Impulse

I personally wouldn't run a one point sling since I ran a one point sling with my Cyma mp5k and it snapped off as soon as I started running and it bounced around a bit. Can't say for sure on your one, but the mp5k rear sling loop is awful.

I'm not much a fan of multicam or multicam adjacent camos (sorry, the super-duper-serious-business milsim crowd ruined it), but I love the desert MARPAT. Good to see someone else rocking it!

Had another great day at Worthing today. It was pretty chilly, but it was dry so I could actually use my m700! People always say gas rifles are crap in the cold, but today I had to put a smaller gas router into the bolt as it was chronoing a bit hot on green gas! Ended up on red gas with a narrower router and it was between 2 - 2.2J, so exactly where I needed it. I was fortunate enough not to run into too many cheaters which was nice, but my friends said there were a few out there I also contributed to someone throwing their toys out of the proverbial pram. They kept coming back to the same spot and I kept on sniping them every single time they went there and they had no idea where I was due to my ghillie and good choice of firing position combined with the fact the gas m700 makes basically no noise whatsover. They then got angry, blindfired around a corner... right into a marshall's face, who then had a good stern word with them while they had a temper tantrum. I was watching the whole thing through my scope The fact that it was dry all day until a brief shower in the afternoon meant it was a fantastic day for me. It has been really wet the past few game days, and the game days before that I was either injured (inflamed nerve in my head giving me a headache as soon as I did anything mildly active, followed by a strained foot after I took a tumble on my daily run) or still working out the m700 setup I want. Today was the first day I had the m700 where I wanted it and also was able to play the whole day and I'm super happy that I did. Roll on next game day!

Whichever one you like the look of most. There are some that are very specialised, for example the mk23 is great for silence, range, accuracy, gas efficiency and reliability thanks to the NBB nature, but the trigger pull absolutely sucks which means you won't make the most out of that accuracy unless you manually pull back the hammer yourself every time. Suffice to say, this sucks for fast shooting and mine only comes out when it's both very cold and wet; if it's only very cold or only wet I have other options that I immediately go for. Also, the 1911 has tiny magazines and I've heard the m9 models can be a bit crap, but outside of that TM pistols are generally created equally and are all fantastic. My favourite is my HK45 because I like .45 calibre pistols and the HK45 feels great in my hands. Plus it has a suppressor, and I like putting suppressors on everything!

My friend has one and hates the magazines, but otherwise the gun seems great. Just pray the magazines don't spring any leaks as from what I've heard they're as bad as the mk23 magazines to work on.

I was digging around to get my TM 1911 out as I will want to do some work on it before 'Namsoft season starts again and decided to pull out my other 1911, from a time when trademarks in airsoft were slapped on literally everything without a second thought; bought my Bell 1911 back in 2008 in Spain as it was a project gun that the shop built and then the person didn't want it, so I bought it for a decent price. It feels so nice to hold being full metal and I think I may give it a tune up with CowCow parts if they work well in my TM 1911 and run it on red gas or something due to the heavy metal slide not wanting to move on green gas in the UK climate (though not sure if TM magazines will handle red gas without blowing up like mk23 mags do, so might need some Bell 1911 magazines...). Managed to get the stock magazine gas-tight at least It's entirely possible this gun has been in airsoft longer than you have 😂

Wolverine have a decent 12 month warranty on their stuff, but I personally don't know of anyone else who offers a lifetime warranty as good as Vortex

I can't tell you what they are, but I can confirm they are definitely NOT TM mags, since that's the GBBR AK I have and my mags don't look at all like that.

TM Hi-capa is one of the best GBBs on the market, honestly. They're super upgradeable if you want to go down that route, but it's entirely unnecessary as TM pistols perform really well out of the box, even in low temperatures. The upgradeability is just doubly useful because it means that if something does go wrong and break (my Hi-Capa is still working perfectly after years), you can easily get replacement parts.

