Airsoft Action - July 2023

CONTENTS

8 ARMOURY: KRYTAC MAXIM

Krytac have been making a fair name for themselves in the airsoft market over the last few years, even achieving decent penetration and presence within the Japanese market which is an otherwise Marui-dominated sphere! Their first venture into the gas-gun-game was a fresh direction chosen to launch them into the foray of countless existing GBB pistols, their licensed SilencerCo Maxim 9!

22 ARMOURY: VFC HK53

Having just finished off the previous MP5k SEF classic version for issue No. 148 April 2023, the release date for the HK53 was also fast approaching and we soon got our hands on yet another gas replica we’d been eagerly awaiting!

Editorial Director: Bill Thomas

Deputy Editor (Asia): Stu Mortimer

Graphic Design: Calibre Publishing

Ad Design: Deadshot Design

Publisher: Calibre Publishing

Web: www.airsoftaction.net

©Calibre Publishing Limited 2023

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32

Always on the look-out for something new Bill recently got his hands on one of the very latest “SU” variants from ARCTURUS, one that’s ideal for CQB environments and something that would probably make “Comrade Kalashnikov” turn in his grave… or would it?

56 GEAR: VORPAL BUNNY

When is a 1911 not a 1911? When it’s a Detonics Combat Master! But even that marvellous little GBB is subject to evolution in airsoft form, and one of our favourite GBB pistols has been given a righteous anime-inspired makeover to becomes the VORPAL BUNNY! Bill looks deeper…

ARMOURY: ARCTURUS AK74U CUSTOM

38

Summer is finally with us here in the UK and at AAHQ, and our thoughts have turned fully to longer, warmer days and especially to those evenings that we can now spend on the range! With this in mind there are certain members of the AA Crew that seem to live in shorts once the sun starts shining, and the question arose as to what place shorts have in our airsoft gear lockers? Bill digs deeper…

70 TRAINING: STAGE TARGET SYSTEM

Training for airsoft is something that not everyone buys into, or indeed wants to get into due to time and space constraints, but it is something that is 100% worthwhile if you can do it. Even if you just spend some time on the range dialling in your AEG or GBB you’ll find that it’s time well spent when it comes to getting consistent “rounds on” in game, and Miguel has been trying a new system that’s available to everyone and fun to use!

44

We’re continuing our theme of gear for “friendly competition” this month; last time the members of the AA LEGION looked at their skirmish belt setups that could easily double up for a PAMG session, and this time we move that forward by looking at adding a lightweight chest rig for the times you need to carry more.

76 TECH: WULF OPTICS

We’re always looking to see what new brands are proving to be popular in our favourite airsoft stores, and we’ve noticed that WULF OPTICS are appearing more and more! Offering high levels of build-quality, these magnified optics are tough, coollooking and affordable, but do they deliver? Bill quite literally takes a closer look!

48

For the past couple of months the RED CELL crew have been looking back at the GBB pistol models that we’ve been using, abusing, and mostly loving over the past couple of years, and this time we turn our attention to the non-1911 and G-SERIES models that have been going through our never-ceasing mill, and sometimes different is indeed VERY good!

80 TECH: TECH GATE PT2!

In his TECH column last month Jimmy enlightened us to the intricacies of his latest HPA build using the GATE EON PULSAR ENGINE and the TITAN 2 inside a SIG MCX, and signed off with a promise to report back on performance after he’d used the setup in-game… turns out not everything was rosy, and it had our not-so-tame in-house tech scratching his head for a while… but not for long!

84 AA LEGION: JAPAN

An excellent option for a more ‘grey man’ appearance when travelling to games with guns and equipment, especially useful for city-based players around the world where many don’t have personal vehicles and have to use public transport to get most if not all of the way to playing sites or rallying points with others who do drive!

Our good friend Ryan, or “Sensei Rai” kicks things off by telling us all about a site that some may well have heard of before that’s just a bit special…

66 TECHNICAL: COMMS

Airsoft and communication? In some cases you might well be right in thinking that the two things are mutually exclusive, as in many games the use of verbal signals, let alone radios or any other tech, seems to matter not one bit as your teammates bomb-burst out of the start point and disappear into buildings or the treeline, never to be heard from again until they turn up at Respawn…

90 LEGION: TAIWAN

Airsoft Central: Taiwan itself, where many of the best GBBRs now originate from, and Stewbacca took part in a recent GBBR-only event in the heartland of his Island in the sun to take in the experience for himself!

KIT & GEAR: TACTICAL SHORTS

RED CELL: GBB UPDATE

62 KIT & GEAR: LAYLAX GUN CASE

THE CAGE: CHEST RIGS

SILENCE IS GOLDEN

BETTER KNOWN FOR THE LIKES OF THEIR KRISS VECTOR AEG AND NUMEROUS OTHER MORE CONVENTIONAL AEG PLATFORMS, AS WELL AS ARGUABLY ONE OF THE BEST P90 AEG INCARNATIONS ON THE MARKET, KRYTAC HAVE BEEN MAKING A FAIR NAME FOR THEMSELVES IN THE AIRSOFT MARKET OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS, EVEN ACHIEVING DECENT PENETRATION AND PRESENCE WITHIN THE JAPANESE MARKET WHICH IS AN OTHERWISE MARUI-DOMINATED SPHERE! FROM WHAT STEWBACCA SAW WHEN HE WAS OVER THERE THOUGH, THEIR FIRST VENTURE INTO THE GAS-GUN-GAME WAS NONETHELESS A FRESH DIRECTION NOT JUST FOR THE COMPANY, BUT ALSO IN TERMS OF THE REPLICA CHOSEN TO LAUNCH THEM INTO THE FORAY OF COUNTLESS EXISTING GBB PISTOLS, THEIR LICENSED SILENCERCO MAXIM 9!

I first got hands on with the Krytac SilencerCo Maxim 9 GBB final production prototype back in November of 2022 when the international crew of contributors and influencers were doing their content creation thing on the top floor of Laylax’s headquarters in Osaka, having just rounded off the Krytac Owner’s meeting Volume 5 at Tokyo Sabage park, before we were all whisked off to Osaka by Masaki, Marck and Ryan via bullet train to meet the rest of their wider team at their office in East Osaka.

I’d already gotten acquainted with ‘Uncle’ Allen Lau online as well as meeting him in person during his working holiday in Japan, hooking up with us at various instances, along with his team Mytch and Randall who were staying with the group during our travels. I was in good company in terms of technical and industry minds and having gotten to grips with

which allowed for indoor, outdoor, low light and close to medium range use of the Maxim 9.

The deployment case arrived in a nicely finished card outer liner, while the case itself is a very well presented semi-rigid zip closure affair akin to a high quality camera case or drone carry bag and emblazoned with ‘KRYTAC’ and the famous squid logo. Unzipping the case and lifting the lid you are confronted with a menagerie of components alongside the pistol and holster, as the deployment pack includes one each of the green gas and CO2 capsule powered magazines, another reason for the slight delay in the release, according to uncle Allen, as they wanted to make sure the CO2 magazines were functioning optimally and the trigger also presented some earlier problems; it’s reassuring to know that they took their time to get everything spot on, rather than rush to release and have any fallout.

BANG ON!

the Maxim 9 I was very keen to field test one for myself, and watched keenly as the rollout got underway, also getting to test one live at the Thunder Sports stand at MOA 2022 as well as checking out the dedicated holster to go with it.

Admittedly I wasn’t one of the earliest adopters; many of my compatriots got their samples earlier than me, but I was holding out for the deployment pack with all the trimmings, including aforementioned specialised holster! I intended to run it as a standard sidearm for my ongoing skirmish exploits, as well as making use of it in a competitive IPSC training environment to see how it performed and grouped being run hard all night rather than just sitting in its holster as a “just in case gun” as many would likely end up using it.

Thus, around the tail end of April the deployment pack was despatched to me courtesy of Allen and Alex at Krytac HQ in the US, and I eagerly opened it and prepared the pistol for its first outing the next morning on our usual Team Taiji Sunday shoot, another urban CQB adventure at our Yangmei site

And they did indeed do it right; the trigger may still feel heavy to some (I’ve seen some complaints online to that effect) but certainly with my example it feels fine; a competition style flat face trigger with a minimal amount of slack and take up before a short and fairly crisp break and reset. Of course if you’re used to the likes of a competition trigger on an IPSC pistol or 2011 then yes, it’s going to feel a lot heavier and longer, but for the likes of me who runs a stock Walther PPQ NPA so fast that other guys in the circuit can’t believe it’s not had a trigger job done, the Maxim 9 is a breeze.

The comfort in the hand is also well worth a mention; granted, again, I’m a fringe-use case with bear mitts, but the contouring and texturing of the polymer grip are excellent. Finger channels are usually a contentious point with many (looking at Glock’s continued flip flopping with their inclusion and omission between generations) but the Maxim 9’s are a little more subtle and comfortable, along with the stylised raised blocks that match the SilencerCo logo and branding on the box giving a comfortable yet solid retention in the hand, and filling it nicely regardless of your hand size. It just points intuitively despite the front bulk of the integral silencer which serves as a tracer mounting space in this airsoft replica; another advantage of holding out for the deployment pack is this unit being included thanks to Krytac’s cooperative efforts with local industry leader Acetech.

Using their latest programmable module reconfigured slightly as a Maxim 9 specific unit, it has all the modes and functions of the Blaster you’ve no doubt already seen adorning the ends of many platforms at your local sites or in videos. The front facing faux-muzzle-flash-generating LEDs and the internal tracer effect banks of LEDs with a variety of colours to give you myriad options in terms of the setup and personalisation of your own Krytac Acetech setup. This can be installed in the stock format pistol using the threaded insert that locks the unit onto the internal rear face of the silencer cavity, and switching out the front muzzle cowling for the wider aperture one allows for the muzzle flash to reach out from within during firing; this is accentuated thanks to the typical gas discharge cloud which really adds to the realism and light show effect!

To make use of a red dot sight using the integral mounting point is also easy out of the box; I had a clone SRO lying around which I’ve used on the FAL and MP5k in competition and practise settings for easy acquisition (I quite like the wide window and RMR compatible footprint) and again the required mounting plate is another convenient inclusion in the deployment pack; they really leave you wanting for nothing if you can make that investment to get all the goodies in one hit! The plate itself is multifootprint-compatible thanks to the various holes included, allowing RMR, RMRcc or Shield RMS footprint optics to be installed with ease by merely unscrewing the blanking plate, affixing the red dot interface plate with the included flush fit screws, then mounting the appropriate optic into the threaded holes provided in the plate that match its footprint.

One minor drawback I found was the need to use the included baffle extensions to make use of the holster with the SRO fitted; given the geometry of the top/front surface of the holster wrapping around it precludes the use of an optic without extending the front silencer section to push it further back from the holstering position. It’s- certainly no dealbreaker for me, I intended to run the pistol in the biggest, chonkiest format possible at all times anyway! The

ADMITTEDLY I WASN’T ONE OF THE EARLIEST ADOPTERS; MANY OF MY COMPATRIOTS GOT THEIR SAMPLES EARLIER THAN ME, BUT I WAS HOLDING OUT FOR THE DEPLOYMENT PACK WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS, INCLUDING AFOREMENTIONED SPECIALISED HOLSTER!

only other minor issue I found through this process of converting the format was that the internal threaded rods which hold the front end together had to be switched out for their longer variants in the pack, and being round along their whole length made it a bit difficult to get purchase on them to unscrew them; I had to resort to pliers which might mar the finish if you’re particularly precious about such things, but this is faithful to the real steel equivalent I’m told, and putting my engineering hat on, adding spanner flats or other features would also add to the machining time and cost, as well as forming a weak point, they’re hidden inside the body of the gun anyway, so just grip as much as needed to get them unseated.

The Holster is excellently constructed and executed, coming in two pieces that require assembly; the main retention body and the belt loop mounting paddle. These follow the basically industry Safariland triple point attachment

footprint, so you could easily add a quick latch system attachment unit if you plan on moving the dedicated holster between different belt or MOLLE rig setups; typically I just use a Double Alpha Academy inner velcro belt as my EDC and skirmishing and competition belt these days anyway, but it does also include spacer bars to allow you to tailor the fit of the belt loops to the width of your particular duty or other main mounting belt.

READY TO ROCK!

With everything set up nicely and all my trimmings added I eagerly fielded it the next day, making use of the convenient Allen key port on the rear/ underside face beneath where the trigger guard inserts to adjust the retention force and make it less likely that the fairly hefty Maxim 9 might find its way out of its home during all the knees bent CQB stalking and whatnot. I suppose I shouldn’t have worried too much in reality as it didn’t spend a whole lot of time in the holster once the team got the usual whiff of ‘Stu’s got a new toy to try’ and the usual queue of drooling aficionados I call friends formed to get a go behind the Maxim 9… to typically approving nods and noises! The fact that only the rear portion of the slide reciprocates makes for an exceptionally snappy and responsive recoil and cycle time, coupled with the general heft of the front end of the gun, and the fixed red dot mounting point on the main body of the gun, the ease with which you can stack multiple rounds on people (or for that matter, paper) in quick succession cannot be overstated.

The short and crisp trigger only add to the ease of laying down a barrage with the futuristic hand cannon; further credit should go to the design team for the blissfully easy HOP unit adjustment; with aforementioned reciprocating rear slide portion retracted, simply insert a 2mm Allen key into the port on the left of the chamber and tweak it to suit! I was running my typical baseline of 0.3g BLS BBs and given that the internal barrel is actually fairly short to accommodate the space required for the integral tracer strobe unit, it does a very

SO, WOULD I RECOMMEND THE KRYTAC SILENCERCO MAXIM 9 TO YOU? CERTAINLY IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING VERY UNIQUE WHICH SPORTS A GREAT UNDERLYING DESIGN AND EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE TO MATCH THEN I CERTAINLY WOULDN’T DISSUADE YOU!

a momentary or constant-on lighting option is a least there if you can find a work around such as using a Surefire Masterfire-style holster.

What of the magazines? Well, one of the first things you’ll notice about the included Krytac-made magazines is the sheer lack of weight compared to other industry standards; while the physical footprint is compatible with VFC/Marui formats, the weight is half that of a conventional GBB G-series standard 17 BB magazine. Thanks to the same aluminium and polymer materials usage as the rest of the gun, the magazines weigh in at around 125g, rather than the more typical 250g+ of competitors meaning you can carry more of them for the same weight burden, or just forget you’re carrying the small number you might deploy into games with if using the Maxim 9 as a sidearm.

WE and similar format magazines such as Poseidon or Action Army’s derivatives appear to be incompatible

with the Maxim 9, unfortunately, as they have slightly wider overall geometry which makes them hang up halfway into the magazine well, so they won’t seat all the way in and feed as a result. Nonetheless, if you already own a licensed VFC Glock you’ll be able to make use of your existing magazines, or invest in the much lighter Krytac ones which can then be used in any platform and have been extensively drop tested and quality-assured, as well as just having less mass to cause problems with regard to being dropped on hard surfaces in the first place (although the reduced bulk can make it harder to have them drop free during speed reloads)… you may need to start practising your John Wick-esque wrist-flicks to hurl empties free of the Maxim 9’s magazine well!

In terms of performance, the green gas magazines allow the Maxim 9 to lob BBs consistently around the 97m/s range on a 0.2g BLS BB, with a fairly stable average output with 1-2m/s. Using the CO2 magazine made an immediately noticeable difference both to

THANKS TO THE SAME ALUMINIUM AND POLYMER MATERIALS USAGE AS THE REST OF THE GUN, THE MAGAZINES WEIGH IN AT AROUND 125G, RATHER THAN THE MORE TYPICAL 250G+ OF COMPETITORS MEANING YOU CAN CARRY MORE OF THEM FOR THE SAME WEIGHT BURDEN

HK KOOL!

HAVING SNUCK OUT THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THEIR UPCOMING HK53 GBBR DURING MOA2022 AMONG THE MANY OTHER SURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENTS SUCH AS THEIR M249 GBBR AND WALTHER PPK GBB, STEWBACCA WAS SPOILT FOR CHOICE OVER WHAT EXCITING NEW GAS-GUN PRODUCTS VFC WOULD BE BRINGING TO THE MARKET FOR 2023! HAVING JUST FINISHED OFF THE PREVIOUS MP5K SEF CLASSIC VERSION FOR ISSUE NO. 148 APRIL 2023, THE RELEASE DATE FOR THE HK53 WAS ALSO FAST APPROACHING AND HE SOON GOT HIS HANDS ON YET ANOTHER GAS REPLICA HE’D BEEN EAGERLY AWAITING!

I’d barely finished reviewing (and paying!) for the MP5k and the additional PDW stock I didn’t want to let them have back at VPSC (VFC’s Pentagon Service Centre down the road from me in New Taipei City) when Fred and Sam began extolling the virtues of the upcoming HK53 GBBR which had also already taken me by surprise (and of course taken my fancy!) at MOA2022 in early December 2022; as always, the VFC staff are great friends, but terrible enablers!

