Samurai

If you can't hit the target at a certain range, it's not the gun you need to change. Well, except if it's really-really crap. No matter how far the gun shoots, there will always be a range that's too far for it. You need to learn to engage the target only at a distance where you can hit it. So just learn to go closer instead of fighting ballistic.

If you are considering the Ares one, take a look at it's Boyi clone. I made the initial checkup on one fresh from Gunfire and I was definiately amazed by it. And I'm not that easily impressed. Sure the box is unique, but shooting it felt great and after cleaning and shimming it was the most accurate out of box AEG I've ever seen. The externals were also outstanding.

A phillps and a flat screwdriver, an allen key set, one or two electrical tapes. I also have on me but never used: spare hopup rubber and a foldable barrel cleaning thing.

Just guessing: maybe the nozzle or the tappet plate broke and somehow multiple BBs are fed for each shot so they hit each other in the barrel. Does it fire that badly on single shot too and is there only one BB per shot?

I would go for a carpet or thick cloth material, like a BDU shirt hanging loose. If you put it on the fence it won't help much, but if you can hang it up so it can move with the BB then it's all good.

I advise not to touch a TM's inside. If you do want to upgrade a gun, get some other brand. TMs are perfect as they are, and they will be perfectly working for years, except if you start "upgrading" them. Japanese laws only allow 1J, but because of the high quality, TM usually outperforms stronger guns in range and accuracy.

No. Airsoft sniping is the opposite to the online games' sniping. Your gun won't shoot farther, won't "kill" in less shots, and an AS sniper is not the battlefield badass with lots of "frags". AS sniper is one of the least powerful guys out there, he must use extremely more brains to get successful. And success for a sniper includes: "gives fine recon" or "delays a few enemies somewhat" or "was unseen by a lot of guys". It needs a lot of experience to be a successful AS sniper, that should be gained by playing a lot with an AEG. If you start with a sniper weapon in 99% of the cases you 1: give up airsoft, 2: sell the gun (optionally after upgrading it with tons of money) and you buy an AEG. If you do start with a bolt action gun be prepared, that on your first (two) games you won't hit anyone at all.

My backup gun. And this was the prototype in it's two different stages:

Those are way too big.

And if they don't then take apart a cheap empty lighter and you'll find the right O ring you can install on the valve.

Danish M84 is awesome in woodland. http://www.strikehold.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Arktis-DANCAM_002.jpg When there are less greens - autumn and winter - flecktarn works wonders. http://i8.tinypic.com/25gyxom.jpg

Isn't this one on the rear part of the gas block / front sight that's inside the body? The front part of the charging handle hits this, when you release it. I remember something like that vaguely.

The 4x eothech magnifier is the best I've ever owned or have tried, hands down. You can remove the piece from inside it that restricts the field of view to a square, then it has an even bigger field of view. It works with that aimpoint and mount on your picture. But actually for the distances we shoot at, you really don't need a magnifier.

I would not put anything in the barrel that stays there. Just clean it with rubbing alcohol once a while and that's it. The gears should be greased a bit once in some years and the piston and cylinder gets a very tiny amount of silicone grease. I would put a very tiny amount of thick grease (in your case the gear grease) on the bottom of the nozzle where it would touch it every cycle and distribute it on the cylinder head's nozzle thing (I don't know it's name) so it won't go dry but I wouldn't put any lubricant in it directly.

A&K M24 with a minimal upgrade.

This is what I have: http://www.victorinox.com/ch/product/Swiss-Army-Knives/Category/Classic/Classic-Range-65-mm/Executive-81/0.6423 It's only 65mm long. I'll admit it's not very manly but it's vay more useful than a manly one.

Probably you didn't put the hopup on the barrel correctly so it's U shaped piece that should snap onto the barrel sticks out a bit.

Those won't work, so it's not worth buying them. There are two sounds from the gun that you hear. 1. The piston head hitting the cylinder head. 2. The gears' sound. And this is usually the louder. So first, do as Monty said. Very good shimming (and it must be very-very good, not just the normal methods you usually read about). Stick with factory gears because they are matched. If you for example put a new motor in, which you should, the motor's gear might not match perfectly the bevel, and of course this is the loudest connection. High torque motor also helps, because it will have faster first shot so the sound of it is shorter. If you have space, you can wrap the gearbox in some foam. P90, AUG, maybe the M14 has some space in the body for this. As for the piston head: forget the Element one, it doesn't work. I don't know, maybe CA is a bit better. However the best I found is a soft rubber bumper glued to the cylinder head and piston head. If you can shape them that they contact gradually instead of at once then even better. Shaping them is risky I got a few GB breaks until I figured out everything and unfortunately you can't get those exact rubber pads anywhere now, that I used. Try soft sorbo pads, they are also good. With this on the piston head, the stroke is much shorter so you'll loose fps, and setting the AOE is essential. The next best thing to do is to swap the cylinder for a shorter one. I mean if you have a full cylinder, put a 4/5 in, or if you have a 4/5 put a 3/4 in, etc. Presuming you have the correct one for the barrel length now. This will mean that the BB is still in the barrel when the piston hits, and the sound waves of the impact can't escape the barrel. This makes a huge difference in the impact sound you hear. Also it will further lessen the fps a bit. Next, you put a replica suppressor on the gun with foam inside. This will change the sound to a deeper muffled thud instead of the snap you usually hear. Use only single shots. The longer you fire, the easier they hear it.

A good cleaning, a new hopup rubber and a new O ring for the piston. Check the gears and the piston for obvious wear. Get new ones only if needed. Check the nozzle if it can wobble on the piston head, get new one if it does. Get SRC parts if you can. If it still doesn't do the 330 fps at least, get a new spring too.

Try something like this: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Shim-A-Scope-Mount/

Yes, silicone reduces drag. For example you can spray it on the dashboard of a car, and it gets extra shiny and slippery. The bad thing is that the rubber sucks it up and gets soft and swollen. It is a good thing for gas sealants in gas mags. If you have a leaking magazine, and don't have a new o ring, just spray silicone in a small tray, put the o ring in it for overnight, and it get softer and a bit bigger - the perfect thing for a good seal. But for a hopup rubber that's bad. For any other parts in an AEG it's way too light. It just splashes everywhere from the moving parts just after a few seconds of shooting and nothing is left on the gears. It's also not good for lubricating gas guns, because it attracts dust and dirt. After a while it will become something like mud. You shoud use dry silicone or teflon spray, or something similar there. You can use silicone in the barrel, but you have to be careful to avoid the hopup rubber, and it is not for cleaning so it won't do a perfect job. Rubbing alcohol does it better. You can lubricate the barrel after cleaning it with silicone but it doesn't really do any difference. As for my background: I was working as an airsoft mechanic for some years as a part time job.

Contrary to popular belief, no silicone spray should go near any AEG ever. Not only the rubber sucks it up and gets softer and swollen, even if you clean it afterwards, but dust sticks into it. Clean your barrel with alcohol and that's it.

Most brands of BBs have bubbles. If it is in the middle then they are accurate, like Madbull. Bad quality BBs have bubbles in them randomly. Usually bio BBs and really high grade BBs (like SGM 0.29) don't have any bubbles.

That compressed air is waaay more compressed than what we have in airsoft.

If your cylinder's capacity is larger than the barrel's then the BB is already out of the barrel before the piston head hits the cylinder head. That means it hits it without the cushioning effect of air behind the BB. Normal V2 gearboxes break because of this really easily. Especially if you put a stronger spring to compensate. G&G gearbox is okay but it won't do any good to that either. You can use a V2 fix for that but it would be much better to use a matching cylinder.