TheFull9

I see you're a man who likes to live life on the edge.

I think it's safe to say that this 'comes with the territory'. Airsoft is not a big business comparatively speaking, so you combine the fact there's not much money in it with the other fact that we're running around with 'guns' and throwing fireworks and hence need to be away/segregated from anyone not actively participating, then the sites are generally going to be in locations where nobody else is regularly travelling to. Unless someone sticks to the rare examples like Precinct 13 and Z-Mart that are actually in the middle of a fair sized town, then having a car and license is (close to) a requirement for entry for the hobby I'd say. First time really thinking about it, but I'd almost say that if you're new/getting in to this and can't drive or get lifts, then either put the time and money in to driving before even getting eye pro and a gun or buy one absolutely barebones loadout then hold off further purchases until the driving is sorted. Bearing in mind of course that some people who've already commented here don't fit this category and do use public transport, so it clearly can be done. Personally though I wouldn't ever play if I had to spend hours on trains/buses and then potentially hike a long way with a heavy bag; then do it all again on the way home. Not knocking that method, it's perhaps the only option for some folks for various reason and the effort is impressive frankly, but not for me.

I think this is worth mentioning when it comes up; what @Anonymoose said I would very much echo. I can recall seeing a laser used once ever at a game, which was at a woodland site and it just perfectly highlighted where the person trying to shoot me was crouching. They can potentially have some utility in IR form if you have proper night vision to see it and play a game where that combo is allowed/relevant, but we're getting in to small niches at that point. Obviously if someone wants to deck out their shooter with a PEQ or whatever for looks then go for it, they are important devices for the real firearms we're replicating, but airsoft utility is slim to none. A simple white light that's got an ergonomic momentary activation switch can be useful very often (again depending where you play) and apart from anything is great for.. you know just seeing where the heck you're walking and not tripping over and breaking yourself. I'd wager the most common airsoft injuries beyond little bb welts are probably the results of trips, slips, falls, collisions etc.

In order to have the option of running sans any actual gear, I've been looking around for products to fit the above criteria and I'd like to hear folks' findings and experiences. Not looking to have a giant drum or anything and use an M4 as a machine gun/bb hose, but I usually have about 5 mid-caps on me with 120 each so looking for similar capacity but at minimal weight. Since the gun in question will also be a specific lightweight build and obviously mags are part of that. Couple of options so far as examples, plastic hi-caps are the obvious initial choice here. Trying to get that best result in terms of the ratio mentioned but also look at least fairly realistic and be built to a sufficient quality such that my ammo feeding device won't let me down (as the plan is not to be wearing a rig to carry any spares). A flash mag would be ideal too, since to my knowledge they're the fast winding hi-cap? Haven't really used one since about 2007 so again experiences and other input would be great. A couple of these linked together seem like perhaps the top option: https://www.evike.com/products/52410/ This is the best ratio of weight to capacity I've seen, but the real ones are notoriously unreliable which I think would probably carry over to an ARES product which I'd best is made of thin and flimsy plastic (but interested to hear any related experiences of course): https://www.redwolfairsoft.com/magazines-ares-aeg-ares-900rds-magazine-for-m16.html

Any opportunity to put my hands in my pockets.

Decent faux gas tubes longer than carbine length aren't super commonly available relatively speaking, so that's a good find to add to a proper M16. That said, in theory it really shouldn't be the gas tube that keeps the handguards tight. Airsoft guns are weird sometimes, but the presence (or otherwise) of the tube shouldn't change the fitment of the handguards at all one way or the other. Was your barrel nut loose and rotating around on the front of the upper receiver per chance? In the lower image, the delta ring spring does look like something is a bit awry perhaps, though it's always hard to tell from a still image of course. I mean if it's fixed now and that's you satisfied then hey that's the end goal, all good. The circumstances there just intrigued me.

Since that's a Magpul stock and handguard at this point, certainly could go all-in and get the lower. If you search up images of that combo though you'll likely find some to see how it looks, the Magpul handguard is so good that it's almost the default at this point and a lot of people have the ACR type stock as well.