“What’s this, *another* Umarex licensed Heckler & Koch gas blowback-powered roller-delayed Cold War era masterpiece you want me to review? Oh well, only if I *must*…” the things I suffer to bring you all content, fellow shooters! Now of course you might think that I’m biased due to the fact it’s yet another German, HK, GBB platform incarnation, but it’s difficult not to enjoy and extol the virtues of VFC’s GBBR offerings as of late, and as I’ve said in a fair few reviews before, they really have been knocking it out of the ballpark with the last few years of gas gun releases, despite any misgivings over performance or durability some of their past models might have enfranchised in our readership.

Slowly but surely, VFC are progressively making their name on my gun wall and ousting or

overshadowing my older offerings from other manufacturers, and just from my own longer term personal experiences of running H&K replicas in Taiwan, you really do get what you pay for in terms of durability, performance and reliability, as well as just user-experience and the trimmings such as proper licensing and markings. If you have the means and the will, then I would struggle to dissuade you from parting with your cash for any of their recent offerings, but the HK53 in particular has really impressed me in terms of its aesthetic and handling.

I’m sure we’re all well aware of my adoration for the MP5 and its iconic status both in the real steel realm, along with its use in military and police front line service as well as its legendary pop culture appeal from film, video games and of course with the recent anniversary passing of Operation Nimrod, the SAS’ Iranian Embassy storming that provided some of the best free advertising for H&K forever more. That being said, and despite my continued desire to replace my older second-hand and heavily beaten WE MP5A5 with a VFC equivalent, as I already have with my MP5k PDW, I probably won’t be in such a rush to do so just yet though… having gotten my hands on their HK53 I’d argue it does the same job but a little better!

THROUGHOUT MY TESTING THE VFC HK53 GBBR RAN LIKE A SEWING MACHINE AND THE ONLY MAJOR FAILURE I HAD WAS NOT, AS IT TURNS OUT, ANY FAILURE OF THE GUN ITSELF, BUT A LESSON IN KEEPING AN EYE ON YOUR SUPPORT EQUIPMENT!

A STURDY HERITAGE

Basically the HK53 is an MP5 that’s been slightly stretched to chamber 5.56x45 in real-steel format, and it continued to follow the original model numbering nomenclature, the MP5 earlier being known as the HK54 (5 for the platform type code and 4 for the 9mm calibre code) before its rebranding. The HK53 is H&K’s equivalent ‘submachine gun’ sized (5 for the platform type code, 3 for the calibre code) competitor to the AR platform, but in 5.56, itself derived from the longer HK33 which saw previous widespread adoption by various militaries that didn’t end up adopting the US produced AR variants, as well as numerous security services worldwide, including regularly seeing it in the hands of Northern Ireland’s RUC/PSNI making it somewhat close to my heart.

The HK53 has also been seen in the hands of numerous British police services for the same reasons, the familiar handling, and indeed a lot of cross compatibility with the MP5, but offering more oomph on the business end. The modularity and compatibility of the H&K line is extended into VFC’s Umarex licensed replicas as well, with the interchangeability of the front and rear furniture and even the fire control/pistol grip groups being identical across both platforms, allowing you to chop and change the

I WAS QUITE SURPRISED BY THE RANGE AND FLAT SHOOTING NATURE OF THE HK53 ALMOST OUT OF THE BOX; I FIRST FIELDED IT AT OUR HUTOUSHAN SITE WITH THE WIDER OPEN RANGES AND MADE GOOD USE OF THE NEW ‘EZ HOP’ SYSTEM

externals to your heart’s content if you already have a VFC MP5 of some format. Of course the magazines and bolt components are not interchangeable, so I elected for the SEF large right-hand-lever-only style fire control group as present on the MP5k early model, as well as my PSG-1 and my LK33 & LK53 AEG models already in my collection. I’m becoming much more fond of the larger, more positively locking levers, even though you lose the ambidexterity, I only really use my GBBRs in semi auto only and mentioned in the MP5k review how I much prefer the ease of manipulation and positive detent position locking of the SEF style lever and trigger packs.

The markings of course are slightly different, with a 0-1-25 to denote safe, semi auto and magazine dump/full auto; as the original shorter magazines supplied held 25 rounds, somewhat of a compromise between earlier battle rifles such as the FAL and G3, but not as many as the AR or AK’s 30 round ‘bananas’, a longer 40 round variant was also released not long after, which made the HK53 even more of a favourite with the likes of the US Navy SEALS in Vietnam, given the compact and reliable firepower it afforded compared to the beleaguered advent of the M16 series and its related teething issues.

OPERATIONALLY SOUND

VFC’s offering is, as you might have come to expect by now, beautifully finished, with realistically stamped and seam-welded full-steel upper receivers and barrel units, married to the polymer lower pistol grip and fire control groups, as well as the telescopic collapsible butt stock which has limited play or shake in it. This is more a function of the back plate cap than the rails of the stock itself, all of which gives a hefty 3.2kg overall weight with the magazine fitted, and in general inspires confidence in the hands and just shoulders and points nicely and naturally, the slight additional overall length making it even better suited to my frame.

I quite like the newer gas system as well, with somewhat of a hybridisation of all the best parts of the PSG1/G3 series and the MP5; VFC have answered my prayers in terms of creating a similar last round/ empty magazine dead-trigger-cutoff with a side swinging magazine valve striker extension lever, but one which does not get inadvertently actuated when being stuffed into magazine pouches like those of the PSG-1, and of course the use of this system avoids the mid-travel hang up of the MP5 series where the BB dislodging and feeding nozzle protrusion just

rams into the back of the magazine follower. That’s a definite plus point for both realism and longer term reliability, as well as giving you a much more obvious indication that you’re empty rather than a floating dead trigger with no click.

Given the slightly longer travel of the bolt carrier group the recoil impulse is also slightly different, the MP5k obviously has a very curt bark and slap given its diminutive stature and short 9mm replicating bolt throw and smaller receiver, but the HK53 has a very enjoyable sewing-machine-like movement, smoother and more pleasant than the MP5, but nonetheless very positive and energetic. The heft and handling of the HK53 allows you to really keep it on target during the firing cycle, and it really rattles off BBs quite quickly compared to the longer throw of the 7.62

platforms I have from VFC; all in all a very enjoyable and reliable system that just throws BBs down consistently and predictably.

I was quite surprised by the range and flat shooting nature of the HK53 almost out of the box; I first fielded it at our Hutoushan site with the wider open ranges and made good use of the new ‘EZ HOP’ system, the new more easily-manipulated HOP adjustment drum that wraps around the root of the barrel where it meets the main receiver. Popping off the front handguard is much easier than that of the MP5k and reveals the tapered HOP adjustment drum which has three axial ribs to help indicate the setting position and gripping for adjustment; once I had it set shooting flat with 12kg green gas and 0.3g BLS BBs I tweaked my clone EOTech 558 fitted atop the clone

B&T optics mounting rail fixed to the upper edge of the receiver, and set it to the point of impact and haven’t had to do anything to it since;- it just throws bbS down again and again to the point of aim, and it’s already become so much fun that like the MP5k I doubt they’ll be getting it back from me!

I have to say, however, that the recoil impulse must still have some effect behind it, as on one of the more recent games testing it after running it for a few weeks prior at skirmishes and at SPPT’s new training environment against the clock on stages as well, the clone EOTech 558 fitted to it which was previously on my LK53 EBB AEG developed a bit of a hilarious but not so helpful fault as a result of all the heavy recoiling fun! During my checking of zero I realised the reticle was flailing all over the place like a game of pong after each shot, not ideal for continued consistency and accuracy, and it turns out the rear window on the optic which the emitter LED crosshair projects onto (of course it doesn’t have the proper mirrors of the

reliable last round cut off at least. You may need to watch out for the right side lever being a little bit too long and require filing down ever so slightly to prevent inadvertent early cut-offs preventing firing before the magazine is expended; the team at VPSC were already aware of this issue when I picked up my sample so the fix has probably already been rolled out en masse by the time you read this anyway and regardless is easily remedied with some light filing of said lever if still required.

The magazines also fit into the magazine well positively with the cut-out on their front neatly engaging with the protrusion in the magazine well, and with a slight rock and lock type of action (albeit not as pronounced as a FAL or AK), and of course the release button on the right side is functional, but secondary to the much more convenient ambidextrous paddle release behind the magazine well… unless of course you have mammoth hands like mine!

real thing, it’s a Chinese-made airsoft equivalent) had shaken loose in its housing and was rocking around inside the groove it’s mounted in! I guess I’ll have to re-glue it to the inner face or pack it with a rubber gasket or other spacer to return it to service…

The magazines also include the same dry fire lock out system as with the PSG-1 and G3; holding the striker valve extension lever to the centre and lifting up the smaller lever to the upper right of the magazine body’s rear face then allows you to slide back the retainer switch on the top face of the magazine; this can be a little fiddly, but makes for a

The magazines are also built like tanks, with a real heft to them, using the rear-top position of both outlet valve and slightly recessed inlet gas filling valve, ensuring the inlet valve doesn’t show up on the bottom of the magazine ruining the realistic looks, as well as preventing damage or dirt ingress during use. Can this just become industry standard? It’s just a much better approach! The capacity is slightly increased over the real steel 25 “rounds”, with VFC’s replica giving you the more typical 30 count of BBs in a more conventional double stack single-feed arrangement rather than the realistic double stack double feed of the MP5 magazines, and of course their profile make them ideal for use in your usual STANAG / AR 5.56 style magazine pouches. This makes the magazines much easier to handle than those of the MP5 series with regards to your required tactical gear and the larger surfaces for aiding retention friction comparative to their weight and bulk… and they’re less likely to go flying out of pouches in a flat-out run, not that I know much about such things these days!

As is typical for the older roller delayed platforms, the somewhat chunky trigger is a little bit creepy in its rearward pull, but very comfortable to use and very positive in its tactile and audibly obvious reset with practically no slack in front of it to the resting position which allows you to get really fast at follow up shots despite the potential mush in the trigger pull. The wide body of it certainly helps with fingertip tactile control, and it also exhibits the realistic length

of pull progressive fire control methodology of the real steel system, largely because the fire control group is ultra-realistic in its replication of the genuine article; it easily comes out as a unitised system for ease of maintenance or replacement or for the purposes of modularity and interchangeability, again being identical to the MP5 system as is the grip.

The charging handle follows more of the G3 style with the required leverage for primary extraction and disengaging the heavier roller delay system of the real steel equivalent, so has the folding flap type of handle that latches snugly over the retainer nub and keeps the cocking assembly in place during firing, as well as of course allowing you to perform the appropriate manual of arms of retract, rotate upward into the cut-out and lock back, reload and then enjoy the must have vociferous HK slapping to your heart’s content.

The front sight is the typical enclosed ring around a fixed front post, along with the small front sling hook loop protruding left out of its base; as usual your mileage may vary slinging up using it, I tend to just single point sling most of my guns for my situations using the longer extended loop neatly welded to the rear body plug that carries the telescopic stock. This is itself released from the fully closed or open position by a leftward press on the swinging paddle beneath the stock stanchions as is usually the case on such things. The rear sight is the typical HK drum-style rotary selection of V-notch for up close and varying hole sizes for longer ranges, all of which can be adjusted for windage with the vertical screw at its rear that can be loosened, the turret shifted left or right, then retightened to hold it firm.

SMOOTH IS FAST

Throughout my testing the VFC HK53 GBBR ran like a sewing machine and the only major failure I had was not, as it turns out, any failure of the gun itself, but a lesson in keeping an eye on your support equipment! I make use of the transparent tube and ramrod-stick style speed loaders for my GBBRs in Taiwan, as they allow for reliable feeding and stacking of BBs in one fell swoop, especially for more stubborn enclosed feed mags like the VFC range where you can’t see or access the BBs from the front face of the magazine as with GBB pistols. However this lead to the failure as the small rubber O-ring that retains the BBs from falling out under gravity came loose and actually ended up being fed into the magazine and then consequently the gun itself! So I fired three BBs, had a hard stoppage, did corrective actions, then had the

same thing… the o-ring was lodged in the barrel and causing a backlog of BBs stacking in the barrel. Again, nothing to do with the gun being a problem, but a highly confusing failure that reminded me to keep an eye on gear!

Performance-wise, the HK53 was clocking a very stable 105m/s out of the box on 12kg ‘green gas’ and BLS 0.2g BBs; with very tight consistency to within +/- 1m/s and kicking out 1.1 Joules, which crept up slightly to 1.2 Joules on a 0.3g BLS BB with the velocity dropping to 90m/s, again to within a metre per second or so of consistency. The heavier ammunition definitely helps stabilise the shots at longer ranges, and I was printing nice groups with it at SPPT when I took the time to aim properly, as well as easily hitting small steels or poppers.

So, after another month of my typical testing regimen in a variety of skirmish environments as well as on-the-clock competitive shooting at team SPPT’s new training space I’m very much sold on the VFC HK53 GBBR; as with the MP5k I’m quite sure it will find its way onto my gun wall permanently (especially seeing as I already purchased an additional 3 magazines for it!) and at least I’ll have commonality with their upcoming HK33 GBBR which they mentioned at VPSC and is apparently already being finalised ready for release at some point in the not too distant future. I guess I’d better earmark some more money to one side eh?

If like me you’re a fan of gas guns, HK guns, and/or a lifelong lover of all things MP5, then perhaps like me you will get won over by the HK53 given its familiar handling but easier support in terms of magazine handling (and pouch commonality over the skinnier MP5 pistol calibre platform); this thing looks and feels the business, and I very much foresee it becoming a regular primary gun for me in CQB or medium range environments.

My thanks as always go to our very good friend Ray Chang of VFC as well as Fred, Sam and the rest of the VPSC team who went out of their way to ensure I had a sample very early, and as always help facilitate my testing, answer my questions and help me remedy any minor problems with my guns… usually in truth the result of my own rough handling! But then hey, you don’t want to hear about a gun that’s all shiny and a wall-hanger, but one that’s been well-used and abused for some time and will be used a LOT more, don’t you?

COMPACT AND COMBATIVE

WE ALL KNOW THAT BILL LOVES HIS AKS, AND HE HAS QUITE A COLLECTION THAT’S BEEN BUILT UP OVER HIS MANY YEARS OF PLAYING AIRSOFT! ALWAYS ON THE LOOK-OUT FOR SOMETHING NEW THOUGH HE RECENTLY GOT HIS HANDS ON ONE OF THE VERY LATEST “SU” VARIANTS FROM ARCTURUS, ONE THAT’S IDEAL FOR CQB ENVIRONMENTS AND SOMETHING THAT WOULD PROBABLY MAKE “COMRADE KALASHNIKOV” TURN IN HIS GRAVE… OR WOULD IT?

egular readers may recall that I have a “penchant” for AK variants, and although I am somewhat of a purist when it comes to them, more and more I am seeing thoroughly modern Kalashnikov replicas hitting the airsoft fields around the world. I do love a classic AK but sometimes you see an AEG or GBB that you immediately fall in love with, and this was very much the case with the ARCTURUS AK74U CUSTOM!

Right now of course there seems to be less interest in modern Russian loadouts for very obvious reasons, but that doesn’t mean that an AK AEG or GBBR is something to shy away from. If you look at the international firearms market there are some brilliant companies using the AK as a base for some spot-on builds, and of course I always look at the platform,

Where things start to get properly interesting for me though in relation to the externals starts with the choice of stock design; it’s not the skeletonized version that you normally see on an SU, but a solid CNC one-piece design that reminds me greatly of the J-MAC SS-RP… this has a FAL-like locking mechanism on the AEG that’s 100% solid in both the open and closed position, and is very easy to operate. The J-MAC theme appears to continue when it comes to the muzzle-brake which is very much “one of a kind” as it mimics their LAF perfectly!

The L(oud) A(nd) F(lashy) is a large, single chamber muzzle brake designed to enhance sound and flash, while reducing recoil and muzzle rise! And just so you know, J-MAC CUSTOMS LLC is a family-owned

firearms accessory business headquartered in Elkview, West Virginia, and they offer muzzle devices, stocks and braces, gas blocks, barrels, handguards, and grips. Again, I absolutely love it when we see something fresh on any AEG, and these parts work perfectly with the overall brutalist aesthetic of the SU in my opinion.

Whilst I would love to have seen a full J-MAC-style setup for the front end of the SU with a replication of one of their unique rails like the MMS M-LOK, whilst the upper railed section that extends across the rear-notch-sight position does appear to follow the trend, the lower anodized handguard reminds me very strongly of a combination between the SLR Rifleworks Mini Draco and Mini Draco Lite MLOK ; this is no bad thing though as the handguard offers three-slot

THE LOWER ANODIZED HANDGUARD REMINDS ME VERY STRONGLY OF A COMBINATION BETWEEN THE SLR RIFLEWORKS MINI DRACO AND MINI DRACO LITE MLOK ; THIS IS NO BAD THING THOUGH AS THE HANDGUARD OFFERS THREE-SLOT RAIL SECTIONS AT 3 AND 9 O’CLOCK WITH TWO MLOK SLOTS AT THE 6 POSITION

THE L119A2 IS JUST ONE POPULAR EXAMPLE OF OUR CURRENT RECOIL MODELS, BASED ON TOKYO MARUI’S FANTASTIC SYSTEM - FITTED WITH THE ANGRY GUN RAIL SYSTEM AND REAL STEEL MAGPUL FURNITURE

THE SHORT OF IT

SUMMER IS FINALLY WITH US HERE IN THE UK AND AT AAHQ, AND OUR THOUGHTS HAVE TURNED FULLY TO LONGER, WARMER DAYS AND ESPECIALLY TO THOSE EVENINGS THAT WE CAN NOW SPEND ON THE RANGE! WITH THIS IN MIND THERE ARE CERTAIN MEMBERS OF THE AA CREW THAT SEEM TO LIVE IN SHORTS ONCE THE SUN STARTS SHINING, AND THE QUESTION AROSE AS TO WHAT PLACE SHORTS HAVE IN OUR AIRSOFT GEAR LOCKERS? BILL DIGS DEEPER…

Okay, I’ll say it, I am one of those “certain members” who live in shorts once the sun even dares to peek from behind the clouds, and I’ve built up quite a collection from the tacti-cool brands out there, even though I have “legs that are perfect for radio”! I certainly find that for rangewear in the warmer months there’s nothing better than a good pair of well-featured shorts, and of course at AAHQ the dress-code is somewhat less-than-formal to say the least! But these days like every one if us even I have a whole bunch of sh1t that I carry around… wallet, keys, multi-tool, and of course my phone, and I want to ensure that all are kept safe and secure at all times.

