Old School Airsofters.

[Jacket]

I started around ‘98’. Back then we were all running Marui AEGs and the standard practice was to upgrade to 328 FPS. The Marui ARs were the dogs danglies, but were about £400 - £500 and had polymer bodies (with wobbly front ends).

We were all still running ni-cad batteries so fixed stocks were quite common as it meant you could get a battery to last until lunch time. Nunchuck or stick batteries were only good for a few hours.

I remember when ICS and Classic Army first came out with affordable metal bodied MP5s which were a real game changer and the excitement when the first 2000mah Ni-cads came out which meant a battery would Reliably last all day (If you had a big stock to put it in).

600mAh for a ‘mini’ or ‘stick’ battery, 1300-1700mAH for a ‘large’ one. 
 

I remember coming home on leave in 2001 and blowing £450 on a Classic Army MP5 from Wolf Armouries.

Anyone here play at Airsoft Adventures at Greenham Common. Still my favourite Airsoft site to date. 
 

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[Impulse]

I started back in 2006 and I very much prefer it when it's simpler. Yes, I'm branching out into converting my own guns to HPA (done a boltie, DMR is next), but I don't understand today's obsessions with fps and rps. My m14 DMR fires at 1.4J and my spring VSR is at 2.1J that's fine by me! It's a limit, not a goal.

And you said you wanted some old pictures. I'm fortunate enough to have a bunch of my old photos from back in 2008 or so.

Safe zones used to be a lot more simple. Literally just an area of the field marked with tape at this event in Spain. Back then there was very little organised airsoft where I lived. It was mostly just us as a community agreeing "yeah, we'll go airsoft in this place" as there were loads of abandoned / out of the way places to do it. Though this pic is from an event that was at least somewhat organised. I think it was a two day thing in the mountains near a small hotel that we stayed in over night.

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Yes, that's a stock cyma m14 and a stock Warrior L96. I was also firing .25s and it was just fine (where today people would say "WHY NOT HEAVY AMMO?")

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And a bit of fun at an Easter game

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[rj1986]

Classic Army was an up and coming brand because they had metal bodies (totally new at the time).

There was a bout 5 big forums, who all hated each other.

DPM was al the rage, apart from the guys who ran everything black.

Mk5's were about 50p each.
 

And i had to get a train and a bus to a my site as i didnt have a car, or a license.

 

[AlphaBear]

OMG, I still have a Classic Army MP5 upper which I planned to swap out with the Marui's upper as that was plastic or polymer. I may even get out the TM RAS and give it a spin and see if it still works after all this time... 

Oh yes DPM in those days, Solider 95 and of course as @rj1986 said those who ran all in Black... and they were so easy to spot in woodland!. 

 

[Adolf Hamster]

where today people would say "WHY NOT HEAVY AMMO?"

i really should stop extolling the virtues of heavy ammo to people, dont want the playing field too level.....

 

[Bada Bing]

Still having nightmares about Airsoft Dynamics. ?

Firefight Woodland site (in Reading iirc) was wonderful. Apart from the ascent up the hill in the morning. Good times. 

 

[Skara]

i really should stop extolling the virtues of heavy ammo to people, dont want the playing field too level.....

My mates think I'm stupid for running .28s up to .4s, but then I pull a MC Hammer and this starts playing in my mind 

 

[Adolf Hamster]

My mates think I'm stupid for running .28s up to .4s, but then I pull a MC Hammer and this starts playing in my mind 

i've lost count of the amount of instances of someone getting salty because they assume that because i'm able to hit them that they should be able to hit me when the reality is they're dropping 10m short

 

[Keithlag]

Airsoft originated from Japan in the early 1970s, where Ichiro Nagata thought about making model guns, or guns that do not shoot and are made for modeling purposes, shoot real projectiles that could not kill. These “guns” were trademarked as "soft air gun", tailoring to the needs of shooting enthusiasts while conforming to Japan's strict gun control

thanks did you get that off wikipedia ?

 

[DerDer]

Still having nightmares about Airsoft Dynamics. ?

Now that really takes me back. Was very much a learning experience that a flashy website is not indicative of quality. 

 

[Cyberlawyer]

600mAh for a ‘mini’ or ‘stick’ battery, 1300-1700mAH for a ‘large’ one.

Other capacities were available although these were probably the most common. When I first started big batteries went as low as 1100mah. I think they got as far as 2500 before NiMH took over.

We used to make our own nunchuck batteries by splitting the mini battery packs and re-soldering and shrink wrapping them. (A trick we borrowed from racing RC cars). That way they would (just with a bit of shaving things) fit the battery in an M4 handguard either side of the barrel so we could still run a Standard M4 stock without a fake PEQ box. Watching someone trying to change them was comedy gold though.

