Impulse

I'd hazard to say the AAP-01 as they're under £100 stock, but they have a tendency to eventually explode unless you buy some reinforced parts for it that will take it over £100 easily. That being said, mine has yet to do so... Outside of that, I'd say an ASG or STTI mk23 plus upgrades. Out of the box they're absolutely awful (mine struggled to hit 25m and wouldn't even hop .25s), but with a few parts they become absolute beasts (mine now hits 60m accurately with .32s, which is stupid). ASG mk23 is about £60, plus new Maple Leaf autobot hop rubber (£10), hadron TDC (£15) and hadron H-arm (£10). £95 and will outshoot most rifles, though if you want to use the suppressor that comes with it you'll need to take it apart and take out the inner barrel extension or you'll have a pocket DMR; they're about 1.5J+ with that extension because joule creep is a big thing with gas guns. However, you can run it without the suppressor no problem at all and it's still fairly quiet. Outside of that... Second hand TM will be your best bet. I would never touch a WE as while I know some people have had success with them, the vast majority of stories I hear are horror stories with those. My honest opinion to most though is if you're playing normally (as in, not sniping or using something with an MED), just take the hit and buy a stock TM and do absolutely nothing to it. They're fantastic pistols and will do everything you need them to do out of the box unless you're using a sniper/DMR and need a secondary that can basically be a primary.

Reticle. It's not an exact science with airsoft guns, but I know roughly where on the reticle to aim at 75m. Wind is harder to adjust for because airsoft projectiles are so light and have so little energy so they get affected a lot and it's really inconsistent as to how they're affected. Airsoft sniping in the wind feels like you're just flirting with Lady Luck and hoping she appreciates your advances.

Had a really interesting one this weekend. I mostly went to set up all my guns for AI500, as there's a BB weight limit of .28 and I won't be a cheater even though I suspect there will be other people breaking that rule. I set up my HK45 first, as I only had the two pistols with me and I didn't want to use the mk23 (which I was also going to set up for .28s for AI500), but I made the decision to also bring my KJW m700 to test. I wasn't expecting it to be great, as I've never used it and it was the first time I had taken it to the range. I thought it would chrono at 2J+ and then... it didn't. It was 1.5J on green gas and sending .48s into the sky. So I figured, "why not try 144a and see if I can get it under 1.1J? Maybe that'll also stop it sending the .48s into the sky" and as it turned out I was totally right. With the hop basically off and 144a now in the mag, it chronoed at 1J on the money with very low variance on a warm magazine that I kept in my pocket to make sure it didn't creep up in the midday sun. Lowest was 1.005 and highest was 1.009. Furthermore, it was sending the BBs out further than any of my other 1J builds, thanks in part because it was flinging .48s where my other 1J builds tend to be .32s or .4s at most. Was accurately hitting the 60m target with ease, and could even hit the 75m with some rifle tilting, so I decided that the VSR, which I had taken as the gun I was going to use, wouldn't even come out of the bag, all my HPA stuff remaining in the bags with it. Taking it out into the game it was clear it's going to need bedding in. The shots were consistent and accurate enough, but some of the shots would hop more and some would hop less every so often, but I'm not going to take it to the range and feed .48s through it for the sake of bedding it in because .48s are pricey! Managed to fit 3 mags total (2 in the belt, 1 in the gun), so I had a total of 84 shots which I managed to last all morning, going through about half of them. I absolutely loved it and will be using it for the foreseeable future as my main bolt action. Everyone says gas is crap for snipers, but damn this build proves naysayers wrong. No MED, can hit 75m as long as you know how much tilt you need. Also, the rifle wrap I use works amazingly well on it, since the magazine is where it should be and the wrap is designed for real rifles, unlike the VSR where the magazine is further forward than it should be because of how a sprig sniper works. I'm so happy with its performance. I didn't expect too much, because my HPA VSR was my magnum opus of bolt actions, but now it has competition!

