Rogerborg

Searches for Z87 seem reeeeally keen on selling me the spec, but from what I can determine, claimed impact protection for Z87, Z87.1 or Z871+ is actually pretty decent. That's claimed, of course. If you want to know if they'll protect your eyes, the only way to tell is to light them up from point blank range with the hottest gun and the heaviest BBs that you have. That applies to any sort of eye protection used for airsoft. Plenty of folk play with basic-bitch ballistic glasses that cannot be rated higher than EN166-F (insufficient for airsoft) which they just assume are good enough. And for most impacts, under most circumstances, they are.

Mmm. I'd just urge you to actually play some - or a lot of - airsoft with what you have before spending any more. Hop buckings and barrels (I like Maple Leaf, and ZCI or AOLS) can help a bit, but at the end (middle, and start) of the day, you've got what you need to enjoy yourself.

I mean that stock is better than badly "upgraded". I keep quoting that because it's what you'll see claimed a lot in adverts, but it doesn't really mean much other than that the owner has spent more money (and might think they can recoup it). Personally I wouldn't touch a TM recoil because they shoot weak as stock and don't seem to enjoy having even spring changes. However, they have lots of happy owners, and presumably they aren't all kidding themselves, so please don't pay too much attention to my aversion. I think this is the third time it's been said, but that's a risible fantasy claim. There is no magic that can make a 1.1J airsoft gun shoot to 90m, let alone do so effectively, even with heavy BBs and perfect hop. Honestly, airsoft physics is real physics. Maximum range is limited by muzzle energy, and 90m needs 2J+. Effective range will be somewhere less than that, down to getting your hop spot on, and consistency. A lot of that is luck in what you actually get - Ex-Workmate Eddy's basic and completely stock G&G CM16, for example, is an absolute peach of an example: the shimming sounds spot on, he set the (basic dial) hop about three years ago and it's not budged a micron since, and it still shoots more consistently than any of my guns, stock or upgraded. 280fps with a 0.25g BB. See http://www.coderedairsoftpark.com/pages/park-rules-and-hours/fps-calculator.php - that's about 0.91J, which would be about 310-315fps on a 0.2g, although you generally get some energy variance on different masses of BB. I'd say that's sufficient for woodland, although I'm a bit of a whore for chasing site limits.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what you come up with. 7mm of EVA does a great job of taking all the sting out of hits, and you can usually still hear or feel them. That's in CQB, mind, and I have had some issues with God-mode. I doubt it's worse than folk wearing plate carriers or thicc staxxs of mags, it's just a lot more obvious that you're "armoured". So when I'm wearing it, I over-call hits. If I so much as see someone pointing a finger at me at close-ish range, I'll call a hit, rather than get a reputation for dodging.

You don't need to spend more than the base price. I'm going against my own principles here, as I consider stock TMs to be piss-weak at about 0.72J ("280fps") and wouldn't be satisfied with that. But plenty of owners have convinced themselves that's they're sufficient for woodland. And it is true that shot-to-shot consistency is critical for effective range. However, I'll re-iterate the (quite serious) point of that video I posted earlier, and its part 2, that a cheap CYMA, cleaned and fed 0.28g BBs, will shoot pretty much as well any other airsoft gun, and a lot better than some that cost many times more, "upgraded" or otherwise. Everything beyond that is down to how it makes you feel based on its construction and features, and that's highly subjective. If you need recoil and bolt lock, you need them, but you're sharply limiting your choice. On where to buy and how much to pay, as you've found, stocking (and re-stocking) is dire in the UK at the moment. I wouldn't trust any promises about future availability, and I certainly wouldn't put a penny down in advance. Right now, I'd only buy new from stock, and at the first hint of trouble from a retailer, I'd fire in with a chargeback. That also means that used prices are all over the place. Typically it has been 2/3rd of new, with "upgrades" and extras generally adding little extra value. But when it's a used gun or nothing, that puts more power in the hands of sellers. Buying used is fraught with hazards. "Upgrades" might mean "meddled with it, wrecked it, gave up". And there are some rogue sellers out there flipping boneyard junk, or outright scamming. Approach with considerable caution and if at all possible buy face to face and after trying it out. I'm aware this is all coming across as a bit negative, but I'd hate to see you get taken for a ride on your first purchase. What I'd actually stress is that you can have a great day with just about anything that shoots BBs vaguely downrange, as long as it does so reliably, so I'd urge not over-thinking it, or trying to get the perfect forever-gun first time out.

