Gunboat Diplomat

And to round out this thread, it has arrived. Good service from BBG4L, shipped same day via Parcelforce 24, but crossed the weekend so only received today as for some reason they didn't come on Saturday (Parcelforce normally always deliver at 9am on a Sat morning and get me out of bed, but not this time it seems). Checked out the boy's G36 first, way more solid than I was expecting for its budget price and all plastic build. Added bonus is a load of my existing 2S car LiPos will fit in the front stock so he's set for batteries for life. Hooked up a 1-point sling so he doesn't drop it on the first day, but to be honest it looks like it could take a tumble and shrug it off. He is smitten which is the main thing. Double Eagle next. First point of note is it seems they are supplying midcaps now instead of the advertised hicap mag (or at least they did in mine). Not sure if I consider that a pro or a con yet. Measured the buffer tube and ordered a couple of batteries from Vapextech, but managed to get a few test shots with one of my spare (but too big) batteries hanging out the back. Feels much more responsive than the rental guns I've used so far, whatever trigger lag there is is pretty imperceptible to me. No idea on accuracy or power til I get to a decent length range and my chrono arrives from China. Fit and finish is about right for the price, well screwed together aside from a couple of rattly catches and a bit of wobble in the stock, metal is pretty thin but then I'm not planning to hammer nails in with it and I have to lug it around all day. Ergonomics are really good, all very subjective but fits me better than any of the renters have so far. Not sure I'll be getting another game in until the end of the month now, so field testing will have to wait.

I did think last week that maybe it needed a cap or cooldown on revives before the downed player is forced back to respawn. That said, and perhaps this speaks volumes about me, I found it hugely amusing harrying the medics as they dashed back and forwards having to revive the guys I’d just rekilled immediately after they saved him.

Going to assume you are asking about AEGs. I faced a similar dilemma, weighing up a £190 Double Eagle M906C against more expensive options as I had extra money ‘spare’. In the end I went with the Double Eagle as the more expensive options didn’t seem to offer a great deal over it. From my digging, if you wanted to spend the full £300 then the Specna Edge 2.0 series offers the most comprehensive set of features in a range of styles to suit your tastes. They had terrible QC in the early days but anecdotal evidence suggests this is now largely resolved bar some minor fit and finish quibbles. Negative Airsoft on YouTube doesn’t do reviews as such, but he does in depth tear downs and dislikes almost everything to some extent. I found his videos useful to get an unvarnished insight on potential purchases.

Looking forward to... Parcelforce delivering my BBGuns4Less order! Trying out my new Bolle Trackers to see how much they steam up. My local site opening their new CQB venue.

I don't need noisy mags to accomplish that feat. Running in the wrong direction with the flag in CTF, getting lost in the woods trying to find respawn, walking into the enemy respawn, dumping half a mag into a bush thinking its a ghillie suit... I think I'm well past the point of saving my credibility. Whilst the boy is set on hicaps, I'm considering some midcaps not so much for the silence but just for the fun/pseudo-realism of mid game reloads. Landwarrior have a set of 5 midcap M4 mags for £20 which seems like a good deal if they work.

Hmm… interesting, cheers. Will certainly be hicaps as he says ‘who wants to reload!?’ I’m yet to see a situation where a Spec Ops game is quiet enough to need the stealth of silent mags, but I can see it being relevant if the indoor CQB site opens. He doesn’t have a rig yet so I expect he’ll just put a spare mag in his leg pocket if the stacked weight is too heavy on the gun. And indeed I did a few posts earlier, hopefully being delivered today/tomorrow. Your rationale did play a part in my decision though, the DE won’t hold me back and I’m invariably going to be tempted by even more exotic toys in future so may as well save the extra outlay for now.

Fair point, maybe I'll stick with 2S to begin with, if I feel the need for higher RoF later down the line I can always test with one of the 3S packs from my FPV quad and see how toasty the motor gets. That said the brushed 550 motor in my 1/14 scale RC car regularly reaches temperatures that cause localised climate change, yet it keeps coming back for more. I notice a lot of airsoft AEG tech is starting to borrow from the RC world. MosFet/ETUs etc are nothing more than the ESCs we've been running in RC gear for what feels like a decade now and brushless motors still seem to be a rarity in AEGs despite being ubiquitous in most mid-range RC. Cheers, good tips, I'll have a search for an M4 adaptor for the G36, though the boy quite likes the idea of the G36 mags native ability to stack together. I think DE's head of global marketing has a RostockMcSpoons portrait that takes pride of place in his office.

