Airsoft Action - November 2022

CONTENTS

8 ARMOURY: VFC FN FAL (‘LAR’) GBBR

Stewbacca and Bill have been eagerly awaiting the release of the VegaForceCompany LAR GBBR since it was first seen at MOA, but due to ongoing shipping issues to the UK “our man in Taiwan” has already had his in hands on his own model for a while longer than most! Now he brings in his overview and answers the question: “Is this the FAL GBBR we’ve been looking for?”

FIND US ON…

, IDEA OR QUESTION?

Got something to say?

20 ARMOURY: CANIK TP9 COMBAT ELITE

Are you a 1911 cool-guy, or a Glock hard-charger? Ultimately it’s down to what you like, and what works best for you when it comes to what you carry in your holster, but Bill believes the CANIK TP9 Combat Elite might just make you re-evaluate your choice if the “G-SERIES” is your favoured platform!

26 ARMOURY: EVOLUTION INTERNATIONAL PISTOLS

We all know Evolution International from Italy these days, and the Airsoft Action crew have had the pleasure of testing and evaluating a number of their latest AEG models and come away impressed each and every time! But what happens when a manufacturer best-known for AEGs turns their attention to GBB pistols? Bill and Bjorn delve deeper...

92 RELOADED: SPECNA ARMS MK18

Nearly two years have passed since Bill first got his hands on the MK18 SA-E19 EDGE from Specna Arms, and after some hard use both on the range and in game it’s time to check out how it’s holding up; is this an AEG that can really take a hammering and keep coming back for more? It would appear that “the only easy day was yesterday”!

32 KIT & GEAR: A-TACS

Back at the end of July this year we reported on the website that the guys at Digital Concealment Systems LLC were bringing the popular A-TACS FG variant back into their product line. there are few of the “old campaigners” like Bill in the AA crew that embraced A-TACS the first time round, and like all good fashions FG seems to be having another burst of life as it’s discovered by a whole new generation of airsofters!

38 TOD: SLEEPING BAGS

A good sleeping bag is a vital piece of kit, and you’re unlikely to function at your best during any MilSim or multi-day game if you don’t have that all-essential rest! With this thought in mind, Bill recaps on some valuable information to help you pick a sleeping bag that is right for you, and right for the situation!

44 THE CAGE: TEAM ROLES

After kicking off this new series of THE CAGE with a look at the airsoft sniper last month to coincide with our “Long Gun Special”, this time we’re starting at the top as we look into the arcane arts that make a GREAT airsoft Team Leader!

48 RED CELL: SMG UPDATE

Well, the title of this month’s update says one thing, but on the other hand the Red Cell Crew have a LOT to report back on when it comes to SMG models, so without further ado we’re just going to dive right on in to find out how all are long-term test models have fared, whilst introducing a couple of new models into the mix!

96 LAST POST

After a brief hiatus industry-veteran Frenchie is thankfully back with us again this month to cast his somewhat weary eye over all things in the world of airsoft… and find something to have a good old rant about! Let’s not take ourselves TOO seriously folks, and once again we hope that you’ll find his ramblings as thought-provoking as we do!

62 KIT & GEAR: GHILLIE BUILD

Last month Jimmy walked us through his HPA-driven rifle build as he continues his journey into the role of airsoft sniper, but having a great rifle is only one of many components that goes into becoming a true “shooter”! This time he addresses the creation of his own “ghillie suit” on a budget, a rite of passage for anyone wishing to really embrace the “sniper life”!

66 AA LEGION: SPECIAL REPORT

Although we enjoy “playing war”, the harsh reality of things is that many countries unflinchingly face the prospect of armed conflict every day. The mainstream press has focused recently on countries living under the ominous shadow of possible invasion, amongst them Taiwan, and we tasked Stewbacca to dig into this story, and find out the truth of how airsoft is being used as a part of Civil Defence Training.

78 AA LEGION: HONG KONG

SpeedQB heat is getting more and more popular in Hong Kong, and during the summertime more SpeedQB-related businesses are were founded to support the dramatic growth in SpeedQB teams! Following this came the announcement of the official SpeedQB Competition, a competition officially authorized by SpeedQB, and Larri now reports!

82 AA LEGION: PORTUGAL

Obviously you all like reading about different games and styles of play around the world as we can see this from our analytics! To this end, and thanks to our ever-expanding Legion we’ll make sure that they keep coming, and this month we’re delighted that Miguel is back from his Summer Break as he reports on a game in Portugal that was just a bit special!

RIGHTEOUS RIGHT ARM!

ALONG WITH MANY OF DISCERNING PLAYERS STEWBACCA AND BILL HAVE BEEN EAGERLY AWAITING THE RELEASE OF THE VEGAFORCECOMPANY LAR GBBR SINCE IT WAS FIRST SEEN AT MOA, BUT DUE TO ONGOING SHIPPING ISSUES TO THE UK “OUR MAN IN TAIWAN” HAS ALREADY HAD HIS IN HANDS ON HIS OWN MODEL FOR A WHILE LONGER THAN MOST! NOW, WITH SOME GAME-TIME AND SOME THOROUGH TESTING UNDER HIS BELT, STEWBACCA BRINGS IN HIS OVERVIEW OF THIS RIGHTEOUS RIFLE MODEL AND ANSWERS THE QUESTION: “IS THIS THE FAL GBBR WE’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR?”

As

I touched on last issue the PSG-1 was always a bit of a ‘grail gun’ for me, and finally acquiring one was certainly somewhat of an emotional journey, but before I even knew of VegaForceCompany’s (VFC) sudden announcement of their biggest, baddest Koch, I was already pining for an even more personally important gas blowback rifle. Practically the same thing 00Dad carried during his formative years of service in Northern Ireland - albeit he had the commonwealth / ‘freedom units’ L1A1 SLR, a weapon that is not only instantly recognisable from its profile, but which really needs no introduction, having served in countless countries and conflicts… “the right arm of the free world”; the FAL, or ‘Light Automatic Rifle”, as VFC have used the English acronym.

Given that VFC have already leaned into the FAL’s use in the Bush Wars and used that as their advertising angle, and that I have a lot of South African friends and teammates to boot, I figured I’d steer well clear of commentary on that conflict, and I also touched on Northern Ireland in the past for my L85 article and the FAL is not enough of an L1A1 for the purists anyway. Thus I hastily threw together a homage to an underappreciated action of the Irish

Army in the Democratic Republic of Congo back in the early 1960s just after the adoption of the FAL became popular, the siege of Jadotville for which the men involved never received ample recognition to my mind, and many others. With the help of ‘Military’ Anny Wu I managed to book myself in for a photo session at the Sanchong Air Force Kindred Village No.1 where I’d been the previous weekend to check out their 2nd Militaria Market with Anny and some of my teammates and industry folks.

The LAR was quietly announced without much initial fanfare by VFC way back at MOA 2019 in Taipei, Taiwan, by virtue of an early sample appearing in a sealed glass case sandwiched between the G3 and G28 offerings on the horizon from VFC’s fruitful Umarex licensed H&K product line. Rest assured its presence was duly noted by myself and other sharp eyed aficionados, all of whom undoubtedly began salivating at the prospect of a GBBR incarnation of everyone’s favourite thumper that’s all about #PuttingProperHolesInImproperPeople in the real steel realm.

With that initial lifting of the veil many of us became the perpetual bane of our good friend, poor Ray Chang’s life with the inevitable perpetual ‘FAL

“THE LAR WAS QUIETLY ANNOUNCED WITHOUT MUCH INITIAL FANFARE BY VFC WAY BACK AT MOA 2019 IN TAIPEI, TAIWAN, BY VIRTUE OF AN EARLY SAMPLE APPEARING IN A SEALED GLASS CASE SANDWICHED BETWEEN THE G3 AND G28 OFFERINGS ON THE HORIZON FROM VFC’S FRUITFUL UMAREX LICENSED H&K PRODUCT LINE.”

when?’ demands for updates in the intervening years! However we didn’t have to wait too long for an initial taster, with the production prototypes being fielded at the following MOA2020 show… just prior to the dark times and lockdowns the rest of the world endured, and the last one before ‘rona canceled all the events since; MOA thankfully looks to making its full return this Christmas, and I’ll be reporting on that when it happens.

ALL THE AIRSOFT NEWS, LIVE!

Introduced on the various livestreams VFC held, including one with yours truly along with Bill for Airsoft Action at the time, Ray had to wrestle it back off me behind the desk; I’d already managed to get hands on at VFC’s integrated range within their stand that dominated what was left of the somewhat subdued 2020 domestic only show; with Korean company Gunpower Inc’s Target TV system set up at the end of a small separate booth at the rear of their stand, visitors were welcome to throw a magazine load down range of various new offerings, while I also got to chat to some of their engineering bods about the materials and processes they were using, as well as challenges they were facing in terms of production and just the general supply chain and public expectations. It’s always nice to meet like-minded folks who ‘get it’ or are in the know!

I was already impressed back then by the general heft and recoil impulse of the early prototypes, but in the years since VFC have been reworking a lot of their GBBR systems to both simplify their internal workings as well as make them both harder hitting and more durable, with their licensed BCM MCMR GBBRs being one of the first systems to get the new treatment (actually delaying them slightly and resulting in the AEG platforms hitting the market first despite their earlier plans). The attention to detail VFC have been putting into their products recently has really started to show; many in the past have derided some of their earlier products, but it’s really difficult to find fault with the last few years of offerings! Their licensed H&K PSG-1 is a firm favourite of mine, the Mk48 LMG AEG was executed brilliantly while also being lightweight and practical, and two of my teammates have already purchased their BCM MCMR GBBRs and Cybergun licensed Colt M733 GBBRs off the strength of my own reviews and recommendations. VFC really have gone

the extra mile to produce things that not only look the part, but shoot like a dream in my experience too.

Thus I was happy to an extent to hear that the LAR/FAL was getting the same treatment; yes it led to further delays for a few months with Ray and the team announcing it would be released mid-2022 at the earlier MOA Campfest in April, but it was definitely worth the wait for the final kinks to be worked out of their offering, and to my mind they really have knocked it out of the park with this one. Much as I can appreciate the AR platforms I’ve tested I couldn’t really ‘justify’ getting one myself given the wall full of other guns I’ve already had to find room for, but the FAL had been reserved a space in my initial plans, and it’s equally deserving of its ‘top spot’ aside the PSG-1… that is when I finally put it down long enough to mount it to the gun wall!

Since acquiring my own personal one the Tuesday after their mid-August release in Taiwan, I’ve barely looked at anything else in the ever growing collection. I dropped by the Pentagon Center to meet Ray and talk shop regarding the background information and specifications as well as going through a near detail strip with Fred of the VPSC team who introduced all the fixtures and features to me in great detail as well as where maintenance was required given that I was also buying one for

myself that day; a much appreciated deep dive into the inner workings for sure!

A NEW PARADIGM

With the nuts and bolts literally covered I handed over one of my lesser needed organs and we proceeded to test fire my very own LAR on their indoor range. It was definitely a new experience; while the previous production prototypes were by no means a slouch in terms of recoil and shooting experience, the intervening modifications definitely made a noticeable difference to performance; buyer beware, you might actually want to use ear protection when using this newly tuned up beast! The ‘right arm’ is actually bloody loud IN the ‘right ear’!

Nonetheless, with all the formalities dealt with I gleefully wrestled the large (but thankfully somewhat plain, aside from easily hidden labels!) box home on the MRT, along with a backpack full of my written notes and the three additional magazines I’d managed

to acquire at the same time, and impatiently waited for the weekend to roll around for more in depth testing to ensue.

That Sunday team Taiji ventured to our airport-side ‘Terminal’ former logistics building game site… only to find it already partially boarded up and a team of guys arrived midway through the day to finish the rest of the ground floor; it would seem the ground is shrinking under our feet for good places to play as of late. Regardless we kept ourselves busy in the upstairs spaces and I made good application of the VFC LAR GBBR with its excellent long range capabilities. As I found with the VFC Colt M733, the range and consistency out of the box are surprising, with the LAR similarly throwing BBs straight and true and at a fair rate across the mezzanine of the building, albeit with an even louder and heftier ‘clack’ splitting the air each time.

Of course, as is usually the case when I roll up with a shiny new gun there was an immediate queue forming once heads had turned towards the new noisy toy; again as with the Lee Enfield No.4 of

the previous issue, there were a few commonwealth teammates with fond memories of handling the original back in their respective homes, and the loud thumping of the bolt continued throughout the morning’s gaming, whether in my hands or someone else’s! Our fleeting new Aussie teammate Jules who’s unfortunately already had to return home again was also most interested in testing, fielding and posing with the new prodigal child of my armoury.

The following weekend we went to our Yangmei abandoned dormitory complex site for more urban escapades, and I found the LAR somewhat cumbersome for genuine CQB work in and out of window frames and on tight corners, but nonetheless enjoyed fielding it, and during the down time between games or being shot out early by the fast moving whipper-snappers of the opposing team I took to target practise using an empty gas can at around 20m. Even with the iron sights I was soon beating the can up with semi-auto aimed fire… we don’t touch that forbidden ‘A’ setting now, do we, gentlemen? I got to the point where I’d hammered the can and knocked it over, then managed to land the next shot on the now exposed base of the can to the amazement or amusement of my compatriots. Yes, somewhat of a tack driver, it seems. Continuing the theme I decided to take the LAR

replace the original slide on dust cover during typical field stripping procedures if you want to mount an optic to it for a more modern touch. Of course, for an SLR like setup I’d need a SUIT sight, or something similar, but for the moment the loose ACOG I had lying around made a good stand in, and I setup the LAR with it for some longer range sighting and shooting, and it turned out I didn’t even have to rezero the optic at all, with the BBs landing pretty much on the crosshair or just around it as soon as I’d fitted it. Definitely an impressive piece of kit, for my money!

Fielding the LAR in a rough homage to Irish UN field greens and blue beret on the second morning of the MilSim having gotten tired of lugging the full battle rattle around in the searing heat and humidity of the day before was actually somewhat liberating, and although the overall length of the rifle can be cumbersome among buildings or dense undergrowth, it is at least comfortable in terms of its just under 4kg weight, and I got stuck in with a few magazine loads during some intense firefights from behind knolls and tree trunks during the morning’s shooting.

GETTING TECHNICAL

So, having spent a few weekends on the trot navigating Taiwan’s heat and humidity with my own right arm of the free world, and thoroughly enjoying every minute of fielding it, what of the technicalities and minutiae? Well, during my Pentagon Center visit Ray and Fred laid down all the intricacies for me; the VFC FN FAL/LAR GBBR is a close replica of the

the front handguards being of the triple-vented and indented style that can accept a folding bipod if you have one to hand. The pistol grip is formed from the same plastic and has a comfortable grip angle and a feel familiar to the fanbois who got to handle the real deal.

A large proportion of the fixtures and fittings are made of steel, again finished with a realistic looking parkerized-tone paint finish, while the remaining aluminium components are anodised to resemble parkerized steel as per VFC’s Mk48 LMG and M733 offerings. The lower receiver and top dust cover are both stamped sheet steel, while the main receiver is cast aluminium alloy which is then CNC finished on its mechanical surfaces; the deluxe DX variant will make use of steel for this key component, which represents most of the material and machining value of both variants, but it will be released in far more limited numbers and cost 50% more than the standard version, so if you really have to have a steel receiver for the weight and realism, dig a little deeper into those pockets, I’m sure it will be worth it for the discerning types.

Nonetheless the receiver is the only difference between the standard and deluxe variants; both forms have reinforced internals with the bolt being a CNC machined slab of steel, while the hammer, and safety/selector lever are steel, with the trigger, sears, valve striker and takedown lever being metal injection moulded; even the hammer mainspring follows the unitised format of its real steel counterpart, indeed,

“I

faux gas tube (which even features a realistic retaining gas plug that can be released to reveal a sprung loaded aluminium mock gas piston). Removal of all of this and unscrewing of the gas tube itself from the front of the receiver allows you to remove the carrying handle should you wish to, while the outer barrel itself is aluminium within the body of the handguard but then terminates just in front of it, along with the 360mm long inner barrel, no doubt to maintain a sensible power level for most environments. A steel outer-barrel extension is threaded onto the end of the aluminium root component, around all of which this sits the front sling loop.

The front sight is the simple vertically adjustable post with solid protective side ears and can be wound up or down using the included multifunction maintenance tool, while the very front of the barrel features the original short and wide vented muzzle device which is held on with a standard 14mm thread, allowing the attachment of standard silencer or tracer attachments should you prefer. You can in theory remove the steel outer barrel front section to form the later carbine models, but the thread holding this on is not the same standard so won’t allow you to simply thread on a muzzle device directly without some form of suitable adaptor or thread modification. The furniture throughout and even the stamped steel top cover are all to real specifications at least, so if you are inclined you can acquire real steel equivalents (including other forms of scope railed top cover) and attach them to the VFC base rifle with ease to

If you are for some reason possessed to, you can push the realistic spring-detent-retained selector lever all the way around to the extra noisy setting and loose BBs off at the rate of around 600 per minute in terms of raw cyclic ROF; however, the magazines won’t last so long doing so, and we frown on such frivolities where I come from! Also be aware of the detent itself flying out of the head of the selector lever if doing so, as it clears the receiver during the arc of the longer forward stroke so can cause jamming or outright loss of the detent if you aren’t paying sufficient attention.

The magazines themselves are excellently made slabs of metal with a generally heavy feel and comfortable heft in handling, and they also have deeply imbedded main valves on their top rear faces, something I’m very much a fan of. The main striker in the LAR protrudes quite far forwards and finds its way behind these inset valves through the indents in the rear bodies of the magazines, and this ensures that the gas valves are well protected from rough handling or foreign bodies or other things. This means I can wedge them into my Fastmag magazine pouches without any issues whatsoever, while my PSG-1 magazines with their protruding valve arms are prone to venting gas if they get pressed in or hung up on the side tangs of the Fastmags and thus require a lot more thoughtful handling when loading into pouches or reindexing during reloading. I’m much happier with the ease of handling these LAR ones afford.

The capacity is also excellent both in terms of gas, with some reviewers purporting as many as 200

“AT

INITIAL BATCH

AROUND A THOUSAND UNITS HAVE ALREADY

WAY ALL OVER THE WORLD TO EAGERLY AWAITING PRIVATE BUYERS AND

AND

ON THE SUCCESS OF THIS INITIAL RUN

ARMOURY

BBs fired on a single fill of the vast gas reservoir in the large “7.62x51” sized box magazines, while the “round count” can be as high as 27 or 28 if you are really forceful, although VFC are still selling these as ‘20 round’ capacity. I found 25 rounds to be a happy medium in my use which was reliably fed by all four of my magazines and gives you a little bit above real capacity to effectively give me an additional magazine’s worth while I look to acquire another two or four magazines for a full battle loadout myself. As with most GBBR platforms there is also a ‘dry fire’ enabled mode provided with the sliding latch on the top of the magazine used in conjunction with depressing the swinging catch on the rear right edge of the magazine body.

Performance wise, the Taiwan native units like mine seem to be sending 0.2g BBs downrange at between 110-130m/s (360-430 FPS) depending on ambient temperature; I originally chronographed the LAR at the lower figure during the slightly cooler and rainier days testing, while in the blazing sunshine and humidity of our MilSim the LAR clocked toward the higher end of the range mentioned, around the 1.3 Joule mark, with a slightly higher around 1.5J being the result I found when using 0.45g and 0.5g BLS BBs during my testing, with the velocity itself dropping to the 80-90m/s mark (260-290 FPS) but carrying the energy out there with the heavier rounds.

