Impulse

I run the Ruger lower (because I've fully converted mine to a Ruger .22) and I prefer it to the stock lower. Bonus points if you can get some nice wooden grips for it too!

It's a tough one for me, honestly, and so this is going to be a long post. I think I'd say that personally I enjoyed airsoft the most around when I started in 2004 up until about 2010 when I took my first break. The VCRA was a bit of a kick in the nuts, but it wasn't the end of the world, but I remember game days fondly from back then. However, I'll be talking about the reasons why the modern day is still good. Airsoft is a constantly evolving thing and that comes with both positives and negatives. Anyway, I'll list the reasons why 2004 - 2010 was my golden age: Social media wasn't as prevalent. This is THE big one for me as social media breeds a lot of what's wrong with airsoft these days. Whether it's people like Kicking Mustang making yet another "I RUIN NOOBS DAY WITH SAVAGE HEADSHOTS FROM OVERPOWERED PISTOL" video, or the milsim-elitist-geardo crowd showing off their ridiculous loadout with real NVGs and a thermal imaging drone and real-steel everything and telling you, directly or indirectly, that your gear is shit (you know the types). I think social media is the root of a lot of negative things, not just with airsoft but that's a discussion for another time I never had anywhere near the number of issues back then than I did today, with the only glaring example being when a bunch of guys from the year below us at school decided to come to a game day and rampantly didn't take their hits, but they didn't last long and after another game day or two they were completely gone. We were slinging .2s and *maybe* .25s if you were going heavy, but people still were able to take their hits reliably. It was a bit more trustworthy. Nobody chrono'd (and I'm not saying we shouldn't, definitely think it's needed these days), but we didn't really need to as there were never really any issues with people running hot guns or people getting injured (unless they came out of the box hot, which some did, but even then I don't remember seeing any injuries). I know my Dboys m4 was about 390fps out of the box or something, and I had a Warrior L96 sniper rifle without a sidearm, but I never full-auto'd people up close and never took shots within my MED. Similarly, I never had any issues with someone running some stupidly hot gun and injuring people. When I played in Spain between 2008 - 2010 (probably my absolute favourite time playing and my true "golden age") we didn't even have marshalls as "official" airsoft sites didn't exist at that point; we just showed up to abandoned urbanisations, of which there are a LOT on the south coast of Spain, and played BB wars and it was a LOT of fun. We also hired the land next to a hotel (and booked a lot of rooms at the hotel) for a weekend event and it still remains my favourite event I've ever been to; again, we had no marshalls, we had some players who organised what the games would be and the objectives and we just had fun. As you said, it was a mostly even playing field. There were some guns that were just... really good, but even fine tuning guns didn't create such a divide. The best guns I remember from back then were... A sniper on the team I was a part of had a Tanaka m700 or m40a1 or a TM VSR-10 (can't remember exactly, but it was one of those) which he had tweaked a whole lot, two German guys in Spain had KJW m700s that they had tweaked and my Cyma m14 SOCOM were the ones that immediately come to my mind. Less ghillies. I know, me, a bush wookiee, complaining about ghillies, but they're bloody everywhere now. Back then we didn't have anywhere near the number of them and if you wanted one you had to make it. I still remember as a 17 year old going to a fabric shop and buying a bunch of burlap, dyeing it three different colours in a bucket on the outside terrace in the Spanish townhouse we lived in at the time, and then tying it onto a Webtex concealment vest, supplementing it with natural foliage on the day. Nowadays, anyone can just buy a Novritsch rifle and a KMCS and be done with it. I don't think that's a bad thing (development and offering more products is generally good) but I think combined with the social media point it's making a lot of players play timid. Guess I should touch on that as well. People weren't anywhere near as... fragile(?) as they are now. People flung themselves into games and had a laugh when they got lit up, but nowadays it feels like everyone sits out of range of each other just spraying BBs at barricades. Also, if you hit someone with more than a single BB, there's every chance they're going to throw a hissy-fit over "overshooting" because 5 BBs hit them. It's part of the reason I'm ditching my ghillie for the next few game days at least, to see if I can galvanise some activity. However, I would also argue that today is the golden age: There are a LOT more players nowadays. A "very busy" day in my golden age was like... 30 players. Now, you're looking at over 100 at my local site and I know some get even more. New blood in the hobby keeps the hobby alive The sheer range of internal upgrades and how effective they are. Getting a 1.1J build to shoot accurately to 60m is pretty simple these days, where getting a bolt action to shoot 60m back in my golden age would've been considered witchcraft. I think my Cyma m14 SOCOM was a DMR at 420fps (1.6J) and it probably fired to 50m(ish) Accessibility for newer players. As I said when I was moaning about there being too many ghillies, it's incredibly easy for people to get into the hobby and do what they want. This is definitely a good thing and contributes to the hobby having a healthy player count. The guns are way higher quality than they were. Back then, you either paid a LOT for a TM, Tanaka, Systema etc, or you bought a Cyma that would probably break because the externals were made of pot metal, or you bought something where the internals would crap themselves after a small amount of use. Gear is way higher quality than it was. I remember Viper gear was utter shite back when I first played, so like with guns you either paid for some expensive Warrior Assault Systems kit, or you bought a Viper rig that fell apart. Nowadays, I have nothing against the repro brands like Viper or 8fields and have a lot of their kit; it's sturdy and does the job at a fraction of the cost, though I will always love my WAS stuff, since I still have the chest rig I used in Spain and it still works just fine and shows no sign of breaking any time soon. I'll stop waffling any more than I already have. TL:DR, 2008 - 2010 was my golden era when I was living in Spain, though that's also partially down to the sites we played at!

