SinisterWeasel

Cheers for all the helpful replies. I will look at testing some heavier bbs I think as I have mostly been using 0.25's as they are always available where I play, but I also did an accuracy comparison between 0.28 bb bastards and 0.25 blasters and got a noticeable better grouping with the blasters at just 12 metres or so. I will give some 0.30-0.40's a whirl and maybe write up a review, although my hunch is that brand differences are going to make as bigger difference so I will make sure they are all the same. (p.s. I cut some of the bb bastards in half and they have quite large air bubbles which are mostly centralised - but not quite - whereas the blasters had very tiny holes at random)

Very often people will say using a heavier bb increases range which I am not disputing, but does anyone know of a decent comparison test for this (vid/review)? There are quite a few accuracy comparisons at the same distance but I haven't seen anything showing a comparison for max range so I am just curious how much difference it can make outside of anecdotal estimates.

Seem a bit overkill in my opinion, if you need one playing airsoft to stop yourself knocking yourself out you probably should be wearing it everyday Useful if you want to mount a camera but other than that I wish people would be more sparing with the military grade armor to stop a bb because they are always the ones who don't feel hits. I do sound like a bitter person when I read things back.

The videos are quite helpful, it looks quite an interesting site. For those who don't use Facebook it shows several very dark rooms/buildings with all the windows boarded up - which I assume will remain the case so bring a torch. I don't have a torch mounted but I will make do with a handheld I suppose, although there is also an open outdoor section so it looks like a combo of very long and very short range game-play. Def I will hopefully see you there, I am the ugly fellow with a scoped Aug wearing realtree camo (it's all I have back from my air rifle/falconry days).

Was this the review you saw? http://www.airsoftpeak.com/ballistic-goggle-updated-version-safety-goggle-black-p-14587.html The tan colour seems to have better feedback: http://www.airsoftpeak.com/ballistic-goggle-updated-version-safety-goggle-dark-earth-p-14588.html However these aren't identical as mine have the fan at the top of the goggles, which makes a lot more sense so it clears both sides evenly. By the way I did say £35 but you can get them cheaper if you don't mind waiting for them to be delivered from China, probably over £10 less. I wanted them for last weekend though and as I was slightly sceptical about them thought a UK seller was a wise idea in case I needed t return them.

Unfortunately that website is blocked where I work so I have to use a proxy, I wasn't sure if the links would work(?) https://eu2.proxysite.com/process.php?d=joV9rFmPUEtFjsXbWlnSh9ZVOH0UxGh94NC8jzqI8%2BSvEnKQem10RnlctBnl3fiCGU30j3FkzqVUoX%2BQptmV9S9wO2%2F5A8c%3D&b=1 The £10 is to reserve your place but it's actually £25 in total "This booking is for 1�Walk On player�charged at �25 at Swindon Airsoft's�Badlands site. Located at Abingdon Airfield, Honeybottom Lane Entrance, Abingdon, OX13 6BX. Gates open at 08:30, game brief at 09:30, games start at 10:00, Finish at 16:00. To secure your place a �10 deposit is required�and the remainder is to be paid on the day. Site FPS limit is 340 FPS on a 0.20g BB�guns, 500 FPS for bolt action snipers only, no DMRs are allowed. Participant minimum age is 10 years old to play, accompanied by parent or guardian or nominated adult. Participants who are 17 years or under must wear full face masks. The minimum age of participants using pyrotechnics is 18 years." I think it's a more urban outdoor type site but I am not really sure so I was just going to go and find out. The owner mentioned there were bunkers and so forth but also that it's a snipers paradise which implies it's not going to be a cqb site. I will go either way but if anyone needs to know the details maybe just give them a call on 01793 435999

There was a chap at Warminster a week ago who had clearly modded the hell out of his AEG to make it as quiet as possible, it only made a dull thunk sound but I can't recall what it was. I think decibels makes a difference but it's also the tone, from that video the tone was a very distinctive AEG sound whereas a more muffled deeper tone like his seems to be more difficult to recognise. Stealth is on my to-do list of mods for the future.

Swindon Airsoft are opening a new site this weekend at: Abingdon Airfield Honeybottom Lane Entrance Abingdon OX13 6BX Just thought I would help spread the word, see you there.

