Emergencychimps

Honestly?! Id just buy a basic specna arms type aeg. There has been a massive improvement in the quality of kit available in 10 years. Now, you could regrease everything, swap hop rubbers over and buy new batteries, and it'd cost less but the aim of the game is to have fun. If you dropped out previously it's because you didn't find it fun enough and I'd advise to do the thing that's most fun. Ruining a couple of games days as you do some maintenance and realize it needs more of this or that isn't worth the savings you'll make or the feeling you're being out performed. This route might cost you the love of the hobby. Personally if I was determined to fix up what I had, new hop rubbers, new 7.4 lipo batteries and a barrel clean. If opening the gearbox and greasing is needed.....well then id just buy a new one.

So true!

Because they (often) just let anyone in, there's no process so it's just a bunch of randoms with mixed knowledge, skills, commitment, kit, motivation and willingness to work together. Often worse they say they're one thing (such as regularly attend big events) and then be something else (the definition of regular becomes once a year.....or less). It's worse than herding cats. At least when you meet people who attend they're all motivated enough to attend, travel whatever is required etc and if they're doing that, they're often the type who will go the extra mile, learn some team tactics and work as a team member and not lone wolf it. Their kit will be a bit more squared away (from experience and motivation), in line with rules and uniform requirements etc.

A point very well made

The only place you will meet the people you're interested in is by attending the events and getting to know people there. As someone who has played lots of big weekend events and tried countless times to herd supposedly willing skirmishers to events, don't waste your energy. Attend the events that would interest you, chat to people who are also motivated to attend and then follow up with them. Within a few events you'll have a better understanding of what you like and you'll know people who also attend. The level your talking about is generally too niche to be lucky enough to find local people and those that are....have been through loads of people saying they're keen, motivated etc who just flake, so they don't bother. They bother with people who attend multiple times. Attend events with Stirling, defiant events or one of the newer ones like Johnny big guns or bad wolf. This will mean traveling long distances.....but if you're motivated enough, you'll do it.

Huge loss to the community. Thank you for sharing with us. Thinking of all his friends and family at this time.

As youre very new my advice is don't buy a helmet. 1. It's generally unnecessary expense. 2. They don't look as cool as you think it will. 3. There is often very little protection from them, BB strikes aren't that painful, a baseball cap takes the worst of it etc. yes sometimes you bash yourself against a tree ..but it's rare and if you didn't have an extra inch or so on the top of your head that you aren't used to, you probably wouldn't have bashed it 4. They generally make fogging worse, which makes it harder to play and you have a worse time. 5. There's better things to spend your money on. 6. The wrong size can give headaches which suck. 7. The unnatural roundness makes you an easier target to spot in some environments. Honestly, save your money, get a baseball cap or a takeaway or some pyro.

If you can't trust players to play by the rules at a special event like this, where the whole point is the limited ammo, I am not sure you can trust them to take their hits or not be twats, so at that level of policing, I'd say just give up. I can see the argument for real cap mags only, all too easy for those 30 rounds to become 45 by an extra 3/4 pushes of the speedloader. I can also see the argument for gas only, they have a certain amount of noise to them that makes using them harder than a pretty darn quiet aeg, everyone is then level as far as ammo capacity, mag weight, noise made when engaging enemy etc. Personally I'd love to see a night game where you have to use one of those bifrost flash thingies from your barrel, you don't have to use tracer rounds, but the flash thing would be cool if everyone had to have them. I am a fan of gunman's filmsim rules where you're only allowed a limited number of bbs out at a time, based on what type of weapon you have, but I think the op is striving for even more than that (and great that they are - more variety means more likelihood there will be the game types I like!).

Love the principle, but where I have seen people try before they often fail due to a lack of numbers. I'd suggest focusing more on real cap event, so rifs like TM NGRS can be used, but has to have the 30 round setting on the mags. Would also like add, Good luck! If these events were more common it'd make me want to get an MP7 again!

Valid points, my assumption was the desire to maximise range suggested that the OP was interested in shooting players further away, CQB doesn't always need precision hop setting (in fact I have seen not enough hop get use quite effectively!) But your point is very valid, we aren't playing to hurt each other.

Have you tried running heavier bbs? Just thinking if it's just a bit too much on .25s then it could be the sweet spot for .3s. Heavier is better if outside, indoors or close ranges it doesn't matter so much so cost can then become a factor and lighter can be used.

Welcome to the forum! Lots of knowledgeable people on here, so I am sure you'll get some info that's useful. My general advice to new players is to not spend too much money now, wait, do 4-5 games. There are bits of airsoft that are awesome, some bits that are a bit.....meh. Some people can handle the meh bits while others can't. Lots of people start airsoft, only a few carry it on for years, so hold back on your spending as much as you can for the moment. If you're still loving it in 4 games time, then yeah, spend and buy good stuff. It'll also give you an idea of what you'd like and you'll see what other players use, start with and then quickly get rid off. I'll also challenge your view on having real firearms, you can get firearms in the UK, you need to have a reason (such as a member of a shooting club) and jump through a few hoops (letter from a doctor, people who will be a reference, criminal background check and a chat with a copper) but it's all very doable. UKPSA and Practical mini rifle/shotgun/pistol are becoming bigger in the sport with lots of opportunity for fun, in addition, longer ranges/bigger calibres are available in restricted formats, but there are a lot of interesting options. I love seeing father and son combos on game days, seen some really great bonding with some fun father/son time away from screens and nonsense. Looking forward to taking my kids one day. Don't be shy, use the search function but do ask any questions you have.

