Search the Community

Hi all, posting this on behalf of my brother. He recently bought a G&P M4 (second hand), running on a 7.4v LiPo via a rear deans connecter, and is having trouble with intermittent firing. It fires for varying lengths of time before there is no response, sometimes getting through a several hundred rounds, sometimes only a handful before there is no trigger response. Moving the crane stock/disconnecting and reconnecting can sometimes sort the problem momentarily, but is only a very temporary fix. When it fails, there is absolutely nothing from the trigger; no clicking, no buzzing, no grinding or anything of the sort, but can restart without any warning either...simply one moment it will work fine, then the next it wont. Anyone have any ideas what the problem might be or any advice on how to fix it? Please bear in mind we are both pretty new to airsoft and have never opened a gun up before. Anyone with advice which leads to a fix will be greatly rewarded in the next life. Thanks

I am really missing that site now. I am intending to travel all the way out to Epsom this wednesday to get my hit but its going to take nearly 2 hours to make the journey out there and again coming back for a 3 hour game. Doubly worse is that there is literally one train at 23:19 that if I miss I am screwed. The close by hotel is completely full, and past that time I can't get all the way home without using cabs, and the whole journey I am told would be an eye watering £150. With Bunker 51 being shut for easter and a 4 week gap its really slim pickings for anything less than 2 hours away. I would do the Sandpit but no two tones allowed, so wont be doing that for a few months. The woodland site these guys do is pretty hard to get to unfortunately, so all in all I really hope the nightclub and TWA find some nice urban sites to use that aren't insane to get to.

COUNTER TERRORIST, BATTLEFIELD, PERSONAL SECURITY DETAIL & AIRSOFT SNIPER TRAINING Stirling Tactical Solutions will cover selected aspects of CT BATTLEFIELD SNIPER and PSD on your chosen course for the day. The training days are designed to be progressive. Training during the morning deals with the theory and practice before going into 'live' style scenarios after lunch to develop your skills while under fire...... Each training session will only be able to cover a limited amount of the syllabus. Returning trainees will move onto further stages as their experience and participation progresses. Please look at the four courses below and choose which course suits your needs![/size] (link) Righto, so looking at this I see "TRAIN HARD - FIGHT EASY" and think "Absolute Cock"... you know? Not that there's anything wrong with the concept, it's just that I imagine it goes down well with the kind of person who turns up to an airsoft skirmish with a MOLON LABE patch on their chest. But I wouldn't have got that far if I wasn't interested and I am, in the sniper syllabus to be precise. So the topic, friends, is this: are they any good?

Yeah, I replace empties in mag pouches during the walk of shame/luls; sometimes reload them from a speedloader too, especially if i'm out of breath and need to take a moment. But in the meantime, a drop leg dump pouch is secure, no matter what, whereas an open top pouch isn't - only gravity keeps anything in it. I rarely end up with more than a couple of mags in mine, but having the capacity is still useful. Maybe it's just me, but I get really angry with myself for losing things - I manage to break enough stuff while skirmishing without having to pay for stuff from which I haven't even had the full use. Having a massive pocket is a lot more handy than ordinary cargo pockets too. On the way out of the safe zone I stuff my loaded rifle and pistol mags in there with my gloves and, depending on what else i'm wearing on my head, sometimes my 1/2 face mask - which allows me to get my arse in gear while still smoking and/or not yet stuck a mint humbug in my gob (my preferred anti-dry mouth precaution). In game I have used them for mission relevant items and recently also for the innards of used Thunder B grenades. Yeah, I could have used pants pockets, but when I'm wearing gloves I find it sufficiently difficult to feel what I'm doing that it slows me down / requires me to look at what I'm doing.