Yarp, the feeding is problematical. Mine would try to feed a whole shell full of BBs into the barrels, that sounds similar to what you're seeing. You'll hear folk giving the iPhone excuse - "ur holdang it rong!!!" - but that's victimblaming. When I finally got it all apart (being too dumb and stubborn to send it back) I couldn't see what the problem was, so I just gave everything a good wiggle and silicone lube and put it back together, and it's been fine since (so I wasn't donging it wrang). They're really not intended to be stripped down though, there are dozens of tiny screws going into cheap plastic, so I'd agree with just returning it.

That's certainly one interpretation.

True, when given a barrel you can be the fish, or the shooter.

Getting shot in the face by a sniper rifle at 30cm is safe?

Really? Nobody's been offered out IRL yet.

What gave you a contrary impression? You're OK with a complete lack of chrono?

I used 7mm rolls, commonly sold as "anti-fatigue" mats. For example: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/333562735362 7mm doesn't sound like much but it's robust enough and easy to cut and shape with a heat gun, and is ideal for what I've been doing with it. I've got some square panels as well, maybe 10-12mm thick, which would be fine if you wanted to make big, solid, structural shapes, but I've not needed to use them.

Well, I'm not aware of any other sites where a child has been blinded. I'd actually be fine with barrel socks, if they were actually enforced, starting with the site owner, marshals, marshals' mates, and regulars. Are they though? The only reason I'd go to that site would be to run a 4J sniper and nut-shot anyone wearing a hi-vis.

I make that 0.0001261148327138J of rotational kinetic energy, or a lot less than that required to hold it up, so it's got to be leeching that (small) amount from the linear. Insignificant compared to the drag, I was just curious, unlike some peasants in here.

Or, fire until they explode, then back off the trigger by 10%.

Officer work, thanks. With the understanding that it doesn't really matter, I wonder how much rotational energy we have to donate before it has to come from the linear. Moment of inertia of a sphere, I, is 2/5 mR2 Rotation energy is 1/2Iw2, where I is as above, and w is the angular velocity (how fast it's spinning, radians per second if we're doing SI rather than fathoms-per-demihectare). I make that 1/5 mR2w2 We know m (e.g. 0.004kg), R (e.g. 0.002975m), now we just need to paint a BB with a battenburg patten and film it with a high-speed camera to find out w. Granted we're down at 0.0000000070805 w2 for a 0.4g BB, so we're not talking big numbers.

Oh, right. That reminds me, I have a stack of (claimed) 2Ah-ish 18650s lying around, and was wondering what would stop me from wiring a couple of them in series and throwing a Deans connector on.

Some form of cope, I think.

Sadly, they're pretty fragile. I'm not entirely clear on the problem you're having, but would note that the pump has to be fully forwards before the trigger will activate. Since it's currently stuffed, I'd give it a good old heave and slam in both directions. If you start disassembling, you'll end up with an awful lot of small parts and are unlikely to find replacements for any broken bits, so I'd avoid that unless Bullseye don't fancy taking the return.

Granted, it doesn't stop gravity pulling down, and the force to counter it has to be powered from the energy in the BB. What I'm curious about is whether it's all coming from the angular velocity (shouldn't reduce range) or is also bleeding it from the linear (will reduce range). (I assume here that we've got perfect backspin and site-limit muzzle energy for whatever mass of BB we're shooting).

Well, they do now. I didn't see a resolution to that case one way or the other, I'd assume their insurers settled at the courtroom door. And reminding people to fire until clear? Barrel socks will come to every site eventually, after the dry-firing fun and games turn into someone losing an eye. I've taken to wearing basic ballistic glasses in "safe" zones now too. No chrono, even after being on the sharp end of a negligence suit, is astonishing. While I'm the first to point out that pre-game chrono is largely just theatre, not doing any sort of chronoing at all is appalling, and I would have no doubt that some regulars will be rocking Section 5s or billion-Joule snipers. And I'm the last to suggest escalating situations, but I think that might result in a roundhouse swing with whatever RIF I had to hand. Did you bother even bringing it up with the site?

I'd always suggest a Maple Leaf 50 degree bucking and 0.28g minimum in any AEG these days. Omega nub, no omega nub, I'm back and forth on those, but all of my AEGs can over-hop 0.28g, even the MP5K with a somewhat ropey hop unit.

Have you considered the possibility that you've burst into a pub and are shouting "I LIKE BEER! WHY DO YOU ALL HATE BEER?" at a rather bemused clientele?

Nice one, I'd love to see what you come up with. I agree with keeping the bulk down, I trimmed quite a lot off of my original templates in order to get full mobility and articulation. In particular, torso armour needs to be truncated or articulated if you intend to crouch or bend. Me, or the horny xeno-girl? You know what... let's preserve the mystery.