Hoping to restart the hobby after a 15 year hiatus!

[Psilosylum]

I started airsoft when I was about 14, and played most weekends at Predator Combat Games in N.Ire. I stopped playing airsoft shortly after the VCR act was put in place, this was beause alot of my guns were broken and I moved away to Uni so didn't have as much time or money to participate in the hobby / get my kit in working order.

 

Since then i've done a bit of actual target shooting, however, with all the regulations and costs surrounding firearms licensing i've put this on a back burner until i'm more settled somewhere!

 

In the mean time I do still have a .22 air-rifle and a couple of  .177 pistols which i occasionally take to my local rage, but it's just not the same as Skirmishing!. I'm hoping to find somewhere around Norwich to restart the hobby and get registered with UKARA.

 

I'm not a fan of the whole two-tone situaltion as i feel it takes away from some of the immersiveness of the game, so i'll be patient and get registered before i start buying my own kit i think..

Good to be here, and I look forward to seeing some of you in the field at some point!

If anybody can suggest some decent sites around Norwich / East Anglia which aren't too expensive for rentals please let me know!

Edited November 8, 2022 by Psilosylum

[Rogerborg]

Ahoy and welcome.  I'm not familiar with the sites there, sorry.  It's not impossible to get yourself a RIF if you're willing to buy used (same law  and defences apply to private sellers, but fewer are bothered about it) or to support the retailers who accept some spurious or bogus defences that you can just pay for.  Either way, you're not committing an offence by buying or attempting to buy a RIF.

 

It might be worth renting once first though to check that you're not remembering airsoft with rose-tinted safety glasses.  

[Madhouse]

Hello & welcome!

 

Can't help on sites I'm afraid, but 56 days isn't that long to wait for UKARA and you can work out if anything's changed in the last 15 years while you wait, Besides it'll take you that long to make a list of everything you want to buy and then whittle it down to 'the one' ... and then change your mind a few times over.

[Impulse]

Welcome back to the hobby! As someone who also started when I was 14 and am a similar age (31 here, so it was 17 years ago for me), I can tell you that the hobby has changed from what it used to be and that has both good and bad parts. You'll see a lot more players at a skirmish weekend now; back in the day a busy day might have been 25 - 30 players at my local site, but now a busy day is knocking on 90 players (and that's only because they limit spaces as otherwise the site becomes overcrowded and gameplay suffers).

 

You'll also see a major difference in how well the guns shoot. Now, a cheapo Cyma AK out of the box will hit 45m consistently and without any real issue which back in the day would've been unheard of even for upgraded AEGs. Also, two-tone is an okay thing and you can probably get something two-tone that will cost a comparable amount to renting 3x and can serve as a backup for when you finally get your UKARA and something not two-tone. A plastic bodied Cyma AK goes for £100ish and they're actually pretty damn good!

 

Hope you enjoy your return to the hobby as much as I did!

[JustMark]

Hey, I'm just starting but Battle Stations at Snetterton seemed pretty good and was really busy last Saturday, all the regulars said they love it.  It's a CQB site, my own rental wasn't exactly awesome but some of that might be operator error

I spoke with a few people and they had good things to say about Combat Airsoft near Thetford which I'm going to try out on Sunday (i'll post to say how it goes) and one guy said they really liked the woodland site at Swaffham but I don't know much at all about it beyond that.

Pretty sure there are events at Tuddenham (near Mildenhall) too but i got nothing there beyond they exist!
 

[EDcase]

Welcome back 😁

 

Yeah, the performance of our toys has gone up with the prices going down over the years.  Unfortunately stock in UK is very low at the moment and the European sources are now cut 🙄

 

Have a look HERE for sites near you.

 

Well done for being patient.  It will give you more time to decide what shape BB slinger to get 😉

[Psilosylum]

"You'll see a lot more players at a skirmish weekend now; back in the day a busy day might have been 25 - 30 players at my local site, but now a busy day is knocking on 90 players"

Not sure how i feel about this... I used to play on a 23 acre site with the most attending being about 20-30 people, part of the appeal of Airsoft over paintball was that you had more time and space to use "tactics" rather than purely running and gunning!

"a cheapo Cyma AK out of the box will hit 45m consistently and without any real issue"
 

That's also a bit of a mind f*ck! lol, From the little research I done i was genuinely surprised that the cheapest of the cheap crappy chinese clones (CYMA) seem to actually be half decent now! haha

What confuses me is that now instead of dedicated brands manufacturing their own equipment it seems like some airsoft brands just buy equipment from the same manufacturer and put their label on it (i noticed this with some ASG pistols).

When I was around G&G, G&P, CA and ICS all made good, metal / metal & wood replicas (with JG later hitting the ball out of the park with pricing and quality). Any recommendations on which brand to go for if i'm after a full wood & metal AK or Sig 550?

 

 

Edited November 8, 2022 by Psilosylum

[Emergencychimps]

I am relatively local (currently near Ely, was near Bury St Edmunds). 

 

Locally you have Combat Action Games, which is near Norwich and is a woodland site, has a great reputation and I keep meaning to go there, however I  my local site has recently (about a year ago) changed managers and has come out of a funk. It's getting pretty good again so it's hard to justify the extra commue. 

 

Battle Stations at Snetterton is very CQB (or it was when I went) and videos of the new layout suggest it still is. it's a nice change and players seemed friendly, but it's not a sit I would want to go back to again and again, every 18 months or so as a quirk. I am sure some will disagree but for me it's all very close and it's not my style. 

 

Combat Airsoft Games in Thetford (not to be confused with Combat Action Games) is a paintball site that does airsoft, I think they do more and more airsoft and team green run events there. Team Green do events at Gunman tuddenham as well on occassion (less so now they have access to the thetford site). I didn't enjoy it, lots do but for me it was run like a paintball day, they are similar, but different. Team Green do more LARP type stuff so could be worth checking out. 