The HOP unit is cleverly hidden on the front underside of the upper receiver, just aft of the front handguards, and takes the form of a simple flat head screw that allows for ease of adjustment without having to get inside the gun at all, although a part of me wishes that they’d made the realistic adjustable gas valve responsible for HOP adjustment, but perhaps I’m trying to find problems or asking too much at this point. The gents were good enough to wind mine all the way to its lower limit of adjustment prior to testing and handing it over to me at the Pentagon center, and I haven’t had to do much adjustment thus far making use of 0.3g BLS BBs.

Apparently the German and Korean variants have already been supplied with suitably throttled-down gas nozzles to suit their domestic legal restrictions, and while there isn’t an integral NPAS system I know other users have employed Clarence Lai Project Design adjustable floating valves or similar grub screw adjustment valve systems to tame their LARs for local requirements. I may follow suit, although everything is within our local regulations for now at least, and I am half tempted to throw a PSG-1 inner barrel in mine to use up that excess external barrel space, but I’m

honestly not convinced it’s necessary just yet. I haven’t found myself particularly wanting at all in terms of range and consistency, so, as with most of my platforms, I’ll probably run it as stock until something goes awry or leaves me wanting more.

Thus far the only issue I have encountered whatsoever is an occasional ‘doubling’ of the fire control group during strings of semi-auto fire; this is apparently a known issue with the real steel guns and something VFC have once again replicated all too accurately! Removal and filing of the main sear within the trigger to give it a slight behind vertical angled engagement surface will resolve this issue if it arises with your own model, but thus far nothing has caused me enough of a problem to justify stripping it down. Apparently you can also remove the included strokereduction plastic buffer from the rear of the receiver without any immediate ill effects, and this lengthens the stroke and further reduces the full auto RoF, as well as making for a more realistic recoil impulse, although I’m sure VFC would advise against such things in terms of warranty.

At present the initial batch of around a thousand units have already made their way all over the world to eagerly awaiting private buyers and stockists, and depending on the success of this initial run there may be more to follow, although the deluxe version will be much fewer in number, perhaps only a hundred or so given the greater cost and machining required and the more prohibitive price tag.

In Taiwan a base model will set you back NTD 18,000, around GBP500, while the deluxe is set to sell for around NTD 30,000, around GBP 850, but of course expect these prices to increase with shipping, import charges and mark up from suppliers in your host nations. If you have been eagerly awaiting one like the myriad friends on my social media who are now members of the FAL GBBR brotherhood, you could do far worse than put some hard-earned coin towards what is an outstanding homage to a legend of small arms. I know I’m going to continue thoroughly enjoying losing my hearing to mine!

The LAR GBBR really is the airsoft “right arm”, and VFC have done a righteous job with it!

As always I’d like to extend a warm Airsoft Action “THANK YOU” to Ray and the whole VPSC and wider VFC team for answering all my questions, and our prayers, with this excellent latest offering. Thankfully Bill finally has his own LAR, so expect to see a return to this super GBBR in a “RELOADED” article once ours have had more field-time! AA

NEW SKOOL COOL

THERE ARE UNDOUBTEDLY SOME FABULOUS GBB AIRSOFT PISTOLS ON THE MARKET THESE DAYS, AND THE CHOICE FOR A SECONDARY SIDEARM IS A VERY PERSONAL THING. ARE YOU A 1911 COOL-GUY, OR A GLOCK HARD-CHARGER? ULTIMATELY IT’S DOWN TO WHAT YOU LIKE, AND WHAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU WHEN IT COMES TO WHAT YOU CARRY IN YOUR HOLSTER, BUT BILL BELIEVES THE CANIK TP9 COMBAT ELITE MIGHT JUST MAKE YOU RE-EVALUATE YOUR CHOICE IF THE “G-SERIES” IS YOUR FAVOURED PLATFORM!

Ialways

thought of myself as someone who carried a sidearm for airsoft for those moments when everything went wrong, and in many ways I still believe this to be true; if I have to transition to my secondary “in-game” then it means that my primary AEG or GBBR has either spat the dummy in a major way, or that I’m out of BBs, darn it! This does happen, especially as I usually carry mid-cap 120s for my AEGs or indeed real-cap 30s for my GBBRs!

As I’ve also modified my own style of play as I’ve got older, and I find that I carry more and more a “DMR” style rifle with sub-100 BB mags; these days I like to have a little distance in an engagement which widens my tactical options and plays more to my accuracy as a shooter, but of course that also means I need to take into account Minimum Engagement Distances to ensure that I’m playing safely and responsibly.

This, again of course, means that not only do I carry a sidearm, but that I also USE it more, and I spent many hours during the C-Virus lockdowns just simply working on my pistol “skills and drills” on my home 10m range. Add to this the sheer amount of GBB handguns that have been hitting the market in the last couple of years, and that all of those have needed thorough testing, and I have to say that my “handgun time” has risen considerably!

I am not however a “comp guy”, and although I enjoy a little friendly shoot-against-my-friends, I’m not like Stewbacca (and now Jimmy and Ben) who competes… as long as I can make a hit “centre mass” while on the move at 5-10m with my secondary I’m a happy bunny… BUT…

I’ve watched how the guys have progressed with their “comp training”, and how their more advanced and fettled handguns have performed, and it genuinely has me thinking if it’s not time to place my

beloved G17 in its rightful, hard-earned place on my gun wall. I’ve re-embraced the 1911 in its Hi Capa form, and like many of you have come to love this as a skirmish pistol all over again, but deep-down I’m still a “G-Guy”, and I ‘ve been looking more at all those tricked-out G-Series pistols with new eyes. To date though I’d not found something that I really liked to replace my old, trusty G17… until I set eyes on the CANIK TP9!

REAL WORLD PERFORMER

The CANIK TP9 has been getting some serious traction in the real-deal handgun world, and unlike other models that have shone brightly and then imploded (Hudson, I’m looking right at ya!), the TP9 seems to have the endurance-legs to be a longerterm player in the world handgun market!

Although I’ve mentioned Glock here, the TP9 is most definitely NOT a Glock, although it has many features and ergonomics that will be second nature to any user of the famed Austrian handguns. CANIK themselves are based in Turkey and have been a major player in the aerospace defence industry for twenty years, and a world-leading firearm manufacturer for over thirteen years! The company’s aerospace manufacturing expertise led to many meaningful defence-industry partnerships, which in turn drove them to develop a high quality polymer pistol, the TP, and the story really began with the adoption of the TP by Turkish Law Enforcement. In 2012 CANIK partnered with Century Arms to introduce TP pistols to the U.S. market, and as I said, the company has quickly risen to the forefront of firearm conversations… and stayed there!

The CANIK pursuit of excellence continued in 2019 with the new TP9 Elite Combat that came as

“DEEP-DOWN I’M STILL A “G-GUY”, AND I ‘VE BEEN LOOKING MORE AT ALL THOSE TRICKED-OUT G-SERIES PISTOLS WITH NEW EYES. TO DATE THOUGH I’D NOT FOUND SOMETHING THAT I REALLY LIKED TO REPLACE MY OLD, TRUSTY G17… UNTIL I SET EYES ON THE CANIK TP9!”

standard with performance upgrades by Salient Arms International; now we all know and love Salient Arms International, right? For newer players though, Salient Arms International (SAI) is dedicated to accuracy and performance. Whether the end-user is military, law enforcement, civilian, or a comp shooter, SAI strive to provide them with cutting edge products that they can rely on. SAI identifies and addresses a weapon’s shortcomings and then works to create an improved and completely unique platform.

With performance finishes on external and internal components, a CET™ trigger, performance upgrades designed by SAI and much more, the real CANIK TP9 Elite Combat is a versatile compact pistol with the performance parts designed by SAI; with a fluted and nitride-coated match-grade barrel, thread protector, fibre-optic sights, and mag well, this compact pistol has a polymer frame, is striker-fired, and has an opticsready slide with four different interfaces to accept the market’s most popular reflex sights. The slide-stop lever can be mounted to either side of the slide for fast loading, and extensions for the magazine release catch and alternate backstraps are included with each new pistol to enable an ideal fit.

NEW AIRSOFT DIRECTIONS

And, of course, SAI have been a bit of a buzz in the airsoft world, and there are already many fine GBBs out there that you can choose from that have been created under licence, but what Cybergun have done, and yes, it is Cybergun that have brought all the parties together to create the TP9 Combat Elite in 6mm form, is to take a real handgun that has a buzz about it, and remake it perfectly for us as players!

Cybergun it would seem are really coming back “in from the cold”, and after a few years of apparent languishing in the “what direction do we take” wasteland of airsoft, they are coming back STRONG! We had the pleasure of meeting with them at IWA earlier this year, and what they had to show us, including their TP9, was exciting and indicated to me at least that they are 100% back on track!

Cybergun have brought together CANIK, SAI, and EMG in the USA to create an excellent GBB pistol, a fully licensed replica of one of the most modern and cutting edge handgun designs to enter the civilian tactical market in recent years. The airsoft TP9 is also beautifully put together, with a metal slide and outer barrel, and a very neatly achieved and “traded” frame. The feel in the hand is very “G-Series”, but with a twist as although everything is where you’d expect it to be, it’s just different, but “good different”!

The metal outer barrel ends at the sharp-end with

a steel thread protector, styled after the SAI thread protector provided on the real TP9 Elite Combat, and from speaking to the guys at EMG they licensed out the barrel needed to make the TP-9 elite as the real one features an SAI designed trigger and SAI barrel. The outer barrel itself (a thing of beauty) has a 14mm CCW thread, so fitting a suppressor is simple and quick.

The slide has some deep cuts to aid smooth and assured cocking, and the fibre-optic sights are well replicated to aid in gaining a simple, effective sightpicture, although rear-top is a cut-out so a red dot sight can be mounted with the addition of an optics mounting plate (think MOS-style). A reduced-profile muzzle-end makes holstering a breeze, and the TP9 fitted neatly into all my G-Series holsters. On each side of the slide there are licensed trademarks, including a unique serial number. All of the trademarks on the TP9 are really well achieved which adds to the “quality feel” of the pistol overall.

On the lower front of the frame is a 20mm rail which is moulded into the frame itself, which means you can easily fit a taclite, and once again all of my existing models fitted easily. The pistol grip is angled much like any “G”, but is positively pre-stippled to give a solid grip. One thing I like is a just a tiny touch, as on the base of the slightly extended magwell there is a subtle SAI logo; this ain’t gonna make you shoot any better, but it does sing to me!

So, so far so good! But that’s far from the full story as the TP9 has yet more going in inside! I’m led to believe that the pistol was OEM’d by Armorer Works, but it actually has a striker-fire system like the GHK Glock! The great benefit of this (other than realism!) is that there is no drag on the slide like that which you get with a hammer system, and this makes the pistol silky-smooth and very consistent. In a nutshell, the TP9 has no hammer in the lower frame, and there even appears to be a sear… further investigation needed I feel!

RANGETIME

I had the “Collector’s Edition” of the TP9 to play with, and this comes with a CANIK Polymer Pistol Case, CANIK Pistol Display Stand, a CANIK T Shirt and Collector Patch (Cybergun Patch too!), and a CANIK Certificate of Authenticity all packaged up in an orange CANIK box with magnetic lid. Did I need all these things? Not really, but it does make you feel a bit “special”! What does all of the above add up To though you may ask? Is this a case of lots of guccigoodies all wrapped up in a funky body, that’s superwell-presented but delivers little? Sadly we have all

seen THAT before!

Thankfully this is most definitely NOT the case with the TP9! I’ve been running the pistol on green gas and to date I’ve had no major issues with consistency of power, and the magazine stood up to being hammered on a regular basis. The action of the pistol was Mag-Lubed after each range session, and retained the smoothness that it had when it first arrived with me. Externally the finish stood up well to going in and out of my Kydex Customs G-Series holster.

Controls are all workmanlike; the magazine release is on the left, and is an enlarged design; this can also be reinstalled on the right for left-handed use. The trigger of the TP9 is a dual-stage design, with no manual safety catch, and this breaks smoothly each and every time. The hop adjuster can be found on the underside of the outer barrel, and this is very easy to adjust, although as usual with this design of hopadjuster getting things right is time consuming.

In terms of continued performance I logged in excess of 500 20g, .25g, and .30g BBs through the pistol; it performed as new at 10m on steels and on the Attack Sense Smart Target System,

with solid accuracy at that distance, the realistic maximum distance I would usually expect to use a “secondary” at. The TP9 has registered highest at 0.78 Joule/291fps on a .20g, settling in at 0.77 Joule/288fps and staying there. I’ve found that now it has settled in it does like .28g as its regular fodder, and again, this is what I would use long-term.

Interestingly SAI actually feature this 6mm model as a “Training Pistol” on their website, yet another manufacturer to realise the benefit of safe, correct training with airsoft! This particular “training pistol” is proving to be a keeper, so if you’re an existing “G-Series” user looking for a modernised yet dependable “6mm friend” then the Cybergun TP9 Combat Elite should most definitely be on your list to try.

It looks right, feels right, and shoots right; what more do you need?

My thanks as usual go to the guys at www. iwholesales.co.uk for providing the test sample of this super little GBB; if you’re in the market for something different then do pay them a visit to check out everything they have on offer! AA

ALL IN, ALL THE WAY!

Okay,

it’s true, I believe you’ll have been extremely remiss if you haven’t noticed our Italian friends at Evolution International over the past couple of years as they’ve been cranking out some thoroughly sound AEG models to build on a line of largely AR-based platforms that’s actually been with us for a LOT longer!

Although I’ve personally been using an Evolution AEG for some considerable time (see RELOADED in Issue 141) we’ve had the pleasure more recently to check out their new GHOST and RECON AEGs and liked them, along with a new direction in the form of their M40 spring sniper rifle, but NOW they seen intent of offering the full package with a new family of GBB pistols based on the ever-popular ”1911 and G Series”.

But should this new direction come as any surprise? Not at all if I’m honest as Evolution have always been about new models, new technologies, and pushing new boundaries! When I first met them many moons ago at IWA they were largely a distributor, working with some of the best airsoft brands out there, but already beginning to show they had an ”aganeda” of their own. In that first meeting we talked about their all-new ”HARDCORE” series of AEGs and their (at the time) innovative new Bio BBs.

Bu that was then, and this is now... for those new to the brand let me give you a little history, recapping on something I wrote a little while ago; Evolution International S.r.l. is based in Vimodrone (Milan). Italy. In the HQ you’ll find the Commercial and Sales Department, the Marketing, Communication and Graphic Design Of-fices, Administration, Tech Department, R&D and the Warehouse. That’s just the physical stuff, and to me the real history of the company is far more interesting, as it all began with what I will call “one of us”!

Evolution International S.r.l. is the result of a

passionate concept born in 1996, the year in which Sergio Castelluccia, one of the two founders, made airsoft not just his passion, but his way of life! Sergio was part of a very competitive and well known airsoft team, which played at very high levels around Italy, and given his technical skills with a background as a Li-censed Gun Smith for real firearms, he began to repair airsoft rifles for his teammates, be-coming known by various teams, who in turn came to trust him for repairs and upgrades.

At the same time Sergio also created the first Italian online Airsoft blog, airsoftnews.net, which become very popular with us early adopters online! After graduating university, Sergio decided to convert his passion into a full-time job by involving the co-founder of Evolution in his fledgling business, Giovanni Castelluccia, his father. Their first intention was to make the Far Eastern brands available to the European market, and in a short time, Sergio gained the exclusive distribution of very important brands such as Classic Army, Systema and ICS, and Evolution International’s activity continued as sole distributor for several many years.

For several years though Evolution International S.r.l. has been focused on production of licensed replicas but for Sergio this still wasn’t enough, so he decided not to limit himself only to the production of replicas but to design his own original models!

Sergio’s obsession as an airsoft player was not just about the exterior of an AEG but also the interior. Thanks to technological development that made miniaturized electronic components available, it has been possible for Evolution International to start developing its unique electronic boards. They have gradually evolved up to the ETS III CONFIGURATION, which are built-in as standard in all the new HARD CORE SERIES AEGs giving freedom to the user to personalize the behaviour of the gun in endless

WE ALL KNOW EVOLUTION INTERNATIONAL FROM ITALY THESE DAYS, AND THE AIRSOFT ACTION CREW HAVE HAD THE PLEASURE OF TESTING AND EVALUATING A NUMBER OF THEIR LATEST AEG MODELS AND COME AWAY IMPRESSED EACH AND EVERY TIME! BUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A MANUFACTURER BEST-KNOWN FOR AEGS TURNS THEIR ATTENTION TO GBB PISTOLS? BILL AND BJORN DELVE DEEPER...

“AT FIRST GLANCE IT’S QUITE APPARENT THE AMOUNT OF EFFORT THEY’VE PUT INTO THIS PISTOL WHICH HAS A UNIQUE DESIGN THAT RETAINS THE OVERALL LOOK OF A REAL 1911. THE COMPLETE CNC PROCESSING, THE ALUMINIUM CONSTRUCTION AND THE DURALITE™ FINISH MAKE THIS PISTOL QUITE UNIQUE”

configurations. This is a great system, and one that I can personally comment on positively having tried the very latest iterations of Evoltuion AEGs.

GOING SMALL

So, with a background that is all about innovation in airsoft I am unsurprised to see Sergio and his team turning their attention to GBB pistols, and the initial range on offer is pretty darn solid. As I said before, Evolution have sensibly concentrated on two of the most popular series of airsoft pistols, namely the ubiquitous 1911 and the ”G”... everyone loves a ”G” right?

The guys at Evolution told me;

”When we decided to start making handguns, here at Evolution International we started from a blank sheet. We reconsidered the standard manufacturing procedures used by the most in the Airsoft Industry and we adopted a unique manufacturing protocol inspired by the firearms industry.

“The result is a line of handguns with excellent finish, smooth action, accurate shooting and with a hard kick. Our guns are designed in Italy, hand-fitted by our technicians to minimize the tolerances, tested one by one in our shooting range and packed in an impact-proof Made in Italy Pistol Case.”

When they started designing the E911 Special Operations they wanted

“THE WARRIOR HAS A SOLID HEFT THAT GIVES THE FEEL OF HIGH QUALITY FROM THE START. NO RATTLE FROM ANYTHING, AND THE MAG SLIDES RIGHT IN WITH EASE AND IS EASY TO RELEASE. BUT THE QUALITY REALLY BEGINS TO SHOW WHEN SHOOTING IT”

to ”take the airsoft 1911 platform to the next level”. At first glance it’s quite apparent the amount of effort they’ve put into this pistol which has a unique design that retains the overall look of a real 1911. The complete CNC processing, the aluminium construction and the Duralite™ finish make this pistol quite unique. Optimizing tolerances and internals they tell me that they’ve obtained a trigger action with zero pre-load, a sharp release, zero over-travel and a fast reset. The E1911 looks to be very comfortable and stable in the hand thanks to great ergonomics and a spot-on centre of mass. With the E017 Warrior Evolution have again made extensive use of CNC milling; they completely changed the angles of the standard slide and added prominent and aggressive serrations that are extended through the whole slide starting from the ejection port to the front sight. The result on the E017 is a very aggressive and distinctive look and a substantial weight reduction that increases cycling speed due to the reduced reciprocating mass. To improve the ergonomics and the reloading speed they’ve added an oversized Carbontech magwell. The Hard Kick Recoil System (HKRS) and realistic weight and take down system contribute to a great feeling in the hand, and a true sense of felt-recoil.