So I decided to go down the MTG route, for a few reasons; first and foremost because the local gaming club has a much bigger MTG following than any other cardgame. I've also been playing a lot of hearthstone recently and the gameplay seems quite similar. Now I've decided to go down the route Frizzle suggested though for actually getting myself established. I've picked up an M14 Core Intro Pack (the green one because it seems to match my overall play-style with anything strategic - something along the lines of smash, then, if that doesn't work, smash more), I'm still waiting on this to arrive but I'm expecting good things! And a D20 life counter thing (called a 'spindown' but I'm not sure why) I've also picked up the M14 Deckbuilders Toolkit, which HAS arrived, and I am painfully impressed. Presentation is lovely, cards are excellent quality and for less than £15, I've got 285 cards, which are split fairly evenly between the colours/types of card etc. The plan is to use the 60 card intro deck to learn, as it is, with no cards changed. As I get more confident, I'll swap out the cards I like least from the deck with my favorite equivalents from the toolkit/any boosters I pick up, with a view, eventually to completely building my own deck. I'm going to actually pop into the local store tomorrow to check things out and will hopefully pop along for my first game next week... Now just to explain to the misses that I have another new, expensive, geeky hobby...

do you foresee yourself needing to remove the mock-doesn't-actually-do-anything silencer in a hurry? £60 is a lot to spend on the ability to clip it on and off!

proairsoft Wolf Armouries military1st helmetworld unionjackairsoft airsoftrange - Had problems taking my credit card and I had to actually go to the shop. But at the same time the support they gave me with chrono of my initial gun, the advice on getting it fixed and other kit advice was amazing. Savage Island (Amazon) uk-airsoft ukmcpro - listed stock they didn't have, but were good about refunds and postage costs So all in all not had any overly bad experiences, mostly its gone well to extremely well. Everything has worked out of the box (except the gun shooting higher than spec by 12 fps) and anything that went wrong is balanced off with good things as well. In my eyes its not whether the initial order goes wrong it is how it gets handled after that. I give every company 3 strikes before I stop dealing with them for good and none of these companies have got close to that yet.

Ahh I see. I didnt know if the tuning options on zero one were upgrades or downgrades. Cheers for the replys guys Anything else anyone can tell me about this gun?

Flecktarn ProAirsoftSupplies Flecktarn have been brilliant every time I have used them, possibly the best customer service I've experienced yet. ProAirsoftSupplies are the same, as well as offering a MASSIVE G&G range and providing technical info on every weapon that leaves their doors- mine came with a sticker on the box stating it had an average FPS of 324, and I got the same figure from chrono testing at my local site. Firestorm Kit Actionhobbies FK took 3 weeks to send out my order despite me living 30 miles away from the company's registered address. Took incredibly long to reply to my emails as well and every phone call went to answer phone. I like Actionhobbies a little more because it was more of a misunderstanding I had with them than anything else; back when I had my MP5 I ordered an ACM hi cap mag from AH. In the product description it clearly stated that the mags were compatible with Cyma MP5s, and a google search brought nothing up about compatibility. When I received the mag it didn't even stay in the weapon when fitted despite appearing to be the same dimensions as the mag that came with the gun. I got a quick return and refund anyway, so my experience wasn't that bad.

That's the thing though isn't it, overheads! Staff/utilities/rent/insurance/tax etc over here are all MASSIVELY more than they are in Asia, not saying that all UK pricing is 'fair' but I can't imagine a situation where the prices here and the prices in Asia will match up to any extent. That said, for smaller stuff I'm willing to pay the premium to buy it from a UK seller, the convenience alone is worth it, Fire-Support are my go-to retailer for anything less than £100. I just wish that UK stores would stock more of the obscure stuff, especially parts.

Because some people are apparently colour blind, and hence ATACS FG is for the tan team at the next AI (daf**) I have just ordered myself a Propper Tac U Combat Shirt and Trousers in ATACS LE. Had to order it from the US because none of the alternative sellers seem to stock anything in long measurements >.> Edit: Oh and a TPC Tactical Ninja Mask in LE as well

