Fatboy40

Personally I'd say try the CTM Hi-Capa Holster... https://www.ctmtac.com/en/product/3 ... as these are designed to be used with pistols with all manner of attachments (their AAP-01 version is great). Also if you did buy one make sure to use thread lock on the bolts when you assemble it.

The above pretty well describes my very local site that I play at quite often, Ironsight Airsoft in north west Hampshire, and there may be similarities between it and where you play. It's got a history of paintball as well so due to this has very good facilities for HPA, a powerful on-site compressor and multiple points to fill up tanks. If you're a site member you get free HPA refills, so this has led to a lot of people there using it for Airsoft. There's a sizeable group of "speedyboys" as well, so a lot of HPA users are using pistols and adapters. From the years of playing there I'm not sure I'd personally say that HPA is any more reliable, or a HPA RIF is "better" than a well setup AEG, however it can certainly be more convenient. For example no battery charging, the time it takes and associated risks, you just turn up and fill up your tanks and play (and if you're a site member, and have lots of tanks, you can fill them all up and quite a supply of them at home ready to go).

Sometimes you've got to be both ? I think maybe my local site has been an influence on me with this, Ironsight Airsoft, which is a great mix of CQB and outdoors but with well balanced teams you can get horrible stalemates in the middle of the site. The only way to break them is to encourage people to make a bold move, I've been Major Move-Up sometimes (a horrible sight I expect as I'm not built for speed, I'm no Lighting McQueen), but like you said I try to lead by example (sometimes just being a stupid meat-shield can help the team push up a bit, walking back to respawn a little slower than usual once hit ?).

100% this, but in the short time I've been playing airsoft I've come to understand how sometime stepping up and being the Shouty Sergeant is necessary otherwise people around you are just rabbits in headlights throwing plastic balls at each other with no effect. As a human being I try not to be an arsehole, not always succeeding, so I've learnt that in a skirmish being the Shouty Sergeant is best in short bursts and only a couple of times a day otherwise you will piss others off. (Probably the most regular thing I do is saying to others to make sure they shout out where they spot enemy players as it helps everyone)

£99 for six seems like quite a competitive price, very interesting. I'm 50/50 though on if I'd miss the orange load indicator on the EPM1's, it's not that accurate but for me is a good guide for when they're almost full so I stop trying to grind even more BB's into them Personally my EPM1's have been faultless, however I use them primarily in my DMR so slow and steady shots on semi only.

I can't remember the exact model but my son had a Cyma MOSFET AEP, with a 7.4v Li-Po, and it's the first and only airsoft RIF he's sold on (this was about two years ago). From the time you pull the trigger someone close enough could probably get a melee kill on you first with a rubber dagger it was that slow (It also weighed a ton and the pistol grip felt huge in your hand, it was a truly horribly thing when you compare it to any half decent green gas pistol)

Personally I'd rather take this over the Lancer Tactical... https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/double-eagle-m904e-fire-control-system-edition?pv=15410 ... not that I've got anything against Lancer. The reason I'd chose the DE M904E is that the ETU in the Lancer uses a magnet in the sector gear to perform its cycle control, it's not optical like the Falcon in the DE M900's. If for any reason the sector gear in the Lancer get's damaged you'll have to make sure you buy one that has the same magnet present in it (it comes in a kit with the Zion ETU, but I've no idea if you can buy it separately (or remove the delayer to swap to a new gear).

Another good option, but they're not cheap, is an ASG Scorpion Evo as they're compact and light.

A good video came out on this a few days ago... https://youtu.be/lVakt4vEEqc?si=C0vK7tTk4hTi001F

Or just press the "Home" button on your keyboard

( @Fatboy40 wonders if all site briefings involve jokes about peoples genitals and sex, or just the sites he goes to ? A bit like... https://youtu.be/wcBOX1JBcjQ?si=nGZU6BeMA_jQGoul )

For all the DE M900's I've taken apart the spring guides are the same, but a definite problem is that the rings that hold the ball bearings are made of papier-mâché and can bend at the slightest touch making them a bugger to take out and put back in sometimes. To help you and others I've about three different spring guides at home that I've tried as replacements for the stock DE one, and every single one is ever so slightly out on size, so use DE M900 users have to look after the stock spring guide as it can't be replaced (unless anyone has found it anywhere as a spare part). Personally I'm assuming if things ever go bang big style with the gearbox I'll end up having to buy a new quick change gearbox shell and guide

