot of posts on here about how best to get certain looks, lots of people have more than one of these too, since we all tend to have an interest in a few theatres of war or periods in history. Personally, I have a preference for a bit of a SWAT type of look for indoor stuff, and a US Army Vietnam War look for outdoor stuff, but I've got a bunch or Russian gear too, some of which makes an appearance when it turns a bit colder (for obvious reasons). any excuse to run about with an AK or a Dragunov is no bad thing.

Depends on what kind of AK you want it to look like. Much of the time you can get a bit of a hint at where the AK originated from by the furniture colour, but this is only sometimes true, for example, Bulgarian AKs tend to have wood that looks a lot like a nice mahogany sideboard, Romanian tend to look very orange, Czech ones are often a pale brown, Russian ones are kind of reddish plum coloured, Chinese ones (type 56) use Manchurian Catalpa, but they tend to stain it a reddish orange and shellac the living crap out of it. However, the Chicom Type 56 has quite a few visual differences to proper Russian Kalashnikovs, notably a slightly different compensator and front sight. To make a proper 'cliche AK' furniture colour, what you wanna do is sand it down, stain the wood a mahogany colour, let that dry and then overpaint that with either Tamiya X-26 clear orange acrylic (for an Romanian type look), or Tamiya X-27 clear red acrylic (for a more reddish, typical Russkie/Chicom look). This will give it the horrendous varnish effect that most real AKs have, believe it or not, that even works on plastic stocks, although it does take the wood stain ages to dry. Here's my old completely plastic CYMA springer AK47 front grip painted up using that exact technique, finished with X-26 acrylic:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181479919374?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT Got one of these on my M4, recommended. Very decent. Only fifteen quid too.

Yeah it is most definitely in use, I had custard fairly recen - oh wait, I see what you mean...

Yup, the G36 would not be a bad choice, suitable for CQB and longer ranged stuff (except in real life, where it's apparently prone to overheating which makes it rubbish at anything past 100 metres when using sustained fire). Many airsoft sites favour the Jing Gong (JG) G36C, which can be had for about 150 quid new, although you can find ex-hire ones for about 50 quid if you look about. That's because they come with a high capacity mag which can take about 500 BBs, so the hire sites don't have to worry about handing out mags or showing people how to load new mags into them, and they are light and fairly tough too. And unlike the real G36, an airsoft G36 can cheerfully be fired all day long with the stock folded away, making them quite a cool CQB weapon able to fit into tight spaces. Firing the real G36 with the stock folded, whilst possible, is not recommended as it does apparently eventually cause damage to it, which is worth noting if you like looking 'realistic'.

Yeah, I was hardly being serious, although as a kid I genuinely did used to wonder about stuff like that; I recall that thought occurring to me when I was shown that custard experiment. For example I used to watch sic-fi programs where they'd be firing lasers at space fighters and wonder why they didn't just put a mirror coating on them to deflect the laser beams (of course I know these days that such a mirror would only work for various wavelengths of light, so the reflective particles would need to be tuneable to certain wavelengths, but evidently that is possible to do these days). Naturally, the other advantage of being in a Custard-armoured facility whilst awaiting the arrival some MARV warheads from a Russian submarine, is that you can tuck into a tasty custard-based dessert whilst awaiting your own just desert, safe in the knowledge that at least when you've popped off, the custard will still be warm for quite some time, as it will spend the next 400 years being gently microwaved.

Although neither are bull pup configurations, the FN SCAR-L and H&K 416 seem like obvious candidates. Both were conceived as M4 replacements/supplementary spec op weapons), so both were designed to use NATO STANAG magazines (i.e. M16/M4-type magazines for the 5.56x45mm NATO round). Thus any airsoft SCAR-L or H&K 416 would be able to use M4 magazines (although obviously either AEG or GBB dependent on the weapon type). Be sure to look only at SCAR-L variants if you consider the SCAR, the SCAR-L is 5.56mm, so it uses STANAG (M-16/M4-type mags), the SCAR-H is the heavier calibre variant, so it uses NATO 7.62x51mm ammunition (i.e. it won't be using M4/M16 mags). The APS UAR is interesting and it does have some nice features, but to be brutally honest it feels (and looks) like a cheap and nasty plastic rifle when you actually see and hold it. Moreover, I would be wary of a unique design when it comes to intending it to be an upgrade project, as - being a unique design - it is likely to not have a vast array of custom parts available for it which would fit without modification, although if you are happy with DIY and have plenty of tools, then that would not be an issue, and it will be compatible (internally) with a lot of bits and pieces. Here's a decent H&K 416 that's inside your budget, is pre-upgraded with a few bits and bobs, such as a mosfet, high torque motor, tight bore barrel and improved wiring, and has rails, is metal, and is below 3kg in weight. It's not a bull pup, but then again, the barrel length advantage of a bull pup on a real firearm is irrelevant on an airsoft weapon, since barrel length has a negligible effect on the muzzle velocity, stability, range and accuracy of an airsoft weapon: http://www.swindonairsoft.co.uk/pc/G-G-TR4-18-GEN3-Mosfet-p480.htm As far as the SCAR-L is concerned, most of them will be a tad over your 3Kg weight preference, but there are a lot of them available from different makers and that gives you plenty of leeway on pricing and features. Here's a few of them: If you can stretch to another 75 notes, then the best SCAR-L would be this one: http://www.fire-support.co.uk/product/marui-recoil-scarl-tan-airsoft-gun-ebb-aeg Staying inside your budget (by a mere 5 pence), is this one: http://www.sharpshooting.co.uk/airsoft-rifles-bb/softair/fn-scar-l-fn-herstal-scar-black/flypage.tpl.html or this one (which is a mere 1 pence inside your budget, although out of the box it will be too hot for most UK airsoft sites, but they can downgrade it for you ): http://www.patrolbase.co.uk/airsoft/gandg-armament-scar-l-black.htm#.VDZX_Euln8s

