Achieving maximum range under 350 fps with a bolt action rifle

[Happy]

Okay so I've been considering this for a while now and wanted some input on the matter from my fellow airsoft enthusiasts: how would go about getting the maximum range under 350 fps in a bolt action rifle? For simplicities sake using a VSR based platform.

 

Just curious to see other peoples thoughts on this. Before anyone states it - yes I'm aware there's not much point running a bolt action at the fps levels that most AEGs shoot at.

[Hef Legend]

Barrel Wise = TK twist barrel, PDI, Promethues

Bucking/nub = Maple leaf bucking and arm or R-hop with flat nub.
Use barrel spacers to make sure the inner doesn't move.

Make sure the seals are good and have good consistency.

[proffrink]

Is this 350fps with a .20g? If so, heavier ammo even at 1.2J does wonders (try .30g+).

[Sitting Duck]

under 350fps bolt action sniper ???

 

you been shopping at JBBG again or something ???

[AirsoftTed]

I like the idea and have seen it done (albeit it poorly, guy turned up at my local with hot sniper rifle and bunged a really low spring in it so he could play). I think it would be good for quiet sneaky work without a MED.

[Happy]

under 350fps bolt action sniper ???

 

you been shopping at JBBG again or something ???

You caught me!

 

Nah it's just something I'm running at the moment to challenge myself and I was curious to see if anyone had thoughts on how to get the best results from the low fps limit. Main benefit I wanted was the lack of a MED and a quieter rifle.

[Sitting Duck]

I like the idea and have seen it done (albeit it poorly, guy turned up at my local with hot sniper rifle and bunged a really low spring in it so he could play). I think it would be good for quiet sneaky work without a MED.

 

Actually about a month to 6 weeks ago a kid turned up with a 2-tone JBBG sniper shooting at 285fps

(think it was a mediocre Well one but might have had the restricter installed)

 

Anyway - think it was wrong but they said to him about MED which I thought was bollox

(I mean come on ffs - the kid has a long nosed shotgun really)

 

Their argument was if he engaged people at close range it was cause rows about MED so they said still stick to it

 

This is one time I feel the decision was so very wrong - I'm not sure how many kills the kid got but probably very very few

(I'd have probably lent an aeg but stupidly chucked in an AK74 as a spare but no mags I discovered - another bell-end duck balls up)

 

I could kinda see their possible view but still very very wrong to impose this - heck 10m MED would be plenty ffs

and just let everybody know about the lame 2-tone sniper (ain't as if we have dozens of snipers anyway)

[AirsoftTed]

That's strange Duck, it was TWA I saw this happen at. Mind you this was a year or so ago before all those marshals quit

[Guest PT247]

had a great laugh running my TM VSR at 350fps. I upgraded everything internally though tbh, pretty much full Laylax internals except the hop unit. Used the type B Dangerworx hop arm and I think either a 100 or 110 Laylax spring in conjunction with the Laylax g-spec barrel. Was very accurate and had pretty good range although I have a couple of AEGs that could match it for range. Is up at 500fps now though as I run a Krytac PDW as a secondary so can get stuck in with that when the MED is breached.

[Sacarathe]

 

Actually about a month to 6 weeks ago a kid turned up with a 2-tone JBBG sniper shooting at 285fps

(think it was a mediocre Well one but might have had the restricter installed)

 

Anyway - think it was wrong but they said to him about MED which I thought was bollox

(I mean come on ffs - the kid has a long nosed shotgun really)

 

Their argument was if he engaged people at close range it was cause rows about MED so they said still stick to it

 

This is one time I feel the decision was so very wrong - I'm not sure how many kills the kid got but probably very very few

(I'd have probably lent an aeg but stupidly chucked in an AK74 as a spare but no mags I discovered - another bell-end duck balls up)

 

I could kinda see their possible view but still very very wrong to impose this - heck 10m MED would be plenty ffs

and just let everybody know about the lame 2-tone sniper (ain't as if we have dozens of snipers anyway)

 

I believe he had a bright orange desert eagle AEP too. Their decision was iffy, and they enforced the MED on two occasions too.

[NickM]

It is doable! I know of a few people that have, it does mean no MED at most sites although I have heard of a few that will enforce the MED on Sub 350fps guns, citing " the rest of the players don't know you are sub 350 so will kick off if you use it within the MED" although they are few and far between.

 

If you think of upgrading a sniper and getting accuracy, range and consistency on a 500fps build as a dark art, getting the same with 350fps is a darker than dark art, plan on spending a lot of time tinkering and fettling your setup. The guys I know of said they spend 6 months perfecting the 500fps setup and more like a year til they were happy with the sub 350.

 

As for barrel spacers, the easiest method with the least chance of vibration in my eyes is to wrap the barrel in paper. I used a significant quantity of A4 wrapped tightly around the barrel. In my JG Bar10 Gspec the paper is landscape as you look down the barrel. It makes the gun more barrel heavy, but I then added a couple of old break pads to the inside of the stock which was also very tightly packed with foam, the foam deadens the vibrations from the hollow stock. It increased the weight, but in my hands it feels a lot more realistic.

[Happy]

It is doable! I know of a few people that have, it does mean no MED at most sites although I have heard of a few that will enforce the MED on Sub 350fps guns, citing " the rest of the players don't know you are sub 350 so will kick off if you use it within the MED" although they are few and far between.

 

If you think of upgrading a sniper and getting accuracy, range and consistency on a 500fps build as a dark art, getting the same with 350fps is a darker than dark art, plan on spending a lot of time tinkering and fettling your setup. The guys I know of said they spend 6 months perfecting the 500fps setup and more like a year til they were happy with the sub 350.

