Ian_Gere

A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and, to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, "Now I am become Lemon, the destroyer of taste." I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.
~ J. Keith Oppenmimer

The main problem with mesh is the shadows it creates across your vision. If you haven't worn any, you will not know what I mean and unfortunately most cameras do not work the same way as the human eye so you cannot replicate the effect in pictures without some very expensive equipment. without any doubt Herosharks are the toughest mesh goggles available - they do not claim it, but i have no doubt that they would stop 00 buckshot. They also have the largest holes of any commercially available mesh - this is a two edged sword, because yes, they do let more light in than the common small hole perforated sheet "mesh" that many manufacturers use, but the bits of metal that remain are also amongst the largest...
 
When you are wearing mesh, your eyes attempt to remain focussed beyond it, which means that whatever you can see of the mesh between your eyes and their point of focus is very blurred and, if it is small enough, it disappears completely. The threshold for this seems to be about 1.1mm, ie if any dimension of a shape of metal is longer than 1.1mm, then it will never completely disappear from your view and will instead leave a very blurry dot of shadow (and since they come in rows there will be rows of these blurry dots of shadow). This is where Herosharks fail - the quasi-triangular shapes left between the offset perforated holes leave about the worst rows of shadowy dots.
 
You totally do get used to them being there and your brain adapts to looking beyond them, however another problem is that any sudden movement nearby, or if you attempt to glance down at your chest by just moving your eyes, even sudden noises that make your eyes involuntarily move, can all cause your eyes to attempt to refocus on the inside of the goggles. The larger the shadows, the more often this happens, plus, as Esoterick says, if they are unpainted or white on the inside, this makes it happen more often. So what? The trouble is that it takes a while for your eyes and brain to readjust to focus purely beyond the mesh again and not bother about the shadows, so basically the bigger the metal the more time you cannot see...
 
Still, your eyes will refocus, whereas fully fogged/rained out polycarbonate is a trip back to the safezone hoping you don't fall over something in your path on the way.
 
In my experience mesh made from interwoven wires, like those Kingrin's, makes the smallest shadows and they can completely disappear from your view. However, in the Kingrin's I personally bought from firesupport.co.uk, the mesh was pretty badly inserted into the frame - there are many of the last bits of wire missing so there is less substance actually holding the mesh in place than there ought to be, which does make me question their safety. The same style ACM ones, like these, have never given me any pause and i have been shot in the face full auto whilst wearing them at least 4 times.
 
You could also consider doing what I did to a pair of polycarbonate lensed goggles which fit your face well - swap the polycarbonate for mesh you buy yourself. You can then bend the end of each wire to loop around the last wire it crosses, or a boundary wire, to form the edge of the mesh insert. This adds strength because it means that the wires cannot be pulled into the centre of the mesh by deforming pressure - if the wire cannot move, the only way to deform the shape of the holes and thus penetrate the mesh, is to actually stretch the wire - personally i do not believe it is possible for an AEG, BASR, gas or even HPA, propelled plastic BB's to deliver enough energy to a hit to actually stretch 0.7mm steel wire, especially when it is also supported by the friction between each crossover. I also added to the strength of mine by making the mesh replacement bulge out way more than the original lens did, which gives the shape more room to flex and spring back than if it was simply flat.
 
Mesh Modified ESS Advancer V12's
...when I'm wearing these, it only takes seconds before it feels as if there is nothing at all between my eyes and the world.
The mesh is #8 0.7mm SS316 and you can buy/blag sample sized pieces which are well big enough to do any twin lensed goggles and, from some companies, just about a ski mask type.

E&L AK 74 mid cap mag (brown) - €8.90
2 x E&L AK 74 mid cap mag (black) - €17.80
Meister Arms AKS 74UN - €189.90
+€19.90 Shipping -€50 Voucher = €186.49 (£135.38) from airsoft-entrepot.fr
The voucher was going to run out on Monday, so something had to be done - I was hoping to spend the whole €50 on mags, despite their poor rep, because at least i can use the guts of them to fill some real steel (actually bakelite) mags I bought a while ago, but despite having only just restocked, they only had these 3 left. Hey ho, Phatima, my ICS AKS 74U, has got something dire wrong with her and although she was at one time my fav gun, my patience is very nearly expended, hence this new toy. Plus it was the cheapest Meister Arms gun they do...