I can't find what ballistic rating they which is annoying but they are but they are definitely a tougher polycabonate than my other rated goggles. I don't have any worries with them myself but I understand many people not wanting them without knowing the rating. Anecdotally though I can say I took several shots to the goggles no problem at close range and by snipers shooting 0.40 and it didn't leave a mark (I tested them myself before using them too). Here's a video review: Sunday was an incredibly humid and murky day so it was a great day to put them to the test especially as I was running around a great deal. The fan worked 90% well I would say although as they are so quiet I managed to accidentally switch the fan off and didn't realise until my goggles were steaming up. However even with the fan on the max setting I did get some fogging around the edges when I was particularly warm so they aren't a magic bullet, still a 100X improvement on my others though. I did find that I had to blow on the fan to get it moving the first time, possibly as they are new but something to look out for and probably a sign of the lesser quality than ESS, but at about a 1/3 of the price I expected some compromise.

Funnily enough I had accidentally left my hop up on maximum as I had previously been checking it was lined up Ok and it only chronoed at 160fps with 0.25's. I can't remember the exact number but there was a 100fps difference between max and the bbs were flying level, which does mock the process somewhat. Maybe someone could bring out a chronograph calibrator of some kind. Like a bolt gun they use to snuff out cattle and consistent to 1fps. Or perhaps a more intelligent and thought out idea.

I do understand how they work but my frustration is that a chronograph that is mathematically wrong doesn't actually work and if they are assumed to be X% wrong then you should be allowed the same percentage over the given limit. They are performing a simple mathematical calculation and shot-to-shot are consistent, it's just the inconsistency between manufacturers that is the issue. If it wasn't precise due to the reasons you give then surely you would expect the same gun to be giving highly varied results on the same chrono in different conditions? I haven't experienced this but maybe others have? As I said I am just ranting , partly because he couldn't use the £70 scope he was eager to test for the first time (which I paid half for). Simple solution is just keep your gun around 330-340 like mine already is but he didn't want to swap the spring out for the third time when he had already been given the green light. Sort it out world, you sod.

Inconsistent chronos are really starting to annoy me and I can't understand how something so simple can so drastically different site to site. My own gun has been chronoed at 20fps different between one site and the next although fortunately always below 350, which is worrying as I intended to increase the fps. Once it was over but they changed the battery in the chrono and it was fine again. My brother travelled for six hours to see me this weekend, mostly to play airsoft but he couldn't use his own gun as it chronoed at 355-360 but he was able to play a game last week with no problems. Just a bit of a rant as this doesn't need to be a problem...

Getting the gearbox out wasn't the issue, just that now it is back in I didn't notice any of the wobble or movement issue so I left it be. Maybe it is something that happens over time? The tape has fixed the arm, it was the pushing in of the pin that took the arm with it so it was ever so slightly (maybe 1/2 mm) off centre as it had a tiny bit of wiggle room. It has taken a lot of tinkering to get the hop up to remain consistent so I probably will spend the little extra to replace it with the metal one to avoid the issues next time I have to swap the bucking. Whilst I do I may as well get the new cyclinder head and piston because they are quite cheap and if I am going to have to open the gearbox to swap springs I would like to make it worth while because I find putting it back together quite frustrating, mostly due to the trigger. Even if I just keep them on standby until the current ones break. Can you recommend the best combo to maximise consistency and ideally reduce noise too? If it is lighter and improves ROF I am happy with that but I am not modding towards ROF. This is what I would be getting if left to my own devices from the website you linked to: http://begadishop.eu/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=9170 http://begadishop.eu/catalog/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=&products_id=9672 http://begadishop.eu/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=307_523_444&products_id=9333 Spring guide etc I have no idea...there are so many different things to choose!

I have just bought a pair of cheaper ESS copies which on first inspection seem rather good. Very nice carry case, very clear lenses (one clear one sunglasses) with no micro scratches and they are comfy too. The fan also has two power settings so you can leave the minimum setting running all day and they are so quiet I have to look at the fan to check if it's on (slight purr on the max setting). However I haven't used them at a game but I will on Sunday and will let you know how they perform. They were £35 so it's not the end of the world if they disappoint.

