Impulse

The... very business focused rules at Driver Wood is the worst aspect of the site I will agree, but... I somewhat ignore that side of it. I'm not going hungry just because I don't want to buy their food, and my kit tends to include a backpack as I like to try and go as close to real-steel as I can, and field sustainment is a thing. That backpack will have food in it... Though I will say I don't mind the barrel sock thing. Yeah, I only use gas guns, so if the mag is out, my gun's only going to make a clicking noise when I pull the trigger while it's primed and it's annoying to have to use a barrel sock that does nothing for me, but I have seen more than enough AEG and HPA safe zone dry firing to not mind the extra bit of safety. And I think the MED on 1.1J guns is just poorly communicated, as when we went there we asked the marshalls if single shot was fine and they said yes, but we asked because in the safety brief it really sounded like rifles had a 5-10m MED for no reason. Personally, I enjoy every game I've been to Driver Wood. Granted, it's not regularly because I don't know anyone near me who drives there and could give me a lift, but with my own driving test around the corner I imagine I'll be going regularly once I've passed and have my own car, as I do really enjoy the site itself, and regardless of the game design I can usually make a good site a fun day of airsofting for myself.

I'll double up on this and say that particularly their filmsim events are great. Everyone should give different ways of playing a chance so they can see what they enjoy the most (I love filmsim but I hate milsim, having tried both) And F&O Anzio, at least in my opinion, is a great site due to the varied terrain. Urban airsoft is my favourite way of playing airsoft, and Anzio does scratch that itch. There's a lot of buildings to fight through, from and over, but it's not a "CQB" site and there's plenty of space outside the buildings too. One of my favourite experiences playing sniper in the UK was at Anzio. My gameplay was entirely outside the buildings, not because I didn't want to, but because I was on blood thinners and didn't want to risk getting a bleeder that would've taken a while to clot by getting shot up close. I really wanted to follow my team into some of the buildings and then provide overwatch from windows, but alas... heart needed fixing, and I had to be on blood thinners leading up to that surgery. Still a great site though for sure and I'm gutted it's so far from me so I can't go there more regularly.

I'll echo F&O Anzio. Great site, but way too far for me to go on the regular I'll be watching this thread though. Hopefully will pass my driving test in December which will free me up to go to any site I really want to. Until then, my experiences are pretty limited.

Yep, that's why I haven't upgraded either. Old socket means I basically need to do a complete rebuild, but I've had other priorities and those priorities are still present (car, airsoft builds, saving for a mortgage). I'll probably look at doing an upgrade in '26, unless a new socket releases then I might push it back to get the new socket in without paying through the nose for it.

But you're so affable...

I'd love to be, but the TPM 2.0 and secure boot requirements are kicking my arse. My PC build is very old and very in need of upgrading, and my motherboard simply doesn't have those options in the BIOS.

I found the genuine CTR stock to be way better than the clone one I bought. Once you lock it in place, there's basically no wobble and I've used mine on two MWSs with the same result. The clone one on the other hand, once it's locked in place it's still wobbly, and the QD sling points aren't anywhere near as good. I ended up using it on my MTW because I needed a stock where I was comfortable completely taking off the rubber end plate to have easy access to the co2 stock, and I wasn't using the QD sling point on it as I didn't want to have the weight hanging on the regulator.

I personally wouldn't go for the sport version. They're great entry level rifles, but the Tac-41 doesn't need many internal upgrades anyway, and I'd much rather have that sturdier shell of the regular one. If you go for the sport version and either you or your son suddenly decides to start sniping as a main way to play, it's much better to have a higher quality shell to build upon with internal or external extras. There are more internals you can throw at it to make it better, but they shoot really well out of the box with a few minor upgrades (chub nub works well with the stock hop rubber, which is a decent rubber in itself).