E&L AK 74 mid cap mag (brown) - €8.90
2 x E&L AK 74 mid cap mag (black) - €17.80
Meister Arms AKS 74UN - €189.90
+€19.90 Shipping -€50 Voucher = €186.49 (£135.38) from airsoft-entrepot.fr
The voucher was going to run out on Monday, so something had to be done - I was hoping to spend the whole €50 on mags, despite their poor rep, because at least i can use the guts of them to fill some real steel (actually bakelite) mags I bought a while ago, but despite having only just restocked, they only had these 3 left. Hey ho, Phatima, my ICS AKS 74U, has got something dire wrong with her and although she was at one time my fav gun, my patience is very nearly expended, hence this new toy. Plus it was the cheapest Meister Arms gun they do...

Oh my gonads, where to begin...?
 
Probably first on my list is to finish the upgrading of Ekaterina my Gen 1 E&L AKS-74M - I have nearly all the bits:
PDI 6.05mm TBB, ProWin hop up chamber, double O-ring piston head, maybe PDI 100% spring depending on FPS from excellent compression, Prometheus Purple (soft) hop bucking + PTFE tape, SHS single O-ring air seal nozzle is already in, SHS High Speed motor, lo res rewire & Deans connectors, KK BW3 MOSFET, + might buy Kanzen ceramic bearings for the quiet & may adjust the gear ratio depending on how well the KK BW3 pre-cocking function works...
 
Need a new hop solution for Svetlana my spring A&K SVD:
she has a PDI 590x6.01mm TBB and the airsoftpro.cz advanced hop chamber; i was using a PDI W-hold bucking but it was really struggling to lift anything heavier than 0.32g so I tried a Maple Leaf 60° and a variety of 0.4+g ammo all of which was jamming in the hop chamber even with no hop applied; so i surrendered and replaced the W-hold, only to find that she was now jamming 0.3g Blaster Devils which had been my ammo of choice previously - i dunno what the problem is, so opinions would be appreciated (but i want to keep the 6.01mm TBB b/c high compression means weaker spring which makes for easier cocking from tiny & awkward cocking handle {even with the extension}), but anyway I have also bought...
 
...an AEG SVD by CYMA whom I am yet to name:
her stock FPS is supposed to be 440 but my local, Skirmish Mansfield, allow semi-locked guns to fire at up to 500FPS with 0.2g BB's same as BASR's (you just have to leave 1 second between shots), so I expect I'll put a 6.01mm PDI barrel in her to get the extra 60 & may have to trim the spring a bit because gunfire.pl claim her inner barrel is 690mm long, which i think must be an exaggeration, but if it isn't, holy extra compression mucking up standard FPS calculations batman! They also claim that CYMA's clone of Real Sword is so good that the stock compression is excellent, which is a claim i'll have to investigate and, whilst i am a fan of CYMA hop rubbers in AEG's, I'm not so sure they're good enough for sniping, nor is their QC up to much when it comes to hop rubbers, so i may well have to replace it due to bad moulding anyway. No doubt I'll also end up wanting lightning fast trigger response, which may well lead to a pre-cocking MOSFET, hopefully another BW3 because it would be such a waste of money to end up having to buy a BTC Chimera (which can also do ROF adjustment by inserting micro-pauses between full auto shots, rather than slowing the cycle rate) for a semi-auto only gun...
 
Then there's the new Meister Arms AKS-74UN I have just bought:
at some point during 2016 I'll name her and do to her pretty much the same as Ekaterina. except for the ProWin hop chamber which i only bought because it was going cheap 2nd hand (not that they aren't better than the TM compatible design, they are, but E&L and Meister Arms have already copied that design very well, even though it does then limit you to a 1200mAh 11.1V LiPo under the top cover, at least the extra space allows you to put a MOSFET handily on top of the hop chamber which makes it easier to get at to plug in Deans)...
 