As a kid I always wondered why the military boffins had never considered impact shear thickening as an armour concept, although I guess looking at that link, that they were doing so and these things take time to develop; I remember as a kid being shown the fairly well known experiment which demonstrates shear thickening, the one where you can punch a bowl of thin custard and it doesn't splash everywhere but instead changes its consistency under a high energy impact, as a result of shear thickening. Can't wait to see an M1 Abrams covered in custard, although as an unexpected bonus it will be the right colour for desert camo. This of course also means that in the event of a nuclear attack upon the UK, the safest place to be will be the Bird's Custard factory in Birmingham, anything which makes it through the outer layer of ballistic custard armour will be deflected by a custard powder dust explosion which will work the same as explosive reactive armour. Custard - the snack you can eat between meals without affecting your appetite for destruction

You could fairly easily modify the AGM airsoft STEN to look like one. All the other bits you'd need could be fairly easily created with mild steel sheet, a coping saw and a brazing torch. Of course changing the feed and firing mechanism might not be quite so simple, but certainly not impossible, and in fact the gravity-fed aspect of a top magazine might actually help a great deal with an airsoft weapon. You would also have to relocate the battery, which is in the tubular stock on the AGM STEN. But you've got a few choices there, the housing for the trigger mechanism, the fore grip and the stock (if you go for the solid stock variant) would all fit a small battery. Personally, if I was going to go to the trouble of converting one, I'd convert a few and sell them to reenactors, since users of the Owen would include Aussie, NZ and US WW2 troops, Aussies in Korea and Vietnam, Pathet Lao, Viet Minh, Viet Cong, Khmer Rouge, and (allegedly) various special forces from Oz, UK and US, so you'd probably find quite a few takers and have little trouble recouping the investment. In case you don't have this link, here's a nice page with lots of info on the Owen, including diagrams, cutaways and technical info on the internals: http://www.forgottenweapons.com/submachine-guns/owen-smg/

They're alright for skirmishing, I have the 09 model, which is essentially the same internals, but all GBBs struggle a bit in low temperatures because of the way they function to propel the BB, as well as the drop in pressure of the surrounding air mass to some extent. The build quality of them is not the best as you have doubtless realised by now, which is only to be expected on a GBB pistol which you can buy new for less than sixty notes, however, It'll do for a while, but you will probably want something a bit better eventually. That said, the mags are okay and can be used with other pistols (since a mag costs about 14 quid anyway), so it's not like it is a completely dead-end investment even when the thing falls to bits, which it may well do eventually if the amount of rattling mine makes is anything to go by; some of the slack tolerances on them make the AK-47 look like it was precision-built by NASA in comparison.

So what features do you like on the ASG Scorpion EVO that you want in something else? Semi/Full/Three round burst? Folding three position stock? Quick change spring? Mosfet? Electronic audio warnings? GBB-style empty mag stop fire? The need to rack it to fire a new mag? You might not find all those features on another weapon, so it would help to know which ones you like if you are looking for alternative suggestions from people. If you want to avoid AKs and M4s, that's still going to leave you with a lot of scope: SIGs, Steyrs, H&Ks, L85s etc, loads of choices, so what configuration do you prefer? assault rifles? SMGs? machine pistols? futuristic bullpup designs? old fashioned wood stocks? Modern weapons, classic WW2 designs?

Welcome aboard.

Yup, here you go: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111331756228?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT And yes, you can turn off the roger beep on them, although the manual is a bit 'Chinglish' Still, it's not like there's a million buttons on the things, so you hardly really need the manual anyway.