Gunboat Diplomat

Undoubtedly one of the Double Eagle MWS clones. Around £350 depending on the model but they are all very solid and trade blows with their Marui counterparts. Leaves you another £50 for a second mag, but expect to buy more.

Yep - this one is my most frequented and equally most frustrating at times.

Most retailers are pretty reliable at getting a box delivered these days, but after some pretty shaky after sales support on a recent order where the wrong item was shipped, I'm on the hunt for somewhere new to shop. Any recommendations for stores that actually have well organised and prompt after sales support? Preferably with a good focus on GBBRs as that is the bulk of my spending these days!

Well, the thing is you might be - some of the groups have some great info/contributors, just the platform sucks. Would be great if all those people would join up to the forum. In case it wasn't becoming self-evident, yes I am petulantly demanding everyone use the internet the way I want...

True, I freely admit to some old-git nostalgia about how much better it was in my day and all this used to be fields and a Freddo was only 5p etc…

It’s not so much the groups themselves (some have some really useful info and knowledgeable contributors) but the actual platform that I dislike. The entire UX design is just a shit experience for the kind of long form discussion that nerdy hobbies like ours benefit from.

This is really a bit of a self-indulgent moan about the internet not being the way I like it anymore, I expect the appeal of this thread (or otherwise) will largely hinge on your age, but anyway... I'm in a few airsoft related Discord groups, namely because they contain info I can't get anywhere else and are by and large far more active than forums. But for the love of Christ, the experience of using them is painful. Having an ever scrolling wall of text, out of context replies to prior comments punctuated by sporadic memes just makes my head hurt. I just can't fathom why anyone would prefer this over a forum thread, other than the low-effort barrier to entry. What am I missing here?

Hard to tell from the picture, if they are like the balance lead connectors from a lipo then what you are looking for is JST-XH female to female 4pin. Couple of quid (or € for you I guess) from eBay, Amazon etc

None of my local sites have a decent range for dialling in accuracy (usually you just have to find something noteworthy to aim at between games and guesstimate its distance). I'd like a morning to tinker with my HPA gun and just try it across of spread of PSI settings to see where it becomes most effective (obviously turning it back down to 1j for actual gameplay).

Interesting, some really good arguments for and against which I hadn’t considered myself. (OT - this is why it annoys me when forums die out in favour of content farms like Reddit et al, you don’t get the same level of discourse). I think I must be one of the masochists - about 75% of my time is spent at my local CQB site in shorts and t-shirt (I’m not a speed softer, I just get too hot) and whilst I do tend to finish with a lot of big bruises and welts, higher power wouldn’t put me off (within reason). I suppose to qualify my original question, my practical ideal power limit is that which encourages the most participation, causes the least headaches for site operators and attracts the minimum attention from regulation or bad press - I’ve had enough hobbies die out as it is without another one being killed off. Nonetheless, I’ve never used anything over UK limits, I’d love to back to back test on the same gun to see what different power limits really do to range and accuracy to see if there is Goldilocks style zone for an airsoft gun.

Been thinking about airsoft joule limits in other countries and wondering who has the ‘optimal’ limit to balance effective range against injury. I would personally happily take a higher UK limit, although tempered by the fact I still want my kids to be able to take part and I wouldn’t want an increase in field limits to result in site insurance policies that start mandating additional armour beyond eye protection. Where is your happy middle ground? Or if you are not in the UK, what is your limit and are you happy with it?

Thanks all, this thread has given me more options to consider. I play a mix of outdoor/indoor but was ultimately looking for a single solution for both. I didn’t realise how finicky the impact type’s were around the surface they land on, but on reflection I guess that should be apparent. Frag C looks good for the price compared to the others, limitations above notwithstanding .

Jaeger Precision has his new (TRMR clone) Impact grenade up for pre-order. I’ve been considering a reusable grenade for a while so this comes at a good moment to part me with more cash. Seems to be an updated and approved clone of the TRMR. Any reason not to get one? Price doesn’t bother me much as it’s a one and done so eventually it will pay for itself compared to single use pyros. Quake seems like the obvious competition but I subjectively prefer the looks of the Jaeger, shallow reasoning be that as it is. Not really interested in BB spitting alternatives.

My post was made in jest, I don’t really have any objection to someone who wants to film their game to watch later. I plan to do the same when I can remember to buy a mount that doesn’t immediately fall off. Just had a funny mental image of someone with more camera than gun running round wondering why they can’t aim straight.

Visited Finmere Airsoft for the first time this weekend to take part in one of their Chaos and Control days, a long objective lead day rather than your usual skirmish. Milsim-lite I guess you could call it. First notable point before the day of the event even came around was the great communication with the organisers. I posted a quick question via their ‘Contact Us’ link but got a swift answer and then welcome into their larger WhatsApp group to discuss game day specifics or ask for technical help. Even got sent a PDF with the game objectives and rules, site map and walkthrough video in advance of the day so everyone should know what they are doing. Really well organised and not something I’ve seen before. Arrived at the site an a rainy Sunday morning. The site itself is a fairly typical woodland affair with a long central access road bisecting it into two distinct halves. Safe zone is right in the centre, they have a mix of seating and tables, most undercover from the worst of the elements. Small tuck shop, supplies and a lone portaloo which was remarkably clean. Game area features some nice set pieces like a prop submarine, crashed airplane and some other abstract structures that could really be anything. Gameplay for the day were two 2-hour long domination rounds with five control points spread around the map for capture and control. Capture involved the usual flag raising plus starting your team’s stopwatch at the control point to start accumulating points. Each team’s spawn had an area map that you could mark POIs on and a radio. The radio allowed you to get in contact with the ‘drone operator’ to get intel and/or call in airstrikes or chemical weapons on certain positions. I’m guessing this isn’t anything new but it was the first time I’ve played anything like this and I had a great time playing Battlefield Commander with my rifle propped up in the corner of spawn and picking places on the map to drop imaginary ordinance. Another new one for me was their dead rule. You get 3 lives with the first 2 hits requiring you to be revived, but whilst injured you are allowed (and expected) to call out info to your team. Creates an interesting dynamic where a downed man can sometimes be the pivotal part of a firefight as he calls out enemy movements to the survivors. On your 3rd hit you are fully dead, then it’s the usual silent walk back to spawn. Other notable points of the day were zero moaning or bitching about hit calling, randoms happy to and actively looking to team up to do objectives, everyone generally very laid back and some guy brought a bag full of apples from his garden. All in all a great addition to our roster of local sites so will be going there again soon.