You'll probably find this a lot harder than you expect as the polymer bodied M904's use a funky adapter on the rear of the receiver to mount the buffer tube, with plastic lugs either side. Look at photo's comparing the 904G and E, note how the G has longer plastic "runners" on the adapter. To swap to a buffer tube on the G you'll either need to find the part from DE (near zero chance of that) or find a boneyard E being broken for spares (a 3D print of what you need probably wouldn't be anywhere near strong enough).

I've looked in the past but is it still the case that Geoff's has no website of their own and no method for contacting them?

@ak2m4 So it has "Different Feelings", has it been to some kind of spiritual retreat?

It all comes down to the quality of the material / steel used and how it's been "treated". You can have have springs that can be in service for decades, in industrial applications, that retain their strength and shape but cheap nasty ones that compress incredibly quickly. Personally I've found the XT springs from AK2M4 brilliant, definitely better than another trusted brand like Guarder. They're really consistent in their strength, so you can use them in almost any gun and know what you're getting, and I've had zero power drops over time. They also produce an M95 which is very useful is you have a great air-seal and an M100 takes you just over a Joule limit

... and to add to the above I'm assuming that there's no optical controller of any sort in the gearbox (monitoring the sector gear) offering "cycle control" so that it doesn't over spin / there some sort of active braking.

Very easy, do it on a nice quiet afternoon on the weekend when you're in no rush, and it's the simplest thing you can do that gives the most return (both in range and consistency).

@GothicGhost Do you have a model number for your "Visionking x1.5-x6"? (I'm building up my shortlist and if I do buy one I wanted to get it right first time). (I think it's the VS1.5-6X42XL ?)

FYI I've never had any replies from DE when using their website form, however they have a Facebook presence and do reply (eventually) to messages you send to them on that (and their parent company is on LinkedIn). Red Alert in Newbury also use DE M904G's as rentals so they may be worth a punt (Skullchewer on here could maybe ask for you). Worst case scenario a GATE Titan v2 will drop straight in (with no need to replace the trigger, but the Maxx Model trigger for example have a tougher trigger spring).

@ak2m4 When I bought my first DE M900, being a bit of a nerd, I went down a rabbit hole finding out as much as I could about "Double Eagle". When you spoke to them was it with "Fujian Qing An Precision Machinery", or another name they go under? They're a big company, making their real money from cheaper toys / knock off Lego Technics things (some of which are actually really impressive, the construction vehicles they do).

We need to be honest that airsoft is "pay to win", so the RIF's you're using and if you've been able to pay for the parts (or work) to get them working to perfection, and the icing on the cake is if you can use the super mega upgraded RIF without anyone ever knowing where you are and where the BB came from. I'll be honest in that I'm now getting into it as well, playing a DMR role which I love, but I'm trying to craft everything myself (I enjoy crafting and teching potentially more than playing). Not the bush wookie route, as like others have said it's actually a hindrance (over heating, snagging on things etc.), but KMCS ghillie mesh + raffia + ink on scrim nets and viper hoods etc. I think that as it's so easy to buy off the shelf camo / ghillie items from places like Empire Airsoft it's just another item now on the "pay to win" bingo card?

To throw a spanner in your works what's made the biggest difference for me, for range, was not barrel width etc. but how the BB was being hopped. I use 0.40g BB's in my DMR with a Maple Leaf 410mm AEG inner barrel + 70 degree MR bucking + Maxx Model M4A-PRO hop unit using the solid concave nub, and with this I can put just the right amount of spin on the BB and rob it of as little energy as possible. I specifically went with the Maple Leaf barrel as it's designed to take full advantage of the MR bucking (the unique patch and extra internal ring, with the barrel having a cut out for the ring and a slanted window for the patch, so an "out of the box" R-Hop). I've hit the point now where 3x magnification is not good enough for me, the BB can travel way beyond me being able to see clearly at distance, so I need to buy for example an LPVO that can do at least 5x.

@GothicGhost Now I'm even more unsure of which Visionking to get, but in a good way