The_Lord_Poncho

Llooks quite tasty that....

Awesome, well that is reassuring! Fairly standard O-ring sizes? Ignore - i've just alighted upon the following image that shows the O-ring sizes.

I’ve recently picked up a second hand Mancraft PDIK V2 gen2, and I’ve built it into a very nice Knights SR15 kit (shout to 18airsoft for the parts- very rapidly becoming my favourite overseas retailer- with this latest order taking slightly over one week to drop through the door). Problem is, when the regulator is turned up to any practically useable pressure, the Mancraft has an audible air leak from its main body. I suspect that I need to bite the bullet and strip the thing apart and replace the seals. Has anyone done this before? Is it a particularly involved/tricky task? And any tips? There seems to be a bit of a lack of the usual Youtube 'how to' videos on this particular bit of kit!

As an observation, that is quite a restrictive DMR rule at that particular site. Only 1.48j/400FPS AND a 30m MED is fairly punitive, and I'm not sure the extra few meters range that could be achieved with the additional circa .3J would in any way outweigh the disadvantage of a 30m MED. As a comparison, I'm used to playing at a site whose DMR rules are 1.88J (equivalent of 450fps on a 0.2g BB), and has a MED of 25m. The additional power allowable gives you a more meaningful edge over the typical AEG, and the slightly lower MED gives you less occasions when you need to switch to a sidearm, and more of a fighting chance to be within the useful range of your side arm when you do have to switch. Honestly, with the DMR rules at your site as they are, it would seem better to focus on squeezing all possible performance out of the gun whilst remaining below the standard 1.13J limit in my view. edit: to add, i would expect that the measures which you have listed would do a very good job of extracting maximum performance out of the rig, at whatever power level you decide upon, but i will defer to the opinions of others who have better knowledge of this particular platform.

I've reflected on whether to contribute to an old thread, but decided i might as well - as people could alight here when searching for info! For large hands, I've had good success with the SPR type grips - even those cheaply available from e.g. 'army force' - looks and works superb on the SR25, and a similar grip about to be fitted to my SR15. The palm swell and thumb shelf are just so comfortable, and it has a very 'DMR' look about it. Only downsides being that SPR grips definitely can only be used right handed, and that the right side of the top of the grip extends high up the receiver and therefore will likely foul an ambidextrous safety. However, I actually managed to turn this latter point into a positive attribute for the SR25 - with a little modification with a dremel, the grip acts as a physical stop to the selector being moved past semi - thus being one of the two reversible methods that I have used to semi lock the SR25 for DMR use.

Good read! I started off at Dogtag a few years back but haven't been there for at least two years - Driver Wood is my regular site - it's closer to my home, and I just enjoy the way it is run - much tighter and a little more professional. But....I am heading back to Dogtag in a fortnights time - taking a load a scouts as its a little cheaper for a rental package, and just a bit easier all round for a group to book. It will be interesting to see how it compares to Driver Wood now that I'm a bit more experienced in the game (and will no longer be outranged by everyone without a rental G36)- must admit that I am looking forward to a little change in scenery!

It's entirely plausible that the variable here was the marshal/ the marshals mood when you chrono'd rather than the gun shooting at different power levels between the visits. If you were only just over this time, they may have let you have the benefit of the doubt on your previous visit? Other possibility is that the hop had loosened off (MP5 hops are susceptible to this - I had to sort my Cyma with a small rubber o-ring between the tightening screw and the hop body) without you necessarily touching it during your last game. A reduction in hop can lead to a higher FPS. Might be worth investing in a Chrono at some point if you are sticking with the hobby and will start tinkering with your guns - mine was very cheap (from memory, less than £40), yet has been reliable for years and always matches the readings that I get from the more expensive chronos on game days.

I must admit, I probably fall in a different category then! Primarily I enjoy the game rather than the LARPing element, and dress/arm accordingly for function over military realism. In reality these days, those two aspects come rather close - e.g. Crye style combats+ UBACS possibly being the best of the two worlds. Where I don't think the worlds align is helmets - comfort and situational awareness is reduced by any helmet (albeit considerably less these days than with e.g. the good old Mk6!). That said, I do wear one for up close and personal CQB and its protected me rather a lot!