2nd post in a row with a hard-on for hating HPA players and blaming them for everything. Will your next post also blame them for world hunger? 🤣 @Skara has the right of it, it's the player, not the gun, and dickheads will be dickheads regardless what they're using. Though it is very easy to build a wankergun with HPA, not all HPA are wankerguns and not all wankerguns are HPA. I don't think I've ever had any issues with the HPA regulars at my local site, and we have some pretty dedicated HPA players. Also, not all HPA systems are spammy; my HPA m21 really, really hates it if I try to spam the trigger as firstly the mags can't keep up and will stop feeding well and becomes inconsistent, inaccurate and generally just bad if I spam. The only issue people have had with me running my HPA m21 is the classic "that's a bit close for a sniper isn't it?" because it looks like a sniper, sounds like a sniper and I'm dressed like a bush like a sniper, but it's 1.1J and I have the same issue with my m700 when I run that lower power as well. Also, again, as Skara said... Sounds like you need to find a new site

Played a half day today at a private game with the staff and a few of the long-time regulars at my local airsoft site. My only gripe is that I didn't bring the m700 as the forecast was "it will piss it down all day" and sniping in the rain is just an awful experience. Wanted to run my GBBR AKM, but I felt it was just a bit too nippy for that too, so I chose to run the m21 (the AEG one, not the HPA one that jams). We played until about 1pm and it was really mild. Strong winds meant shots did veer off to one side quite often, but it was a very enjoyable day of 10v10 where everyone involved was experienced and knew the site. I was expecting to remove the scope mount from my m21 early on as soon as the rain started, but the rain didn't come and I got some cracking shots with it. However, I definitely prefer my bolt action, since I found that while the m21 is quiet for an AEG, as soon as I pulled the trigger people on the other team immediately had a rough idea where I was, where if I use my m700 they have no idea at all. It started pissing it down as we were finishing lunch and we all decided to call it there Was good to get out and I'm looking forward to a normal skirmish day next week, as long as the weather is either dry or not freezing cold. I don't mind wet as I can use my GBBRs, I don't mind cold as I can use my m700 in all temperatures, I really dislike wet and cold because it means I have to use my only AEG (which is still a sniper rifle, just I have to run it with iron sights) as I can't use my GBBRs or any of my scoped rifles

Figured I'd echo what has been said, though I haven't even got a nozzle return spring for mine and it's still going strong. It's such a great platform out of the box and really requires the most minimal of internal upgrades. Externals however... I do plan on shoving a bunch of real-steel parts onto mine

The springs in the SR-25 are cut as they come out of the box at 460fps, so the springs get clipped when they're imported.

No option for gas NBB! I feel marginalised 😭 In ideal conditions (basically as long as it's not chucking it down with rain), my main gun is a gas sniper rifle that I run at either 1.1J or 2.3J depending on the time of the year and thickness of the foliage at my local site as I have setups for both powers. Alongside this I will usually run a GBB mp9 or my HK45 in a leg holster and I want to get a TM LCP to run in a shoulder holster, but make do with a mk23 for now for silent close range pews. My main regular rifleman style rifles are a TM MWS and AKM, so both GBBRs and I have SR-25 and m21 AEGs and a mp7 AEP for when conditions get craptastic for any of the aforementioned. GBBRs are way less practical in airsoft, with the heavy mags that only hold 35 BBs each, but I absolutely love how they feel to shoot and love the immersive aspect of actually having to reload and make sure the bolt is cocked for them to shoot. If I could get GBB versions of my SR-25 and m21 (that don't suck) I totally would, but the VFC SR-25 was a limited run and the WE m14 has issues (though I still might get one...) However, I'll choose GBB as it's the closest option (and is pretty close all things considered). I used to be all about HPA but the line and tank annoyed me and my setups decided to have issues recently so am angy with them. Plus, I think my gas m700 performs better than my HPA VSR, though it takes a lot more work and tweaking on the day to make sure it's firing where I want it to.

