TheFull9

Personally, to try and reply as directly as possible to the OP, yeah I'm more interested in gear. Overall, I'd rather own firearms and maybe 1-2 airsoft replicas just to play the game occasionally, but I can't have the guns I want in this country so I just stick to BBs and what I get to play with in work. However even if I can't personally own the guns I want, I can own gear that's 'on a par' as it were with the sort of guns I'd shoot if I could. I like to collect gear, I'm interested in the way it's made, the work that goes in to designing and manufacturing it, the whole industry that surrounds it, the similarities and differences between various sporting/defence applications for civilians, general outdoor use and military applications of all kinds of different apparel, load-bearing rigs, pouches etc. So I buy a fair bit of kit in order to actually look at it closely, then every now and then play airsoft in it in order to see how it performs on a very basic level (wicking sweat, friction points, retaining mags, pistol draw etc etc). I've long been aware that playing in a half-arsed fashion would be detrimental to the other folks on my team, but personally I can't do things by halves anyway so it's never a problem. I either go to a skirmish or milsim and go for it with 100% effort, or I just stay at home. I'm not a good player, I always get hit more than I score hits, but I do enjoy the sounds of GBBs shooting, pyro going off and the like and it's a great social activity all around. Myself, I can't say I've ever seen bunches of guys dressed to the 9s in kit stood around the regen point mouthing off instead of getting stuck in; the people I've seen doing that have covered every 'type' of player there is. Fact is, unless you're a lottery winner/retired on a massive pension and all you do is travel up and down the entire UK playing game after game multiple times per week on a constant basis, you simply can't claim there to be any set trends amongst what certain 'types' of players do (or don't do as the case may be). Does "every site" have those though?

That makes a lot more sense.

My other Stark glock. Some Trijicon sights, Inforce light and a Guarder magwell.

What's 'better'? You define that for yourself based on what you want out of the gun. The G&Gs are good. Personally I'd have the Krytac or KWA, but if you prefer the price or looks or something else on the G&G, buy it from a decent retailer like Pro Airsoft Supplies or Airsoft Zone, you certainly won't go wrong.

The Krytac having very impressive internals and the inclusion of a MOSFET is a huge plus to my mind. Trigger response is going to be by far the best of the bunch; if you're going to play any semi-only sites it's a game changer IMO. The grip and muzzle device can be changed very easily indeed. G&P internals.. very 'meh', average to say the least. I've not heard of them doing any real updates in years so the Krytac spanks their ass in that regard, especially the actual gear set, which have been notoriously bad in G&Ps for a long time. Even if they have improved somewhat, still not up to the Krytac standard. Personally I think pretty much all G&P current offerings look puke-tastic in terms of all the completely fake looking white trademarks they plaster everywhere on their guns. Some folks like that look though, so each to their own there. The RM4 line obviously adds recoil and stop-on-empty/hit bolt release when reloading if you use the proprietary magazines; so it's rather a different beast to the Krytac. If you want that 'experience' of the shooting aspect and more realistic looks, get the KWA (PTS don't make them, they just provide the accessories). More limiting in terms of battery storage and stocks/handguards you can fit than a regular AEG since the buffer tube is full of the recoil mechanism of course.

Long as you can get it renewed and on the database before HMRC check your package, you'll be fine.

Add the cost of the gun and shipping, work out 30% of that figure (20% VAT and something around 10% import duty) + about £12. If your budget can cover that, you'll be fine, it's a worst case scenario estimation and should come in a bit less. Obviously there's a chance you'll get away with it too, I've had a few packages arrive in past couple of weeks that were due VAT and were written up accordingly on the paperwork, but no charges. I'd say the quicker you order the more likely they are to still be dealing with the christmas backlog.

What we're learning here, is that if you buy Warrior gear at full retail price, you are a silly sausage.

Correct. If you do run hi-caps, you vest will tell you to "sshh!".

Wasn't referring to just this thread.

