Airsoft Action - September 2023

CONTENTS

8 ARMOURY: VORSK VMP-1 GBB

Airsoft Action have been following the VORSK VMP-1 project since it was just a concept, and we’ve reported on this exciting new gas SMG/MP platform all the way, from that “idea stage” right through to the now-finished item that’s now selling out of stores across the UK and Europe, and thrilling players who have got in right at the very start! So, how does the production VMP-1 live up to expectations? As usual Bill kicks things off…

Editorial Director: Bill Thomas

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Publisher: Calibre Publishing

22 ARMOURY: G&G FAR 556

They do say that “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should” but if everyone thought that way then a LOT of innovation could easily be lost, never to see the light of day! But G&G ARMAMENT continue to dare with their new concepts and many of them, the FAR 556 included, genuinely bring something new and unique to the world of airsoft!

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©Calibre Publishing Limited 2023 All

FIND US ON… LETTER

IDEA OR QUESTION?

Got something to say? A question for our experts? An article or article idea?

Drop us a line and let us know. Either email the Editorial Director: bill@airsoft-action.co.uk, or talk to us on Twitter or Facebook.

32 ARMOURY: HUNTSMAN M4 CQBR POLYMER AEG

The “entry level” area of airsoft is as hard-fought a battlefield as any game we’ll ever play and virtually every manufacturer wants a piece of the pie in order to create new customers that will grow and continue to buy into their wider AEG range! Bill looks now at a real budget model that actually has a lot more going for it than you see at first glance… the M4 CQBR POLYMER from HUNTSMAN TACTICAL!

38 KIT & GEAR: VIPER TACTICAL VX PLATE CARRIER GEN 2

We all know what we like and everyone at Airsoft Action has gear, clothing and footwear which has been tried and tested extensively; increasingly though there’s one brand we all turn to, and that’s VIPER TACTICAL. Now that the “latest gen” models have been with us a while, Miguel looks in detail at how his VX Gen 2 Plate Carrier has performed… and is still performing!

We’re going to kick off this new sequence of THE CAGE as the members of The AA LEGION look at the camouflage (and block colour) patterns that we all use, with a bit of history of their development, what went into creating them, and then concentrate on a single piece of gear that they own in that specific pattern that they love! To get things rolling we’ll start off with the obvious and current “keeper of the camo crown”, and that of course is MultiCam!

48 RED CELL: SBR UPDATE

Way back in Issue 124 Red Cell gathered to look at one of the most important AEG groups out there, that of AR SBRs (Short Barrelled Rifles), and nearly two and a half years later they put their heads together again to see how some of the test models have done so far, and what new ones have caught their eye and been added to the Test Pool!

62 INSIDE AIRSOFT: RED ALERT TECH

Stewbacca and ‘Military Anny’ recently travelled out to the east coast of Taiwan back in late May to visit one of the more remote, but perhaps equally internationally well-known manufacturers, Red Alert Tech (or RATech as we best know them) and their sales and distribution division Airsoft Taiwan (AST), and the two of them got the back story on where the owner Johnny Hsu got his start in the industry, how far the company has come since, and where they are planning on going in the future!

70 TECH: HIKMICRO

TE19 THERMAL VISION SIGHT

Every so often we get to play with some very special kit, and this is where technology becoming more effective but also more affordable impacts airsoft in a very specific way! Bill has been spending “quality time” with some thermal vision scopes from HIKMICRO, and now tells all about it!

TAIWAN

In a further collaborative article with “Military” Anny Wu, Stewbacca sat down with her after her recent visit to the other end of the island to find out the story behind ‘Soloman Taiwan’, a local tactical gear production and distribution business in Taiwan’s southernmost major city of Kaohsiung. They’re also distributors of other large names in the police/ military equipment provider-world such as 5.11 Tactical, as well as more recently branching out into domestic manufacture of ballistic protection plates, helmets and more.

80

AA LEGION: UK

What do you get when you take a bunch of excellent airsofters, place them in a brand-new, purpose-built, cutting-edge CQB training facility, and add some top tier trainers to the mix? Bill found out when he was invited to attend the inaugural Level 1 Airsoft Training Course run by FAST TACTICAL last month and now reports back…

90 AA LEGION:

TAIWAN

Once again our dynamic duo in the “wild west, out east” ‘Military’ Anny Wu & Stewbacca have teamed up to bring another tale of intrigue from ‘Airsoft Central’, this time braving the searing heat of mid-summer on the east coast near the popular beach resort of Fulong! POLK 3 Milsim was held in the same region as last year’s POLK 2 (covered back in Issue No. 144) but this time was held earlier in the year and in a much better playing environment, with much better results all round… for the most part

44 THE CAGE: MULTICAM

76 INSIDE AIRSOFT: SOLOMAN

Innovation Competition Pistol

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VORSK GIVE IT THE GAS!