 

[Archer]

Now that really takes me back. Was very much a learning experience that a flashy website is not indicative of quality. 

Aint that the truth ?

 

[rj1986]

Airsoft originated from Japan in the early 1970s, where Ichiro Nagata thought about making model guns, or guns that do not shoot and are made for modeling purposes, shoot real projectiles that could not kill. These “guns” were trademarked as "soft air gun", tailoring to the needs of shooting enthusiasts while conforming to Japan's strict gun control

I think the original Softair guns were 7mm as well

 

[Speedbird_666]

Late '90s/early '00s - staring at the DenTrinity website - they had built a P90 (which was uber cool in popular culture at the time) using TM internals in a model gun way before TM bought theirs to market.

I was hooked from there on in.

 

[John_W]

Noobs

Circa 1983/84 when the guns fired shaped plastic pellets similar to airgun pellets

And you had to build them yourself from a kit. I had an XM177 and a Sten Gun...

Now that really takes me back. Was very much a learning experience that a flashy website is not indicative of quality. 

I was a moderator on one of the forums when that kicked off. Got called a Nazi Bumboy because we weren't letting the conspiracy theorists spout crap and kept deleting their posts.

That was around the same time as Dee Dee kicked off the One Joule furore.

 

[Airsoft J2]

I started out in 2007 or so, playing at sites like Airsoft Scotland and Phoenix in Sheffield, as well as the massive milsim games run as Town Assault at Copehill and Caerwent.

I had a classic army G3, a CA M4A1, a TM MP5 and an Army L85A1 which was the first of the Chinese guns to really hit the UK market.

It was certainly a less kit-heavy time. Lots more issue kit - DPM all the way - and virtually no lasers or fancy optics because knock-offs hadn't really arrived.

 

[rj1986]

I started out in 2007 or so, playing at sites like Airsoft Scotland and Phoenix in Sheffield, as well as the massive milsim games run as Town Assault at Copehill and Caerwent.

I had a classic army G3, a CA M4A1, a TM MP5 and an Army L85A1 which was the first of the Chinese guns to really hit the UK market.

It was certainly a less kit-heavy time. Lots more issue kit - DPM all the way - and virtually no lasers or fancy optics because knock-offs hadn't really arrived.

I remember when the first clones came out - AGM being one that sticks out as one of the better one.

When i first started getting into it, i went to Hong Kong (i wouldve been about 12-13 or something) and we drove down Kwong Wah street in a taxi - stopping in traffic outside Guns N Guys and DenTrinity. Eyes lit up like a christmas tree.

 

[FUBAR]

       I started airsoft about 20 years ago, I used to muck about with some friends with springer pistols and SMG in some waste ground near where we lived. All fun and games till armed response tipped up one day, they were really cool about it (wouldn't be today) the cops were muckin about plinkin at each other with "guns" The police gave us a stern talking to, and sent us on our way, thats when we started looking for a site to play on, we finally found Pheonix, went a few times, then changed to Free Fire Zone because it was closer. 

      after a while we formed a team of like minded Milsim types, and played for a few years at a couple of big games around the country (Copehill down, SWAT over in Wales) loved it, we finally drifted apart, I hadn't played for about 12 years, till I got dragged back into by my best mate (used to be on the team with us) happy times.

Photos courtesy of our old team captain.

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[cerealkiller346]

When the mall in reading run by first and only airsoft was a thing.

running around with western arms infinity’s and a claymore strapped to your chest 

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[AngryDad223]

I've been softing for 17 years now, ever since i was 16. Wow time fly's. I have so many epic stories, moments and memories from over this time. Met some great people, some not so and had some insane moments. 

In reality, bar the sheer amount of gear you can get now, affordably not much has changed from what i can remember. 

Battery tech is the most obvious change and very welcome, gone are the days of trying to cram a days softing in with the great big batteries of yesteryear. 

I've owned pretty much every type of gun, (AEG, GBB) from the OG brands These where only Marui & CA really when i started, well that is all i ever bought from Fire support. Up until maybe a year or so ago i had my CA M16A4 that was my second ever purchase, it would be 17 years old now and it still worked fantastically, only having 1 rebuild ever before we parted ways, it had been my main weapon for at least 6-8 years. Fire support at the time where easily the go to shop, though i frequently placed HUGE orders from Japan.

I have introduced so many people into the scene over the years, i started taking my brother in law when he was 12, hes now mid 20's and we still go a couple times a month.