I never buy RIFs from Asia because of all the nightmare stories I hear from people about RIFs being seized and destroyed and police visits and stuff. However, I have bought parts from JKArmy and they were reliable and got them posted out pretty fast. Was AAP ruger conversion parts and they arrived quickly and without any issue or difficulties in transit.

We all agree that you can bring DMRs and me being a weirdo wishes I could bring a bolt action at 1.1J. What we're saying is that what constitutes a DMR varies from person to person and DMRs are needlessly limited vs regular non-DMR rifles. Having half the ammo per life and being unable to use them inside the shops just makes them pointless vs bringing a regular rifle. In my opinion they should allow all types of guns and just limit them to 1.1J and no full-auto. As long as your gun fits that, you should be allowed to use it, support guns and bolt actions included.

Pretty much. As much as I'd love to still try sniping with a 2.3J bolt action and a 30m MED in this shopping mall (and I do think it'd be very useful, but incredibly niche and different), the main gripe I have is this. What constitutes a "DMR" over a regular rifle, and why are they just pointlessly handicapped for no reason? As I said, I reckon my MWS will be called a DMR because it has a LPVO and with a suppressor it can look quite long. I'd probably not use it in close quarters too much anyway, just because it's long and my little spring breacher shotgun and/or pistol will be far more useful in that environment, but it's nice to have options just in case! Also, why not allow bolt actions at 1.1J too? There are weirdos like me who have 1.1J bolt action builds, as well as WW2 airsofters who are used to using 1J bolt actions in close quarters environments. Yes, it's a lot less practical, but some of us prefer bolt actions because of how they feel. Also, as @Rogerborgsaid, there will probably be pistols running hot. Fortunately, my mk23 is about 1.05J on .32s (and is part of the reason I don't run heavier because joule creep is whack in gas guns), so .28s will be fine, and my HK45 is easily below, but a lot of mk23 builds creep hot, as do CO2 pistols. The .28 BB weight limit should help gas guns keep fairly low power, but I reckon you'll still get some pistols running hot.

No moscarts? Well, my loadout just got a lot lighter, but far less amusing. I wanted to mine some salt! I don't get why people get so mad about moscarts since they hit you with all the force of a stiff breeze. Also, it's not malice that would have airsofters let off bangs, it's incompetence/stupidity/cheating dicks who want to win at all costs. Oh boy, my favourite thing to counter. As someone who mostly plays sniper / bush cosplaying looney, you can always find points where the range helps in all but the most close quarter sites (like UCAP bunker, which is underground tunnels. Would never want to bring an MED there!). I could run my 2.3J VSR, never shoot within my 30m MED and have massive impact on the game if the rules allowed it in this shopping mall going by the pics on Facebook and my general knowledge of how shopping malls tend to be built; it's all about finding the spots you'll be useful and abusing them. Plus I've upgraded my pistols a whole bunch because I'm used to having that MED, so with how much I use them I could easily move about with the VSR slung and the pistol out until I got to my next position and still be useful. Time will tell on this one and it could go either way. I'm hopeful that the site will be big enough, but we won't know until we actually get there and play. Site could work wonderfully, but 400 players is a LOT. The Citadel fell into this trap where the game devolved into a big line battle and felt very WW1, just with modern gear. I'm going in sceptical, but I'll take the event however. If there's too many players, I'll probably just dedicate to locking down areas since my MWS reaches out pretty far and I'm good at going invisible in dark corners. It's all I did last time I played at the UCAP bunker, sitting in shadows with a mk23 and shooting people in the back when they zoomed past

