Shaydee

Probably worth giving Slava Slavy a shout on Facebook. He's a Russian reseller a lot of folk in the scene use to get their Ratnik setups. Can most probably get his hands on a summer set pretty easily. You'd be at odds with postage from Russia and I haven't personally used him myself, but I've only heard good things. I didn't have that much of a wait when I ordered from Demych (another known reseller in the Russkie gear scene) late last year, though your mileage may vary. https://www.facebook.com/slava.slavy https://www.facebook.com/groups/maskirovka52/

Very dependant on the site if they'll allow an M4-esque platform as a DMR, though based on experience and some googling a majority in the UK don't care. I'd check with your local sites first before you jump into the money pit. Some milsim sites may want a higher caliber 7.62-esque style rifle like an M110/SR25, SVD, G3 and others may just want proof your particular rifle was used in a DMR capacity. Accurised M4s have been used by several countries in the DMR role, the US have had things like the SAM-R and MK12 SPR, the Phillipines the MSSR, etc, so you might have to build something specific if you just want an M4/16 platform for milsim. Personal preference is a whole other kettle of fish, same as sites - some people care massively and are milsimmed out the wazzoo, whilst others are running bright pink space gats in a tshirt. I personally run my G&P noveske bodied M4 as a DMR at my local site (though I've slapped an E&C gearbox from AK2M4 in there for the weekend just to have a crack 😄). Another thing to remember is that with a DMR you'll be playing with a minimum engagement distance. If anyone steps within 20 metres or so you'll be needing a sidearm or something to engage them with as your DMR would be out of play. Just something to think about as it could be another added cost you may or may not have factored in.

If it really is that garbage then that's fair. I still say play with it stock first for at least one game, it'll help with the appreciation of the upgrades when they're complete and everything is running smoothly.

Oh fucks sake. I hope one of the people who've fallen for it don't have a close encounter with someone skirting the limits or creeping massively. Recipe for disaster.

Uuuuuh, I mean if you're selling PPE that's kind of the way it works right? It's almost as if there are markings and regulations that help people pick a product suitable for the job 🤷‍♂️

If you haven't used it yet, play with it first. From there you can decide what you feel is lacking and upgrade as appropriate. As Hamster said just buying top of the range parts isn't necessarily an upgrade as tolerances and other factors can mean things don't match up correctly. You then have a gun that doesn't work, or works intermittently leaving you with an expensive paper weight and the frustration that could bring. Also, the more you go 'top of the range' the more you end up spending and you get diminishing returns back on your investment. Best to work out a nice price/performance ratio as money saved could turn into something else, like a whole new gun, kit, etc. I'd personally say it's pointless replacing the hop unit unless it's completely shafted. With the specific model he's got they're rotary anyway.

Yeah very possible. I wish they didn't taint everything they touch. Oh well, only thing I buy that's Nuprol on the semi regular is gas 😅

They both have (and continue to have) their fair share of issues, airsoft QC isn't amazing at the best of times. I own an LCT 74u and it is solid, no issues internally or externally since purchased in 2018. I've also got a GHK 74u I purchased second hand some time back (based on LCT manufactured bodies from what I remember) and also no issues with the externals there. A lot of the LCT issues may indeed come from the fact Nuprol is now the middle man. Potentially forcing numbers out of them, rushing stuff so much that QC has taken even more of a hit in what was already spotty but that's guesswork on my part (though I wouldn't put it past Nuprol). One thing for certain is they've deffo hiked the price for LCTs, E&L at the current moment is what I'd go for on that one reason alone (unless you're after a vityaz or other model specific to LCT) as certain variants you can find on offer at great prices. EBB is all well and good, but I personally wouldn't bother as it's extra stress on the box and faff if something does go wrong. Also, even if you do get some resemblence of kick it still sounds like you're slapping tinfoil with a paperclip.

100% agreed. There's enough people magdumping AEGs with an itchy trigger finger, HPA gets the bad rap because it's 'easier' to setup (though even then enough people get it installed by techs). At the end of the day you ban HPA you're getting rid of tapped mags for GBB, kits for snipers, Daytona setups, purely mechanical boxes like PDIK and Kythera which don't cause the issue. Even if you did ban it then the people who want to play stupidly hard and fast just to cause pain pay a tech to setup a DSG and you're back with the same issue 🤷‍♂️ Get people on the chrono to start looking at joules to stop the energy creepage and instead of moaning on a forum talk to your marshalls, at any reasonable site they'll be keeping an eye on the player and step in if they break rule number 1 - "don't be a dick".

