Russe11

BB hits are unlikely to damage your back. BB's are small and have very little mass behind them. When they hit skin they can cause damage to the skin but rarely cause any bruising as they do not have enough energy to damage deep enough. Baggy clothing is better for absorbing bb hits than padding as it allows you to feel the movement of the cloth as it is hit but will absorb the impact. Padding can be responsible for people not realising that they have been hit. Sniping may not be the best option if your mobility is impaired as it will involve a lot of crawling around. If you cannot run about then maybe just play more defensively.

There is talk of following it up with a No1 MkIII* so I will wait. The SMLE was used in all theatres by all commonwealth countries, the No4 was only really used in Europe after 1942. That and the SMLE uses a P1907 bayonet which is a hell of a lot scarier than the No4 bayonet

My lee Enfield is by Iron Airsoft. They made 1 batch a couple of years ago. They were prone to problems and my one no longer works. Still great for reenactment though. The shoot and scoot Lee enfields are currently the best bet. However there is information that Red Wolf Airsoft may be making a no4 based on a VSR10 sometime soon.

Also check out whatpriceglory.com and http://stores.ebay.co.uk/spearheadmilitaria/ Bear in mind that British battledress is made from the itchiest scratchiest wool imaginable. Denim battledress is an option and is also cheaper. Epicmilitaria.com is also worth a look I did a guide a while back: http://www.airsoft-forums.co.uk/index.php/topic/22158-ww2-airsoft-for-dummies/ Spearhead is where I got my Australian Service dress (awesome soft merino wool and massive pockets). whatpriceglory is where I got my Jungle greens and Khaki drill.

Be aware that if you decide to get WW2 kit then it starts getting expensive. Check out ww2airsoft.org.uk though as it does open up some very fun games. Both my main guns are actually the AGM Sten. One is stock and the other has been used as a base for a custom made Owen gun for use with Australian gear. Magazines for the Sten come in 2 sizes. AGM makes 50 round magazines and King Arms makes 110 round magazines (they actually hold 130ish). The King Arms mags can be hard to get hold of and use less metal, they can sometimes have issues fitting into Stens (the same mags work on MP40's. If you have issues with King Arms mags, there are various fixes that you can do though. As the magazines are not high caps you will either need lots of them or will need to learn to control your bursts to save ammo. WW2 Australian Jungle Greens, P37 webbing and my custom Owen gun (background may have been photoshopped a little bit): .

There are 3 brands of thompson worth even looking at: TM and King Arms.make the best ones by a long way. Cyma do a basic one which should be okayish. If you read the legal section, the rule about being 18 applies to the buyer in selling a RIF (non 2-tone)or IF (2-tone). It doesn't apply to converting an IF to a RIF. As long as you can prove that you have a valid reason (ie that you are an airsofter) then you can remove the paint. L85's are cool but almost all versions have reliability issues so I would suggest that they are a good 2nd main weapon and not really good as a 1st buy. You want something reliable that will not break down as a fall back before you get something more exotic. If you want something different to the usual M4 and you already have a pistol for any single shot only games, ASG (also sold as AGM) make a very good Sten. It has several drawbacks in that it has no semi auto or safety and you cannot get high cap magazines but it is relatively cheap, it's very reliable and accurate and its made of steel so will not break if you drop it. You will want a few spare magazines for it as they are not high cap. If the person buying it has UKARA: http://www.taiwangun.com/en/electric-3/agm-058?from=listing&campaign-id=19 Otherwise: http://www.onlybbguns.co.uk/058-agm-mkii-british-ww2-sten-aeg-rifle-full-metal.html#.VuyS7fmLSUk Incidentally I do not suggest buying stuff from onlybbguns.co.uk unless you know what you are looking for, like all sites with bbguns in the name they do sell some rubbish. They do however sell a few good items and I have never had problems with them.

Well done, sounds like you have perfected the sport already. Just 1 more skill to learn before you are a pro. How to tell the story of how you stumbled around the woods completely lost, fell over, ran out of ammo and got shot, to you mates in such a way that it makes you sound like Rambo

A hat will absorb the impact of a bb. Boonies are quite good at this as the fabric is heavy enough and loose enough to absorb the impact. My slouch hat is even better, but I'm not about to recommend everyone wears one of those Helmets may help if you run into low hanging branches or structures, they are not needed for protection from bb's.

Give me a nice hat over a helmet any day. Helmets tend to be too regular in shape so get spotted easily. They also make your head a bigger target.

