New to Airsoft; what to buy?

[AirsoftRich]

2 minutes ago, Lozart said:

 

 

I sweat like a paedophile in Mothercare so I feel your pain.

 

Full seal goggles won't stop you sweating and you'll still get some fogging inside them if you don't use either forced convection and/or an anti-fog treatment. Or you can go with mesh (I have some @heroshark mesh and they're great).

If there's one other thing I would recommend as a specs wearer myself - contact lenses. Glasses just gives you an extra set of surfaces to fog up.

I have considered mesh I will have a look at some.

Unfortunately I can’t wear contacts mate.

So it’s either glasses and a mask or no glasses and a mask.

It’s only very long sight that goes blurry without them so I’m sure I can manage.

[Rogerborg]

26 minutes ago, AirsoftRich said:

I went for plate carrier but after the amount of sweat that has been coming out of me I might switch to a belt and yoke set up.

 

That's what I've gone with now, the lighter and more breathable, the better.

 

 

26 minutes ago, AirsoftRich said:

Said sweat coming off my head and really distorting my view through the goggles.

 

1980s style sweatbands actually work very well to prevent this.  Buy two or three, and wear one while you air one.

 

We've all got our own rituals for fogging.  I go with fan goggles (FMA or DIY), dual paned (DIY), and Revision anti-fog wipes.  Dye i4/i5 masks with dual pane ("thermal") lenses get some love, or if nothing else works, you can try mesh, and the gold standard there is Heroshark:  https://www.facebook.com/Heroshark (the chap who makes them was just posting in this thread).

 

[Lozart]

Just now, AirsoftRich said:

I have considered mesh I will have a look at some.

Unfortunately I can’t wear contacts mate.

So it’s either glasses and a mask or no glasses and a mask.

It’s only very long sight that goes blurry without them so I’m sure I can manage.

 

Astigmatism or something? Cos there's lenses for that now.

 

I guess as long as you're not looking to be a sniper no glasses is the way  worth taking a look at the @heroshark stuff though. I seem to remember that he does some mesh goggles that will fit over glasses too.

[EDcase]

Yeah, I wear mesh on top of my glasses

[Druid799]

Welcome to the bottomless hole that is the addiction called Airsoft ! ☠️  plus congratulations on asking the most frequently asked AND most pointless question any new player can ask ! “what am bestest gun ?”🤦‍♂️  🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

literally the definition of an unanswerable question , but why this statement I hear you cry ? All comes down to personal choice .
Yes you could say asking which gun to get as a virgin fresh novice to the sport on a forum will help but problem is no one can give you truly impartial advice we all have our own preferences for which is the ‘best’ for a new player to buy , one mans ‘perfect’ new player gun is the next mans ‘perfectly terrible’ new player gun ! My advice would be have a look around the internet to see what you fancy the look off then at your next few game days while your working towards your UKARA registration just wander around in between games looking at everyone else’s gun and if you see one you like then politely and respectfully ask about it and I’m 100% sure the owner will positively gush about it (everyone loves having their ego stroked) and more that likely let you have a go too . Nothing beats real world hands on for making a choice for your self in the beginning. 
👍

[heroshark]

Yep I usually keep a small stock of over glasses frames. Don't have them on the site as I can't always get the same frames so it's a pm to order job.

[AirsoftRich]

1 hour ago, Druid799 said:

Welcome to the bottomless hole that is the addiction called Airsoft ! ☠️  plus congratulations on asking the most frequently asked AND most pointless question any new player can ask ! “what am bestest gun ?”🤦‍♂️  🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

👍

Thanks for the welcome.

 

That’s not the question I asked in my OP though.

It was specific between TM 416 and a novice buying a different gun and upgrading internals.

And I did state I am well aware it’s horses for courses.

 

Having said that I do appreciate your advice of asking to use peoples weapons and listening to their opinions on said weapons.

This is why I posed my question to a wider audience.

Having done that I have confirmed that a well performing OOTB will better suit me as I am in no way confident about what modifications would be best if I went down the route of upgrading another weapon.

That’s something best left until I am way more experienced.

[AirsoftRich]

@Lozart yes astigmatism exactly.

I wasn’t aware they did contacts to suite.