...and the massive pile of partially dismantled AK's I have lurking in the back room:
of note Tatiana my AKS-47 needs a new gearbox inserting and her woodwork roughing up; Sabine my tactical AK-47 needs her GB un-jamming and a hand made FIMO ergonomic pistol grip; my franken-AK build needs completing and painting in snow camo; my Post-Apocalyptic/Terrorist AK-47/Type 56-1 hybrid needs her real steel stock fitting and a few internals; plus there's enough bits to make a couple of very good guns and a couple of bargain bin specials to sell...
 
Oh yeah, and there's also Raisa my tactical RPK build:
needs her Zenit style handguard internal file job completed and, oh weep for the heresy, possibly some kind of Crane stock, because i need extendible and can hold a battery, because the top cover is full of faux piston and bolt carrier, which will not come out and still allow the top cover to be latched in place at all easily, but i may experiment with some box section ali to make her existing stock extendible; plus she needs one of those grip-pods which split into 2 halves (rather than the ones which shoot the legs out of the bottom and look silly both open & closed even on L85A2's ); internally she needs the full Ian-stylee high compression/high cycle rate works, locking off to semi, and fettling for a UK-wide-ish DMR FPS of 420...
 
And how could i forget? I also need to finish Vázlav my Vz 61 upgrade:
from my bits pile he needs his SHS gears fitted; Kanzen bearings; Magnesium Alloy piston; 130% spring; and despite prevailing opinions and his PDI 6.01mm TBB, I am going to R-hop him (just to see); I also still live in hope of finding a neodymium magnet motor which will fit in his tiny gearbox...
 
Loadout wise i want to complete my Soviet era tank crew scruffy mixed uniform; add authentic leather jump boots to my Soviet-Afghan war era VDV loadout; build a dedicated Smersh to go with Raisa consisting of 1 side PKM for a drum mag, the other side RPK pouches for long box mags, and the butt-pack modified with an elasticated post box hole in the top as a dump pouch; finish my ghillie suit; get a Partizan/SS Leto Gorka for bad weather...
 
Also need to get my knee healed up so i can go to the gym and get fit again - I plan to be on form by March for the Balshoy Bolshevik Bash 4, but i expect to be fit for long range sniping quite soon...
 
I feel like i'm still missing something...

I would go with a Scrooge loadout, but then i'd have to play it as too tight fisted to fire any BB's...

I would go with a Scrooge loadout, but then i'd have to play it as too tight fisted to fire any BB's...

I've used Madbull but noticed no difference from the Blasters. More expensive as well... they do have different colour options though.

2016 - busy year for many

sometimes you just to get your nades out to dry
 

 
(part of my xmas loadout)

Yes, providing you're using a standard 2-piece RIS that's held in place by the delta ring and end-cap you can replace the standard A-sight with that VLTOR gas block and it should work.
 
I'll caveat that though by saying that there's no 'standard' when it comes to airsoft, if your gun has a front sight assembly that's off spec, or barrel pin grooves that are off spec then it may not work at all.
 
Only way to find out is to try.

Oh my gonads, where to begin...?
 
Probably first on my list is to finish the upgrading of Ekaterina my Gen 1 E&L AKS-74M - I have nearly all the bits:
PDI 6.05mm TBB, ProWin hop up chamber, double O-ring piston head, maybe PDI 100% spring depending on FPS from excellent compression, Prometheus Purple (soft) hop bucking + PTFE tape, SHS single O-ring air seal nozzle is already in, SHS High Speed motor, lo res rewire & Deans connectors, KK BW3 MOSFET, + might buy Kanzen ceramic bearings for the quiet & may adjust the gear ratio depending on how well the KK BW3 pre-cocking function works...
 
Need a new hop solution for Svetlana my spring A&K SVD:
she has a PDI 590x6.01mm TBB and the airsoftpro.cz advanced hop chamber; i was using a PDI W-hold bucking but it was really struggling to lift anything heavier than 0.32g so I tried a Maple Leaf 60° and a variety of 0.4+g ammo all of which was jamming in the hop chamber even with no hop applied; so i surrendered and replaced the W-hold, only to find that she was now jamming 0.3g Blaster Devils which had been my ammo of choice previously - i dunno what the problem is, so opinions would be appreciated (but i want to keep the 6.01mm TBB b/c high compression means weaker spring which makes for easier cocking from tiny & awkward cocking handle {even with the extension}), but anyway I have also bought...
 
