Greg147

Welcome mate, I'm from Baldock, so pretty much right next door to you. There are indeed some very decent sites in the local area to check out. As already mentioned, Tuddenham is a good one that I keep meaning to go back to, as well as Maddog Airsoft, which is a nice varied site. Also consider looking at RIFT's Cottenham site, which is an excellent place for new starters to get the hang of their gear (quite small, so no getting lost or spending lots of time walking back to regen, plus they've got great marshals who are always ready to help new guys out).

Cheaper version of a GoPro? I believe the HERO range is the cheapest, but if you're looking for a comparable product that will fit the mountings of a GoPro, the SJCAM SJ4000 would do it. It's a little cheaper than the cheapest GoPro, and still does the job (good enough for me, anyway). Although I don't think any of them have night vision.

The only thing I'd say about sticking a silencer on an M14 is that it's going to be very very long. Unless the one you're looking at is shortened, of course. Then I'll be shhh. But I imagine you probably won't need one on there, as the inner barrels are of DMR length anyway. It's probably not the style you're going for, but a G&G M14 Veteran is of a similar price to the CYMA EBR, and comes pre-upgraded to fit the DMR role. I've just started using one, and am very happy with it right out of the box.

I tried the M04 mask once (after epoxy-ing the lens in place so they wouldn't pop out when shot), but I wouldn't recommend it. Fogging wasn't an issue due to the fan, but it was uncomfortable and didn't fit properly, plus the straps on the back broke pretty easily. Being a Chinese product, it seemed like it was designed for players with more Asian facial features, so if you're like me (Caucasian with quite a prominent nose structure), it might start to put an uncomfortable amount of pressure on the bridge of your nose after five or ten minutes of use. It's also difficult to get your face close to the stock of your weapon as well, so using iron sights (of anything that isn't elevated) is pretty much impossible.

Whoops, sorry. It is indeed two months, not three. My mistake, it's been a while since I got mine. What I meant was that many people people read the terms as 'three games in less than two months', rather than 'three games in no less than two months'

It's a common misconception that you need to go to three games within three two months. To be able to register for UKARA, you have to play three games in a period of OVER three two months. In other words, you have to prove you're a regular skirmisher for an extended period of time, and not that you've done three games in a short space of time. It means that someone can't decide they want a RIF and end up owning one legally within a week. As Sacarathe said, the time limit is twelve months, so there's no rush to get your games in.

1. I'd say weapon hits shouldn't count, as that's the rule my site uses and we've never had any issues with it. I can see why other sites don't use it though, especially if the weapon is blocking the player (rather than hitting the barrel of an outstretched weapon. 2. I'll take any hit that strikes my gear, regardless of where it is in relation to the rest of me. I think most others do this. If I get hit in a magazine pouch that's just overhanging cover, I don't know what angle the shooter is at to say whether or not the round would have hit me if I wasn't wearing it. 3. Interesting concept to say that those with helmets have different rules that others. Perhaps a rule that wearing a helmet allows you to ignore the first round that strikes it could work. It would definitely be too difficult to marshal though, but it would give players a better reason to wear them other than the appearance (I personally stopped wearing my helmet as soon as I worked out how to cable-tie my camera to a baseball cap. Would be nice to have a justifiable reason to start wearing it again (mobility vs protection)

I would wait until you have a larger budget. Even if you find a decent gun for under £100, the additional costs will put it higher. You're probably going to want at least one other magazine, a smart charger, and a decent battery that, along with the one you get with the gun, will allow you to keep using your gun the whole day. The other option would be to look at the second hand listings, you might find something with a few spare magazines for under £100, and the seller might be willing to two tone if you throw in a bit more cash to cover the paint.

Gunman Tuddenham is a excellent site with a wide variety of combat scenarios (and I hear they've been working to make it even better since I was last there). Very large, and the urban action in the village is great fun. It's a nice blend of CQB and long range stuff, so there's a role for everyone. I had some bad experiences when I went, being new to airsoft (hire guns were expensive and not a good quality, plus I had a tac-vest stolen and the marshals weren't particularly willing to help), but it's definitely somewhere I'd consider going back to now I have my own kit and know what I'm doing.

I much agree with what the others had said, generally it's easy to start talking to people by striking up conversations about guns, equipment, etc. You shouldn't be standing around on your own for two long, as it's not like paintball where each team has mini-teams of people who came together, and there's no communication between. Airsoft players generally play at a site regularly, whereas players at a paintball site will often only do it on odd occasions (like stag parties), so will have little interest in meeting new people while they're there. That said I found it a little tricky at first, and not everyone is good at approaching groups of strangers. I found it got easier once I stopped wearing full-face protection, which sounds strange. When I first started I wore a balaclava and SWAT style helmet. Eventually I moved on to just eye-protection and a baseball cap, and I found that more people were approaching me in the safe zone because they recognized me from the field, and it's easy to get involved with what other groups are doing when you're actually in the game. Not that I'm recommending wearing only eye-protection if you're not comfortable with it, of course, but I felt it was worth a mention.

Normally my response would be 'yeah, sure', before immediately leaning it against the nearest solid object and carrying on with what I was doing. In a jokey way, of course. Unless it was a particularly interesting gun. Then I'd ask to have a few shots with it while I was holding it. Had a guy with a M249 do that when I first started. Many of his BBs were spent. I regret nothing.

I think this is indeed the problem. I had crudely carved the edge of the feed-hole on a few of them and managed to get the catch to slip back when inserted (although, with some force), but your solution looks to be much more suitable, so I'll go ahead and do that. Thanks muchly for your help

Hi all, I've just purchased a box of 5 King Arms MP40 mags, which are supposed to be compatible with both the ASG MP40 and Sten AEGs. Unfortunately, they don't fit into the mag well of my ASG Sten, and stick out by a few millimeters. Online I can see that a few people have had this problem, and say it can be fixed with a 'small modification' on the magazines, but I can't seem to find anywhere that tells me what this modification might be. Does anyone have experience with these mags, or know which bits I need to alter to get them to fit? Thanks muchly for any assistance