VFC M&P Full Size Gas Blowback Pistol Video review covers a lot, obviously there's things you can't really put across in stills. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq4gHYZ7unY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq4gHYZ7unY In the Box The M&P9 with the Medium backstrap fitted 1 x Magazine Spacer to allow dry firing of the magazine without the slide locking Small backstrap Large backstrap Serial number plate to cover up 'Made in Taiwan' Plastic inserts for the front sight and both dots of the rear sight Packaging itself is pretty plain, not exactly TM standards but there was plenty of plastic and bubble wrap inside to keep everything secure and free from any moisture ingress. Externals The plastic of the frame has a fair amount of seam line going on and the trigger is particularly bad for seams and some flash, but it's not something you actually feel in the hand (much to my relief). Overall I generally feel like the shape of the M&P is what a Glock should be and isn't miles from the the way many Glocks end up once they've had a professional re-profile. No stupid finger bumps that imply everyone in the world has the exact same sized hands. The plastic itself is certainly decent enough, there's a bit of a sheen but nothing offensive and nothing creaks, flexes or wobbles. The take-down lever on mine seems to either have had something go a bit wrong in the machining of the serrations or there's something left in there from the factory, but I've seen pictures of the RS with a similar effect. The slide lock/release and the arrow around the pin hole that would mount the manual safety on the RS guns that feature said safety are accurate. Although technically there should be a spring pin in the rearmost space that's purely an aesthetic issue where the VFC gun doesn't have a hole all the way through like the S&W does. The 20mm rail is obviously an expected feature on a modern pistol of this type and from my quick tests it appears to be fine in terms of dimensions, which elevates this gun significantly in terms of practicality for CQB skirmishing in my eyes. The fit between the slide and frame is a tiny bit loose but there's certainly much worse out there in airsoft. The visible gap is pretty much comparable to the RS. It definitely wants some breaking in from the factory, particularly when it comes to the field strip. I had some real troubles getting everything to line up just-so the first few times I took the slide off and attempted reassembly but after a few repetitions it started to improve. The slide appears to be of a good quality metal and the machining inside and out looks pretty precise. The cocking serrations are particularly grippy compared to most handguns, although with the weak recoil spring that comes in this gun you won't need to worry about that too much. I'm not sure if the extractor itself is actually a separate piece but it certainly looks that way and it is a different colour to the rest of the slide so that's a nice aesthetic. Finish on the slide is pretty good from my initial look, certainly better than my KJW 1911 and a lot of other metal pistols I've seen that are only cheaply painted. As with any metal-slided GBB you'll obviously get paint wearing away in high friction areas inside such as the grooves for the rails and where the outer barrel cams downwards, so keep those spots clean and lightly oiled. As you'll note from the pictures my outer barrel had already seen a lot of cycles before the gun even got to me, which is slightly annoying, but the paint wear is consistent with that seen on the RS. You can always get the thing cerakoted if you want the top of the chamber to stay black for longer. Personally I'm not a mega stickler for trades in terms of them being rolled/stamped/engraved in the exact same way that the real firearm features/when it comes to the nuances of the font etc. However VFC's partnership with Cybergun has allowed them to include a full set of realistic trademarks on this M&P replica and still openly sell it internationally, unlike the traded Stark G series. I think they're nicely done on both the slide and frame and certainly seem quite close to the real gun, but the main thing is that there aren't any screaming, nasty, airsoft specific, whited-in trades on this pistol. The one way they deviate from the Smith & Wesson gun is the 'Made in Taiwan' on the right side of the frame, which is nicely covered up by the included serial number plate (which you'll want to secure with a dab of glue). Here's some macro shots of each trademark. Internals One great thing about this design is that you can break it down to what you see below in about 7 seconds with no tools of any sort. It's similarly quick and simple to re-assemble (once you've worn it in a bit) which makes adjusting the hop much less of a chore than some designs and it's obviously very handy for general cleaning and maintenance. Even compared to the Glock design I find it a lot better, both in terms of the field strip and switching the backstraps (which do make a significant difference depending on which you fit so this gun will cater to a wide range of hand sizes). The bits inside the frame and slide aren't exactly beautiful but then they obviously don't need to be, they certainly appear sturdy enough, and again, very comparable to a Stark G17. The recoil spring (which is captive on the guide rod) is very weak as I mentioned, so if you're at all ginger/tentative with cocking the gun or pressing the slide release you can end up with a failure to battery, especially when the gun's not yet worn in and before you clean out what little grease is put in by the factory and add some silicone oil yourself. But I didn't have any issues with returning to battery during firing or when cocking the gun properly at speed/with some force. The hop unit is a Marui type although this is one area I did come across an issue, mine does not apply even pressure to the bucking. The metal arm that is moved up and down by the adjustment wheel doesn't sit dead straight/flat and tends to be pulled slightly further down on the side of the wheel, creating