DMR and a pistol advice

[MrFlash90]

Hi all,

 

I am new to the sport but quickly discovered what style of play i prefer and i want to go down the DMR and pistol route.

If i could get some advice on what is good to use as i would rather buy once and stick with that pew for a long time haha. 

Searching google is giving me mixed reviews and cannot make my mind up so asking here as people have actually got physical use from a good few pews i would assume. Your help is much appreciated 🙂

 

DMR - Good internals/externals, good distance and accuracy and isn't expensive??

 

Pistol - Good internals/externals, overall good pew, good fire rate, not too expensive.

[if auto, what's best as i looked at the TM ones and the reviews state they break often and parts not cheap or easy to get hold of]

[concretesnail]

Dmr wise there area good few options out there but I'd stick with something that is in a 'dmr' calibre as some site require that it look the part.

I used a g&g 308 as I wanted a dmr calibre magazine and the gearbox is a standard v2 when it comes to parts. Perun also make a drop in mosfet which adds useful features.

 

As for the pistol, something that is reliable is a must as you could be using it frequently, not just to clear corners and structures. I'd be looking at TM first as they work solidly out of the box and the plastic slides means they are usually gas efficient. Personally I use an m&p9

[BigStew]

1 hour ago, MrFlash90 said:

Hi all,

 

I am new to the sport but quickly discovered what style of play i prefer and i want to go down the DMR and pistol route.

If i could get some advice on what is good to use as i would rather buy once and stick with that pew for a long time haha. 

Searching google is giving me mixed reviews and cannot make my mind up so asking here as people have actually got physical use from a good few pews i would assume. Your help is much appreciated 🙂

 

DMR - Good internals/externals, good distance and accuracy and isn't expensive??

 

Pistol - Good internals/externals, overall good pew, good fire rate, not too expensive.

[if auto, what's best as i looked at the TM ones and the reviews state they break often and parts not cheap or easy to get hold of]

CYMA M14 AEG (its a real world DMR in 7.62) cheapish with decent range out the box.

 

What reviews state TM auto pistols break often. there is only two models Glock 18c and a hi Capa and they have pretty much the best after market support for parts and up grades. any way full auto is not really useful in a back up pistol so best would be TM MK23 NBB. draw back is its huge and NBB. other wise cheapest good option would be a TM 5.1 hi capa or one f the Glock series. personal preference is the TM HK45 and a lot of people swear by the FNX45.

[MrFlash90]

17 minutes ago, BigStew said:

CYMA M14 AEG (its a real world DMR in 7.62) cheapish with decent range out the box.

 

What reviews state TM auto pistols break often. there is only two models Glock 18c and a hi Capa and they have pretty much the best after market support for parts and up grades. any way full auto is not really useful in a back up pistol so best would be TM MK23 NBB. draw back is its huge and NBB. other wise cheapest good option would be a TM 5.1 hi capa or one f the Glock series. personal preference is the TM HK45 and a lot of people swear by the FNX45.

Just on forums and from what i have asked of some people. They say the TM in a auto being used alot in full auto breaks the plastic side which then has to be replaced. 

 

Someone from a skirmish site told me to get a TM USP Compact but not sure 😕 

 

I will check out the others you have mentioned 

[Rogerborg]

DMRs are (almost always) built, not bought.  At a bare minimum you'll need a way to lock it to semi, and a stronger spring to get it up to your regular site(s) power level(s) - quick change can be a godsend there as what constitutes a "DMR" varies wildly from site to site. I'd check your favourite site's rules first, as a (very) few places will require a MOSFET controlled rate of fire delay - and I actually agree with them on that, DMRs are super easy to exploit.

 

After that you get into a near endless money pit of motors, gears, airseal and barrels and bears, oh my.

 

CYMA are a good shout as they have robust internals.  The M14 is cheap, but harder to work on than V2 gearbox guns. I'm not sure on how you'd modify the fire selector on those.

 

If you want to go AR-10 / SR-25 then the CYMA CM.098 variants are a popular default.  The "MOSFET" in those is just for trigger protection and may actually produce problems rather than solving them based on the X-ASR in my Specna which baulks at higher draw motors.  Being V2 based parts are readily available and semi auto locking can be done just by removing a tiny piece of the fire selector plate so that the cutoff lever isn't disengaged even when set to auto - I'd recommend buying a spare plate for all that they cost.

 

 

Although right now you'll have to buy what's available, given the ongoing stocking issues.

