Impulse

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).

It's the current hotness in airsoft. Being able to fine tune power and rate of fire exactly where you need it, as well as how quiet it is and being able to run high caps is a pretty nice bonus; the only price you pay is a line and tank, which doesn't really affect most people and how they play; I personally can't stand it because I crawl into weird spots and the line always gets caught on things and I like being able to leave my rifle and go SMG-ing if things get too spicy. However, I will say that sitting at the back and spamming BBs at the enemy is also something that AEG users do aplenty and I've found that playing aggressively is just not something a lot of airsofters do nowadays. The number of times I see people going out to games with a plate carrier of 6 high cap magazines and going through them all in a single game, but similarly never see them on the front line. I swear these people spend more on BBs than I do, and I run .32s at the lightest (unless I'm somewhere with a weight limit). I often find myself as the front line because I've slow crawled into a position and nobody on my team has pushed up anywhere near as far forward

Yeah, I'm not looking to make it mk23 or m700 levels of silent, but just deaden the noise a little (plus I like suppressors on everything, so might as well make it somewhat useful). Funnily enough, looking around I've found trampoline pole foam covers appear to be the right size (about 4.5cm diameter), so going to order some and try it.

MP9 is now complete, but now I need to find some foam that will fit in this because it's a very thicc boi. Anyone know a good way to fill this with foam?

I don't know about their new stuff, but back in the day I had a Dboys m4 CQB when I lived in Spain and it was absolutely bulletproof. Amusingly I still have the V2 gearbox from it. If I were to put myself in my shoes 12 years ago when I used it, I'd buy it again in a heartbeat; that and the Cyma m14 SOCOM were zero regret purchases when I was in Spain. Unfortunately I don't have them now, outside the Dboys gearbox

TM AKM is brilliant and I prefer it to my MWS as it's far easier to maintain, can be used in basically any loadout kit and everyone has an m4 / 416 / AR-adjacent rifle so it's a bit different (though a lot of people do like their AKs too, so it's not exactly a unique piece), however getting magazines for it has been and still is a challenge. For mine the only thing I want to get for it is a wood kit, but the faux wood looks pretty gorgeous too. However, it's another gas gun, so you'd have issues if the weather gets too cold. Don't have any experience with the other guns listed, so I'll defer to others on those.

I have two AEGs and an AEP for when my m700 goes down and it's really cold, however I rarely use them. During the summer, my GBBRs (TM MWS and AKM) are my backups because they're incredibly reliable with very little to go wrong with them. However, I tend to still use my m700 (gas), mk23 (gas) and either HK45 or mp9 (both gas) all year round, because they just work and I love my gas guns

I personally would never go with the TM NGRS because I like to tweak my gats. The NGRS is great if you want to use it for CQB, never use it in heavy rain and do absolutely nothing to it (even more so than the regular "never 'upgrade' your TM guns"). My friend has one and the MOSFET is buggered with no apparent replacement, as he took it to AI500 a year or so ago, the first one at the Citadel in Dover where the heavens absolutely opened up and they had to stop early because roof tiles started falling from the structures, and the rain destroyed the MOSFET. Also, it uses AEP rubbers which aren't as good as what you can get in regular AEG rubbers. Double also, our local airsoft tech had a look at it for him and says he's never working on one because apparently the gearbox has fiddly magnets everywhere and it's just not worth it for him. He's probably just going to send it to Eagle6 to get it sorted as they're probably his best chance. Obviously everyone's mileage may vary, but the most direct experience I have of someone having one has not been great. The NGRS mp5 is lovely to hold and use (that HK slap on reloads ?) and will hit 45 - 50m out of the box, which is fine but you won't squeeze much more out of it. I was super tempted to get one for CQB, but I'll stick with my gas mp9 and future gas mp7 unless I move somewhere that does CQB outdoors in Oslo or something where temperatures get very low Personally, I'd go with a Cyma because I'm a horrible Cyma shill these days. I have a Cyma mp5k and it's a wonderful little gat; I have had absolutely zero issues with mine outside of the rear sling loop being a bit crap if you want to run a one-point sling on it. Part of the receiver has snapped so without the butt plate on it comes apart and there's a little wobble in it when it's all together, but that's expected as it fell on concrete while I was running and discovering that a one-point sling on that crappy sling loop was a bad thing. Still works flawlessly though! I changed out the hop rubber and nub for my usual Maple Leaf setup and it's amazing; no gearbox mods needed and it's hitting out to 60m fairly consistently (not accurately, but a quick burst of full auto will hit the target at least once). I recommended a Cyma mp5 to a friend at my local site and he loves it too and he's using it for woodland, not CQB, though the stock MOSFET in his died but he got it replaced for free with Patrol Base (it's a platinum version).

I would say TM MWS, but seems like you want a recoil AEG. I've got a 416D and it's really good, I just prefer my MWS so it doesn't get used much, however I know mine and a bunch of others have a problem where the lower receiver cracks around where the buffer tube screws into. I've used mine probably about 5 times and I'm not exactly hard-wearing on my gats but it has a crack in the lower receiver regardless; not the end of the world as it still runs, but it does mean the buffer tube can come a bit loose. If you want stanag and a tan finish, the TM NGRS SCAR-L is pretty nice too.