...an AEG SVD by CYMA whom I am yet to name:
her stock FPS is supposed to be 440 but my local, Skirmish Mansfield, allow semi-locked guns to fire at up to 500FPS with 0.2g BB's same as BASR's (you just have to leave 1 second between shots), so I expect I'll put a 6.01mm PDI barrel in her to get the extra 60 & may have to trim the spring a bit because gunfire.pl claim her inner barrel is 690mm long, which i think must be an exaggeration, but if it isn't, holy extra compression mucking up standard FPS calculations batman! They also claim that CYMA's clone of Real Sword is so good that the stock compression is excellent, which is a claim i'll have to investigate and, whilst i am a fan of CYMA hop rubbers in AEG's, I'm not so sure they're good enough for sniping, nor is their QC up to much when it comes to hop rubbers, so i may well have to replace it due to bad moulding anyway. No doubt I'll also end up wanting lightning fast trigger response, which may well lead to a pre-cocking MOSFET, hopefully another BW3 because it would be such a waste of money to end up having to buy a BTC Chimera (which can also do ROF adjustment by inserting micro-pauses between full auto shots, rather than slowing the cycle rate) for a semi-auto only gun...
 
Then there's the new Meister Arms AKS-74UN I have just bought:
at some point during 2016 I'll name her and do to her pretty much the same as Ekaterina. except for the ProWin hop chamber which i only bought because it was going cheap 2nd hand (not that they aren't better than the TM compatible design, they are, but E&L and Meister Arms have already copied that design very well, even though it does then limit you to a 1200mAh 11.1V LiPo under the top cover, at least the extra space allows you to put a MOSFET handily on top of the hop chamber which makes it easier to get at to plug in Deans)...
 
...and the massive pile of partially dismantled AK's I have lurking in the back room:
of note Tatiana my AKS-47 needs a new gearbox inserting and her woodwork roughing up; Sabine my tactical AK-47 needs her GB un-jamming and a hand made FIMO ergonomic pistol grip; my franken-AK build needs completing and painting in snow camo; my Post-Apocalyptic/Terrorist AK-47/Type 56-1 hybrid needs her real steel stock fitting and a few internals; plus there's enough bits to make a couple of very good guns and a couple of bargain bin specials to sell...
 
Oh yeah, and there's also Raisa my tactical RPK build:
needs her Zenit style handguard internal file job completed and, oh weep for the heresy, possibly some kind of Crane stock, because i need extendible and can hold a battery, because the top cover is full of faux piston and bolt carrier, which will not come out and still allow the top cover to be latched in place at all easily, but i may experiment with some box section ali to make her existing stock extendible; plus she needs one of those grip-pods which split into 2 halves (rather than the ones which shoot the legs out of the bottom and look silly both open & closed even on L85A2's ); internally she needs the full Ian-stylee high compression/high cycle rate works, locking off to semi, and fettling for a UK-wide-ish DMR FPS of 420...
 
And how could i forget? I also need to finish Vázlav my Vz 61 upgrade:
from my bits pile he needs his SHS gears fitted; Kanzen bearings; Magnesium Alloy piston; 130% spring; and despite prevailing opinions and his PDI 6.01mm TBB, I am going to R-hop him (just to see); I also still live in hope of finding a neodymium magnet motor which will fit in his tiny gearbox...
 
Loadout wise i want to complete my Soviet era tank crew scruffy mixed uniform; add authentic leather jump boots to my Soviet-Afghan war era VDV loadout; build a dedicated Smersh to go with Raisa consisting of 1 side PKM for a drum mag, the other side RPK pouches for long box mags, and the butt-pack modified with an elasticated post box hole in the top as a dump pouch; finish my ghillie suit; get a Partizan/SS Leto Gorka for bad weather...
 