AIRSOFT ACTION HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING THE VORSK VMP-1 PROJECT SINCE IT WAS JUST A CONCEPT, AND WE’VE REPORTED ON THIS EXCITING NEW GAS SMG/MP PLATFORM ALL THE WAY, FROM THAT “IDEA STAGE” RIGHT THROUGH TO THE NOW-FINISHED ITEM THAT’S NOW SELLING OUT OF STORES ACROSS THE UK AND EUROPE, AND THRILLING PLAYERS WHO HAVE GOT IN RIGHT AT THE VERY START! SO, HOW DOES THE PRODUCTION VMP-1 LIVE UP TO EXPECTATIONS? AS USUAL BILL KICKS THINGS OFF…

Iam a GBBR user. There it is, plain and simple! Although I own and adore many (MANY!) AEGs, to me it is without shadow of a doubt that a good, well set-up and scrupulously-maintained gas platform is the purest form of airsoft as it replicates the “real deal” so very closely in terms of operation, if not performance. But, “performance” is a key word here as that, along with to some degree the historical cost, is what deters most players I know from embracing “The Gas Life”. An AEG although complex internally is actually quite a simple and forgiving beast, one that in essence you can treat pretty badly, but still chuck BBs and a battery into and drag it out of your gun case each week with the expectation of reasonably consistent performance. And yes, I’ll be the first to admit this… this is NOT true of a gasser!

“AN AEG ALTHOUGH COMPLEX INTERNALLY IS ACTUALLY QUITE A SIMPLE AND FORGIVING BEAST, ONE THAT IN ESSENCE YOU CAN TREAT PRETTY BADLY, BUT STILL CHUCK BBS AND A BATTERY INTO AND DRAG IT OUT OF YOUR GUN CASE EACH WEEK WITH THE EXPECTATION OF REASONABLY CONSISTENT PERFORMANCE. AND YES, I’LL BE THE FIRST TO ADMIT THIS… THIS IS NOT TRUE OF A GASSER!”

Gas platforms can be fickle things at the best of times, and it does take both time and devotion to get the best from one. It’s without doubt though that the platforms themselves have improved tremendously in recent years, and prices for a basic gasser have come down. It’s also true that the gasses themselves have become better, more stable, and more manageable; this is a dark art all of its own, but gases now are more consistent than ever before, and the “mix” has improved too, all the better to keep your gas platform and accompanying magazines in good shape. Vorsk have actually done a tremendous amount of work in this respect, and I’ve been using their V6, V8, and V12 Fuel in a lot of my testing recently with excellent, and highly consistent, results.

I can now “pick my gas” to get a preferred end result each and every time, and understanding which gas does what, and when, allows me to overcome any power and performance issues easily. Creating such gasses as a commercial enterprise takes investment of money and time, and that’s a separate article all in itself, but the Vorsk team have done both. I now run Vorsk Fuel in all my gas platforms and I know what to expect when I do.

Why make a thing of this though, surely he’s going to talk about the VMP-1 I hear you say…

I honestly believe that starting with the building blocks of gas performance, and to me that’s a basic acknowledgement that GBBs, and especially GBBRs require both good maintenance and a fundamental understanding of gases to get what you want, and the best performance, from them… not all gases are equal!

SMALL BUT PREFECTLY FORMED!

With all this said, let me give you my “take” on the VMP-1 (at last!)…

I’ve often said in the past that I struggle with really short, compact airsoft platforms due to me being a big lad, with gibbon-like arms, but I do love a proper SMG! One of my absolute favourites is the Uzi, closely followed by the “Big MAC”… I do like both the MP7 and the MP9 and I’ve owned all these models over the years, and still do own a (thankfully!) still-functioning TM Uzi… which only comes out on VERY special occasions these days. To me, the Vorsk VMP-1 gives a

solid nod to all the best bits of all the aforementioned models and then melds them all into a single, business-like and thoroughly modern gas SMG! It’s a model that players have bought into fully, and from the comments I see in the healthy, and super-busy social media Owners Group, a model that they’re loving more each and every time they use it!

The “basic” model VMP-1 that’s arrived with players is without suppressor, but is the building block of the whole deal, and that is a super-compact, magin-the-pistol-grip SMG that immediately gives the “hand meets hand” reload benefit, something that every airsofter (and shooter!) knows pretty instinctively from GBB pistol use. The upper and lower receivers are polymer and very sturdy, again something we see on many modern firearms; initially this seems a little unremarkable, but the finish is super, and the little design details, stippling to the pistol grip, and built-in six-slot lower rail section all sing to me of user-driven design.

The full-length top rail is just large enough for an optic and LAM (all you need really), and I love the fact that you have the option to mount the supplied 3 and 9 o’clock rail sections hi/low to your liking for a taclite. The controls are simple with the push-through fire selector, bolt and mag-release all easily within a thumb/forefinger workspace; I have already reported back that personally I would like to have seen the mag-release button a little larger, but I can see an easy fix to that…

At the sharp end the superbly aggressive and “oversized” muzzle device looks bomber, and sets you up immediately for the VMP QD suppressor… more on this later! One feature that’s seems to be a little “marmite” is the folding stock with the butt-plate swivel, but unlike that horrid spread, I love this stock! It’s as solid as a solid thing from Solidsville either open or closed, and indeed when new you need to actually give it a good tap to release it, but this comes under my heading of “good things” as nobody likes a floppy stock, now do they?