The cost debate never ends, but it varies depending on where you ask the question. If you go to DevTSix you'll find a fair few guys who've spent enough on just their plate carrier alone for someone to outside themselves with a full loadout of kit that's perfectly decent for airsoft (gun, mags, camo, rig, boots, eye pro, the whole lot), and some of the 'hardcore' impressionist types are snobby as f*** and will call you cheap for buying HSGI or Tactical Tailor. This place can be the opposite end of the spectrum, similar story with some facebook groups. Making negative comments about people who spent a lot more on their kit than you just as bad as the snobs who crap on others for having the budget gear; you have no clue about what somebody else's salary/expendable income level is or what their personal priorities are. You're being a massive c*** either way and both types are awful.

It'd be better to find out the rules put in place for the camo/colours on each side, if you haven't booked already that is. Usually for example, multicam is on the desert/tan side with grey/black/blue/other civves on the green/woodland team, but the milsim I did a little while back had it the opposite way around with MC on the green side and the civvies with the tans.

Propper's alright, just don't plan on using it in summer. Thick, heavy construction; good for the cooler times for sure but you'll sweat your everythings off in June. I've had their standard ACU cut trousers and shirt, still got one of their combat shirts in ATACS-FG and I purely reserve it as a winter use item. The material on the torso is unbelievably thick compared to every other brand I've ever tried; wore it to Red1 CQB once in July and spent the whole day just hating it.

-AC Combat shirts x 2 -AC Field trousers Alas, I'm a Small in every other brand of combat shirt, just not Crye. So I'll have to sell the buggers right off the bat, which is a PITA frankly after waiting bloody ages for them to get here. #firstworldairsoftproblems

Trap/skeet etc are the most common options by far with the most availability. For most citizens getting a shotgun certificate (covers double barrels and pumps with only 2-shell mag capacity) is very easy as the police actually have to come up with a reason you specifically shouldn't be allowed one whereas for any rifle or semi shotgun you need to give them a reason you should be granted the certificate (i.e. shooting club membership), but you do have to have references from people who've known you a few years and I'm not sure how nationality/residency links in to it exactly. There's a long form to fill out and I've not looked at it in a while.

Da. Mine should be here end of Jan (ish) hopefully.

I think there may be a little misunderstanding amongst a few folks here. Generally when used in airsoft terms relating to gear (much more so in the states than the UK), 'high speed' doesn't mean something necessarily has to be super lightweight or efficient, it's more to do with the looks than anything. A BULLE chest rig for example is an excellent choice for load-bearing kit in airsoft, but it doesn't look gucci or tacticool. I'm pretty certain given the OP's concern over aesthetics rather than function, the idea is to fit in to the fashionable, special forces looking notion of HSLD.

That was a bad on my part, I meant more of the side to see the profile of the locking nuts.

Can't give bugger all in the way advice without a rough clue what your budget is to be honest, where you live also comes in to play significantly as I'm not going to recommend a store called UK Tactical to somebody in, for example, Canada. I think asking people what looks better is rather inflatable-dartboard as well, you'd be much, much better off just going through loadout threads on different forums or just browsing SF pictures online if you want to figure out what 'looks best'. Because that way you'll get stuff that you actually like the aesthetics of yourself, rather than someone else's opinion. Even without knowing your budget I can tell you for sure that all black just looks like an airsofter loadout, not any sort of super cool high-speed operator super special forces dude. If you like the look of it then that's cool go ahead, it is of course your money. Just be aware you'll not see elite police firearms units or SAS or SEALs or whatever running much in the way of black gear like it was the early 90s anymore. It's also demonstrably very poor camo in urban and woodland environments, so if you want something that's effective for milsim look at either grey or a popular woodland pattern. Obviously US Woodland, Multicam (including any of the 3 newly released variants), AOR1 and AOR2 are super popular amongst all the super cool guys right now. There's also the Kryptek and Pencott families to consider in terms of the 'latest and greatest' for camo options. Helmets are, if anything, low speed if you take the literal definition, but if you want to be fashionable in the manner I think you do then an Ops-Core replica is what everybody and his gran is rocking right now. Eye pro should very much be decided on a safety first basis, not what looks good. End of the day if you just run the dark lenses in any goggle and cover your lower face somehow it does the job of dehumanising your appearance, which is always a winner on social media.

