Impulse

Go VSR. I'm not biased at all in my opinions on the matter. Totally impartial. *hides both VSRs* Seriously though, VSRs have a silly amount of aftermarket parts that are really good. You can take a large number of different approaches to upgrading and there are a lot of combinations that work really well. There are other platforms that are really nice too, but I can't comment on them as I haven't built any of them; next boltie project I'll do will either be a TM L96 or a KJ m700, but they're low on the priority list! In terms of what type of VSR to go for, both clones and TM have their benefits. I've found there are tiny inconsistencies between clone VSRs and the TM one, but they're generally not a problem. I think the most I had to do was loosen one of the screws that holds the stock to the receiver so the Action Army magazines I like to use would click into place. I also have a Maple Leaf receiver that doesn't like my JG stock and sticks out a little bit, but I just kept the stock receiver in my build because it's fine. Oh, also, if you're looking to HPA it in the future and want to go the route of having a CO2 adapter in the stock, the TM stock requires a little modification (sanding down the interior) as it's pretty thick. However, unless you know you want to go into the world of the boltie, you'd do better with a JG or Cyma. Why? Because all you really need to do with them is slap a Maple Leaf hop rubber and nub into them and you'll have a boltie that will perform decently enough; swapping out the hop unit for the Action Army one and swapping the stock barrel for a tightbore are advisable, but not necessary. Other than that you can just run them stock until you decide where you want to go or until the stock parts give up, as the JG starts at around 1.8J (at least mine did) and the Cyma is supposed to be around 2.2J, which is perfect. It's the power upgrades that really cost a lot, so if you can avoid doing them to start with, the better. However, the stock internals will eventually give out, but it will give you the time to get some trigger time with it and decide if you want to dive in fully, or if you want to keep it as a side thing that you don't want to spend too much on (because building the "perfect" boltie isn't cheap... Trust me)

I was about 350lbs when I got back into airsoft. I'm now, through lockdowns, about 250lbs and I did it all through diet. With my other active hobby hopefully opening back up next Monday, I'm doubling down on the diet I've gotten lax over during the summer to try and hit my goal for the end of the year (about 200lbs). Let's all drop those excess pounds and up our game! In terms of diet, I did it through keto, then simple calorie restriction. This time I plan on doing both, paired with getting back to martial arts with it reopening. However, keto isn't for everyone, so find what works for you and stick to it. As has been said, upping exercise will really help supplement healthy diet choices, so maybe consider investing in a bicycle and avoid public transport if you're in a city like I am (public transport is disgusting anyway...) In terms of starting airsoft, rent first, or buy some sort of two-tone cheapo sportline thing for £100 (can pick up a plastic bodied Cyma AK for £100); argument for the latter is that will give you a backup gun or something for spare parts later down the road after you buy a proper, non-two tone once you have your UKARA. You'll spend almost as much on rentals if you enjoy the hobby (3x before UKARA), so it's not a terrible idea, but it should be weighed heavily as you might go to your first game and hate it, which would be a lot cheaper to just rent. And if you do like it and decide to jump in, don't feel pressured to buy all the things. A simple cheap AEG (some of the cheaper brands have really upped their game over the last few years) and some army surplus kit will work wonders and cost very little.

Also, the Maple Leaf MR hop is supposed to mimic an r-hop patch, but it's a £10 rubber. Pair it with an omega nub and it's basically the same thing. I've converted totally away from r-hop patches myself and swear by all my Maple Leaf setups.