They've said on facebook that moscart shower shells are allowed, but no 40 mikes, but I feel like they should really update the rules on their website when they come out with this stuff, because as you said people will bring 40 mikes and say "but there was nothing in the rules saying I can't!" then they'll throw their toys out of the pram until the marshalls acquiesce and let them use it. Personally, I'm bringing my underbarrel and a few moscart shower shells because I've got 1600 .2s that I've accumulated over the years as free gifts that need to be used. Not sure about throwable shower grenades (I'd assume they'd be fine?) but I wouldn't take one anyway because you know for a fact it's getting stolen at a large event like that unless you go collect it straight away after throwing. And yeah, last time at AI500 I had a marshall come up to me and say I wasn't allowed to use my m14 because it was a "sniper rifle". Yes, I've got it set up like an m21 sniper rifle, but in airsoft terms it's not even a DMR since I set it to 1.1J. It's a battle rifle with a telescopic optic. It's a real shame they hate long guns as the Citadel's outdoor areas would've been amazing for my VSR and very easy to observe a 30m MED without any issues; it's harder to play my VSR at my local site during the summer than it would've been at the Citadel. Last AI500 I went to snipers were banned and DMRs were limited to 1.48J, then the next one that I missed they allowed bolt actions at 1.48J too. Now for this event their rules on DMRs for this event are as you said, especially in the context of the last two AI500's rules on long guns:

I'll be heading up this time because the staff at Worthing go way back with the AI guys (some have been going to AI500 for well over a decade), so a large contingent from Worthing will be going as it's not on a game day this time. Like the NAF, it's mostly a social experience for me, but I also tend to be able to still enjoy games if they're poorly run by playing my own way. Going to be harder as this one's purely CQB, where the Citadel at least had the outside areas for me to terrorise, but I reckon I can still do it. If I were into betting, I'd put money on them telling me my m4a1 is a "DMR", which are arbitrarily limited to the point where they're pointless (same power limit, same BB weight limit, half the ammo per life, can only be used outside the shops as well as the inherent disadvantages of being longer and heavier; all drawbacks, no benefits), at some point over the weekend because it has a LPVO and is fairly long with a suppressor. Part of me wanted to bring my m21 specifically because it's clear they hate me, but I can't be bothered to take all my HPA stuff that far purely just to be rebellious. I've only been to one AI500 and it wasn't the best run game, but the running of the game wasn't the issue for me. The issue for me was that it was pay to win, with whoever had the most pyro winning because they could just use it like artillery. I didn't get hit by a single BB on the Saturday, every time it was a hail of grenades instead and I feel that ruins the game. This time there's no pyro at all because it's in the middle of Rochdale and they don't want the police called every 5 minutes because a random person on the street hears loud bangs coming from inside the shopping centre. Failing everything it'll be a good workout since my CQB kit is heavy thanks to the weighted plates in the plate carrier. Weight loss takes time, but this'll be a nice kicker towards that goal. If I can't enjoy the games, I'll enjoy the gains! (sorrynotsorry ?)

I think you mean Wolverine MTWs. That's what I've been noticing; it seems like most ghillies these days like to run MTWs or other HPA m4s. Or they take the piss and run things like ARP9s with drum mags (you know the type of gun...) I somewhat agree with the bolt action sentiment as I do think that if you want to wear a ghillie you should be in that "sniper" role, though some people like to run 1.1J sniper rifle builds like my m21 and SR-25. Both locked to semi and both obviously "sniper rifles", but they're 1.1J semi autos. Also, if someone's running in a pair with one person running a regular rifle and one is running a bolt action I have no issue; there was a pair at Worthing doing that today, both in ghillies and clearly running sniper/spotter setup which I thought was brilliant and I'd love to get some time doing the same. Problem is how would they police that, and where would sites draw the line. Works more at milsim or filmsim events where you're going to fill a specific role in a squad or a civpop/insurgent cell, but at skirmish games you'd have lots of people with scrimmed up MTWs with LPVOs saying "no, it's a sniper rifle, look!" Also this. If I get to a position, I'm tucking my arm in tight whether I'm in a ghillie or not. Tucking the arm in tight makes it impossible to see the armband regardless of if you're wearing a ghillie or not, unless you happen to look at that player from the specific side where it may be visible but even then it could be concealed by foliage or a tree or something.