I try not to, because customs sometimes likes to confiscate your package. Otherwise, it's not too bad; my friend bought a TM LCP II with two spare mags which came in at about the same price as buying one here without the spare mags, even after customs charges. Parts on the other hand... I've never paid customs charges on any small bits and pieces I've bought from any HK retailer I've dealt with (WGC, Tiger111, KHMountain) as they were all marked as gifts. Good to have such generous friends in HK

Nah, bad accident. I wasn't around when it happened, but from what I understand a player collided with him and it messed up his knee. Had to be carted off to hospital, but to his credit he was back the next day on crutches to try and make sure the game ran okay.

I won't throw my "but why DMR?" into the ring as I think there are more than a few common misconceptions when it comes to DMRs (I have some strong opinions on DMRs), but I think the holy grail covers most points pretty well and you seem pretty set on it. I recently undertook a SR-25 project to run at 1.1J as a "DMR" because my local site rules suck for DMRs, but I also have a spring for a 1.88J variant which is nice and easy to install thanks to a quick change spring system. My opinion is that quick change spring systems are a necessity for DMRs, either that or a HPA setup (or the patience to take the gearbox apart to change the spring if you go elsewhere), since DMR rules vary across the country. I've seen 1.88J, 1.64J and 1.48J at different sites and events, so if you plan on going to many other sites or events you'll need to consider that.

At the last one, one of the staff went down in a nasty way so I imagine there's something? But you're totally right, something you generally don't know exists until you actually need it.

I've found this as well ever since I started running. My goal is to be able to keep up with the speedybois as I'm still definitely on the younger side for airsofters, but not exactly a monster-fuelled teenager any more.

I think that's it. Only reason it's economically viable is because they get a few hundred players. That said, this one is going to be limited to only 300, down from the 400 of the recent events and the 500 from events years ago. The last two places (Citadel in Dover and the shopping centre in Rochdale) could not take 400 players which was what contributed to the gameplay being centred around meat grinder chokepoints (and the only way people pushed through during the Citadel at least was by charging through them in massed numbers with a few people blatantly not taking their hits). I'm considering it because a lot of the staff from Worthing are thinking of going and are friends with the organisers (as some of them have been going to AI500 for over a decade) and I've enjoyed the previous two AIs I've been to, despite them being a bit of a shitshow, as I play differently to how most people at the events did and was able to make it enjoyable for myself. Still waiting to see the rules in full, but they say they'll be allowing bolt actions this time; I'll wait until the inevitable "only at 1.48J" they slapped on the Citadel event 😂

If I remember right I think I got one mine from airsoft world, though it was the last one they had in stock. The second set I got I think I got from Hong Kong, but I couldn't tell you for sure as it was about 7 months ago.