With this in mind I pick my own shorts with pragmatism very much at the fore; they are after all functional pieces of clothing that whilst comfortable to wear also have to have feature-sets that serve purpose and perform! My shorts are on around the office, in the armoury, and in the woods when I’m range-testing so they need to be bombproof durable too… if fact office to workshop to BBQ would be the best description…

But do I wear shorts in game? Hell, no I don’t, even in hot weather although Smooth Jase did admit that “I went down the ‘13 Hours’ rabbithole rocking the Tanto look for a couple of summers. I rocked Cat work shorts, and I like to think I looked the bomb!” That said, I’m not alone as our resident hot-weather players chipped in too; Stewbacca told me that “when I first got to Taiwan I played indoors in shorts because of the heat and whatnot, and didn’t get

shot much on the legs strangely enough, but since moving largely outdoors, I’ve had to cover up just to avoid getting shredded by the foliage and bugs, so now I tend to run BDU trousers and a lightweight top” and Miguel told me “Even with our hotter weather, I can’t see myself wearing shorts in a game! I would spend the next week picking needles and thorns from my legs... Our woodland can be a bit harsh in that respect with a lot of prickly bushes that can go through even some uniforms. Not to mention ticks and other dangerous bugs...”

Now I have certainly worn shorts whilst running games and marshalling both at home and especially in Florida, but when it comes to actually playing I want to make sure that my extremities are fully protected! A range is one thing as normally even when running drills everything is a lot more controlled, and I can totally understand why some members of the AA Crew (lookin’ at you Stewbacca!) are happy to don shorts while competing indoors.

As soon as you hit the woods or the woods or and urban environment in-game though all bets are off as things become more “fluidly dynamic”; you become in many cases more reactionary, and if you’re anything like me that will mean that you’re hitting the deck, sliding and scraping around, and generally un-mindful of the undergrowth or rubble when you are “mission oriented”! You wear certain gear to mitigate the bumps, bruises, scrapes and cuts that we all embrace as part of playing airsoft, and guess what? In that setting I’m of the firm opinion, one that is shared by the rest of the AA crew, that shorts DO NOT cut it…

but for the range and for more “off duty moments” then a good pair of tacti-cool shorts are just the thing!

A LONG, LONG TIME AGO…

Throughout history soldiers have worn “combat pants”, trousers designed to be both durable and practical, but to my mind the birth of the modern “tactical pant” and most definitely the “tactical short” (and let’s not forget the tactical KILT!) comes down to one man, and that’s big-rock climber Royal Robbins; you may not know, but that the company that would become “tacticool giant” 5.11 started out as climbing gear in the Yosemite Valley in the 1930s! Fast forward, via the FBI Academy and happenstance, and in 2003, 5.11 Tactical recognized the growing demand among law enforcement for these products and saw an opportunity to refocus the company to cater to the growing tactical market. The company sold everything but eight core products that fitted this new tactical vision: the 5.11 pants, the tactical shirt and a handful of others. This new, slimmed-down collection was re-named the 5.11 Tactical series, and the company we know today was born, and we entered a whole new world of tacti-coolness, and for me my first pair of proper “tactical shorts” was from the 5.11 range!

5.11 are now a huge international company that have the luxury of being able to really work things through rather than just jumping on the bandwagon for the sake of a quick buck, but they aren’t averse to singing their own praises when they get it right. As much as 5:11 gear has always been popular with airsofters they really do build for the “real world” so every single thing that they make has to be 100% fit for purpose. No corners are cut in terms of fabrics, materials and construction, so when you buy into 5:11 you really are getting the “real deal”, not a Far Eastern copy that’s going to come apart just because you look at it!

And what you’ll find in the 5’11 range in the form of the Taclite Pro Shorts are pretty much exactly what I bought all those years ago, but updated with more modern fabric technology! Lightweight, comfortable and amazingly durable, the Taclite Pro Shorts feature eight pockets for EDC versatility and are now made with 5.11’s lightweight Taclite poly/cotton ripstop with a Teflon finish for stain and soil resistance. They’re still a brilliant design, and the fit is great (for me!); I know many airsoft and shooting friends that swear by these shorts, but things they have moved on!

I have a couple of favourite pairs of shorts that are the ones that these days I tend to literally live in, and the first design that I truly love is the Field Short from

Clawgear! I’m a BIG fan of their gear and IWA 2016 saw the launch of two great new pieces of clothing, the Operator Combat Pant and the Field Short! The Field Short was especially designed for use in very hot conditions and closed the gap between comfort and functional capability in this area; these are spot on and would be ideal for use on any range, or indeed camping site!

They feature a proven waist adjustment system with elastic components for better comfort and absorption of body movement. The integrated main thigh pockets offer lots of storage and the shorts share all the great features of the Operator Pants such as belt area that is optimised for rigger and shooter belts as well and is extremely comfortable thanks to the use of soft microfabric materials. On the inner backside there is a hidden pocket which can be used for documents, (e.g. a passport). Despite their comfortable fit, the shorts robustness and durability are outstanding!

‘YKK’ zippers and high-grade sewing threads have been used throughout, and all main seams are triple stitched for extra durability, and many heavily used spots are furthermore reinforced with bar-tack seams.

BRINGING IT UP TO DATE!

Enough with the history lesson though! As of today the choice of what we can wear to provide superb levels of comfort and utility has grown out of all recognition, and it’s interesting to see that many of the very best companies producing “tactical shorts” now have their R&D deep in the world of outdoor performance, and use the self-same fabrics and technologies chosen by top-end extreme sports users.

And me? Have I changed with the times? Well, over the years I’ve amassed quite a collection of tactical shorts in numerous colours and camo patterns; the decision on the shorts in many cases has been about features and fabrics, but I also like something that looks cool too as I’ll be wearing these shorts all day long! My “go to” range shorts these days tend to come from Helikon-Tex who offer great feature sets and great fabrics for not too many bucks, all wrapped up in the form of their Urban Tactical Shorts (UTS).

These are a part of Helikon’s Urban Tactical Line (UTL) and they’re based on Helikon’s Urban Tactical Pants design which is a bit of a classic in itself! Once again the shorts are by necessity pared-back but they offer a perfect combination of military pant functionality and a neat “civilian” look without losing any of their excellent comfort and mobility, and once

again these are ideal for hot weather conditions in urban conditions or in the field!

Made from a really bomber-tough two-way elastic ripstop (60% Cotton, 37% Polyester, 3% Spandex), they benefit from aYKK zippered fly, elasticated waist with a velcro fastener for additional adjustment, key loops, D-ring and karabiner compatibility. There are two front pockets with strengthened edges for gear clips, two wide back pockets with easy access (adapted for mag-dump use), two slim back pockets for folding knives, flashlights, and/or pistol mags, two thigh cargo pockets with YKK reverse zipper intended to carry documents and small personal belongings, and two flapped thigh pockets for smartphone device and/or AR magazines… all you need for s good old summer cookout in fact!

If you want something even more low key though then check out the Denim Stretch (yes, it’s a THING!) version of the UTS! Based on Helikon’s standard jeans version of the Urban Tactical Pants, they not only provide comfort on hot days, but will also hold all your equipment, focusing it around the hip line. The shorts have numerous pockets, including two classic pockets with reinforced edges, two smaller front pockets closed, two zippered cargo pockets, and spacious back pockets. Large belt- loops will easily accommodate even wide shooter belts, and the “jeans neck” will stop the pants from riding down (no showing your tighty-whiteys here!). These actually look great whilst offering ALL the functionality you could possibly want!

I understand that tactical shorts are a very personal thing, and whilst they are perhaps an item that we will not wear in-game, many will buy a specific model to mimic what “real shooters are wearing in the wild”! There’s an entire multi-million dollar-buck industry out there devoted to this one simple item of clothing, and the choices are massive when it comes to what effectively are just a pair of shorts!

For more information on the models talked about here you can check out all the main manufacturer pages, but here in the UK go to www.tactree.co.uk for 5.11 and www.military1st.co.uk for Helikon-Tex. Many thanks also to www.helikon-tex.com for the “action shots” used to support this article.

THE CAGE: GEARING UP

If I want more “real estate” then I stick with my Polish friends, and the Hurricane from the guys at Direct Action in Poland is my choice. Simply put it’s a low profile, adjustable rig made from laser-cut laminated 500D Cordura so it’s tough enough to endure an awful lot of abuse. It has a softshell interior construction that makes it a comfortable rig to wear for extended periods of time. The harness is well constructed and feels sturdy even when the rig is loaded up and it has a reinforced drag handle incorporated into the design, along with the ability to be attached to one of the Direct Action Body Armour systems. The “Hurricane” has nine PALS slots on the sides of the rig which are perfect for radio, medical, utility pockets and horizontal PALS slots under the ammo pouches for items such as tourniquets, pistol mag pouches and 40mm pouches so you aren’t just limited to the pouches on the rig itself should you wish to upgrade it. If you choose to run comms, the fixed pouches are a great size for most PRRs and the rig has routing channels to keep everything tidy and to prevent wires getting caught.

Not only is it comfortable and solidly put together but it comes as standard with integrated, adjustable magazine pouches with paracord retention that adjust to fit a combination of eight AR, four AK, or even four 7.62mm magazines. It also features a number of fixed external pouches for other essentials including two adjustable pouches, a sealed zipper pouch and a Velcro flap pouch for when you need to access items quickly. The harness is completely adjustable thanks to a secure harness design, and to keep the excess material tidy it has Velcro wraparound “tidys”. It has a split front- zipper design as well so you don’t need to adjust it every time you remove it which is very neat indeed!

So, in the context of this particular article it’s the Competition Multigun Rig platform that I’ll give my vote to, but what did the rest of the AA Crew have to say? Interestingly enough there does seem to be a divide on this subject with many of the comments coming in our “crew chat” from the “old and bold”!

OVER THE YEARS I’VE HAD MANY DIFFERENT CHEST RIGS AS I FIND THEM COMFORTABLE TO WEAR, AND VERY EASY TO WORK WITH IF THE DESIGN IS RIGHT; ALL OF MINE HAVE SERVED ME VERY WELL INDEED

RED CELL DARE TO BE DIFFERENT

FOR THE PAST COUPLE OF MONTHS THE RED CELL CREW HAVE BEEN LOOKING BACK AT THE GBB PISTOL MODELS THAT WE’VE BEEN USING, ABUSING, AND MOSTLY LOVING OVER THE PAST COUPLE OF YEARS, AND THIS TIME WE TURN OUR ATTENTION TO THE NON-1911 AND G-SERIES MODELS THAT HAVE BEEN GOING THROUGH OUR NEVER-CEASING MILL, AND SOMETIMES DIFFERENT IS INDEED VERY GOOD!

I’ll keep my intro short this month as THE CELL have a lot to talk about in terms of their ongoing experiences with a whole host of GBB pistol models! The AA Test Pool continues to grow in this “others” category (along with the rest of the categories!) which means even more models from a myriad of manufacturers for further evaluation and longer-term testing!

Many of the models are owned or kept by the testers so this evaluation procedure continues constantly on the range, in-game, and competition settings, and where new models like the VORSK VM9 and VM9 OSIRIS, the ICS BLE ICP and the RAVEN R9 have entered the lineup these are being shot regularly and consistently to bring up the BB count in line with the other pool models. We’ve also added some other “old campaigners” like the TM M92 and the WE P99 that we thought should be given “honourable mentions” and rightly deserve their place in the pool after many moons of great service!

So, things are a little different again this month, but sometimes daring to be different is a good thing, right? Some of the models were completely new to the testers, whilst others of us have shot the majority over time. We haven’t picked the models to comment on individually as we feel they are “the best”, but because they are all great GBB pistols that are 100% worth owning… or in the occasional isntance, not! Where a model is owned by a member of the group we have said so to maintain complete transparency in the testing process.

So, let’s get straight into it, and see what RED CELL had to say!

Dan: I have owned the KWA HK USP for quite a few years, more specifically the USP Tactical NS2 version, which for all intents and purposes is largely the

same gun as the standard USP. The main differences between these two models will be the inclusion of a threaded barrel, adjustable iron sights and an adjustable over travel stop for the trigger, the latter of which accurately mimics the appearance of the match trigger group the real version comes equipped with. Internally, the USP series share the same NS2 gas system, fire control components, hop up, blowback units and even the same 26 BB magazines, though there is some minor variation in the type of floorplate each respective model comes with. There is a third model, the USP Match, which those whom are fans of Tomb Raider will immediately recognize. This is also essentially the same base platform, but has been fitted with a match weight compensator that attaches via the rail interface, an extended barrel, and slightly increased capacity magazines (28+1) and the “Jet Funnel” magazine well. My dream build would be to actually take a USP Match lower and swap the slide out for the USP Tactical... someday!

I must admit, of any GBB pistol I have owned over the years, the USP has taken the cake and the crown for being absolutely the most boringly reliable. It has simply never leaked, never hiccuped, and was always something I could trust to work when I had to reach for it. If I had any gripes about the platform, it’s that the stock hop up is less than ideal and the only design weakness of the system. Fortunately RA-Tech makes a drop-in aftermarket stainless steel barrel and improved hop up chamber, which is absolutely a must have for this platform. While theoretically “drop in” ready, I did find I had to slightly adjust the tension on the hop up arm to better lift heavier .30g’s. After some minor tweaks and fiddling, it shot beautifully and the groupings were immensely improved.

Now that is essentially the total sum of what you can do to the pistol with the available aftermarket that’s out there. There are a few cosmetics such as a steel threaded barrel, and some very hard to find (and likely now discontinued) steel slides... but that is about the extent of it. Despite their great reliability and extensive sales (especially in the North American market), it’s always irked me that there is scarcely any aftermarket support for KWA’s GBB pistols.

The only other negative is the painted finish on the slide is not especially durable. If you don’t mind a little holster wear and the character this imparts, then this might not actually be a negative to you. Folks who want more of long-lasting presentation piece should consider getting it refinished in Cerakote or similar. Aside from those admittedly minor quibbles (both which can be addressed) this is a fantastically reliable pistol, and few sidearms have that aesthetic mash of brutalist architecture and clean-line minimalism as the USP series do. Admittedly it’s also the one pistol I wish I had not sold as I often find myself wistful for it when I’m hammering on one of my petulant TM’s.

Stewbacca: As somewhat of a horrendous and storied gas pistol aficionado, I of course have some opinions and experiences, especially regarding the odd ball category as a lot of my collection has been ‘not a Glock or 1911’ as covered over the previous two issues Red Cell features; with that in mind, I cast my mind back to my early days in the UK, with the Marui Beretta M92F being my second ever GBB pistol! It was immediately a firm favourite for its handling and, fixed barrel accuracy and slide cycling reliability! The recoil impulse was arguably a little weaker than the all metal WE equivalent that adorn my gun wall today, but nonetheless it was a pistol that saw me through my early days of skirmishing.

As for the WE M92F which came after, it’s performed similarly admirably with the same fixed barrel accuracy and pleasant handling characteristics but with the nice cold heft of its all metal construction which makes for a much meatier feeling to both the gun in general and the recoil. The functioning decocker (something the Marui admittedly lacked unfortunately) has made it a great stand in at times for IPSC when my CZ Shadow SP01 or 2 have been ‘on blocks’ after abhorrent levels of abuse, although the hidden selector position slightly below the usual horizontal off safe setting that allows for full auto fire caught me off guard the first time I accidentally actuated it when decocking prior to a stage run and drew a line up my first paper target… it is a very well hidden feature! The magazines, as with all the

Beretta (and CZ75) designs suffer from that cross drift pin base retention arrangement that unlike coaxial base plate retainer screws doesn’t allow for increased tension on the base plate and its seals, so unfortunately three of my four WE M9 magazines currently have geriatric levels of retention and I really need to service them… along with the hundred-odd other gas magazines I have to deal with before my next civil defence pistol training session.

Jimmy: Up until recently I had a TM M92, it was one of their “Resident Evil” models, the Biohazard Albert W model, and even though it was a doubleaction pistol I have to say I really enjoyed using it. It was not without its problems though; the marriage between the gas router and the nozzle was not great so you would lose a fair amount of gas per shot which caused it to run dry before the mag emptied, but we’ve all been there I know. It did however redeem itself in the form of long-range accuracy and would compete with most out of the box AEG’s. I did somewhat fix the expulsion of gas with some Laylax gas routers and shims but it is the first ever TM pistol which I have seen that required any type of mods for it to be complete!