Now sadly I’ve not had the chance to shoot the new models myself, but in addition to the E911 Special Operations and the E017 Warrior there’s also the E911 Defender and a ”standard” E017 to add to the mix. One model in the line also worthy of note is the E017 full polymer version which Evolution describe as the ”go-for gun for cold environments” or for those countries where high pressure propellants are not allowed. In this model the CNC machined aluminium slide has been replaced with a polymer one in order to reduce the reciprocating mass, and this to me just shows that once again Evolution know exactly what they’re talking about when it comes to catering for all players, all around the globe. I am definitely looking forward to getting out to Italy and taking up the invite to visit that Evolution have given me so that I can shott the entire range!

PROOF OF CONCEPT

However, of course when it comes to testing these days Airsoft Action have THE LEGION to put into the mix, and therefore my battle-brother Bjorn (one of our original AA ”Legionnaires” and an Evolution ”Face”) was able to report back from his rangetime with the new E017 Warrior.

Bjorn: The G17 “Warrior”, Evoultion really went all in! Unboxing this beauty for the first time, first

you notice the metal slide with extra CNC grooves to make it lighter and to give you that extra grip to pull the slide back even when slippery. Then the enhanced magwell for faster n easier reloads but the looks.... the look of it is superb! On top of that, green illuminated sights!

The Warrior has a solid heft that gives the feel of high quality from the start. No rattle from anything, and the mag slides right in with ease and is easy to release. But the quality really begins to show when shooting it. After three full mags it still chronos really really consistently, about the same as the first mag. So the sealing is spot on there!

The internals? I’m happy that they are all of high quality, and they have been designed and optimized to offer a really cool shooting experience. It’s absolutely TM compatible, so this really helps out if youre in to get upgrade parts for your own pistol later, although I don’t see why you would need to do this as it is 100% fine as standard for regular use. In terms of magazine compability, the Evolution mag has the same design at the top as a TM mag and those fit really well. WE has the flat design but they fit as well, but my feeling is they don’t seal the same way as the more rounded sealing.

The Warrior chrono’s in (with .20g BBs) using 140psi green gas at about 0.76 Joule/286fps (87 mps) as an average over 10 shots, so its kept well under 1 joule but still with a good range.

So, my conclusion? If youre in for getting a new ”G” series GBB pistol then get a Warrior; you wont regret it!

Drawing things to a close, once again we’re impressed by the concept, and the realised pistol designs, that Evolution have created in their new program, and I’m quite certain that all the models work as efficiently as the Warrior tested. Both Bjorn and I hope that this is only just the start of a new direction from our friends in Italy; Evolution International continue to, well... evolve, and as they do so they’re bringing something MORE to the game yet again!

Long may they continue to do so!

For more infprmation on the new EVOLUTION INTERNATIONAL GBB pistol range please make sure you visit www.evolutioninternational.it AA

A-TACS FG IS BACK!

BACK AT THE END OF JULY THIS YEAR WE REPORTED ON THE WEBSITE THAT THE GUYS AT DIGITAL CONCEALMENT SYSTEMS LLC WERE BRINGING THE POPULAR A-TACS FG VARIANT BACK INTO THEIR PRODUCT LINE, AND THIS CAUSED A FAIR AMOUNT OF POSITIVE COMMENT FROM YOU GUYS OUT THERE SHOWING JUST HOW MUCH OF A FOLLOWING THE PATTERN STILL HAS AMONGST ACTIVE PLAYERS; INDEED, THERE ARE FEW OF THE “OLD CAMPAIGNERS” LIKE BILL IN THE AA CREW THAT EMBRACED A-TACS THE FIRST TIME ROUND, AND LIKE ALL GOOD FASHIONS FG SEEMS TO BE HAVING ANOTHER BURST OF LIFE AS IT’S DISCOVERED BY A WHOLE NEW GENERATION OF AIRSOFTERS!

For those that are new to the A-TACS family of patterns they were developed by Digital Concealment Systems, (DCS) in the USA to answer the call for a more effective camouflage pattern and complementary system of clothing, footwear and equipment for operators, the general military and law enforcement personnel. Following the successful launch of A-TACS AU and first introduced in 2010, A-TACS FG established itself as a truly unique alternative to the heavily digitized foliage patterns that were then common in the tactical market. However, with the introduction of the A-TACS “X Line” of camo patterns in 2015, the decision was made to begin phasing out the original two patterns (AU and FG) in favour of new updated designs.

But this was not to be the end of the FG story as Phil Duke, Pattern Designer and President at DCS told us in July “almost immediately after that time, endusers and manufacturers alike have been asking for the return of our classic pattern lineup. Based upon this continued demand, we have decided to bring back the original line-up of Original A-TACS AU and Original A-TACS FG. Both of these patterns are joining our newly introduced A-TACS U|CON (Universal CONcealment) pattern”, Duke continued. “We are excited for manufacturers to bring forward a whole new generation of gear in these classic patterns”.

I’ve been lucky enough to have been involved with airsoft for “a while”, and I’ve also been privileged to work with Phil and the DCS team ever since the original AU pattern was introduced. Like many of you I have built up a right old collection of gear, initially in AU and then in FG. I usually work on a theme with different camouflage patterns and with the aid of reference pictures try to build a loadout that is as accurate to “the real world” as possible over time. Many of you who are starting out though may want to put together a set of FG gear or two without breaking the bank, although some I know will go to quite extreme lengths and spend wads of cash to get their setup exactly how they want it!

THE SCIENCE-Y BIT

Now I do see a lot of A-TACS AU (Arid) still around, and these days the FG (Foliage) variant too and FG is a undoubtedly a great pattern for woodland in the Summer. The AU variant immediately caused big stir amongst airsoft players, giving a cool tan-themed “arid” loadout option for players all over the world. When it came to a more “temperate” woodland version of the pattern, namely FG, the easy answer would have been to simply re-colour the existing AU pattern and release it as a green variant. Taking that approach may have been easier and faster however, it was not the approach DCS took to create an effective temperate climate pattern. The characteristic environmental elements and shapes found in greener, more temperate settings needed to be addressed. The answer was to create a brand-new pattern from the ground up.

Utilizing numerous shades of green sampled directly from a variety of forested and transitional terrain elements combined with various shades of earth, A-TACS FG Camo was developed to be effective in a wide range of temperate environments. As with the original A-TACS AU (Arid/Urban) Camo pattern, the organic pixels in the micro patterns are grouped into larger, more defined “macro” shapes creating larger more defined patterns. The larger organic shapes and strategically placed shadow elements within the macro pattern help to create a unique three-dimensional effect. Additionally, strategic use of blending and colour overlays were used to create a more organic soft-edged look to the pattern.

As I’m certain many of you are aware many of the modern digital camouflage patterns currently in use by the tactical community are flawed. Square pixels used to create the camouflage distortion effect do not replicate the shapes, forms and shadows of the environment they are used in especially when viewed through optics; this is what is often referred to as the “unification” effect. The “visual noise” in these same patterns tends to merge into a solid colour when viewed at close quarters, producing a unified effect

when viewed from a distance. A-TACS addresses and improves these critical issues in three ways.

Unnatural square pixels are replaced with organic pixels. DCS’ patented process creates a palette of natural colors digitally sampled from real-world elements in carefully controlled lighting. This complex pattern is then recreated using an algorithm that “writes” organically shaped pixels using the specific colour information given. The end result is still digitally produced, but much more “natural”.

A-TACS uses small patterns to create larger more distinct shapes designed to work at a distance. Small shapes create larger shapes and larger shapes are organized into a distinct pattern with no horizontal or vertical orientation. This unique “pattern within a pattern” concept allows A-TACS to effectively break the human outline at great distances thereby minimizing the unifying effect. More effective use of the colour range produces a better concealment system. A-TACS is created using a far greater range of inter-mingled natural colours than was previously possible.

THE CLOTHING BIT

So far so good, FG is a great camouflage pattern and luckily for us as players there are still a LOT of manufacturers that are using A-TACS FG in their clothing and gear ranges. As I said, I’ve built up a great collection of both patterns over the years, so to give you an idea of what is out there I’ll look at the kit I use myself.

First up is the clothing, and I chose for my base an excellent “jungle” type uniform from Leo Koehler. This is for some reason still a little known brand that deserves more recognition than it gets but they’ve been making gear for the German army for years, and luckily www.flecktarn.co.uk usually keep a good range of their kit in stock! Developed to provide a hot weather uniform the operator shirt or lightweight tropical jacket and trousers was designed with durability and ventilation in mind. Slotted buttons are used throughout and the shirt features two large expanding pockets on the front which can zip open like chest dump pockets and large arm

“UNNATURAL SQUARE PIXELS ARE REPLACED WITH ORGANIC PIXELS. DCS’ PATENTED PROCESS CREATES A PALETTE OF NATURAL COLORS DIGITALLY SAMPLED FROM REALWORLD ELEMENTS IN CAREFULLY CONTROLLED LIGHTING. THIS COMPLEX PATTERN IS THEN

USING AN ALGORITHM THAT “WRITES” ORGANICALLY SHAPED PIXELS USING THE

pockets with a small insignia panel on the arms to reduce the Velcro coverage. The underarms are not sewn together, but are left open and an extra panel of mesh material is sewn in place; this automatically ventilates under the arms and near the upper back and chest areas with movement. Elbows are reinforced with a double layer of material.

The trousers feature two hip pockets, one seat pocket, two bulgy cargo pocket, one internal knife or magazine pocket within the right cargo pocket, D-rings for attachment of material and lanyards, wide belt loops and shoulder brace points, and adjustable thigh ties to reduce riding and bagginess when cargo pockets are fully loaded. There is Cordura seat and knee reinforcement, and the lower leg has an internal baffle with its own elastic and toggle adjustment to prevent the trousers from riding over the top of the boot during movement. The expanding cargo pockets each have their own riveted drainage hole and close with “no-loss” fold over lids, secured with two large 25mm diameter tape buttons. This is a superb uniform for Summer skirmishing, rugged yet comfortable, and is priced well.

Now I have to admit I enjoy a good woodland game as much as the next player, but I do love the intensity of a good CQB game, whether it be a full MilSim or just a well-run skirmish in the right place. This is where I tend to get a bit “geeky” about my kit because “FISH-ops” tend to bring out the failings in a loadout very quickly indeed! I will though preface this by saying that I’m not a huge lover of body armour and bulky plate carriers for fast-paced games, especially as these days I favour the OPFOR role and don’t feel the need to do the “full OPR8R” thing; luckily in airsoft we are getting shot at with little white balls of fun, which although they sting a bit sometimes aren’t going to endanger life and limb. If you wish to add a plate carrier to this style of setup, then Condor, UR OPS Tactical and Warrior Assault systems still do very nice ones in A-TACS FG at reasonable prices.

For the base of my CQB kit I searched a little wider. The PROPPER TAC U Combat Shirt is made to keep you comfortable under a plate carrier, but works equally well on its own in warmer weather as a lightweight base. The clever main body knit wicks moisture away from your torso and the antimicrobial fabric prevents you getting too smelly too fast! The

“I ENJOY A GOOD WOODLAND GAME AS MUCH AS THE NEXT PLAYER, BUT I DO LOVE THE INTENSITY OF A GOOD CQB GAME, WHETHER IT BE A FULL MILSIM OR JUST A WELL-RUN SKIRMISH IN THE RIGHT PLACE. THIS IS WHERE I TEND TO GET A BIT “GEEKY” ABOUT MY KIT BECAUSE “FISH-OPS” TEND TO BRING OUT THE FAILINGS IN A LOADOUT VERY QUICKLY INDEED!”

durable Battle Rip fabric on the sleeves coupled with pocketing on both the upper and lower arms provides incredible versatility. This is a great, well priced piece of kit at a great price and mine originally came from www.uktactical.com.

Trousers here are courtesy of a friend of mine in the Far East and cut in the CRYE style. I personally love this style as the integrated knee pads do away with any restriction around the joint whilst providing more than adequate protection when you’re playing on bricks and gravel. You’ll find these by the likes of Emerson easily with an online search, especially now that Emerson Gear now have an Amazon shop. I do warn you that finding genuine CRYE kneepads in green will prove problematical though, but from trial and error over the years I have to say that the CRYE originals are still the best in this style! The trousers are superb for an urban environment as there is lots and lots of movement in them thanks to the incorporated stretch panels around the knees and lower back.

THE GEAR BIT

Onto rigs, and for woodland games I use a Condor OPS chest rig which is basically just a MOLLE platform that allows you to configure your pouches exactly as you want them. I keep things very simple and in keeping with a “Recce” feel carry just triple, closed top Condor magazine pouches for my primary, along with a Condor T&T pouch for carrying maps, notebook, compass and a multi-tool. At a sensible price for the lot this is a solid and cost-effective rig,

and still works well; you can still pick these up online if you look hard enough!

For additional load carriage I chose the ELF pack from UR OPS Tactical which came originally from Matt at www.hueys.co.uk. This is a small, neat expandable pack that’s ideal for carrying those extra bits and pieces that you need with you on the field, and as it’s made from genuine A-TACS Cordura fabric with ITW Nexus Mil-Spec hardware it’s tough as old boots too. The inclusion of a pocket and opening for a hydration setup also means that you can carry your H2O accessibly on the field.

My load bearing gear for urban environments is all UR OPS Tactical that also came from HUEYS, and the rig is the Integrated version. The “integrated” part of the equation is that it comes in one piece with no MOLLE or similar. All the pouches are sewn in place, but they are where they need to be. There are 8 x M4 (P,E and Standards all fitted fine) magazine pouches with adjustable flap, 1 x radio pouch, 2 x pistol mag / taclite pouch, 2 x utility pouch (small 5”(H) x 2.5”(W) x 1.5”(D)), 1 x utility pouch (large 5”(H) x 4.5”(W) x 1.5”(D)), 1 x flash bang pouch, and 1 x mesh pocket (internal 8” x 7”). It’s an extremely well constructed rig made with official A-TACS FG 500D Cordura, MilSpec webbing, and ITW NEXUS buckles throughout. Everything about it screams “quality” and I can’t see the stitching coming apart any time soon. It comes with ergonomically cut, fully adjustable padded shoulder straps, a webbing waist strap, and if you want to attach it to one of the OPS QD Plate Carriers it is fully compatible. I’ve also stuck with the

“FOR ADDITIONAL LOAD CARRIAGE I CHOSE THE ELF PACK FROM UR OPS TACTICAL WHICH CAME ORIGINALLY FROM MATT AT WWW.HUEYS.CO.UK. THIS IS A SMALL, NEAT EXPANDABLE PACK THAT’S IDEAL FOR CARRYING THOSE EXTRA BITS AND PIECES THAT YOU NEED WITH YOU ON THE FIELD”

ELF pack here as it’s nice and low profile; once again it’s MOLLE compatible should you wish to marry it up to a plate carrier. I also added a foldable dump pouch from their range. The only bit of gear not from UR OPS Tactical is the singlepoint sling, and this one is an Agilite “Telson” version.

In relation to accessories I chose to go with Foliage Green Mechanix gloves, and belt kit; the belt itself is a Wilderness Original Instructor Belt imported from the USA. The Original was developed in 1983 and has been refined ever since. It’s a very strong belt with a specially designed carbon steel V-ring buckle coated with non-glare black Roguard, a tough MilSpec finish which is highly corrosion-resistant and will not chip like cheaper coatings. The belt was originally designed to clip into a secure system while “instructing” others in high places, although they can be used for emergency abseiling with proper training. I wanted something here though for vehicle and helicopter security as the belt works very well with a safety lanyard. The holster is a “one off” Kydex that I had created specifically for my 226; not only does this accommodate the pistol, but it also allows me to carry it with a taclite already mounted. There are a lot of people out there working with Kydex right now like our good friends at www.kydexcustomsuk.com so if you want to take the FG route then ask them about this.

Although an FG boonie is perfect for most woodland environments, I chose to go for a little protection in relation to my headgear; once again, hopefully in an airsoft skirmish we’re not dodging bullets and shrapnel but overhead obstructions in a CQB environment can often be a real hazard. Based

on a FAST replica from www.nuprol.com I fitted an A-TACS FG Helmet Cover, again from UR OPS Tactical. Not only does the helmet offer me some “bump” head protection but it also means I can mount accessories, in this case a V-Lite and Night Evolution helmet light. Topping this off is a neck gaiter from my old mate Sean at www.0241tactical.com which offers a little additional facial protection.

Gloves and boots here are the “real deal”, namely my trusted SEAL Spider MKII boots from AKU. These are a great, low cut and lightweight boot that give good support, protection, and utterly stupendous amounts of grip. For an urban environment they are truly superb, although they’re certainly no slouch in the woods either! As I do like to use the occasional bit of pyro in-game I invested in some Outdoor Research Tactical “Firemark” gloves; these are fire retardant so should I have a smoke or thunderflash fizz up on me I know my hands will be protected!

THE FINAL BIT

If you do decide to follow the A-TACS FG route for your own loadout then do bear in mind that there are a LOT of manufacturers DCS work with that I haven’t mentioned here, and obviously with the reintroduction of FG I expect to see even more joining these ranks!

Your own loadout can be as individual as you like whilst maintaining an overall pattern consistency, and also bear in mind that with the addition of insulated and weatherproof garments, which are all available in A-TACS FG, you can extend the life of your setup well into the Autumn and even Winter. Look for gear that works not just for one setup, but for multiple solutions.

Time is on your side here, and with many manufacturers still having stock of the original A-TACS FG gear similar to the models that I’ve outlined, work out what you need, buy wisely, and buy once!

As I have always loved this pattern, and it works SO WELL for so many of our woodland game environments, I’m really pleased that A-TACS FG is BACK! Our mates at www.military1st.co.uk still hold a great collection of clothing and gear in FG, and for news on future product availability, visit the official A-TACS website at www.a-tacs.com AA

“ALTHOUGH AN FG BOONIE IS PERFECT FOR MOST WOODLAND ENVIRONMENTS, I CHOSE TO GO FOR A LITTLE PROTECTION IN RELATION TO MY HEADGEAR; ONCE AGAIN, HOPEFULLY IN AN AIRSOFT SKIRMISH WE’RE NOT DODGING BULLETS AND SHRAPNEL BUT OVERHEAD OBSTRUCTIONS IN A CQB ENVIRONMENT CAN OFTEN BE A REAL HAZARD.”

SLEEPING BAGS

If you play airsoft for long enough then you’re undoubtedly going to want to experience an “overnighter” as in my opinion it’s one of the best ways to get fully into the “airsoft experience”!

Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to have the opportunity to experience multi-day events in different countries, and whether at home or abroad my choice of sleep gear has always stood me in good stead to make the very best of each and every situation.

When you’ve been playing hard all day getting a good sleep really sets you up for the following day, and this is especially true in a MilSim environment where the game doesn’t stop! There’s nothing worse than coming off “stag” in the wee small hours and not being able to get to sleep quickly because you’re too cold… hot you can deal with to a degree, but cold is not good when you only have a precious couple of hours to get your head down and your shivering and chattering teeth keep you wide awake.