Ok so 2 weeks passed and I had the chance to once again test this build now that I had the power where I needed it and the hop up set, and this will likely be my final post on this journey of building the SR-25 (and boy has it been a journey...). The final parts list is as follows: Cyma Platinum cm.098 SR-25 (with foam baffles installed in the suppressor as it comes empty!) ZCI m120 spring ASG Infinity u-18000 Lonex helical bevel & pinion gears ZCI 18:1 SR-25 gears SHS SR-25 nozzle Maple Leaf 70 degree macaron hop rubber Maple Leaf omega nub Prometheus 6.03 509mm stainless steel tightbore Outdoor and Tactical Harris style bipod KAC-style vertical grip Magpul MS4 sling Strike Systems 3-9x50mm scope (relatively high scope mounts to accommodate rifle wrap and ability to still mount back-up iron sights) Run on an 11.1v lipo battery with deans connectors Wrapped in a Sprinter Custom Ghillie multi-season rifle wrap (not getting a picture of it unwrapped because I already wrapped it yesterday and I can't be bothered to remove it!) This has it outputting a VERY consistent 1.05J, with the occasional shot dropping as low as 1.02J, on a .32; 1.05J means no MED, so I don't have to worry about people getting too close! The range and accuracy is phenomenal, easily hitting a man-sized target at 60m 7/10 times even with the hop rubber not bedded in yet as I haven't put enough rounds through it yet. I'm hoping once the hop rubber is bedded in I'll be able to up that to 9/10 shots, but time will tell on that. However, the big thing is that it is quiet for an AEG. While testing it on the range, I got my friend to fire it as I made my way down the range to see how it sounded. By 30m I could barely hear it, by 40m I couldn't hear it at all. I then asked him to do the same, but on full-auto: by 40m I could barely hear it, and by 50m I couldn't hear it at all. Is it as quiet as a HPA gun? No, but it's amusingly close, so I think I'll be keeping it as an AEG as not having the line and tank is pretty liberating. Honestly, I'm pretty damn pleased with it. The only parts I will get for it in the future are some sort of trigger replacement MOSFET, like a Perun, when the stock Cyma one eventually burns itself out, and at the same time I'll swap out the stock ported cylinder for a full cylinder, as my tendency to use heavy BBs alongside the long barrel could probably benefit from such a modification, if only slightly. I also have a ZCI m140 or m150 (it's unlabelled) lying about for if I go to an event where I wish to run it as a DMR, though this will only come once I've done the MOSFET replacement since as it stands this SR-25 build is still capable of full-auto. The m140/150 pushes the power up to a cosy 1.84J on a .4, which is just where I'd want it for a DMR, though I haven't tested range and accuracy on that as my local site's DMR rules are just not worth it (1.64J with a 30m MED; I've written borderline essays elsewhere on this forum on why I think that's a waste of time). Going to run it for a few game days and play a bit faster than I normally do with a bolt action as my local site needs some players to start taking the initiative a bit more. Cobra hood and workout rig here I come! In short, very pleased, would recommend the Cyma SR-25 as the base for a DMR and it will be one of my only AEGs as I really like the performance; the only other AEG I keep is my Cyma m21 build as a backup gun for Vietnam games, but with a full cylinder that thing shoots pretty much just as well as this SR-25 build. Also, HPA isn't always the answer and now I just find the "oh, just HPA it" argument to be a rather amusing one. I still think HPA is a good option, but I also think it is only good for snipers and DMRs (spicy personal opinion, you won't convince me otherwise).