The fact that you can swap out the folder pretty easily means that you’re not stuck with just one option though, and I know that many players are already experimenting with buffer-tube and alternate folders with great success. As to the swivelling butt-

“TO ME, THE VORSK VMP-1 GIVES A SOLID NOD TO ALL THE BEST BITS OF ALL THE AFOREMENTIONED MODELS AND THEN MELDS THEM ALL INTO A SINGLE, BUSINESSLIKE AND THOROUGHLY MODERN GAS SMG!”

plate this is something I again see as a “good thing” as it makes canting the whole platform easier when achieving “room angles”, perfect for its intended use.

So, onto the magazine, and each one is a hefty 516g of gas-filled, 48-BB joy! I got four additional magazines with my VMP-1 for a total of five, and each one arrived gas-tight and ready to roll, but the four spares are without the neat slide-on covers that come with the one in the box; thankfully though these can be added as accessories in different colours as an addon if you so desire.

ACTION STATIONS!

So, onto matters practical! How have I set up my own VMP-1 and how does it run? I decided to keep things relatively simple; the fire-optic back-up sights are great, but a little too low for me personally, so my first addition was a T1-style red dot on a riser, the riser due to the fact that I also wanted a LAM in place. I experimented with a short Scout Light at 3 0’clock both hi and low, but eventually decided on the lower position for ease-of-grip/manipulation reasons, with a rats tail pressure switch running to the same spot on the opposite side, again within support hand workspace. Strangely for me I decided against a foregrip, but this was a conscious decision as I wanted to run the QD suppressor full-time and support it with a level hand; the suppressor itself is a superb bit of kit and really gives the VMP-1 that “chunky MAC” oldskool flavour where old meets 100% new, and it really is “QD”; this takes a little getting used to, but once you have on/off is lightning quick… it’s also a fact that the suppressor will accommodate a tracer unit, a fact established very quickly in the Owners Group…

One omission that has been commented on quite regularly is the lack of sling points on the VMP-1, and there are indeed… none. The guys at Vorsk though have this nailed down as there will soon be a dedicated single-point sling plate available; in the interim though I’ve run a single-point using a simple paracord loop though the stock-closure “gap”, as well as a two-pointer by running the rear through the cuts in the stock with the front attached to an MP-style, rail mounted sling-ring.

Mag carriage is also straightforward, as the magazines will fit nicely into most SMG pouches out

there, although in fairness this is slicker without the mag sleeves fitted. For those that run a buckle-up style plate carrier this is a no-brainer, and I’ve found that the new VIPER VX SMG Panel works perfectly… so, if you already own a VX or VX Gen 2 plate carrier then all you need to buy is the panel, and at UK£11.95 this ain’t gonna break the bank!

All set up and I have to tell you that thus far I’ve been absolutely hammering my own VMP-1… after all, that’s what I, and we, DO! My VMP-1 now has 4500+ BBs through from new, with each of the five mags being expended twenty times, with an average of two mags-worth of BBs to a single fill… as yet I have NOT opened it up or given it any love at all as I’m pushing it to see if any problems develop… in my mind I have set the goal of a round-out 5000 BB count as new from the box before it gets a total stripdown and some much needed maintenance, and then even I, tehno-luddite supreme, can do this thanks to the excellent take-down video created by the Vorsk Crew for exactly this purpose (you can find this on YT or on the AA website!); top marks for this Vorsk, lesson to be learnt here all you manufacturers!

Power… oh my, POWER! Yes, as reports agree the VMP-1 does have some “oomph”, and this is where I go back to my initial comments about understanding which gas you use and why! I’ve tested pretty much entirely on VORSK V6 gas, and even with a stable gas like this I’ve seen some fluctuation dependant on climatic conditions, but not as much as some might suggest. On V6 with an ambient temperature of 18-19C the VMP-1 has chrono’d consistently at 1.07 Joule/341 fps using VORSK .20g BBs… and yes, when the temperature rose to 21C I did see this rise to 1.12 Joule/348fps if I left the mags in the sun (don’t do this at home kids!).

When this happened I simply expended the V6 in the magazine completely and then refilled with NUPROL 1 gas; this sent the chrono-reading WAY down to sub-300s and the performance was “adequate”, but I think you’ll see my point! I use almost exclusively VORSK and NUPROL gases in my testing to provide a level field, but what I’m saying is experiment with the gases you use, and if the mercury soars then take appropriate action… it ain’t rocket science people… oh, expansion rates of gases… wait one, perhaps it is!