I guess I'm lucky. It's rare that anyone uses tags at my local site, because they're silly expensive. However, when I went to my first (and probably only) milsim event last month, people were launching tags more than I was firing my bolt action rifle. Seriously, the number of tags that went off were horrendous. That said, I have seen them at one skirmish game day from a bunch of milsim manchildren where they got annoyed with me because they kept firing tags into a location that I had long since relocated away from, they just hadn't seen me relocate and assumed I was there and not calling the hit. You'd have thought they'd give up after 2, but I think they fired 5 tags into that position before the game ended. To me, it's unfathomable how much some people spend on airsoft, and that's coming from me and my real steel load bearing gear, expensive HPA boltie setup and multitude of upgraded TM pistols. Adding another to this list though, I'm going to say GBBRs. They're inconsistent, can throw a tantrum in the cold, but I love them all the same. I just love the kick and the realism, even if I'm limited to 35 BB magazines vs hi-cap heroes at a skirmish day Also, any original 1911 GBB. The magazines are tiny, so a full fill is equivalent to like... half or less of another GBB magazine. However... I love my 1911! And why not make it a third. M14s. M14s are horrible to work on, they're really heavy and super front-heavy, and they're just another AEG now that their hop up isn't wizardry relative to other platforms any more. However, once I HPA mine it will be my main gun alongside the VSR because I love it and I love how it looks. There's just something about the m14 that I love (and people seem to love. I get a lot of people asking about my m14 and complimenting me on it whenever it comes out to play)

Plate carriers don't look good on larger individuals, because the plates are designed to be small, but large enough to cover all the vital organs, and if you're overweight there'll be spillage up, down and side to side. They also don't feel good, as the weight will sit weird if you're carrying a few spare tyres. If you're tall and in shape, plate carriers are fine, but being overweight really emphasises all the issues plate carriers have and they're super uncomfortable, as well as looking pretty awful. I mostly run a belt kit with harness to keep it in place, as I do the snipey-snipe so I want to go prone a lot and crawl on my stomach, which is uncomfortable with a chest rig and super uncomfortable to the point of impracticality with a plate carrier, once again compounded when I was overweight. If you want something on the body, I'm going to also advocate the Warrior Assault Systems 901 chest rig. It's a fantastic piece of kit and you can buy a back panel for it for if you need the extra molle space on your back. They also last for years; I'm still using my one I bought when I was about 15. 15 years on and it's still going strong! it's always fit me too, from my fittest (17 years old and around 100kg of muscle, captain of the school swim team, number 8 on the school rugby team), to my heaviest (literally no exercise and 160kg of flab), now back on the road to my fittest, my Warrior Assault Systems gear has all always fit me really well. I'm 6'5", like you, and I also have a sturdy Dutch build, but Warrior Assault Systems stuff has always fit me. It's pricey, but worth the investment in my opinion.

Oh, no, 2200 is my BMR, so that's how much I'd burn if I lay in bed and slept all day. I aim for 2000 as a large deficit, but I should be having around 3000 normally. Higher with exercise. I meant 2200 is high for the average person, not a 6'5" dude with a sturdy Dutch build

Yeah, I don't find it hard to go keto since I don't have a sweet tooth, so cutting out sugar is easy as I don't really eat sugar anyway. Part of my issue is that I am big and tall, so even my low calorie intake is pretty high. Generally can't get it from veggies unless I eat buckets of the stuff

Yeah, this is where everyone's different. My BMR is about 2200 calories and I'm currently on a calorie restricting diet of around 2000 calories a day. I think on an active day of airsoft I burn way more than 3000, probably more than 3500 but not quite 4000 I will probably hit the keto diet again once I've paid off debts, but it's far more expensive than my simple calorie restrictive diet; did it for 9 months last year and it was good. I might not need it though, since at some point I'll have to return to the office, meaning cycling three times a week to and from there, plus once I can get back into martial arts (as my school is still shut; thanks covid) that plus the cycle to and from there. Calorie restricting is still working well enough and the only exercise I'm doing is airsoft every two weeks, so once I add in all the cycling and the martial arts, the remaining weight should fly off. Then I can joke about having lost an average person's body weight as the total weight loss would be 70kg from start to finish.

I took up martial arts to go alongside my stealthy sneaky airsoft because I want to be Big Boss. In all seriousness, I saw airsoft as an active hobby that gets me out of the house and running around nature. I always wanted to do martial arts too, but I just never got around to it, so in 2018 I just decided to jump in and thoroughly enjoyed it. Over the course of a year I got back into airsoft and started doing martial arts twice a week. I've always hated exercise for the sake of exercise, so going to the gym or jogging or anything like that was always a massive mental hurdle, but airsoft is just a fun game that I enjoy playing, and martial arts is learning a skill that hopefully won't be needed, but is good to know just in case. And now I want to be as good at my hobbies as I can be, and to be as good at martial arts and airsoft as I can be, physical fitness is a good way to do it and get a leg up on the stereotypical... mature and "well rounded" airsofter. I'm really feeling the fruits of my labours now, having dropped 50kg so far and being able to move a lot quicker, for a lot longer and handle firefights a lot nimbler is incredibly refreshing and invigorating. Still got 20kg or so to go, so I look forward to seeing how good I can be once I've shifted all this extra weight.