Thanks again for all your help. I spent some time looking at everything and I have finally cracked it I think. I managed to fix the feeding issue (surprisingly) by cutting up an aluminium can and using double sided tape to stick two rectangles in the magwell to block the gaps. Then I just put the mag in and pulled the trigger many times until the aluminium was bent in the right places for the trigger to still work smoothly and that's it, bit of a bodge perhaps but it does the job for now. I have a more permanent idea using cloth/leather so it has enough flex for the trigger. I also added more padding to the outer barrel so it cannot wobble as I think my issue was there was still a little bit of movement possible which could rotate the hop up chamber and barrel. However there was still a slight spin to the right when I tested it and I then wondered if it was the hop up arm itself, so I added a loop of tape around the centre to make it more secure and perfectly aligned and bingo, shooting consistent now. I think the issue was that there was a tiny bit of movement on the arm which was pushed slightly off centre when replacing the pin. I didn't actually bother adding any padding to the butt plate because everything was already rock solid and there was no movement at all, I physically couldn't make the gearbox go further forward. I don't know if this is just due to the many small differences between the various AUGs or I am missing something. FYI I also added an o-ring to the back of the hop up thinking this would improve the seal. It certainly made everything a tighter fit but from what I could tell at short range it had a very negative effect, do not make my mistake. Looking forward to seeing how things go this Sunday, thanks for the photos of the safety pin I will hopefully buy a file and get cracking on that shortly.

I will have a read through the thread you linked to this afternoon and then see what I can do about the loose bb issue. Overall I don't have any desire to go for an increased rate of fire so will just leave everything in the gearbox alone for now until something breaks (the gearbox was re-shimmed and I needed a lower power spring but that's it), but did you see a notable increase in consistency after changing the piston and piston head? My initial impression of the stock ones were that they looked pretty cheap and breakable so I expect them to be the first things I would change. I played a game yesterday and by midday my shots were swinging right again, this evening I will see if the bucking has managed to rotate and as I bought a new bucking will swap it over. Might need a bit of insulating tape to keep it steady and along with tightening the body/gearbox that should hopefully do the trick. Modding the safety is something I have already planned to do this weekend although I probably got the idea from you from another thread, I will be borrowing a Dremel. I am not sure what a baffle is i'm afraid although I may buy some soundproofing material one day and go crazy with it as a bit of stealth wouldn't hurt.

Yes you are right and I mistakenly took the 450mm figure from here: http://airsoftpro.cz/eshop/product_info.php?cPath=55_73&products_id=2462 I removed the barrel and measured it - 509mm

Thanks for all the good tips that's really helpful and I will definitely try the foam idea as I have currently bodged it with cloth-like tape just to stop it twisting but this doesn't tighten anything. As it happens I spent a few hours re-doing and adding to all the little bits and bobs with tape and o-rings to prevent barrel wobble and vibration. I did also take the hop up apart and cleaned the bucking as you were right it was indeed greasy and it wasn't quite level so I cleaned the whole area with alcohol as well, but I will try adding some tape for the seal too. Initial tests show a big improvement although there are still quite a few inconsistent shots, I tend to see a pattern where I will put 2-3 bbs ontop of each other then the same again but 1-2" away at only 15 yards or so. At long range I can't see any left/right spin (I can fire over the fence into a closed industrial estate but not use a target). I will add some more bodges to increase air seal and see how that goes although I am still keen on trying a new barrel and different bucking to try and improve things further. This is partly because most of the games around me are quite open woodland so range is king as well as just enjoying the challenge and physics behind it all. One other thing you might be able to help with is the bb feeding issue where bbs can get loose inside the casing. They are easy to get out again but it's a bit annoying, what's the best fix for this? Bit geeky but I have been discussing the physics behind barrels and thought about the idea of adding rails inside to stabilise the cushion of air. It turns out this already exists in the falcon barrels so I am possibly going to test one out.

Update already, I believe I would need a 450mm barrel and I can't actually see a prometheus in this size or anything else I have heard of.

I am going to buy a new barrel and hop up setup asap but any advice would be great to make sure I don't spend a lot of money for either inferior or just incompatible parts. My current stock setup is too inconsistent (left and right curving) as well as the hop loosening itself after firing on full auto (I have mostly fixed this but I don't trust it). So far I think my top choice for a barrel is Prometheus based on various things I have read but I am also curious about the Miracle barrel. The Prometheus suggests it has a narrow hop window though, is this really an issue? For a hop up I am not sure as the opinions are so varied, from a firefly, maple leaf and so forth which has left me a little confused although generally people lean towards an R hop being the best but very awkward to get right. Due to my inexperience I would rather go for a flat hop or something less dependent on me not being incompetent. Thanks for any and all suggestions. (P.S. Can anyone clarify if the JG Aug is compatible with Prowin M4 hop ups? http://www.evike.com/products/40058/)