ASP383

With my Brother-in-Law and his wife coming over from Oz this weekend, he wanted to go shooting, however, my dive bottle is empty and out of test date, so no air rifles, so airsoft it is, which happens to mean needing a third pew. Not having much of a budget due to double birthday party for my girls, meant going cheap and cheerful, so checking my local RFD website and checking them out on YT for reviews etc to try to find best "bang for buck", I nipped into the shop this morning and picked up a Specna Arms SA-F02 and red dot optic. Have to say, for only £120, it appears to be punching above it's price point, with rotary hop and tight bore barrel (looks brass?), finish looks good and going by the various reviews, should be better out of the box than my G&G SM16 Raider, which I had to change the hop rubber and barrel for it to shoot OK. already fitted the optic and lense protector, so all I need to do now, is set the hop, which depending on B-i-L's schedule, will either be at our local airsoft site or at my woods, along with my lad. If my younger daughter wants to take up airsoft, then at least we've got a pew available for her or even use as a base for a custom build.

As has been said, the UK isn't as big a market as some other countries (not sure where we would rank), so most retailers wouldn't be able to put in big enough orders with each brand to be a priority for delivery, they want to ship at least a container and a small crate of a dozen by air freight won't really interest them, hence most UK retailers going through official importers and wholesalers, who will be able to put in an order for a container full of stock. Another issue is, the global chip market, still hasn't fully caught up from both the halt in production due to covid and a large % of stock was destroyed in a warehouse fire a couple of years ago. Airsoft isn't the only hobby to be suffering these issues though.

Got my first kills there, saw some enemy players the other side, so used it for cover, making sure my legs were behind the wheels, then shot through the chassis to take out 2 players ... never forget your first kill lol.

Where the 6 wheel Zil box truck was, between tower 1 and bridge tower (walk onto game zone, turn left, then right). With the clearance work, as well as being able to fire to both towers, there's now line of sight to CQB and looks like you can also see to the original bus.

I had been planning to go to Driver Wood for the afternoon session (which is as much as my lad has been managing so far, unfortunately, ended up having to head over into East Sussex this morning, so knowing I would have been too late getting back, I chucked my kit in the car and took my younger daughter and middle lad with me, so when I was done, we nipped into the woods I manage for a mate and we had some fun with the guns, it also let me set up my new TM mk23, without having to rush things and others wanting the range before chrono. On the plus side for the hobby and a negative for my wallet, both the kids want to join my oldest lad and myself on the field, my daughter is 12, so old enough for quit a few sites, but my middle lad will have to wait until he's 10 in July. I've noticed hit and miss with team sizes too and those joining in the afternoon have their briefing out near the car park, while those that are there all day wait in the safe zone, we're then split up, can't say for sure if there are any regulars that only do afternoons, as we only do once a month, however, that doesn't prevent the total numbers of players in the teams being out of balance. Can't say I've noticed much spawn camping, regardless of which tam I'm on and to be honest, my view is that it spoils the game, not only for the team being spawn camped, but surely those doing the camping would rather a decent game? due to spawn points moving game to game, can't even put some sort of coloured markers/barriers x distance away, other than to tell players spawn camping isn't allowed?

Agree, I had my concerns too, especially with how my game play has evolved over the year I've been playing, where I've been purposely venturing out into the wilds to flank the opposing team, although to date, I've only had my M4, but now I've got a TM mk23 too, for those sneaky shots. I'll only be doing the afternoon, as my lad can't manage a full day with his leg issues

Couple of years old, I know, but more work has been going on the last few weeks, with moving a Zil to their Exeter site to make room for an open top double decker in it's place, will be ready to use in morning, cut back a lot of Rhododendron bushed, opening up more lines of sight into game play areas, other things relocated too, hopefully make players use more of the site. Plenty of update posts an videos over last couple of weeks on their Facebook page. should be there for tomorrow.

Undecided, will get some game play with it first. My local RFD sells the upgraded mk23, which was in stock a short while back, but was still saving up and since sold out of both the upgraded model and the parts. I'm not sniping or running DMR, so will see how things go as I use my M4 as main weapon, but like to sit in ambush, so want something I can do sneaky shots with and hope they think it's a sniper further away,

Bit of retail therapy today ... TM mk23, 2x spare mags, DTD mk23 holster with molle attachment and some green gas. might try getting out this weekend to break it in.

I'm trying to aim for once a month, but then again, it is my oldest lad and myself doing airsoft and apart from my wn hobbies having 5 kids who like different tings, plus my Mrs, I try not to push my luck with budgeting or the Mrs.

Thanks for the replies Looks like it'll be the TM then. My local RFD sells them stock and modified, although the latter isn't in stock as much, but reading the description saying parts availability, I'm guessing their tech does the upgrade in store? I now what you mean @Steveocee, having come from the world of air guns and knowing a few gunsmiths who specialise in air, as opposed to SG and FAC, I know even the "best" will have problems common with other brands, which is why I like to try to check out customer service and ease of obtaining parts.