“POWER… OH MY, POWER! YES, AS REPORTS AGREE THE VMP-1 DOES HAVE SOME “OOMPH”, AND THIS IS WHERE I GO BACK TO MY INITIAL COMMENTS ABOUT UNDERSTANDING WHICH GAS YOU USE AND WHY! I’VE TESTED PRETTY MUCH ENTIRELY ON VORSK V6 GAS”

In terms of use I’ve settled on a .28g BB as having the best all-round performance given the gas that I use, although the VMP-1 will most certainly hop a .30g if you so desire. With the .28g weight though once you’ve got the hop set right (easy by finger or with the neat little tool provided), it’s bang on... I’ve been clanging 300mm x 300mm steels at 30m, and I believe the VMP-1 has legs way beyond that once it beds in as the trajectory of .28g is dead flat at that range.

So, has the VMP1 lived up to my expectations? It sure has, in every way possible, especially given the price! This is a gas platform that delivers on all fronts, and one that puts having a gas SMG easily within the pocket-reach of most airsofters out there. It’s a fabulous little CQB tool that with a little love could easily become a solid woodland skirmisher… but of course that’s down to you! It certainly has the accuracy to hold its own, and it WILL lob a BB out past 50m, so then it’s just down to tactics and fieldcraft… and sadly this is something that is down to the user, and not the VMP-1!

TEAM TALK

So, enough of me blathering on, as obviously I’m very happy indeed with my own VMP-1! But what did Ben and Jimmy think about theirs?

Jimmy: Being among the first group of people outside of the Vorsk team themselves to see and get hands on with the VMP1 was an experience in itself. No one in the airsoft world knew about Vorsk’s latest offering and who’d have thought this little SMG would be so popular!

From the point of us seeing it, it wasn’t long before teasers would begin to flood the internet. Social media blew up and it wasn’t long after that the VMP1 was a hot topic and it was being talked about so

much. We had the immense pleasure of finally seeing the finished product at IWA back in March and it was even better looking than the prototype we’d seen on our photoshoot! We were kindly given one each to test out and at first I was a little unenthused to be honest as I am not much of a fan of GBBRs; I love a GBB pistol but that’s as far as my love for gassers goes. I have experienced other gas SMGs in the past and they were a bit meh and didn’t really operate all that well. I went into this with an unbiased mind and decided to give it a go for the purpose of science.

The first thing I always do is straight to the bench and find out how to take things apart and what’s inside. It was very easy to remove the top cover, as the guide rod and one screw hold it in place and once removed you have access to the bolt and the outer barrel. In order to get to the trigger group you have to remove the bolt, and this requires you to remove all the outer barrel which is very easy to do.

There is one screw on the underside, one on the top of the block and a clip. Once these are out you can then lift the barrel and slide it out with the bolt. One thing that was apparent was the abundance of grease; I understand why it’s there as new, but I am not a fan of grease when it comes to GBBs so I cleaned off as much as I could and replaced it with a good quality silicone oil. I find grease can attract debris easier and tends to retain the debris…. not great with precision moving parts!

I noted the hop unit looked very similar to one I had seen in the past on a KWA MAC 11, a system 7 which are a proprietary arrangement, and the MAC unit didn’t really provide much in the way of hop. The hop on the Vorsk offered around the same amount of adjustment but this one actually gave enough pressure to be able to lift a .30g BB and give a respectable amount of range. The inner barrel did require a clean, but that’s something you have to do on most new guns, so not a problem. Another thing I noticed was the inner barrel had a threaded end which accepted the extended section of barrel from the Vorsk pistols, but when fitted the power shot up and the velocity was way too much, especially as I was testing on Nuprol 3.0 gas!

Looking at the nozzle it is a pretty standard looking GBB nozzle similar to what you would find in many

“SOCIAL MEDIA BLEW UP AND IT WASN’T LONG AFTER THAT THE VMP1 WAS A HOT TOPIC AND IT WAS BEING TALKED ABOUT SO MUCH. WE HAD THE IMMENSE PLEASURE OF FINALLY SEEING THE FINISHED PRODUCT AT IWA BACK IN MARCH AND IT WAS EVEN BETTER LOOKING THAN THE PROTOTYPE WE’D SEEN ON OUR PHOTOSHOOT! ”

pistols, although it does use two return springs which physically attach to the outside of the nozzle. Vorsk supply a spare nozzle which is very convenient and to date I have had to replace two of them for two separate customers due to overfilling of the BBs and slamming the mag home with the bolt closed; this is why I always tell people fill your BBs to the top and pop one out before insertion, as this way you don’t have to worry about the position of the bolt… although it is good practice to always load with the bolt open to ensure you don’t break a nozzle” Thank you Vorsk for the inclusion of spares, some people never learn!

Looking at the exterior it is constructed of a nylonfibre polymer although it does feel “plastic” (and I am not alone on that opinion), but that said it can take a bit of a beating as I found out recently at a MilSim event as mine fell off my QD clip hit the floor hard, and then I stood on it as I was running! Later on I would fall on it… and it still operated perfectly although my ribs sure did feel the impact LOL!