As above, I suspect that your bottle simply isn't at high enough pressure - the feed of air should be continuous. Possibly your regulator could need a service if it is on the old side, but I strongly suspect that you simply haven't got your bottle up to a high enough pressure with your stirrup pump.

Hey, I'm keen on this Leia - she makes me feel good about myself LOL. If only my wife were as keen on my 'fantastic weekend DIY projects' !

What the guy has done in that link - and the amount of time he must have invested...wow!

That's an interesting idea! Certainly, when I ran the shotgun last night in the Epsom tunnels, my attempt at fixing the torch to the top rail and actuating with a thumb or forefinger didn't really work out. That said, the whole shotgun performance was pretty poor. Despite cleaning a metric tonne of what looked like grease out of the barrels, and gently cleaning the fixed hops with a alcohol soaked patch, the range on the Golden Eagle was pathetic, 15m, with no appreciable hop (on 0.2s), and a spread larger than person sized at that 15m range. Not sure if i have got a lemon, but at the moment, investing the time in rigging a torch onto the lower tube doesn't seem worthwhile unfortunately.

Some great ideas,thanks! I'll try to work something out this evening. Including if I dare screw anything into the pump/foregrip. I don't tend to use a torch much in CQB, as I subscribe to the above wisdom that 95% of the time it unesssarily advertises your position, but when you need it, you need it!

In a few days time I'm looking at running my new Golden Eagle M870 (https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/golden-eagle-type-870-m8871-railed-gas-shotgun) in the Epsom Tunnels (CQB). I'm struggling to identify a viable way of mounting a torch with pressure switch - what do people suggest? I imagine that its a problem common to all types of pump action....

Ok, problem solved! A bit of a roundabout way to get there, but I ended up buying a WE Glock17 Gen 3, and then fitting the army Armament R34 slide to it (fits perfectly), hand stippling the WE lower to match the Taran Tactical/JW2 look with a soldering iron (dead easy, and looks really good), and fitting the flared magwell from the Army Armament to the WE (again, fits perfectly). Pistol now works well with all mag types - highest FPS with WE and Action Army/AAP, slightly lower with army armament magazines. The magazines mostly have flat routers, and the BBU is curved as the original mags have curved routers, but this doesn't seem to be an issue as far as I can tell.

I've made a few courses in the garden before - a couple of hours cutting out a lifetimes supply of IPSC carboard targets from old boxes, mounted on garden canes, inc. a few white 'no shoot' targets partially obscuring a couple on each course. A wooden framed plate rack with steel discs held loosely in place within 3d printed cradles, lots of steel disc 'gongs', and a few falling plate steel 'popper' and disc targets. I've cut up an old mesh trampoline net which I use as screens to restrict field of views/arcs (perfect for the job as once cut up as each 'panel' has a sleeve either side for garden canes to be inserted). Mild steel discs can be readily purchased online of various sizes and thicknesses - I tend to find FH Brundle a good supplier (ebay is more expensive). These can be painted (e.g. white line marking paint) and drilled to be hung as gongs etc. Also, I've made a IPAS (Iron Plate Action Shoot) set up - which is good fun - 5 mild steel squares, 4 of them painted white and a fifth in red, paired with 5 simple wooden stands that allow the targets mounted at various heights/configurations. To be shot as fast as possible with a pistol, always ending on the red - various mobile phone shot timer apps will work. Both are mildly diverting BBQ side activities for guests....! But of course, old tin cans stuck on top of garden canes also works...

Very impressive!

I've tried and failed with canted irons for the reasons you state - and no adjusting of the sights could compensate for the skewiff hop effect at any useful range. But conceivably, with a canted re dot, it might be possible to utilise without actually canting the rifle - especially if (against conventional wisdom) it were to be mounted to the left of a (right handed set up) rifle?

Top stuff, thank you both! Sounds like I'm not going to have an issue with volume then when I fit the longer barrel (and I've learnt something too to boot). Ultimately the test will be when i fit the barrel - it turned up yesterday, so I'll get it sorted this weekend and report back!