And choosing the right sleeping bag for the environment is a science unto itself! Making the right choice for what can be quite a hefty expense

needs a thorough understanding of how a sleeping bag actually works, and how the materials and construction can really play a part in assuring your comfort and well-being. Sleeping bags work by trapping stationary air within the bag itself whilst you sleep, using your body as a radiator to circulate warm air without releasing it. The best kind of sleeping bags are those with features that secure in this heat, whether that’s from an exceptional filling that lofts (“loft” is a description that pertains to the volume taken up by the filling in your sleeping bag and is also known as “fill power”) well, baffles that seal out every cold spot, or an impressive hood that traps in air near your ears and neck.

When you buy a sleeping bag you will be faced with a wide choice of temperature ratings, seasonal ratings, and lots of weird numbers in general. Most usually Sleeping Bags are categorised into Season Ratings, but these ratings should really only be considered as a guide as different bags within the seasonal range will differ in over all performance.

• 1 Season Sleeping Bags – Summer only for use at around +4/5 Degrees

A GOOD SLEEPING BAG IS A VITAL PIECE OF KIT, AND YOU’RE UNLIKELY TO FUNCTION AT YOUR BEST DURING ANY MILSIM OR MULTI-DAY GAME IF YOU DON’T HAVE THAT ALL-ESSENTIAL REST! WITH THIS THOUGHT IN MIND, BILL RECAPS ON SOME VALUABLE INFORMATION TO HELP YOU PICK A SLEEPING BAG THAT IS RIGHT FOR YOU, AND RIGHT FOR THE SITUATION!

• 2 Season Sleeping Bags - Later spring to early Autumn when you are unlikely to be on the receiving end of frost or snow. For use at around 0 degrees

• 3 Season Sleeping Bags - More technical than a 2 season bag, these are best for mild to cold nights, without frost, but with a very low temperature around 0 to -5 degrees

• 4 Season Sleeping Bags - These technical bags are made for very cold Winter nights in the outdoors. These are typically more bulky and weigh more, but they do let you deal with more extreme conditions, say to around -10 degrees.

Although sleeping bags are grouped into season ratings you should bear in mind the following that when defining the Season Ratings assumptions have been made regarding weather and temperature conditions for each season. In reality, of course these vary greatly from year to year and area to area. In 2002, EN 13537 legislation came in which ensured that all manufacturers now use high-tech sensors on heated mannequins in bags to determine how cold the bags can get. This is to standardise how sleeping bags are sold, and get away from the very subjective ‘Seasonal ratings’.

Other factors, such as the additional use of a roll mat or sleeping mat, are you sleeping inside a tent or completely outside and of course the thermal efficiency of any night clothing you may wear will affect your sleeping bag requirements.

TEMPERATURE RATINGS

You will typically see two temperature ratings quoted on any Sleeping Bag; the Comfort Temperature Rating and the Extreme Temperature Rating. What are they? What do they mean?

• THE COMFORT TEMPERATURE RATING - is shown as a range such as +12°C to +25°C. The range is generally understood to refer to the ambient temperature around you. The first temperature quoted in this range is the lowest the manufacturer considers you will remain comfortable in. Naturally, the second value is the highest temperature that they consider you will remain comfortable in.

• THE EXTREME TEMPERATURE RATING - is a single value and is generally understood to be the coldest temperature that an experienced user should use the sleeping bag in.

Although all sleeping bags have temperature ratings you should bear in mind that notions

OUTDOOR of warmth and what is a comfortable sleeping temperature are subjective. Be aware of this and let your knowledge of your own personal requirements influence your decision.

Since EN13537 came into force sleeping bags that meet the standard display FOUR temperature ratings: Upper Limit - highest temperature at which a standard man would have a comfortable nights sleep without sweating. Comfort - lowest temperature at which a standard woman would have a comfortable nights sleep, lying on her back and relaxed. Lower Limit - lowest temperature at which a standard man in a rolled up body position would have a comfortable nights sleep. Extreme - temperature below which a standard woman could expect strong sensation of cold and maybe actual physical injury from cold (such as frost bite or hypothermia).

INSULATION CHOICES

This is an argument that continues to rage between many outdoor users; which insulation is best, natural or synthetic?

dry fairly quickly, especially when compared to down fill. This can also mean they are easier to clean (most are machine washable) Synthetic fill bags are typically less expensive than down filled versions, and allergic reactions are generally not an issue.

CONSTRUCTION METHOD AND FEATURES

The construction method used is vital to keep the fill in place. It’s no good having an efficient insulation material if it all ends up at one end of the sleeping bag.

• Single Layer Construction: Stitched Through or Quilted method hold the filling in channels or baffles. However, you get cold spots along the stitch lines and therefore this method is unsuitable for cold weather bags.

• Off-Set Double-Layer Construction: this method uses two layers with the stitching lines offset helping to eliminate the problem of cold spots.

• Advanced Shingle Construction Method: this

eliminate this.

Ever found you are all snug inside your sleeping bag but the top of your head does not feel quite as comfortable? A good sleeping bag fitted with a hood will help avoid this, and many can be adjusted with the use of a simple drawcord. Likewise the purpose of the neck baffle is to prevent the air your body has already made warm escaping.

Essentially sleeping bags can be grouped into two shapes; mummy shaped bags or rectangular bags. Mummy-shaped sleeping bags stay closer to your body and therefore have less dead-air space to heat; due to this they are more thermally efficient. Additionally they tend to be a bit lighter because there is less material. Rectangular Sleeping Bags, though less thermally efficient, are great for those people that like more leg room, and they can provide greater overall comfort because they cater for more sleeping positions.

Good stuff sacs enable easy transport and most incorporate compression straps to reduce the pack size of your bag. However, many people make the mistake of storing their sleeping bag in the stuff sac. This is bad for the filling and reduces the efficiency. For long term storage, the bag should be loose, not tightly packed; personally I use an old pillow case!

A sleeping bag liner is a versatile way of adding extra warmth, making it possible to use your sleeping bag in colder conditions. Most liners are easier to clean than sleeping bags and are made using soft materials that enhance your comfort. Again, my personal choice is silk; although relatively expensive, silk is a great insulator and also wicks moisture away for you if things get a bit sweaty. In warm weather, a liner alone can make a comfortable alternative to a sleeping bag, and if you need to be in your bag with boots on, they are far easier to clean than the bag itself!

When lying in your sleeping bag the bottom fill is compressed making it less thermally efficient. Additionally, the ground temperature is always colder than your body temperature. Self-inflating or foam roll mats combat these two problems adding extra insulation just where it is needed. They also help to keep the underside of the sleeping bag cleaner.

The last word on sleeping bags is to really study what you’ll be needing for the particular area of

operations or game environment you’re going to be in, then look to particular features of the sleeping bag to deal with this. For instance there’s no point taking a light, small pack size down bag into a rain forest because once wet it will lose all it’s thermal efficiency.

Likewise, and I’ve suffered this personally through a desire to save on the overall weight and size of my pack, there’s no point taking a lightweight two season synthetic filled bag into an full-winter environment; believe me when I tell you that even when you’re in a mountain hut with a roaring log fire, the early hours of the morning can be a VERY cold place to be if you’ve made the wrong choice!

My thanks go to www.snugpak.com and www. carinthia.eu for the archive images used in this article. AA

THE CAGE: TEAM ROLES... TEAM LEADER

AFTER KICKING OFF THIS NEW SERIES OF THE CAGE WITH A LOOK AT THE AIRSOFT SNIPER LAST MONTH TO COINCIDE WITH OUR “LONG GUN SPECIAL”, THIS TIME WE’RE STARTING AT THE TOP AS WE LOOK INTO THE ARCANE ARTS THAT MAKE A GREAT AIRSOFT TEAM LEADER!

So,

what does make a Team Leader (TL)? Is it the guy with the best kit, the person that’s always driving you on to greater glories in-game, is it the player that takes command when TSHTF to get you out of crapsville, or is it simply the quiet guy that always seems to know just where and when to be to seize the day?

For me it’s a little bit of all of the above, and all of the qualities mentioned are, to me at least, what goes into the mix to create a really cool TL. Although their gear not be the most Gucci or newest they wear it like it’s a part of them… their sh1t is so wired that they never have to think about where the next mag is coming from, or whether their pack straps are tight, and when it comes to using a map and compass or GPS they know exactly how these things work.

You know deep down that they ALWAYS HAVE A PLAN, and even if it’s one that you’re not 100% on board with you respect their judgement enough to put your ego aside and roll with it. The entire plan might not be immediately visible as this guy knows how to break things sown into achievable chunks to create an overall strategy that is greater than the sum of its parts, and they will provide a framework in which you can operate efficiently to take ground and

nail objectives. They drive you on not with a holler, but with clear, concise directions that you actually listen to because they make sense!

When things do go south, and they undoubtedly will in an airsoft game, your TL is the guy that will have forseen potential pitfalls and again, HAVE A PLAN to get you out of dodge as cleanly and safely as possible. They KNOW that things will go wrong, and they mitigate against this by having multiple options that they will calmly put into play and get you back on mission.

And again, from playing alongside guys that I believe are truly great TLs they don’t need to scream and holler because they will already have briefed you fully on your role. They’ll use their comms or a whisper succinctly and calmly to place you “just so” in order for you to get your kill-shot in or to secure your objective. They will care about YOU having a great game, and enjoy your successful kill-streak as much as if it were their own.

A “CO” as far as I’m concerned is not necessarily a leader, but more of a manager looking after logisitics; there is most definitely a difference between a CO and a Team Leader, as a TL will be in the thick of the fight with you, getting work done and ensuring that their team is used sensibly

and effectively. A CO in many cases can be a bit of a “REMF”, but that’s their job!

All of these things are important to understand, and when you see a team that operates well with a TL controlling and nurturing excellent gameplay it’s a thing of real beauty! Of course airsoft by its very nature encourages the “lone wolf”, and we all like to think of ourselves as a bit “Obi Wan Nairobi”, kicking ass and taking names on our own, but the fact is that if you come up against a well-run team they will own your sorry ass!

I’m not saying for a moment that you have to be in a team, as you should enjoy airsoft the way YOU like it, but if you’re just starting out, or at a site that you’ve never played before, then look out for that rare thing that is a great TL and take note… they’re an individual worth following!

TEAM TALK

So, that’s my thoughts on the matter, but what do the rest of the Team think? This month I fired them this question:

“What are the qualities of a good airsoft team leader? What skills do you feel an airsoft team leader needs to fulfill the role and make their team effective in game?”

Stewbacca: Communication and delegation are the top two that come to mind. As we found at the MilSim last weekend, radio comms and original plans rarely survive contact with the area of operation and your own forces, let alone any enemy action!

Thankfully due to prior training sessions and autonomy of subordinate units we managed to continue accomplishing something despite the wider in game coordination issues and worked well together within our smaller fireteams and together when we could manage it. As in so many things in life, if you try and micro-manage all the people and details instead of letting people show their own strengths and abilities, things tend to go to sh1t when you least need them to!

Impart useful knowledge and skills, learn your own team and their abilities, delegate to their strengths, step back and let them figure it out unless they really need further guidance or a common direction

Miguel: Oh oh! It’s my moment! Don’t panic!

I’ve been a team leader for over 14 years and I can tell you that being one is almost like being a father... ON and OFF the field. I know that airsoft teams differ a lot from each other but in our case there is a lot that a TL takes care of; finding games, organizing attendance, relaying information and rules, and further details depending on the event.

In the field, a TL must be a jack of all trades and at the same time see his team members a bit like puzzle pieces; now those pieces don’t just fit one way, so the TL must be able to organize his team the best way possible for the event or the situation at hand. It’s imperative to know a bit about every other role, from navigation to sniper, so as to use these assets in the best way possible in-game.

Communications are a must, a TL has to be able to communicate and be reached at any time during an event because if not, chaos will start to spread. For example, I see that during the times I’m off comms due to being “killed”. But a TL must also build around him what I like to call a “core group”. Not everyone has the same time available for airsoft, but it’s essential to have a group capable of helping with tasks whenever they appear, ON and OFF the field, this way he can delegate some jobs and concentrate on those that only he can do.

Chris P: Having a good tactical head screwed firmly into a good shaped pair of shoulders, constant coms with field teams giving you updates to move your human chess pieces accordingly.

A decent bodyguard team.

My personal favourite thing to do is embody Mel Gibson’s portrayal of Hal Moore, be humble but authoritative. My favourite tactical plan is to point towards the enemy, look at my team and say “go f#@k’em up”!

Works like a charm…

Dan: The best team leaders I’ve had knew how to use the various personalities under their wing and play off their strengths while shoring up their weaknesses. Similarly, they didn’t micro-manage you and they expected some natural initiative, and of course, competence. On the broader scope, they took an interest outside of just the game and were there for

“IN THE FIELD, A TL MUST BE A JACK OF ALL TRADES AND AT THE SAME TIME SEE HIS TEAM MEMBERS A BIT LIKE PUZZLE PIECES; NOW THOSE PIECES DON’T JUST FIT ONE WAY, SO THE TL MUST BE ABLE TO ORGANIZE HIS TEAM THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE FOR THE EVENT OR THE SITUATION AT HAND.”

personal advice or to lend a helping hand if needed. In that respect, they built trust on and off the field; which is the difference between someone cosplaying the role and someone actually living it.

They also were able to think on their feet and adapt quickly to changes. I’ve seen some leaders absolutely freeze up and hit the Blue Screen of Death as soon as their “master battle plan” hits an unexpected hitch or the game derails due to some technicality. A good TL can take that same situation and treat it like a minor speed bump and isn’t afraid the throw the master battle plan out the window. They don’t get attached to plans and they always keep the team engaged and moving in a positive direction.

I guess I would also say, good TLs tend to create microcosms of team leaders amongst their teams too!

Iggy: Some say Leadership is the ability of an individual to influence and guide followers or subordinates of an organization or team.

Leading a team is to have your team follow you

confidently into whatever hell you throw them into. This is achieved through their trust in your abilities and decisions which is earned through respect and compassion of the individuals that make your team.

As a leader in combat you need to know your team members strengths and weaknesses and deploy them accordingly as well as giving clear communication and instruction to all that need to know. That way everyone works well to get the job done

Robbie: TLs need to be rich to buy everyone on the team dinner and drinks after the event!

Not what you wanted to hear, eh? LOL

IMO though, TLs are not managers... they are instructors, they are observers, they are communicators and they are adaptable.

See, align, adjust, evaluate, readjust, and reset.

Sounds weird to many, but the best example I can give is this one... “Sarge, why does that Zero keep getting us lost?” “Eh? Oh, he thinks he is leading us, just humour him, I’ll show you “the way” later…” AA

RED CELL KEEPING IT SHORT

WELL, THE TITLE OF THIS MONTH’S UPDATE SAYS ONE THING, BUT ON THE OTHER HAND THE RED CELL CREW HAVE A LOT TO REPORT BACK ON WHEN IT COMES TO SMG MODELS, SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO WE’RE JUST GOING TO DIVE RIGHT ON IN TO FIND OUT HOW ALL ARE LONG-TERM TEST MODELS HAVE FARED, WHILST INTRODUCING A COUPLE OF NEW MODELS INTO THE MIX!

Jimmy: Over the past year I have gathered in a small collection of SMGs and I have developed quite a fondness now for small calibre variants. I think out of the collection the Scorpion EVO and the UMP are my favourites out of the bunch.

The UMP 45 from Umarex certainly does get some attention from other players mainly due to its loud EBB which is a very satisfying sound. The only gripe I have with the UMP is the magazines; they don’t always like to feed, and there seems to be an issue inside the mag where two BBs can cause a jam stopping the BBs from feeding up, but all it takes is a swift tap and it will knock them free allowing more to feed. The Umarex UMP has the correct trademarks where you would expect to find them which while not really necessary does give a nice touch especially for the true HK fans.

The UMP operates flawlessly, and this is largely due to the ARES EFCS gearbox, making it a very reliable and responsive platform even on a 7.4v lipo battery. As standard it gives you four fire selections; safe, semi, two BB burst, and full auto should you

feel the need to hose your opponents with a healthy 15rps! As standard a G36-type rotary hop unit gives ample adjustment and is very capable of lifting a 0.30g BB out to around 50m easily, which for a short barrel is perfectly fine. Constructed mainly of polymer, it has a solid body with a solid folding stock which when folded gives access to the battery compartment which can easily house 7.4v stick batteries; the quick change spring makes velocity adjustments very easy too. It is my opinion that the Umarex (ARES) UMP 45 is the best UMP on the market (if you can find them for sale anywhere!).

ASG’s award-winning Scorpion EVO has been dubbed the “best electric airsoft gun”, and yes it is good, but there are some seriously good guns out today which are set to take that position away! The EVO is now available in three different designs, but my fave is the A1 variant; it’s perfect in size and sports several nice features and one that likens it to its real counterpart is the mag-cut-off, requiring you to operate the bolt release button after reloading a fresh mag. Again like the UMP there are fire modes for safe, semi, 3 BB burst, and full auto, and using an 11.1v 20c LiPo gives a blistering ROF thanks to the ASG Infinity 18000 neo motor at around 22rps which is more than enough. I feel it has been let down somewhat by the stock hop unit; its main flaw is the lack of adjustment as it is very meagre and I found trying to hop anything over 0.25g BBs a struggle.

ASG did bring out an aftermarket CNC hop unit but it wasn’t welcomed by the EVO community as ASG had imagined it would be. It isn’t that straight forward to install or setup, everything has to be perfect for it to work and give gains in performance. The battery compartment is tight, and even the ASG batteries are a very worryingly tight fit which is a shame. Accessing the battery compartment though is very easy you just unscrew the flash hider and it slips

quality and makes it run perfectly with no fear of semi-lock; it’s just a shame you can’t programme any parameters but not a problem as Jefftron have you covered with their fantastic Leviathan which offers so much adjustabilty. Under the folding stock, which can be removed without the need for tools, you will find the quick spring change much like the ump making velocity adjustments a doddle.

Among my little collection sits some very new additions to the airsoft world, like the G&G PCC45, G&G MXC9, ProForce Sig MPX and the

types of magazines, a 110BB midcap, 520BB hi-cap and a 1500BB drum (I retract my “booo”!). The main body is less boxy and a fair bit sleeker. It has a ambi charging handle with mock bolt lock which is convenient for adjusting the rotary hop; an update over the standard G&G hop too is the new blue hop rubbers which are very effective able to lift 0.30g BBs with ease out to a very respectable range of around 70m. Due to the ETU system it has a very light trigger and thanks to the ifrit 25k motor it is very responsive with a lovely TOFf @ 22rps on an 11.1v 20c LiPo battery.

looking SMG in the world, a bold claim I know, right?

Next in line is the G&G MXC9; what G&G have

“THE ELECTRONICS POWERING THE EVO ARE OF HIGH QUALITY AND MAKES IT RUN PERFECTLY WITH NO FEAR OF SEMI-LOCK; IT’S JUST A SHAME YOU CAN’T PROGRAMME ANY PARAMETERS BUT NOT A PROBLEM AS JEFFTRON HAVE YOU COVERED WITH THEIR FANTASTIC LEVIATHAN”

done here is take the PCC45 and make it better in my opinion with a couple of twists that have made it nigh-on perfect. They have done away with the front wiring and moved it rearward, fitting a completely different stock which is very similar to the Magpul Zhukov stock. This stock has a very large battery compartment which can house a greater range of batteries with ease, but also offering an adjustable length and adjustable cheek pad. It has a slightly shorter M-LOK handguard and outer barrel as well as the inner barrel, but even with the short barrel the combo of the new blue hop rubber and the rotary hop unit easily achieves 70m hits. They also swapped out the flash hider for a sound amplifier so it’s sounds similar to the Firehawk, giving a nice crack.