The collapsible stock is a very tight fit and it is tough to unlock but that is not an issue as this ensures no movement and during use you can be sure it will not unlock itself. I am not really a fan of the rotational movement of the butt pad, but Vorsk foresaw that and knowing that you can’t please everybody they designed the body so you can swap it out for a stock of your choice or even do away with the stock completely an install the QD sling insert, “5K” style. I’m not sure if the QD sling insert is available as yet, I may be wrong, so don’t take that as gospel.

Vorsk sell the VMP-1 in two flavours, the standard one with no suppressor and one magazine or the X version which comes with the oversized suppressor and two magazines. I received the standard version but it still comes with the suppressor attachment already installed as the suppressor is a quick detach. Should you not want the Vorsk suppressor but want to use your own that’s not a problem as the attachment unscrews to reveal a 14mm CCW thread allowing you to fit whatever you so choose. I opted for a CNC’d sound amplifier which made it sound quite menacing, especially in a close-quarters environment!

I managed to get the VMP out for an event

a couple of weeks back and I have to say that it performed flawlessly. I had a couple of problems with the mag release; due to wearing gloves, rather than pushing the fire select switch I kept pushing the mag release and on one occasion a mag went down a flight of stairs. Fortunately it didn’t break and kept performing well all day. I was able to get 2.5 mags fired on one gas fill which is pretty impressive and as I had two mags all I needed to carry was a couple of prefilled speed loaders to keep me in the fight.

I was very pleased with the accuracy; we weren’t fighting over long distances but from a distance of around 25m I was able to put BBs though tiny gaps smaller than my fist. I know some people get pretty salty about shooting through small gaps but this was a private MilSim game so the rules were slightly different. I feel GBB is a perfect platform for things like MilSim, especially when most of the guys I know run GBB, so it’s a pretty level playing field but for skirmish or CQB where full-auto is allowed I feel I might get outgunned as a lot of players who play these type of fields run heavily upgraded platforms and can dump far more BBs in quick succession, so the GBB is at a disadvantage, but that said it would make a great sniper secondary. So far I have enjoyed using it, it is something different, but I’m converted on gas just yet. Would I recommend it to people? Yes for sure!

Ben: Vorsk’s VMP-1… I’m sure you know me enough by now to know this is very much my thing, a GBB SMG! Straight out of the box this thing is a little beast; single shot or full-auto it does not disappoint, and it has quite a nice snap-response to the single shot and the full-auto gives a satisfying recoil to which you can’t help but smile, and to my eye the cross-look between a MAC 10 and MP9 is definitely eye-catching and is a good conversation starter to them who wish to question you about it...”what you got there!?”

My personal favourite features on the VMP are the twisting butt stock, it’s overall look and that rate of fire! The things I’d like to see changed? The pistol grip is a little chunky for me personally and a slightly flared magwell would suit too… the mag release button is rather small even for my hands, and the charging handle feels a little weak and not up to the superior quality of the rest of the gun. The

“STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOX THIS THING IS A LITTLE BEAST; SINGLE SHOT OR FULLAUTO IT DOES NOT DISAPPOINT, AND IT HAS QUITE A NICE SNAP-RESPONSE TO THE SINGLE SHOT AND THE FULL-AUTO GIVES A SATISFYING RECOIL TO WHICH YOU CAN’T HELP BUT SMILE”

suppressor fixing mount could be made a bit simpler, but there really is no issue there… the actual overall feel of the body’s plastic gives a “basic” feel yet is solid and well made, but now I’m being super-picky!

Honestly, hats off to Vorsk for this, their first time making a unique gas SMG platform!

It is very well made and I have no doubts that our words will be heard and noted for the little improvements over time to give us that overall satisfaction, and this platform has further established Vorsk as the “new kid on the SMG block” with a bloody good, and big, stick to beat others down with; I look forward to what Vorsk have planned for the future builds as the VMP is an excellent start!

IT’S A WRAP… FOR NOW!

So, Vorsk have done something pretty special here without a doubt, and that’s to create a unique, builtfrom-the-ground-up gas platform that ultimately pleases disparate airsoft-users! That’s quite an accomplishment in itself, but the story doesn’t end here!

Once again, being in the loop I KNOW that there is more to come from Vorsk… but you’ll have to wait as

I am sworn to secrecy right now! I 100% know what I would LIKE to see, but if wishes were fishes… I’m certain that this will be a hot topic of debate in the Owners Group, and along with the guys from AIRTAC (who have already created an HPA solution for the VMP-1!) I’ll be co-hosting an “owners get together” at the National Airsoft Festival later this month so I can garner more feedback face-to-face, and I hope to meet some of you there!

For now though I’ll leave the final word to Vorsk themselves, who told me...

“We have been overwhelmed to the reaction that’s been received since launch of the VMP-1. The community that has built up around this RIF has been amazing to see and people are loving it.

We are really proud of the work that has gone into this project. This feels to be a real turning point for Vorsk and we can’t wait to keep bringing you all top quality products in the future.

