Colin Allen

It is rather disappointing as it did seem to be getting better, albeit always with a bit of vagueness about rules and boundaries. Since the sad demise of Tower Airsoft, which was a cracking little site, it was the only site that opened on Saturdays within what I regard as a reasonable travelling time. Rehearsals and recording sessions tend to eat into my available Sundays, so being able to play on a Saturday was quite useful. I am just about to head off for the penultimate rehearsal before our 25th Birthday gig and the lad is going back to university today, which is why we went there yesterday.

This morning, the lad and I set off for a journey across southern parts of London to spend the day at Tactical Warfare Airsoft, a site where we have had a few good days over the last few months. As usual, there were a fair number of rental players present and, before the morning safety briefing, the lad twice removed magazines from rentals' guns in the safezone. After the usual safety brief, which included the usual talk about eyepro, no magazines in guns in the safezone and no dry firing in the safezone, we set out into the game zone for the first game; turning around to talk to the lad, I was shocked to find that the marshal who was with us was not wearing eyepro in the playing area; I immediately pointed this out to him and that there were players with loaded weapons and that some were shooting. He argued that it was not a problem but, after some persuading, put them on. As we assembled for the first game briefing (60+ players with loaded guns), I noticed that the same marshal was standing 2m away from, and looking at, a rental player who had removed his eyepro and was making no attempt to get him to put it back on. Both of these incidents were reported to the head marshal, who stated that he would "have a word" with him. The first game was a fairly straightforward capture the flag using the village and part of the wood; this turned into a stalemate with some very dodgy hit taking. This was followed by a fallback game; as the defenders we had one life in each of Badger Base, Jungle Base and the Pit. This was mostly a good game, except for repeated concerns that an HPA user on the other team was running a hot gun; experienced players were reporting that hits were hurting far more than they should. When the lad challenged him on it, asking what weight he was using, he claimed to be using 0.20g BBs. The lad then mentioned it to the head marshal, who responded that it had passed chrono. Another player suggested that it be spot checked, but this was rejected. There was also massive confusion about the boundaries for each stage; at the Pit, several of our players were hit by opponents who were out of bounds, as no information had been given to them as to where they could and could not go. When it came time to turn the game around, we found that more than half of our team had disappeared, either going back to the safezone or leaving. Despite this, we made a gallant attempt. While attacking Badger Base, I asked a marshal if a couple of enemy players were out of bounds; his reply was that they probably weren't as that was where they were firing from, which made no sense. We then asked how far we could flank round to attack them and were told we could go wherever we wanted; I checked whether this included flanking around behind the Pit and was told that we could not do that, so I asked again where we could flank round them. The marshal replied that we could go anywhere that we wanted, so I again sought clarification on what this meant with regard to sneaking up on them by flanking around behind the pit. The response was again that we could not do that. Apparently, anywhere that we wanted was not anywhere that we wanted. Utter disorganisation! Lunch followed, during which the lad again had to remove a magazine from a rental's gun; unlike every other site we play at, TWA does not check that players returning to the safe zone have removed mags and cleared their weapons. On several occasions, triggers were pulled in the safezone, with no response from the marshals. After one player had twice fired long bursts (no BBs fired) with an SMG, I raised this with the site owner, who went over and told him not to do it again. We discussed leaving but decided to give it another try after lunch. After the sides had been rebalanced and afternoon arrivals integrated into the teams, we set off for the next game. This was a game in which we, as the attackers, had to fight our way into the village, collect six barrels and get them back to our start point; we had infinite regens on our start point and the defenders had two lives. After a stiff fight and some hilariously bad hit taking, we fought our way into the village, whereupon the 0.20g HPA guy inflicted some serious damage on a couple of players, drawing blood; he also hit my webbing, the impact leaving me in no doubt that he was not using 0.20g BBs. Once this game finished, we decide to leave; we will not be returning to Tactical Warfare Airsoft. Unfortunately, it has reverted to being the shit show that it previously was, with the added bonus of little or no apparent concern for players' safety or even marshals' own safety. Weapons used: Me CYMA G36C King Arms PDW ASG Commander XP18 (CO2) The lad G&G C7 G&G Modernised M4 ASG Commander XP18 (CO2) Dynatex Grenade (x2)

It isn't so much the price or the misidentification as the 350fps on a 0.28g BB. https://prefired.co.uk/ads/ak-74-with-folding-stock/ he has now changed it after I messaged him.

That is a step in the right direction.

He really is a vile excuse for a human being.

I have the DBoys one; all I have done to it are the standard things that I do to any AEG: Change the hop rubber and nub. Clean the barrel Reshim, regrease, check the airseals, fit a mosfet. It is very reliable and shoots well.

I would ditch your suggested hop rubber and barrel and replace them with a 50 degree Maple Leaf Macaron with a red nub from AK2M4 and one of his XT barrels as well. I would also replace the Aster with a Perun Hybrid.

That is also possible but, if it is going nearly all the way back, it is more likely that the motor and/or the battery is not powerful enough. I realise that your question was not aimed at me; however, my answer would be that I have seen exactly that happen.

Agreed! If you aren't making it clear you are out of the game, you get shot.

it is very unlikely that the piston is catching on the spring and spring guide, although this is airsoft so anything is probably possible. The usual cause of this is that the battery or motor lacks the muscles to push the piston all the way back against the heavily compressed spring. What battery, motor and spring are you using?