I have a LPVO designed for air rifle shooting on my MWS and it holds zero just fine. You shouldn't have any issues whatsoever with even the better replica stuff as @Chev Cheliossays.

Looks like it could be an effective camo, honestly.

I mean... I'd just get a Cyma one with a stock Love my Cyma spring shotgun

I'll add my two pence as a regular bush cosplayer. In short, if you're unsure and can't see a band just shoot them first. My local site makes you put them on your arm, however I've found it's really easy to mostly conceal the armband beneath all the ghillie flippyflappy bits on the arm and actually prefer it to putting it on my leg which isn't as easy to conceal and tends to be more visible with how I play as I go prone a lot. However the trade off is that I get friendly fired more than I get shot by the enemies, but as a ghillie who tries to keep my armband out of sight that is something I fully expect and encourage; if you're not sure on a ghillie's team, shoot first and ask later to be safe (unless it's super obvious they're on your team / they're actively waving or shouting at you and trying to get your attention). If they moan, maybe they shouldn't be using a ghillie as that's just part of it if they want to make their armband hard to see, which you want to do as a ghillie because bright blue or red or yellow doesn't blend in well with the UK woodland. In terms of wearing it on the ankle, if the site allows it then you should be allowed to do so, but my earlier point still applies; if you're unsure, shoot the ghillie first unless it's obvious they're on your team.

I'd also be looking forward to seeing how they handle chrono because it looks like they'll be doing it on .2s. If they do, there will be plenty of hot guns on the field as anyone running gas or HPA who sets 350fps on .2s will creep on heavier ammo; can confirm as someone who pretty much solely uses GBB(R)s and HPA systems.

Pretty sure if they start sniffing players they might get law suits filed against them...

Dremeled out the material and it still does the same. However, I think I identified where the issue was and have now fixed(?) it. I removed the small metal clip that goes over the hop up chamber, underneath the bolt cover as it was ever so slightly pushing down on the hop unit which meant the nozzle was rubbing against it if the magazine wasn't inserted in and applying that slight upward pressure to keep it aligned. It's satisficing and opens the hop unit up to the element somewhat (though not really as it's still covered by the bolt cover), but it means it doesn't jam up without any magazine in. Honestly don't know how else to solve the problem as I'm not sure I could shim the hop unit because of how the m14 is built.

I think the gameplay I'd be most looking forward to would be the pistols and shotguns game and would probably give the night game a very, very wide berth, but otherwise I gather it's mostly just an excuse to hang out with the boys (and girls) from your local airsoft site. I find AI500 to be the same, gameplay is a bit crap but the social experience is incredibly fun. That said, I won't be at this one and have actually never been in all of my 17 years airsofting. When I was in the UK when I started airsoft I was a teenager and my parents wouldn't want to go, then when I was old enough to go alone I was in Spain, then I was back in the UK but too busy / poor to make it and now the guys that I go airsofting with are staff at my local site and the NAF always seems to be on the same weekend as skirmish days at Worthing so we can't go. Fate itself is conspiring against me going to the NAF They do. "Please save your drinking for after you have finished playing for the day" is in the player pack, but you're correct, doesn't say anything about not playing while high as a kite.

Much nicer pic of the m21 as I realised I hadn't taken one since getting my new phone with a fancy camera. Going to be working on it this week to try and get the jamming issue resolved by taking a dremel to the gearbox shell. I really want it to work and be reliable since it's up there with my HPA VSR as my top performing gun. HPA VSR is my 2.3J sniper rifle, this is my 1.1J no MED sniper rifle. Usually covered in a rifle wrap in game because bush cosplay is important.

Uhhhhhhhh, Unreal Tournament 99 was the game and the flak cannon was my favourite gun. Rocket launcher did too much splash damage to myself, but the flak cannon was pure chaos.