There has also been a magazine redesign so it’s made to look more MP5-ish, but they are in effect still a PCC45 mag and I can confirm that both MXC9 and PCC45 mags work in either platform. So apart from them few changes it is still ultimately a PCC45… just made better!

supplied with the carbine is styled perfectly to make the most of this; of course there’s now the 300BB drum for the SMC9 too, although I haven’t tried one as yet. Spare magazines are not hard to get hold of now, and if you search thoroughly you get some great deals on them.

Initially the SMC9 posed somewhat of a challenge when it came to actually holding onto it, as that 7” M-LOK rail at the sharp end is occluded a by the ambi charging handle! In my review of the SMC9 as new I said that I haven’t got the biggest of hands, and I found it hard to get a good control-hand grip, and so I added a G&G M-LOK foregrip to give me a solid reference point and this helped.

I initially set the SMC9 up with .20g BBs for chrono testing, and got a pleasingly consistent and perfectly playable 1.04-1.07/335-340fps over the course of the magazine on NUPROL 2.0 “Green Bottle”; this has remained pretty constant to this day, although I usually run it now on .30g for games. Once you’ve set the “muzzle hop” with

up front and rear sights.

After extensive use now (mainly rangework due to the pandemic restrictions since I got it, but also one memorable skirmish day!) as I said before, the SMC-9 really benefits for the functional “hand meets hand” style of reloading, and the 50BB gas magazine (you can also use standard 27BB GTP-9 mags, and I have!))

“halfway house” between true ‘machine pistols’ and full-size submachine guns. With many machine pistols their full-auto fire capability is severely limited by high recoil, short barrels and high rates of fire; on the other hand, full-size submachine guns often are too big, especially for close protection teams, police working in plain clothes and entry teams when engaged in

room-to-room searches and other such operations in confined spaces. Therefore, the real MP9 falls directly in between, being in the same niche as the Ingram MAC-10, H&K MP5K or IMI Mini-UZI.

Weighing in at just 1725gr/3.8lb and at just clear adjustment instructions) and both semi and full auto firing mode are easily selected by way of a push-through selector found behind the trigger at the top of the pistol grip; semi or auto can be recognised visually thanks to small “dot” pictograms on the selector itself. There is no manual safety given the fact that the trigger has an active safety function.

The magazine is quick and easy to load, so once topped up with gas and .20g BLASTER BBs the MP9 still chrono’s well at a healthy 0.99 Joule/328fps; I’ve noticed some retailers quote the power as higher than this so do check for yourself; with .28g though this little SMG a delight in operation!

From a prone, supported position, with the hop dialled in, and with the stock extended and locked solidly in place, at 10m I’m easily able to hit old plastic BB bottles each and every time (nothing goes to waste on my range!) using just the open sights. Taking it out further I still get solid hits on sandbag targets at the end of the 30m range consistently. Cranking up to full-auto sent BBs downrange with some gusto, and it’s easy to achieve three round bursts thanks to a

nicely balanced trigger and with the standard foregrip offering great stability.

Overall I have to say that the MP9 has certainly found a place in my heart; if you’re looking for a

gasser, although as with all GBBs buying extra magazines will send this price up.

Ben: So the Tokyo Marui MP7 A1 GBB? Hands down the “Ace of CQB”! Much like myself it’s small and compact, but stands out from the crowd and just unforgettable; it is the flagship out of my personal collection, and for me it is the “perfect” platform as I love to get stuck in and make the party happen. Again for me, CQB is the most thrilling as all skills and senses are at their most high… and to keep up with this intensity the MP7 doesn’t just tick the boxes, it colours them in!

Now unfortunately there’s no such thing as the perfect airsoft gun, but the TM MP7 is the next best thing! The recoil is such a pleasure and who doesn’t like that realistic effect? What do I mean by saying this isn’t the perfect gun then... first off, if it was perfect in every way then there wouldn’t be any need for any other guns, and we all love variety. As with every other GBBR the MP7 mags are where most of issues lay; sadly not the greatest in design (which is never

“FROM A PRONE, SUPPORTED POSITION, WITH THE HOP DIALLED IN, AND WITH THE STOCK EXTENDED AND LOCKED SOLIDLY IN PLACE, AT 10M I’M EASILY ABLE TO HIT OLD PLASTIC BB BOTTLES EACH AND EVERY TIME (NOTHING GOES TO WASTE ON MY RANGE!) USING JUST THE OPEN SIGHTS.”

a bad thing as always room for improvements), this

in size and weight to the venerable MP5, which is probably it’s nearest natural competitor.

bloody problem I have as I’m sure many others do is finding a good, well-designed mag pouch for it! Other than that the TM MP7 GBB is one of the top show-piece platforms that’s gonna stand the tests of time, and I’m glad to own and back this beaut up as it’s had my back in many games.

Dan: Back in Issue 134 I gave my lowdown on the VFC MP7 AEG so I won’t go into that again; if you want to check that out just head on over to “Back Issues” on the website.

Moving on, with the hugely successful release of the VFC SIG MCX, the MPX submachine gun variant was a natural follow-up for VFC to tackle next, and was hotly anticipated by fans of that platform. Much like it’s larger cousin, the VFC is aesthetically boasting a gorgeous that very much the real thing. peers, this little SMG is

Sporting an aluminium body, and fully ambidextrous controls, this is a compact and maneuverable SMG that leverages heavily on SIG’s modern emphasis on modular design. One of the great new innovations in firearms design has been the implementation of the 1913 interface for mounting Here this is also present, and effect as it is compatible stock from the MCX, as well as genuine SIG and aftermarket replicas from Laylax and others. Whether it was a marketing blunder or deliberate design, a common point of contention amongst new owners is the MPX should have come equipped with the compact sliding stock found on the MCX, while the latter should have been fitted with the telescoping stock. As such, users wishing to change the existing stock will have to incur to some expense to do so.

The MPX comes equipped with the mid-sized which

1450mah

made from semitranslucent smokecoloured polymer and have a capacity of 100 rounds.

difficult to obtain, and finding both the MPX and spare

“THE VFC MPX IS AESTHETICALLY BEAUTIFUL, BOASTING A GORGEOUS FIT AND FINISH THAT VERY MUCH RESEMBLES THE REAL THING. AMONGST ITS PEERS, THIS LITTLE SMG IS APPROXIMATE IN SIZE AND WEIGHT TO THE VENERABLE MP5, WHICH IS PROBABLY IT’S NEAREST NATURAL COMPETITOR.”

KWA/ASG MP9A1

Price: iro UK£215.00

Age: Five Years

Weight: 1725g

Length: 305-527mm

Magazine Capacity: 48BBs

Cold Chrono: 0.99 Joule/328fps

Hot Chrono: 0.99 Joule/328fps

Taclite Compatibility: A side-rail can be fitted

Suppressor Compatibility: Dedicated Supplied By: www.fire-support.co.uk

ELITE FORCE (UMAREX) H&K UMP

Price: iro UK£155.00

Age: Three Years

Weight: 2075g

Length: 450mm/680mm

Magazine Capacity: 400 BBs (Midcaps available)

Cold Chrono: 1.07 Joule/340fps

Hot Chrono: 1.07 Joule/340fps

Taclite Compatibility: Standard Rail

Suppressor Compatibility: Dedicated Supplied By: www.gunfire.com

G&G SMC9 GBB

Price: iro £UK£285.00

Age: Two Years Weight: 2125g

Length: 420mm/630mm

Magazine Capacity: Gas, 50 BBs

Cold Chrono: 1.04 Joule/335fps

Hot Chrono: 1.04 Joule/335fps

Taclite Compatibility: M-LOK

Suppressor Compatibility: 14mm CCW Supplied By: www.guay2.com

G&G PCC45

Price: iro UK£290.00

Age: Two Years

Weight: 2500g

Length: 500mm/735mm

Magazine Capacity: 110 BB (Mid and Hicaps available)

Cold Chrono: 1.04 Joule/335fps (after spring change)

Hot Chrono: 1.04 Joule/335fps (after spring change)

Taclite Compatibility: M-LOK Rail

Suppressor Compatibility: 14mm CCW Supplied By: www.guay2.com

G&G MXC9 ENHANCED

Price: iro UK£350.00

Age: New Weight: 2570G

Length: 610MM

Magazine Capacity: 130 and 170BB (DRUM AVAILABLE!)

Cold Chrono: 0.99 Joule/328fps

Hot Chrono: 0.99 Joule/328fps

Taclite Compatibility: M-LOK

Suppressor Compatibility: 14mm CCW

Available From: www.guay2.com

TOKYO MARUI MP7A1 GBB

Price: iro UK£295.00

Age: One Year

Weight: 2200g

Length: 381mm/586mm

Magazine Capacity: 40BBs

Cold Chrono: 0.95 Joule/320fps

Hot Chrono: 0.92 Joule/315fps

Taclite Compatibility: Standard Rail

Suppressor Compatibility: Dedicated

Available from: www.alphadeltaairsoft.com

(UMAREX) VFC MP7A1 GEN2 AEG

Price: iro UK£425.00

Age: Two Years

Weight: 1870g

Length: 420-640mm

Magazine Capacity: 120BBs, HiCaps available

Cold Chrono: 0.92 Joule/315fps

Hot Chrono: 0.92 Joule/315fps

Taclite Compatibility: Side rails fan be fitted Suppressor Compatibility: Dedicated Available From: www.landwarriorairsoft.com

ASG SCORPION EVO A1

Price: iro UK3330.00

Age: Four Years

Weight: 2300g

Length: 425mm/625mm

Magazine Capacity: 75BBs (Hicaps available)

Cold Chrono: 1.07 Joule/340fps

Hot Chrono: 1.07 Joule/340fps

Taclite Compatibility: Standard Rail Suppressor Compatibility: Dedicated Supplied By: www.actionsportgames.com

KRYTAC KRISS VECTOR

Price: iro UK£440.00

Age: One Year Weight: 2600g Length: 665mm

Magazine Capacity: 95BBs

Cold Chrono: 1.12 Joule/348fps Hot Chrono: 1.12 Joule/348fps

Taclite Compatibility: Standard Rail Suppressor Compatibility: 14mm CCW Available From: www.landwarriorairsoft.com

SIG AIR MPX

Price: iro UK£330.00

Age: New Weight: 2540g

Length: 635mm (stock collapsed)

Magazine Capacity: 100BBs

Cold Chrono: 0.92 Joule/315fps

Hot Chrono: 0.89 Joule/310fps Taclite Compatibility: M-LOK Suppressor Compatibility: 14mm CCW Available From: www.redwolfairsoft.com

S&T AIRSOFT AVENGER BIZON

Price: iro UK£220.00

Age: Four Years

Weight: 2900g

Length: 485mm (Stock Folded)

Magazine Capacity: 300 BBs

Cold Chrono: 1.07 Joule/340fps

Hot Chrono: 1.07 Joule/340fps

Taclite Compatibility: None Suppressor Compatibility: 14mm CCW Supplied By: www.nuprol.com

LCT PP-19-01

Price: iro UK£400.00

Age: Four Years Weight: 3220g

Length: 480mm/705mm

Magazine Capacity: 50 BBs

Cold Chrono: 1.01 Joule/330fps

Hot Chrono: 1.01 Joule/330fps

Taclite Compatibility: None Suppressor Compatibility: 14mm CCW Available From: www.fire-support.co.uk

magazines in stock is often like having two trains passing each other in opposite directions.

Despite its lofty price point, it is a bit surprising that this gun is not outfitted with the higher tier gearbox as found on the VFC Samurai Edge. The stock internals are otherwise a bit disappointing, especially with regard to the motor, which is positively a relic in light of modern fare from competitors, and greatly reduces the performance of the gun. Suffice it to say, a new motor alone greatly livens up the gearbox in this gun. Fortunately, the gearbox side uses Version 2 compatible parts, so the upgrade ceiling is virtually unlimited.

On a positive note, this does boast a true quickchange-spring design that is easily accessed by removing the stock from the receiver; which is itself only held on with a single screw. This makes quick work of adjusting the FPS output, and with some consideration to the internal configuration, this would be a good choice for a multi-role gun that could be switched from field to CQB conditions in under a minute.

The hop up chamber is essentially the same rotary design as found in most current VFC models, but has been fitted with a larger diameter adjustment wheel which is easier to access through the smaller ejection port. I generally find VFC chambers and barrels to be excellent, only needing a good bucking or R-Hop to get some better range and accuracy with.

Ultimately, the MPX might be a tough pill for the average airsofter to swallow as it suffers on several fronts. Despite being aesthetically beautiful and having the usual high-quality external construction VFC is known for, there are a number of hurdles ahead of the future owner. The gun is expensive, the magazines are expensive (and hard to find), and for most players, it doesn’t even come equipped with the buttstock they want on it. Coupled with the lackluster gearbox, one is admittedly looking at a significant outlay of funds to get even a moderately equipped setup with this platform. In light of all of this, I feel the MPX will probably only find true favor with dedicated fans who are willing to put in the time, effort and expense to unlock its full potential.

Jimmy: The ProForce SIG MPX, the little brother of the MCX VIRTUS , is on the outside flawless, and the quality of this platform is 100% on point! Another in “9mm” guise and constructed completely out of metal, it just feels so right in hand. Now I can’t really comment on in-game performance to date as I only have one magazine for it, and is proving difficult to get a hold of any here in blighty (UK), but the little time I have spent with it has been enough to give me

an opinion. Magazines are very specific and there is nothing else out there that will fit it.

Firing it I was a little disappointed if I’m honest, even using an 11.1v 20c battery it is very sluggish with a very low ROF, nowhere near it’s real counterpart; It was showing on the chrono 12rps and it just sounded laboured. Boycie, who originally tested this, said the same and ended up swapping out the motor. Semi auto is just grim, and sadly I expected more from this… sounds like a project in the making, right? Hold my beer…

It does sport all the proper SIG trademarks where you would expect to find them and overall it is a very solid bodied rifle. It appears to be fairly accurate, but then I have only shot it indoors at this point at around 12m but it maintained a tight group with no adverse flyers. Chronoing @ 335fps on 0.20g Bushido BB it has a respectable velocity. Folding the stock in makes it no longer than let’s say a suppressed FNX45 so it is fairly compact and would make for a formidable CQB tool. As like most SMG’s you will find the battery storage in the handguard, again battery choice is crucial due to confined space.

Bill: Onto things OPFOR! Quirky and distinctive, the S&T Bizon is actually one of my favourite “sneaky beaky” SMGs! The Bizon for me is the ideal platform I would want for a more “covert” role in an airsoft game due to the fact that it is easily concealable, and that the “helical”

a pack. The “Sportline” Bizon also weighs in at just 4050g so it’s perfect for carrying all day long!

The Bizon is capable of semi and full auto fire, with a typical AK-type safety with the lever on the right side of the receiver. Although plastic the sturdy skeletonized buttstock folds to the left side when not needed, but you can’t lock it in this position as the magazine fouls this; I will say here that sturdy as the stock is I wouldn’t want to take a tumble on it. As a so-called “Sportline” I wasn’t expecting superb performance from the little Bizon out of the box, but oh my, how things move on! Once upon a time you’d be “fettling” any entry-level AEG to get it anywhere

near full performance, but the Bizon has a smooth operation and performance came as a bit of a shock; load it up with BBs and with an 11.1 Stick LiPo and it will deliver a consistent and site-friendly 340fps, and it kicks BBs out to well over 50m too!

And to conclude I’ll return to one of my favourite manufacturers of OPFOR goodness, and again of course, that’s LCT and their excellent PP-19-01 “Vityaz”! LCT offer products that are not only unique and well-priced in the main, but also reliable in performance and solid in build quality.

Having now had quite a lot of experience with LCTs AEGs, and more than happy with their tank-like build, I had high expectations for the PP-19-01; once again

to distinguish it from the older version, which was smooth.

LCT has done an excellent job with the construction of the body on this gun. The overall feeling is of a very robust and solid feeling replica that harkens to its Kalashnikov heritage. The body of the gun is comprised of a stamped steel receiver, cast steel fixtures and molded polymer components, such as the grip, handguard and magazine well. The outer barrel is steel and threaded for standard 14mm CCW threads. It comes equipped with a replica of the factory muzzle brake as would be equipped on the real gun. The stock can be folded securely to

designed for, and now it’s properly bedded in it’s no slouch at 40-50m either!

It’s an absolute cracker of an SMG, and if you idea of an AK something that’s a little unique, different and thoroughly up to date then the Vityaz could be just the thing you’ve been searching for!

Dan: Fans of unique SMG’s rejoiced when LCT announced they would be releasing a replica of the PP-19-01 Vityaz to market. For players who enjoyed playing the role of OPFOR, there have always been more limited choices available for non-Western submachine gun replicas. Based off the exterior appearance and obvious lineage, one could rightly call this an “SMG variant of the AK”. This particular replica is based off the modernized version of the PP-19-01 – the “Vityaz-SN”, notably featuring a full-length picatinny rail on the hinged dust cover

especially with highly upgraded guns. While a bit thicker than MP5 magazines, these will fit most SMG magazine pouches out there. I have found the HSGI Extended Pistol TACO’s to be an excellent pouch for these, as an example.

Players wishing to dress up the gun a little bit will find a plethora of exterior accessories available. Everything from suppressors and optics to Zenitco replicas from LCT’s Z-Series line to Raptors TWI, Zenimei, Asura Dynamics, and 5KU will fit. When dressed out as such, the PP-19-01 definitely turns heads on the field and invites many a curious onlooker to ask about this unique looking SMG.

Internally the gun shares the same features as its larger AK–based brethren, featuring a Ver. 3 gearbox with 9mm bearings, 18.65:1 gears, CNC aluminium cylinder head, POM air nozzle, CNC aluminium piston head and a piston with a full metal rack. Out of the box, these typically shoot a little hotter than 1.5J, so downgrading the spring is often necessary for most fields. The stock motor is admittedly a little anaemic in light of superior offerings out there. As well,

the factory barrel and bucking leaves a little to be desired. An 11.1v 1200mah stick LiPo can be housed underneath the dust cover on the standard version, providing plenty of power for your skirmishing activities. LCT also offers an Electric Blowback version as well, which uses the piston to drive a recoil assembly. Battery space is naturally much more restricted in that version. When it comes to the subject of upgrades, everything inside the gun can be upgraded, and there is nothing truly proprietary here.

unit coupled with Krytac’s perfectly acceptable hop rubber will lift a 0.30g BB, but I would say use a 0.28g at the max though. There are a few flaws which can be easily ironed out with some choice parts; the mag release is in the wrong place, it sits too high and far forward forcing you to adopt an alien like method in order to release the mag. There are a couple of choices from LayLax to speed up and alleviate this issue.

Owing to the more restricted nature of battery selection, this platform is a prime candidate for the efficiency advantages a brushless motor brings to the table. With just a few choice upgrades the PP-19-01 can be fashioned into an excellent CQB or field gun, and certainly has no insurmountable hurdles preventing it from being used as one’s primary.