I had built two VSRs (one spring and one HPA, using a co2 adapter in the stock because I hate lines and tanks) to a high level of detail before I made the jump to a pair of KJW m700, so if it didn't work out I knew I'd have two reliable and damn good shooting sniper rifles to fall back on. By that point I knew that sniping was for me, but wanted something a bit different, partially to stand out from the crowd. And my honesty is because while I love them and pretty much only use them (my spring SRS is used sometimes, but really it's just a backup gun I bring just in case my main gun has issues), I've been in this hobby for long enough to know what most people look for in their airsoft guns and gas sniper rifles don't tend to scratch those itches. They're niche for a reason, so I wanted to outline the areas where they fall short to make you aware so you can make the best purchase for you, because they definitely do fall short in areas. If I was looking for the "best" sniper rifle setup for both ease of use and performance, I'd probably make a tricked out Tac-41, SRS or VSR. Spring sniper rifles are the "best" when it comes to what most airsofters want, with gas rifles excelling in other ways; it all depends on what you want from your airsoft guns. I'll happily trade a bit of practicality and ease of use for more immersion and a nicer feel, but also because I took that leap and have been using gas guns for years, I have a deep understanding of how all my gas guns work, so the lower practicality, while a bit of a ball ache at the start of a game day, isn't really an issue. I can set up my rifle according to the weather pretty damn quick nowadays. They can be made consistent enough for sure, and mine shoot incredibly well with no noticeable difference between my gas m24 and my spring SRS when it comes to practical accuracy, but a highly tuned gas sniper rifle will be less consistent than a highly tuned spring or HPA setup and I feel that's just an objective fact due to the way gas works in airsoft, but we are talking some slim margins. For me, I'm happy if my gas bolt actions or DMRs have a 0.1J or less variance in their shots, which I know to some people is absolutely unacceptable for a sniper rifle or DMR. Some people will aim for a 0.02J variance in their shots, but to me I just don't see the point since I find the difference between a 0.1J and 0.02J variance makes no difference to the practical accuracy of it, despite 0.1J being literally 5x the variance, which seems to be a massive jump. Something to remember is that our guns are basically air or gas powered muskets firing spherical projectiles at <2.3J that weigh less than half a gram and have awful ballistics, using the Magnus effect to combat gravity. Regardless of the setup, an airsoft gun will never be a precision rifle; they're just not designed to be one, no matter how hard some people will assert that their airsoft gun is.

I'm going to preface this by saying that gas bolt actions are objectively less consistent than springers or HPA sniper rifles, suffer from insane joule creep, the mags are expensive, have low ammo capacity, and weigh a lot. And you need to tweak them at the start of every game day because the weather will affect the power. They're objectively a pain in the arse, but when tuned right they shoot really well, have an effortless bolt pull (there's no tension, all you're doing is priming the firing pin and loading the next BB), are incredibly quiet with a suppressor as it's basically a rifle-shaped mk23, and are incredibly immersive airsoft guns to use since they work just like the real thing. They're also a pain in the arse to find because they're niche. People don't like them because most people aim for power consistency with their sniper rifles and gas just doesn't get the same consistency as spring or HPA when each system is properly tuned (though I'm of the opinion that if you can't hit targets with the level of consistency a well-tuned gas bolt action gives, it's a skill issue) But if I had a budget of £400 and to get whatever I wanted... it's a tough one because the mags are so bloody expensive. It's easy for me because I already have all the mags, but the pre-ban Tanaka m700 (and variants like the m24, m700 AICS, or m40a1) is basically the gold standard and holy grail of gas bolt action rifles. You can find them from time to time, but they tend to be difficult to find as the pre-ban models went out of production well over a decade ago. PPS Kar98k and KJW m700s (police version, NOT the take-down version!) are also good, and tend to be a bit more available and a little cheaper, but it's still hard to get a good setup for under £400 because the damn mags... Basically, gas bolt actions are an investment and don't perform as well, but I just way prefer them because of the look, feel and just how they work (and when tuned well, they perform just fine, with more than acceptable power consistency).

For bolt actions with that budget, and sticking with springers (because I'd 100% buy a gas bolt action if it was me, but I'm weird), I'd go with a Tac-41 Lite with the recon stock. The lite stock is cheaper, but... it doesn't inspire me. The recon stock looks more sturdy and more useful. Still, Tac-41 Lite with recon stock is around £350, so that leaves £50 for a chub nub, a slightly uprated spring (I believe they come out of the box at around 1.9J or so, but I could be wrong), maybe a suppressor and some spare mags. Then if you really like it, there are plenty of other parts you can get, internal and external. Other people can probably talk more about what you can do with the Tac-41 as I don't have one myself, but I do think they're the best bolt action on the market for performance. I just don't like them myself.

I think it's technically legal, though you could still get the police called on you by another walker who just sees someone walking around in military kit which looks filled with gear; they may not know exactly what it is, but I could see someone getting concerned and making the call. I'm no legal expert, but I wouldn't be surprised if you would get in trouble with the police in that instance for some sort of public order offense. For seeing how my kit holds the weight, I do that around the house. Load it up with all my mags and other gear and just walk around the house. If it feels good, then I take it to a game day and use it, see what works and what doesn't, and then tweak it as needed.

Yeah, I had the same 2kg of .32s for aaaaaaaages because I only run them in pistols and 1.1J guns... and I'm a bolt action / DMR enjoyer, so basically only pistols. That bag lasted me over a year and I had no issues with them from start to finish. Don't store them in damp areas, and don't put wet BBs back in the bag and you'll be fine.

I have a TM AKM and it's great. Shoots like a dream and is very efficient. I'll get a wood kit for it eventually, but my MWSs took priority.