more of an impression on that side when you look down the barrel. I stripped the unit down and reassembled to check it wasn't the screws being loose but it appears not, the arm itself may need some modifying to prevent shots hooking left at longer ranges. The inner barrel was very mucky from the factory so definitely give that a clean. Although the groove in the end of it near the muzzle with the fitted o-ring is very good to see and stops the inner barrel rattling around inside the outer during firing, something a lot of cheaper pistols can suffer with due to omitting this simple feature. The full-auto mode can be easily accessed with the gun assembled by locking the slide back and looking under the rear sight. Not sure why VFC included this (apart from just copying the mechanism from the M&P9c) and I've not tried it at all myself, would've preferred it not be included. But fingers crossed it doesn't cause the gun to last any less time than it would being semi only, in which case it'll just be a nice little feature for people to play about with on occasion. Features and Function The movement of the slide on the frame probably won't win an awards for smoothness and the sort of robust feel that inspires the confidence a high quality RS pistol does, but for a metal slided gun in this price range it's certainly comparable with the competition. I'm probably judging it somewhat harshly for various reasons, but overall it's perfectly fine and doesn't have any problems cycling. The trigger to my mind isn't particularly impressive, but I think a lot of this comes down to the two-part design of the M&P family trigger, which to me always just looks like a sideways version of the Glock trigger safety. I've been spoilt by some very expensive, highly modified RS M&Ps but I think the plastic VFC have used is just a tad too flexible when it comes to small/thin parts like the trigger. End of the day the average airsofter won't notice this so as a skirmishing gun it's not much of a negative, just a point for the shooters. It hits a fairly predictable wall before the break which certainly isn't the most sharp and crisp in the world and is overall a tad sponge'y, but I haven't noticed any grit to it. The reset is annoying to me personally in that it is neither audible nor tactile most of the time (for some reason it occasionally does click), but again most airsofters (certainly in the UK and most of Europe) won't be bothered by this in the slightest and from what I've been told this is accurate to the RS trigger when the gun's in stock form. The slide lock was almost a bit disconcerting at first, because rather than the piece you physically interact with locking the slide there's a protrusion that goes further in which catches on the notch in the slide. As I noted in the video it doesn't take much of a knock to dislodge the lever and send the slide home, but I'd imagine the worst case scenario of this is that you might occasionally have to power stroke on a reload. Although it does mean as a side effect you can reload that fraction of a second faster every time because slapping in the mag will send the slide forward consistently in my experience thus far. The magazine catch is an area that maybe needs breaking in as I found my pistol somewhat inconsistent in releasing magazines compared to others I've owned and used. The protrusion on the frame feels like a real obstruction, as if you have to reach over it with your thumb to actuate the button. It's not a flaw specific to the VFC and it's not insurmountable, but getting a good press on the button will take some getting used to vs a 1911/P226/G17. The mag catch can be swapped around for any left handed users who prefer that. Which combined with the dual-sided slide lock and symmetrical frame makes this pistol essentially full ambidextrous. The blowback is what you'd expect, perhaps a tiny bit on the sluggish side due to the slide/frame interface not being the smoothest and the weak recoil spring. Overall though we're talking very small fractions of seconds between this and the various other comparable GBB pistols on the market. Firing and feeding was consistent although I'm unable to provide any sort of range or ranged accuracy report at this time due to the constraints of the job. The pistol did fine with hitting a 12" square paper target (typical mesh BB catcher box) at roughly 5-6m, but I've no idea as yet how that wonky hop unit will affect things at further distances. In Conclusion I don't particularly like to use the phrase "for the price" because that just always seems to imply a lesser quality somehow, but in its' truest sense I feel it's very relevant to this pistol. Given the spotty reputation of the WE with regards consistent, reliable function (along with said pistol's lack of accurate trades) and the fact the Marui M&P quite likely won't handle propane too well when it eventually arrives (whenever that is); I strongly believe the VFC is a strong entry to the market. I think it will suit a lot of people who wish to own an airsoft version of one of these guns, be it for skirmishing (perhaps more suited for CQB), collecting/plinking or as a cost effective training tool. It looks good inside and out with a complete set of fully correct trademarks with no airsoft 'extras' or alternations, the magazines hold gas reliably and feed perfectly fine. The M&P design is highly ergonomic and one of the most modern designs of pistol that exists in airsoft form. I've no doubt that a good selection of high-end slides, barrels, triggers and other parts will be forthcoming for this platform for those that want the ATEi/Salient/Costa custom type look and if the Stark Glocks are anything to go by the supply of stock parts to keep these guns running in the event of breakages should be plentiful. It's a shame the mags aren't compatible with WE and you know TM won't copy anyone else so unfortunately we are going to end up with 3 types of mags, but I think if you want a really good looking M&P that's also decent for skirmishing and can handle the same gas as your GBB rifles this platform is a very sound bet overall.

