Rogerborg

Don't, at least not until you've played at least once and the adrenaline and aches have worn off. Long guns, we'd generally recommend an electric carbine under £200. There are loads of viable choices in just about every platform, so it's really a case of narrowing it down to whatever platform you like the look and feel of and then thinking about brands and models. For pistols, green gas blowbacks are the default choice for maximising fun. Unless you're playing CQB or at quirky sites, you'll rarely use a pistol, so on the few times you do draw it you'll want something that delivers the most smiles per cycles. Toyko Marui are the default choice for good reasons, they're Japanese made and do a great job in most platforms. Again though, decide whether you want Glock, Hi-Capa or something else first, then we can (and oh, we will) discuss brands and models. The classifieds are usually full of "regret purchase packages" with something like a Bulldog M4 and a Raven Hi-Capa, which indicates the sort of thing to avoid. It can be an expensive mistake to go all-in off the first adrenaline rush. Buying your own eye protection is a good shout since rental facepro can be random. You might get given something decent like a paintball-rated Valken, or you might get a horrible cheap mesh mask, so having your own will be handy. I like the Pyramex i-Force (rebrandings are available) as they're dual pane and less prone to fogging up than some single panes, but again there's a huuuuge choice and sometimes you can only find out what doesn't work for you the hard way.

Ahoy and welcome. No need to over-think it. Find a site near to you, and book a rental package. If you enjoy it and reckon that you'll stick with it, then you think about purchasing options. Renting isn't as expensive as it looks though. A rental package is typically £20 more than a walk on, but you'll get through £10 or so worth of BBs anyway, so it's really only £10 a day to rent a gun and support for it without investing anything yourself. Waiting the 8 weeks / 3 games before getting a site membership / UKARA number will give you time to cadge a go on some guns and figure out what you want to buy. There's no need to go as a team or with anyone else. There will be a brief for rentals covering the basics, and airsofters tend to be a friendly bunch. You'll easily enough get talking to folk on site. Just ask someone about their guns and gear and see if you can get them to shut up.

Very easy in the case of the TAC-41. The tools you need to do it are stored on the gun.

Yarp, there's a lot of satisfaction to be had from getting a hit while playing in Hard Mode, using energy that you've put in yourself. It feels more personal.

Surely that's Collumflage.

Practically mandatory. I enjoy bolt action, it's a different style of play. And (especially when you're defensive) you're often within the range of other guns anyway, even if you're shooting at 2.3J. Sneak and poke and have fun with it, it's all good.

Yup, that's a long way of saying "Spares or repair". Still, £60 including 3 mags isn't a crazy price.

It's not an unreasonable assumption that anyone using a bolt action is going to have thrown in a spring that pushes it up to the site limit. Bear in mind that the marshals and other players aren't going to know what energy you're shooting at, so prepare to get shouted at for engaging up close even if it's down at the lower end. That said, there are folk who run bolt actions at under 1.14J in order to not have a MED. And if you're just a bit over, and don't have a sidearm, a pragmatic site owner might tell you to just not point-blank anyone with it - see what they say. On the other hand, some sites can be (understandably) strict about their rules as they're conditions of insurance. Generally you want to run the heaviest BB that your hop will lift (and your wallet will stand) in a sniper. I'd be looking at using at least 0.32g, ideally over 0.4g if the hop can lift it. If you drop down to a lighter BB to de-creep the energy down to under 1.14J, fair enough, but you're giving up one of the advantages of a bolt-action where you need every shot to be as consistent and to carry its energy as far as possible. I'd keep your expectations very low for a stock boltie - you're going to be outgunned by just about everybody else there. Fingers crossed that it all goes well and you enjoy the manual action.

Can I take a guess about which team the regulars and marshals' mates play on?

The EDGE hop units are fine, I'd hope that the CORE ones are OK too - but it always depends on the example that you get. I'd agree with just changing the bucking and nub and see how you get one. One thing at a time, to see how better or worse it gets.