I've got one of my friends lending me their dremel this week, so going to crack open the gearbox and clear out more material. Will hopefully sort out any alignment issues as I think that's what may be causing it since it's a very, very tight fit at the moment. Fingers crossed because I think that's the only weird thing about the entire build.

Only played half the day today due to gun issues, but it was a good one for the games I played. Someone put a massive box in front of one of the positions I like taking, so I've had to adapt and evolve, however now that position is now a headshot generator because the box is in the way of taking lower shots. I think I know who put it there and why they put it there and it's only made it worse ? Anyway, got some good sniping in with some nice long range shots through small gaps, however something has come loose in the VSR and I had a tiny air leak. My air lasted all morning, but after lunch I was at 500psi, which as I only fired about 60 shots is not working as intended. I'll get it sorted probably tonight as I have an idea what is wrong with it. I know it's a tiny leak because my bottle is a 10ci tiny tiny bottle and it still lasted through the morning, where the leaks I've had before would've drained the tank across the course of one game. Outside of that, ran the ruger converted AAP today as my sidearm and it was great. Warrior Assault Systems universal holster holds it better than the CTM holster and I got a good amount of people with it. new sniper belt kit setup worked wonders as well so I'm very happy with that too. Anyway, going to take the VSR apart now.

Earliest pic I have. I think this is a few years in, 2 or 3 I think, being sneaky sniper at a weekend event in Spain in 2008 before Spain even had sites; used to just be a bunch of guys turning up at an abandoned urbanisation to play airsoft. This was probably one of the first ever weekend airsoft events on the Costa Del Sol! As "the Brit" I had to be rocking the DPM to represent . Loadout overall was: Warrior L96, totally unupgraded and flinging .25 heavyweight BBs! (pretty sure they became Well, and .25s really were heavyweight back then!) Bell 1911 (it's a lovely pistol and I still have it. Doesn't shoot well, but looks and feels amazing!) DIY safety glasses worn over my prescription glasses (I have no idea if they were rated high enough, but I still have two eyes!) Warrior Assault Systems chest rig. Much older model that isn't made any more, but spoiler alert: it still works great and I still use it! Dingo drop leg holster in OD Blackhawk knee pads Army surplus boots Bunch of scrim net around the rifle And most up to date photo I really have that shows my loadout is from AI500 last year (the one where we got hit by a storm and they had to call it early on the Saturday!). Loadout here (with disposable income!) is: TM m21 SWS HPA setup (Wolverine Hydra Gen2) with all the upgrades TM mk23 upgraded with all the upgrades Heroshark mesh goggles with prescription inserts Stich Profi "Chimera" hood Sprinter Custom Ghillie multi-season haloscreen rifle wrap Bulle(?) MARPAT shirt and trousers Not sure on the brand of boots Warrior Assault Systems pathfinder chest rig and gunfighter belt kit Honestly, not much has changed in terms of how I play outside of me just being a lot better at it now. I still play sneaky sniper, though with a disposable income I've been able to get myself far better gear. Main difference is that I'm nowhere near as fit as I was back then and at the moment I'm carrying too many extra pounds. Gym, couch to 5k, cycling instead of getting the bus around town and BJJ and MMA classes are all helping me get back to the level of fitness I had in picture #1 when I was in multiple sports teams at school (rugby and swimming up until I moved to Spain, then just swimming in Spain) rather than me being a fatass in pic #2

Warrior L96 (now known as a Well L96) about 17 years ago. Yes, my first gun was a bolt action! Do I still have it? Hell no. Sold it when I was in Spain to finance a Cyma m14. Oldest gun I still have is probably my Bell 1911. Bought it in Spain about 13/14 years ago and it does NOT like the UK climate. It shoots, but with the heavy slide and tiny mags it's not great unless it's at least 20 celcius, though really it needs 25+.