Rogerborg

Everybody loves bolter bitches.

I cheated and went for an AVL 500, which has a better (but not great) oil pump and some of the iron barrel issues sorted. Amal, of course, and bin off the comically constricted stock exhaust. The exhaust valve is getting a bit cooked, but I've not even bothered sorting it, I'll probably replace it when it burns through and drops. The electric foot is a trap, the fragile sprag clutch will grenade itself on any kick-back: mine's on it's third in under 12,000 miles. Not really a problem though, it always starts reliably on the first kick, about 60% of the time. Indian made Enfields from the AVL onwards are like AEPs: heavy, under-powered, some peculiar engineering, they shouldn't really work, but it turns out that they're surprising reliable all year round. Hah, back on topic.

Take a bow, Specna Arms Edge 2.0, for example: https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/specna-arms-sa-h23-edge-2-0-tm-carbine-aeg What's not to like? QC spring, GATE ASTER mosfet, decent rotary hop, reasonable enough 6.03mm barrel, pre-wired to Deans. Oh, and as I found to my surprise, my Edge 1.0 came flat hopped out of the box, something that I've not seen listed as a feature, and didn't even realise since I went straight to a Maple Leaf and threw the stock parts in the bits box. The stock motor in the Edge 1.0s is OK but not great. If the 2.0 is the same then it's a candidate for replacement. Stock barrel, or ZCI or AOLS. Feed it 0.28g BBs, and enjoy.

I respectfully disagree, I've been using a knock off happily for years. The handles break off, always, but it's not rocket surgery to fettle something on, and OP is a 3d sorceror. Worse case, you can get a knockoff + a whole new set of Odin internals for less than an Odin. I just wouldn't recommend sinking big money into anything for someone who hasn't played yet. Eyepro, boots, then get out and play. My Specna is actually fairly fussy about midcaps, although to be fair most of mine have tired springs. It works well with its own midcaps, or hi-caps. If you do want to swap barrels, ZCI or AOLS are both decent for not much money, and of course Maple Leaf or Prometheus rubbers. Specnas are back to being decent enough out of the box, they shouldn't need anything done except for a barrel clean. Even the lube on mine was actually on the gears rather than just sneezed all over the shell. One thing to be aware of is that they come with an M120 spring (too spicy) and an M90, and will likely have the M90 fitted. It's sufficient, but I'd suggest throwing an M100 in there for woodland use - all conditional on what air seal and actual muzzle energy you get. On that, if you are going to get into airsoft teching, a chrono is pretty much required in order to avoid chrono oopsies at site - I've had a couple of guns accidentally come out way hot after getting the air seal spot on, and had to down-spring them. I agree that the best thing to do with that Nuprol charger is return it as soon as possible, before it ruins your battery or burns your house down. That isn't a joke, we'd had multiple reports of fires. SkyRC stuff is where it's at, an S65 will be fine for most people. And I completely get the urge to tinker, I'm forever messing around with my collection even while saying "Stop it, Rog, you know what's going to happen." Straight up though, if you actually intend to play, getting one working, stock gun and leaving it alone, particularly inside the gearbox, is a solid plan. Those child slave labourers are getting pretty good at what they do. Many videos and Reddit threads you'll see or read are... idiomatic to problematic. Approach with an open mind as regarding their veracity.

When all your social media platforms say "Account disabled, enter your vaccine passport ID to tie your words to your social credit score", remember that I told you so, and that you thought I was crazy.

A good point, which I will be sure to share with Mrs Borg.

Offering for sale, rather than selling. It's telling that PatrolBase are out of stock at £95, and you have to go to £130 or so before you find any in stock. I was saying earlier it's surprising that UK retailers haven't punted prices to the moon, but actually some have. They must be like dragons, preferring to sit on their hoard rather than bearing to part with any of it.

Tabs as in these? Yes, still got those. They're not magical quality, I did have to take one apart (bending and then re-squishing the tabs) to pop another shim under the shaft, there was just too much inny-outy play for my comfort. Decent enough in use for the money though, a big step up from any stock motor I've had. Could be (potentially) worse. I have a Tornado where the screws on either side go into a common collar inside the shell. Metal screws going into a common metal collar. The only thing that stops it shorting out are micron-thin non-conductive washers under the screws, to keep them isolated from the plates. If you lose or damage them and don't realise that they're vital while (for example) adding a diode, it will happily short out. That was a lesson hard learned.

If by wrist you mean throat, agreed. I'm still not sure if that clip is a genuine reaction. It's apparently from a Bad Boys for Life production meeting where they were going over the gnus that were going to be used. There's a cringe Hollywooded-up video version going around where they edited in another later segment to make it seem like he grabbed and cleared it rather than slapping it away. That's the shorter, more plausible version, although even that's obviously been edited between the stare and the slap. Still, kudos for even that much reaction, in a world where Alec Baldwin exist.