Stewbacca: The Walther P99 is of course a stalwart in anyone’s collection who like me grew up in the era of Pierce Brosnan being the predominant James Bond! Back in the UK I eventually gleefully purchased a Maruzen Walther P99 GBB pistol one birthday back in around 2014 and ran it with a total of eight magazines in the end; at the time our core five man squad of team Honey Badgers were running exclusively gas pistols at Tac House Spartan and Brit Tac Sierra 2 a lot of the time, and ridiculous amounts of magazines in FASTMags on our chest rigs or plate carriers was de rigueur. I did however accumulate some of those from my teammate Dave who managed to break his own Maruzen P99, as did I (which the required me to harvest his boneyard gun for repairs); the trigger system failed on me completely during one game’s intense firefight and I had to get inside the somewhat atypical workings a few weeks later to remedy the situation before eventually selling the whole lot on to another friend before I had chance to spam the trigger and break it again. Apparently it is a habit, because I broke my NBB P99 in the same manner as well…

Fast forward a few more years than I care to mention and I was once again stood in a gun shop around my birthday and decided to take a stroll down memory lane; this time however, I figured I’d go for

G&G GTP-9

Price: iro UK£110.00

Age: Two Years

Weight: 755g

Length: 21.6cm

Magazine Capacity: 27 BBs

Cold Chrono: 0.95 Joule/320fps

Hot Chrono: 0.75 Joule/284fps

Holster Compatibility: Universal Holster

Taclite Compatibility: Good

Suppressor Compatibility: 12mm CCW

Supplied By: www.nuprol.com

G&G Piranha MK1

Price: iro UK£150.00

Age: 19 months

Weight: 670g

Length: 195mm

Magazine Capacity: 25 BBs

Cold Chrono: 0.72 Joule/280fps

Hot Chrono: 0.53 Joule/240fps

Holster Compatibility: Good

Taclite Compatibility: Good

Suppressor Compatibility: Adapter Required

Supplied By: www.nuprol.com

ASG SHADOW SP-01

Price: iro UK£130.00

Age: Five Years

Weight: 1079g

Length: 225mm

Magazine Capacity: 26 BBs

Cold Chrono: 0.77 Joule/288fps

Hot Chrono: 0.72 Joule/280fps

Holster Compatibility: Good

Taclite Compatibility: Good

Suppressor Compatibility: N/A

Supplied By: www.actionsportgames.com

ASG CZ SHADOW 2

Price: iro UK£160.00

Age: Two Years

Weight: 1260g

Length: 230mm

Magazine Capacity: 26 BBs

Cold Chrono: 0.95 Joule/321fps

Hot Chrono: 0.87 Joule/307fps

Holster Compatibility: Good

Taclite Compatibility: Good

Suppressor Compatibility: N/A

Supplied By: Stewbacca

ASG CZ75 CLASSIC

Price: iro UK£125.00

Age: Six+ Years!

Weight: 980g

Length: 206mm

Magazine Capacity: 24 BBs

Cold Chrono: 0.89 Joule/310fps

Hot Chrono: 0.80 Joule/295fps

Holster Compatibility: Good

Taclite Compatibility: N/A

Suppressor Compatibility: N/A

Supplied By: www.actionsportgames.com

the more economical locally produced WE P99 GBB offering and save half the cost, given that the sheer accumulation of pistols and test samples means many of my personal guns are wall hangers for most of the year. I was, however, not at all disappointed with my purchase, thus far I might even argue the WE P99 rivals the more expensive Maruzen, with a better feeling texture and construction and far less troublesome trigger system. Not only that, but it has absurd range and accuracy for a stock 2500NT (about 65 UK quids) pistol out of the box; I initially bought and fielded it around the time I had the VFC M733 out for testing, and it managed to range around the same as that, slamming rounds into the back wall of the far northern Sanzhi abandoned tile factory site we were playing at the time, and easily hitting an upturned gas can’s base at 15-20 metres. Colour me impressed. It recently made another outing at aforementioned civil defence pistol courses and was well received alongside my more modern PPQ derivative which clearly shares a great deal of the ergonomic cues and lineage of the P99 when you look at them side by side.

Jimmy: I have long experience of the KJW P226 which was my second ever proper airsoft pistol. It was heavy and very inefficient and had a habit of dumping gas unexpectedly which was a nightmare as it always seemed to happen when you most needed it. When it did work properly it had pretty average performance and demanded a lot of maintenance. It also had a nasty habit of only half cycling and there was no clear evidence as to why it would do it so I soon gave up on it and sold it.

Jase: After a similar experience with the KJW I’ve also shot Bill’s WE 226 which was a homage to Seal Team 6. It had the best overall finish of the four “S-style” models I tested, as it just looked silky smooth with that slight element of ‘Reaper’ to it. It goes through the chrono at 295fps and I managed two mags out of one fill of Nuprols finest green vintage. With this guns special S.T.6 grips they still felt pretty “plastic” to the bare palm though and might benefit from something “aftermarket”. Of all the

226’s on test with me, this one had the tightest fitting slide too, it literally had no wobble to it. When it came to hitting the steels it made light work of the task, it was a pretty solid out of the box. Perfection.

Bill: Sticking with “S-Style”, the RAVEN R226 and R226 BDS features a tried and tested ergonomic design, and everything from the pistol grip to the finish gives it a level of comfort not easily found. The use of electrostatic painting methods ensures a nonporous, stain-resistant finish that will keep the R-Series looking its best for longer, game after game, and I can already attest to the fact that this is hard-wearing as my Mk25-specific kydex holster is pretty unforgiving on sub-par finishes!

On my daily sessions on the short range at home I’ve been using the R226 a lot, so I’ve now been able to spend some “quality me time” with it. It’s been out with me in all weather conditions, in good weather, driving rain, and now even on a frosty, frosty morning! I managed to snag an extra 20BB magazine for the pistol, so my multicam Warrior belt is now all set up, and my existing Mk25 kydex holster is mounted just as I like it; the R226 fits this setup and holster perfectly, and thus far has been a joy to work with. The R226 has now had about 150 mags worth down the barrel (a mix of .20 to chrono and .25g RZRs on the range), and to date I’ve experienced no issues, so just like my old Mk25 the RAVEN is trucking on and just getting better and better as it does!

Boycie: I have run the VFC M17 now since the very early days of them being out. I never got on with the 226 in any make as they seemed too top heavy but the M17 really changed my mind about the SIG. It feels much like my preferred G-Series pistols and as a striker fired pistol I must say I really like it. I’ve got several mags, both the shorter and longer types but the thing that I really think VFC got 100% right was the position of the mag gas charging valve, absolutely brilliant and I don’t know why others don’t use the same layout!

Stewbacca: The M17 is another pistol I’ve had experience of both types; yes, ‘AEG’ or WE under

FINALLY WE TURN TO THE SHADOWS, EASILY THE PISTOLS I HAVE WITH THE HIGHEST ROUND COUNTS AND WORST LEVELS OF ABUSE; I’VE REVIEWED THEM IN FAR GREATER DETAIL SO SEE ISSUE NOS. 128, 129 AND 141 FOR FURTHER DETAILS!

WE P99

Price: iro UK£130.00

Age: Two Years

Weight: 678g

Length: 178mm

Magazine Capacity: 22 BBs

Cold Chrono: 0.89 Joule/310fps

Hot Chrono: 0.80 Joule/295fps

Holster Compatibility: Good

Taclite Compatibility: N/A

Suppressor Compatibility: N/A

Supplied By: www.weairsoft.com

RAVEN 226

Price: iro UK£100.00

Age: Two Years

Weight: 845g

Length: 190mm

Magazine Capacity: 20 BBs

Cold Chrono: 0.78 Joule/290fps

Hot Chrono: 0.72 Joule/280fps

Holster Compatibility: Good

Taclite Compatibility: Good

Suppressor Compatibility: Good

Supplied By: www.rvnairsoft.com

WE MK25

Price: iro UK£130.00

Age: Seven+ Years!

Weight: 100g

Length: 195mm

Magazine Capacity: 24 BBs

Cold Chrono: 0.80 Joule/295fps

Hot Chrono: 0.78 Joule/290fps

Holster Compatibility: Good

Taclite Compatibility: Good

Suppressor Compatibility: Adapter Required

Supplied By: www.weairsoft.com

KJW226

Price: iro UK£110.00

Age: Seven+ Years!

Weight: 1127g

Length: 188mm

Magazine Capacity: 24 BBs

Cold Chrono: 0.80 Joule/295fps

Hot Chrono: 0.72 Joule/280fps

Holster Compatibility: Good

Taclite Compatibility: Good

Suppressor Compatibility: N/A

Supplied By: Nige

SIG PROFORCE M17

Price: iro UK£160.00

Age: Two Years

Weight: 769g

Length: 203mm

Magazine Capacity: 28 BBs

Cold Chrono: 0.95 Joule/320fps

Hot Chrono: 0.86 Joule/305fps

Holster Compatibility: Good

Taclite Compatibility: Good

Suppressor Compatibility: N/A

Supplied By: www.fire-support.co.uk

a different name apparently initially got the OEM agreement from SIG before they decided to create SIG AIR and bring things back in house then directly engage VFC to make their replica, so I got gifted the AEG M17 by a teammate who wanted me to test it to destruction prior to selling them back to the Philippines. In the end the supply was limited if memory serves as the agreement allowed for WE to recoup their costs; the frame moulds had already been finalised and still incorporated SIG SAUER New Hampshire impressed lettering, however the slides lack the engraved logos. Of course the quality ended up being lesser than that of the VFC equivalent, with a much weaker overall cycling power of the slide, especially with an RMR mounted; I ended up using it for IPSC for a while during my early experimentation that lead me to use the CZ75 SP01, and its strikerfired crisp trigger setup was originally putting it in the lead (once I replaced the original weak sear and trigger system which wore down fast and led to slamfires). The outer barrel also developed issues and began unseating and sliding out of the front during firing; not ideal for IPSC with discerning safety and range officers! After my first competition I retired it and it’s been largely a wall hanger since then. I’d lean towards ‘avoid’ but I doubt you’ll find any of them outside Asia much if they’re available at all anymore.

The VFC M17 however is like night and day by comparison, with a few of my teammates running it as a trusted sidearm, and the general handling is excellent! The oval cross-section grip is really surprising; it’s much smaller than the likes of HK45 in girth, but for some reason the contour just makes it fit basically anybody’s hands very comfortably… top marks for SIG’s anthropometric design considerations! The VFC has a much more deliberate and reliable recoil, as do all of their more recent pistol offerings adorning my gun wall or belt, with a crisp trigger and snappy cycle time, it works excellently with an RMR atop and my teammate’s had very few issues with his to speak of.

Jimmy: The ASG KJW CZ Shadow SP02 is pretty

much to date the heaviest pistol I have, and boi, does this thing kick on CO2 mags! Being a solid, full-metal pistol really does help in controlling the kick of the recoil though. It has seen some heavy use but it still works perfectly and hasn’t presented me with any problems thus far (unlike Stu’s lol!) but then he does use his on a more regular basis. I felt the travel of the slide was a bit too much so decided to go about trying to short stroke it; after many attempts I found a second spring on the guide rod brought that travel down giving it a shorter stroke and much quicker response; it also brought the recoil effect up slightly and I discovered it used a bit more gas to power it but if I can clear one full mag I’m happy as it’s quicker and easier to change mags than refill them mid game. But fear not as Clarence Lai AirsoftSurgeon has us covered with a vast selection of upgrade components for the Shadow!

Stewbacca: Finally we turn to the Shadows, easily the pistols I have with the highest round counts and worst levels of abuse; I’ve reviewed them in far greater detail (see Issue Nos. 128, 129 and 141 for further details)! The CZ75 SP01 was actually gifted to me from a raffle at Action Bunker from the UBCA team who were returning to Hong Kong and didn’t want to have to take it with them, and it largely sat dormant for months before I finally moved to Taipei and got involved in IPSC, having trained on my Double Bell TTI G34 which then developed sear wear issues, and switching to my KWA USP Compact for qualification and as a backup for competitions. I then considered the AEG M17 and KJW SZ75 SP01 as my next two options and eventually the Shadow won out on reliability grounds, so I began accumulating more magazines to make it a practical competition option, and thus the abuse began. I used it extensively for around a year before my teammate let me borrow his Shadow 2, and it performed very well in terms of its reliability, accuracy and snappy follow-up shots thanks to its short and light trigger pull on single action; it allowed me to get a hell of a lot faster and better in fairness as I’d been using largely combat-oriented pistol styles beforehand, switching to something

“REAL MEN SHOOT A “45”… THERE, I SAID IT, FIGHT ME ON THIS! I AM A MASSIVE FAN OF THE “1911” ALTHOUGH I HAVE BECOME MORE THAN INFATUATED WITH THE MODERN VARIATION, THE 2011 AKA THE HI CAPA WHICH WILL ALWAYS BE MY GO TO SIDEARM”

KWA USP 9MM

Price: iro UK£110.00

Age: Three Years

Weight: 820g

Length: 195mm

Magazine Capacity: 23 BBs

Cold Chrono: 0.90 Joule/312fps

Hot Chrono: 0.88 Joule/309fps

Holster Compatibility: Good

Taclite Compatibility: Good

Suppressor Compatibility: N/A

Supplied By: www.fire-support.co.uk

TM M92F

Price: iro UK£120.00

Age: Five Years

Weight: 850g

Length: 215mm

Magazine Capacity: 25 BBs

Cold Chrono: 0.73 Joule/281fps

Hot Chrono: 0.73 Joule/281fps

Holster Compatibility: Good

Taclite Compatibility: Good

Suppressor Compatibility: N/A

Supplied By: www.fire-support.co.uk

RAVEN R9

Price: iro UK£110.00

Age: Eight Months

Weight: 604g

Length: 215mm

Magazine Capacity: 25 BBs

Cold Chrono: 0.83 Joule/300fps

Hot Chrono: 0.82 Joule/298fps

Holster Compatibility: Good

Taclite Compatibility: Good

Suppressor Compatibility: Adapter required

Supplied By: www.rvnairsoft.com

VORSK

VM9

Price: iro UK£120.00

Age: Five Months

Weight: 622g

Length: 215mm

Magazine Capacity: 30 BBs

Cold Chrono: 0.89 Joule/301fps (with extended barrel)

Hot Chrono: 0.77 Joule/288FPS (standard barrel)

Holster Compatibility: Good

Taclite Compatibility: Good

Suppressor Compatibility: Adapter required

Supplied By: www.vorsk-airsoft.com

VORSK VM9 OSIRIS SELECT FIRE

Price: iro UK£115.00

Age: Fifteen Months

Weight: 854g

Length: 215mm

Magazine Capacity: 25 BBs

Cold Chrono: 0.95 Joule/320fps

Hot Chrono: 0.92 Joule/315fps

Holster Compatibility: Good

Taclite Compatibility: Good

Suppressor Compatibility: Adapter required

Supplied By: www.vorsk-airsoft.com

with a more competition lilt but still a bare bones production gun did help out at least, as did the full metal construction. It really fills the hand, especially with the wider oval cross section side panels, and this coupled with the trigger allowed me to rapidly start stacking double taps on paper and shooting and moving faster. The reloads also felt more intuitive thanks to the Beretta style tapered magazines and their general weight also aiding them dropping free during speed reloads.

Eventually however my friend’s loan of the KJW Shadow 2 got me hooked on that and I got one for myself as yet another birthday present pistol to myself! The all-metal grips are flatter and the more exaggerated backstrap hilt really drives the gun into your hand nicely and puts the bore axis nicely in a low hold position; it’s got all of the benefits of the SP01 (and shares the vast majority of the internal parts from KJW) but has a more aggressive slide profile and more subtle ambidextrous safeties as well as a more prominent additional button head atop the magazine release, all of which make it a wellregarded competition pistol in the real steel realm, although apart from me I only ever saw one other airsoft competitor fielding them. That was until our good friend Clarence Lai moved to Taiwan and I gave him a laundry list of my woes and broken parts; he’s since replaced basically everything on the gun with his own brand of magic, and as a result I’ve seen a raft of people adopting his CLPD Shadow 2 or its components for IPSC and IDPA usage. Yeah, well, I was doing it before it was cool!

Bill: I’ve got a soft spot for the ASG CZ-licenced models, the SP-01 Shadow and my beloved classic CZ75! The SP-01 externally is a large but pleasing handgun. I wear a regular size Large glove, and although slim, the grip of the CZ filled my hand well with some positive checkering, great ergonomics and of course the extended beavertail. The SP-01 is full metal so it’s also a nice weight in the hand, 1110g as opposed to the 1088g of the real thing, but of course there is a little extra weight in the airsoft gas magazine. It feels substantial and solid throughout. The finish of the CZ replicas offered by ASG has always been spot on, and the SP-01 is no exception to this, and if anything it’s actually even nicer than its predecessors finished as it is in a deep, matte black which accurately mimics the polycoat finish of the real thing. Like the original CZ75 the breech block and barrel of the SP-01 are finished in silver, as is the

trigger. The sights as standard are excellent too with a simple notch to the rear and a very, very tidy red fibre optic at the business end! In use the ASG SP-01 is equally flawless. The action is very crisp indeed, the slide easily moved to the rear thanks to some deep serrations on either side of it. When cocked the safety clicks into place firmly and solidly. Overall this is a really satisfying airsoft pistol and is worthy of a place in anyone’s armoury. It looks and feels great, shoots consistently and extremely accurately, and cycles perfectly on both green gas and CO2.

