Second month problems...

[Ashilta]

Ahoy!

 

So I've been playing for a little over a month now and have a good few games under my belt using a G&P Magpul PTS CQB MOE (MOAR TLA)... I've found a couple of issues.

 

Ammo

Using .2's just isn't doing me any favours. They're fine in still wind, but playing yesterday in Bristol the wind dared to pick up slightly and I couldn't hit a cow in the arse with a shovel... Well I could but you catch my drift. So, the natural conclusion seems to be to upgrade to .25's - is there a 'better' brand, or are .25's generally .25's? Is there value in buying biodegradable BBs or just stick with the norm? Can I even stretch to using .28's? I was given some as a replacement for someone that borrowed a pistol mag and needles to say, the next time I drew my P226 the range increase was phenomenal!

 

Batteries

I currently have a single 9.9v 100mAh LiFe Vapex battery which performs... Variably, let's say. The first game I played, a charge would last about 2/3 a day. Now, only a month later, it needs recharging every couple of games. I definitely feel I need another battery, but whether or not this is 'extra' or a replacement is TBD. 9.9v seems to be a really odd voltage and I'm also constrained on size (the battery is stored in the foregrip; not great when it's raining...). The biggest problem I think I'll have is I don't know what the component parts are in the M4, and so I don't know if I can go to a higher voltage battery. Any advice in this area would be greatly appreciated!

 

Moving on

So, predictably, having caught the bug, I'm planning my next purchase. I'm eager to steer clear of the M4 'norm' because, well, they're not my favourite rifle in the world. I'm keen on an Sig 55x or a G36/39, but my concern would be finding compatible innards for upgrades/replacements over time. The M4 market seems to dominate; is this a misheld belief or would I actually struggle?

 

Cheers!

 

[Baz JJ]

You could use .25s which would help if the wind is carrying them.

 

Cant help with makes of bio - never used em.

 

I always use 7.4V LIPO and one lasts me all day. Ive never been convinced about higher voltages - sometimes causes more problems than it solves, especially without a MOSFET.

 

Rightly or wrongly, I get the impression that the better airsoft makes use a lot of common standard internals whilst its just external cosmetics which dictates the model ?

[Sitting Duck]

All bb's will deviate in wind - many use .25's .28' even .30's in their AEG

loads to choose from at 0.20's not so many at other weights - Blasters are supposed to be good

BAW but they don't do .28's

.20's are cheap n cheerful for the more trigger happy player but as you found can go anywhere in slight wind

 

Battery - you got a LIFE 9.9v battery which offers a great in between power balance of 7.4v & 11.1v LiPo's

If you are happy get another battery like what you already have

 

If you wish try an AK - still popular but a good airsoft weapon, just coz something is used by many doesn't make it bad

[Samurai]

If you shoot a lot, use 0.25. There are more in the bottle for the same price, and you will hit the target with a few bursts.

If you shoot on semi auto, use the heaviest BB your gun can handle. Bios are even more accurate because there are less or no air bubbles inside. Try G&G bio, those are not bad as far as I know. (I don't buy my bbs here so I haven't tested the brands available here.)

[Lozart]

I couldn't hit a cow in the arse with a shovel...

 

Best. Line. Ever.

 

 

 

As others have said, try 0.25g. All plastic BB pellets will get blown off course, it goes with the territory but unless you have a spectacularly bad gun you should be able to use 0.25s just fine which will be better.

 

As for guns - anyhting with a V2 or V3 gearbox will be supported for spares and internal upgrades. Just because a gun doesn't look like an M4 doesn't mean it won't have the same internals. Granted some guns have specific parts (AUGs for example have a different cylinder head) but don't let that put you off. Buy something YOU like.

[BrightCandle]

Ammo - Use the heaviest BB that your hop will lift properly. At and around 350 fps that is probably going to be 0.25g or maybe 0.28g. The heavier you go the more accurate its going to be and the less the wind will impact it. However Snipers regularly have issues on windy days with their 0.43g BBs drifting off metres away from the target with the gusts. That is just the nature of the sport, its better on days without lots of wind.

 

Batteries - The battery shouldn't be going off that quickly, lithium batteries do degrade but its usually with 350 discharges or so it will halve its capacity. You could consider a lipo 7.4V, it'll have a lower rate of fire and maybe a slower trigger response but there are a lot of choices on sizes which might help. Regardless if the battery is small you'll probably need a couple for a day of skirmishing. I go with a very basic estimate of a 1 mah = 1 shot. So a bottle of BBs is 3000 and so that represents a battery change for me since I use 2600 mah lipos. If you are on the little 800mah ones then it might very well only go 1-2 heavy fire games.

 

Moving on - No doubt the M4's dominate in extra parts. You wont have trouble getting upgrades for a G36 or an AK for example both are very popular. Looks like the Sig uses Type 3 gearboxs and those are very popular so you won't have any issues getting the parts for the internals of those either. As I understand it the Sigs can come with different types of hope chamber but depending on who you buy it from you may very well find everything is nice and standard. There aren't really that many guns that don't have at least some upgrade potential. The M4 is the better upgrade platform IMO since its so well documented and there really are a wide set of parts, but don't worry about that with other popular guns it'll be fine. If you were upgrading a Tar 21 or a Famas then we would be having a different discussion about compatibility of parts!

[Airsoft-Ed]

A good tip for playing in the wind is to tilt your gun into the wind direction slightly.

Because hop lifts your shots up, if you cant it off centre slightly, it'll send your shots off to that side. The more you tilt, the more they go off to one side.

So you can use it to fight against the wind, allowing you to shoot dead straight even in strong wind. You can also use it to bend shots around corners when there's no wind... Bit of a touchy subject though, as it can be considered blind firing.

As others have said though, heavier ammo will travel further at a more constant speed, carry its energy better, helping it defeat light obstacles more effectively, and also being more resistant to wind because of the greater mass.