Yes it was all the Double Eagle shilling positive feedback that put me on to them in the first place and despite the price differential it seems like they don't really fall short of more expensive offerings. I was looking at this 3S pack as I think it will fit in the M906C: https://www.vapextech.co.uk/airsoft-11-1v-1300mah-30c-lipo-battery-with-case-lp303-vapextech I'm hoping the Falcon will be happy with it as long as I keep full auto to short bursts.

Well after much fannying about, I've ordered the Double Eagle. Thanks all for the advice and feedback, after copious consumption of YouTube opinions and reddit posts I've concluded the difference in price is better spent on more days out for me and the boy. What size LiPo do I need for the M906C? Am I best of with a crane or stick size pack? I'll likely be ordering from Vapextech as they seem to be the cheapest option. I've got plenty of 2S LiPos from my RC cars, but I doubt they will fit in the stock. Are they fussy with mags or will any M4 style fit? On another note I've also ordered a Cyma G36 the boy has been lusting after. Fortunately that comes with a battery, but I'll be needing to find some more AR36 mags for him.

Thanks all for the tips. Shopping around brings the price of a couple of Edge 2.0 variants to within a £100 of the Double Eagle. From Negative Airsoft's follow up video and some general forum/reddit posts it sounds like Specna dealt with their QC issues, so current examples should be no worse than any other mass produced Chinese toy. Still very much on the fence at this point, will see if I get a discount incentive from BBGuns4Less, that might sway me.

Alas no, they were both used from eBay. Lesson learnt there!

I'm in the happy position to have a decent budget for my first primary AEG, but equally I'm a miser so don't see the point in spending money needlessly. For arguments sake lets assume I've got £350 for an AEG, but it's not really a hard and fast figure. I've currently got a DE M906C in my BBGuns4Less basket, hoping they'll prompt me with a discount code to complete the purchase. Whilst I wait, I've gone through my huge list of alternatives and the ones that stand out are the Specna Edge 2.0 series. I realise they had some QC issues in the early days with the Orion gearbox and the Asters, but I'd hope that they've resolved that now. But at around £300ish for most models in the range, what am I getting over the DE? Do they shoot any further or straighter? More reliable? Better fit and finish? This isn't a subtle shit-post on Specna, I'm genuinely willing to spend the extra if it will get me something better, but not sure what is in it for me other than the Gate Aster having a few more features over the Falcon and there being a few more options in the Specna range (I quite like the 416s). Anecdotally I've seen that the DE seem to suffer from weak springs and the hop-up lever won't take an aftermarket nub so will likely need changing at some point in the future, plus they drain batteries if left connected, but that doesn't really bother me since I never leave a LiPo connected in my RC cars, they all go straight back in the BatSafe overnight. None of these seem like fundamental issues to me. Thanks all

Thanks, unfortunately both pairs didn't make it through half a day before the rubber fell apart so they are pretty much bin fodder at this point.

Sorry @Dan Robinson, I didn't realise who you were, but now I've seen the photos I do recall unleashing a sustained stream of fire at you during your daring, if optimistic dash to the exfil-point-tent during the Church choke-point game. Next time I'll try a more standard form of introduction and come and say hello. This is me and the boy (an image that doesn't really give much in the way of distinguishing features I grant you):

No worries, looking at the price of the 416 has me thinking you did my CC a favour! I’ve got some ESS V12s in my ebay watchlist as it happens, but I’m loathe to spend on anything full-seal as I expect I’ll end up with the same result. I’m considering some Bolle Cobras for me, but will need a a full seal option for the boy.