Another victim of the airsoft curse of buying everything that you'd need to skirmish with a gnu up front, then as soon as the unboxing hit has worn off, realising that you never will. I'd assume that having test shot it, he's just realised that. Probably bought the "300fps" lie and now thinks he can sell it in to another mug. Although I think my favourite part is disclosing that the retailer has already refused a return, so you can be absolutely guaranteed that you have no possible comeback if it turns out to be a complete lemon.

200mm is sufficient for airsoft, you really don't need much barrel length to get up to UK power limits. I've seen 0.95J out of a 110mm x 6.01mm and an oops! 1.3J out of a 229mm x 6.02mm, both with M100 springs. Switching from a stock 210/215 to a tighter 200mm shouldn't effect your power much either way. I wouldn't recommend cutting barrels down, just noting that it's an option if you want to get every last mm of length out of it. There's no particular need or benefit though. I'd recommend the Big Dragon M140 from AliExpress, because I chisel every penny. They're really surprisingly decent for the price, with magnets that could pull a satellite out of orbit, although I've never sprung for anything brand-namier to compare them against. You play in 30C heat though. I'll be playing at 3C on Sunday (if I'm lucky), which is why I'd suggest 60 for UK year round use. Although as with most of airsoft, it's really a matter of sinking in more money and finding what works best for your gun at your site at your latitude, depending which direction the wind is blowing.

Bloody ice, it comes over here, it lays around on our roads, contributes nothing, shouldn't ought to be allowed. Royal Enfields have character. I'm not saying that my 2008 with 1950s designed British technology made to Indian QC with ropey Indian steel is a great bike, or even a good one, but it's by far my favourite.

Further complicated by going through several layers of wholesale, first to put together whole containers in the Orient, then split and distribute them in the EU or the UK. From what I've seen, it seems that even the biggest UK sellers - PatrolBase - are getting much of their stock wholesale from the EU, rather than importing directly into the UK. Exceptions may exist, like that lorry carrying a load of Specna Arms toys that got robbed out: I don't know whether it was filled at Dover or Gdańsk. The bit that really amazes me is that retail prices have stayed as low as they have. If I were a UK retailer, with stock, in the current climate, I'd be very tempted to bump prices to the moon.

Omega nubs are shaped to match the curvature of the barrel and BB, so in principle apply pressure in a more helpful way. While I'm a big fan of Maple Leaf rubbers, I'm not personally so convinced about the nubs (although I am currently running some). Contrary opinions are available. All V2 gearboxed M4s use long shaft motors. PatrolBase reckon you've got a 210mm inner barrel, so I agree that you're either looking at 200mm, or a longer barrel hidden inside a suppressor. You can cut barrels down to exact sizes, but it's generally advised to re-crown them (put a conical lip in the end) - whether this actually makes much difference is another of those airsoft tenets of faith.

Joules is the actual energy of the BB. This is the number that matters, for range, and impact on the target. 350fps with 0.2g = 313fps with 0.25g = 295fps with 0.28g = 227fps with 0.32g = 1.14J. And you don't have to calculate it, because any chrono sold for airsoft use that you'll buy now will allow you to select your BB weight, and will tell you the energy in Joules, as well as the fps. I am quite serious that I know the energy of my 0.32g BBs but I didn't even look at the fps number, because I don't have to as my local site chronos in Joules. Not all sites do this, as they may find it quicker to look at the fps reading on the chrono and then cross reference it on a chart or cheat sheet, rather than changing the weight setting on the chrono each time. It's really up to the site, my local sets the chrono and looks at the Joules number, some sites use a chart. But even if they use a chart, the underlying truth is that they're applying the same Joules limit for every gun.

You're already home.

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Given the way inflation is heading, even buying airsoft RIFs may be better than having cash in the bank or under the bed. At least that's what I'm intending to tell Mrs Borg.

The problem that I have with playing a DMR game with <1.14J AEGs is that if you like engaging at extreme range, then you'll want to use the heaviest BBs that your budget can manage, and I'm too cheap to auto-spam anything above 0.28g. I do agree that you're really not getting much extra maximum range, let alone effective range, until you get up towards 1.8J or so. Even then you're talking maybe 10m, and if you don't have good consistency then you won't be hitting anything out there anyway.

