Rogerborg

Well, the simplest way to git gud at room clearing is to John Wick in while shouting "You missed, you missed, I didn't feel it, gun hit, didn't feel it, missed." My very mild concern about actually paying for training to play pretend soldiers with toys is that it might - might, not saying that it does - indicate a predilection for winning the game rather than playing the game. I'm thinking of a couple of players I've met who took it all far too seriously, and ended up flouncing or being kicked out of the hobby. All that said, I would be interested in doing such a training day, if only to see how well it really works in airsoft versus fearless rentals and pre-firing speedy bois.

The first thing I'd recommend is playing with it. Specnas are perfectly decent out of the box, and we're talking about a few metres more range, under ideal circumstances, and ignoring puffs of wind, blades of grass or random airsoft physics. They shouldn't actually need anything doing to them. The only thing I would really recommend for any new airsoft gun is cleaning the barrel and the hop rubber, as they tend to ship with a light coating of protective oil inside them. 0.25g is fine, I'd shoot through that and then go to 0.28g (or maybe even 0.30g or 0.32g) later. And again, the difference is marginal. Again, you're talking about a couple of extra metres, and at that range you're relying on your target being helpful enough to sit still and wait for the BB. If you do swap out the barrel and rubber, it's a very simple process on an M4. The video below is as good as any, although your rotary hop is a bit different. It's actually easier to get the nub out, you just push out the pin holding the tensioning arm in place, and it lifts right out. It'll be obvious when you have a look. The only thing to be careful about is losing the small parts, they like to leap into hyperspace.

You'd think, but it's super hard to find. I mean, in the sense that I didn't turn anything up in 30 seconds and got distracted by something shiny, but I'd love to read something convincing.

But did you wash your balls? Nobrich says that it's very important to wash your balls before smacking them into someone else's face.

Only because I've just had a nostalgia replay through GTA: San Andreas. (Urge to cap some Ballas with a TEC-9 intensifies)

In that context, I've seen some anecdotal suggestions that some big boots can shift damage from the ankle up to more serious knee injuries. However, we're talking rigid MX and skiing boots, and big offs and oofs, I don't think that generally applies to airsoft unless you're jumping into trenches or off of castles and such. And at that point you want parachute ankle braces anyway, and note that study didn't find any evidence of shifting the damage. "Be like unto the ninja" is a fair point (fitness thread ahoy), but accidents happen, and I consider ankle support to be fairly effective PPE for a likely injury. It is an interesting subject because while it might seem like it's just common sense (like wearing seven masks) that ankle support reduces ankle injuries, but there does appear to be a paucity of detailed or controlled studies. I won't make the sophomoric argument that "The military wouldn't use them if they didn't work!" because it's quite possible that they've never actually done the studies themselves.

I'd respectfully disagree with the flasher pervert above and say that I think my ankles have been saved a couple of times by being well supported, although I've been getting a bit (literally) slack with my lacing recently. Must bondage better. Also, I wear army surplus GoreTex lined boots not just for airsoft, but for biking, office wear, evening wear, swimsuit competitions...

Not strictly on-topic either, but I've had another AliExpress order that looks like it's not even going to make it out of Chinaland. First a stock, now an M4 pistol grip, I'm starting to think that they're blocking assault-toy related parts at source rather than letting HMRC / Border Force have all the fun. I've had plenty of fans, motors, switches and such make it through without problems in the meantime.

EFA. BBgunz4u style sites are just dodgy market stalls with a web front end. CYMAs are fine, you can upgrade that gradually and end up with something as good or better than a Nobrich product, for less. Granted, the trigger on the SSG-10 looks like a smart idea, but everything else is just somebody else's internals put together, and you can put things together, right?

Indeed, they can get soaked on the outside, and it feels weird squishing around in them, but nothing gets through.

Mmm, indeed. I don't mind honest advertising, and if it's some ex Royal Marine or similar who's actually an airsofter doing it mostly for a laugh, that's another thing. But I'm thinking of one weekend in particular that was advertised as featuring training by an ex-SAS member, then you'd camp out and listen to his riveting tales of derring do. When I asked how they'd established the identity of someone who isn't supposed to identify himself, who can't be verified, and why he would be blabbing operational details, the advertising got quietly amended to "ex military". Even at that, I'd wonder. Still, we do this for fun, and if you enjoy the experience, it's all good. Another thing to consider is asking your local site if you could rent it out on an off-day for your team, specifically to practice tactics and set-situations against the marshals. They might enjoy that as well.

A more suspicious person would wonder at a new account bigging up a retailer as their first post. Not me though, I trust everything that I read online without question.

Waterproof socks. I've just been out cycling in lashing rain wearing trainers, and my feet at the only parts still dry. eBay for "SealSkinz", "Goretex socks" and similar.

Room clearing drill: pull, throw. Frag self, get mediced, repeat. The issue I have with these courses is: who's training you, and are they training you to play airsoft against rental chavs, or to murderise insurgents up a treat (and then you get rinsed by rental chavs). I've seen a few of these advertised on Failbook, typically promoted as being run by an ex-Delta Special Ranger SAS Force Operator. When I've asked how they've established said person's bona fides to be sure that they're not just some grifting Walt, it's been crickets, blocking, or the claim suddenly alters.

Well, that, really. 0.28g or above is the best investment in any 1J+ airsoft toy.

Should be fine, the C rating is just what it can provide to the motor. It won't drive it any harder unless the 43A (30C * 1.45Ah) battery is the limiting factor, which you don't want to be the case anyway.

Incompetent leadership appointed based on nepotism and gobbing off, standing around doing nothing, what more do you want from a milsim?

Yup, ZCI or AOLS barrels offer decent value for money and will generally squeeze a little more energy out of it. Maple Leaf macaron hop rubbers work well, either 50 or 60 degree. You can use a Maple Leaf omega nub or the Gear Parts clones, some people love them, I'm not completely convinced. The stock Specna Arms hop unit itself is decent, being essentially the highly rated ZCI unit. While you have it apart, I'd put a squirt of silicone lube up the nozzle, swirl it around inside the cylinder, them give it an auto burst to blow the excess out. Just to lube the o-rings in case they've dried up a bit. Other than that, clean the barrel and hop rubber and you're good to go, you shouldn't need to touch the gearbox.

Good to hear, but actually giving them licences is in the clammy hands of the civil servants.

How do you store laptops, tablets and phones? I charge in an Explosion Containment Pie Dish, then tend to throw them in a plastic box, but that's mostly so that I can find them rather than to protect them.

PLA/bio BBs do degrade a bit over time, I had some Geoffs 0.43g that started crazing and cracking several years after being opened. However, at that mass, they can't be made primarily of PLA, and the Mystery Mass might end up being unfriendlier to Mother Gaia than ABS.

The only reason I got to read his is that you quoted it.

The sad truth. Especially those that require car travel. I used to be big into historical reenactment, but knocked it on the head when the costs of driving around the country became prohibitive for a leisure activity. Now that I'm looking at 70 mile round trips to the nearest airsoft sites, that's starting to become a consideration too, even absent the current "responsible stockpiling" of fuel going on.