The CZ75 from ASG shows that their system of licencing works perfectly as you’d be hard pressed to distinguish the replica from the real thing! All the dimensions are pretty spot on with the replica coming in at 206.3mm long as opposed to the 206mm of the current 75B; in terms of weight the real thing tips the scales at 1000g and the replica when loaded with its full complement of BBs is pretty darn close at 984.8g. The ergonomics of the replica also mimic those of the real thing and this is a pistol that really does sit very comfortably in the hand. The angle of the pistol grip (which is slightly longer than the Hi-Power and 1911) is nigh on perfect, and the chequered plastic grips feature the embossed CZ logo. The controls are all quite similar to those of the Hi-Power and the 1911 as well so if you own one of those models the 75 will feel pretty instinctive; the magazine release sits to the rear of the elegantly curved trigger guard on the left-hand side, with the safety catch to the rear above. The safety is set only when the pistol has been cocked which means that you can safely carry it in “Condition 1”. The overall finish of the replica is absolutely excellent with the body and slide being full metal in a rich matte black. The trigger, outer barrel and “breech” are all finished with a silver “stainless” effect which makes the whole thing look very attractive. The trademarks, CZ logo and “MODEL 75 CAL.9 PARA” are all very cleanly achieved on the left of the slide and the only real giveaway that this is a replica is a tiny ASG logo. Loaded up with BBs and gas the CZ75 sends BBs downrange with astonishing accuracy giving excellent groupings at 10 metres; the sights are a simple front blade/rear notch affair although you can upgrade these to “dot” sights should you wish. The pistol does have an adjustable hop-up which is accessed by removing the slide. This, after many years of use both in-game and more recently on the range is still one of my favourite airsoft handguns, and fully lives up, even in 6mm BB form, to the claim of being one of “the best combat handguns ever”!

NOT SO PINK AND FLUFFY!

WHEN IS A 1911 NOT A 1911? WHEN IT’S A DETONICS COMBAT MASTER! BUT EVEN THAT MARVELLOUS LITTLE GBB IS SUBJECT TO EVOLUTION IN AIRSOFT FORM, AND ONE OF OUR FAVOURITE GBB PISTOLS HAS BEEN GIVEN A RIGHTEOUS ANIME-INSPIRED MAKEOVER TO BECOMES THE VORPAL BUNNY! BILL LOOKS DEEPER…

2023 has really kicked off with the “PostApocalyptic” theme being on the ascendance for me again. I really enjoy taking a “theme” to my gun and gear builds, and try to stick with it for a period of time, and although of course other projects do get in the way, the “post-ap” theme though is one I return to time and again as it allows me to deviate imaginatively and enjoyably away from “let’s mimic the real deal” builds. Over the years you can really build up a collection of RIFs for “any occasion” but there are some models that really tick an awful lot of boxes, being perfect for everything from “Cold War” to “Wasteland Warrior”, and with a little inspiration some of these can turn into something different and unique again.

Inspiration for any loadout comes from a huge variety of sources, and for me one of them is written fiction, comic books, and even games. I’ve always enjoyed a good story, and sitting down to immerse myself has always been one of life’s simplest pleasures for me. As regular readers will know I’m also a big tabletop gamer, and one of my favourite games since it was first printed as an OSPREY rulebook in 2020 has been ZONA ALFA by my now-friend Patrick Todoroff;

jeez, I even get a small mention in the back of some of his rulebooks, a fact of which I am insanely proud! This “Chernobyl Exclusion Zone” set game though lets you take on many personas, but most importantly to me is that of the veteran “Stalker”; Patrick is a fellow wordsmith and his accompanying stories (available on Amazon for anyone interested!) really sets the scene for some awesome tabletop adventures!

So, basically I’m always looking for “interesting and unusual” airsoft models that quirk me into “The Zone”, and whilst not strictly a “post-ap” offering the VORPAL BUNNY immediately grabbed my attention as something that might fit my collection! Whilst not that interested in the shocking pink version (and certainly not the pink “P-CHAN” P90!), the all-black version took my fancy, but with a hefty price tag I eventually decided against the original limited edition TM GBB… then Jimmy got one and I regretted it hugely…

I kicked myself when I saw Jimmy’s BUNNY as at that point the penny finally dropped… it was basically a TM Detonics Combat Master in party clothes! Now many folk accuse me of being “anti-TM” but this isn’t true at all; yes, I have an aversion to expensive AEGS

I’M ALWAYS LOOKING FOR “INTERESTING AND UNUSUAL” AIRSOFT MODELS THAT QUIRK ME INTO “THE ZONE”, AND WHILST NOT STRICTLY A “POST-AP” OFFERING THE VORPAL BUNNY IMMEDIATELY GRABBED MY ATTENTION AS SOMETHING THAT MIGHT FIT MY COLLECTION!

replica, and given the complexity of the original TM (and it being notoriously hard to work on!) I can see why. The other model is that very Detonics Combat Master; mine is really knocking on now, but it’s still a superb little gas pistol… with more than a few scalps taken in its long history with me!

READING INTO IT

Why is the Detonics Combat Master important to me though? Well, it comes back to reading again! Long out of print, but thankfully available these days as e-books “The Survivalist” is the generic title of US author Jerry Ahern’s long-lived series of 29 pulp novels centring around John Rourke, ex-CIA officer turned weapons and survival expert, in the aftermath of a nuclear war… The series is probably most notable though for Ahern’s attention to detail on weapons and survival techniques which should come as little

of expertise was holsters and leather gear for firearms, and he actually produced a range of his own holsters.

Throughout the whole series of “The Survivalist” Rourke uses some very, very specific weapons, and amongst his favoured pistols is a matched pair of Detonics Combat Masters, and ever since I read of Rourke’s use of them the model has always intrigued me.

Now, contrary to popular opinion, the Detonics was a completely new design and not a cut-down version of a full-size 1911. The idea of the Detonics Combat Master originated with an engineer called Pat Yates at the Explosives Corporation of America (EXCOA). By the mid-1970s, Mike Maes, a manager with EXCOA, and the shooter Sid Woodcock formalised collaborative work and Detonics as a company was born. Pat Yates now had an opportunity to fully develop his minimalist .45 design. Over the course of a few short years, the Combat Master was developed,

THIS LITTLE BEAUTY GOES OFF WITH A REAL CRACK! THE TRIGGER IS LIGHT AND RESPONSIVE AND AS THERE’S SO LITTLE WEIGHT IN THE SHORT SLIDE THAT IT CYCLES REALLY WELL; YOU CAN GET SHOTS AWAY AS QUICK AS YOU CAN PULL THE TRIGGER. EVEN THOUGH THE BARREL IS OBVIOUSLY SHORT (THE WHOLE PISTOL IS ONLY 190MM LONG AFTER ALL) IT SENDS BBS OUT NICE AND FLAT

tested and put into production in 1976. The Combat Master quickly became the gun for those who wanted considerable power in a small, concealable pistol. In the early 1980s, Detonics released both the Service Master and Score Master weapons as full-size additions to their “operator-oriented” product line.

If you’re interested in more of this there is an excellent reference book available: ‘Combat Master – Sid Woodcock and Detonics’ by Allen J Chin. It’s also interesting to note that Jerry Ahern was also the President of Detonics USA from 2004-07, when it was based in Pendergrass, Georgia!

CLONED OUT

So, the VORPAL BUNNY… yup, basically a Detonics Combat Master GBB… I do tend to pick up replicas of this tiny “.45” when I see them, and I was actually very pleasantly surprised by the performance of what was obviously a clone of the original GBB when the ARMY R45 hit the market. At around UK£75 this was full-metal rather than the traditional plastic of the TM and felt REALLY good… I’d bought a couple of sets of wood grips for the TM and these fitted the ARMY perfectly too, and then there were the mags! The TM mags were pretty awful (why, oh WHY did they choose a valve seemingly made of soft cheese???) and thankfully the ARMY mags were completely compatible… and WAY cheaper than the rare TM versions.

Clone = bad though doesn’t it? Not in the case of the R45, and as the original TM GBB was essentially an unlicenced replica anyway… let’s not get to indignant here, what goes round, comes round or so they say! You can therefore imagine how pleased I was when I saw the VORPAL BUNNY clone from Double Bell… and oh, was it well-priced too!

Now of course the signature VORPAL BUNNY is a TM-licensed 1:1 replica of Llenn’s custom-pink “VORPAL BUNNY” pistol from the hit anime “SAO Alternative Gun Gale Online” which is a Japanese novel series written by Keiichi Sigsawa and illustrated by Kouhaku Kuroboshi, a series spin-off of Reki Kawahara’s “Sword Art Online” series. A manga adaptation by Tadadi Tamori launched in 2015, and an anime television series adaptation came in 2018. The TM GBB was produced under the supervision of the original author Keiichi Shirasawa with input from Koji Akimoto, and maintains the original performance of the TM Detonics .45 Combat Master.

And the Double Bell version clones everything that the TM offers pretty perfectly apart from the trades, and is full-metal to boot! In the VORPAL BUNNY we have a compact pistol that is unique, and the design

has been nailed in airsoft form, not once, but now twice! The BUNNY adds a number of new parts such as the characteristic front frame-wrap that sandwiches the slide (and looks suspiciously like it may be able to hold a laser… something to look at later I feel…), along with a unique muzzle guard, ambidextrous safety, rear sight, over-sized and modified magazine release and grip panel, and magazine bumper.

If you’re used to a regular 1911, the controls of the BUNNY are pretty much identical, and the hammer can be dropped to ‘Condition1’ too! Weighing in at 820g, it’s not exactly a heavyweight and it is small too; I’m a pretty sizeable lad but it’s good for me as I’m already used to the Combat Masters, and I have to say it’s the ideal “.45” for smaller players or those with smaller hands! Talking of which it feels very, very solid in the hand and there are some lovely finishing touches. The 18 BB magazine of the replica is also lengthened with a bumper so the protruding floor plate mirrors what’s above it (colour-and-tonematched for the pink version!), and the good news is that it’s fully compatible with both the TM and ARMY Detonics… and for a gas mag it’s also super-cheap.

BANG ON!

For testing I ran the pistol on green gas and made use of .20g BBs. Most stores quote the stock power as being iro 0.58 Joule/250fps with this weight of BB, but a string of 10 gave an average through the chrono of 0.66 Joule/which is a little higher. It really is deceptive though as this little beauty goes off with a real crack! The trigger is light and responsive and as there’s so little weight in the short slide that it cycles really well; you can get shots away as quick as you can pull the trigger. Even though the barrel is obviously short (the whole pistol is only 190mm long after all) it sends BBs out nice and flat; at 10 metres this is as accurate as I could wish for… bang on really!

Overall the little BUNNY is actually really well built, functions perfectly, and is super fun to shoot…. It’s actually not pink and fluffy at all; in fact it has some very sharp “pointy, pointy teeth”! If you want a little handgun that looks futuristic and cool to tuck away

sneakily in your kit somewhere to emulate the antics of the quick-shootin’ cigar-chompin’ John Rourke on his journey through a nuclear wasteland, or indeed to tuck away in a pack if you’re heading on a “Zone Run” then this is the one for you.

If you want to own a collectors piece as a fan of the anime then you’ll probably choose the TM with the fancy presentation box and all the “fanboi gubbins”, but if you want a totally unique pistol (that in my mind is based on one of the best small-frame GBBs out there) that won’t break the bank, and one that you’ll actually use in-game time and again, then a Double Bell VORPAL BUNNY should be on your “add to armoury” list for sure!

The Double Bell VORPAL BUNNY is available in two versions: all black and shocking “Llenn Pink”. Most airsoft retailers worth their salt will stock these, but mine came from www.iwholesales.biz

VORPAL BUNNY

PACKING HEAT!

CONTINUING HIS REVIEWS OF PRODUCTS FROM OUR FRIENDS AT LAYLAX IN JAPAN (AND NOW THE USA!), STEWBACCA HAS BEEN MAKING USE OF THE EXCELLENT ‘CONTAINER GUN CASE’ FROM THEIR TACTICAL GEAR RANGE FOR OVER A YEAR ALREADY; THIS IS AN EXCELLENT OPTION FOR A MORE ‘GREY MAN’ APPEARANCE WHEN TRAVELLING TO GAMES WITH GUNS AND EQUIPMENT, ESPECIALLY USEFUL FOR CITYBASED PLAYERS AROUND THE WORLD WHERE MANY DON’T HAVE PERSONAL VEHICLES AND HAVE TO USE PUBLIC TRANSPORT TO GET MOST IF NOT ALL OF THE WAY TO PLAYING SITES OR RALLYING POINTS WITH OTHERS WHO DO DRIVE!

Jonathan from Airsoftology is another escapee or otherwise displaced foreigner operating here in Taiwan and has been good enough to pass on quite a few interesting bits of kit or even guns to me following his own review processes in the past, and the original version Laylax Container Gun Case was put in my hands a good while back in the latter part of 2021, much to my excitement. I’d seen Laylax’s advertisements of the civilian looking luggage solution, apparently originally based on the idea of a mobile childcare changing station and knapsack setup would you believe, but modified to carry guns, magazines, ammunition and accessories, rather than parenting supplies!

With an adaptable setup, the system can be worn over both shoulders as a low profile back hugging pack that better keeps the weight close to your core; this is ideal for both dealing with the weight comfortably over longer transit, as well as more convenient for use on buses, trains or MRTs rather than deeper backpacks which cause issues with other passengers and their movements around you or other space limitations. Or you can carry it over a single shoulder as a folded over knapsack for carrying smaller one or more SMG or PDW sized platforms

in either half of the folded main compartment, or just hand carried by any of the various grab handles around its periphery if being used more simply for vehicle to table carriage.

The more urban-wear appearance of the original model in a grey/denim blue format also makes it look less obvious in terms of carrying ‘guns’ or anything shaped like them in public spaces, always a better idea to my mind, and although I’ve not personally had many if any issues of people directly questioning or challenging me on the contents of my packs during my time, it’s no bad thing to avoid any inquisition or suspicion from the ‘civilians’ around us. I’ve pretty much exclusively used it in the full on backpack option and carried numerous different replica firearms types during over a year of use travelling to various game sites around Taipei or even further afield within Taiwan using the high speed rail and being picked up by someone with a car at the other end; the main space is ample for SMGs or carbines but obviously has its limits in terms of the overall 780mm gun length and particularly extra barrel length it can accommodate… you won’t be fitting your FAL or PSG-1 in it without the business end sticking well out of the end!

I’VE HAD THE L85A2 AND G36C IN MINE AT THE SAME TIME, AS WELL AS CARRYING SINGLE ARS LIKE MY HK416, T91 OR BCM MCMR ON LOAN FOR REVIEW IN THE MAIN COMPARTMENT ALONG WITH ODD PISTOLS OR PDWS AROUND THE OTHER INTERNAL SPACE OF THE MAIN COMPARTMENT

In theory you could wrap that protruding barrel in additional material or a jacket and tuck that into the open end flaps provided, but that somewhat detracts from the “grey man” aspect, and I was literally just asked by MRT staff in Taipei whether I was doing that the day before writing this! As it happens I just had my rolled up jacket stuck under the top straps of my 5.11 backpack, and my LK53 comfortably held inside the backpack, and carrying the G3 in my more obvious long gun bag carried off body; I’m not sure if the guy was making sure I was carrying guns appropriately bagged and concealed or just very confused, but it’s the only instance of someone in Taiwan confronting me about anything; people are very chill here unless you actually have something gun-shaped out in public and not in an obvious controlled or legitimate manner, at least… not so in the UK and Europe, I’m sure you’ll find!

PLATFORM FRIENDLY

I’ve had the L85A2 and G36C in mine at the same time, as well as carrying single ARs like my HK416, T91 or BCM MCMR on loan for review in the main compartment along with odd pistols or PDWs around the other internal space of the main compartment. I’ve also just filled the whole space with three to five SMGs or PDWs in various arrangements making use of the hook and loop modular retainer straps and inner loop-clad liner which also aids in keeping the inside clean (especially if like me you end up dragging half the jungle home with you in your gear and packs!) and you can pull the whole liner panel out for cleaning and it’s retained in the main back by the end fold over flaps when in the opened out tub configuration. The end tabs fold over nicely to help prevent the muzzle or butt slipping out of the slightly open ends of the main outer bag’s fold-over flaps when you sling it on your back; I’ve never had any issues with retention or things slipping out during use, which again would represent a very bad day for you if on public transport or in public spaces… nobody wants their carbine dropping out of their bag in the middle of a busy transit hub!