I will look in to that!

 

@Rogerborg Sweatbands! What a great shout I will try to find some suitably coloured ones; after all I wouldn’t want bright red! 😂

 

I am seriously considering mesh.

[Davegolf]

@heroshark could you post a pic of your OTG ones up please?

[AirsoftRich]

I have a question about the 416.

I have read and seen a bit about it struggling to ‘lift’ any ammo heavier than a .2 (which is fine for me currently).

 

In the future however if I wanted to improve down range consistency with firing heavier ammo say .28 would upgrading the spring to give more power allow the hop up to lift heavier ammo?

[Davegolf]

It will lift 0.28 stock no problem, if its not its because the bucking is dirty or worn out.

 

Buckings rely on friction to create backspin, so if they are dirty or oily this reduces the grip, which in turn reduces the backspin possible.

 

Thats why i dont like Maple ones as they are the least grippy rubber substance ive ever come across - another subject anyway.

Stock TM buckings are great, funnily the Maple Omega nub works very well in the NGRS.

 

Make sure to use quality BBs, keep them and the mags clean, swab out the barrel and bucking periodically with the tool provided.

[heroshark]

41 minutes ago, Davegolf said:

@heroshark could you post a pic of your OTG ones up please?

Current ones I'm getting.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRcUwXVoe7Y/?utm_medium=copy_link

 

Can also mount lower masks on these if wanted.

 

[Davegolf]

Thanks, a little bulky/deep looking for me, i know OTGs are PITA, especially when you want to wear specs AND look cool 😆

All of us spec wearers are envious of people with 20/20 vision!

[heroshark]

These may be more you thing.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRRg-dVonLg/?utm_medium=copy_link

[Druid799]

11 hours ago, AirsoftRich said:

Thanks for the welcome.

 

That’s not the question I asked in my OP though.

It was specific between TM 416 and a novice buying a different gun and upgrading internals.

And I did state I am well aware it’s horses for courses.

 

Having said that I do appreciate your advice of asking to use peoples weapons and listening to their opinions on said weapons.

This is why I posed my question to a wider audience.

Having done that I have confirmed that a well performing OOTB will better suit me as I am in no way confident about what modifications would be best if I went down the route of upgrading another weapon.

That’s something best left until I am way more experienced.

Sorry it came a cross as referring to all guns , was simply saying even with your narrow window there’s still a very good chance you’ll not get the answer you need on a forum .

I’m also a great believer in NOT screwing about with TM Recoils bar swapping to a deans on AK’s , Scar’s , Socom’s and G36’s and getting rid of the QC batteries in the M4 platforms . I’m VERY skeptical that you could upgrade a cheaper gun to run better than a TM EBB out of the box for less , very skeptical indeed . 
You wouldn’t have any trouble hopping up to a .28 through them either , just the speed the bb will be traveling at will decrease so your target will have more of a chance to dodge it if they see it coming . 

[Tactical Pith Helmet]

10 hours ago, AirsoftRich said:

@Lozart yes astigmatism exactly.

I wasn’t aware they did contacts to suite.

I will look in to that!

 

@Rogerborg Sweatbands! What a great shout I will try to find some suitably coloured ones; after all I wouldn’t want bright red! 😂

 

I am seriously considering mesh.

I have an astigmatism and suffer from the dreaded hyperhidrosis too.

 

Contacts for astig are a thing and work fine.  I actually tried non-astig (read cheap) lenses and the difference is minimal as long as I don't want to read/focus up very close.   Certainly fine for airsoft.  Worth a punt if you order them online.  

 

I have to use mesh, as even the best goggles with Cat Crap applied and a fan get covered in sweat even if they don't fog.  

 

Sweatbands do work.  Take at least three, dry them/hang them on your mirrors as you drive home as they start to stink.  Instead of a beanie/cap etc, wear a crocheted prayer cap.  Seriously, they come in khaki/OD/black etc and camo the head whilst being really cool.  Cost a couple of quid on Ebay.  

 

I use webbing, but you can get plate carriers that use water carrying plates that can be cooled and used as hydration bladders too.  

 

 

[AirsoftRich]

@Druid799 Thanks for your input.

That further cements that the best option for me will be OOTB TM.