 

Gunman Tuddenham, I think they're the best skirmish site I have been to, pretty much ever and I have done a fair few (The mall, sandpit (closed), snetterton, Combat Action Games, Mad dog, The goal, Eversley, Ace Airsoft, (another one down South), splatoon, loads of stirling games, awa herts, ravens nest (closed), urban assault (closed),). Players are generally great, marshalling is effective and low key and the site has a nice mix of buildings and woodland. They have a nice variety to the structure and offerings for their days (filmsim, skirmish, themed etc). 

 

The Goal, probably similar travel time for you and a great site, again not something I'd do on a regular basis (mainly due to the travel) but it was well organised and pretty different, they seem to care about the experience customers get and hold a good set of values (they remind people every week when it's the last day you can cancel etc).

 

As for the cost of hire vs a 2 tone over 3 games you're talking about £25 a pop, so £75 all in. You won't get a semi decent 2 tone for that, you're probably looking £150 plus ancillaries.  personally I'd say rent, ask around on site to see peoples guns (they love chatting about them), have a feel etc and learn about some of the more modern stuff. Then take the plunge and buy a good one that should last you a while once you know you're hooked again, after 1-2 games you can feel hooked, after 4 games you'll know for sure.  

 

 

 

[Impulse]

42 minutes ago, Psilosylum said:

When I was around G&G, G&P, CA and ICS all made good, metal / metal & wood replicas (with JG later hitting the ball out of the park with pricing and quality). Any recommendations on which brand to go for if i'm after a full wood & metal AK or Sig 550?

 

Honestly... Cyma AKs are really good for the price. They do a few metal / wood versions for around the £200 - £250 mark and require minimal modification to be truly amazing; typically just a hop rubber, nub and maybe a barrel change is all that's needed. Cyma have really upped their game in the last 15 years and their AKs, m14s and mp5s are all absolutely solid pieces of kit, and I also have an SR-25 from them that puts out some nasty shots. Plus, it's all very standard, so upgrade parts are very easy to come across.

 

For more premium AKs, you're looking at E&L or LCT, with the former coming out of the same factory as real AKs and are largely compatible with real parts. I have no experience with either though so now idea how good they are. Real Sword were pretty good too, but I'm pretty sure they're out of business as they don't seem to be making any more and my friend was (well, is still) waiting for a replacement gearbox for his SVD from them after over 2 years.

 

And for GBB, the new TM AKM is phenomenal and I can speak about that from personal experience. The only not-so-phenomenal thing about them is that you're not getting any extra mags any time soon, and a single 35rd magazine isn't going to cut it. Not wood, but there is a wood kit around for it that I plan on getting for mine when budget allows.

[Rogerborg]

7 hours ago, Psilosylum said:

That's also a bit of a mind f*ck! lol, From the little research I done i was genuinely surprised that the cheapest of the cheap crappy chinese clones (CYMA) seem to actually be half decent now!

 

Yup.  They're cheap because they make a gojillion of them.  My CM.516 starter-M4 has a really nasty toytown plastic body, but the internals are cockroach tough, and it's always in the bag as a last-resort backup.  Sure, just about every part is crying out to be upgraded, but every part works, and it puts BBs downrange just fine.

[Pollynator_bravo2]

On 08/11/2022 at 13:03, JustMark said:

Hey, I'm just starting but Battle Stations at Snetterton seemed pretty good and was really busy last Saturday, all the regulars said they love it.  It's a CQB site, my own rental wasn't exactly awesome but some of that might be operator error

I spoke with a few people and they had good things to say about Combat Airsoft near Thetford which I'm going to try out on Sunday (i'll post to say how it goes) and one guy said they really liked the woodland site at Swaffham but I don't know much at all about it beyond that.

Pretty sure there are events at Tuddenham (near Mildenhall) too but i got nothing there beyond they exist!
 

Battlestations is excellent and the site is at its new location and constantly evolving. Had nothing but great experience there and me and the team are now all members. 
move not played combat yet but I visited to get my air tank topped up and it looks the muts nuts. Well worth a visit. Tuddenham is very good too but be prepared when you play there by taking ammo and kit into the game field that you will use throughout the morning or afternoon as you don’t return to the safe zone until midday or end of day. That said it’s a wicked site to play also

[JustMark]

Yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed Combat Airsoft and have booked to go again in the new year.  My enthusiasm may have created a monster though as now quite a few of the blokes I work with want to come along too!
 

Similar situation to what you said about Tuddenham PB2, you go out for a few hours at a time so taking enough BB's and a drink out is a must really

[Emergencychimps]

With tuddenham, I'd recommend taking a small respawn bag with you and either leaving it near the road or at your respawn. You either gather near the road between games or the road is part of your way back. Leaving it at your respawn can be quite a walk there and back which is annoying after a full session of games. 

 

In it should be enough to see you through the morning/afternoon, so extra bbs, a snack, water, any extra pyro, a spare battery, spare eye pro etc. 

[Pollynator_bravo2]

On 18/11/2022 at 16:41, Emergencychimps said:

With tuddenham, I'd recommend taking a small respawn bag with you and either leaving it near the road or at your respawn. You either gather near the road between games or the road is part of your way back. Leaving it at your respawn can be quite a walk there and back which is annoying after a full session of games. 

 

In it should be enough to see you through the morning/afternoon, so extra bbs, a snack, water, any extra pyro, a spare battery, spare eye pro etc. 

I’d second that. I really enjoyed Tud even though it was in the peak of summer but I’d strongly suggest taking supplies out with you as the trek back east up game time