 

Pistols, meh, I run an MP5K on a leg panel as a sniper/DMR secondary.  Full size V3 gearbox; full auto; light, cheap mags including a 600 round high cap if you want to just slot one in and forget it.  On cost, rate of fire, and weight-per-shot, it beats a pistol hands down.  Other opinions are available though.

 

[Cannonfodder]

1 hour ago, Rogerborg said:

DMRs are (almost always) built, not bought.

Seconded. I learned this the hard way, I picked up a JG SL8 and just had the tappet plate cut to disable full auto. It lasted half a game before the gearbox locked up

 

1 hour ago, Rogerborg said:

Pistols, meh, I run an MP5K on a leg panel as a sniper/DMR secondary.  Full size V3 gearbox; full auto; light, cheap mags including a 600 round high cap if you want to just slot one in and forget it.  On cost, rate of fire, and weight-per-shot, it beats a pistol hands down.  Other opinions are available though.

If you're really wanting a full auto back up then this is a good idea. Another advantage is that it won't suffer cool down like a gbb. 

[Fatboy40]

Surprised no one's mentioned an AAP-01 as a sidearm, it matches the OP's criteria...

 

# Good internals/externals: Over all yes, however regular full auto will shorted the hammers lifespan.

# overall good pew: Yes

# good fire rate: Yes

# not too expensive: The price is great for such a good pistol

 

... and I run mine as a sidearm with a CTM holster and can't fault it at all (using 0.28g with an ML Autobot 60 degree).

[concretesnail]

I'd forgotten about the aap, could be a good shout. Glock based parts and a lot of body kits about if you want that customised look.

Edited July 31, 2022 by concretesnail

[Impulse]

Cyma are brilliant, depending on what you want. I can recommend two from personal experience:

 

Cyma platinum SR-25 as your more expensive option. Comes in around £330, but does everything amazingly out of the box and the internals are really, really nice. I took mine apart and was thoroughly impressed with what is put into it! The MOSFET isn't amazing and is just there to protect the trigger and apparently also protect the gearbox from locking up on semi which is nice, however it's not programmable at all, so making it semi auto means you'd need to modify the selector plate or something.

 

Cyma M14 as your cheaper option. Comes in around £150 and will shoot pretty damn well out of the box. V7s are pretty easy to work on once you get to the gearbox, but they're more time consuming as getting the m14 apart takes a bit of effort. All I've done to mine so far is swapped out the hop, nub and barrel (so about £40 extra? ZCI barrels are great) and it's firing at 1J and hitting out to decent range. Probably won't DMR mine, but I do plan on doing some more work to it once my SR-25 is sorted and I can take the lessons I've learned there to my m14. If you did want to DMR one, you'd probably need to swap out the piston for a metal-toothed one at least, but the other internals I imagine would hold up.

 

7 hours ago, Rogerborg said:

CYMA are a good shout as they have robust internals.  The M14 is cheap, but harder to work on than V2 gearbox guns. I'm not sure on how you'd modify the fire selector on those.

 

I accidentally modified mine (I snapped it when I was working on it by accident 😂) and found out it's suuuuuuuuuper reversible, but not so reversible that you wouldn't be allowed to use it as a DMR. When you separate the receiver from the stock there's an arm that goes around the top and moves in and out depending on semi or full auto. All you do is remove a screw from this arm and detach one side from the other and you're immediately fixed to semi auto.

 

7 hours ago, Rogerborg said:

Pistols, meh, I run an MP5K on a leg panel as a sniper/DMR secondary.  Full size V3 gearbox; full auto; light, cheap mags including a 600 round high cap if you want to just slot one in and forget it.  On cost, rate of fire, and weight-per-shot, it beats a pistol hands down.  Other opinions are available though.

 

 

From a purely practical perspective, I will second this (though I prefer pistols because a GBB is fun to shoot and I just like pistols a lot). I also have an mp5k and I can say they're fantastic little guns, though I run mine on a sling. Again, Cyma, £150. All I've changed is the hop rubber and nub again and it's sending .32s to 60m. As @Rogerborg said, it's full auto, full size gearbox and it's just all around great. I run 65rd stubby midcaps in mine, but the 600 round double high cap also works. If you want the best performing secondary alongside a rifle with an MED, this is your best bet, and will probably be a cheaper option because the mags are dirt cheap, unlike gas pistol mags that are fairly pricey.

 

For a more expensive option, I love the TM mp7. Same thinking, but it's an AEP (or gas, but I don't like the gas one) so it only shoots about 0.6J, however I've got mine spraying full auto to 45m fairly accurately which is all you really need alongside a DMR and it's slightly easier to carry than the mp5k because the mag goes into the pistol grip.

