colinjallen

Today was another trip to Tower Airsoft in Essex; for those who don't know it, this is a small, wooded site with a castle, a church, a village and a bridge complex.

Last time I was there, 150 players turned up, which was a few too many for the site, resulting in the gameplay being rather constrained; this was due to Airsoft Plantation, which is run by the same company, being closed that weekend.  Today, around 40 players attended, which meant there was much more room for manoeuvre and sneakiness.  It was a great day of airsoft, played in a positive spirit with no arguments or allegations of non-hit taking.  It was good to run into the Reaper Ops guys for the first time in several years; the last time was when I was marshalling at Battle Lakes.
 
My personal high point was an epic last stand in the castle; a young lad and I were the last players there and held off the attackers for a considerable time.  Not long before that, I had been in the woods, working with others to stop the other team, who were the attackers, crossing the track.  A BB hit me very firmly in the back, so I shouted "Hit", stuck my hand up and started walking back to the castle, passing the player who had shot me; I raised my thumb to him to acknowledge his skill in sneaking round us and into a position behind us.  At that point, we both noticed that we were both wearing blue armbands!
 
The low point was my VZ58 eating its piston; however, it is an Ares and their pistons seem to be designed to fail.  It needed opening up anyway as the power was low; those wonderful Ares compression parts!
 
I need to decide where to go next weekend now.

weird derailment in here.
 
I went NAF last year, they were chonoing guns and tagging them with cableties to show that they had been tested and passed.  If i remember right they were colour coded for fps so visually marshals can see if its sub 350fps, 420fps for DMR of 500fps for sniper.  Not that its infallible for people bringing their own to pass without check, but at least an attempt was made.
 
As for the weed comment, not for me.  Our old neighbours used to do it every evening and it stank out our house, definately do not miss them now they have gone (by the loud day time arguments im pretty sure they were only together because she got pregnant).  All people i have come accross that use it regular seem to be the most paranoid, conspiracy theorist bunch that spew the largest amount of BS that i have ever come across. 

The problem is that people who have got absolutely wrecked via drugs and or alcohol should not be anywhere near airsoft guns; that is a  situation where, due to impaired reactions and decision making, along with, in some/many cases, increased aggression, there is a very real risk of harming someone else.

It is not about not liking being around people who are off their tits on drugs or alcohol, although I do dislike that; it is about safety.

Yeah, the guns and the pyro; they are not exactly insignificant, are they?

The problem is that people who have got absolutely wrecked via drugs and or alcohol should not be anywhere near airsoft guns; that is a  situation where, due to impaired reactions and decision making, along with, in some/many cases, increased aggression, there is a very real risk of harming someone else.

It is not about not liking being around people who are off their tits on drugs or alcohol, although I do dislike that; it is about safety.

Do you have to practice being a twat, or does it come naturally?

Perhaps the problem wanted to live somewhere else; just at the point that your gun started working properly, someone else possibly discovered that theirs was making a horrible scraping noise.

What people do for post event relaxation should be of no interest to other players or event organisers provided it is done off-site; however, what we were discussing was people playing while under the influence. Rogerborg's comment was clearly about that and you responded with a childish attempt at a put-down.  Your attempt to reposition yourself is weak.

Strangely, many of us make do without either a post-event joint or post-event drunkenness.

Spending too much of my life around people who were/are long term users helped me understand the medium to long term impact of drug use, even of cannabis.

I find it kinda funny that some people are talking about drinking & drugtaking as a means to wind down & relax after a "hard" days skirmishing. 
For me, skirmishing is my relaxation from the pressures of everyday life, I thought that was the whole point of any hobby or amateur sporting pastime. 
Is the gameplay so poor at the naf that people need drugs to get over it ?, or is it all those speshul operators who think they're so hardcore that a full weekend of non stop walting needs some serious "gear" to recover with ? 
🤔

It has nothing to do with age; I know, and have previously known, some older folk who are or were into drugs of all sorts ranging from a bit of weed to Heroin.
 
in terms of Airsoft, what it is about is safety.  Do I trust some twat who has been sniffing coke or even someone who has enjoyed a joint to make the right decisions?  Having spent far too much of my life with people like that, the only possible answer is NO.

It has nothing to do with age; I know, and have previously known, some older folk who are or were into drugs of all sorts ranging from a bit of weed to Heroin.
 
in terms of Airsoft, what it is about is safety.  Do I trust some twat who has been sniffing coke or even someone who has enjoyed a joint to make the right decisions?  Having spent far too much of my life with people like that, the only possible answer is NO.

It has nothing to do with age; I know, and have previously known, some older folk who are or were into drugs of all sorts ranging from a bit of weed to Heroin.
 
in terms of Airsoft, what it is about is safety.  Do I trust some twat who has been sniffing coke or even someone who has enjoyed a joint to make the right decisions?  Having spent far too much of my life with people like that, the only possible answer is NO.

Pretty sure if they start sniffing players they might get law suits filed against them...

That is almost exactly the same as my rationale for not going; to be honest, I can think of few things worse, except any festival involving hippies.