This is a hard one, £2k is probably about right. I recently bought one for 850, with 8 mags and with a recent service and new mosfet.....but that was a cracking deal and without a second upper, no optics etc. If you're selling, my advice would be to split the package. Sell the second upper, optics, lights etc. all separately. Anyone interested in this level of rif etc will already have optics etc. this is a perfect package for someone completely new without anything, but anyone who is into it enough to spend this much is likely to have most accessories, or at the very least preference as to what they have, rather than just what's available. Selling separately should maximize your money, selling together will force you to undersell it.

Ventilation, ventilation, ventilation! (and some anti fog). On my mesh masks I trim some of the vertical (or horizontal) bits of wire out, it just reduces the amount of wire giving protection and increases the size of the holes for the moisture to escape through. I have had some face shots still "hit me", but nothing compared with not wearing a mask. I also glued a bit of rubbery type material to the inside of it at the top so it causes a "seal" against my face, this way the hot, moist air from my breath goes forward and out, not up to the inside of my glasses. I then don't wear any scarfs/neck buff things, everything I can to get sweat to evaporate. If I am wearing a helmet, a couple of buffs cut in half to absorb the sweat, I say a couple because I keep the spare dry ones in my pockets and I then change these when respawning or between games if I am very sweaty. This also stops any sweat from my head etc running down and adding to my problems. Always use anti fog coating on the inside of my glasses. I use the Bob hopes visor spray for motor bike riders, I have heard some people say they felt it damaged their glasses, but I run cheap Bolle Siliums from screwfix which I generally replace every 6 months or so (so I am not bothered, works for me). I reapply at lunch and religious about doing it before the game starts. If it still fogs, I find just moving the glasses a couple of mms away from my face helps with the air flow around them too (this is rare and isn't enough to cause a safety issue).

Anyone know of a work around to buying the nozzle tightening tool? My rif dropped 70 ISH FPS and I think it's the nozzle (swapped the spring for a new M100 and was still 70 shy of what it was). I've literally just done an order from the cage Airsoft a day before I realised I needed it.

Did a filmsim at gunman tuddenham and it's one of the best days of airsoft I've had in a while, the sort of day you go "yeah, this is how airsoft is meant to be" and I entirely lay the responsibility at the head marshalls' (for the day) door. He was in the field, enthusiastic, pro active marshalling. Everything clicked, good site, reasonable games, sensible rules, good sportsmanship. It wasn't the absolute best day ever or the most unique event, it was just a good, solid day. 2 long games, medic rules blah blah blah. The in game marshalls' worked nicely, the head marshall was great and super hands on. If you want a bit more immersive than an average skirmish id recommend checking out a filmsim at tudds. Hopefully Nell keeps running them and with the same enthusiasm and work/input for many years, but my advice would be to take advantage now, while you can cause if/when he stops these will be the games that we'll hark back to with our rose tinted glasses on.

Some really great advice is in this thread. You can do it cheaply, you can spend a fortune on it and both groups will have good days and bad days! I'd strongly recommend renting the first 3 times at least, not just to get your ukara but so you can give it a good honest go. There are loads of elements that are great, but people (including me at times) fall out of love with the sport all the time, it's easy to love it the first game and by your 4th that passion is waning. Renting for 4/5 games and still loving it confirms you love the sport enough to start buying kit and guns, it also gives you enough knowledge on what works etc. before spending your money.

Isn't Phoenix where kicking mustang plays? That'd put me off. Not just because of him individually, but if they tolerate that sort of play I'm not interested.

@Jacob Wrightthanks mate, kind of you to say. I'm a massive fan of the site in general, it has provided some of the best and worst Airsoft I've ever done, but on balance it's much more likely to be decent to good. Their Halloween night game was something else! But I've been to sites where it's been awful and never had the prospect or potential to be semi decent (awa Herts, I'm looking at you!). Some sites just aren't for you, I recently did Blackstone cqb and I can't fault the site (in fact, from a business/service they excelled) but it just isn't for me. I suspect some rotten luck and the wrong games types are the cause here.

The wall of text isn't doing the ops point much good. However I think the general consensus is a moan about the site, hit taking, lack of action from the marshalls over issues, not having dedicated marshalls. I am a "regular" there, although in 2024 Im not sure I did more than 5 games. I'm not a marshall, but I have been attending for 12+years. Over the years it has had its ups and down, currently it's mid way through a change of manager, different people will be running the different weekends they run (skirmish, battlefield and filmsim). The brambles have always been an issue and are worse than ever, but keeping on top of all the maintenance is very hard! They have done loads, loads more is needed. I've noticed the dates the op mentioned, some would be skirmish, some battlefield and possible a filmsim. They have very different rules and are meant to be very different experiences. I suspect the lack of consistency comments and it being their personal playground is connected to this. Generally tuddenham is great, though I've had some truly awful days there too. Of all the sites I've done, it's the most consistently good (sometimes amazing), if i rated every event I've ever done, I'm confident tuddenham would have the highest average of all sites attended. However they are not perfect. I've seen (and mentioned on the how was your skirmish thread) how some days have been awful. I did a game in September time and it was truly the worst day of Airsoft I've ever witnessed. It was also the day I've seen the most non regular attendees at tuddenham, I spotted several large groups who were visiting and they effectively hijacked and ruined the weekend. I've personally witnessed the marshall deal with cheaters and seen people told to leave the site. I've seen player marshalls work very well and badly. General advice, pick your event there carefully, want more "realism" , then filmsims are for you, want to squirt loads of bbs for your hpa pistol, do the skirmish. Even then, there is the potential for it to go wrong, they can only provide the venue, rules, rule enforcement and encouragement, a lot is on the players. As mentioned, I've done a lot of sites over the years and it'd be a real shame to write tuddenham off, it's generally far better than most sites I've been to. After 3 bad visits I can understand why you would though.