Did you need to do much internally for this to work well? I'm... potentially picking up two WE rifles in the near future (an m14 and an SVD); the m14 will basically not be WE any more with the parts that will be in it, but the SVD will be much more vanilla, so I want to know if I'm setting myself up for pain 😂

If you're only budgeting £400, you're not getting a good m4 or AK, partially because magazines tend to be £50 per mag and they're only 35rds each, so you will need at least a few. Not an m4 or AK, but the KWA mp9 has always been pretty decent and would come within your budget, including mags. They apparently do eventually need parts replacing later down the line for steel parts as some of the stock parts will eventually give up, though mine haven't gone yet. That said, I don't use mine much.

Cyma mp5 always a solid bet

Yeah, one of the great parts of Worthing is they have a range that goes out to 85m, so I'm always using it to zero my sights and set my guns up, though since I have to move scopes between guns I usually have to do this at the start of every game day. It's also where I did all my testing around various power limits with my various guns; tested between 1.1J and 2.3J with my m700s and tested between 1.1J, 1.48J, 1.64J, 1.88J and 2.32J with my HPA m14 and my MTW, as well as one of my MWSs Well, it goes out to 100m, but it's hard to get an angle on the 100m target and I think it might've fallen off the tree it was attached to...

Been running civvie kits all summer, but now that the leaves are falling and sight lines will open up a little, even if Worthing is still difficult to snipe at in winter with all the twiggy bits, I feel like it may be time to return to the LRRP setups. Worn with m81 (freedom and apple pie, babyyyyyyy 🦅 🦅), this is the current setup I'm going with. Will generally wear the boonie and stash the viper hood and cap in the bag as an "if I need it" kind of thing. Will also carry scrim net for the rifle to break up the solid black colour and using elastic bands to secure it allows me to add some natural vegetation as well. I'm not painting that beautiful piece of airsoft history and while I have a ghillie rifle wrap, I like taking the real-steel approach of "do not use any camo that impedes the workings of the rifle" which ghillie wraps very much tend to do; the number of times the ghillie material flaps up in front of the scope while I'm trying to aim I swear to God... Repro invisio earpiece, cam cream, rangefinder, compass, elastic bands/hair ties and binos also in the kit, but not included in the picture because I forgot. Also carry BBs, gas, another canteen of water and sometimes some snacks in the backpack as well, often using it as a rifle rest instead of the bipod once I get into a spot. I also might remove the right-side pistol mag pouch and leave it empty, as it resides just above the pistol when the holster is attached to my trouser belt. Quick-draw pistol access isn't needed for this type of kit, and I feel like having the extra magazines might be more worth it, but I need to see in game how it feels. The pistol does clear the kit fairly easily, but it's ever so slightly in the way. The pistol also changes depending on my mood between the HK45, 1911, p226, hi-capa, AAP-01 and mk23, but at the moment I'm feeling the immersive suppressed .45 (it's a subsonic round, so a suppressor actually works decently well on the real thing, and I prefer the GBB HK45 over the NBB mk23, especially for sniping) Backup rifle tends to be my 16" SRS as it's small, light and easy to pack and bring to a game day. I never plan on using it, but it's good to have a reliable backup that I can just throw in without worrying about having to tune it for the weather like I do with the m24. However, this kit can do all of my MWSs as well (those double .308 mag pouches fit 3x MWS mags nicely) so it basically covers all of the rifles that I use between my m700s and MWSs, plus my backup SRS and MTW, and hopefully next year will include a GBBR m21 build.

+1 for real ammo tins. I have two real ammo tins, one for sniper/DMR ammo, one for rifle/pistol ammo. I chuck a few silicon packs in each to make sure there's no moisture that will degrade my BBs Plus, it's immersive.

I've been tempted to put a Russian kit together myself, because EMR + smersh (also in EMR) is a vibe. Don't have many Russian weapons though (I don't like AEGs or HPA that isn't fully self-contained, and I'm not shelling out on a WE SVD) so I would probably need to modernise my AKM, without totally changing the structure so I can return to old-fashioned if I need to. But I have to be really tight with money at the moment (want to buy a car ideally before Christmas and also max out my lifetime ISA limit for this financial year before April), but I've been browsing HK stores for TM AKM GBBR modernisation parts. I did resist the temptation to spend a couple hundred on a stock, picatinny handguard and a front grip. I swear, browsing those shops is a dangerous thing...

I'm currently trying to lose weight because getting fitter makes airsoft (and basically everything in day to day life) much easier. I really miss the times when I was much fitter and airsoft was easier and I was able to do so much more than I can right now. Definitely feeling the limitations of carrying 30kg of unnecessary weight around... However in the interim, I have become very good at hiding and all my rifles are pretty obsessively tuned. Sniping is a great way to play if you're overweight and unfit, because the whole point is moving slowly. Still a menace on the field, so 100% agree with you. There are many ways to make yourself more effective on the field.