Got any pictures of the reverse sides of those rail bits?

Can't say I'm a machine expert, so thanks for the input. All I can say for sure is that M-LOK is cheaper to mill than KeyMod and a lot of airsoft companies don't put in the necessary chamfers in to their KeyMod because they're trying to keep prices as rock bottom as they physically can. It's all relative of course, as you say it may not be that expensive in terms of tooling or machine time, but it is enough of an extra cost that G&G ét al want to avoid it. Probably more about time than tool cost if anything, G&G especially must be pumping out guns at a crazy rate seeing as they're supplying every country in the world by the looks of things.

The only 'pistols' over here are .22 and have insanely long barrels and weird extensions to the frames in order to comply with the minimum barrel length and overall length requirements in the law. All look roughly like this: Basically, you might as well just shoot a 22 semi rifle (to my mind anyway). If you read around a little you'll find all the requirements for getting in to semi 22 rifles, manual-action centrefire rifles and semi/pump shotguns. The issue is more around finding a club that you can regularly attend in order to get the certificate (a safe is a requirement here as well), but I recall there being a map of them all somewhere so again, small amount of googling and you should be able to figure out if there's one near manchester that would suit you.

Don't get me wrong, don't disagree with that at all. A plastic rail piece wouldn't cost much at all, they could probably raise the price of the guns by £1.50 and easily cover it. The spacing isn't actually the variable (certainly shouldn't be anyway) it's the shape of each hole. On firearm-spec handguards they have to cut chamfers on to the inside face of each slot, which is obviously a bit tricky and pricey to do since you have to have a machine that can cut at very funny angles/from the inside of a narrow tube. A lot of airsoft manufacturers just just the holes straight from the outsides, so they look the same externally without closer inspection but they don't provide the same functionality or fitment. I've not have the chance to try an RS accessory on an airsoft handguard yet unfortunately. Should probably start just bringing one with me to games, I'm sure I'd spot someone with a G&G or ICS and then I could say for sure what's compatible with what.

Is that addressed to me or a continuation of what I was saying? With the quote in there I can't really tell. It's not necessarily as bad as all that. There are only 2 types of KeyMod hole, the real spec and the airsoft one; I suppose given airsoft manufacturing tolerances (lol) the airsoft ones could potentially vary somewhat which would necessitate matching manufacturers forends to accessories, but a lot of other parts on airsoft M4s are interchangeable between brands so I'd wager they're probably all close enough in the vast majority of cases. The problem is more that the information hasn't gotten out there in terms of how to tell the difference between the real and airsoft spec, so people aren't aware which brand uses which in order to then inform others. AFAIK, Krytac and PTS use the real spec on their handguards whereas G&G and Madbull do not. The other 2 'big names' producing a large quantity of KeyMod forends right now would be G&P and ICS, but I've never got a look at any of the new range of guns from either to be able to check. Most likely though they're also using the more simplistic airsoft spec cuts.

If whatever light you end up buying can't mount to the 12 o/clock rail, I'd recommend sticking to the KeyMod sections by the same brand as your gun. Some airsoft companies KeyMod is cut to the same spec as the real thing, but a lot aren't and it's often impossible to tell before actually purchasing the product in question. Matching up the rail pieces to the gun in terms of manufacturer is the safest bet. I'm yet to see a light that had a body which facilitated direct mounting to KeyMod slots personally, the closest things I've found are certain mounts which replace the normal picatinny mounts on SureFire scout lights (and presumably the clones). If your gun does have KeyMod up front but isn't supplied with any rail bits that is certainly a slight downer value wise, however the same gun with a metal forend that had picatinny on all 4 sides would probably have cost quite a lot more in the first place before you even get to the fact it weighs more and to most people isn't as ergonomic (in terms of shape/size and the cheese grater effect).