Probable TAC-41 L Purchase, A Few Questions (Getting It Right First Time)

[Fatboy40]

I can see around Christmas time that I'll probably be in a position to buy myself my first bolt action, and I don't plan on building a collection of them so I want to get things right first time. Overall I'm drawn to the TAC-41 platform and the TAC-41 L due to it being light with the slim stock but with the aluminium receiver and other parts.

 

There are a few things though that I'd value others comments on as I don't want to make any mistakes...

 

# Inner Barrel Length: Most TAC-41 models come with the 330mm inner barrel, with only a couple the 510mm. I'd be planning to get as close as possible the UK joule limit on 0.43 to 0.48g BB's, so is 330mm fine or without going longer am I limiting my range and accuracy?

 

# It seems the concave chubb nub is a given to improve hop, but do I stick with the standard flat hop rubber?

 

# What spring / Newton's, from Silverback, should I go with to just sit under UK limits? It seems to be the 120N and you may have to remove a coil?

 

# Is the TDC dial "good enough" or is it best to immediately install the Medusa?

 

# With the TAC-41's feed ramp does your magazine immediately "lose" 20 or so BB's with them sat in it? (so when you play pop the mag in, take it out and load it up fully again, then put it back in?). Do people at the end of a game just empty the ramp and put the BB's back in your speed loader? (I don't mind losing say the three that remain in a Maxx model hop unit each time, but not 20).

 

# Are the mags fiddly, until you get used to them, and it's easy to just accidentally empty them? Do any of the 40 / 100 round mags fit in existing pouches?

 

Thank you  

[Impulse]

I can only really advise on inner barrel length as I don't own a TAC-41 myself, but I do own an SRS which has some similarities in how you build them.

 

I'd advise going with a 420mm inner barrel. 330mm is a bit too short to take advantage of the high cylinder volume and can cause inconsistencies in power and accuracy due to overvoluming.

 

And in terms of hop rubbers... there's a whole host of different options and I think everyone has their own preferences. I had a chub nub and a 60d MR hop rubber in my SRS and it shoots really well, but there are a lot of options that apparently work. I'm going to be trying a Stalker setup as it allows me to use unbridged barrels and I've heard that the Stalker stuff is also pretty good but I have no direct experience with it yet.

 

And for the spring, I don't know about newtons, but you can use a Rapax 2J spring as well and they're pretty good.

 

I'm sure someone who actually owns one will be able to give you more information as mine is basically from doing an SRS build which has some similarities, but obviously it's not a TAC-41  

[Rogerborg]

TAC-41 gen 2 owner here.

 

On 14/10/2024 at 17:05, Fatboy40 said:

is 330mm fine or without going longer am I limiting my range and accuracy?

 

Dunno.

 

 

On 14/10/2024 at 17:05, Fatboy40 said:

# It seems the concave chubb nub is a given to improve hop, but do I stick with the standard flat hop rubber?

 

The stock is working fine for me with 0.43g (at ~2.2J), although it's near the top of the dial. If I needed more hop, I'd pop something on top of the stock nub to shim it.

 

 

On 14/10/2024 at 17:05, Fatboy40 said:

# What spring / Newton's, from Silverback, should I go with to just sit under UK limits? It seems to be the 120N and you may have to remove a coil?

 

Dunno, because of the diferrent barrel length. I went with a Silverback 100N + "Rapax SRS, SSG, VSR Steel Spring Tensioners", i.e. three little rings that you can pop in to fine-tune it.  Given how quick and easy the spring change is, you can do it at the chrono, or at lunch.  With one of the rings in (can't remember which) I'm at ~2.2J with a properly hopped 0.43g, but that's from the full length barrel.

 

 

On 14/10/2024 at 17:05, Fatboy40 said:

# Is the TDC dial "good enough" or is it best to immediately install the Medusa?

 

Good enough for me.  I got the YouTube sniper video experience right out of the box, with no mods except a spring.