 

5 hours ago, Fatboy40 said:

Surprised no one's mentioned an AAP-01 as a sidearm, it matches the OP's criteria...

 

# Good internals/externals: Over all yes, however regular full auto will shorted the hammers lifespan.

# overall good pew: Yes

# good fire rate: Yes

# not too expensive: The price is great for such a good pistol

 

... and I run mine as a sidearm with a CTM holster and can't fault it at all (using 0.28g with an ML Autobot 60 degree).

 

In terms of pistol, this is a great option and it's cheap! £90 or so and it has an absolute boatload of aftermarket parts, including drum mags and carbine kits. I've converted mine to a Ruger .22 to use at Vietnam games because it's so good and reliable I wanted it to replace my 1911 and its tiny magazines! So much more reliable, which I need as a sniper; a good sidearm is just as important as a good main rifle in my opinion!

 

Outside of that, just get whatever TM pistol you like. They're pretty much all good (though I've heard the old m9s are a bit crap), though you need to watch the 1911s because the mags are so small they don't hold much gas. They still shoot well, but outside of summer they can struggle to cycle through a mag on one fill of gas. I've owned about half a dozen TM pistols and not one has disappointed outside of the 1911 for the reason I said above.

 

Overall, I wouldn't get hung up on full-auto for a pistol if it's gas. Whenever you fire, there's a cooldown effect each time and gas doesn't like being cold (it just doesn't work as well when cold). When you fire a gas gun on full auto, it loses all consistency and sprays BBs and gas all over the place because that cooldown stacks after every shot. You also don't need full auto though; I've been running BASRs lately at my local site, even though there's a lot of close range areas where it's useless with its 30m MED and I haven't once gone away from a firefight thinking "if only I had full auto...". Snappy GBB pistol has been all I've really needed, and my various TM pistols + AAP-01 deliver that in spades.

[Sneaky]

Every time I see a post about DMR’s, I will keep on going about about the CYMA CM098 (SR25). @Rogerborg is right, you have to build one , which I did with mine and love it!

 

Have a look for a look you have in mind as you also need to think about your load out look. Speak to other airsofters as we all have past gun ownership histories - the good and bad.

 

As for pistols as a side arm, I now run an HK45 as it is reliable and powerful, has to me out of many tricky situations. Also I like the look of it.

 

Go with what you like and take it from there.

[Cr0-Magnon]

Running a DMR much like a Bolt Action isn't cheap. I love mine but it was a £325 gun (which has since gone up in price), that I sent to Negative Airsoft and paid him about another £300 to make it top notch. Heavyweight BB prices will make your eyes water too. Sure it's fun to justify a scope but I still get hit as much as I would running a regular rifle.

 

Who actually uses a pistol full-auto? (I mean apart from Novritsch). At the only distance I've ever tried to get some serious use out of mine, it'd be frowned upon and possibly even against the rules to shoot full-auto. Plus you need to consider mag capacity, cooldown issues (especially on metal slide guns) and the fact that accuracy tends to go to crap too.

 

Despite the plastic, TM's don't break easier than others. In fact it's far more common to find bits missing or not working on other brands. Their QC is second to none.

 

I'm not trying to put you off, just manage your expectations.

 

[Lozart]

39 minutes ago, Cr0-Magnon said:

Running a DMR much like a Bolt Action isn't cheap. I love mine but it was a £325 gun (which has since gone up in price), that I sent to Negative Airsoft and paid him about another £300 to make it top notch. Heavyweight BB prices will make your eyes water too. 

 

Let's be fair though, you don't need to spend that much on the base gun OR pay someone else that amount to make it better. There's plenty of decent base guns out there around £200 that will work just fine and cost a lot less to upgrade.

 

Of course, if it's your money and you're happy with it then more power to your elbow, other people's mileage WILL vary.

[Cr0-Magnon]

But the chances are if you're "new to the sport", you're not going to be able to make your gun better by opening it up.

[Rogerborg]

1 hour ago, Cr0-Magnon said:

But the chances are if you're "new to the sport", you're not going to be able to make your gun better by opening it up.

 

True, it takes a while to reach the custard-and-Haribo standard of teching.  Got to start somewhere though.

 

Oh, we all forgot to say: don't start meddling with your only primary until you have at least one reliable alternative.

[Cr0-Magnon]

@Sneaky mentioned the CYMA CM.098. It's a good call, you'd ideally want to handle and SR25 style gun first though as they can be too heavy for some to run for a long time. I remember watching this video and being impressed with what it could do, near stock.