Had a great day today, running a very light VSR loadout and no ghillie. Had some issues with the HPA system leaking, but the tank lasted until just before lunch where I took it apart and fixed the issue, then switched to co2 for the afternoon. The line came loose where it screws into the bolt, so I just had to tighten that up. Got so many people with the VSR just holding areas and when I started playing aggressively with the mk23 I got loads of people with that by flanking as there were less numbers due to people wimping out due to rain (which all cleared up before the games started anyway). Also had a lot of success from a stealth perspective, even without the ghillie. Just observing the seven S's of concealment saw a lot of success, as I had people look directly at me multiple times and not know where I was. Scrim net over the head and shoulders, rifle wrapped and staying nice and still made me basically invisible. Paired with both the VSR and mk23 being stupidly silent and I went undetected for most of the day, just posting up and covering a location, then moving if things got too dicey.

Oooooooooooh, I've been in the market for an AK for a while, but wasn't keen on the NGRS. This will definitely tempt me! Also, thanks Google Translate...

Jeeeez, I'm suddenly glad I resisted the temptation to buy some pistols from HK. This is ludicrous!

I'm going to agree here. If someone isn't making it obvious they're hit, I'll just put one into the plate carrier to be sure. Some players will casually walk down a path, hands still down on their gun, in the hopes that everyone will think they're dead and not shoot, then shoot everyone in the back when they get past, and one shot to the chest really isn't a big deal, especially since most people wear a chest rig or plate carrier that absorbs most of the hit. I've never had anyone moan about it to me, and I'm usually slinging .48s at 2.3J. I think a single shot is different to lighting someone up because you think they might be playing dead. However, if they still have their gun shouldered in the game area then they are in no position to moan. To me I'd see them as still in the game until the hand goes up and they call out "hit"

That's some pretty serious teflon player action. I've yet to see someone take two shots to the face from my VSR and not call it, but they're .48s at 2.3J. I've definitely seen people shrug off multiple body shots though, even at that weight and power. And you just need a smaller 2nd gun. I bought a Cyma mp5k and it's not too difficult carrying both it and the VSR, though I'll agree it gets difficult with a larger secondary rifle. I did it with my 416 and it worked, but it was much harder and I'm 6'5 and heavily built, so two guns isn't as big on me.

Was doing some general maintenance to my pistols and came to realise I have more pistols than long guns... And I want more! I still need a handful of parts to upgrade the STTI mk23 (bottom left) and the Bell 1911 (2nd from right) which I'll get first, but there's at least a TM HK45 Tactical, Bell m9 and Bell MEU on the list of pistols I want to add to the collection.

As someone who uses a boltie, the number of times I hear this... It always amazes me when people are shocked that their stock AEG can't reach the same ranges as my painstakingly tuned boltie

You beat me to it. Glocks are undeniably great handguns. They're reliable, have a high magazine capacity, easy to use, they're everything you want in a pistol and if I had to carry a handgun I'd probably go for a Glock 21 as it's got all that Glock goodness and comes in .45 calibre. It's perfect. But I still hate them; give me my impractical m1911 with its outdated single stack magazine. Also, in airsoft... AEGs. Yes, AEGs. I think they're the best weapon platform for airsoft. They're reliable, they'll work in all weather, you can put thousands of BBs through them with no issues and all you need to do is swap batteries if you get low. Also, with how far hop rubbers have come along, they're reaching similar ranges to bolt actions (not quite the same, but comparable enough where you can just aim up or dash forward 10 - 15m to get in range). To top that off, you can run hi-caps allowing you to never run out of ammo, or even use a drum mag if you so desire. Or you can up them to be DMRs and bridge the gap between AEG and bolt action, getting the middle ground "best of both worlds" platform. All in all, they're amazing, they're versatile and they often look really good. But I still hate them. They sound silly, they're loud(er than HPA), and they're so uncivilised.