The only issue I found was as a result of my typical overloading and heavy usage beyond sensible normal

ALL IN ALL IT’S A REALLY WELL THOUGHT OUT SOLUTION AND ALLOWS ME TO CARRY TWO SETS OF BALLISTIC GLASSES AND ANTI-FOG SPRAY IN THE SMALLER SQUARE STORAGE NO.4, WHILE AN ARRAY OF TOOLS, SMALL SILICONE OIL BOTTLE AND OTHER ACCOUTREMENTS RESIDE IN THE OTHER SMALL SQUARE STORAGE NO.3 NEXT TO IT

people approach; I have to cram as much stuff into bags as I can, and fill all the available MOLLE/PALS on my gear you know! The zip of the main compartment eventually began separating from the body of the bag, as well as the individual tynes bending and causing closure-issues due to the overloading and limited internal space and pliability of the main compartment when loaded with twin carbines. Similarly the main backstraps began fraying and tearing away from the main body, and the plastic mini carabiner-style snapfixtures that clip the bottom end of the shoulder straps to the lower end attachment points of the main body of the case broke open in one instance when I slipped and fell entering one site with a slippery floor, banging the pack into the ground and separating one of the straps as the bottom connector broke open.

These failure points have been well addressed in the newest iteration of the Laylax Gun Container Case however, precisely in the manner I considered would best resolve them as it happens; with upgraded chunkier main zips, as well as a concertina outer edge that allows vertical expansion of the main compartment if you need to fit two carbines in at the same time, but can also be held shut by closing the circumferential zip that collapses this additional breathing room down for a lower profile if preferred.

Similarly all the stitching of the attachment points for straps and the general hardware have been upgraded on the later variants I saw at Laylax HQ during my time there after the Krytac Owner’s Meeting; clearly Laylax are listening to end user feedback and concerns so I will have to get myself a newer version at some point I feel!

MORE GEAR… MORE!

The only downside I have found in reality (besides the aforementioned structural weaknesses already mentioned and addressed in later versions) is the lack of space to facilitate carrying personal equipment. The pack is perfect for all your guns, magazines, ammunition, gas, lubricants, tools, communications, eyepro etc and perhaps a low profile belt kit or individual pouches. However if you have a plate carrier and especially a helmet, there’s just no space for them in the container gun case really, so you’ll have to do something similar to what I resorted to and use a separate tote bag or similar lightweight additional pack to put these bulky, but hopefully lighter, parts of your own equipment in.

I used the D-Rings on the front chest points of the main shoulder straps to clip tac-link carabiners to and sling further bags off the front; this helps balance out

the weight as well as giving you a more controllable/ noticeable place for a bulkier bag so you can handle it and prevent it getting in other people’s way on public transport, but again beware of overloading such an add-on bag too much as the stitching at least on the earlier models is not intended to take so much load all the time.

In this configuration the Laylax Container Gun Case has served me very well thus far, obviously the wear and tear imparted by my typical blunt-instrument approach was of a little concern, but then most normal players won’t be carrying as much stuff as me I’m sure! The only other negative comment as such is basically purely related to me using it as a wookieesque two metre tall lummox, as the pack sits quite high on my back and thus clunks on low doorways or obstructions on public transport and the like, so perhaps some more adjustment in the strap lengths or the ability to move the mounting points on both the top and bottom ends to allow greater customisation of the across back carrying method might be another useful change in future iterations. For the most part, and for most users, this is a minor or non-existent issue I’m sure.

The external storage pouches are perfectly sized for an array of airsoft related accessories, and the zip arrangements allow you to open them easily whether the case is packed flat and closed, or when opened out into the ‘workspace tub’ configuration the zips will now be on the top face of the peripheral pouches, excellent for easy access without the risk of the contents spilling everywhere. They also zip open on three faces so allow you to open them flush with the floor or table you put the case on, further extending your clean and protected workspace to deal with loading, gas filling, maintenance or other preparations, and the easily viewed numbers on each of the pouches make it easy to remember what is in where, or relay that to teammates who might be looking to borrow something. All in all it’s a really well thought out solution and allows me to carry two sets of ballistic glasses and anti-fog spray in the smaller square storage No.4, while an array of tools, small silicone oil bottle and other accoutrements reside in the other small square storage No.3 next to it.

The remaining three storages, Nos. 1,2 and 5, are all longer equally-sized compartments that are ideal for two cans of green gas and a medium-sized silicone lubricant spray can, a pistol along with holster and

three magazines in my usual triple TMC Scorpion Fastmag units, and my radio and related gear as well as GoPro and additional face protection or team tags in the other. All of these can be moved around interchangeably, although I tend to leave them in the same arrangement for ease of finding things. Again cramming so much into the outer pouches can make it a bit difficult to close the main compartment with multiple guns in it, but the collapsible concertina of the newer variants should alleviate this and avoid breakages or difficulty in cramming the thing closed at the end of play.

Minor issues aside I’m very pleased with how well the Laylax Container Gun Case has served me, and although the damage I’ve done to the zips and strapanchor points more recently has semi-retired it to a convenient under-bed storage solution for a lot of my auxiliary equipment in favour of more standard backpacks and long rifle cases, it is nonetheless a useful addition to anyone’s kit…. most certainly if like me you live in the urban jungle and commute to the real one to get your shooting fix. Check out the latest improved NEO version which is also available in either Multicam Black or Python Black, as well as the new compact 600mm long version better suited to CQB equipment such as shorter SBRs or SMGs.

Many thanks to Jonothan of Airsoftology fame for giving me the original Laylax Container Gun Case to evaluate, and our friends at Laylax for the continued support of our efforts and great products they bring to market.

COMMSNET READY!

AIRSOFT AND COMMUNICATION? IN SOME CASES YOU MIGHT WELL BE RIGHT IN THINKING THAT THE TWO THINGS ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE, AS IN MANY GAMES THE USE OF VERBAL SIGNALS, LET ALONE RADIOS OR ANY OTHER TECH, SEEMS TO MATTER NOT ONE BIT AS YOUR TEAM-MATES BOMB-BURST OUT OF THE START POINT AND DISAPPEAR INTO BUILDINGS OR THE TREELINE, NEVER TO BE HEARD FROM AGAIN UNTIL THEY TURN UP AT RESPAWN… MIGUEL THOUGH LOOKS AT ONE SOLUTION THAT HAS PROVED “USERFRIENDLY” FOR HIM SO FAR!

For as long as I’ve been playing airsoft, I’ve always used comms; they’ve been a part of my life as an airsoft player and my team rely heavily on communications as a whole. We are so used to it that we can’t imagine airsoft in any other way, and as we all know, headsets play a major part when it comes to communications, so you’ve got to have a headset that you can trust, or else, everything is for nothing. You can have a great radio, but if the headset lacks in any way, it means little.

I remember when I started playing airsoft, and at the time active headsets were still miles away from the normal player, and I’d never even heard of them; I remember looking at a Bowman style headset and thinking “Wow, these are amazing!” (well they are, I still use them to this day!). But as the years went on, the range of tactical headsets grew rapidly, and we started to see more and more out in the field. Firstly, by those teams who are the first to have the “new thing in the market to look cool” and a bit later on by a lot of players in the community. Nowadays, we can easily find players using active headsets from several different brands, and you can even find one for most wallets.

A while back, Specna Arms partnered with Baofeng to launch the Shortie-82 radio, so the fact that now they are now partnering with other brands to launch a range of headsets is not that surprising. And within that range, the one that, in my opinion, calls out the most attention is the HD-16. It’s an active headset with a lot of options and accessories, ready to be added to most loadouts and ready for most situations. Luckily, the good people at Specna Arms were kind enough to send an example to field test and review, so for the last month I’ve been using the HD-16 in different loadouts, during simple practices and even external events, to get a solid opinion on its pros and cons. And I’ll say this… it’s the kind of gear where “out of box” reviews would be useless.

PROS

Let’s start with the pros on the HD-16. Firstly, you can easily change between the headband and the helmet mount adapters; once you get the cable management sorted out in the helmet (I recommend that you see videos on YouTube about it, it helped me) it’s a task that takes 3–4 minutes tops. This way, you can adapt the headset to the loadout that you want to use for

I REMEMBER WHEN I STARTED PLAYING AIRSOFT, AND AT THE TIME ACTIVE HEADSETS WERE STILL MILES AWAY FROM THE NORMAL PLAYER, AND I’D NEVER EVEN HEARD OF THEM; I REMEMBER LOOKING AT A BOWMAN STYLE HEADSET AND THINKING “WOW, THESE ARE AMAZING!”

GET ON TARGET!

TRAINING FOR AIRSOFT IS SOMETHING THAT NOT EVERYONE BUYS INTO, OR INDEED WANTS TO GET INTO DUE TO TIME AND SPACE CONSTRAINTS, BUT IT IS SOMETHING THAT IS 100% WORTHWHILE IF YOU CAN DO IT. EVEN IF YOU JUST SPEND SOME TIME ON THE RANGE DIALLING IN YOUR AEG OR GBB YOU’LL FIND THAT IT’S TIME WELL SPENT WHEN IT COMES TO GETTING CONSISTENT “ROUNDS ON” IN GAME, AND MIGUEL HAS BEEN TRYING A NEW SYSTEM THAT’S AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE AND FUN TO USE!

I know that not everyone sees airsoft practice, or training, the same way; some think it’s useless since we are just throwing BBs around and anything more than that is being too “MilSim” or “militaristic”. Others like to take some time to do some practice, build better synergies between the team members and pass along knowledge and experience to the newer players. In my case, the guys and I like to use those weekends when there are no interesting events going on and go out to one of our fields for a bit of practice. We can do all sorts of practice or training, from team formations, communications, navigation, CQB and Urban combat, and of course shooting. I know that not every team has the luxury of access to private fields, but if you had, wouldn’t you also take some time for practice and training?

For us, practice and training events have always been a part of airsoft; it’s a great way to improve and bring the new guys closer to the level of the more experienced players. It’s also a great way to test new gear and replicas, since we have this unwritten rule of not using new gear in official or larger events. This is where Specna Arms have joined the fray as lately they have been expanding far beyond replicas, and they also have a range of gear, accessories and communication equipment as you will see from my headset review, and one of their latest additions are the Stage Training Targets.

And what is this system? Well, as the name implies it’s a shooting target system, but of course there is a lot more to it; I wouldn’t me making an article if there wasn’t! The whole system is controlled by a phone app, and another notable feature of the Specna Arms Target System is its advanced sensors and analytics capabilities. The system can track and

analyse shooting performance, providing users with detailed feedback on accuracy, reaction time, and other key metrics.

This information can help shooters identify areas for improvement and develop their skills more effectively. You can customise different aspects of the training session, like if the targets raise in a random order and when you shoot one, another will rise, if they all rise at the same time you need to drop them all, so they can rise again, the number of rounds and if you also have the Specna Arms Stage System Monitor you can connect it to the same app to count the number of BBs shot or even limit the number of BBs a player has for that session.

<<xhead>> FIELD READY

Of course, no review can be done without some field-testing, and like I said before, luckily we have access to a couple of private fields where we can try this type of gear easily. But there was one thing I was not expecting, that the guys would be having so much fun competing among themselves! Each one was trying to be faster and use less BBs than the other, shooting from different ranges and even adding obstacles like mag change, switching to pistol or changing shooting position. When you have several targets, you can place them in different angles, forcing the shooter to move, and you can even use dark environments, since the targets have a lighting system!

Bill tried the system too at IWA and told me “yes, there was a LOT of competition amongst the shooters that tried the system on the Specna Arms range at the show; there were airsoft shooters from all over the world and when you have them in one place you can just imagine that every single one

FOR US, PRACTICE AND TRAINING EVENTS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A PART OF AIRSOFT; IT’S A GREAT WAY TO IMPROVE AND BRING THE NEW GUYS CLOSER TO THE LEVEL OF THE MORE EXPERIENCED PLAYERS. IT’S ALSO A GREAT WAY TO TEST NEW GEAR AND REPLICAS

of them (myself included!) wanted to show their A-game! The speed of the auto-reset function of the STAGE system put everyone through their paces, and again, YES, we all had tremendous fun with a lot of laughter going on!”

So, the Specna Arms Target System is a training and practice tool designed to enhance shooting skills and target accuracy, but it is also FUN! It’s a compact and portable target system that comes with a variety of features to make training sessions more efficient

and productive. The system consists of a target board, a base made of a sturdy and durable material that can withstand heavy use, a 18650 3.7v battery and a micro-USB charging cable. The target can withstand a good amount of BBs, but it won’t last forever, so be ready to change it sooner or later; I think it wouldn’t hurt to have a spare target in the box. You also need to be careful and use the targets in an almost windless place, because a simple breeze will drop the targets.

In conclusion the Specna Arms Target System is a versatile and effective training tool for anyone looking to improve their shooting skills and target accuracy. Its advanced features and intuitive design makes it easy to use, and it can become a popular choice among shooters of all skill levels; if you get the chance I would totally recommend that you check it out for yourself!

Thanks to Specna Arms for supplying the system for me to check out, and for more information you can find it at www.gunfire.com

THERE WAS ONE THING I WAS NOT EXPECTING, THAT THE GUYS WOULD BE HAVING SO MUCH FUN COMPETING AMONG THEMSELVES! EACH ONE WAS TRYING TO BE FASTER AND USE LESS BBS THAN THE OTHER, SHOOTING FROM DIFFERENT RANGES!

SHOT OUT!

WE’RE ALWAYS LOOKING TO SEE WHAT NEW BRANDS ARE PROVING TO BE POPULAR IN OUR FAVOURITE AIRSOFT STORES, AND WE’VE NOTICED THAT WULF OPTICS ARE APPEARING MORE AND MORE! OFFERING HIGH LEVELS OF BUILD-QUALITY, THESE MAGNIFIED OPTICS ARE TOUGH, COOL-LOOKING AND AFFORDABLE, BUT DO THEY DELIVER? BILL QUITE LITERALLY TAKES A CLOSER LOOK!

I’m going to start things off here by asking the same fundamental question that I always do when I talk about WULF optics, and that is “do magnified optics add to your performance when you’re playing airsoft, or are they just gear-head accessories to make your RIF look cool and you feel even cooler?” The real answer to this question again as always in my mind is it’s a bit of both… personally I do like a GOOD optic as they come with an assured level of performance, and they genuinely do add a certain “something” to your beloved replica rifle!

As a lad I learned my initial (prone) shooting skills largely on iron sights, and to be honest in most situations and with airsoft engagement distances being what they really are I still tend to use just the sights that are built into the rifle/carbine or flip-ups mounted on the rail, although I do have a bit of a love for holos on my CQB carbines. As my “airsoft tastes” have changed so too has my opinion of optics on AEGs and GBBRs though; I have never been, or wished to be, and airsoft “sniper” as I honestly don’t have the patience for this role, but I know many who have embraced this style of play to huge effect. It strikes me that even at the engagement distances we play at, the ability to place a precision shot on cue is massively helpful, and for this at even our ranges then you definitely need a good optic.

Most airsoft manufacturers now though seem to have a solid range of different optics, but the concentration for most of us is usually the more “tactical” style given those engagement distances we normally skirmish and play over. As I said, I do like holo and red dot sights (especially the micro RDS that have appeared on the slides of my pistols!), and you

might argue that given the realistic shooting range of an airsoft replica this is really all that’s needed. That said, I have been running various “real deal” magnified optics since I started putting together DMRs and PAMG competition rifles, and I have tried using them on my gas ARs too, and I’ve been pretty happy with the results even with some thumping open-bolt reciprocations in play. However, my choice for optics for these builds have largely been “real steel” models and these have not been cheap buys.

So, there is always a big price/benefit equation to be balanced when you’re deciding whether to go for a dedicated optic from one of the “real steel” companies out there, and after speaking to numerous friends in the game and the AA crew it does appear that choosing real over replica is the choice for many airsoft shooters these days, as we’ve all seen the shortcomings of the “clones and wannabes””. When you’re spending good money on a piece of glass you want to know it’s going to perform well initially, and for a considerable time, and the fact that good manufacturers will offer a “No-Quibbles Warranty” which effectively says they will repair or replace your optic in the event it becomes damaged or defective at no charge to you means that your outlay is well protected.

Which brings me neatly onto the brand under the spotlight here, and that’s WULF OPTICS. Designed and developed in the UK by shooters, for shooters the WULF range has been created by shooting industry insiders and draws upon extensive experience and industry influence to deliver specialist products at every price-point. WULF’s primary aim is outstanding performance in the field, and with scopes, electronics

THERE IS ALWAYS A BIG PRICE/BENEFIT EQUATION TO BE BALANCED WHEN YOU’RE DECIDING WHETHER TO GO FOR A DEDICATED OPTIC FROM ONE OF THE “REAL STEEL” COMPANIES OUT THERE…

and accessories all part of their ever-growing range I’ve seen them finding their way slowly-but-ever-sosurely into airsoft stores.

The depth of the design and engineering are clear to see, and the standards of materials and construction are without doubt first-rate. WULF products are built for serious, professional use in outdoor environments and the company does not shy away from its commitment to quality. Coming back to my comment about warranties earlier the commitment given by WULF speaks for itself; the optics, for example, are covered by a no-quibble Lifetime Warranty so this is a brand that could be purpose-built for airsoft!