Jimmy: Finally on to the Krytac KRISS Vector; if you are going to get one make sure it is the Krytac version and not the A&K version as the Krytac is so much better and heavily catered for. The aftermarket community is absolutely vast although not cheap! I mean, three 90BB mags are going to set you back around UK£90 and even then they have feeding issues, so my recommendation would be to get a couple of the TM 400BB MP5 drum mags with the LayLax Vector adaptor which will only set you back UK£60… for skirmish use it’s a no brainer if you ask me.

Some look at the Vector and think it is ugly and bulky, and I have even heard people say it looks like a DVD player lmao! But for me it looks futuristic and unlike anything else. Out of the box it chrono’d at 330fps bang on, and with the hop set for a 0.25g BB it dropped it down to 300fps but still performed as it should pushing plastic out to 50+m. The rotary hop

Another is battery storage, a running theme in the airsoft-SMG world! Battery storage here is in the pistol grip and I found it impossible to fit an 11.1v 1100mah battery in there. You need a compartment extender; fortunately they are readily available but even then they can be tight so I had a friend 3D-print an oversize one for me. Krytac use an electronic trigger system which sadly has no adjustable parameters but that said it works just fine guaranteeing no semi lock-up and also offers four fire modes; safe, semi, two BB burst, and full auto. The safety and fire selector are two different levers which is something I keep forgetting even though it is right in front of me. I blame AR muscle memory lol. The body of the Vector although polymer is very solid with no wobble or movement between parts; something that can definitely be said about Krytac is the high standards they adopt on the externals!

Bill: You may be wondering “why no MP5” here in the SMG update, and you’d be right to do so as this model is undoubtedly one of the most-popular airsoft SMGs out there! Fear not, as next month we’ll bring you a Red Cell overview on just what we feel are the very best 6mm H&Ks out there! AA

BUDGET CONCEALMENT

Sometimesit seems to me that the only things some airsofters are interested in is the latest bit of “tac-gucci” kit to come to market, irrelevant of whether it actually works or not. I’m therefore always delighted to meet good folk who have “been there, done that, and got many T-shirts” and turned their hard-won knowledge to creating quality gear that really serves a purpose, and in turn I can use the information and techniques they impart to benefit me on the airsoft field.

It’s said that effective camouflage should defeat the ability of an observer to detect or recognise the wearer, and a split-second reduction in detection or recognition can sometimes literally mean the difference between life and death in the real world; many new camouflage patterns appear to be more about “fashion” or “coolness” than about effectiveness!

Military snipers it would seem though are always working on a new concealment design project; the snipers are all looking for range-effective camouflage, the “macro” rather than the “micro” (although the smallest things can be vitally important obviously!) and I’ve read that small-repeat solutions are ineffective at longer operating ranges, and even

less effective at the ranges I will be working at in the airsoft role. Fabrics, patterns and suits that use large brush-stoke shapes, shadow effects, matched natural colours and indeed different textures help to create depth and better break the human outline.

Over the course of many, many years, dozens of versions, consequent field trials in some of the military’s hottest battlefields, and input from elite shooters solutions have been developed that have allowed subsequent users to refine what they believe to be the most effective camouflage patterns and combinations ever fielded. Individual snipers create bespoke solutions for use by their fellow elite warriors in the heat of battle, and this is something that we strive to replicate for use in-game.

You may remember in the last issue I spoke about my HPA- powered VSR10, and carrying on from there I would like to talk a little about the ghille hood I crafted to compliment the rifle. Before I get into it though, let’s look at a little history of the ghille hood/ suit.

HIGHLAND FIELDS TO BATTLEFIELDS!

It is my understanding that the ghillie was first adopted as a hunting aid by Scottish gamekeepers.

LAST MONTH JIMMY WALKED US THROUGH HIS HPA-DRIVEN RIFLE BUILD AS HE CONTINUES HIS JOURNEY INTO THE ROLE OF AIRSOFT SNIPER, BUT HAVING A GREAT RIFLE IS ONLY ONE OF MANY COMPONENTS THAT GOES INTO BECOMING A TRUE “SHOOTER”! THIS TIME HE ADDRESSES THE CREATION OF HIS OWN “GHILLIE SUIT” ON A BUDGET, A RITE OF PASSAGE FOR ANYONE WISHING TO REALLY EMBRACE THE “SNIPER LIFE”!

The first known use of a ghillie for military appears to have been way back in 1899 during the Boer War where hand-made camouflage oversuits were used by a British unit known as the Lovat Scouts, a Scottish highland regiment formed by a chap called Simon Frazer and mainly consisting of professional, highly-skilled stalkers and gamekeepers.

After that the ghillie would see use during WWI with great effect, whereupon others took note of its effectiveness and stole the idea for themselves; snipers of course had to rely on not only the advantage of concealment but also their training and the ability to outsmart the enemy, and anything that gave them an advantage in this was not to be overlooked! There were times that snipers were hunting each other and it all came down to skill, both of arms and in fieldcraft, and the “sixth-sense” to predict another snipers movements; the ability to melt into the background became paramount.

A ghillie suit/hood is a very effective form of camouflage, helping the user to blend seamlessly into an environment and done correctly can result snipers going completely undetected even close up. Snipers of today continue to carefully and cleverly craft their suits to adapt to a specific environment or terrain, breaking up the wearers outline and helping to conceal their positions in order to evade detection, allowing them to carry out the task in hand.

SNIPER CRAFTING

As we now have so many fine rifle platforms to choose from, many airsofters have adopted the role of sniper and it has become a very popular role seeing more and more succumb to the ways of the ghillie, and I’ve been inspired by those that have really, truly embraced the role! Now a ghillie suit/ hood can be made/crafted from just about anything to be honest, and there is no physical rule book about how you make/craft them; this has always been the way in the real world, as part of a military snipers training involves them creating their very own, bespoke ghillie suit. And like the real guys, making your own depends on how creative you are and it doesn’t have to be expensive I can tell you, hence why I am known as ‘POUNDLAND GHILIE’!

Yes, you read that right “poundland”, that’s

“THE FIRST KNOWN USE OF A GHILLIE FOR MILITARY APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN WAY BACK IN 1899 DURING THE BOER WAR WHERE HAND-MADE CAMOUFLAGE OVERSUITS WERE USED BY A BRITISH UNIT KNOWN AS THE LOVAT SCOUTS, A SCOTTISH HIGHLAND REGIMENT FORMED BY A CHAP CALLED SIMON FRAZER AND MAINLY CONSISTING OF PROFESSIONAL, HIGHLYSKILLED STALKERS AND GAMEKEEPERS”

what it’s known as in the UK, but it’s what some of you out there might call a “dollar store”, and it is CHEAP! A lot of what I have used to craft my Viper hood has come from the “pound shop” and I am far from ashamed to say it. It is quite effective in the right areas, which has seen me go undetected on numerous occasions.

I opted for Viper’s concealment hood and it is my opinion that it makes for the perfect budget base on which to craft. It is constructed of a very durable mesh material allowing you to easily anchor by way of cable-tie your materials/leaves/jute twine/raffia to fill out the suit. I use a BB popped in the material which makes for a great anchor point when you pull tight the cable-tie ensuring the materials stay where you want them; I found tying it wasn’t as permanent and parts would fall off.

Let your imagination run wild; you can add as much or as little to the suit as you see fit. You don’t even need to buy a pre-made suit/hood, you can just use a pair of tough trousers and a robust shirt of some description or maybe even an old poncho or even just a large section of netting but remember you will need to move around a bit so bare that in mind. I used an old baseball cap and attached using hot glue strips of DPM material, strips of jute twine dyed in different colours and some faux leaves; because sometimes it can get a tad warm in high summer, if I remove my hood I still have some camo on my head to break up the shape. Using a Viper face mask, again gluing DPM material, jute twine, faux leaves and some screen mesh of differing colours to hide my face; I don’t like camo cream, but you can camo your face using creams, paint or a common option is a balaclava. As I use HPA I carry an air tank which requires me to wear a small pack which needed concealing in the same way also.

If you are planning on crafting a suit/hood be patient and expect to put the hours in as it isn’t something you can knock up in an hour. I used mine in a couple of games to get an idea of how it worked (and more importantly possibly, how it DIDN’T!) then altered it a couple of times in order to get something which can work in different environments; now that the weather is changing so will the colours, so I shall have to alter an add some more. Take pictures of the places you play for reference to aid the crafting

process. Get out there and test your suit throw in on the ground, hang it in bushes and step back to around 30ms and see how it merges to give you an idea of how it works then craft some more if needed.

I got my hands on a torso which makes crafting real easy and allows you to see where to place everything more effectively. There are so many options out there for anyone looking to make a suit but know this you don’t need to spend loads of money on it. My suit owes me less than UK£100 in total and conveniently I had a fair amount of material kicking around the house in the form of old T-shirts and old DPM shirts. The reason I opted for a hood style is because I wear a chest rig so I need access to my gear, and the hood-style allows to wear gear underneath the hood and nothing gets in the way. Through research I also realised you don’t need a full suit for playing airsoft!

You see natural camouflage in action a lot in the animal kingdom, but sadly we as humans don’t possess such gifts so we need to adapt and overcome in a different way, and effective concealment is quite an art, one that I am still learning more about. Humans over the years have tried many different methods to blend in, and many dollars and time will undoubtedly go into, what is for some, a never-ending journey of discovery and understanding.

As airsofters we have plenty of time on our hands (especially during the winter months for many!) which allow us to be able to craft the perfect suit, and artificial materials are great for the job; in some cases artificial can be superior to natural vegetation. Artificial doesn’t wilt, it doesn’t dry out and crumble, so it lasts a long time and is usable time and time again.

I look forward to seeing you out on the field, but hopefully through my optic, and again hopefully you won’t see me! AA

“IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON CRAFTING A SUIT/HOOD BE PATIENT AND EXPECT TO PUT THE HOURS IN AS IT ISN’T SOMETHING YOU CAN KNOCK UP IN AN HOUR. I USED MINE IN A COUPLE OF GAMES TO GET AN IDEA OF HOW IT WORKED (AND MORE IMPORTANTLY POSSIBLY, HOW IT DIDN’T!) THEN ALTERED IT A COUPLE OF TIMES”

BEHIND EVERY BLADE OF GRASS

ALTHOUGH WE ENJOY “PLAYING WAR” WHEN IT COMES TO AIRSOFT GAMES, THE HARSH REALITY OF THINGS IS THAT MANY COUNTRIES UNFLINCHINGLY FACE THE PROSPECT OF ARMED CONFLICT EVERY DAY. WITH MATTERS IN UKRAINE AS YET SADLY NOWHERE NEAR RESOLUTION THE MAINSTREAM PRESS HAS FOCUSED RECENTLY ON OTHER COUNTRIES LIVING UNDER THE OMINOUS SHADOW OF POSSIBLE INVASION, AMONGST THEM TAIWAN, AND WE TASKED STEWBACCA TO DIG INTO THIS STORY, AND FIND OUT THE TRUTH OF HOW AIRSOFT IS BEING USED AS A PART OF CIVIL DEFENCE TRAINING.

Whetherit is historically erroneous or not, the epithet attributed to Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku regarding the prospect of facing off the US mainland’s armed civilian populace in the event of a Japanese invasion action on their soil is nonetheless a badass sentiment that sums up my recent musings regarding somewhat relatable circumstances for my new home:

“You cannot invade mainland America; there would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.”

While we tend to strive to remain apolitical in all our musings at Airsoft Action as we’re an international and award winning magazine and now online presence who seek to include all and serve the entire community in as welcoming and unbiased a fashion as possible, this past year it has been somewhat difficult to avoid taking a stance on certain things. Every issue’s cover from April to August has been emblazoned with the Ukrainian flag’s colours not just because many of us have friends or family close to, or directly affected by, the entirely unnecessary and avoidable atrocities and loss of life happening there now, but because standing up for what’s right and decent is just the thing any good person should do.

It’s also important to immediately point out that basically everyone’s quarrel is with the government of the People’s Republic of China, the CCP, or Chinese Communist Party, and their militia wing the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in its various guises; I have many mainland Chinese friends and past partners and bear no ill will against them, nor do most who understand the situation properly and the mainland people’s own suffering under the regime many can’t escape, or that others still emigrate en masse to be rid of. The CCP’s illegitimate claims over Taiwan have been the source of their sabre rattling for seven decades or so since they basically stole the mainland from the original Republic of China government which then escaped to Taiwan, the geographical island entity at the time which has now become the political de facto term for what is officially the RoC.

“EVERY ISSUE’S COVER FROM APRIL TO AUGUST HAS BEEN EMBLAZONED WITH THE UKRAINIAN FLAG’S COLOURS NOT JUST BECAUSE MANY OF US HAVE FRIENDS OR FAMILY CLOSE TO, OR DIRECTLY AFFECTED BY, THE ENTIRELY UNNECESSARY AND AVOIDABLE ATROCITIES AND LOSS OF LIFE HAPPENING THERE NOW, BUT BECAUSE STANDING UP FOR WHAT’S RIGHT AND DECENT IS JUST THE THING ANY GOOD PERSON SHOULD DO.”

Personally my own personal history, as mentioned in the previous issue’s L85A2 review, is rooted in the past conflict in Northern Ireland and my family ties to an unpleasant chapter in British history. In a similar fashion I’ve always attempted to take a stance of understanding of both sides of that unpleasantness and resolve to avoid such violent ends, and hope those pages of history are not repeated in the near future given instabilities brewing on that border.

Apparently though I’m tied to conflict wherever I go in the world! After actively avoiding any level of violence in my life, and dedicating as much effort as I can spare to understanding and avoiding conflict as well as its history and repercussions, I have ended up escaping the influence of one marxist terrorist organisation my parents grew up dealing with, only to stare down the barrels of another on the exact opposite side of the world. Such is life.

Nonetheless, my parents and many families of other foreigners living here in Taiwan are regularly concerned by the external media’s representation of the apparent brewing conflict and worsening cross-strait-tensions which have become increasingly belligerent since the rise of the current helmsman of ‘them over the strait’ as well as the myriad internal issues that have arisen as a result and blighted the mainland population and the entire world in the wake of COVID and ongoing supply chain issues, lockdowns, inflation, failing real estate et al.

The recent high level and apparently high tension visit of US Speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi evidently caused a few dummies to be spat, followed swiftly by Dong Feng 15 and 16 class medium range ballistic missiles; technically they all sailed far over or around Taiwan’s own airspace or territorial waters, but they did manage to also poke the Japanese into an indignant and righteously angry response. How to win friends and influence people…

WIDER CONFLICT AND POSITIVE ACTIONS

However it is the ongoing conflict in Ukraine which has caused the largest shift in local and domestic

conversation, with many pundits or commentators likening the PRC V RoC cross-strait tensions to the ongoing situation in Ukraine, a larger, more aggressive and unjustifiably expansionist quasi communist oligarchy and autocracy unilaterally deciding to invade a smaller democratic and largely peaceable neighbour that shares a lot of historical, cultural and linguistic cues with its larger sibling. The benefit for Taiwan, at least, being the hundred or so miles of worst-in-theworld to navigate water and weather systems that have put an end to previous military misadventures of the CCP and PLA in the previous cross-strait-crises (not that it’s stopped them recently flying DJI drones over Taiwanese military facilities on Kinmen) the Island closest to the mainland.

Many local media outlets focus on the relatable struggles of Ukraine against Russia’s aggression and interventionism with Taiwan’s constant life under threat of our very vocal neighbours deciding to do something stupid and costly to everyone, most likely to distract their own people from the complete internal collapse of their regime in a fashion similar to the collapse of the former Soviet Union, with many likening COVID to being ‘China’s Chernobyl moment’ in terms of deteriorating relations and impacts upon the whole rest of the world pushing them over the edge or being the straw that will break the camel’s back.

pointing and firing at us! Add to this that most of what the CCP does on the world stage is just for propaganda purposes and to placate or suppress their own populace who are evidently nonplussed with their lot in life as of late, however the worry is the “glorious leader” might decide to do something stupid in order to make a last ditch clutch for power in a failing state.

“HAVING SEEN THE UKRAINIAN AUTHORITIES GOING SOMEWHAT ‘WEAPONS FREE’ AND OPRAH-STYLE LOBBING KALASHNIKOVS TO THE MASSES IN A RAPID REVERSAL OF LOCAL FIREARMS RESTRICTIONS IN SUCH DIRE STRAITS, MANY TAIWANESE ARE LOOKING ON AND REALISING THAT PERHAPS THEIR FIRST FORAY INTO FIREARMS CULTURE SHOULDN’T BE WHEN THE LOCAL DEFENCE APPARATUS CALLS UPON THEM TO TAKE UP ARMS”

While it’s a constant source of conversation among people in country, I often come to the conclusion that an invasion is somewhat unlikely; they’re inexperienced in amphibious warfare, the likes of which even the allies nearly didn’t get right during the much shorter distance Normandy landings a good long while back, the geography of Taiwan and its coastline is just unforgiving and unhelpful in the extreme, even if they made landfall they’d be fighting in the absolute worst of urban warfare environments against an angry indigenous population, and furthermore they rely too much on Taiwanese industry, as does the rest of the world, especially for the microchips they put in all those missiles they’re

What of people on this side of the strait though? Having seen the Ukrainian authorities going somewhat ‘weapons free’ and Oprah-style lobbing Kalashnikovs to the masses in a rapid reversal of local firearms restrictions in such dire straits, many Taiwanese are looking on and realising that perhaps their first foray into firearms culture shouldn’t be when the local defence apparatus calls upon them to take up arms. Of course given Taiwan’s continued, albeit ever-shortening and apparently increasingly pointless, conscription for limited terms of National Service in some form of military or related administrative roles, the vast majority of men on the island are familiar to at least some extent with skill at arms and using a rifle. Many ladies, however, only serve by deliberate choice, with a large number eschewing the idea of a military lifestyle and its requirements; nonetheless there are many who have an active interest at becoming at least familiar, if not highly skilled, with firearms just for their own peace of mind and to cover off another useful life skill set.

So, what do these civilian men and women do in an essentially non-permissive environment with similar firearms legislation and restrictions to the UK and Japan, with personal firearms ownership and access being somewhat onerous and far from prevalent? Many of them, increasingly so, are contacting Polar Light, the training outfit fronted by Max Chiang who you may remember from my previous forays into Taiwan’s IDPA scene, way back in issue No. 120 December 2020, as well as my more recent coverage of last Christmas’ delayed Nationals Match in issue No. 134 February 2022.

Max and Polar Light have a large overlap with Taiwan IDPA and no doubt VegaForceCompany among other industry partners in terms of their activities and personnel; with many of their range/safety officers being prevalent in competitions, training, and the airsoft industry in general. Besides just staffing IDPA events and encouraging new practitioners joining the competitive aspects of shooting activities in Taiwan, Polar Light are also seeing a massive uptick in training course attendance in terms of shooting skills with various classes in effective handling and use of pistols, submachine guns and assault rifles, shooting fundamentals and use of cover, working in small groups as well as no less important classes in combat triage or urgent medical care of those potentially wounded if and when the lead or shrapnel start flying for real.

As with my past coverage of Taiwan IDPA, the numbers of enthusiastic participants is ever growing, as is the demographic of those taking up skill at arms and medical care courses, with a vast array and varied cross section of Taiwan’s non-military personnel paying out of their own pocket in order to secure a place on

one or more of Polar Light’s training courses.