We have smaller projects like the VMP-1C releasing imminently as well as a much larger (some would say massive) projects which has us very busy currently and will do for the next 12 to 18 months. Which we are sure you will love!” AA

FAR AND AWAY…

IMAGE by Jeff Kingma on Unsplash

THEY DO SAY THAT “JUSTBECAUSEYOUCAN,DOESN’TMEANYOUSHOULD” BUT IF EVERYONE THOUGHT THAT WAY THEN A LOT OF INNOVATION COULD EASILY BE LOST, NEVER TO SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY! BUT G&G ARMAMENT CONTINUE TO DARE WITH THEIR NEW CONCEPTS AND MANY OF THEM, THE FAR 556 INCLUDED, GENUINELY BRING SOMETHING NEW AND UNIQUE TO THE WORLD OF AIRSOFT!

I’ve been testing, evaluating, and writing about airsoft replicas for a LOOOONG time, and I have to share with you that I do sometimes worry for my immortal soul when I hear from one of the manufacturers that they have a new model they would like me to take a look at, especially if that request is followed by something like “Well, it’s an AR/M4, but…”.

If you search for “new airsoft rifles” online, or indeed pop into your local and most favourite airsoft store, you’re undoubtedly going to be inundated with “AR/M4” carbine replicas. In one way you can view this as a positive as it means that there will never be a shortage of spare and accessory upgrade parts, both internal and external, as the AR is without shadow of a doubt the most prolific base platform for airsoft replicas, both AEG and GBB! For many players starting their journey into an “airsoft life” a reasonably–priced AR will pretty much be THE THING; let’s face it, if you watch any TV show or movies, or play any game, then the AR is going to be the platform that you lust after so that you can take your on-screen adventures out into the wild, and a popular choice for many will be an AEG from the ever-expanding G&G COMBAT MACHINE (CM) range.

After a somewhat shaky start the

polymer-bodied CMs have really come into their own, and provide a great starter platform at a reasonable price, and one thing that makes them popular is the way that G&G constantly upgrade “the look” as well as what goes on inside. This means that you can have a great-looking AEG for very little money in relative terms, and the fact that most of the newer CMs come as standard with a MOSFET, M-LOK/KeyMod handguard, a full-length top rail, and some cool-looking muzzle devices really make them a standout in a very over-subscribed market; many also have ambidextrous controls now too, so great for lefties and righties from the get go.

Again, after some literal wobbles when they first came out, the CMs have matured, and the “OS” is now very much tried, tested, and refined. They’re also solid as a rock although still relatively lightweight, have reliable internals and controls that will suit everyone, and performance that lives up to the good looks!

As well as making use of great-quality components and looking modern and kinda cool straight out of the box the CMs also shoot like a l’il laser once you have them set up right! With an 11.1 LiPo battery the CMs are snappy as hell with superb trigger response and a great ROF. Accuracywise, even with a workmanlike inner barrel, they prove time and again to be no slouches either, easily reaching out 50m+ and on target each and every time, which has impressed everyone that’s used them, and transformed their thinking that “this is not just a plastic toy”!

“FOR MANY PLAYERS STARTING THEIR JOURNEY INTO AN “AIRSOFT LIFE” A REASONABLY–PRICED AR WILL PRETTY MUCH BE THE THING; LET’S FACE IT, IF YOU WATCH ANY TV SHOW OR MOVIES, OR PLAY ANY GAME, THEN THE AR IS GOING TO BE THE PLATFORM THAT YOU LUST AFTER”

TIME TO MOVE ON!

Many manufacturers would look to their “entry level” airsoft range, that with a few tweaks over time would continue to make them money and just say “cool, it’s ALL good” and leave it there… but not so G&G, they are constantly moving forward and moving on!

One thing that I truly LOVE about G&G is their boundless enthusiasm for new things! That’s not to say for a moment that they don’t spend time refining their existing models to be the very best that they can, but they also reach for the a “whirl valve” could increase performance in a GBB, or that a muzzle hop-adjuster could not only be created but was simple and effective in operation… G&G did, and they made their “crazy ideas” a reality to benefit airsofters all over the world.

So, when at IWA Rick from G&G presented me

with the CM FAR 556 AR I though initially “oh, here we go again” but was prepared to listen to what he had to tell me as I trust his judgement and integrity 100%, not just as a “G&G man” through and through, but as a now long-term friend…. and then he proceeded to blow my mind!

Taking the FAR 556 from its place alongside its FAR 9 (yes, as in “9mm”, like the G&G ARP, and using all the same magazines although there is a new 68 BB magazine this year too!) sibling he popped the mag, folded the new CHFS Stock to the side.. AND THEN

from Taiwan as soon as everything was settled and working properly.