Also need to get my knee healed up so i can go to the gym and get fit again - I plan to be on form by March for the Balshoy Bolshevik Bash 4, but i expect to be fit for long range sniping quite soon...
 
I feel like i'm still missing something...

The main problem with mesh is the shadows it creates across your vision. If you haven't worn any, you will not know what I mean and unfortunately most cameras do not work the same way as the human eye so you cannot replicate the effect in pictures without some very expensive equipment. without any doubt Herosharks are the toughest mesh goggles available - they do not claim it, but i have no doubt that they would stop 00 buckshot. They also have the largest holes of any commercially available mesh - this is a two edged sword, because yes, they do let more light in than the common small hole perforated sheet "mesh" that many manufacturers use, but the bits of metal that remain are also amongst the largest...
 
When you are wearing mesh, your eyes attempt to remain focussed beyond it, which means that whatever you can see of the mesh between your eyes and their point of focus is very blurred and, if it is small enough, it disappears completely. The threshold for this seems to be about 1.1mm, ie if any dimension of a shape of metal is longer than 1.1mm, then it will never completely disappear from your view and will instead leave a very blurry dot of shadow (and since they come in rows there will be rows of these blurry dots of shadow). This is where Herosharks fail - the quasi-triangular shapes left between the offset perforated holes leave about the worst rows of shadowy dots.
 
You totally do get used to them being there and your brain adapts to looking beyond them, however another problem is that any sudden movement nearby, or if you attempt to glance down at your chest by just moving your eyes, even sudden noises that make your eyes involuntarily move, can all cause your eyes to attempt to refocus on the inside of the goggles. The larger the shadows, the more often this happens, plus, as Esoterick says, if they are unpainted or white on the inside, this makes it happen more often. So what? The trouble is that it takes a while for your eyes and brain to readjust to focus purely beyond the mesh again and not bother about the shadows, so basically the bigger the metal the more time you cannot see...
 
Still, your eyes will refocus, whereas fully fogged/rained out polycarbonate is a trip back to the safezone hoping you don't fall over something in your path on the way.
 
In my experience mesh made from interwoven wires, like those Kingrin's, makes the smallest shadows and they can completely disappear from your view. However, in the Kingrin's I personally bought from firesupport.co.uk, the mesh was pretty badly inserted into the frame - there are many of the last bits of wire missing so there is less substance actually holding the mesh in place than there ought to be, which does make me question their safety. The same style ACM ones, like these, have never given me any pause and i have been shot in the face full auto whilst wearing them at least 4 times.
 
You could also consider doing what I did to a pair of polycarbonate lensed goggles which fit your face well - swap the polycarbonate for mesh you buy yourself. You can then bend the end of each wire to loop around the last wire it crosses, or a boundary wire, to form the edge of the mesh insert. This adds strength because it means that the wires cannot be pulled into the centre of the mesh by deforming pressure - if the wire cannot move, the only way to deform the shape of the holes and thus penetrate the mesh, is to actually stretch the wire - personally i do not believe it is possible for an AEG, BASR, gas or even HPA, propelled plastic BB's to deliver enough energy to a hit to actually stretch 0.7mm steel wire, especially when it is also supported by the friction between each crossover. I also added to the strength of mine by making the mesh replacement bulge out way more than the original lens did, which gives the shape more room to flex and spring back than if it was simply flat.
 
Mesh Modified ESS Advancer V12's
...when I'm wearing these, it only takes seconds before it feels as if there is nothing at all between my eyes and the world.
The mesh is #8 0.7mm SS316 and you can buy/blag sample sized pieces which are well big enough to do any twin lensed goggles and, from some companies, just about a ski mask type.

Get a job so I can afford airsoft again.
Fix my SMLE by making a new magazine from scratch, possibly with an HPA setup.