Why change it? 305fps on a .25 is exactly where you want it, surely? Much more and it'll be over the limit of 1.14J

Let me throw a fun little tidbit into this... GPA m120 spring in my SR-25 - 0.6J ZCI m120 spring in my SR-25 - 1.1J (I think this has something to do with the ZCIs being a bit more snug around the spring guide as there's also less twangy noises with them too. Also, lower power because the v2.5 gearbox is longer and therefore springs aren't under the same tension as in a regular v2 gearbox) Also, when I did my first VSR build I bought a Laylax m150 for it as that was supposedly the 500fps one. Turns out it was around 2.9J in my build, and then the Rapax 2J spring was 2.5J Basically, @BigStew has it correct; springs are a bit of a crapshoot, though they will be manufactured to "roughly this velocity on a .2". m100 should be roughly 100m/s (328fps) on a .2, m110 should be roughly 110m/s on a .2 etc etc, however there are so many different variables that go into the power like air seal, hop up, BB weight to name a few. Best way to approach springs is experimentation. Fortunately they're not an expensive part, but it's always worth buying a few different powers and seeing what works best in your build. I only have two AEGs and I own probably about 20 springs (though that's also because the SR-25 has a quick change spring system so I wanted a few powers for different DMR limits around the country, as well as a 1.1J one for no MED default

Unfortunately I do not have a video of it firing. It's a hard one for me, because I'm used to my gas m700 which makes absolutely zero noise, so everything else sounds really noisy in return. When I ran my m21 at a private game I really felt the difference, as I'd fire it and while it's quiet for an AEG the people on the other team would get a rough idea about where it's firing from due to the noise signature, as opposed to when I use the m700 people have absolutely no idea In terms of the difference, it's definitely noticeable, but again it's a hard comparison for me because the only two AEGs I have are the SR-25 and the m21. The m21 couldn't take the helical gears as they just wouldn't shim properly in the Cyma gearbox and then the motor also wouldn't fit, so the guy put a different setup in, but the v7 gearbox is naturally very quiet for an AEG as long as it's shimmed properly. The SR-25 does have the helical setup and I've put foam in the suppressor because it comes hollow out of the box, so it's pretty quiet for an AEG, but it still has a sound signature that can be heard. I do, however, have people commenting how quiet my two AEGs are when I take them to the range though

I put on my robe and wizard hat to resurrect this from the dead. It's been... a challenging few months for my two AEGs, but the light is at the end of the tunnel! So I tried doing all the mods and totally buggered the job, plus my m21 wasn't feeding properly. Well, not totally as nothing was broken, but I couldn't get the motor back in and it wasn't shimmed right as it was screeching at me when I did manage to get the motor mostly in. I just don't get AEG gearboxes it turns out, though fortunately there's an absolutely phenomenal tech nearby who also goes to Worthing a bunch (https://www.youtube.com/@adzzzysarmoury is the guy) and he's one of the few people I trust with my gats. So I managed to get it and the m21 to him but he had a very busy end of the year with work, plus I could only really see him at game days, but it was worth the wait. The m21 came back at 1.05J on .32s, nice and snappy and shoots like a laser; ran it at a private game and there were people on the other team wondering what the hell I was using as I was picking them off at range and with pretty precise shots. The SR-25, however... This has had some issues. Got it back incomplete, which I knew would happen because there was a weird hop setup in it and I forgot to include the other hop arm when I gave it to him. That was fine and I had discussed it with him as I could easily put that in; it was just the gearbox stuff I needed help with. However when I chronoed and took it to the range it was only 0.2J. He sorted that there and then, filing some of the tappet plate away as the nozzle wasn't able to make it all the way forward so the air seal was crap. Sorted, but it was only about 0.6J because the spring was craptastic (good air seal now because it was a very consistent 0.6J. No matter, I took it home, slapped an m120 in it and it was chronoing at 1.17J with no hop on a .32. Perfect. Took it to the site today and when I put the hop on to float .32s, it was floating them out to the 50m accurately, however when I chronoed it it was now only 0.67J. Far from ideal, so now with the hop set for .32s (though at 0.6J so if I get the power up I'll likely need to take some hop off) I took it home today and started experimenting with springs now that the hop up was set as the m120 was only 0.67J? That was really weird to me. Turns out mine just doesn't like any spring that isn't a ZCI spring. The GPA and O&T springs I tried just weren't doing well, with the GPA m140 being about 1.2J, which was too strong and also a bit weird for an m140. However, I then put the ZCI m130 I had and the power was 1.3J, which was sort of what I expected out of an m130 in that long gearbox. I also experimented with some of my springs that aren't marked, finding a ZCI m140/150 that was chronoing at 1.84J; if only the DMR rules at my local site were good and made me want to run one, but 1.64J with a 30m MED isn't worth it to me, hence this project is going to 1.14J instead, though it's nice to know I have a spring that'll get me up to the 1.88J mark for if I go to another site or event that allows that. I ended up putting in the ZCI m120 and the power was perfect... Well, mostly. Time will tell as I think I may have to take a bit of hop off which could push it back over the limit, however if that happens I'll just run it on .4s instead to keep it within 1.14J.