I like to think I'm fairly impartial when it comes to Novritsch stuff. His stuff is generally fine but it's entirely not for me. Novritsch guns typically shoot okay out of the box, but they're hard to tweak and won't perform as well as a well-tweaked gun. His ghillie leaves are wank though, do not recommend as they fall apart too easily! If you're looking for an AR style gun, I know that Double Eagle have some really nice offerings, but I just don't like the look of them. I'll leave AR suggestions to people more informed than me as the only AR-style rifles I have are an SR-25 (which is a big, long boi) and a TM MWS (which is a gas blowback). Both are fantastic, but not sure it's what you're after, though that said the Cyma Platinum SR-25 is pretty damn good out of the box and fits your budget, but yeah... looooooong

Didn't really play much today as I had another of those days where everything went a bit wrong and we had to leave early anyway because the guy who gives us a lift had a family get-together this evening. MP9 mags need cleaning. I put BBs in one and they were all gunky by the time they got to the bottom. Going to give them a good clean! So that was out of play today because I'm not feeding disgusting dirty BBs through it. New holster for the HK45 is great, but I need to cable tie it to the molle platform as the buttons are utter shite and it kept coming loose and flipflopping around. Left-handed mk23 holster was uncomfortable as the molle drop leg platform buckles were digging into my side. I think I need a shoulder holster if I want to carry it alongside another pistol or SMG Forgot to gas up my m700 magazines so I went out into the first game with like... one and a bit mags. I managed to absolutely shut down and dominate a flank with about 32 - 35 BBs total, so that was nice, just waiting to take shots that I knew I could hit and not wasting a single BB was quite an exhilarating experience since a LOT of people started to push. Gassed all my mags for the 2nd game and spent a long time going on a large flank as I heard people fighting over where I wanted to go. I made it all the way around, came up on where I wanted to be, which had been cleared out by the time I got there, then game ended before I could get into position. However, it was still a successful day. I gave up on playing after the first two games as I wanted to set up my HK45, since I haven't used it since I bought the TDC outer barrel from Hadron, and I wanted to set up the SR-25. That's where I found my success. The HK45 was cycling perfectly even though it was a bit chilly and went through the whole mag with no issues. Slings .32s out to about 60m with the setup I have (Hadron TDC + ML Autobot rubber), but not accurate past 50m. More than enough for a pistol. The SR-25 is firing at 1.05J super consistently on .32s and sailing them out to 60m with no issue, hitting the target with most shots and the hop rubber isn't even properly bedded in yet. However, more importantly I took a walk down the range while my friend fired it. On semi-auto, it's barely audible at 30m and you just flat out can't hear it at 40m and that's on a quiet range with nothing else going on nearby. On full-auto it's barely audible past 40m, but at 50m you also just don't hear it at all. Very happy with it since it's an AEG and it's quieter than some people's spring bolt actions! Going to put the m700 away for a few game days I think. The gameplay at Worthing has been pretty abysmal recently so I feel like I'm going to need to play more aggressively which I just can't do efficiently with the m700. Nobody is taking much initiative and nobody is pushing, let alone pushing effectively; if I can lock down an entire flank with a bolt action rifle with about 35 BBs in total... Yeah. Going to put the full ghillie away and go with the cobra hood and the SR-25 for next game day and going to see just how much I can get away with. 650 BBs and an Odin speedloader with a universal adapter is a lot more than like... 80 shots from a gas-powered bolt action

Good eye protection is key. I have a set of Heroshark mesh glasses with a prescription insert that I find myself using the most, since it's mesh and provides a lot of airflow which helps keep the inserts from fogging up. I also have a set of Revision Sawfly glasses, again with a prescription insert, for when it's a bit warmer and my glasses don't steam up as much. If you don't need prescription inserts, both are still very good. Boots are important too, but I wouldn't say that you need to splash out hundreds on them. I'm using a pair of boots that cost me about £50 and they're doing just fine. As long as it has ankle support you'll be good. I'd also want to pick up some camos and some load-bearing kit from your local army surplus. Can pick up a set of DPM or MTP as well as some sort of vest or webbing for pretty cheap. Not totally necessary, but helpful. In terms of gun... there's no right answer (though there are definitely wrong answers!). It comes down to what you like aesthetically since pretty much all airsoft guns function the same way; you can use a small SMG in woodland and have the same range as the guy with the full length m16. So I guess my question would be what sort of guns do you like? AKs? M4s? MP5s?