Bill has previously addressed in somewhat forthright terms the naysayers in terms of airsoft being considered an ineffective tool for skill at arms; suffice to say anyone who remains unconvinced should take a look at just how many mainstream guntubers/ influencers are purporting its value, as well as police and/or military forces using it as an effective means of training entirely new practitioners with weapons handling outside of the requirement for real weapons or ammunition and their related safety concerns, as shown in my original IDPA article.

GETTING DOWN TO BASICS

Towards the tail end of August 2022 I finally got around to once again heading to Linkou CQB Club - the facility that the National Police Authority and their SWAT and STU teams regularly use for urban operations training and room clearing, and which airsofters descend upon during off hours to enjoy the same force on force killing house fun-times environment, and saw for myself what Max and the Polar Light team have been getting up to. I also saw

how the paying public have increasingly taken part and spread the word, helped in no small part by local and international online and televised media, with the BBC & ITV News, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Voice of America, along with Canadian, French, German, Swedish, and Russian outlets providing coverage of their activities, and the reactions of their students, There was even a team from US ABC News on site at the same time as me reporting further!

On Sunday the 28th of August I ventured out early in the morning and arrived to observe the day’s classes being taught in tandem; in the main facility with the killing house and game area a group of around 30 local volunteers were paying to take part in the more serious sharp end of things. All kitted up in BDUs, gun belts and plate carriers, many of them even making use of genuine ballistic plates to ensure realism and the ‘train how you fight’ mentality. The morning session involved a local IKMF accredited instructor performing some calisthenic warm-ups followed by initial explanations of the Krav Maga system and its use of simple or natural bodily movements instead of difficult or awkward rigid techniques of more

traditional martial arts systems, before getting the participants to pair off and start practising strikes and parries in unarmed hand to hand methods, progressing to knife and gun parrying and disarm techniques as well as the use of carbines to deflect or restrain opponents attempting knife attacks. These were all too pertinent given recent events in Taiwan with several bladed weapon attacks against police officers making the news, with two officers unfortunately already being disarmed and killed in one abhorrent instance as a result.

Meanwhile in the smaller outbuilding a pistolhandling fundamentals course was underway with around half as many participants composed of more largely civilian apparel-clad folks who were taking instruction in proper sight alignment, principles of marksmanship, safe handling and equipment setup, then progressing to draw - aim - shoot drills on paper targets, with the instructors correcting any minor technique or safety concerns with the complexity and duration of the strings of fire and handling exercises gradually intensifying. This continued into the afternoon segment of the session following a much

welcomed break for lunch, given the searing heat and humidity that day!

After lunch the main training body moved on to more active techniques; High Risk Entry (HRE) working in groups of four to six and larger groups composed of such smaller teams working together to perform building clearing and room entry techniques and practising working through CQB environments with increasingly complex movements and strings of actions even working up to killing house scenarios involving firing their gas blowback rifles at the paper targets distributed around the rooms as they entered. They learned to move safely around each other and their surroundings with appropriate muzzle discipline as well as ensuring all the angles were covered; again short debriefs from the instructors were performed immediately after each team’s attempts before they returned to the staging area and the subsequent team made their own run.

Further to the courses I saw on the day, Polar Light also provide further classes in combat pistol and rifle usage techniques, low light environment weapons handling and usage, as well as advanced

marksmanship training, but just as, if not more importantly self-rescue or teammate rescue training for combat casualty care, along with making effective use of tourniquets and other IFAK components to improve survivability. This suite of training courses vary in cost from around 2,300 - 4,000 NTD (roughly UK£65-100) and Polar Light also provide training materials and equipment as well as those related to their IDPA efforts through their online store and information hub which can be found at https://www. polarlight.com.tw/.

WHAT OF THE FUTURE?

I’ve always been an ardent supporter of access to firearms training and knowledge, having been well trained myself during my RAF CCF Cadet force days and carrying those lessons through life with real and replica firearms to this day; whether people have open access to firearms and/or ammunition itself is a further heated debate which is very much ongoing in many arenas around the world.

Taiwan as of late has had a somewhat dim view of

real steel firearms, with ongoing changes in legislation and policing focus since I last covered the threat of Article 20-1 in ‘Trouble in Paradise’ in issue No. 116 August 2020; the local authorities are increasingly trying to stamp out the issues of live firearms ending up in the wrong hands as well as the supporting underground industry of converting ‘prop guns’ or deactivated weapons in order to fire live rounds, with some recent cases involving real guns or deactivated variants of them being imported from the Chinese mainland, then being reactivated and used in domestic criminal and gang activity.

Evidently this causes local legitimate airsoft manufacturers an utter headache very reminiscent of the UK’s VRCA/B and the facetious uninformed cries of politicians or pressure groups that toy guns could so easily be converted to fire live rounds; again evidently not everyone is an engineer, and not everyone understands firearms and the metallurgy required to safely and repeatedly fire live rounds.

Gangsterism and violent crime aside (honestly, it’s mostly scooter crashes and cats up trees on the news here, nothing much happens in Taiwan day to day!) I feel the Taiwanese government is missing a trick to some degree, and certainly some

airsoft manufacturers are trying to encourage an early interest in defence and military service or at least being comfortable and capable with firearms. With the likes of G&G among others providing outreach programs to schools with visiting instructors demystifying guns for high school age kids and getting them interested in a responsible but enjoyable use of airsoft guns, as well as the international competitive games held each year aside from the recent cancellations due to the pandemic, and furthermore their focus on providing AEGs in the form factor of the RoC military’s current and past service rifles, the T91 and T65, and working in conjunction with the Taiwan Airgun and Airsoft Association (TWAAA) to hold public relations events and the ‘camo fest’ events where people of all ages can interact with serving military personnel, airsoft industry insiders and equipment, and get at least a very basic feel for the hardware and hardships the military see, and of course VFC’s direct support of Taiwan IDPA’s efforts and aforementioned overlap of interests and personnel.

With the likes of QRF magazine’s Military Outdoor and Airsoft (MOA) exhibitions also being an increasingly important industry mainstay and

touch point for the local populace as well as foreign manufacturers to see Taiwan’s airsoft industry and its partners and military aspects in a more accessible fashion, at least it seems there is some progress being made to reform the local people’s mentalities towards firearms culture and their place in civil society. Personally I’d ideally like to see the same sort of responsible ownership and use model as the Swiss or Cypriot armed citizenries make use of, with controlled but widespread access or ownership of defensive weapons in a militia style utilisation that can be called upon if the worst were to occur, and undoubtedly many of my teammates are of the same mind, with many of us coming from rough neighbourhoods or places where gun violence or past conflict are relatively fresh memories. We’d rather be getting on with our own small unit tactics training and teambuilding, communications and fire and movement efforts before the day the powers that be find they suddenly have to start handing out the real guns without much of their own forward planning.

Hopefully through everyone’s continued efforts and outreach the boundaries in people’s mindsets can be broken down somewhat, and the proportion and cross section of society which realises there is a time

and place for sensible firearms use within a civilised society, or to better defend it and maintain its civility in the face of external threats, will continue to grow through word of mouth and local or international positive media influence. If we really do find ourselves with a rifle behind every blade of grass, then all that foolishness on the part of aggressive actors might be dissuaded.

After all, and as I remind people often, the likes of past conflicts in Afghanistan, Vietnam, Northern Ireland, the resistance of occupied World War II nations and of course the ongoing struggle of the Ukrainian people and military have demonstrated time and again, just because you have a numerically or technologically inferior force it does not immediately mean you are at a total disadvantage or doomed to fail. The will to fight, coupled with a home field advantage usually wins out; Welcome to the rice fields…

I’d like to once again thank Max and his instructors, as well as the participants for once again accommodating me and my queries and photographic exploits and look forward to seeing their continued growth and public interest and positive outlook on their activities. AA

SPEEDQB HK PUBLIC INVITATIONAL

DURING THE

SPEEDQB PUBLIC INVITATIONAL

Since the SpeedQB Hong Kong Public Invitational Competition was announced, there have been a lot of new SpeedQB teams formed; around eight teams were formed and the event was full within a short time! As my team plays with a speedsoft play style, we have met a lot of speedsoft

visitors from other countries, and back in 2019 I also went to Thailand for an Airsoft CQB experience, met some SpeedQB players in Thailand and we planned to catch up again in 2020 to meet their SpeedQB community. However, it was postponed again and again due to the pandemic…

With the SpeedQB Hong Kong community growing rapidly, there were several trainings before the competition, and I finally had my chance to officially experience SpeedQB match style (you can check this out by following https:// youtu.be/mZEBnlczF1Q). SpeedQB strategy is different from CQB, as this only needs a very straightforward, light outfit that gives you the advantage to run faster, and also an HPA system gives you a significant advantage in this game mode!

HPA, or the high-pressure-air system, uses highly-pressurized air to power your GBB; compared to Green Gas, your rate of fire is more stable and you can use an AR magazine for your Hicapa! It works great in cold weather too. As players may be concerned about overpowered weapon-issues in HPA, there is a tournament lock in the regulator, and you can adjust your firepower

THE GAME ON

The SpeedQB Hong Kong Public Invitational was organized by SpeedQB Hong Kong. This event was led by VOC RIP, VOC Bread & VOC Eric. The event’s official video was shot and shot by VOC xchawol, who is a talented and skilled videographer, and you can check out the official event highlight video here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wa6_ eMF_utA

your opponent is using HPA. However, I still prefer reloading action during any CQB encounter, so I will usually stick with green gas magazines; as Hong Kong during Winter isn’t too cold, Green Gas is still able to perform well, but if I join a SpeedQB match someday, I will certainly consider getting HPA for the game!

On the event day, there were five newly formed teams joining the game. As I noted they had designed and created their uniform quickly, for example, the SBL team were a group of gamers picking white as their color theme, which is a very eye-catching uniform. Each team had its strategies exactly focused on different teams or rival team members too, they are serious about the match but they are also respectful to every participant. This time all rules and regulations are the same as SpeedQB official rules, for the tournament system uses Double Elimination, a type of elimination tournament competition in which a participant ceases to be eligible to win the tournament’s championship upon having lost two games or matches. This arrangement spices up the atmosphere of the event; people were so excited about every result announcement, as their favorite team stood a chance of being back in the game.

“ON THE EVENT DAY, THERE WERE FIVE NEWLY FORMED TEAMS JOINING THE GAME. AS I NOTED THEY HAD DESIGNED AND CREATED THEIR UNIFORM QUICKLY, FOR EXAMPLE, THE SBL TEAM WERE A GROUP OF GAMERS PICKING WHITE AS THEIR COLOR THEME, WHICH IS A VERY EYE-CATCHING UNIFORM.”

This competition is very keen to promote fair gameplay for all players, so they had appointed one head referee and six referees which combined with players and helpers. The referees were split in different angles of the arena and audience stages,

1. Champion: ROA

2. 1st runner up: VOC

3. 2nd runner up: Smile Lab

As this was the first recognized official match of SpeedQB in Hong Kong, Airsoft store Chimera Airsoft sponsored several HPA parts as prizes, in order to promote the system and competition. With the growth of SpeedQB community, I guess there will be more HPA users amongst us sooner rather than later!

tasks like Late calls, No calls or Field Disruptions. Luckily every player was using Tracer which made instant judgment easier; however, if the venue is too bright or clothing is light colored, then we looked back to review on camera for a decision. My experience of this was that it is great to solve the situation at once, but this is also very timeconsuming.

THE LAST STAND

After the event, I had a chat with VOC Bread, one of the main coordinators of the event. He spent a lot of time and effort on promotion and preparations, and he believes wholeheatedly that SpeedQB will be another form of Airsoft Competition that will become extremely popular. Hopefully, in the next game, there will be more support from sponsors in respect of prizes and promotional support. Since the community is growing, every team is trying its best to coordinate events to promote this sport. In the future there will be a training day and introduction day, organized by Smile Lab. It is a new player-friendly SpeedQB event.

Back in 2018, I saw how SpeedQB teams started in Hong Kong, and it has not been an easy path. For four years I’ve witnessed the games starting with just a few committed few players and becoming a real and large-scale community. It is motivating to

After much great, passionate and focused gameplay the last match between teams ROA and VOC pushed the excitement to the max! If ROA lost there would be more matches needed to decide the championship! During the last game, VOC eliminated four ROA members quickly and they were searching for the last one. However ROA Anson picked the right moment to swap lane and finish off three VOC members quickly, and then he continued to approach the last enemy player. They both engaged in middle range and finally Anson took the benefit of barricades and shot VOC Albird. For such an intense action,

check the

After 4 hours intense action, the winners were:

support and bring more new game styles to the industry as things continue to move positively forward! AA

AA LEGION PORTUGAL OP SALAMANDRA

OBVIOUSLY YOU ALL LIKE READING ABOUT DIFFERENT GAMES AND STYLES OF PLAY AROUND THE WORLD AS WE CAN SEE THIS FROM OUR ANALYTICS! TO THIS END, AND THANKS TO OUR EVER-EXPANDING LEGION WE’LL MAKE SURE THAT THEY KEEP COMING, AND THIS MONTH WE’RE DELIGHTED THAT MIGUEL IS BACK FROM HIS SUMMER BREAK AS HE REPORTS ON A GAME IN PORTUGAL THAT WAS JUST A BIT SPECIAL!

Takingpart in an event that takes place in a big field is good, but now imagine that the same event takes you to THREE different fields, not only that but it also gives you the choice of playing MilSim missions or more Skirmish-based gameplay, jumping from a plane at 4000m and a kayak insertion! In addition you are presented with a well-organized event, story, and gameplay, with almost zero dead moments and a great welcome area for all players, with a bar, live music, and even a “tactical lounge”. Yup, that was the “SALAMANDRA” event that took place in Portugal in September, and all this was organized by ANA APD, one of the Airsoft Associations in our county.

The game story was developed around a group of Marines trying to disrupt the actions of a known terrorist called Al Din Pestwari, who had the plan of following in the footsteps of his father and restarting the production of Anthrax! Of course, Pestwari had an army of mercs at his beck and call, and this army was none other than the Salamanders. So, the cards were dealt, the gear ready and the players eager for action.

For me and the GHOSTs, the event started Friday since we planned to camp out and enjoy a gettogether with other players. ANA APD arranged the camping by faction and set up a bar for all to enjoy, with drinks, warm food, and good old beer (if you know Portuguese beer, then you know what I’m talking about!)! We were also presented with a group called “Cante Alentejano”, who sang some traditional songs of the region, and later on a DJ. Great welcome party!

GAME ON

For the MilSim sub-factions, the game started Saturday at 0030 hrs, so the Marine Recon and Recon Kommando forces were dropped off somewhere in one of the fields and had the mission of finding several boxes that had timed locks; these would only open Sunday, but it was crucial to know at what time they would be available to complete missions later on. From this point, it was game ON, and every mission and objective gave us points for the final score.

I and the GHOST OPS gang were part of the Salamanders merc army, and for us, the game started Saturday at 0600, and while the sun was rising over the Alqueva waters we were getting something to eat and starting to gear up to hit the check-in before boarding the bus (yes, a real bus!) for the first area of operations, an ex-correctional colony in Vila Fernando, a huge urban complex with around 700 hectares and 7-8 hectares of buildings. Along the way, we got a briefing from our leader Al Din Pestwari, and our job was to re-establish the old chemical laboratory and start the production of “anthrax”.

We got off the “Helibus” ready for combat and escorted our leader to a F.O.B. where he could command the rest of the troops. From there we

got our first real mission, escorting a scientist and establishing a laboratory where we could “force” him to produce “anthrax” for our cause. So together with Delta Section (we were the Golf Section), we set up the laboratory and the defences around it, knowing that it would be one of the main targets of the Marine forces. While we were holding the lab, the rest of the Sections were tasked with finding chemicals left behind and delivering them to us. Of course, it didn’t take long before the Marine forces started pushing our positions, trying to get to the lab and preventing the collection and delivery of the chemicals.

The Marines weren’t playing around! They were able to get into good positions around the laboratory, trying to get as many Salamanders from a distance as they could, while other groups stormed the complex from every entrance. At a point we almost lost our objective, the enemy forces had overrun most of that complex, leaving only the room where the lab was with defenders, but reinforcements were quick to act and we were able to secure our position once again.

But the game story had other plans for us, and a bit after we were told that the Marines had captured the right hand of our leader, general Cunhali, so a prisoner exchange was going to take place and the scientist was our barging chip. Our new orders dropped we abandoned the complex and returned to the position of our leader while other Salamander Sections took care of the prisoner exchange.

We took a bit of a rest while waiting for our next assignment, and not much later all Sections were mobilized to stop the Marines’ last attempt to neutralize the “anthrax” production by destroying the complex. We were ordered to defend a critical structure where the Marines were going to place an explosive device, which our leader found out via listening to enemy coms. We were fast in taking defensive positions and the Marine attack force didn’t stand a chance, the defenders got control of the device quickly and it was disarmed within the given time. And that was the end of the first

scenario!

ALL ABOARD THE HELI-BUS!

Sometime later our Helibus picked us up and we

“THE GAME STORY WAS DEVELOPED AROUND A GROUP OF MARINES TRYING TO DISRUPT THE ACTIONS OF A KNOWN TERRORIST CALLED AL DIN PESTWARI, WHO HAD THE PLAN OF FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF HIS FATHER AND RE-STARTING THE PRODUCTION OF ANTHRAX!

were on our way to the second AO, a quarry, where some minerals important to our cause could be found. In the meantime, our Recon Kommando forces had a mission of their own, one where they would be engaged by an airborne Marine force, and once again victory shone on the Salamanders!

The trip was a long one, so many took the opportunity to rest a bit and get something to eat. But as soon we got close to the new AO it was time to sharpen up and get ready; we knew that it was hard AO, with dense woodland, huge rocks, and the sun right on top of us, giving us 35 - 36ºC to fight in! Once again we got off the Helibus ready for combat and set up a new FOB. Our first goal was to restock water since the trip was long and the weather didn’t help. Here we had to wait for a bit, there were some delays in bringing water to the AO, and it was not a good idea to send teams out without restocking.

But soon after, we were all set and ready for more action, while most Sections were sent to pick up minerals market on the Ares Alpha app (great APP for Airsoft, do check it out!), Section Golf was tasked with scouting the highest part of the map for unmarked minerals and safeguarding the area. After scouring the area we gathered all the minerals in our possession and returned to our FOB, only to be welcomed by a group of Marines trying to breach our defences and capture Al Din Pestwari! Of course, the Salamanders didn’t stand for this and sent the Marines packing once again!

So, objectives were delivered, attackers repelled, and new orders dropped right away; members of the Delta Section were successful in taking a good position way behind enemy lines and were getting closer to the enemy HQ, so our new orders were to distract the enemy away from the HQ and give Section Delta a window to capture the enemy leader. Unfortunately, there was not enough time and this scenario ended!

Time to get back to the camping area (also called FOB), so we got into the Helibus and prepared for the way back. It’s fair to say that we were tired, hungry, thirsty, and dusty, but we had some spare time before the night scenario (which was optional). So we got to the FOB, some took a dip in the Alqueva waters to freshen up, and others hit the bar to get some grub and drinks. The important part was to rest as much as we could and get some food in because we wanted to join the night part!

