Philby21

How about these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Blaster-Devil-0-28g-Airsoft-BB-3000-pcs-/141922061755?hash=item210b36cdbb:g:SgYAAOSw-zxWnkWG I usually use Blaster .25s and get them from eBay, 6000 for £14.99 delivered.

If you can stretch to a Krytac there's this: http://www.proairsoftsupplies.co.uk/acatalog/Krytac-Trident-CRB---Black-KTAEG_TRCRB_BK01.html The black is available to pre-order but there's a grey version that's virtually black.

Talking of Krytac, just found this: http://www.proairsoftsupplies.co.uk/acatalog/Krytac-Trident-CRB---Black-KTAEG_TRCRB_BK01.html

Cheers SD, some interesting ideas there for me to take a look at. I've been hearing a few rumours about the ETUs myself so will be avoiding for now at least. And yeah, saving for a Krytac had crossed my mind but you know what it's like when you've got money in your pocket and guns can be bought!!

Now I've upgraded my G36C as far as I want to (apart from a new motor which will be coming shortly) it's time for something new but I'm not sure what to do. Got a nice chunk of cash headed my way very soon so it's shopping time and I've got around £300-350 to play with. Originally fancied the APS ASR 111 Guardian (http://www.taiwangun.com/en/electric/asr111-guardian-ebb-full-metal-black-aps?from=listing&campaign-id=19) but from what I've heard they're not very sturdy or reliable. Quite like the look of the G&G CM16 Mod O (http://bombupairsoft.co.uk/products/gg-combat-machine-cm16-mod-0-aeg), yes it's an M4 but it still looks a little bit different. Also considering an MP5 due to the really good pricing that TaiwanGun are doing on Cyma CM.041s (http://www.taiwangun.com/en/electric-3/cm-041-cm?from=listing&campaign-id=19). Or I could get the AUG (http://www.taiwangun.com/en/electric/jg0446a-au-5g-jg?from=listing&campaign-id=19) and start a DMR build. Basically I'm looking for either a couple of guns that should be pretty good out of the box - I'll be changing hop rubbers on anything I buy pretty much straight away but just want to be able to use them for a little while without fuss - or one gun that's something better (i.e. more expensive) that I'll be able to use as standard for a bit longer before I get my wallet out for internals again!! So, what's everyone's recommendations?? Looking for ideas I might not have found or thought of. (sits back with popcorn)

I might be back to you for a less powerful spring at this rate!! Phil

Cheers Pete, Got everything safely Saturday morning, already rebuilt the gearbox and it's running fine - although I'm a little worried about my fps with how good an air seal it's got!! Thanks for your help and the speedy service, I'll be back to you as soon as I'm looking for more bits. Regards, Phil

Hi Pete, Well I've just placed an order for quite a few bits let me know if you've got a G36 cylinder head in that restock order - that was the only bit I was missing! Phil

If you want army surplus kit then there's a good place in Heswall where I've got a lot of my kit from: www.thearmynavystores.com

I know but that was the closest I found in the roughly 4 seconds I took to look!!

You know, that's exactly the one I was thinking of, looks a beast! http://www.taiwangun.com/en/electric-air-soft-guns/jg0446a-au-5g-jg?from=listing&campaign-id=19 And the AUG has the benefit of the V3 gearbox so plenty of scope for tuning. The L86 looks like an interesting idea but also looks like it weighs a ton! For comparison, the SL8 - http://www.taiwangun.com/en/electric-air-soft-guns/608-4-jg?from=listing&campaign-id=19

Well, I'm leaning towards the DMR option, the next question is obviously which base gun? I fancy something a bit different as I keep seeing 417s DMR'd so I'm thinking either SL8 or Steyr Aug?

Hi folks, About to finish off the rebuild of my G36C (opportunity for new internals courtesy of a snapped gear and knackered piston) then I've decided to grab myself an ASR111 Guardian to be a bit different - after which I'm planning on either a DMR or sniper option, just not sure which way to go? So, suggestions please, I want to start with a reasonably priced base gun that I'll then work to upgrade. The site I play at has limits of 450fps for DMR and 500 for sniper (with MED of course) so I have some scope within these power limits. I want to go for something not too unwieldy but with good scope to upgrade, I'll work on it quite a bit before skirmishing it in anger and I'll be going for as good a combination of range and accuracy as I can get without buying a Real Sword SVD! Any advice greatly appreciated No doubt this is going to be a fun can of worms!! Thanks, Phil

Good luck with that!!

Hi folks, I know this guy (Pete I think?) is a member on here and I hope he sees this! Only ordered from him once so far through his website (www.ak2m4.co.uk) but despatch was very fast and well packed, cannot fault his service. Admittedly a few things seem to be out of stock on his website but he carries plenty of alternatives and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him. I'll be placing another order for quite a few internal parts late next week (gear set, cylinder, cylinder head, piston head, shims, air nozzle - need to replace the gear set but decided to upgrade a few other bits at the same time) and don't doubt that the order will arrive promptly and safe. I'm looking forward to trying out the new toys when they arrive and I'll try and remember to add to this with how well everything performs. Phil

These guys on fleabay are doing some upgrade kits, not sure how much of a bargain they are but they claim to be closing their business: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Tactical-Quartermaster?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