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING

Before I get into the individual WUILF models I’ve been testing though I need to take a moment to get some “tech stuff” out of the way. When it comes to discussing the technical “workings of scopes” though we start to get into terminology like “MOA” and “MRAD”, and I found a neat little article on www. scopesfield.com that pretty much nails things simply and straightforwardly;

“M.O.A. stands for Minutes of Angle; a system based on degrees and minutes. This type of angle measurement is used to calculate the distance to a target and MOA turrets correction for the bullet trajectory. Basically the math breaks down to this: there are 360 degrees in a circle, and 60 minutes in a degree for a total of 21,600 degrees. You can find your MOA measurement by multiplying the distance in yards by 1.047, then dividing by 100.”

The article goes on to tell us that;

“MRAD stands for milliradians (or MIL for short), and was originally developed for artillery in the late 1800s. It’s still the preferred method for military and police force operations to this day, where you’ll commonly here it referred to as a MIL-dot reticle. Based on a radial line, a unit of angular measurement that is equal to roughly 57.3 degrees, a milliradian is one thousandth of a radian. When calculating MRAD in a MIL-based scope, you will be calling it MIL, which is 3.6 inches at 100 yards (91.4m using the metric system) equal to 1 MIL.”

Putting this in a nutshell, MOA vs MRAD essentially

WULF PRODUCTS ARE BUILT FOR SERIOUS, PROFESSIONAL USE IN OUTDOOR ENVIRONMENTS AND THE COMPANY DOES NOT SHY AWAY FROM ITS COMMITMENT TO QUALITY

comes down to whether you use yards or metres. MOA is easier for metres whilst for yards MRAD is the thing. Again, scopesfield tell us that;

“Both types are equally successful for longrange shooting depending on how well you know the system you’ll be shooting with. MRAD can be somewhat easier to communicate to others and 90% of the professionals are using MRAD, because there are more options in the MRAD system. MRAD is the standardized system for military and police snipers.”

Why have I gone into this research, and why do I include it here? Simple really; when you get down to the specifications of the WULF models you’ll find both MOA and MRAD mentioned so I believe that it’s important that you understand the principles and then apply this knowledge to the high standard that the WIL scopes offer. To me the detail given in this respect in the feature-sets of the scopes show the real “shooter heritage” that WULF have behind them; these are “real deal” optics that just happen to be perfect for airsoft use!

THE MODELS

With this in mind I’ll now look in more detail at the models I was sent to test, and I’ll start with the FIREBALL models that are really well-priced but offer superb levels of performance! Split into three magnification ranges starting at a 2-7x32 and headed by a 4-12x50, these quality entry-level optics come with a 1-inch tube, an adjustable objective down to at least 10 meters, a second focal plane half mildot reticle and fully multi-coated crystal lenses that provide the shooter with some super optics choice. Both the models were tested using my CYMA 098A DMR at 60m with .30g VORSK BBs on 300 x 3300mm steels.

WULF Fireball 3-9x40 Half Mil-Dot Reticle Rifle Scope

This optic comes supplied with the WULF Titanium Lifetime Warranty and is absolutely packed with top tier features at an extremely reasonable price point. Rated for use with all calibres of real steel firearms even this relatively simple optic will deliver results even on the most savage GBBR! The 3-9x40 offers durable, rugged and reliable performance through some crystalclear glass. It’s simple to adjust within the magnification range, so I’m certain that this will prove and absolute godsend for many airsofters on a more limited budget as it enabled me to ring the steels time and again!

Features:

• Covered by Wulf Titanium Lifetime Warranty

• 40mm Objective Lens

• 3-9 x Magnification

• 25.4mm Tube Diameter

• Field of View @ 100yds: 38’-11.9’

• 3.42” Eye Relief

• Half Mil-Dot Reticle

• Second Focal Plane

• MRAD Per Click

• 29 MRAD / 98.6 MOA of Adjustment

• 12.4” Long

• 435 Grams

• Parallax: 10 Yards to infinity

• Lens Coating: Fully Multi-Coated Crystal Lenses

• Fast Focus Eyepiece

• Nitrogen Purged

• Waterproof Shockproof Fogproof

• Capped Low Profile Turrets

• All Calibre Rated

WULF Fireball 2-7x32 SFP Half Mil-Dot Reticle Rifle Scope

Again supplied with that awesome Titanium Lifetime Warranty this scope offers a Second Focal Plane benefit; again, simply put, with a first focal plane scope the size of the reticle will appear to grow or shrink as the scope’s magnification is increased or decreased, whereas with a second focal plane scope the reticle stays the same size at any magnification range. With the second focal plane, your units of measurement per MOA or MRAD marking (yup, here they are again!) represent the same value regardless of your magnification setting.

A second focal plane scope is more suited for closer-range shooting (yup, airsoft!) because you have a strong and easy-to-see reticle even at the lowest magnification. If you won’t be taking many shots where you need to hold for windage or elevation, a second focal plane scope is more than enough, and the 2-7x32 SFPwill not break the bank either! It’s a lovely little optic, again scrupulously put together with a super-clear sight picture… again, it’s easy to adjust, and the reticle is indeed very precise at all magnification levels.

Features:

• Covered by Wulf Titanium Lifetime Warranty

• 32mm Objective Lens

• 2-7 x Magnification

• 25.4mm Tube Diameter

• Field of View @ 100yds: 43.2’-13.5’

• 3.7” Eye Relief

• Half Mil-Dot Reticle

• Second Focal Plane

• MRAD Per Click

• 37.5 MRAD / 130 MOA of Adjustment

• 11.3” Long

• Parallax: 5 yards - Infinity

• Lens Coating: Fully Multi-Coated Crystal Lenses

• Fast Focus Eyepiece

• Nitrogen Purged

• Waterproof Shockproof Fogproof

• Capped Low Profile Turrets

• All Calibre Rated

WULF Hurricane 4.5-18x50 SFP Illuminated Half Mildot Rifle Scope

Just to illustrate that WULF are not all about “budget models though, the final model I was sent for testing would absolutely be the one that I would choose for myself, both for real and replica! The Huuricane models have two-second focal plane magnification ranges (4.5-18x and 6.5-25x) that are equipped with robust 30mm tubes, tactical locking turrets, illuminated half mildot reticles with matching 0.1MRAD click values, and side focus down to 10 meters.

I had the 4.5-18x50 SFP model on the range fitted to the VFC M110 SASS GBBR which has been acknowledged as “having a bit of a kick”, and it was tested on .30g VORSK BBs at 50m with 300 x 3300mm steels… and this scope didn’t miss a beat. My test scope came pre-fitted with WULF mounts which are slightly

lower than the one-piece QD I normally have in place on this rifle which meant I couldn’t fit my usual offset RDS, but this was purely down to the mounts and the size of the rear bell over the rail… of you want to run a backup RDS then I’d suggest that you look to higher mounts, although of course this will raise the optic further over the bore.

In use I loved this scope! Although the objective bell is sizeable it sits neatly on top of the rifle, and all the controls are extremely easy to use. Windage and elevation are simple given the clearly marked graduations on the turrets, and the magnification adjustment ring is both smooth and positive. The illumination adjustment is equally smooth, lighting up the super-clear central cross of the reticle in five levels each of red/ green brightness. Overall this is an optic that I know I will regret sending back as “the steels they were a clangin’” all afternoon with this bad boi in place atop the gasser!

Features:

• Covered by Wulf Titanium Lifetime Warranty

• 50mm Objective Lens

• 4.5-18 x Magnification

• 30mm Tube Diameter

• Field of View @ 100yds: 27.7’-7.3’

• 3.5” Eye Relief

• Half Mil-Dot Reticle

• Second Focal Plane

• MRAD Per Click

• Highlighted(Red) 10X for Mildot Calculations

• Side Focus down to 10 yards

• 27 MRAD / 92 MOA

• 13.6” Long

• Parallax: 10 yards to infinity

• XHT Fully Multi-Coated Lenses – Superb high transmission lens coatings help to increase light transmission, resolution and colour fidelity.

• Speed Focus Eyepiece Diopter

• Nitrogen Purged

• Extreme Wide FOV Optical System

• Waterproof Shockproof Fogproof

• Tactical 0.1 MRAD BDC Locking Turrets

• All Calibre Rated

FINAL THOUGHTS

So, have I come away after testing with a warm and happy feeling towards the WULF sights? Yes, yes I have. The Fireball models are more (WAY MORE!)

than adequate for airsoft use, and I am certain that they will please many an airsofter that wants a quality optic at a REALLY good price either for a DMR or a bolty… or indeed a carbine it that’s your thing. These models will cover off most general skirmish use, and that super warranty means that a spend even at this level is covered! If you want, or are able, to spend a bit more then oh my, the Hurricane is a super scope without doubt…

The fact of the matter though is that it’s all well and good dressing up your rifle, carbine, or pistol with a great optic like one of the WULF models, but PLEASE do practice and train with your setup to ensure that it really does have the range and accuracy that you think it does! Also, if you buy an optic for a few bucks online don’t expect that to give you the performance you might think it should, as often they are out of kilter before you even start, especially once you factor in the reciprocation of a thumping gas system!

Do buy a good quality optic with a good set of mounts such as a model from WULF described here and learn to work with it; train with it, learn about how optics work (back to MOA and MRAD!), and work out just what range you can tweak from your chosen package. Do by all means buy that “20 buck replica” but realise it ain’t gonna qualify you as a “SEAL Team Shooter and Looter” in the foreseeable future, although it might look kinda cute on your social media page! Buy something sensible and solid like a WULF, and go shoot BBs… accurately!

My thanks go to the team at www.eliteoptical. co.uk for providing the WILF models for me to evaluate; you’ll find WULF OPTICS now in a number of good airsoft stores in the UK.

NEVER GIVE UP!

IN HIS TECH COLUMN LAST MONTH JIMMY ENLIGHTENED US TO THE INTRICACIES OF HIS LATEST HPA BUILD USING THE GATE EON PULSAR ENGINE AND THE TITAN 2 INSIDE A SIG MCX, AND SIGNED OFF WITH A PROMISE TO REPORT BACK ON PERFORMANCE AFTER HE’D USED THE SETUP IN-GAME… TURNS OUT NOT EVERYTHING WAS ROSY, AND IT HAD OUR NOT-SO-TAME IN-HOUSE TECH SCRATCHING HIS HEAD FOR A WHILE… BUT NOT FOR LONG!

Carrying on from issue 150 where I began testing on the new GATE Eon Pulsar Engine and the Titan 2, if you did read it you will remember at first preliminary testing appeared to be going well. It wasn’t until I ventured out to a game that I realised I had some issues and it was not performing how I had expected. The lack of performance was due to a major oversight on my behalf and I honestly cannot believe that I missed something so crucial, so I will man-up and share my experience, and the solution, with you!

Now when it comes to open-bolt engines you have to be rather particular with certain parameters and alignment is key in order for everything to work right; if you are into your HPA you will more than likely know this already, but if you’re new to the whole deal then I hope that this will help you... Initially I had opted to use the Retro Arms V2 CNC Hop Unit because the GATE Eon Hop Unit sadly does not fit in the SIG MCX. I have had some great results with the Retro Arms unit on many different platforms and it didn’t even cross my mind that there would be any issues, so I carried on regardless.

Upon initial testing I found I had to use a slightly higher pressure to get the desired velocity of 350fps or 1.13j, but being new to the Pulsar thought this to be normal. The first outing saw an array of different problems ranging from inconsistent velocity readings,

under-hop, massive over-hop, and even times where my SIG wouldn’t even fire. This was all due to the nozzle sitting very high in the Retro Arms unit, forcing the nozzle to work harder and requiring the high pressure needed to operate it. I gave up after an hour of trying to sort it out and just carried on playing with my sniper rifle…

Once back in the workshop I couldn’t rest knowing there were issues with the SIG, so I set about finding the problem. It was evident the problem was alignment as the anodizing had been completely scratched off the top of the nozzle. How could I have overlooked this? Everything went together incredibly easily, I didn’t have to force anything. After discovering this I then decided the best course would be to revert back to the stock VFC hop unit as I never had any issues when running it as an AEG.

With the VFC unit back in and correctly fitted, and after some further investigation and testing, I found I had to then drop the pressure down to around 80psi which then gave me far better consistency overall. I felt happier knowing the VFC unit was yielding better results and I could not wait to get back out and test its performance. A week had passed and I was itching to get on site; luckily we were off to Cool Under Fire locally for our monthly meet…

THE LACK OF PERFORMANCE WAS DUE TO A MAJOR OVERSIGHT ON MY BEHALF AND I HONESTLY CANNOT BELIEVE THAT I MISSED SOMETHING SO CRUCIAL, SO I WILL MANUP AND SHARE MY EXPERIENCE, AND THE SOLUTION, WITH YOU!

HPA MCX, TAKE 2

We got onsite around 0700 and I got set up and straight out to the range; with the hop set up and easily lifting a 0.32g BB I went about recalibrating and fine tuning the GCS app. I managed to get the settings to where my chrono readings were very consistent and I was amazed at the distance the 0.32g BBs were traveling for a power output of 1.13/4j. You need to experiment with the GCS app as no two setups will be the same, and there are factors that will alter you parameters like barrel length, hop setup, even down to what regulator you are using.

Something I discovered with the GCS app is the live fire tuning or shooting mode; it allows for you to operate the engine whilst the app is still open and connected which makes fine-tuning much easier and

stress-free; I never discovered this setting the first time round and again my bad. One small thing I noticed though was at the very end of the BBs trajectory it would start to fade to the left; at first I thought this was mainly down to a side-wind but upon checking again the nozzle was still off slightly, but that was easily remedied by removing the mock bolt catch which sits tight to the SIG lower receiver.

When I joined the GATE Pulsar Facebook group I discovered that a number of people were suffering the same issue, and much healthy discussion and sharing of information was had. After much discussion it was agreed that alignment between the engine and the hop are paramount in an open-bolt system when fired as the nozzle pushes the BB into the chamber at the same time as air is released, so the BB doesn’t stop

SO, SOMETHING TO REMEMBER WHEN BUILDING A HPA PLATFORM (OR ANY PLATFORM FOR THAT FACT!), ALIGNMENT IS KEY, DON’T RUSH YOUR BUILD! CUSTOM BUILDS AREN’T CHEAP SO DO IT NICE OR DO IT TWICE…

moving unlike in a closed-bolt system where the BB enters before air is released.

There are a couple of methods you can try to check for alignment, the first being as simple as shining a light up the hop unit and physically eyeballing down the barrel; alternatively you can use an endoscope to get up close and personal, but my favourite method is to remove your hop unit completely and with the receivers back together slide an inner barrel down the outer barrel until it meets the nozzle. Doing this you can see easily how the nozzle sits in relation to the barrel. Alignment on the horizontal axis is relatively easy to do, but on the vertical axis it isn’t that straightforward I’m afraid as you need to move the gearbox as a whole. I have seen people shim either the front or the back but by doing this can make the nozzle sit at an angle and not operate as linearly as it needs to.

So, something to remember when building a HPA platform (or any platform for that fact!), alignment is key, don’t rush your build! Custom builds aren’t cheap so do it nice or do it twice… that is if it doesn’t break the first time round! For anyone looking to purchase the Pulsar or the Titan 2, if you are looking for any info or if you have any input yourself you can find a wealth of information from other users, highly-skilled HPA techs and from the lovely people from GATE themselves either on Facebook or the newly created Discord channel.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Once again I’d like to say a huge “THANK YOU” to Marcin and the GATE team for allowing me, and us, the opportunity to be one of the first to get hands on your latest offerings! I’d also like to say a massive thank you to Luke Dobson of Negative Airsoft again for recommending me to GATE to test this new tech!

ALL-STAR(S) CQB!

OUR GOOD FRIEND RYAN, OR “SENSEI RAI” AS MANY WILL KNOW HIM, HAS BEEN ACTIVE IN THE JAPANESE AIRSOFT COMMUNITY PRETTY MUCH EVER SINCE WE HAD THE PLEASURE OF MEETING HIM, AND WE’RE PLEASED TO REPORT THAT HE’S NOW JOINED THE EVER-GROWING AA LEGION AS A FULL MEMBER! WE’RE VERY MUCH LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING MORE FROM HIM ON SITES, GAMES AND EVENTS, AND HE KICKS THINGS OFF BY TELLING US ALL ABOUT A SITE THAT SOME MAY WELL HAVE HEARD OF BEFORE THAT’S JUST A BIT SPECIAL…

Laggoon City, one of the best urban CQB fields in the Kansai region, is located in the city of Tenri in Nara prefecture. The field is one of the easier to access fields in the region and only about one hour from my home city of Osaka city, one of the largest urban hubs in Japan. Despite Japan’s famed public transportation accessibility, many airsoft fields in Japan are located in the countryside where land is more plentiful, thus requiring a vehicle to get to. Fortunately, Laggoon City is one of a handful of fields in the region that can be reached easily via a train from Osaka and a reasonable 15 to 20-minute walk to the field.