It wasn’t until last month that I got an email from the superbly efficient and ever-friendly Apple at G&G HQ that simply told me that “your FAR 556 sample has shipped” (along with the formidable G&G SGR which is in testing right now and will be in next

“SO, WHEN AT IWA RICK FROM G&G PRESENTED ME WITH THE CM FAR 556 AR I THOUGH INITIALLY “OH, HERE WE GO AGAIN” BUT WAS PREPARED TO LISTEN TO WHAT HE HAD TO TELL ME AS I TRUST HIS JUDGEMENT AND INTEGRITY 100%, NOT JUST AS A “G&G MAN” THROUGH AND THROUGH, BUT AS A NOW LONG-TERM FRIEND…. AND THEN HE PROCEEDED TO BLOW MY MIND!”

wanted to check out; Rick and Ryan from G&G had made the folding technique look super-slick and fast while demonstrating it on the stand at IWA, but I wanted to try it myself, and initially it wasn’t as easy as it looked when they did it! I remembered what Rick had done when he showed me at IWA, so first I made sure the mag was out; this is important as there is a tilting feed plate to the hop unit that needs to be able to move freely when you’re folding the front end, and if the mag is in it can’t tilt, and locks everything solidly (immovably!) in place. However, I mention this as at first it threw me… note to self… always R.T.F.M!

RAISING THE BAR

So… with the mag removed you’ll find a three-part lever-bar on the lefthand side of the rail with a cord-loop attached. Pulling this cord-loop will lift the lever-bar slightly (but very obviously) and this will first push the entire hop-up chamber into the barrel and rail. With this done then you then keep your thumb on the front part of the lever and raise the bar a little further, releasing the retaining hook from its locking point on the upper receiver. Then you can swing the entire front-end assembly including the hop unit to the right, locking a male snap on the upper into the M-LOK slot on the rail

to keep things fully retained.

Once this is complete you can then fold the solid CHFS Stock to the left, and BOOM! Job done! Of course to put the AEG back into full operational order you simply reverse the process… reinserting the magazine brings the entire hop-unit properly “back in battery”, and this with practice takes literally seconds! I will mention here that the battery is stored in the stock, and as we’ve seen with the latest ARP 9 it is quite a small battery compartment that’s accessed by sliding the buttplate down and off; thankfully these days we have the joy that is the small-stick LiPo, and one of these fits perfectly, even a little 11.1, and the MOSFET Integrated Gearbox (MIG) really makes the most of all the power. There’s also “new tech” here in evidence as the passive CHFS stock actually conducts power through the hinge which results in zero exposed wires, and it works in either the open or closed position… I like this a lot, and it works well.

But what of performance? Well, I’m pleased to say that the time taken in the months following IWA to refine the hop was obviously time well spent. I chrono’d initially with .20g using a small-stick 11.1V LiPo and as a “straight out of the factory” AEG I got a reading of 0.99 Joule/328fps; like many of the CM series the FAR 556 has a quick-change spring function, but at this power level I saw no reason to change anything.

Looking to range and accuracy, especial given the folding aspect of the FAR and potential hop-deviation, I was very pleasantly surprised on the 30m range just how good it was as new, hitting the 300mm x 300mm steels each and every time just using the “irons” on .28g RZRs; collapsing the front end and then setting back up to shoot again apparently had no effect on the hop setting from before as after several take-downs and redeployments the FAR continued to hit target each and every time with no need to touch the rotary unit. The flat, lo-profile bladed trigger is also so crisp and tactile you can get follow-up shots away super-fast with a big old “crack” thanks to the amplifier muzzle-device fitted as standard, and everything appears to work together perfectly.

At the end of the day then you have a super-cool and modern looking polymer AR with tried and tested internals married up with a system that allows you

“I’M PLEASED TO SAY THAT THE TIME TAKEN IN THE MONTHS FOLLOWING IWA TO REFINE THE HOP WAS OBVIOUSLY TIME WELL SPENT. I CHRONO’D INITIALLY WITH .20G USING A SMALL-STICK 11.1V LIPO AND AS A “STRAIGHT OUT OF THE FACTORY” AEG I GOT A READING OF 0.99 JOULE/328FPS”

to compress it to daypack size! It’s light at just 2020g, and sized to be properly usable as a carbine when fully deployed. It has some unique features that will not only protect the hop-unit when folded and in carriage but ensure its longevity as a trusted AEG, along with enough operating choices to keep any player happy. Of course time will tell as to the overall durability of the system but that’s what we do in our RELOADED column after time, so watch out for more at a

So, ultimately, should G&G have spent time (and money!) developing the FAR system because they thought they could do it? Darn right they should… in every way!

The FAR is going to be the absolutely ideal AEG for the city-based player that takes public transport to their local CQB site, as once in a daypack with some shorty hi-caps nobody will have “Clue #1” that transporting an can be “good to go” within seconds! It’s also going to be ideal for OPFOR players that want a “sneaky beaky” platform to creep past BluFor, and I can see snipers absolutely loving it as a backup, so a win in so many respects when it comes to playing.

But the overwhelming thing I take from the creation of the FAR is that once again G&G have looked somewhere different, been inspired by a concept, and then turned that into a reality. Has this changed overall performance of the AEG as a platform? No, of course it hasn’t… BUT it HAS shown that a properly-engineered

hop unit can be made to work effectively beyond perhaps the parameters that we thought possible, and this in itself in ground-breaking.

As I said earlier, the FAR is FUN, but it’s also a very good AEG, and for many players around the globe it will be THE THING that they’ve waited for; for this, and so many reasons, I say again “Well played G&G, very well played indeed!”