Welcome to the site and welcome to a whole new addiction!!! And trust me, you're not the oldest by far - I'm 43 for a start!! I'm in Buckley and usually play at a place called the ExSite near Mold, a great bunch intent on enjoying the sport and having a good time with a strong sense of fair play. Roughly 200 acre woodland site with various structures we use and a mix of play styles during a typical Sunday game. Sadly I won't be going for a few weeks as I'm busy with other stuff - such as the NEC bike show - so you're also not the only biker!! It's worth going to a game as soon as you can, it's very different from paintball and a hell of a lot more fun. All the best, Phil

I obviously don't have a huge amount of experience on this but I can vouch for the ZCI making a huge difference

Update: Bought a ZCI barrel from Socom (great service) and a Prometheus purple hop rubber, installed them both and then found out that my original barrel was slightly longer but I thought I'd give it a try anyway. Got to site yesterday and spend 5 minutes setting up the hop. Found I was getting amazing range and accuracy straight away, hitting the head of a man shaped target a good distance away consistently - even on full auto!! Then went through a full hi-cap mag in the next 5 minutes because I was having so much fun! The rest of the day was spent with a lot of people trying to stay clear of anywhere I was aiming, with one poor guy ending up with a large lump on his forehead - he'd just taken out one of my team mates and made the mistake of popping his head out where I could see him again. I genuinely felt sorry for the guy! We were playing in an old quarry with a sort of ravine in one section with caves etc, I was on one side and a few of my team were on the other, one of them decided to take a few fun shots at me, I pointed my gun and them and they didn't move - then I fired a couple of shots. Lots of shouts of "F*CK" and people diving for cover!! Seriously guys, huge thanks for the excellent advice from a relative newbie (only been playing about 6 months and already have a huge shopping list) and I can highly recommend ZCI barrels!! Next steps, install the deans connectors then upgrade the hop unit itself once I've found a mag well with the little tube bit on the top that SRC's don't have. Phil PS I know I should have taken a couple of photos, especially if I could have got my camera settings sorted to focus down the barrel to see the polish level inside it, massively better than I was expecting.

Right, revised upgrade plan: Stage 1: Deans connectors TBB, probably ZCI if I can get one the right length Prommy hop rubber (won't be able to do anything about the nub etc until I change the hop unit due to the odd SRC design) Stage 2: SHS tune up kit but with 16:1 gears (the kit comes with 13:1 but I'll keep them for later upgrades) SHS hi torque motor SHS tappet plate Correct AoE Test then maybe consider dropping two teeth off the piston (the one in the SHS kit has 3 steel) Stage 3: (maybe) Upgrade wiring Mosfet Lipo conversion For all I know I might end up doing stage 1 and end up really happy with the results and not bother with the rest but I do like fiddling with stuff and want to learn how these things all go/work together, that way when I decide on my next project (not sure what yet but got MP5 and maybe M4 on the shopping list) I'll have a better idea of what I'm doing. Any additional advice always welcome. Phil

Thanks guys, loads of excellent tips i'm gathering here so looks like I will be modifying my upgrade plans slightly. On the mobile at work at the moment so will update when I get home later and see what everyone thinks.

Cheers Hef, always good to get a personal recommendation. I notice you have Tippman M4s - had a play with one last Sunday, what an awesome piece of kit that is!! I really have to stop trying other people's guns, my shopping list is getting huge!!

I don't think I've heard mention of ZCI before, just looked them up and AK2M4 (seemingly the only UK supplier) don't appear to have stock in the right size but I'll email them and see what they say, definitely cheaper though!! And I probably will do the Deans conversion, not exactly an expensive or complex job (I did studied electronics at university so know what I'm doing with a soldering iron).

Hi all you wonderful, smart and helpful folks, So, I bought an SR36C (V3) from a friend, skirmished it a couple of times, done a bit of research and they seem to be a pretty reasonable gun apart from the original hop (changed the rubber for now). I've done a bit of reading and decided I want more range and accuracy plus I'm going to use fiddling with this gun to learn before I move on to anything else. My current plan is to upgrade the internals (not worried about the externals, it's black and gun shaped, that'll do for now) in two stages: Stage 1: Madbull 6.03 barrel (I've heard a lot of mixed opinions on these but as this is my first go I'm not going to go mad splashing loads of cash on this) Prometheus Purple hop rubber Stage 2: SHS hi torque motor SHS full tune up set (13:1 gear set, piston etc etc) (maybe the SHS tappet plate upgrade to complete the set lol) I might also change the hop unit to something better (not sure what yet) but to do that I'll either have to mod the mag well or fit one from another make (JG/Cyma whatever) due to the design being different from just about every other make out there. (Playing with LiPo/Deans/Mosfets is something I'm going to leave until I have a lot more confidence!) From my scouring of this board and reading as much as possible this lot should give me good range, good consistency and a good rate of fire (even higher if I remove a tooth or two from the piston) and should leave me with a solid gun that'll eventually become my back up when I move on to my next project. My questions from this and the bits I'm not sure about are - what greases/lubricants will I need in my tool kit for the gearbox and what bits etc do I need to shim it?? Thanks in advance guys and once I get going on all this I'll post some pics up on what I do and how well it goes, might be useful from a virtual beginner's point of view (says the guy who's quite happy to strip down a motorcycle/car engine or PC or whatever lol). Phil

Can we find a student somewhere wanting to research ballistics for his/her PHD? Could get all this sorted for us!!