I will say that my arguments for higher limits will come from a position of bias as I pretty much always do long range airsoft and it's what I enjoy (my longest hit in a game was 124m, but it was basically archery from an elevated position), but with how good hop ups are now, bolt actions and DMRs are a lot less useful with their current power levels. Granted, I still use them because it's what I enjoy, but in practical airsoft terms you gain very little from using a bolt action or DMR. I've done... a lot of testing with this, because I'm a big long-range enthusiast, and I'll go into details below. The TL:DR is that hops are good, and in airsoft practicality (not range accuracy, but a "I can hit that airsofter over there" in game) a regular 1.14J gun can hit players at the same ranges as a 2.32J bolt action rifle. I don't think we'd ever get higher limits anyway, because airsoft power limits are set by law (1.3J max full auto, 2.5J max semi/bolt action) and so we are constrained by that. The only variation tends to be on DMRs as even for me living in the black hole of airsoft sites that is Sussex, I've seen them at 1.48J (Gunman), 1.64J (Southdown/Allsorts), 1.88J (Worthing/Driver Wood) and 2.32J (Shift Your RIFT) Now if you want to indulge in my autism, read on. If not, stop reading and save yourself before it's too late... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'll preface what I'm about to say by saying that I don't care if your "bolt action hits 100m easily". I've been building sniper rifles and DMRs for decades, and I know in my eyes what the effective range is for a 2.3J gun; every time someone makes what I consider an outlandish or exaggerated claim about their gun's range, I have found it to be overstated 100% of the time and usually shoot worse than my rifles. My measure for "effective range" is being capable of hitting a man-sized target at least 8/10 times, preferably 9/10 times, in ideal shooting conditions (no wind, good visibility). All of my findings are from just me spending time on the range and tinkering with different guns and different approaches, so it's all coming where the shooter has the same standards. A well-tuned bolt action will hit a man-sized target pretty accurately at 75m with a relatively flat trajectory (a tiny little bump at the end of the shot). You'll probably be able to hit 85m as well, but that requires a bit of angling or increasing the hop up a little bit. You can hit out further, though at this point there's progressively more and more luck involved with the shot as range increases. It will involve more aggressive angling of the gun and the gun is probably moving when you rack the bolt with each shot, making it a challenge to reset to the exact same position. A well-tuned DMR (assuming 1.88J) will hit a man-sized target pretty accurately at 70m with much the same trajectory. You'll probably be able to hit out to 75 - 80m as well with the same practices of angling or increasing hop a little bit. It's also easier to do this as it's quicker and easier to make follow up shots with a DMR and so you might be able to hit a target out to that same 85m as the bolt action as you can walk in your shots a lot easier. Again, you can hit out further, but as range increases, so does the luck element. A well-tuned 1.14J gun will hit a man-sized target pretty accurately at ~55m with the same trajectory. You can also hit 60m pretty often too with gentle angling. However, the big difference here is that you have full-auto, and therefore the angling component of getting more range is so much easier. After all, a hit is a hit and it doesn't matter if that hit was one well placed shot, or 100 BBs sprayed at an angle. I haven't managed to hit 85m (partially because the tree canopy stopped me from that aggressive level of angling), but I have easily hit 75m with a 1.14J gun by flipping it to full auto and spraying at an angle (the target is metal and makes a delightfully audible pinging noise when hit). Is it as accurate as a bolt action rifle hitting it with 9/10 shots? No. Does that matter in airsoft gameplay terms? Not really; a hit is still a hit and that player is still going back to respawn. You also have no MED, which is nice. Accuracy by volume is a big part of effectiveness in airsoft because of how inaccurate our guns are.

I would 100%. If I had my way it'd be: CQB: 1.14J - no MED (pistols, shotguns, rifles, SMGs) Assault: 1.5J - 10m MED, semi-only (rifles) Gunner: 1.88J - 30m MED, must be deployed, must carry a 1.14J sidearm/secondary (LMGs, MMGs, HMGs) Marksman: 2.32J - 30m MED, semi-only, no trigger spam, must carry a 1.14J sidearm/secondary (DMRs) Sniper: 3J - 30m MED, bolt action rifles only, must carry a 1.14J sidearm/secondary Still no bang rule. If someone comes up on you and they're within your MED, that's a you problem and you will have to use your pistol/secondary. However, with great power comes great responsibility, and with how much shooting within MED, trigger spam and LMGs used like m4s I already see at game days, do I trust most airsofters with that kind of power? No, I don't think I do... 😂

I will embrace the cringe. I do plan at some point on getting some cameras and becoming yet-another-youtube-airsoft-sniper, though I have no compulsion to make a career of it and play into the drama-farming Youtube algorithm. I do think I have some interesting things to share though, part of which is a unique setup amidst the sea of over-engineered full body ghillie suits with MTWs, Tac-41s and Novritsch rifles. Will see though. I may just decide I can't be bothered and it's low on the priority list...