That’s until I know a lot more about what I am buying when it comes to upgrades.

I fear going down that route I could end up spending a lot of money on wrong parts from many peoples differing advice and end up with a gun that’s crap.

I think to give me an idea of what mods work best on a custom built gun; seeing, holding and possibly firing other peoples set ups over time is the way forward.

 

Handy to know it will lift .28’s and handy to know the more seasoned player will see those heavier rounds coming.

 

@Tactical Pith Helmet

I will have to contact the opticians for my prescription and see if I can order some to try.

I have really taken a liking to the mesh that @heroshark produces.

I am still considering my options but I like his kit very much.

 

I will defo be buying some sweatbands and will certainly look in to those crocheted prayer caps you mention.

 

I have seen the water carrying hydration plates.

I have a hydration pack and without it even being next to my body it was warm in 3 hours.

 

I might invest in a belt and yoke.

Having a large area of restricted ventilation because of a plate carrier seems somewhat pointless when we have no need to protect vital organs from a plastic BB.

Besides I got shot that many times above, below or through the sides of it.

It near as made no difference.

I feel with a belt and yoke I can carry kit and be a lot lighter and cooler.

I can only try it out and see what works best for me.

Thanks for your input.

[Lozart]

26 minutes ago, AirsoftRich said:

@Druid799 Thanks for your input.

That further cements that the best option for me will be OOTB TM.

That’s until I know a lot more about what I am buying when it comes to upgrades.

I fear going down that route I could end up spending a lot of money on wrong parts from many peoples differing advice and end up with a gun that’s crap.

I think to give me an idea of what mods work best on a custom built gun; seeing, holding and possibly firing other peoples set ups over time is the way forward.

 

Handy to know it will lift .28’s and handy to know the more seasoned player will see those heavier rounds coming.

 

@Tactical Pith Helmet

I will have to contact the opticians for my prescription and see if I can order some to try.

I have really taken a liking to the mesh that @heroshark produces.

I am still considering my options but I like his kit very much.

 

I will defo be buying some sweatbands and will certainly look in to those crocheted prayer caps you mention.

 

I have seen the water carrying hydration plates.

I have a hydration pack and without it even being next to my body it was warm in 3 hours.

 

I might invest in a belt and yoke.

Having a large area of restricted ventilation because of a plate carrier seems somewhat pointless when we have no need to protect vital organs from a plastic BB.

Besides I got shot that many times above, below or through the sides of it.

It near as made no difference.

I feel with a belt and yoke I can carry kit and be a lot lighter and cooler.

I can only try it out and see what works best for me.

Thanks for your input.

 

PLEASE don't fall into that trap of believing all the bollocks online that says "yeah TM recoils are great, once you change X, Y and Z". Leave it the fuck alone, it'll be fine. Plus, any excuse to repost this:

 

 

As for contacts, they even do varifocals now! Weird as fuck to use but they do them!

 

Plate carriers are sweaty as fuck so definitely check out belt kit but don't rule out chest rigs either. There's loads of them out there that have plenty of variety.

 

[Sneaky]

When you go airsofting, check everyone else's gear to give you some ideas.

 

NGRS...cannot go wrong..

[Fatboy40]

On 26/08/2021 at 10:44, AirsoftRich said:

... Said sweat coming off my head and really distorting my view through the goggles.

... I have considered going for the more ‘ski mask’ type and wearing my glasses underneath.

Even without my glasses I feel these would be better as there would be a seal around hopefully stopping sweat covering the inside.

 

For your first point a simple solution, but maybe not that elegant, is a good old school sweat band on your head as that's what they were invented for (keep a few in a kit bag and swap them over frequently).

 

I wear glasses always and I'm very happy with my Guard Dog Evader 2 goggle and how they fit perfectly over them. However, I'm a sweaty betty as well and when I'm huffing and puffing they will fog, with Revision wipes from eBay helping somewhat, however this weekend I'm playing for the first time with my new helmet and ExFog setup (tubing carefully routed with velcro retaining it) so I'm hoping for a totally different experience regarding fogging.