 

As for barrel spacers, the easiest method with the least chance of vibration in my eyes is to wrap the barrel in paper. I used a significant quantity of A4 wrapped tightly around the barrel. In my JG Bar10 Gspec the paper is landscape as you look down the barrel. It makes the gun more barrel heavy, but I then added a couple of old break pads to the inside of the stock which was also very tightly packed with foam, the foam deadens the vibrations from the hollow stock. It increased the weight, but in my hands it feels a lot more realistic.

Cheers for the advice! Yeah I've already made my barrel spacers out of some used wine corks so no worries about barrel vibration. Never considered using rolled up paper though so might give that a try - saving both money and my liver haha

[Ian_Gere]

Unrustle_Thine_Jimmies runs something similar. Without having tried it myself, I'd tend to agree with Hef: PDI 6.01mm barrel and the softest rubber you can find - either a Prometheus Purple or maybe look into one of those 40 deg rubbers they were selling on ehobbyasia.com and yeah, I'd probably go for R-Hop too, set up for .28g BB Bastards.

 

+ Wrap the forward part of the rubber in PTFE tape to get as tight a seal between the barrel, hop chamber, and rubber.

 

& Use a very good piston head O-Ring - Lees Precision Engineering are good (they have an eBay shop)

 

+ plenty of CT-2 Teflon grease on the O-ring and inside of cylinder (£4/50g search fleabay)

 

Adding weight to the gun also increases its inertia, which ought to improve accuracy by lessening involuntary movement while pulling the trigger...

[Josh95]

a gas one at 350fps would be fun

[Happy]

More than likely going to go for a 6.03mm tightbore over a 6.01mm - want more accuracy at range rather than a power increase. This is going off my own previous experience with my last rifle which had much tighter groupings with the wider barrel.

 

Going to order some more parts and then see how it plays next week at The Gaol's Wednesday night shoot.

[Guest PT247]

I used a soft bucking when running 350 on my VSR, I only skirmished it once after upgrading to 500 and it destroyed the bucking so buy a few at a time so you can replace them easily if they get eaten up.

[Samurai]

I run a sub 350 bolt action on games where the distances are a bit shorter, and an 500 fps one where there are big, open areas. The sub 350 is great fun but does need at least the same amount of tinkering as the 500fps one.

 

The max effective range with a gun like that is about 65-70m and can use 0.30 or 0.32 max.

 

If you have a vsr rubber, I suggest using nineball, if AEG rubber, then purple prometheus. Action Army hopup unit and a good barrel is also most welcome.

The good news is that you can keep the trigger unit and piston.

[Unrustle_Thine_Jimmies]

Unrustle_Thine_Jimmies runs something similar. Without having tried it myself, I'd tend to agree with Hef: PDI 6.01mm barrel and the softest rubber you can find - either a Prometheus Purple or maybe look into one of those 40 deg rubbers they were selling on ehobbyasia.com and yeah, I'd probably go for R-Hop too, set up for .28g BB Bastards.

 

+ Wrap the forward part of the rubber in PTFE tape to get as tight a seal between the barrel, hop chamber, and rubber.

 

& Use a very good piston head O-Ring - Lees Precision Engineering are good (they have an eBay shop)

 

+ plenty of CT-2 Teflon grease on the O-ring and inside of cylinder (£4/50g search fleabay)

 

Adding weight to the gun also increases its inertia, which ought to improve accuracy by lessening involuntary movement while pulling the trigger...

 

Welcome to Irish sniping

 

I've talked with a couple of lads to reddit to update myself on what's best and it seems not much has changed. What I run is quite a budget build with a lot of DIY stuff but it can all be replaced with shelf parts.

 

First thing's first,you will pretty much have to play at AEG ranges so be stealthy or quick . Small 3x or 4x optic is good,no point in a massive 3-9x40 like I run. Adding inertia is a good idea,as long as the gun is balanced.

 

PDi-W hold is probably the better bucking for 1J VSR builds. I've been told the Maple leaf has the best sealing quality but is rubbish on it's own. The Laylax buckings have had spotty QC,needing material removal but are still good,though,generally people seem to like the 'split' buckings.

I run .28s and .30s,the latter being the max weight for the W hold in my experience.

 

If you want to keep the Stock chamber,you will have to do some work to the adjuster mech as it bends and causes uneven hop pressure. Very trial and error job. Consists of making thin metal spacers and sticking them around the adjuster and arm to increase rigidity. taken ages to get mine right and there's still a tiny bit of curve. Also you will need to invest in a dangerwerx Type B arm or the airsoftpro one to get the best out of the stock chamber.

 

Right now the Action army hop chamber is very popular. If you want absolute accuracy I recommend this. Pdi chamber is a bitch to adjust and the laylax one is expensive.

 

Good barrel always helps. PDi are the best option for Bolt actions. 6.05 bore Steel ones are good.

 

Barrel spacers of course help,you can make them out of masking tape,no different to bought ones. An extreme mod some american lad once did is pouring wax down his outer barrel to seal in the inner.

 

On the plus side,you can save some money since you can stick with the stock trigger mech. I'd replace the piston with one that has a steel catch like the AA or laylax one. SHS or PPS sear set is my choice. I'd chose the SHS piston sear as it's made of softer steel and is the cheapest and easiest wear part to replace.

 

Finally,goes without saying,standard sealing jobs are an absolute must. power output has to be as consistant as possible. The cylinder is an easy job. I am getting 100% full seal using PTFE tape,Stock Marui O-ring on a Laylax piston. Cylidner polished and lightly greased,head tapered and nozzle crowned.

 

The Action army chamber should have good seal. PTFE tape and maybe some gasket maker around the hop bucking and barrel joint is also a good option.

[Happy]

Thanks for all the input guys, definitely taken a lot on board so now I have a fair few things to try out before my next skirmish.