I figure that anyone who's taken the time to find and join and forum, read the VCRA and ask an honest question isn't going to be a problem for the hobby. If it can read in feet per second, it's easy enough to look up. Yes, all (decent) sites will expect you to chrono your guns before playing, and will generally tag them for the day. I'll spare you the rant on how that doesn't actually stop rogues, it's not relevant to honourable chaps. Target shooting is fun, but skirmishing is a real rush, give us a shout if you intend to go along and we'll doubtless bombard you with a list of things that you absolutely must have. (Spoiler: Decent boots and eye protection that you're prepared to test by shooting it yourself with your hottest gun and heaviest BBs)

The usual technical objection that with sufficient hop up, more energy does mean more maximum range. But I agree that consistency is much more important or else you'll be lobbing BBs 5m further but hitting everything except what you're aiming at.

I appreciate that, and apologise for any appearance of hostility here. Since you care enough to have read the VCRA, that's a pretty good sign that you'll be a responsible owner. So I'll confirm that legally, you are absolutely fine to purchase and possess an airsoft RIF, even in the Democratic People's Republic of Caledonia. You're not committing any offence, it's entirely on the seller, and on their tolerance for risk. Personally, I'd put that risk so low as to be completely negligible. There are airsoft retailers selling RIFs without any real defence, or openly manufacturing non-airsoft firearms then incriminating themselves on YouTube without any repercussions. A private sale of a used RIF to someone responsible with land to use it on is just not going to be an issue. So if you can find someone who wants to sell, go ahead and buy. If you want to stay clearly within the law, especially in Scotland, the other thing to be aware of is energy limits for airsoft guns. For anything capable of automatic fire, it's 1.3J using "any missile", i.e. heavy BBs, not just the light 0.2gs that the airsoft world is still obsessed with. Anything over that is, strictly speaking a Firearms Act Section 5 prohibited firearm, although I'd be astonished if anyone gets prosecuted over it. For semi or bolt, it's 2.5J. Over that you've got an air gun which needs licensing. Again, not likely to be an issue, I mention it only because I put a "500fps" (i.e. 2.32J) upgrade piston and spring into my cheap airsoft bolt action and it came out at 3.3J! Anything that you buy 2nd hand from someone who has been skirmishing with it is almost certain to be well within those legal limits, as airsoft site limits are lower. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/27/section/57A The bigger consideration is S19, which requires a reasonable excuse for any public possession of an imitation firearm (realistic or otherwise). It's a low bar, and since the same offence applies to air weapons and shotguns, target shooting on private land should be sufficient. Just be aware that it's an affirmative defence that requires proof. I'm sure you already know this, I mention it just for completeness. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1968/27/section/19

Agreed, it's playable, and I wouldn't change the spring until you've done everything you're going to do outside of the gearbox, and shimmed and re-lubed inside it. Definitely chrono with some hop on, I've also seen slight rises when adding hop (before it reduces again). Oh, and the usual new-gnu advice, put some silicone lube up the nozzle, give it some time to seep into the o-ring while you clean out the barrel and hop rubber, then blow the lube out the nozzle before re-assembling.

Beat me to it. Please, please, don't set out thinking in terms of fps. If your local site is still chronoing with 0.2g and talking in terms of fps, urgh, it's not 1999 any more. My DMR shoots at ~1.8J with 0.32g BBs, I honestly couldn't even tell you what fps that is, as I don't need to know. The first thing I'd buy is a chrono if you don't already have one. Depends on the site. My local just specifies one-in-the-air, and I've been asked once (and only once) to demonstrate that it's locked to semi. On that, you will want to lock yours to semi, as anything capable of auto and over 1.3J is a Section 5 prohibited firearm, not an airsoft gun. One easy way to do that is to file a little bit off of your selector plate so that it can't hold the cut off lever open. The downside to that is that you won't have auto available to try and clear a jam. Some folk put a screw in the receiver to stop the selector going to auto, although it's up to your site whether they'll accept anything that can be undone easily. Mosfet based solutions are available, and a cycle-completion mosfet would help to avoid partial cycle lockups, although I've never had a V2 gearbox lock up on me yet running 7.4v lipo and a decent motors, even at 1.8J. *cough* Mk12 *cough*. I agree though, with your budget and requirements, the Cyma CM.098 is the obvious choice. Robust CYMA internals, QC spring, rotary hop. I wouldn't even change the barrel at first, just the fire selector, rubber (60 or 70 degree) and nub, then change the spring to get up to whatever your site limit is. Run it with the stock 6.03mm barrel (clean it out first!) and see how you get on. If you're still hankering to splash the cash, I'd then go to barrel (ZCI or AOLS, I've never tried Prometheus, Mad Bull or other high end stuff), and maybe motor depending how "high torque" the stock one really is. SHS High / Ultra High Torque, or if you want to scrape every penny, the Big Dragon M160 from AliExpress is working well for me (and the M140s in non-DMR AEGs).

There are also several retailers that will sell anything to anyone, either with a £20 premium, or just in return for a box tick. It's really not a case of whether OP can get his hands on RIFs, more about whether it's a good idea.