TM one is in stock in several places and will fit as it's what I've got on mine, but holy hell is it expensive for what it is! Cheapest I found was £40 on airsoftworld.net, which is a pretty extortionate price and I doubt I paid that much for mine! (I got both of mine years and years ago...) Unfortunately, the Laylax one doesn't fit, which is a shame as it's my favourite and I haven't tried the G&P one on my Cyma. The Laylax one doesn't mesh properly with the Cyma receiver and goes on at a slight angle meaning you'll never get it horizontally zeroed.

I have a very large Nuprol bag and it's fine. Not the best, but does the job well enough and actually fits my rifles, although the front SMG pocket is falling apart so I don't use that any more; inside of the bag is absolutely fine and lets me carry two long guns with ease. I have the 46" version: https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/nuprol-mp-pmc-deluxe-soft-rifle-bag That said, at some point in the future I want to get hard cases for all of my guns. Not a cheap endeavour though...

I bought some small parts from them about a year ago and they came through fairly quickly with no customs charges. I probably wouldn't risk buying something like a RIF from them, but I always source my weird, niche parts from Hong Kong as they tend to have better stock availability

I tend to just use Nuprol 2.0 when it's cold, or ASG ultrair if it's really cold and my TM pistols seem to work decently enough in the winter. Will never go higher than that in my blowbacks on the fear that they will explode, even when it's cold.

Especially with the new Hadron TDC outer barrel. Mine is just by far my favourite GBB pistol now and performs extremely well!

1. Heavier BBs tend to give better range AND accuracy. However, AEGs have a thing called cylinder to barrel ratio which I honestly don't understand all the intricacies on (the airsoft teching hole goes deep...), but what it basically means is that most AEGs have a sweet spot for BB weight at certain powers and it's different for every set up; helpful, I know. At 1.1J, running a .48 probably won't give a huge boost in performance and that's assuming the hop up can even lift it, but it will provide a huge boost in running costs as a bag of 1000x .48g BBs is between £25 - 30, where a bag of 3000x .32g BBs is between £18 - 20; triple the ammo, about 33% cheaper. Joules, at the end of the day are a measure of kinetic energy. I'm going to dive into poorly explained science here because the last time I studied physics or mechanics was when I was 18 and doing my A-levels. When a BB is fired, it has a certain amount of kinetic energy going in the direction of (hopefully) enemy players and is being slowed down by air resistance, pulled downwards by gravity and also affected by things like wind direction, rain, pesky leaves getting in the way etc. The heavier the projectile, the slower it will leave the barrel (assuming the same kinetic energy), however it will also take longer to decelerate as the mass of the projectile requires more resistance to lower its momentum. A good example is imagine throwing a cricket ball with a certain amount of kinetic energy and think how far it will go compared to a balloon thrown with the same amount of kinetic energy. As I said, I haven't studied it in years and I'm awful at explaining it (I was more into statistics than mechanics). There are plenty of sources online that will explain kinetic energy, momentum, deceleration and all that lovely physics stuff better than I can. 2. Joules are far better than FPS for testing power. I run gas guns and I could probably get my m700 firing at 350fps on a .2 (so, no MED), but then being around 2.3J on a .48 thanks to a wonder called joule creep that is prevalent in gas platforms which would be unsafe to fire up close. (it's not a wonder, I hate it and am constantly wrestling with it 🤣) 2.1. You could, though if you're looking to go the DMR route it will cost more than £250 to build a decent one and require you to open up the gearbox, which I do NOT advise for a new player; hell, I've been doing this for years and I still don't do gearboxes. I just don't get them, no matter how many times I try. To build a DMR, you'll likely need a metal-toothed piston, high torque motor and a stronger spring at the very least, but you'll likely want more things like a full cylinder (most stock ones are ported which means you get lower air volumes which is not what you want for a DMR), MOSFET and better gears. Also, you start wrestling with MEDs as soon as you go over 1.14J, which means you can't shoot at anyone who is within a certain distance of you, whether it's 20 or 30m (the most common MEDs. 30m is the most common though) which means you would really need some sort of pistol or secondary to go alongside it. Some sites enforce that you must have a pistol or secondary if you want to run anything with an MED; my local site very much does. However, as an added piece of advice, if you're running at 1.88J, you want to be using far heavier than a .28g BB. For me, I'd be looking to run .4s at least in a 1.88J build, preferably heavier if the hop up would lift it without dropping the power too much. 3. Stock FPS is more than sufficient. 340fps on a .2 means it will be pretty close to 1.1J and is exactly where mine is shooting at the moment (it's about 1.07J). Power does impact range and accuracy, but hop up and barrel setup impacts it far more. Also, not all sites have the same DMR rules, so if you set it up for 1.88J, you wouldn't be able to use it at other sites; my local site for example has DMRs at 1.64J and some sites go as far as 1.48J as a limit for DMRs. Therefore, if you want to do a DMR build, my advice would be do it with something with a quick change spring system so that you can adjust the power fairly easily without having to open the whole gearbox, which you don't want to be doing with an m14 at least because they're fiddly to get apart. I can go on at length about the pros and cons of building a DMR, but the TL:DR is that I generally don't think it's worth it because bolt actions are better at it. Aaaaaand, it appears I've built another wall, though it is big and beautiful... 😂