 

One thing I'd say that has helped with my fogging is getting rid of my mesh face mask and getting a Delta Mike Facepro Snood. The mesh mask directed some of my breath upwards towards my goggles, but this is all gone with the Delta Mike, and another big plus point is that I've gone from a bulky mesh mask to something skin tight so my peripheral vision has improved so much (especially looking directly down to my chest rig and what I'm walking over / up / down on).

[AirsoftRich]

@Lozart what a cracking funny video that is! 😂

Basically if it isn’t broken don’t fix it.

 

@Fatboy40 One of the F&O marshalls said about those but he couldn’t remember the maker of them he said to just google it.

Along with the masses of other information I have been taking in that one slipped my mind and you have just reminded me and given me the site. 
So thanks for that.

They look good!

 

I am looking up some sweat bands and some anti fog wipes and going from there. 
If that doesn’t work mesh it is.

[Druid799]

3 hours ago, AirsoftRich said:

@Druid799 Thanks for your input.

That further cements that the best option for me will be OOTB TM.

That’s until I know a lot more about what I am buying when it comes to upgrades.

I fear going down that route I could end up spending a lot of money on wrong parts from many peoples differing advice and end up with a gun that’s crap.

I think to give me an idea of what mods work best on a custom built gun; seeing, holding and possibly firing other peoples set ups over time is the way forward.

 

Handy to know it will lift .28’s and handy to know the more seasoned player will see those heavier rounds coming.

 

@Tactical Pith Helmet

I will have to contact the opticians for my prescription and see if I can order some to try.

I have really taken a liking to the mesh that @heroshark produces.

I am still considering my options but I like his kit very much.

 

I will defo be buying some sweatbands and will certainly look in to those crocheted prayer caps you mention.

 

I have seen the water carrying hydration plates.

I have a hydration pack and without it even being next to my body it was warm in 3 hours.

 

I might invest in a belt and yoke.

Having a large area of restricted ventilation because of a plate carrier seems somewhat pointless when we have no need to protect vital organs from a plastic BB.

Besides I got shot that many times above, below or through the sides of it.

It near as made no difference.

I feel with a belt and yoke I can carry kit and be a lot lighter and cooler.

I can only try it out and see what works best for me.

Thanks for your input.

I’ve currently got 7 recoils and over the past 14+yrs ? I’ve had around 15 and can happily tell you the only ones I’ve ever had problems with were 3 ‘upgraded’ ones . 1st was done by my self and a mate , 2nd by a good site tech and the 3rd by a very well respected TM recoil upgrade specialist , now don’t get me wrong all of them did perform better after the upgrades BUT none of them lasted that long before work was needed to maintain this improved performance . 
Where as I’ve got a Socom and 74su that are both totally stock bar a deans connectors fitted and there 13 and 12yrs old respectively . So I think that speaks volumes for the brand ? 

[AirsoftRich]

1 hour ago, Druid799 said:

I’ve currently got 7 recoils and over the past 14+yrs ? I’ve had around 15 and can happily tell you the only ones I’ve ever had problems with were 3 ‘upgraded’ ones . 1st was done by my self and a mate , 2nd by a good site tech and the 3rd by a very well respected TM recoil upgrade specialist , now don’t get me wrong all of them did perform better after the upgrades BUT none of them lasted that long before work was needed to maintain this improved performance . 
Where as I’ve got a Socom and 74su that are both totally stock bar a deans connectors fitted and there 13 and 12yrs old respectively . So I think that speaks volumes for the brand ? 

The only thing I am going to do is convert it to deans for a lipo.

I read one review saying the recoil stock knocks sights out of zero over time.

I find this hard to believe.

Have you had any experience of this?

[Druid799]

38 minutes ago, AirsoftRich said:

The only thing I am going to do is convert it to deans for a lipo.

I read one review saying the recoil stock knocks sights out of zero over time.

I find this hard to believe.

Have you had any experience of this?

Yea I’ve seen this one as well , only way I could see the recoil effecting a scope enough that you actually notice it is if you’ve gone out of your way to find and then buy literally the cheapest/nastiest/poorest quality scope you could find ! 😳

😆😆

[Rogerborg]

2 hours ago, AirsoftRich said:

I read one review saying the recoil stock knocks sights out of zero over time.

I find this hard to believe.

 

We're already in the realms where 0.8 = 1.1, anything is possible.