It is horrible!

The “fabric” is probably there to prevent mag wobble and possibly improve feeding. Stanag mags and M4 mags are essentially the same thing, although the reality is that not all mags work in all guns. Remove the fabric and see if the Valken mags fit and feed. We use Nuprol, MAG, PTS and unknown brand mags in G&G, SRC and Lancer M4s.

That is what they meant; I have checked.

Try doing it with an SLR!

Ah yes! The toilets! They aren't exactly conveniently located.

My understanding at the time was that they were referring to viper hoods.

You are going to have to open it up; it could be the nozzle, it could be the tappet plate, it could be the piston, it could be an airseal.

When I went, we played the worst fallback game ever. In one section of it, all 30 or so of us had to defend a small circular area with virtually no cover against an enemy who could go wherever they wanted and attack from any direction; it didn't last long. In another section of the same game, the same number of us had to defend the world's smallest killhouse; there was barely room to breathe, let alone move. In another game in the CQB maze thing, we had to pretend that we could not see our opponents through the rather large gaps in the walls. The safezone was good and had WiFi.

It is a strange site. I used to play and marshal there at one time; while it has some great terrain, with large numbers it becomes massively channeled, while with small numbers if turns into hiking with guns. The old safe zone was great, with the interior and exterior space in use and much larger marquees outside. However, as a marshal, clearing up all the mud and crap indoors after everyone had gone home was a pain. I went there a couple of years ago and was somewhat disappointed by the safezone and the gameplay.

I went there once; it was enough.

This morning, the lad and I went to one of our regular sites, Airsoft Plantation, over in Essex, along with 228 other players. Fortunately, the safe zone and the site are big enough to cope with such a large number of players and the marshals ensured that turn around times between games were as short as possible. We started off with an extraction game. The other team (Blue) had 14 forward operatives in seven vehicles in the mortar pits; they had to extract as many of them as possible and get them back to their start point on the edge of the village, which was also their regen point. We (Red) had to prevent them doing so by shooting the forward operatives and generally delaying the Blues. Our start point and regen were at the DEA Base. This was a fast and furious game with engagements all through the scrubland and across the mortar pits, with the initiative swinging to and fro. Eventually, the Blues managed to get eight live forward operatives back to their regen, with six being killed. After a short break to refill mags, the game was turned around, with us taking our turn to try to extract 14 forward operatives, one of whom was the lad, who was in the back of the Bedford; he died very quickly and regened as a regular player, while I was fighting in the scrubland with a group who were trying to cut the Blues' route between the DEA Base and the mortar pits. We got news that seven of our forward operatives had made it to the village, along with six dead ones; one was still in play and, if we could get him out in time, we would win. He was successfully extracted and made it back to the village in a time that was four minutes and thirty six seconds shorter than the blues had managed for the same number of live operatives; victory! After another short break, we headed into the woods to start a fallback came; as defenders, we had two lives in the woods, two in and around the village and two in the scrubland. The enemy had infinite regens on a marshal and had to get one of 14 players with yellow armbands into the plane in the DEA Base. I took up a position on the left of our first defensive position and we had a super fight with the enemy, holding them up for a very long time before finally being overrun and pushed back to a second defensive position where we did the same thing again. Being hit again there, I, along with many of my colleagues, fell back to the village, where we held up the enemy until the game ended with them far from achieving their objective. After lunch, we played a game where we, as the attackers, had to fight our way into the village from the firebreak, capture 14 players with yellow armbands (is anyone seeing a pattern here?) and get them back to our our marshal on the firebreak within a specified time. I missed the beginning of this game due to a couple of annoying but minor gun issues and only managed to join in while we were pushing into the village. After a hard fight, the 14 players were captured and delivered within the specified time. Victory again! Then came the reverse of the fallback game; we soon discovered how difficult it was to push through such a large enemy force and found ourselves bogged down. The lad and I joined a group on our far right and, massively assisted by the lad's controlled aggression and training, forced our way forward along the site boundary, opening up the enemy's flank and helping push them back to the environs of the village, where our attack stalled somewhat and we ran out of time, as had the Blues earlier. Thus, fallback ended as a draw. Overall, it was one of the best days that we have had at Airsoft Plantation, with the games being played hard but fairly, with some great play on both sides. Weapons used: Me: Ares L1A1 Real Sword QBZ97 ASG Commander XP18 (CO2) The lad: LCT AKMS G&G AK47/AKM hybrid ASG Commander XP18 (CO2) Dynatex grenade (x2)

I believe that Imperium have gone even further with only bolt action wielding snipers being allowed to wear ghillie suits and DMR users being restricted to a snood. I agree that it is a good rule.

I am right over the other side of London, almost in Kent. Ambush Airsoft in Cobham is still open. Before buying your first rifle, play your three games at the same site in not less than 56 days and get your UKARA registration, so that you don't have to buy a two toned gun. Try to get your hands on as many guns as you can to see what suits you and what you like; as others have said, most airsofters are more than happy to bore you to death with information about their guns. If you want to make a safe first purchase, the Specna and Double Eagle M4 style guns are decent.

The gun is available for £229.99 from JD, so the asking price is very close to the retail price for the package.