The barrel probably isn't. M14s have a weird hop unit so only certain barrels will fit because of the way barrels are cut. ZCI have both m14 and standard AEG cuts, but otherwise you probably would need something that specifically states it's an m14 barrel. Barrel isn't the end of the world, the important parts for consistency, range and accuracy are the hop rubber and nub; can just run it with the standard barrel for now. Also, AK2M4 does ZCI barrels and is where I got mine, but he's not taking orders at the moment because of the royal mail strikes. Also, for a scope you need a scope mount. Just in case you didn't already incorporate it: https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/cyma-m14-m1a-scope-mount Out of stock, but can probably find one elsewhere. The Tokyo Marui one will also fit as Cyma are Tokyo Marui clones

That's the one; I have it in faux wood for Namsoft! In terms of similarities on range, I can't say for certain because I've never owned a G&G CM16 before. Nope, no limits on BB weight though we are a woodland site; I've had weight limits at CQB events and sites, but I've never seen BB weight limits in woodland. In theory you could run .48s through a support gun if you want to make questionable financial decisions 🤣 Generally most players at my local site go with .25s or .28s anyway, I just build all of my 1.1J guns, pistols included, to use .32s so I don't have to faff with BB weights too much (mp7 is the only one that takes lighter ammo because it's an AEP). I don't run my mp5k often as I prefer my mp9, which I tend to fire on semi anyway because gas gun cooldown on full auto is real and by the end of the mag the BBs are trickling out of the barrel!