Which is worrying as I am doing projections and lights at one in September that my band is playing at.

I use the AKU pilgrims as everyday footwear when I am not wearing a suit.  They are great boots, very comfortable, reasonably sturdy and probably ideal for indoor CQB.  However, I would not trust them very far over rough or difficult ground.

The only thing that a couple of us have found with them is that the insoles seem to be designed for people with supinated (high) arches and can be uncomfortable for those with neutral or hyperpronated arches.  However, insoles are easy to change.

For light use, I would also recommend looking at the Iturri patrol boots.

Yes, the Gore-Tex guarantee now seems to expire as soon as you put the boots on.

For serious walking, I use issue Iturri CWW boots; they are utterly solid, completely waterproof and very comfortable, but quite heavy.  I would not use them for airsoft as they are far beyond what is needed.  My son swears by his issued Defenders for walking.

However, for outdoor sites, I do think a good, solid pair of waterproof boots are essential, which, for me, means leather boots and either Graingers Waterproofing Wax or Altberg Leder-Gris.

I use the AKU pilgrims as everyday footwear when I am not wearing a suit.  They are great boots, very comfortable, reasonably sturdy and probably ideal for indoor CQB.  However, I would not trust them very far over rough or difficult ground.

The only thing that a couple of us have found with them is that the insoles seem to be designed for people with supinated (high) arches and can be uncomfortable for those with neutral or hyperpronated arches.  However, insoles are easy to change.

For light use, I would also recommend looking at the Iturri patrol boots.

I'd strongly recommend whatever pair you buy, you try them on first. Easier said than done nowadays, but a trip to Cotswold outdoors or blacks would be sensible.
 
Your footwear can have a bigger impact on your morale than you'd initially think. 
 
I think the right pair is the pair that fits you the best and that will mean spending a bit more cash, ultimately though these won't just be something you wear for Airsoft so hopefully you can justify a bit more. 
 
I'd also suggest thinking about the type of sites you play, regular at the trees or other very rugged sites and you'll need proper boots, leather, waterproof (like althergs,akus) etc. Some sites can get away with light weight/minimal ankle support (merrels, lowa zephyrs). 

That would explain it!  That piece pushes the tappet plate back, allowing a BB to feed.

It is indeed the sector gear, but you would probably be best advised to buy a whole new 16:1 gearset from someone like AK2M4 (allegedly, other purveyors of airsoft bits and pieces do exist), along with a delayer chip to ensure that the tappet plate stays back long enough.

Whatever you do, you are going to have to do some shimming to ensure that the gears are spaced properly.  There are some very good guides to this online.

There are lots of videos that will show you how to open and work on a gearbox; use this as a learning experience.  That nozzle should be attached to a long piece of plastic inside the gearbox; this is called the tappet plate and its job is to move the nozzle backwards and forwards.

Where are you based?

The nozzle should move, as it should be connected to the tappet plate.

Where did you buy it?  From a shop or from a private seller?

I've had one of these

If you can get it cheap, go for it
otherwise, wouldn't bother for RRP price

It doesn't open up like a normal v2 (gearbox is a normal v2)
The Ambi-select is a BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLACHE to get back in AND aligned correctly
You literally have to bend the bottom receiver outwards to get the gearbox in and out

I'm just glad I got it working and sold it off.
The hop is kinda shite, but it's only cos it's a split hop, so you're not gonna get super duper air seal, it's see-through, which is great for troubleshooting, but see-through plastic stuff tends to be weak and will eventually break

Speaking of which, the stock Nozzle is the exact same see-through plastic and DID break. So replaced it with the CNC Airsoft Pro one
Did the usual service stuff; degrease/grease/reshim , changed hop rubber

It shot alright. Wasn't bad, but for £250-ish RRP (plus post), the Nozzle (plus post), and the time you need to put in to mess about getting the gb in/out, lining up the cogs right (free-floating btw, so, yeeeeeeeey) -- not worth (I got the gun as a boneyard pretty cheap, so wasn't too bad for me)

Unless you get it cheap, and have the patience/skills, get something else

Combat troops or front-line troops would seem to be perfectly good descriptions without the connotations that some people, particularly in the USA, seem to attach to "warriors".

I was not aware that this was polite society; if I have offended the gentleman, I am happy to provide him with my second's details.

As for personal pronouns, we are "encouraged" to put them in our work email signatures; this does make sense as many of the people that we deal with on a day to day basis are from Asian cultures and are uncertain as to whether some European names are male or female.  If that was the reason we were "encouraged" to use them, I would not mind too much; however, the stated reason was about ensuring that the very small minority of gender-fluid people in the organisation could be addressed by their chosen pronoun.

My initial offering on my email signature of that git, that git, that git's was rapidly rejected; my second offering of that bloke, that bloke, that bloke's has not yet been challenged :).

Not jumping on him just jumping on american gun culture and how they have lost control of it.
 
Not against gun ownership as if I lived in America I would no doubt be a gun owner. But I am against how bad the gun control is over there, too easy for nutters to get hold of guns. 

As in the rest of the world don't allow you to bring guns to school?