Gas magazine cooldown will always happen just because of how the gas works. Even in the summer if I full-auto any of my GBBRs, the magazines come out and they're freezing to the touch. As for using gas guns in cold weather, NBBs work well because there is no blowback so the gas efficiency is good enough to mitigate the colder weather. I've been running a gas bolt action and my mk23 through most of the winter and I haven't had any issues. Outside of that, TM pistols work decently well in the cold because of the plastic slides and overall gas efficiency. 1911s will always struggle in the winter outside of CO2 ones, just because the mags are so tiny and store so little gas, but as soon as it gets warmer the TM 1911 is fine. I'll be trying my mp9 tomorrow as well, as I think it should work in the cold since the blowback mechanism isn't huge, but we'll see how it goes.

A similar conversation was had a week or so ago, so I'd advise having a look there:

Fortunately the "only orders over £135" for the UK tends to push me away, but before that I would agree with you. Bought so much from Taiwangun in the past

Yeah, it's a running joke at my local site that Glock mags go missing because of that. 1911 mags are also a prime contender because if you don't get an appropriate holster they wiggle about and end up hitting the mag catch because they're smaller than most pistols. And I hate pistols on my belt because I need to be able to sit in a shooting position, and suppressed pistols just immediately dig into the ground as soon as I do. I'm fairly tall though, so I use drop legs mounted very high on my leg which allows me to sit or kneel without sending the suppressor straight into the mud. Also one of my GBBs is an SMG and I don't think there are any belt-mounted holsters for SMGs (could be wrong, but I love my leg one anyway)

I run a GBB and my mk23 at the same time in my loadout. One on each leg. It's surprisingly doable and useful (mk23 for silent pews, but GBB for most sidearm shooting / moving about)

Ooooh, nice. I modified my hop arm because the stock one seems to push on Maple Leaf rubbers unevenly, so I filed some material away. I run mine on .32s, but couldn't do much more with the stock arm. Might look at the BBF one though, as I have to put a lot of hop on to lift .32s. That all said, I do prefer mine to my MWS. Yes, I'll be spending a whole lot more on my MWS making it all tacticool with real-steel parts, but the AKM I will keep basic as it's my bad guy gun and it's so much easier to work on; now that I have mags I love it!

I think assuming it will be an absolute mess is a given at this point.

Who is ready for another round of chaos? 🙄 I might go along, as the Worthing bunch will be going and I enjoy hanging out with them. However, it's a very "maybe" thing for me at the moment, since they love to ban bolt actions, which is most of my collection and generally my favourite gats (they even 1.1J ones) and I think it might clash with some Vietnam games, which would undoubtedly be better airsoft though I don't see the date on filmsim.co.uk. We'll see, still have to announce rules and where it's actually going to be.

DSG builds beg to differ. Guy who worked on my SR-25 brought his DSG build down to Worthing last month (with no intention of using it in game) because he knew the marshalls would see the funny side of it. You can definitely make AEGs go brrrrrrrrrrrrrttttttttttt. At that rate of fire, it's usually the mags that become the failing point as they just can't keep up. I also don't buy into the "high ROF = will win", but then again I run bolt actions and "DMRs" so I never have high ROF Also in terms of power difference, if they're cheating then they're cheating. I could just as easily show up to chrono with my SR-25 which I've kept as an AEG, pass chrono and then go off and change the spring over because it has a quick change spring and slap in a massive one that takes it way over the limit. Also I could take my gas guns to chrono on 144a with .2s, then go away and slap black gas and .48s in all my mags to bring them to something ludicrous like 4J. Couldn't do it with my blowbacks because they'd explode, but m700 and mk23 are both NBBs and my clone mk23 magazines will take high power gas without dying like my TM ones would. It's not the system, it's the players and the staff.

I have the Nuprol one and it turns itself off sometimes when I fire an AEG (I had it on my mp5k), let alone a GBBR, so now it just sits on my 416 NGRS that I never use and just looks pretty. Don't get the Nuprol one. It's crap

I almost sold my AAP because I had similar feelings. I just prefer my HK45 and I have a lot of pistols, then I realised I could put a Ruger .22 kit on it and use it for Vietnam games. Only reason I kept mine, because 1911 magazines are tiny so the AAP is a bit more reliable (and unique in that Ruger kit).