Long range airsoft! My favourite topic! Apologies in advance for wall o'text... I will start by saying that getting a bolt action as a first gun is generally a bad idea. It can work out and it did for me way back when I started with my Warrior L96 (now known as Well), but it's a very different style of playing. That said, if you have already played once and liked going off by yourself and taking long shots, I wouldn't immediately rule it out or at least not entirely. £250 is a pretty tight budget, but not impossible to work with, no matter how many people say "sniping is expensive". If it were me, I would go one of two routes: Cyma m14: They're £150 and don't need any gearbox modifications out of the box. Spend £30 on a ZCI 499mm stainless steel barrel, £10 on a Maple Leaf macaron hop rubber (60 or 70 degree is my preference) and £5 on a Maple Leaf omega nub and that's just shy of £200; spend the other £50 on more mags, or just run the high cap it comes with and use the £50 elsewhere, like on a scope and scope mount. I ran mine like this on .32g BBs for a long, long time and people with poorly tuned bolt action rifles (lots of players...) were having a tough time as I could effectively counter-snipe them despite only being 1J. I used it on semi-auto most of the time, but retained the use of full auto if I needed it and had no MED so I could also engage other players up close. In my opinion, if you're looking at getting into sniping, this is what I'd do first until you've learned the game a bit more and are better at judging distance, how environmental factors will affect BB trajectory etc. Also, it'll make a fantastic backup rifle for if you do get into sniping later down the line and you're having issues with your bolt action. Cyma cm701B / JG BAR-10: They're £120ish and I would run it at stock power until it eventually breaks (or you save up the considerable amount needed to upgrade the power). Spend about £50 on a Laylax 430mm stainless steel tightbore or a Maple Leaf Crazy Jet barrel, £50 on the Action Army hop up unit, £10 on a Maple Leaf autobot rubber (70+ degree) and £5 on a Maple Leaf omega nub. That's about £235, so not much room for much else and you will probably want an extra mag or two (they're £10 each) and you almost certainly want a scope. As a bolt action at 420fps (about 1.6J), you'll have an MED to contend with and it won't perform as well as it can as an extra 0.7J to bring it up to 2.3J will make a difference, but it'll be a bit quieter than the m14, though the m14 is very quiet for an AEG so it's not as big a deal as you may think. Upgrading the power you'll be looking at a LOT more investment to get it up to that 2.3J mark, but this build will not perform poorly (or at least, it shouldn't!). Another downside is that here you will want to be running as heavy as you can (so ideally .45g or .48g BBs) which is also pretty damn expensive, and because you'll have an MED you'll really want a reliable pistol so you'd be shelling out £150 for a TM, or £90 for an AAP-01 that will eventually explode and require a decent investment to fit the stronger aftermarket parts. Honestly, I'd go with the m14 as a first gun if you're looking to get into the long range game and then save up for a bolt action of your choice when you're more experienced, already have a pistol and have saved up a decent amount to do a good build; I'd probably want at least £500 to do a proper bolt action rifle build. You can play as a "sniper" with any gun, to be honest, and most people these days like to run ghillie suits and some variant of HPA m4 instead of a bolt action because they're a lot more versatile with having no MED and retaining full auto while still being mouse fart levels of silence. In terms of other good regular AEG assault rifles, I'll also wholly endorse the Cyma AKs and mp5s. I have a Cyma mp5k where all I've changed is the hop rubber and nub and it's now slinging .32s to a silly range and makes a nice little full-auto secondary for when I'm running one of my bolt actions. Outside of that, I don't have much experience with AEGs so I will defer to someone else on that as I am more of a gas gun aficionado. Only AEGs I own are a Cyma m14, SR-25 and mp5k, as well as a TM MP7 (but that's an AEP really...). I like Cyma AEGs

GBBs are generally usable all year round outside of the absolute pit of winter. If it's over 5 celcius, a TM GBB pistol on green gas will still cycle through most of the magazine, same with their GBBRs (at least I can attest to the MWS and AKM as those are the two I have). Under 5 celcius and even TM magic will struggle and I don't want to risk running red or black gas through them as they could explode. If you're after realism, you need to go gas instead of AEG, but AEGs are easier to use and far more reliable. You can always go NGRS for the middle-road between realism (pseudo bolt stop, 30rd magazines and a little recoil) and ease of use (don't have to worry about weather or gas mags weighing a lot) For AEGs, I don't think TM is worth it unless you want an NGRS. Clone brands are pretty damn good these days and you spend a fraction of the price, meaning you then have spare funds to tune the internals with aftermarket parts.

Normally I would chime in here and say "not all HPA users are bad" but I'm having a falling out with my own HPA systems at the moment because they're both being annoying to the point where I may sell them both and no longer be part of the club as I doubt I will go back to it because my gas systems are better and my AEGs are more reliable, sooooo... Sucks to hear that your last game of the year was a bad one. Mine was as well. The idiots specifically targeting hands and groins are worse than the Kicking Mustangs who go for headshots; headshots sting, but hand shots and groin shots sting even worse, as as you said, the hand is fairly easy to fracture if they hit you in the right place with enough force. I only go for hand or groin shots if the person I'm shooting at hasn't taken their body shots and then also hasn't taken their headshots afterwards.