 

 

[Lozart]

12 hours ago, Cr0-Magnon said:

But the chances are if you're "new to the sport", you're not going to be able to make your gun better by opening it up.

 

Fair point, but the point is that you don't have to buy a £325 base gun and then spunk another £300 before it becomes a useful DMR. Bolties are very much more in the camp of needing to spend money to make it work well (outside of the odd outliers that have been "pre-upgraded"). If you work on the concept that a DMR just needs to have good range and accuracy then a completely standard Cyma M14 and some decent ammo will happily meet that criteria.

 

Yes, a good trigger response is nice to have but it's not the end of the world if the gearbox is a bit lazy when you're in a role that affords you a bit more time to take aim and place your shots. If you had Luke fit a ZCI barrel and a maple leaf rubber and nub, that would improve it a good deal and not cost you anywhere near £300.

Just for clarity I'm not saying you shouldn't have done that, I'm saying that if you don't want to sink £650 into a DMR, you don't have to.

[Rogerborg]

5 hours ago, Lozart said:

Just for clarity I'm not saying you shouldn't have done that, I'm saying that if you don't want to sink £650 into a DMR, you don't have to.

 

Fully agree, my spend was:

 

£140 Specna Arms SA-E02, definitely not a recommendation, a contrarian way to get the cheapest metal body, QC spring, decent rotary hop unit and a basic X-ASR mosfet

£8 ZCI Cylinder Stainless Steel (Closed)

£3.50 Rocket Selector Plate (so I could swap back to the original to get auto back again)

£8 XT Outer Barrel Extension (7 Inches)

£20.50 AOLS AEG Inner Barrel (455mm)

£7 Gearparts AEG Spring M130

 

I share a scope with my boltie and the rubber and nub came from the bits box, so that was me done and dusted for under £200.  Not a .308" platform, not the most consistent or snappy, but lobs 0.32g well enough at 1.8J.

 

Of course, with it being airsoft I've since spent more on a fixed stock, pointless bipod, Big Dragon M160 (that the mosfet doesn't like) and so on. But you could bag an M14 and do it for even less.

[Kls77]

Always go down the Hpa route haha 

[Lozart]

26 minutes ago, Rogerborg said:

 

Fully agree, my spend was:

 

£140 Specna Arms SA-E02, definitely not a recommendation, a contrarian way to get the cheapest metal body, QC spring, decent rotary hop unit and a basic X-ASR mosfet

£8 ZCI Cylinder Stainless Steel (Closed)

£3.50 Rocket Selector Plate (so I could swap back to the original to get auto back again)

£8 XT Outer Barrel Extension (7 Inches)

£20.50 AOLS AEG Inner Barrel (455mm)

£7 Gearparts AEG Spring M130

 

I share a scope with my boltie and the rubber and nub came from the bits box, so was me done and dusted for under £200.  Not a .308" platform, not the most consistent or snappy, but lobs 0.32g well enough at 1.8J.

 

Of course, with it being airsoft I've since spent more on a fixed stock, pointless bipod, Big Dragon M160 (that the mosfet doesn't like) and so on. But you could bag an M14 and do it for even less.

 

I can hardly talk, my MK12 was built from scratch so not exactly the cheapest way to go! I'm fortunate in that I can handle the engineering involved in putting airsoft bits together well enough.

[Impulse]

2 hours ago, Lozart said:

 

Fair point, but the point is that you don't have to buy a £325 base gun and then spunk another £300 before it becomes a useful DMR. Bolties are very much more in the camp of needing to spend money to make it work well (outside of the odd outliers that have been "pre-upgraded"). If you work on the concept that a DMR just needs to have good range and accuracy then a completely standard Cyma M14 and some decent ammo will happily meet that criteria.

 

Can confirm. All I've swapped out in my Cyma m14 is a ZCI barrel, Maple Leaf macaron and omega nub. Puts .32s out to about 60m with 7/10 accuracy and hits 50m every time at about 1J. Not bad for a £190 gun, though it only cost me about £120 because I got the m14 from Taiwangun before it became harder to buy from them.

 

Do I plan on putting another £190ish into it to make it snappier and quieter? Yes, as well as some Guarder steel internals that have been lying around for about 2 years from when I tried DMRing my TM m14 and hating it. Got a better grasp on what will make it do what I want it to do, and I am now so used to v7 gearboxes that I find them easier than others. As a note, I typically prefer 1.1J builds over the 1.64J and 30m MED limit of my local site's rules, as for a 30m MED I'll just use one of my many, many bolties at 2.3J