Good lard, i'm getting bored of people telling this lad he's too young... Clearly his parents give him plenty of latitude and that is their prerogative. Oh if only mine had felt similarly... I would have been able to stay on good terms with them, instead of taking the latitude I required, falling out with them, and in my youthful folly throwing the baby out with the bathwater, rejecting anything they had to say. The laws in France regarding fire crackers are much more lax. I remember a dual French-British citizen mate of mine during my young teens used to bring back handfuls of them and tiny rockets also - they only contain about 1g of powder or something equally poxy, but they are a laugh. Obviously, since he is a minor, his parents actually own the the fire crackers, in a legal sense, just as they own his clothes, etc. Whether he will be able to use them at an airsoft site is another story. Prima facie it would appear not, however adult supervision may be sufficient. Teo, you may find that adults whom you know will give you the benefit of the doubt if you are obviously sensible and able to be trusted not to wig out and stuff lit bangers in someone's molle (just as a tempting eg), but if that turns out to be the case, you would do well to take note of how people have reacted to hearing about you just having them and let what happens in Lisburn stay in Lisburn...

Was hearing from a long term veteran and airsoft shop owner that he was there a few months ago and had some major issues with regulars there not calling their hits and just camping out in dark corners. Even when these guys set it up so the Marshall could see these guys weren't calling their hits they weren't willing to do anything about it as they were their regulars. Admittedly its second hand knowledge, I haven't yet made the 2 hour trek out there, but at the same time this is a guy who has a team that has been playing for a long time all over the world. His advice to me was enjoy the site but the current crop of regulars are an issue.

I played there a couple of weeks ago as well. I personally wasn't that impressed with the site. The floor is absolutely covered in brown paintball paint and glycol mixed with split BB's. You don't notice when you take a knee (your camo is waterproof enough) but once you walk out into the safe zone it looks really horrible. I took a prone position at one point knowing full and well what would happen and man it was really nasty. Place smells of the paint rotting away. The site itself is also quite small for CQB. Its basically a T shape area where they start one group at the top of the T and the other at the bottom. Naturally what happens is that the corners of the top of the T end up being a fight around the corners and while there is plenty of cover at that top of the T there isn't enough to push up. With zero flanking options and a single fatal funnel it ends up being a really stifled and limited game. Its low on effort which is great for the unfit (like me) but its not really a good fight. Its really quite dark so its kind of hard to fight in there without a strong tactical light and most of the combat is <20m. My AEG was over the FPS limit so I ended up renting a gun from them, which was really bad. All the renters get an AK47 or AK74 and they were in pretty bad shape. The first one I had wouldn't feed at all and was held together with multiple pieces of black gaffer tape. The second gun I had gaffer tape on the stock holding the battery in, the pieces of the gun were kind of rattling and moving about and while it fired it didn't do so consistently. It did at least let me play the game but I am making sure I don't ever have to rent from them again, they are 3x the price of most places for rental and the kit is worse than usual. Its also worth mentioning I ended up with some serious welts through my camo clothing, in the back. Some people there have clearly got quick change guns and are ramping up the power after they have passed chrono, worse than that they are shooting people with their hands up as they walk away after calling hit. The marshals need to find those dangerous a*** h**** and ban them for life because I don't need to be finding I am bleeding after getting shot 12 times while walking away from getting hit with hot guns. The preparation area really isn't big enough. Quite a few people get there up to an hour early so they can kit up and get their stuff out of the way because there were like 10 chairs and 50 odd people at the game. I don't rate the site at all, despite it being the closest one I intend to branch out to others as its kind of bad as a site and the wolfarmouries that run it aren't bringing reasonable rental kit for the price for the purpose of working towards UKARA, they are really trying to force you to buy a gun from them and have them bring it to the site each time until they clear you for UKARA. Unlike some of the London clubs they don't charge you £20+ for membership to get your UKARA form stamped, but at the same time the site just isn't all that great. I met some really nice people who I had a lot of fun with, but they have some problem characters as well who don't call their hits and using hot guns. I could never find a marshal near the action to actually do anything about it. Not a good site IMO.