 

 

On 14/10/2024 at 17:05, Fatboy40 said:

# With the TAC-41's feed ramp does your magazine immediately "lose" 20 or so BB's with them sat in it? 

 

Once. The ramp stays full, so you fill the mag, insert it, fill the ramp, remove the mag and refill it and you're done. I've never emptied the feed ramp, and have essentially forgotten that it's even got one.  There were some issues with the gen 1s, but long since fixed.

 

 

 

On 14/10/2024 at 17:05, Fatboy40 said:

# Are the mags fiddly, until you get used to them, and it's easy to just accidentally empty them? Do any of the 40 / 100 round mags fit in existing pouches?

 

Sadly, yes, that's the one downside - I have spilled my ball-seed on the ground a couple of times, and they're very slightly fussy about insertion.  You soon get used to handing them gingerly though, and you don't need to change often.  The 48 round mags (and they really do hold and feed 48 rounds) fit in a standard pistol pouch.  Dunno about the 110s, they weren't available when I bought.

 

 

[Fatboy40]

I've bitten the bullet and bought a TAC-41 P (in FDE) from Skirmshop, let's see how long it takes to arrive over Christmas. In the end I decided...

• I didn't want to buy second hand, I'm just not sure I'll trust what I'm getting.
• I thought it best to go with the longer inner barrel and the solid body (a bit more old school).

So I've now got until 2nd Feb 2025 to get it just right, ready for the next Red Alert "Battlesim Lite".

 

I think I'm going to go 0.48g and the 120n Silverback spring, but not sure which scope 🤔 (probably a LPVO, 50mm, and use it at around 10x)

[Speedy Sloth]

That 120n spring is likely overkill, silverback have a chart online but somewhere around a 95-110n spring needed from memory. Best to check online first.

[Fatboy40]

2 hours ago, Speedy Sloth said:

That 120n spring is likely overkill, silverback have a chart online but somewhere around a 95-110n spring needed from memory. Best to check online first.

 

Yeah, must remember the "P" has the longer inner barrel.

[Rogerborg]

21 hours ago, Fatboy40 said:

I've bitten the bullet and bought a TAC-41 P

 

Good choice.

 

 

21 hours ago, Fatboy40 said:

(in FDE)

 

Best choice.

 

 

 

21 hours ago, Fatboy40 said:

I think I'm going to go 0.48g

 

You might (or might not) find that's at or beyond the limit of the stock hop and nub. I'm at 9.something with 0.43g, although it being airsoft that says nothing about what yours will be capable of. A "chub nub" is one of the popular (and cheap) upgrades, or just shim out the stock nub with whatever you have to hand if necessary.

 

 

 

21 hours ago, Fatboy40 said:

and the 120n Silverback spring

 

I think that will be spicy. I'm running 

 

Silverback APS Spring 13mm - 100 Newton 
Rapax SRS, SSG, VSR Steel Spring Tensioners
 

Some combination of which gets me to 2.3J with proper hopping of 0.43g

 

That said, you can always lop a coil off.

 

Enjoy the airsoft video sniper experience.  

[Enid_Puceflange]

Good purchase choice 

Probably one of the only “out of the box” skirmishable sniper RIF’s that I have fired

 

I’d be running it as it is to see if it actually needs anything upgraded to make you competitive on the field

I was genuinely shocked how good it was as standard

[Fatboy40]

9 hours ago, Rogerborg said:

Enjoy the airsoft video sniper experience.  

 

Don't worry, I know the reality 🤣 (one of my highlights from 2024 though was being sat in a bush for around 20 minutes after my team moved on, hoping I don't get cramp / ticks on me / wondering how wet my arse can get, and then an enemy squad wanders by and my DMR sends them all home with shouts of "WTF" and "Where did that come from")

9 hours ago, Rogerborg said:

You might (or might not) find that's at or beyond the limit of the stock hop and nub. I'm at 9.something with 0.43g, although it being airsoft that says nothing about what yours will be capable of...

 

I'm hoping that all I need is the updated concave chub nub, 100nm spring and spacers, a couple of extra mags, and a new scope that's got a higher zoom than my DMR 🤞