<<xhead>> O-DARK-THIRTY OPS

At the arranged time we were ready and got the briefing for the night! The mission was simple, get back the scientist that we used as a bargaining chip

during the first scenario. The Marines were holding their position in an old complex with a few structures, so we knew our target.

Together with around ten other Salamanders and Recon Kommando we made a simple plan and stormed the location. We all know that urban combat and CQB are confusing, and when you add night-time it’s even worse, so no complex plan was needed. Clear building to building and reduce the places where the scientist could be in. The fighting was intense, but right at the end of the given time, we were able to find and escort the scientist. At this time the score gave the Salamanders a huge lead, so we could go into the morning scenario with ease! Time to return to the FOB, it was a long walk back and there wasn’t much time to rest, since at 0700 we had to be up again! So, eat something and fast asleep!

A few hours later we were ready for more, but the toll of the previous event was there, not many were present in the night scenario, and we were able to get some good rest, so for us, it was a bit harder, but there was no staying behind! So much so that we were the first group to head out! During the briefing, we got to know about the crates that our Recon Kommando forces found during their first mission, and due to their performance, we knew the timelines of all the crates. We had the order of taking control of one of the first crates that were going to be available, so time to hit the road!

We were moving against the clock, we knew that the Marines planned for an amphibious insertion somewhere in the field, and our Recon forces were out there trying to find their drop-off points. So our goal was to reach our objective in time before giving the enemy even a chance of reaching the location, because if we could complete this objective fast we could help the other Sections in charge of crates that would open later on. But, our spiritual leader had other plans, since the Marine forces didn’t know the timeline of all crates, we were ordered to defend our objective even after delivering what was inside, so we divided the group; while a few delivered the goods, the rest defended an empty location, to fool the Marines into attacking a location with no interest. And the plan worked, soon after my members who stayed defending the location started getting enemy contacts closing in, and testing the defences.

But for some reason no decisive attack was made, they just stayed around the perimeter of our defences a bit disorganized, so when the orders dropped to regroup all Sections in the FOB my guys caught the attacking enemy by surprise, eliminating everyone on their way to my position.

GAME

The new and final mission dropped, and it was an interesting one! For some time now we’d been seeing, and hearing, a plane around the AO, and it looked like the enemy commander was looking for our leader and organizing the Marines from the sky! But the tables were about to turn, during this time our Recon forces had the objective of reading a code written under one of the wings of the plane, and if they succeeded it would give Al Din Pestwari a way to contact the pilot and strike a deal with him, and they did it!

So the new objective was to help our Recon Kommando forces in reaching and stealing the enemy kayaks (used for the amphibious insertion) and approaching the plane after it ditched. It was an interesting moment, moving towards the location of the kayaks and hiding from the plane when it flew over us. We met some resistance on the way, but with all Salamander Sections moving together it was difficult to stop us, and soon we reached the designated location and saw the plane ditch while the kayaks carrying our forces captured the enemy leader. And... Victory for the Salamanders!

<<xhead>> THE FINAL WORD

To conclude this report I thought it only right to speak to the ANA, and I’m very pleased that Diogo Pestana, Director in the National Airsoft Association (ANA) of Portugal, was able to tell me what follows!

“We, from the National Airsoft Association from Portugal have set a mission to progress Portuguese Airsoft into the future. Our goal is to develop events with modern game dynamics, modern cool experiences and modernized immersions. And we have been able to deliver this successfully!

Salamandra! After the massive success of our “Undercover II” event earlier this year, Salamandra was another massive step in the right direction for Airsoft in Portugal. Salamandra has the slogan of “The Airsoft Experience”, and with that in mind, we developed an event that wanted to cover this in all of its parts. We started to develop an event that aimed to include all types of players.

If you wanted to play a 36h non-stop MilSim… we got you. If you don’t feel yet capable of doing 36h, and wanted to get a more restful experience, sure… we got you as well! Skirmish players would enter the game in a different stage, would rest during night and resume action on the next morning, all while being immersed into the story of the game, where you never felt disconnected of the narrative of what was happening.

We also aimed to deliver the “Airsoft Experience” in all aspects of the game dynamic, merging it with

our goal of pushing airsoft into the future. While all the classical navigation tools were in place for the ones that preferred it, we continued to introduce the Ares Alpha navigation system in our games, plus all the features that the app allows, like UAV, EMPs and scoring points. We had electronic keylocks that were counting down the time to automatically open. We had drones, live press reports covering the conflict, and so much more that represents modern conflicts!

Salamandra was a game that took place in three different scenario areass. An urban scenario with high rhythm battles; a natural quarry with spots that snipers loved; and into the amazing plains of Alqueva, a must see nature area in the beautiful Alentejo. In this last environment, surrounded by lakes, players needed to navigate miles using kayaks to achieve their goals.

In Salamandra we pushed the Portuguese events for new heights, literally! This event had players parachuting into the battlefield! For real, we had airsoft players, fully geared up, jumping out of planes at 4200 feet, in a tandem jump! Oh, and did we mention that we also had direct engagement with aircraft during the game, with them flying by close to the ground troops? One of the commanders also rode on board the plane to spot enemies from the air and communicate to his teams the insurgent locations! All of this dynamics were rounded up with key roleplay that provided the immersion to all the players that engaged in this Portuguese event.

This was Salamandra, the Airsoft Experience, and we will be back in the late summer of 2023! Hope to see you all there. Follow us on our social media pages for more details, for this event or equally energized ones of our event’s calendar!”

My thanks go to Diego and his team, and you can follow future developments at www.anairsoft. com The Salamandra event was indeed a true Airsoft experience! Undoubtedly, for us, it will be an event that will stay in our memory; a full weekend full of airsoft, three different fields, interconnected missions, roleplay, well-constructed objectives, a lot of surprises, and a great get-together! AA

CQB BEAST

NEARLY TWO YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE BILL FIRST GOT HIS HANDS ON THE MK18 SA-E19 EDGE FROM SPECNA ARMS, AND AFTER SOME HARD USE BOTH ON THE RANGE AND IN GAME IT’S TIME TO CHECK OUT HOW IT’S HOLDING UP; IS THIS AN AEG THAT CAN REALLY TAKE A HAMMERING AND KEEP COMING BACK FOR MORE? IT WOULD APPEAR THAT “THE ONLY EASY DAY WAS YESTERDAY”!

We’ve

seen some great new AEG AR models from Specna Arms over the last couple of years, but none of them is so dear to me as the EMG/Daniel Defense-licenced Mk18 CQBR, or the MK18 SA-E19 EDGE as Specna call it; there seems to have been a slew of Mk 18s recently, but in my opinion Specna Arms nailed it on their first attempt and two years in I still adore it!

I’ve made no bones about my love for this compact and sturdy platform and to recap briefly on “the beast in the wild” the purpose of the CQBR was to provide operators with a weapon of compact size, but one still capable of firing a rifle cartridge, intended for urban warfare and other close quarters battle (CQB) situations. One of two proposed “special mission receivers” that were planned for inclusion into the SOPMOD Block II kit, the CQBR has proved incredibly popular amongst its users. The CQBR has been pretty much owned by the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC-Crane or just “Crane”, like the stock) following the CQBR’s removal from the Special Operations Peculiar MODification (SOPMOD) program. The complete CQBR-equipped carbine was typeclassified as the M4A1 CQB/R Block II.

LOOKS ARE EVERYTHING!

The first observation I would make is that this AEG looks the absolute business, and will most certainly please players that favour a more “military” model. I like to use the phrase “fighting gun”, and the E19 is most certainly that; there are no frills, no bells and whistles, just a solidly made short AR AEG that’s immediately ready to BB-up and get out onto the field with. The Mk18 has been manufactured in cooperation with EMG Arms in the USA, and bears deeply engraved “trades” from Daniel Defense, loud and proud on the left of the magwell, and this is very nicely done. Every part of the Mk18 appears to have been made and fitted with the utmost care and attention to detail, and the metal body features the now-standard Specna Arms Nano Coating finish to prevent scratches, and this has stood up well to abuse on the range and in-game.

The outer barrel mimics the length of the real one very well, and the 244mm Mk18 rail is beautifully done, again with full “DD Trades”, and is fixed rocksolid to the upper receiver; this is a contiguous rail as it should be, marrying perfectly with the top rail on the upper. The outer barrel features a standard

“THE PURPOSE OF THE CQBR WAS TO PROVIDE OPERATORS WITH A WEAPON OF COMPACT SIZE, BUT ONE STILL CAPABLE OF FIRING A RIFLE CARTRIDGE, INTENDED FOR URBAN WARFARE AND OTHER CLOSE

BATTLE (CQB)

“I LIKE TO USE THE PHRASE “FIGHTING GUN”, AND THE E19 IS MOST CERTAINLY THAT; THERE ARE NO FRILLS, NO BELLS AND WHISTLES, JUST A SOLIDLY MADE SHORT AR AEG THAT’S IMMEDIATELY READY TO BB-UP AND GET OUT ONTO THE FIELD”

“birdcage” on a 14 mm CCW thread, which I switched out immediately to a “Surefire-style” 4 prong, and then promptly switched back as I wanted to have the option to fit an “SF” style suppressor.

The top of the replica features Specna’s own polymer flip-up sights which are very good, but as I wanted a “look” to the carbine I changed these to metal lo-profile flip-ups with a dioptre style rear. The “package” included two Mid-Cap S-MAG magazines with a capacity of 125 BBs each and I’ve found these to be reliable and to feed well, although I’ve mainly used the E19 with PTS mid-cap mags. The stock as standard was a pretty non-descript “CRANE” style, and the pistol grip a bit of a “vanilla” A2; these have now been changed to my favoured slimline MOE-style stock and a more ergonomic tan Specna Arms motor grip to fit in with the overall theme. I’ve also fitted tan ladder-style railguards and a tan “stubby” foregrip to complete things to my personal taste.

In terms of other accessories I vary between a repro EoTech and the combo of holosight and flip-to-theside 3x magnifier, a pair of super models from Theta Optics (also sold by Gunfire). I’ve tried both Scout and pistol-style taclites on the rail, and I’m still not certain which I like best, and on the top of the rail I now have a tan PEQ-15 light/laser combo to round things out.

COOL INSIDE

Internally the E19 is what again I have come to expect from Specna Arms, and for a “stock gun” that’s top notch! Inside the E19 you get a precision 6.03 inner barrel that provides accuracy from the get go, both on first and follow-up shots; this barrel works in tandem with the rotary Hop-Up that allows for very precise adjustment of the BB spin. The carbine also features a factory-fitted X-ASR GATE Mosfet, and this has proved easy to work with.

At the heart of the E19 you’ll find the ORION gearbox which is based on a reinforced frame and equipped with a main spring release; the ORION gearbox is rated to work with springs up M140, although I’ve not used anything yet above M110. As well as the gearbox itself you’ll find a reinforced polymer piston with steel teeth, aluminium airsealed nozzle, aluminium double air-sealed cylinder head, aluminium double air-sealed piston head with bearings, a set of steel gears, and 8.mm bearings, and everything here is still working efficiently.

When it comes to getting the E19 “in game”, the battery as usual is housed inside the buffer tube and stock, and as I’ve found with other Specna Arms AR carbines a decent stick LiPo will fit easily into the

buffer tube if you’re careful, and I use my normal 1200 mAh 11.1V LiPo; this is a little bit of a squeeze given the diameter of the tube and the fact that the MOSFET lives in that space too, but once in and the MOE stock is fitted the battery vanishes from view entirely which I like.

The rotary hop really is easy to work with and adjust, and once set, it stays firmly in place, and with everything set on .28g BBs the E19 is a bit of a beast! The trigger is most certainly crisp, as just a nudge sends BBs downrange happily; on semi you really can get shots away quickly, and full chat with an 11.1 works brilliantly for a great ROF. I’m pleased to report that the E19 I received two years ago for testing still chrono’s with super consistency at 1.12 Joule/348fps using .20g RZR BBs.

At 30m unsupported it’s easy to get hits on a 400mm x 400mm torso-sized target with each BB flying straight and true. I’ve taken the E19 up to my local site for longer ranges, and the carbine performs superbly on .28g RZR BBs, easily and accurately sending them to target at 40m-45m now that everything has bedded in.

I really do like the E19 as it’s an exceptionally tight package both inside and out, and care has obviously been taken to provide something in AEG form that’s fully worthy of carrying the Daniel Defense name! With an iro-£250 price tag here in the UK it really provides some serious bang for your buck; after two years it still looks great, feels great, and shoots excellently, so as far as I can see Specna Arms and EMG have got this very, very right.

Many thanks indeed to Gunfire who supplied the AEG; you can check out more details on the Daniel Defense MK18 SA-E19 EDGE and the rest of the extensive range of Specna Arms models by simply visiting https://gunfire.com AA

UNIFORMITY ...OR LACK OF!

AFTER A BRIEF HIATUS INDUSTRY-VETERAN FRENCHIE IS THANKFULLY BACK WITH US AGAIN THIS MONTH TO CAST HIS SOMEWHAT WEARY EYE OVER ALL THINGS IN THE WORLD OF AIRSOFT… AND FIND SOMETHING TO HAVE A GOOD OLD RANT ABOUT! LET’S NOT TAKE OURSELVES TOO SERIOUSLY FOLKS, AND ONCE AGAIN WE HOPE THAT YOU’LL FIND HIS RAMBLINGS AS THOUGHT-PROVOKING AS WE DO!

Thismonth I thought I would have a stab at something I have mentioned in passing many times over the years, but never really come straight at, uniform; what’s acceptable and what isn’t on the airsoft field. “Last Post” is an opinion piece, these are mine and you are more than welcome to disagree with me. It may well be that your knowledge of the subjects involved allow you to view these things with far greater knowledge and objectivity.

So, uniforms. Defined as ‘the distinctive clothing worn by members of the same organisation or body or by children attending certain schools’ I doubt any of you were in the dark regarding this. Military uniforms are mostly where it’s at for airsofters, although in truth few of us actually wear something which is ‘uniform’ in the sense of ‘remaining the same in all cases and at all times; unchanging in form or character’.

Airsofters tend to take the various bits of military uniform which they like and create a loadout which suits them. It has been relatively rare in my experience to see that much uniformity at a skirmish. Yes, you’ll see loads of Crye Multicam, you’ll see very similar items of tactical nylon, but you will also see an abundance of military uniforms, the ‘PMC’ look,

or historical loadouts. Speaking personally, my last loadout was US Vietnam-era trousers, a Hawaiian shirt, an US M69 flak jacket replica and a ChiCom chest rig. God alone knows what that was meant to be, but it worked for me and was light and functional!

Mostly you’ll see a combination of modern battle dress uniform (BDU) paired with load carrying gear and accessories all of which tend to reflect a modern approach. Even players who work as a team seldom completely match their gear. They may favour the same BDUs and have had some kind of patch made up (Hi! Ditchfinders!) but everything else will

“MY LAST LOADOUT WAS US VIETNAM-ERA TROUSERS, A HAWAIIAN SHIRT, AN US M69 FLAK JACKET REPLICA AND A CHICOM CHEST RIG. GOD ALONE KNOWS WHAT THAT WAS MEANT TO BE, BUT IT WORKED FOR ME AND WAS LIGHT AND FUNCTIONAL!”

most likely be left to personal choice, right down to weaponry.

This after all, is one of the joys of airsoft, you don’t just get what you’re given. I mean, who in their right mind would opt for any version of the L85 over the far more functional AR-15? Uniformity is much rarer than you might imagine. I have known some players who set out to recreate a particular look, or period, but the one I have in mind whilst writing involved two players who did a full British loadout from around the 1990’s - early 2000s. Two players in a typical gathering of 60 or 70.

are you doing that?’ and ‘this makes me slightly uncomfortable’ sort of issues.

WHY, JUST WHY?

For me, the biggest offender is WWII SS. I just don’t get why players choose that uniform. Obviously they can, and do, but I never thought it particularly appropriate. Heer? No more issue with that than US Airborne, but to wear the runes at an event where you are absolutely guaranteed to stand out like a sore thumb is something I have never managed to understand.

The other group who do aim for uniformity are the historical airsofters. In the UK that is mostly going to be uniforms and equipment from World War Two, although it’s noticeable that British WWII kit is less common. I have over the years seen my share of US WWII players, mostly post ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and ‘Band of Brothers’, along with a fair smattering of WWII German, both Heer and that other thing we as modern, caring, sharing people don’t talk about. There have been a smattering of others, Soviet era gear for instance, but this is a clear minority interest within airsoft. And this is where I occasionally have issues. Just to clarify, not the sort of issues where I turf players off site or go on a rant, more the ‘why

If you are taking part in a historically themed game, and that uniform is appropriate within that context, fine…ish. If you are attending something like the old War & Peace event, yeah ok, I get it… ish. At a similar event many years ago, I overheard a passing guy, resplendent in full black uniform on the phone, telling whoever was on the other end that “me and the kids are just camping for the weekend”. That’s not quite the same as “me and the kids are spending the weekend with a platoon of blokes all wearing Nazi uniform and gathered around a refurbished WWII field kitchen” now is it? I was driven to assume he was at least aware that not everyone would share his enthusiasm for his chosen piece of history.

Ah - history. The thing about history is that it’s there, and there is nothing any of us can do about that. The SS were a part of a particularly difficult period, and even I wouldn’t deny their existence. Nor would I deny the opinion held by many military historians that they were exceedingly effective troops, but you cannot escape what they were, a vanity project conceived by Himmler which always stood apart from the rest of the German army. It would

“THAT’S NOT QUITE THE SAME AS “ME AND THE KIDS ARE SPENDING THE WEEKEND WITH A PLATOON OF BLOKES ALL WEARING NAZI UNIFORM AND GATHERED AROUND A REFURBISHED WWII FIELD KITCHEN” NOW IS IT?”

last post

not be a huge stretch to call them paramilitary, although that misses the complexity of their role and involvement.

What they undoubtedly were was ideologically motivated, and this set them in splendid isolation from the Heer. It also was used to justify some of their actions during WWII, actions which were the physical manifestation of the political ideals of National Socialist German. As I said at the start, others will know this stuff better than I, and I’m going to leave it here.

BOTTOM LINE

The bottom line for me is that here is an organisation that was aligned hip and shoulder with the Nazi regime and its goals, in a way the rest of the Wehrmacht wasn’t. An organisation whose activities were widely reviled, and some of whose members

paid for those actions after the end of the war.

Why would you choose to airsoft in that uniform?

As I said, in an appropriate historical context, I get it. In the context of WWII re-enactment, I get it, sort of; like it or not they were part of the story, at times an important part, but, pitching up to an open skirmish in your Feldgrau with your runes, when there is no historical context always struck me as a bit of a “look at me!”, and not in a good way.

Now, given recent history, it’s entirely possible that some of you now take great umbrage at Russian loadouts; some might have found my lurid shirts offensive, that’s fine, we’re all entitled to our opinions. For me, it was always that one particular loadout, invariably worn by someone who would have had absolutely no chance of joining the organisation they model in its heyday.

Oh, the irony. AA

“GIVEN RECENT HISTORY, IT’S ENTIRELY POSSIBLE THAT SOME OF YOU NOW TAKE GREAT UMBRAGE AT RUSSIAN LOADOUTS; SOME MIGHT HAVE FOUND MY LURID SHIRTS OFFENSIVE, THAT’S FINE, WE’RE ALL ENTITLED TO OUR OPINIONS”