Oooooooh, let's re-kindle the cunt rage. My plan would be; 1)Acquire supplies. Travel into one of the villages where there will be a less dense population of zombies. Look through farmer's houses for weapons. 2) Travel to a supermarket. Risky move but it might pay off. Get some tinned food and stuff myself with free chocolate. 3A) Once I am nice and full with the free food, end it all. Probably going to live out a lonely existence anyway and it means one less zombie. America will probably nuke us anyway to stop the spread of infection. 3B) Risk acquiring some advanced weaponry. Police stations here hold all sorts of weapons, I have seen H&K G36, H&K MP5 and H&K 33. There is also TA centre nearby that holds MP5's at least. Not sure if they hold L85 or anything heavier. 4) Move to a large estate a few miles out of town. There are a few major ones where I live. In the long term, food is going to be a problem. It has a river that contains game and course fish, and a large resident deer population. There are also boats and can be used to access Islands, which can be used to evacuate to incase of emergency, and to hold supplies. Assuming there are other factions, rivals or not, both the food and defensible space, as well as seclusion, would all benefit in your survival. My master plan has been shared with great contempt. Now that other people may share in my plan in the case of a real outbreak, I might have done myself out of a survival niche. Still, feel free to sticky.

I've carried an AEG (AKS-74U w/ stock folded) on a 1pt bungee sling (over left shoulder so it hung forward of under right shoulder, not quite on front of chest) as a sniper secondary - what a massive pain in the hole! Yeah, heavier than what you're talking about, but it wasn't the weight that was the issue, it was the way it found a way to get in the way of pretty much anything. If you're not holding it, a gun needs either a 2 / 3 point sling or a holster of some sort, even if that is just a loop that the muzzle goes through and the weight is on a bungee sling. You should talk to geoffreym about making an M4 into a sidearm though.

Anything remote model or controlled/powered is HUGE hobby wise. I work for a high end home security company and see some very nice homes. I've seen some older chaps use dedicated rooms as big as my lounge to house they're train sets and throw £40k at it doing so. And to think we thought WE squandered money on our hobbies lol I've been involved in several hobbies over the years (inc cars, motorbikes, bodybuilding, comics, film, trainers) and although I haven't been involved in airsoft that long I can see it has massive potential to GROW but a lot of things need to change first. Yes as the scene grows it will attract more dkheads but there will be plenty of positives to

Folding stocks were not designed for CQC, they're for easier storage and vehicle crews. Using a rifle without a stock just feels wrong. I lost the screws for my MP5K PDW stock If you're using it as a secondary then fair enough I guess, but I would personally rather just put a stubby stock on. Overall length is short enough but you've got the option to use it when you need to at least. I also need to buy a riser and an optic. I was thinking it would be fine in close quarters to not use sights but it really helps if you do, it's just using full face you can't comfortably bring your weapon up on to target. It's not natural or quick at all because you have to really extend your rifle out to use the irons and it's very sh*t. I should buy one of the large half face masks that cover your ears so I can use my ESS ICE glasses instead, and I am ordering a cheap £10 MICH 2000 replica from TaiwanGun. £45 for a NEXTORCH T6L R5 Hunting Set is pretty tempting too, as a tac light would be great down at Halo Mill, but I can't afford anything yet.

More morale stuff than anything with this lot, but I am a patch whore so that's all gravy. Also 2 x Gen 2 IDA Combat shirts from UR-Tac in AOR2 and ATACS-AU, but no pictures of those.

Gunfire are in Poland. No tax or duty, free delivery on over about £48 £12 on anything under. No problem importing from them, get them to put your UCARA number on the box. I got a WE Glock from them no problem.