After that short walk to the field, you’ll find yourself in the centre of a strange mix of rice paddies, industrial complexes and suburban lots. The field is fully concrete and mainly consists of plywood structures painted over with real-world business logos for a more city-like feeling. This is contrast to the vast majority of Japanese fields with dirt or gravel ground and shabby plywood walls set up to resemble cover. Laggoon city actually feels like a few blocks of a real city, satisfying all your fantasies of a “HEAT-style” street shootout. The are fictional versions of bars, 7/11 conveniences stores, a gun shop, sushi shops, burger joints, a police station with jail cells, and more. Adding to the atmosphere are several police cruisers and broken-down cars for a complete city feel. This field also features multiple hidden nooks and crannies for players to surprise their opponents from…

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

The name “Laggoon City” is actually a Japanese language play on words that many might not understand at first due to the linguistic differences. In Japanese L’s and R’ are considered the same sound and not distinguished between, while C’s and Gs are different sounds that are related within the accent of the language. So, if you flip the letters, they spell “Raccoon City” from the video game series Resident Evil, the original inspiration to the field design and atmosphere! Having spoken to the owner who has since created additional fields such as HIVE (also inspired by the original Resident Evil series), he told me that he’s always been a fan of the game, so, if you are also a fan of Resident Evil and urban outdoor CQB fields, give both Laggoon City and HIVE a visit!

Now, on the details of the field and the games run there. Laggoon City has always been a favorite field among regional locals and I have personally been over a dozen times in recent years. The field features some unique game modes and an overall chilled atmosphere with the game marshals. Prior to arrival, you need to make sure you make a reservation online to secure a table; the field can host up to 80 players maximum and while they do accept walk-ins, just like at most Japanese airsoft field, I highly recommend reserving prior so you aren’t disappointed!

The amenities often play a major role at most fields when it comes to players’ enjoyment, as they should.

LAGGOON CITY ACTUALLY FEELS LIKE A FEW BLOCKS OF A REAL CITY, SATISFYING ALL YOUR FANTASIES OF A “HEAT-STYLE” STREET SHOOTOUT. THE ARE FICTIONAL VERSIONS OF BARS, 7/11 CONVENIENCES STORES, A GUN SHOP, SUSHI SHOPS, BURGER JOINTS, A POLICE STATION WITH JAIL CELLS, AND MORE…

Before walking into the main building which serves as the check-in, rental area, and marshal stand, you will be greeted with a “smoking area” a comfortable distance away from the safety, four portable washrooms, with one being exclusive to women, and multiple vending machines. Upon check in and paying of the 4000-yen (roughly UK£24 or US$29) entry fee for the day, if it is your first time you will need to pay an additional 500 yen to receive a membership card which is indefinite. You will be asked to sit at the table labeled with your team name registered during the online reservation.

As you approach the Safe Zone, you will be greeted with over a dozen team tables, gun racks, electric fans, hot water heaters for your instant ramen, microwaves, and refrigerators filled with 100-yen drinks. Once you are settled in, you will need to go chrono your AEG or GBB, or you can rent any of their custom-made rental guns of various makes and models. This gives the rental players a much better chance against seasoned players as most fields often rent out fleets of stock Tokyo Marui standard or high cycle guns, all of which are severely outclassed by modern replicas! The FPS limit at Laggoon City and its sister field is 95m/s on .2g BBs, this is a few FPS below Japanese hard legal limit of .98J or 98m/s. You will also be required to use either .2g or .25g bio BBs.

GAME ON!

Game-wise, expect to play from 1030 to 1700 with a one-hour lunch break around 1200. Most good days you can easily play 8-10 games many with respawn

modes, something not particularly popular in Japan as many fields play “one-life” tactical styles. The field features four spawn points which are shuffled randomly to give a different experience each game. The games usually start with one “unlimited life” game as a warmup in the morning, followed by multiple domination, capture the flag, and fuel-tank capture game modes. Most games will have 1-2 respawns with objectives involving the movement of a fuel-tank from one part of the field to another.

In the afternoon there will be an attack and defend game which will have one team locked to B-Block unable to leave the area, requiring them to defend their spawn with no respawns. The attacking team will have multiple respawns and the ability to move freely around the field. The defending team also receives 2-3 invulnerable snipers stationed at towers around the field, who are not allowed to be shot at, but are allowed to pick off players at will. Though this gives the defending team somewhat of a firepower advantage, the main point of the snipers is intelligence, as the snipers are tasked to call out enemy positions as they charge the defenders in B-Block. This mode is chaotic and extremely enjoyable as it creates an asymmetric fire fight where the defenders often fight until the last man. The game day will often end with President, or VIP escorts armed with riot shields tasked with eliminating the opposing team’s HVT!

Overall Laggoon City gets full marks for the field layout and atmosphere. The theme really gives players a unique place to battle it out with friends and due to the all-concrete ground is great even during rainy days

GAME-WISE, EXPECT TO PLAY FROM 1030 TO 1700 WITH A ONE-HOUR LUNCH BREAK AROUND 1200. MOST GOOD DAYS YOU CAN EASILY PLAY 8-10 GAMES MANY WITH RESPAWN MODES, SOMETHING NOT PARTICULARLY POPULAR IN JAPAN AS MANY FIELDS PLAY “ONELIFE” TACTICAL STYLES

as there is no mud or gravel. The game modes also allow for respawns, giving new players and veterans more of a chance to actually play and be on the field. The field cost is slightly above most other fields, which range between 3000-3500 yen. However, the ease of access, field theme, and larger player base all make it worth the extra cost.

If you are visiting Osaka or Nara, then please let us know, and please give Laggoon City a visit for a unique and action-packed CQB fix Japanese-style!

GBBR LARP 1.0 – HIL FOX TAICHUNG MILSIM

A GENERAL TREND RECENTLY SEEMS TO BE THE WIDENING ADOPTION OF EVER MORE RELIABLE AND ENJOYABLE GAS BLOWBACK RIFLES AMONG HARDCORE MILSIM PLAYERS AND THOSE SEEKING THE MOST REALISTIC GAMEPLAY EXPERIENCE, WITH THE NOISE, RECOIL AND REAL CAPACITY MAGAZINES THAT DEMAND BETTER AMMUNITION MANAGEMENT AND AWARENESS OF YOUR TEAMMATES AND SURROUNDINGS! NOWHERE IS THIS MORE APPARENT THAN AIRSOFT CENTRAL: TAIWAN ITSELF, WHERE MANY OF THE BEST GBBRS NOW ORIGINATE FROM, AND STEWBACCA TOOK PART IN A RECENT GBBR-ONLY EVENT IN THE HEARTLAND OF HIS ISLAND IN THE SUN TO TAKE IN THE EXPERIENCE FOR HIMSELF!

Everyone who follows me knows that by and large, since coming to the tropics I’ve been making up for lost time and past winter woes of the UK where my gas guns would inevitably go ‘psshh’ instead of ‘clack’ more often than not, and I could never afford the likes of a full on GBB Rifle or even an SMG, only ever owning gas pistols and AEG rifles back in Blighty. The ever-growing gun wall of product review samples I end up buying instead of returning, or past personal purchases are almost entirely gas guns in nature continues to grow… and certainly since coming to Taiwan I’ve also seen a lot more domestic players here making the switch for the added realism of manual of arms and the shift in gameplay that a more limited ammunition loadout tends to impart.

Of course if you’re going up against OpFor with AEGs and drum mags or hi caps it makes it somewhat “hard mode”, although at least for the most part in Taiwan we play semi auto only so the volume of fire is at least more balanced for the initial spats of any firefights; good players with well zeroed and optic enabled GBBRs can still hold their own against the electric crowd. Nonetheless, there is a growing prevalence of specialised game events aimed at pure MilSim or limited-weapon-system-style games in Taiwan, and recently towards the end of May I was invited down to Taichung’s Hill Fox Tactical Outdoor Centre once again, having last been all the way down

there for the first time all the way back in November 2020 for my “Rebels with a cause” article playing and covering the Filipino national charity game held there for Issue No. 122 - Feb 2021.

This time it was at the invitation of my old friend Shawn Wu of TMC’s Taipei store who I met very soon after arriving and hadn’t seen for a good long while recently due to just being too busy most of the time to make my way across town to TMC. When I first arrived in Taipei I lived a lot closer and on the same MRT line so would often find myself perusing their tactical gear and latest offerings. Along with his compatriots at TMC Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung branches and with the support of VFC he managed to pull off the first gas-gun-only weekender game of its type that I’ve been aware of, and GBBR LARP 1.0 saw around a hundred players from all over the island converging on Hill Fox on the Western outskirts of Taichung (Taiwan’s midland major industrial city) atop a hill with a commanding view of the city below. The overnight event would see many of the players camping in the main village section of the game site area from the late evening until the early hours of the morning, myself included, and I hurriedly packed my backpack, tent and sleeping mat the night before, just after getting back from yet another Friday night IPSC practise session!

THERE IS A GROWING PREVALENCE OF SPECIALISED GAME EVENTS AIMED AT PURE MILSIM OR LIMITED-WEAPON-SYSTEM-STYLE GAMES IN TAIWAN, AND RECENTLY TOWARDS THE END OF MAY I WAS INVITED DOWN TO TAICHUNG’S HILL FOX TACTICAL OUTDOOR CENTRE ONCE AGAIN

Shoving the VFC HK53 and Krytac SilencerCo Maxim 9 into my 5.11 Rush 72 along with an array of magazines, my plate carrier, ammunition, radio and Multicam BDUs I prepared myself for a long and undoubtedly tiring but rewarding weekend behind the tools and a camera phone, getting involved in the base defence when required but also donning my ‘embedded combat photographer’ hat to grab some shots of the action throughout the afternoon, evening and next morning of the Saturday and Sunday the 27th/28th of May.

DAWN OF THE 249!

I awoke typically early on the Saturday; thankfully I had booked the day off work at least, but nonetheless had to get moving on my usual timescale, heading to Taipei main station and jumping on the 09:00 high speed rail to Taichung, where I had time for a leisurely sit down breakfast and stocked up on water and snacks for the blistering heat of Taiwan’s more southerly heartland. Eric from TMC Taipei soon arrived to pick me up and drive me the remainder of the way to the site, where I met with the usual handsome guys of domestic youtube fame; the 4UADSmartAirsoft crew in the shape of Andrew, Jess and Luis were already getting involved in their usual videography exploits alongside JeffTheKid as our good friends from VFC had brought along not one but five of their latest M249 GBB LMG prototypes in an array of configurations for some heavy duty in the field testing! This was to be carried out by the staff on site, and allowed the players to get hands on with them to try them out in a range setting as well as even trading usage of them for in-game-token-elements to try and help tip the balance of firepower for their particular team or groups assaulting actions throughout the weekend.

Everyone seemed suitably impressed with the gameplay advantage offered by them, with the quintet ploughing through what must have been a whole sack load of ammunition and who knows how many cans of gas over the course of the weekend, with the VFC team making use of their Gunpower electronic speedloader to ease the pain of reloading the endless magazine cassettes to keep the beasts fed! Suffice to say the testing regimen and sheer volume of fire and related grins from the users no doubt served as a good taster for many and I imagine more than a few will be sold once they’re finally released to market; although I got hands on with one at MOA 2022 and test fired a few shots on the short range, getting to throw rounds down in the field and see the performance and durability over the whole

weekend of beating the lot of them up certainly makes me eager to field a review sample with Team Taiji when the time comes!

I elected to set up camp in the late afternoon, following the event finally kicking off around 16:00 due to the inevitable logistical issues that creep in to any large event, especially with it being the first time for this organisational team, and apparently the local players being on site in the morning for a typical skirmish that had not been known about!

It wasn’t long after my tent was pitched and I’d finished reorganising my own gear and reloading my already expended magazines after the first foray that once again the small hand-cranked air raid klaxon filled the air and we all donned our plate carriers, charged our rifles and headed to the fenceline! The OpFor were once again making their way up the gentle slope of the hillside plateau beneath the village to try and break through our defences, but thankfully the VFC outpost was conveniently right next to my tent and the fenceline so it wasn’t long before Jeff was joined by VFC staff, with Ray and even the boss man himself Vega getting stuck in with a bunch of the M249s talking effectively over the fence line and keeping the heads down in the field below, and soon after the enemy guns seemed to fall silent once again under the withering firepower from above.

After this I decided to get out and see more of the site, embedding myself with an element from the Scuba Survival Adventure team and my friend Stan (Triplace) who were heading out on a mission to try and escort a high value target through the fields below along with another element from a different team. Tactically moving slowly down the dirt trail with the city skyline in the distance certainly made for some good photos! However, as the guys moved right into the treeline and long grass the silence was soon broken by the familiar chatter of GBBRs hiding in the bushes, and after a spirited firefight the whole element apparently found itself unfortunately eliminated by the waiting ambush, despite their best efforts to remain undetected…

DARK OPS

As the light began to fade a ceasefire was called around 1800 so that the teams could all reconvene in the village for a rest and to eat dinner and soon the typical Taiwanese tradition of barbecues and local cuisine filled the air with familiar sights and smells, and one team even got a barrel fire going, not that we particularly needed to keep warm. The various

VFC HAD BROUGHT ALONG NOT ONE BUT FIVE OF THEIR LATEST M249 GBB LMG PROTOTYPES IN AN ARRAY OF CONFIGURATIONS FOR SOME HEAVY DUTY IN THE FIELD TESTING! THIS WAS TO BE CARRIED OUT BY THE STAFF ON SITE, AND ALLOWED THE PLAYERS TO GET HANDS ON WITH THEM

tents and outposts were lit by the LED strip lights and incandescent bulbs hanging from the various guy ropes and overhead cables.

After a good feeding and the usual good natured campfire banter and recap of the prior assault actions, the OpFor units headed out once again into the now darkened night while the lights of Taichung lit up the horizon below, and half an hour or so later they had worked their way into position for their next attack. Once again the siren sounded and the

guys with NVG’s took up overwatch positions on the watchtowers and rooftops of the palette huts, as well as patrolling the fence line while the rest of us took up low-lying positions and used our white lights sparingly to light up any movement for those of us without the green glow in our eyes; once again we managed to work through the attack largely intact, of course suffering some casualties, but once again holding the line.

As 2100 rolled around the beleaguered OpFor

came back to camp and the guns were put away and the beers broken out by some of the groups waiting for their campfires to die down and coolers to empty, while Ray was good enough to invite me along with the VFC crew the outdoor barbecue restaurant overlooking the game site where we enjoyed an array of all you can m-eat until kicking out time when we sloped back to our dwellings for the night around 2300. Some carried on the banter and beer consumption until around midnight before everyone finally fell largely quiet, although the sheer heat and humidity didn’t exactly help with my sleep, I’m certainly not used to camping in my underwear given that most of my experiences were previously in the highlands of Scotland!

The lack of preparedness certainly made for a literal rude awakening at 0400 when multiple blasts

followed by the familiar smell of spent pyro in the air were joined once again by the cranking up of the siren which drove us all from our tents as the OpFor were apparently once again banging at the gates and I hurriedly rolled off my mat and tried my best to find my way into my BDUs and plate carrier for another incoming assault, light beams and orders barked in Taiwanese filling the air as we all scurried around to our places…and then, nothing much seemed to happen for a while… a false alarm, or the quiet before the storm?

I slumped back in my tent and rearranged my clothing a little as even the short stint kneeling at the fence in full kit and having forgotten to put on my knee pads left me already a little sore and sweaty. I made myself more comfortable and waited for followon action as the sun began breaking over the site and

the day quickly brightened up to naked eye visibility, making it easier for us to see the incoming at least.

The calm in the air was next broken by the excited clamouring accompanying the arrival of a truly beautiful sight; not dust off helicopters, in our case but the local burger van bringing us excellent sustenance! We eagerly awaited them to finish parking and breaking out the grill and tables, and a much needed morale boost was soon being distributed to us all, and even some of the OpFor sidled into the ceasefire and grabbed some scoff.

RUNNING ON EMPTY!

Once again satiated we returned to our posts and the final battle began to unfold, with the sun coming up in full force as we moved towards the 1000 EndEx time. The tempo really picked up, and I eventually managed to get through three full reloads of my four thirty BB magazines for the VFC HK53, with the excellent EZ HOP system posting single shots out to around 25 metres through the gaps in palette covers and structures out beyond the wire. Andrew and Luis of 4UAD had both been wowed by the accuracy and consistency when they’d had a few shots with it on the Saturday afternoon, it’s becoming a fast favourite for me and others, it seems.

At some point our defence broke down and a small element of the enemy managed to sweep through the village and I ended up shot in the back by one player while I was busy distracted by his compatriots on the berm opposite the top corner of our lines, and after they completed their objectives they swept out again and we regenerated back into game for the final

firefight of the festivities. I was happily exchanging quite a few well aimed salvos with one equally stubborn opponent who also had an accurate bead on me, and eventually EndEx was called just before either of us could fully get the drop on each other; eventually my HK53 ran totally dry and I drew my Krytac 9 and managed to empty one of the mags just as the final whistle blew… a most exhilarating and satisfying end to the action, and smiles all round from everyone!

With the guns falling silent once again everyone moved back into camp and began packing up for the road home; Stan was good enough to give me a lift back to the HSR in the comfort of his camper van, and I once again found myself speeding northbound from Taichung after an action-packed adventure, once again feeling sorry for the folks sitting around me for no doubt smelling like a large wet dog again thanks to suffering the heat and humidity.

I’d like to extend my thanks to Shawn and the TMC team for inviting me along and doing a great job of organising their first major game event, which for the most part seemed to work well for most of those attending, despite the usual trials and tribulations, and Ray and the VFC team for ensuring I was looked after as they usually do. I’m looking forward to the next MilSim… POLK 3 this coming July… until next time, fellow shooters!