Everyone expects barrel length to increase accuracy. Simple answer is it doesn't. Complex answer: There is a minimum length needed for a bb to stabilise in the barrel. Anything below this and accuracy will be impaired. That minimum length is really short. In fact this is only a factor to consider with smaller pistols. There is a maximum accurate length of barrel which is just slightly shorter than the length needed for the barrel to have the same volume as the cylinder. After this point the bb ceases to have high pressure behind it and no air is passing between the bb and the wall of the barrel. This means the bb is free to bounce around within the barrel. Anywhere between the minimum and maximum described above, the bb should be relatively stable within the barrel. Between these 2 lengths, a longer barrel will just have a higher fps on exiting the barrel. For better range and accuracy there are 2 things to improve. BB's are the easiest thing to change. Most people use 0.25's or 0.28's in AEG's as the extra weight will improve range and reduce the effect of wind and leaves. The hopup is the other. A good consistent hop unit that is well adjusted will make a fair amount of difference. Opinions vary on different mods.

Some AEG's do have an edge over others but if you have a combat machine already, it should be okay. The easiest way to get better range is to use heavier ammo. 0.2's should only be for chronoing your gun at an outdoor game. 0.25's or 0.28's are what you should use for the actual game.

The courthouse can be fun but it gets boring really fast. Also if the marshalls are not on good form then you tend to get one team just pinning the other down at their spawn point and that's not fun. They also charge for UKARA registration and the others don't.

In Bristol, there are 2 main options: Black ops alternates between Cribbs Causeway and Portishead. Spartan runs every other week up near the airport. I would say that Spartan is probably the best site but Black ops offers 2 different sites. Both are really good and you will have no problems going on your own.

Evike are probably the safest place to get 2 tones imported from. That said, don't buy an SRC M4.

http://www.taiwangun.com/en/sub-machine-guns/agm-058?from=listing&campaign-id=19 Sten mk II is a great gun. It is limited in that it is full auto only and high caps are not an option but it has great range and accuracy and is steel rather than cheap pot metal. Some people have issues with the grip so consider trying one out before buying.

My P07 Bayonet is both flexible and has no sharp bits. The common sense rule is don't stab or slash at people, a tap on the shoulder is a kill. Even a blunt rubber knife can hurt if you get silly. I am one of the few people who has ever tried a bayonet charge in airsoft. It was partially successful in that I achieved my goal of distracting the whole enemy team. The problem was that it also distracted my whole team, so no-one took advantage of it. To quote one guy on my team 'you scared the sh*t out of me, I thought you were actually going to kill someone'. It would seem therefore that if you are going to do a bayonet charge in airsoft with an 18" long bayonet painted to look real, the thing to do is to make sure your team knows it's rubber and are prepared for it.

M14's are very good internally and Cyma have a reputation for very good hop units. The issue is that they are long and long=heavy. I must be the exception as I hate the EBR but I love the old school M14. Had you considered an M14? They are lighter by about 1KG and the weight is not at the front so much.

I have never been to a game yet where anyone has looked down on someone because of what they are wearing. Everyone has their own priorities, whether it's a cool getup, fancy expensive guns or trying to develop the best tactics. The great thing about this sport is that no-one tends to judge you on anything other than whether you play fair. Dressing up is fun and gives you more to chat about in between games. When it comes to Milsim (or in my case WW2 games), it becomes part of the immersion and helps identify the teams. On normal open days, it's just a way for people to express themselves.

Brushstrokes ftw Rather expensive and only available as a Denison smock or postwar Belgian gear but it will be rare to see anyone else in it and it is rather effective. Looks best with a Sten gun and P37 webbing

Yep, totally about dressing up. Well thats rather a simplistic view. I also got into WW2 airsoft and re-enacting. The Owen gun above cost £100 for a Sten and £350 to have it converted into an Owen gun. Webbing etc cost about £80, uniform cost about £100 including the hat and leggings. Then I have Khaki drill uniform, Service dress and British airborne gear, so it adds up. It's fun to turn up to airsoft games dressed unusually. It's also interesting how gear that dates from WW2 compares with the more modern gear everyone else uses. You could say that I am doing practical testing for my own historical research

G&G top tech, ICS or TM G&G top tech MP5's are pretty damn good. The combat machine version is also good but is lower spec and only comes with the standard stock. ICS has a wide range of MP5's with different specs. This includes versions with 3 round burst capability and split gearboxes etc. ICS MP5's tend to have very low tolerances on the magazines. Some magazines may not work, so it's best to either try the mags before buying or buy ICS magazines. TM just makes a quality MP5. All other MP5's are clones of the TM. Customisation on MP5's is easy. Almost all external parts are interchangeable and internally there are only a few things different in the ICS and G&G.

I also have plans to buy an actual P07 bayonet and make a mold in order to create a better rubber copy. Possibly I may do the same with a machete for my jungle green impression. I could then make a mock up of the Australian Machete Bayonet (most scarily large bayonet ever) by casting the handle of a P07 bayonet and adding a blade shaped appropriately.

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

If you really don't want to take stuff apart, you may get some results from cleaning with alcahol.