I'll mimic @Lozart's stance on this. Rated well known protection is what you want and you definitely want something that is rated higher than within a fine line (like Z87.1 is just about 343 fps). There's always the chance that someone is running hot, or a BASR/DMR is a bit antsy on the trigger finger when you come around a corner. You want something made to withstand multiple impacts as fully automatic fire is a thing. Obviously full seal is best (I use a gasket with my ESS crossbows), but ratings are a must. I'll throw this in here - note that FMA are a Chinese clone. You want to be protected for that worst case scenario and with a product that has been tested as such.

If I recall correctly from my past googling there are also differences in what the tests are between full seal goggle and glasses type eyepro in ANSI ratings. Something like Z87.1 being fine for goggles in airsoft as the testing involves higher energy but glasses about 1J like Hamster mentions. There's a nice PDF I found from airsoftnews.fr which goes into detail about European standards (EN 166 and the like) which is a handy read. The Apache's are apparently rated for STANAG 2920, though I'm not quite sure what joule rating/numbers these are for. I'd personally recommend going for something with a US MIL-PRF-31013 rating (this can essentially stop 12g buckshot at a few metres). I personally use ESS crossbows with a gasket kit and they've been doing very well for me the past few years.

Sod the purists, do what suits your kit and/or you! I've got a skeleton stock, a PT-3 clone and a buffer tube awaiting a CTR/MOE stock (using an MFT off my M4 for now) so I've got a few different options to choose from 😄

Easiest to stick to around the stock length. As Hamster says unported is pretty much the standard in full length AKs, hell I'm pretty sure the cylinder in my 74u and 105 are full and I don't see any issues with them on shorter barrels. Also, purely my $0.02 here - if you haven't got any air seal issues or the hop unit itself isn't broken or plain garbage, I feel like it's a bit of a false economy changing it out.

Got one of those on my VSR and been using it the past few years, very good bit of kit for the price imo. Nice clear glass and decent relief, perfect for slinging plastic.

Should be able to tighten that consistency up a bit as well, a 15 fps spread isn't the worst I've seen but I'd expect more like 3-5 if everything is tip top. Also again, run the BB weight you intend to use through the chrono and measure the energy on that not on .25s . . . unless for some reason you're going to use .25?

It's more like 507 FPS on 0.2s unless I'm misreading something. So dependent on OP's location that would be over the majority of British site limits by a small margin. 2.32 joules is the old 500fps on 0.2g limit. I'll echo the sentiment with regards to recording the shot to shot consistency, this is the most important thing for a bolty. @AP77 spreadsheet screengrab you've posted only lists one number per line - is this an average or just one reading?

I wouldn't bother modifying until you have a spare gun and a chrono (please for the love of god get a chrono if you're starting to tech), especially if you've never touched anything before. There's nothing worse than taking a gun you've "sorted" to the field and it's low on power (or over limits), not feeding, etc, then having to resort to borrowing something or grabbing a rental. I've seen it happen to people too many times. I'd probably look at something like the CYMA platinum series for a more 'premium' offering that doesn't blow your budget, Krytacs are decent but not mind blowing and they have some proprietary stuff still cutting about in them (gearsets are a bit different if I recall correctly). Then with the money saved you can look at starting to tech the nuprol, perhaps a different rail or something? Plenty of possibilities.

Might be thinking of the KJW MK1/2, the ruger style job?

Please listen to this advice. If you sit at 350 fps with .25g BBs, that is equivalent to firing .20g BBs at just over 390 FPS.

I've always read 'drop in' as 'doesn't require modification', not that it isn't a ball ache 😄

Just shows how boring I am really mate 😄

OP made a very similar thread a few days ago and never replied, not an answer to if his budget was gun only, etc, etc.

I switched the stock rubber out for an autobot and am using a ML i-key whilst keeping the stock barrel (will probably run it until the coating dies, it's not bad tbh). Have been running .25s and .28s with no issues over/under hopping whilst using it as a sidearm. Grouping is nice, though I haven't measured this on a range, just felt good when popping people in the woods during games 😄

That'll be from the knocker/release valve then. You'll want to tighten that up somewhat, bit harder than just using a screw driver on the fill valve as the actual knocker will be in the way. Best bet is to buy a valve key or fashion one yourself. A pistol one is especially handy as they fit mostly every valve going. As soon as you have one, give it a tighten (though don't go crazy, you don't want to shear anything off). The other option is to remove the valve entirely and check the o-rings, they might need an oil/grease up or replacing.

Ask the retailer, they'll tell you exactly what you need to do.