Yep -this did the rounds - as far as i know, it was driven by competitors or youtubers keen on clickbait. But fairs fair, clearly in certain circumstances the plastic clearly wasn't up to it. I believe that the second batch he sells had this remedied - in the meantime, mine (first batch) was shipped with a suitably sized patch of self adhesive velcro that I stuck on the box to provide some extra protection. All I can say is that it is comfortable, quite in operation, keeps me fog free when I'm indoors (I wear mesh outdoors), and was a lot cheaper than Ex-fog when i looked into that solution (and at the time they just had a rather heath robinson arrangement of sticking the tubes into the goggles).

Consensus seems to be that Secutor Shotguns are rebranded Golden Eagle shotguns (certainly the gas ones, and possibly the spring ones as well?) - so you might find more luck searching for Golden Eagle instead. If you are fixed on a spring shotgun, the Cymas also have a generally good reputation.

The Novritsch ones are really good - the magnetic link attachment works perfectly - so much so, most of the time, the act of putting the helmet on is enough to link it up to the goggles. The hole that it requires you punch in the frame of the goggles is rather small - I'd say half way between a Skittle and a Smartie! That said, I used it with the pyramex goggles that have a soft rubber frame - I presume it would also work with goggles that have a hard plastic frame, but it might require a bit more attention, and maybe a bit of glue.

So I have a AAP based carbine - built up around the TTI PCC kit, and currently enjoying a 21cm Unicorn airsoft barrel and bucking. I've run a game with it using the rather nifty Airtac MP5 mag HPA adapter, and it performed....adequately. Aside from the outer barrel being rather wobbly affecting accuracy (nothing that a bit of threadlock can't solve), I was running at around 1.4j with 0.36 BBs with the reg set on 120PSI (i.e. green gas pressure). As the carbine is locked to semi, I would like to exploit my site's DMR rules, which allow 1.9j (i.e. equivalent to 450fps on a 0.2 BB). I don't really want to achieve that by simply turning up the regulator, and put additional stress on the gun, so I've invested in a 310mm Maple Leaf inner barrel, and I'll probably up my BB weight to 0.4g to gain max benefit from joule creep. However, and this is the question, is the 310mm barrel going to be too long for the amount of air/volume that an AAP would produce, especially when paired with a 0.4g BB? I could presumably (and hopefully) turn my regulator down to lower pressures, e.g. 80-100PSI with the extra FPS added by the longer and marginally tighter barrel - would that therefore make the magazine valve a little softer for the AAP's hammer to strike, and thus release a touch more air to compensate for the additional volume required by the longer barrel?

BLS seem to be well regarded, but I've been absolutely fine with .28 ASG cursed - got through several bags of it in multiple guns, all with good results.

Mixed morning at Driver Wood yesterday - they were trialling a new game format, including roaming spawns (marshall with a flag acting as the spawn point, and moving around behind the action). I’m a great fan of roaming spawns - they are a good solution to allowing the use of a large playing area, without the trek back to spawn becoming so lengthy that it encourages cheating or is just outright tedious. The game involved a team trying to get a stretcher to a number of different objectives in a set sequence, the other team defending those objectives. First game we were ‘defending’, second game, attacking with the stretcher. I opted to run the AAP carbine in the first game - built up using a TTI kit, with a 21cm inner barrel, and running on HPA via an Airtac MP5 magazine adapter. It didn’t start well, with the obligatory pre-game test shots sending the charging handle extension flying over my shoulder and my discovery that the outer barrel was wobbly! Throughout the game, I was needing to constantly re-zero the gun, not by adjusting the sight, but by nudging the alignment of the outer barrel within the handguard. Madness. Still, it gives me an excuse to strip the carbine down to pop a longer inner barrel (circa 300mm) so that I can reduce the HPA pressure to create less wear and tear (and this time use a bit more threadlock when I re-assemble…). Aside from gun troubles, the first game was a bit of an annoying game of attrition, with our team somewhat static, and lacking the motivation to push hard, despite the spawn only being a short distance behind us. Second game we swapped roles, and this time I opted to take the L96 and MK23 - both of which performed superbly, with plenty of pleasingly long range hits with the sniper rifle, and much more mobile game play from both sides for some reason. Also, re-affirming my view that a good ghillie head and shoulders aka viper hood is in 80% of cases as effective as a full ghillie suit, without the heat and hassle. And for once, the weather was great!