Two plans for me
 
Kick arse sniper rifle just deciding on the base model I want maybe a cheytac always liked them
 
A smart AK weathered and worn look not sure on 47 or 74 yet

Not so much 2016 but I've just put a chopped down m170 vsr Spring and put in my old asg franchi 😂
It smarts a bit being shot with it, much to the wifes amusement... I had to cock it for herbal she couldn't
I can't see the trigger holding up too long lol

So you're changing your mind now and they're not 'snake oil' but instead just aren't anything 'special'. Where do you actually sit on R-Hopping then? Just last page you were making it out like they're useless and now we're saying that good results can be had but equal results are also attainable from other buckings like I said just before? I'm genuinely confused as to what we're arguing about here. I don't know anyone sensible that holds R-Hops up as being a miracle solution to hopping.

And this is entirely about surface area when it's boiled down to what makes flat hops and R-Hops better than most conventional buckings: The variables in most HPA systems are negligible with the hop setups people have. An excellent example of this is the Daytona Gun community - same machine, identical hop units that have been around in their modern form for quite some years now, so a good test group yet many go with R-Hops over the bespoke buckings despite them being very good - it just comes down to consistency and air seal for most of these players. A properly installed R-Hop patch will last many years (even when being absolutely hammered by the break-in process) if you don't mess it up with lube and will continue to shoot the exact same as the material doesn't wear across one point like W-Holds or the Firefly 'ramp' design.

The point of contact for R-Hops and flat hops is much greater, and that's why the perform well. The complete air seal out of the box and flexible nature of being able to increase the hop window are why I think R-Hop gets the edge over flat hopping though.

Believe me, I'm one of the first people to bring into question any long-standing 'last guy told me this was right' type stuff that is so prevalent in airsoft when it comes to fiddling with internals, but the R-Hop has been around for a while now. Far from being 'snake oil', it's the best you can get alongside a well thinkered-with, quality bucking like you describe. I'm not saying it's the only option, but surprisingly for most it's the easiest, cheapest and gets immediate results if done right.
 
Here's a fairly comprehensive view on the subject: http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthread.php?t=152480 and http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showpost.php?p=1777097&postcount=23

Edit:
Found the image I was after for anyone who has no idea what we're talking about. I should say, the flat hop obviously looks different to a normal one so this might not be the best picture ever.

Finish of all the projects I start last year!

I really want an ares vz58 compact
 
Edit :- when my pso-1 and hop unit arrive get them fitted to my svd, give it a try out
 
then maybe mancraft it
 
then might have to get that NSP-3 I have just seen if/when I do a night game

Well, I'm currently re-building my A&K SVD as the performance is lacking, it's a lot better after replacing some parts such as the hop up, piston and piston head, still lots more to go though, spring definitely needs replacing with a much higher FPS spring. It'll hopefully be finished in the new year

Think if you walk on water or very very experienced or lucky
R-Hop does perform a "little" better than a "good" flat hop
 
That said - hop/barrel is one mofo area I have so much to learn
I've fitted a FireFly to one barrel - think it was a softer blue bridged one in a zci tbb
took me time - looks good yup
 
Hmmmm.... - not so great, back to a decent cyma stock barrel/hop - better range and straight flight
 
yeah - I have still so much to learn especially in hop area

We all know that the new years resolution of "spend less" will last less than 24 hours
 
I'm hoping to do a few things this year: Mostly finish off my 45th Recon impression and fix any wobble on my AK and make it look new-er again. If I still have any funds left over, I'll also try to finish off my A&K SR25k, putting in a tightbore, maybe R-hopping etc.

Buy less and use the stuff I got
 
Get off my ar$e more and get out there more often than 2015

I bought some Madbull 0.25g Tracer BB's but i have still not used them. I have seen tracer ammo used to great effect during night games though, ie being able to see exactly where your fire is going which is good for:
 
1) adjusting your aim to make hits on targets in partial cover;
 
2) accurately rattling someone's cover so they keep their head down while a team mate scoots up and pops them at close range;
3) preventing cheating. I have also been told that if you fire tracer ammo without a tracer illuminating unit in your faux suppressor, mag, or hop up chamber, if you are using an IR illuminator and NVG the tracer BB becomes visible to you but not those without NVG.

Mesh is fine.If the bb does break up and do through it doesnt do any real harm because all the energy is removed. Quick rinse with some eyewash and back at it.