Also sums up our day. Good news: 3rd game in the bag so UKARA registered now, perhaps bad news for my credit card though. Got to meet @RostokMcSpoons briefly, nice to put a face to an avatar. My cheap boots have bedded in so no more shredded feet. Despite (or perhaps because of) the small turn-out the games flowed well, with a couple of new game types I've not played before. Highlights were a tense battle for our team to make it through a choke point heavily defended by the enemy. Rushing to a cover point, stopping to catch breath and then hearing a 'Hello?' from the other side of the tarp that made up the cover. 'Hello...' I replied. 'This is awkward, shall we talk instead of fighting?' asked the disembodied voice. 'Erm, what do you want to talk about?' I asked, stalling for time as my team moved up. '....Erm...' came the the reply. Not to see this verbal stalemate continue, one of my team had taken advantage of this thrilling discourse to cook a grenade and tossed it casually over the top of the tarp. Bad news: Both mine and the boy's Revision Bullet Ants steamed up constantly, despite using antifog (more on this to come). His eventually fell apart and are pretty much bin fodder at this point. I'm not convinced mine will last much longer. Really unimpressed by these. Lowlight was the boy uncharacteristically started flagging in the last hour and by then end was complaining of drowsiness and being dizzy, so I decided to end our day early and get him home. He's super fit (compared to me at any rate) and can easily do a full day football tournament, so this was not right for him. He said that he'd started feeling odd since applying the antifog so suspect he had some kind of reaction to it. Seems fine now having slept for much of the day, lesson learnt on that one. Things to look forward to: Carlos hinted that his CQB site will be opening soon so rather looking forward to this.

Your bed looks like the inventory screen in an old school RPG. I’ll keep an eye out for the guy pushing a wheelbarrow to the range tomorrow. ?

* DeltaMike Mini V2 Really pleased with this, been using rental masks til now and this feels another level of comfort. Leaves my massive nose exposed but I’ll take that. * Revision Bullet Ants Bought 2 pairs for me and the boy. I have a feeling these are going to fog up instantly for me but we will see. * Flecktarn/Bulle M4 chest rig I wasn’t planning to spend anything on military wear, but for a shade under £50 this feels so much better than the generic backpack I’ve been using til now. 3rd game this weekend so hopefully I’ll be able to spend even more money once UKARA registered.

Agreed. If anything at all, the biggest giveaway is the sheer size of the discount on offer. But like you, with a few drinks inside me and the fear of missing a bargain I’d have fallen for it.

I had to google half of that, I don’t know one end of my MTP from my DPM!

Round the back. Thankfully I carry plasters and bandages in my pack, so was able to patch them up. Although pulling sweaty socks off in the field and trying to get plasters to adhere to damp feet was a laugh. Good tip though, will pad them out for the next trial run.

Yep we should be there again next week, prob only a half day again as the boy has a football tournament on Sun. Combat Airsoft looks interesting - the distance might cause a few ‘are we there yets’ from the passenger seat though.

Possibly too extreme but I’ll see how they break in before I relegate them to gardening duties.

I was, until today, quite pleased with my bargain Nortiv8 boots I picked up from Amazon for £17. However, after half a day on the field my heels are shredded. Not sure if it's a case of break-in or poor fit. Hopefully the former as aside from that they are actually comfortable in all other respects and pretty supportive.

Back from our second ever game at Spec Ops MK. Only did a half-day today as expected it to be hot and it's a good thing as my new boots have cut my heels to shreds, so was very much done by lunch. Turns out wearing them at your desk for a couple of hours doesn't count as a proper test. That aside, another good day of fun. Played a new game mode which involved rescuing a downed pilot (dummy) from the enemy camp. Hugely entertaining, especially when on the defending side as I managed to get a decent rate of kills. I think the game might need rebalancing though as I don't think anyone stood a chance of evac'ing the dummy, but who doesn't love a suicide mission. The boy had a good game with no injuries or mishaps, so at least one of us made it unscathed. He was, unusually for him, tired out by lunch so I'm assuming the heat has got to him. One more game to go before I'm UKARA registered which will simultaneously make the day rate cheaper but also meaning I empty my wallet on gun purchases. Have also realised I need something other than a bright red backpack to carry my gear and my £10 Asda jeans now have holes in the knees, so I'm open to suggestions on budget chest-rigs and trousers with knee-protection built in. Hello new hobby, good-bye fiscal responsibility.