Crawley Surplus Store is showing TM hi capa 5.1 silver in stock, but back mags are out of stock Tokyo Marui Hi-Capa 5.1 Silver Gas Magazine (surplusstore.co.uk)

Looking to get a gas gun, personal preference is non GBB, which restricts my options more than if I wanted GBB. As my game play is evolving, I'm finding myself trying to flank the field and set up to ambush somewhere between (but not in sight of) their spawn point and objectives, but without being a bush, currently using an AEG which is fine until I'm in position, where its quite noisy for ambushing. I'm liking the look of the mk23 platform, so have been looking at quite a few new, long term ownership and tech reviews to try to hep me chose, now, they all have their issues, which I'd expect from any mechanical equipment. Price point, the pistol with some spare mags is obviously more attractive than the SSX303, however, the latter, if on lower power, can be used without need for a second firearm, but with the higher price point and requiring either more mags than I'd need with the pistol as a secondary, or carrying additional BBs and speed loader, it makes it a lot more expensive. With regards budget, either option won't be a problem, although in time I may look at DMR or sniper rifles. For me, of more importance is customer service and parts availability. My local RFD lists quite a few brands of my mk23 platforms, including the SSX303 and I'm seeing lots off issues regarding Noveritsch's customer service and long lead times for parts., which seem to be worse than others. What are members experience of various brands of pistol and SSX303, as well as ease of parts and customer service?

Will do, The gun club I was a member of used Dogtag' site for HFT competition, think there was only 1 porta-loo for us all. Certainly no complaints about Driver Wood, plus easier to pop into Surplus Store on way home, if can't get what you want on site.

Currently got a 1997 Land Rover Discovery ES 300Tdi, so nothing exciting, but ticks all the boxes for me and is more comfortable on and off road than my first car way back in 1992, which was a 1963 Land Rover 2a. I like my Green Ovals, although only brand I've had more of is Mopar (not Fiat branded stuff either), proper Plymouth and Dodge muscle.

Comms will only be as good as the phone signal though and a lot of sites suffer from poor signal due to location.

Hi from a fellow Sussex member, Only started playing this year at my local site Driver Wood, so can't add anything regarding the list of sites already mentioned.

Cheers yeah, we're out there which is the main thing, like you say. Definitely making sure my lad keeps some medication in his kit. The new medication seems to be working better and faster, which means should it happen again, he should hopefully be OK for the next game if it happens again. Oh dear, never mind, did you have a pox party to spread the love and let others get it over and done with? We're looking to go to get to Epsom tunnels soon, torches will have to be bought, but tempted to pop my digital night vision scope on for a laugh, probably overkill for CQB, but might have the sneak factor. I bought two tone, as knew we'd be making use of them, regardless, but got my UKARA in May, just have to try to save up for more RIFs and possibly offload an air rifle or 2 to go into the pot, but they'll be advertised on the appropriate platforms once I decide which to sell.

@Dan Robinson, shame to have missed you, my lad and I were orange team too ... can see the enemy through 30' of foliage, but not someone 5' away! My lad and I went for the afternoon, we got separated while going through the woods to try to flank the other team, he ended up lost for about 10 minutes trying to find his way back into play and we only caught up with each other back at the safe zone. I tagged along with a sniper and together we flanked round to near 1 of the towers, the sniper got tucked down in the undergrowth on the opposite side of the track to me, where he had a line of sight more towards the tower and my blindside, but could also swing round to his right, where I was covering 1 of the paths enemy players would be using to get to the tower, I was also able to cover behind us, in case their players tried flanking us or just happened up that way. Together we got a few kills and then I noticed an enemy player in the tower, so went for him. The sniper then shouted hit and a few moments later, I felt something on my jacket, unsure if it was a twig or BB, I decided to call it, walking back, we went right through the enemy team, so after respawn, we knew where to go and worked our way up, both hit again, respawned and went back to same are, where we, now with a 3rd team member eliminated those players. all too soon, the game was over though. Unfortunately, when we got back to the safe zone and caught up with my lad, he wasn't looking right and said he had a migraine coming on and he'd forgotten to bring some medication with him (I'll make sure he has some for next time), so he wanted to call it a day, but he did enjoy his game and managed a few kills too. Will be good to meet up with others and I'll keep an eye out Dan, or any others on here if you're playing when down this way.

Was a good game, have to agree. We'll have to remember his migraine medication for next time though. I'll keep an eye out for your post.

Only just seen your message Dan, We got there for the afternoon games, can't say I noticed you, was looking out for your patch though. We only managed 1 game in the end, as my lad got a migraine and had forgotten his medication. At least I know the Maple Leaf 275mm 6.03mm barrel and 70* hop rubber I fitted has helped flatten the trajectory and close up my grouping, just got to decide it the G&G CM16 Raider is worth spending the money on to try to quieten the gearbox, or keep it as a back up/loaner

The site has free wifi in the safe zone, but doubt it extends over the whole 30 acre site. will have to see what normal signal is like, although I've noticed in general, mobile signal has reduced and since Virgin Mobile changed to O2, the signal is even worse, however, I'll give the app a try. Don't worry, I'd rather call a hit, even if not 100% sure about and like I've told my lad, if you've been pinned in 1 area, at least you can try a different route/area after respawning.

They use the Ares Alpha app, which I've downloaded, but he's hesitant, maybe because his previous phone was useless, but he got my old one when I upgraded a couple of months ago, so is much newer and has more memory etc

I'll be decked out in Jack Pyke woodland camo plus DPM booney hat and mag pouches. My lad is usually black jacket and olive vest, now sporting a shotgun pouch on the back, both with two tome M4. We start the games together, but he doesn't want to use the radios, so no idea where each other ends up after our first separate respawns