I wouldn't put anything less than a m90 in it. You really shouldn't need to.

Don't forget Gunfire and Taiwan do free P&P over a certain ammount. If you want a gun you are already in the free zone. Anything else just order when you want enough to go over the limit or suck it up, It was £12 last time I ordered

You're right, Nuts, there is no UK distributor importing a £1M+ worth of stock, but there are retailers acting as sole distributors for certain brands, but on a much smaller scale; for eg Fire Support are ICS for England & Wales and Land Warrior are ICS for Scotland - now in one way this makes no sense at all, in that surely tf national boundaries have less impact than the texture of shite on our boots on the already relatively small market for the whole of airsoft, let alone ICS products in particular, but FS have occasionally really taken the piss over prices (even of stuff that wasn't in stock lol) and I suspect that without LW as competition, Frank would get in there and dip his bread at every opportunity. I swear to you, I imported a set of ICS fast & quiet helical gears MC-108 from the USA, paying the VAT and courier fee, and it was still cheaper than Frank quoted me over the phone and a week faster too... And then there's Zero One and the infamous "we'll have 'em soon, honest" CYMA CM.048 and CM.048M... how can it be over £40 cheaper to get one imported from Poland when you add in postage (free from Poland ffs)? These are not niche items. If you don't want an M4, or you do want an opfor gun, they are the best available as an alternative to wombat machines. But with Airsoft World and Action Hobbies muscling in, somehow none of 'em are managing to keep CYMA/Cybergun in stock reliably. But there are distributors, like a good bloke who is into airsoft for the love of it as well as making a few quid who supplies ammo and pyros to a fair few sites, probably most in the East Mids/South Yorks, as well as some guns and spares... but he is pretty limited in what he gets and it's for the reasons already outlined: he just hasn't got the capital to keep stock on the shelves which may not sell before he needs to scrape his cash and pre-orders together for the next import. Also there isn't enough money in it for him to do nothing else to make a living. Another company, made up of people who came into it from love of the sport/hobby and have translated that now into literally the best customer service ethic I've ever come across bar none, genuinely do do their best to get anything people ask for and if you talk to them in person will attempt to beat any price you can show them is legit, but... they don't have the spending power of even the small time 'distributors' or the larger retailer-cum-distributors. So we are currently stuck between people who would love to have piles of whatever we want and sheds full of old/rare stuff that they themselves would dip into frequently, but just don't have the money to do that, and people who may well have had a love of the sport/hobby but in trying to make a living now come over as if they would simply love to have sheds full of our money. In my estimation our only way forward is to grow the market... paintball has made several multi-millionaires - airsoft is slowly but surely taking over the 'combat shooting game' market so it has the potential to become huge, but it also has the potential to get very expensive, if a few larger companies manage to raise the kind of capital which would deliver the stock levels we would prefer but the market does not grow as rapidly as forecast...

I was reading about this recently actually and I think the HK416 is considered to be an M4. I haven't owned one myself so I can't tell you how similar they are internally, although the 416 does look really good (much cooler than standard M4A1) If you have the money, there is the TM Recoil Shock 416D. Tokyo Marui are widely accepted as the best airsoft gun manufacturer for both rifles and pistols. Their performance is second to none, and build quality is pretty good I think. However, this is reflected in the high price! Personally I am going to get a KWA RM4 ERG one day which is the competitor to Marui's Recoil Shock series, but around £200 or so cheaper. Again, to be honest I can't comment on magazines either. I do know that the 417 uses proprietary mags, but not sure about the 416. I'm sure you'll get some other replies soon enough that will be able to help you out a lot more. Finally, I saw Elite Force are going to release a HK416 but I don't know when it will be available or anything. Whichever gun you choose to get, I would say make sure it has plenty of good reviews and is popular. I made bad decisions with my first two guns and then found out neither are actually that good and I would have much rather bought something else. Anyway, welcome to the forums and enjoy the skirmish! By the way, the G&G Combat Machine M4s are THE BEST guns for a beginner. Literally everyone recommends them. Although it has a polymer receiver the external quality is excellent, as are the internals. It's affordable too (from £117)