<but-why.gif> The X-ASR just does trigger protection and (maybe) allows for more current slow. However, it also likes to pet its lip if you are running a meatier motor and spring. Something like a Perun AB++ gives you far more features. Motor and/or run 11.1V. I like the Big Dragon M140 as a decent improvement over stock motors for not a lot of money when bought direct from Ali Express. Heaver BBs, clean the barrel and maybe fit a Maple Leaf bucking (e.g. 60 yellow) and omega nub. The stock M90 spring in the Specnas can benefit from being swapped out for something stronger, but air seal uber alles, and I'd always recommend buying a chrono first before doing anything that might effect the muzzle energy.

Woodland I don't mind so much because you more typically know that the badmen are over yonder. In CQB, I dislike mid-blue or dingy-red versus bright-yellow. When milliseconds count, it's so much easier to positively identify a target when they're wearing something bright. And both arms, please, I don't need to be doing the mental gymnastics of inferring a positive from a conditional negative. This gets even worse when you have unbanded marshals wandering around too. Of course, a team-kill is a kill.

"Hang on, wait a second: I'll get my camera, then I'll need you to do it again."

That's the stuff. If you don't have any, just build a shed, and a can will spontaneously form, inside a wooden box covered in spider webs.

Agreed, I'll use just about any gunk in a gearbox, but for sliding parts, only lightweight oil (3-in-1) for metal to metal, or silicone lube for anything involving plastic.

How high do we think the "bidding" will go?

Ahoy and welcome. The actual legal risk isn't purchase or ownership, but being tempted to take it out in public to show off to your mates, or even just being seen through a window. So how about suggesting that your dad owns it and keeps it securely locked up, and that you only get your hands on it while at site.

I'd be fascinated to know what risks they believe they're indemnifying though. So could ignoring it, when it's going on right in the open. If it could please just silently self-delete, that would be splendid.

Ahoy and welcome. I'm a bit unclear on what you're asking. It sounds like you're already happy with your Nuprol, and I'd agree with the views above that it's not worth throwing money at it beyond the hop and rubber that you've already done. If it's a general point about compatibility and repeatability then I hear that. Airsoft teching is largely anecdotal and "worked for me". The problem is that there are no real standards, and a lot of re-branding and bait-and-switch. Nuprol is a rebrand-whore, with their Raven and Vorsk sub-rebrands, and Specna might as well be called Specnone given how often they change their models. Watching Luke at Negative Airsoft work his magic while drilling holes in himself is great entertainment, but he leaves out specifics and even adds a deliberate lie to each video (when he remembers). Sam at Kingdom of Airsoft has a few pretty decent how-tos, but they're few and far between. There's a plethora of Skylars screeching about AOE, but it's mostly magical thinking without before/after tests beyond maybe a chrono reading.

Barrel socks actually make a lot of sense, and they do need to be enforced without exception, because it's the people that aren't bothered by NDs that are the most likely to have them. The issue is how that information is disseminated. If it's that important (and safe-zone safety is) then you can't leave it to Failbook posts (which I can't find), or tucking them away in a PDF that will be randomly read. I'll keep advocating for having big safety-critical signs on site that nobody can reasonably claim to have not seen.

They get paid something like £300 a year per retailer for access to their Excel spreadsheet. Which highlights the risk of being reliant on an organisation that views it as an income source rather than a passion project.

That's surprisingly honest, but I suspect this is effectively buying random tat from AliExpress (which is itself a middleman) via another middleman. You'd be better off going straight to AliExpress as you'll have better comms, tracking, compensation and refund options. Holub doesn't appear to be a company, and they use multiple 3rd party email addresses. [email protected] appears to be the one for refunds (and cancellations). I'll apply my usual observation: initiating a chargeback with your payment provider tends to result in getting a response. However, never cancel a chargeback on a mere promise once you've initiated it, only when you receive the goods. Better to have the goods and your money than neither.

Thanks for doing this. I mean, we knew that it was a farce, but it's fun to see what passes for their thinking. I wonder what the next steps would be. We don't want any attention brought on airsoft, but it seems like a financial service being mis-sold. The usual sequence would be: complaint to company -> Financial Ombudsman Service, but as this is a naked scam, straight to the FCA might be an option.

Mmm, and where is it on the Facebook page? To be fair, they do have a player pack that mentions it, in horrible, barely readable shadow-text. It also says that all guns must be "choro’ed", so make of that what you will.