My mp5k or spring shotty always comes with me as a backup gun, regardless of what else I'm bringing. Always a good idea to have a backup! And you're totally right. Outside of gearbox related shenanigans, airsoft guns are really easy to work on. And even then, V2 gearboxes aren't that complicated once you open them up and have a look. I'll give someone a pass though if they don't want to crack open their V7 gearbox, as I've endured that pain myself and wouldn't wish it on anyone (unless it's a tech I'm paying to open it up for me, then I do wish it on them because that's what I'm paying them to do!)

Yep. I'll always advocate for doing basic maintenance, tune-ups and simple upgrades yourself. It allows you to notice when something is wrong with your gun and immediately have ideas on what's wrong and how to fix it.

I think I'll also echo this, but also as a recent HPA convert. I stopped playing about 6 - 7 years ago after I left university, but got back into the hobby 2 years ago. HPA wasn't really a thing back in the early 2010s, but now it's everywhere. However, I have also learned to love it myself. I converted my VSR to HPA and never looked back. The effortless bolt pull, the silence of having no moving parts in the firing mechanism and the silly levels of consistency are all priceless and I just don't find myself using my spring VSR ever. I don't think I'll ever fit the bill of a stereotypical HPA full auto idiot (they exist in the AEG variety too!) though, since it's hard to get silly ROF out of a boltie I'll also add another thing I learned recently: I don't like milsim. Gave it a shot two weeks ago and had fun, but I don't think I'd repeat the experience. It's total pay-to-win at night time, because the guy who spends thousands of £s on NVGs will just win against the guy who can't afford to do the same. Yes, people will say "but you can see the illuminator" and that's how I did hit someone while being otherwise blind, or "pop smoke to screw with it", but seeing a red dot in the darkness is very different to seeing everything plainly and smoke doesn't solve the issue as then nobody can see anyone and firing blindly can be dangerous. Also, I don't really like the whole idea of being told exactly what to do. I'd much rather be given an objective of "we need intel on X, and if you see Y they are a target of opportunity" then be left to my own devices on how to accomplish it, rather than being given strict orders on "we need you to go and do A". Also, I didn't really get an opportunity to use my boltie at all (which made me sad ), as most squad-based tasks were ill-suited to it, so I basically played the whole event with my secondary (stock cyma mp5k) and sidearm (upgraded TM mk23). And the most recent thing: I've learned that carrying a small, lightweight AEG at the same time as the VSR is a game changer. I may go back to just the VSR and mk23 for some games, as I just like pistols and like excuses to use mine, but carrying a small mp5k alongside the VSR has been super easy and super useful; having full auto for tight situations and allowing me to push aggressively when my team is inevitably all hiding behind a barricade, shooting at enemies far out of their range as airsofters are wont to do has been really nice. The mp5k + spare mags are really lightweight and I just unclip it from the sling and put it to one side when I get into a position where I'm lying prone with the VSR. You learn something new every day

I love the hicap heroes who burn through thousands of BBs per game. Their shooting provides a wonderful soundscreen for me to move about. Nobody's going to notice the light rustle of foliage or the gentle crunch of a slow footstep when John Rambo over yonder is spamming his AEG at everything.

I had a decent day, even though I couldn't use the VSR as the battery connectors needed fixing (they're fixed now and reinforced with a bunch of electrical tape!). We played a long game across the whole morning and I got a good number of kills from my hide next to one of the objectives, even after it got completely overrun and I repositioned to start shooting the enemy in the back. However, I think my days using the ghillie are numbered; if it was much warmer, I'd have dropped it as I was pretty damn warm wearing it today! However, I found that I'm really not used to using 1J guns, as I would get into a hide with my m14 and lament at the shots I could've made with the VSR that I just couldn't with the m14. I don't think I had anyone within my usual 30m MED once through the whole day, which made the fact I had no MED (as the m14 is 1J) a moot point. Next skirmish day I'm looking forward to using the VSR again. It's a much lighter-weight loadout than the m14 as the VSR is lighter and I don't need a chest rig as everything fits on the belt.