This is the absolute most perfect auto-correct I have ever seen.. and a double hit to boot.

If that isn't the most fitting/appropriate airsoft internal part in a niche gun then I don't know what is.

So, anyway, another replica of a rifle that's certainly dubious/debateable in real firearm form is coming out. A lot of people online say the real M7 would work as a DMR but shouldn't become the standard infantry weapon, so I'll be interested to see how airsofters with M7 replicas setup said replicas. It's hella chonk compared to an AR-15 and not the easiest to run around with all day, comparatively. This is a trend with firearm designs from the past few years that I don't understand in that they're girthy as hell, especially when you compare them to the popular 762 NATO rifles of the Cold War. If I had a crystal ball I'd love to pierce through the vale just 5 years or so in to the future, as the controversy over the M7 and P320/M17 might have been resolved one way or another by then. Players buying a lot of Sig US replicas now will either have possession of quite iconic and commonplace US issued weapons, or they'll have quite niche pieces that represent a specific blip in small arms development.

Forums (well, forum singular I don't know of any other active ones in English) are my main go-to, always have been. Not perfect but the highest overall knowledge and maturity levels and simply by far the best format/layout of discussions. I'm always on my desktop though and the hardware change is a big factor in the move from website forums to social media apps. I like the main airsoft sub-reddit quite a bit in terms of the builds and loadouts etc that you can see, a lot of nice guns and the like getting up-voted most days with (imho) better discussion attached than FB. Personally I've seen many a niche piece of kit or gun part on there that I found very interesting. I've also often found answers to questions or useful pics on the reddit when I've google-d for things, as google actually indexes reddit in some meaningful way whereas 99% of IG and FB doesn't seem to come up in google results (that or the content just doesn't exist on those platforms). As mentioned there's quite a lot of decent sub-hobby/niche groups on FB where the people will hang with the most knowledge on NGRS MP5s or a specific family of GBBRs or pistols, or whatever. Use each platform appropriately to take best advantage of the content which they host. Oh and there's discord, pretty sure there's tons on there, but I almost never use it so couldn't really comment. Again not sure that layout is good for growing a depository of info in the way a forum layout is. It's more like an old school internet chatroom, where a forum is like a series of mini blog posts.

Tons still in armouries, still used, but fallen out of favour I'd say for sure. I had a search out of my own curiosity, and most pics of A3s don't have them, especially with infantry blokes - who are amongst the small portion of the forces using the L85 but also given some element of leeway in configuring it. In the pics where the grip-pods are mounted, I personally reckon it's mostly because the person was told they had to have it - which I'd say is most UK service people when using TES A2s. Foregrips in general don't always get along with AKs, which is why there's a few funky ones from ruskie brands that stick out at weird angles, so that's a specific issue in the OP's case and it's exacerbated because foregrips with integrated bi-pods are always the longest/tallest of all types of foregrip. While the real grip-pods (the GPS design that the US and UK have issued) are 'ok', they're still not the most durable thing which is unavoidable due to the design, so then when you make a replica with typical airsoft materials you usually end up with something very flimsy. I'd wager most people who've ever attached a bi-pod of any kind for a functional purpose vs emulating something real, have ended up taking it off again not long later, since they're usually in the worst place to add weight (near the muzzle) and are no assistance in terms of accuracy with guns that shoot minute-of-barn at their maximum effective range. They have niche uses of course, good if you're going to stay in a spot you can rest the gun for 20+ minutes and just cover one narrow alley, but not a ton else.

That's just normal, that's just being a human over the age of about 6. Or even if not necessarily 'knowing' the exact time 24/7 with a constant update, just always having the ability to very very quickly access it (and the date). Pretty sure 6 was when I learnt how to tell the time on an analogue clock in school anyway. Parents got me a watch not too long after I think. Granted, I am probably very bias on account of having to fill out paperwork many times a day that often require times and dates input in many places, and being late for anything is one of the worst possible sins.