My sincere thanks as always go to Rick and Apple at G&G Armament (www.guay2.com) for facilitating the early delivery of the model tested. AA

“AT THE END OF THE DAY THEN YOU HAVE A SUPER-COOL AND MODERN LOOKING POLYMER AR WITH TRIED AND TESTED INTERNALS MARRIED UP WITH A SYSTEM THAT ALLOWS YOU TO COMPRESS IT TO DAYPACK SIZE! IT’S LIGHT AT JUST 2020G, AND SIZED TO BE PROPERLY USABLE AS A CARBINE WHEN FULLY DEPLOYED”

AS I SAID EARLIER, THE FAR IS FUN, BUT IT’S ALSO A VERY GOOD AEG, AND FOR MANY PLAYERS AROUND THE GLOBE IT WILL BE THE THING THAT THEY’VE WAITED FOR; FOR THIS, AND SO MANY REASONS, I SAY AGAIN “WELL PLAYED G&G, VERY WELL PLAYED INDEED!”

SHORT... LIGHT... AND VERY SWEET!

THE “ENTRY LEVEL” AREA OF AIRSOFT IS AS HARD-FOUGHT A BATTLEFIELD AS ANY GAME WE’LL EVER PLAY AND VIRTUALLY EVERY MANUFACTURER WANTS A PIECE OF THE PIE IN ORDER TO CREATE NEW CUSTOMERS THAT WILL GROW AND CONTINUE TO BUY INTO THEIR WIDER AEG RANGE! BILL LOOKS NOW AT A REAL BUDGET MODEL THAT ACTUALLY HAS A LOT MORE GOING FOR IT THAN YOU SEE AT FIRST GLANCE… THE M4 CQBR POLYMER FROM HUNTSMAN TACTICAL!

Not so very long ago, and in a galaxy not too far away at all, all AEGs were plastic (well, pretty much, allowing for some literary/artistic license!) and we players rejoiced in them! They creaked, and they wobbled, and they sometimes cracked, but we loved them, and many kilometres of gaffer and black tape were harmed in keeping them together whilst we cavorted about the woods in our army-surplus DPM flinging “plastic deff” at one another!

Batteries were HUGE and quite often strapped and taped to the stock or handguard of the AEG, but we did love our “plastic fantastics” and whilst

we fettled and tinkered to keep them working week on week, mysterious new wonders started to appear from the depths of the Orient which let us make them more accurate too! Life was good, and airsoft was in its infancy, but we loved every single minute that those wibbly-wobbly plastic-bodied creations gave us… when they were working… and we cussed like matelots when they let us down…

The… THEN… came “full metal”, another wonderful industrial creation that when applied to the body and barrel of an AEG made it sturdy, workmanlike, and even more REAL! But of course the dictionary description for “alloy” is “a metallic

“LIFE WAS GOOD, AND AIRSOFT WAS IN ITS INFANCY, BUT WE LOVED EVERY SINGLE MINUTE THAT THOSE WIBBLY-WOBBLY PLASTIC-BODIED CREATIONS GAVE US… WHEN THEY WERE WORKING… AND WE CUSSED LIKE MATELOTS WHEN THEY LET US DOWN…”

substance composed of two or more elements” and to say that the melding of those “two elements” was often disappointing is an understatement; I cannot truly remember when I first heard the phrase “monkey metal”, but I certainly owned AEGs that were made from this not-so-wondrous compound!

But times, and airsoft manufacturers, moved ever on relentlessly! Alloys in airsoft became in general of better quality, and steel parts appeared that truly gave an AEG the strength and durability of the “real”, at least externally. Our beloved “plastic guns” were by and large placed on the altar of redundancy and we never looked back…

Of course that’s not true, as these days there are some mighty fine polymer-bodied AEGS, and indeed GBBRs, and we have two of them preceding this article in the very issue! Polymer technology has moved on and on, and the nylon-fibre reinforced materials that we see today are a very different thing from the thin, often bendy plastic we saw all those years ago. In general terms polymer-bodied AEGs today can be as sturdy and rugged as their metal counterparts, often at a fraction of the cost.

Polymer AEGS are still seen though by many “old airsoft hands” purely as “entry level” offerings for new players, and indeed many sites still make use of polymers for their new-player rental pool as they stand up well to abuse… some things, it seems, never change. And of course the polymer AEGs that we see in the market right now also act in many cases as new-technology test-beds, where the lower cost of the outer components allows manufacturers to add features and value internally.

But what, I hear you ask, does this all have to do with the new, budget-priced, all-polymer “M4” from HUNTSMAN TACTICAL? In simple terms I’ll say that this neat little AEG at what I consider to be a “stupid price” is indeed a galaxy away from those plastic guns of yore as you can get, and is, in its own way an AEG that is sure to delight players both old and new for all the right reasons!

NO FRILLS, ALL BUSINESS!

The HUNSTMAN M4 CQBR is an apparently “no frills” polymer AEG, a “sportline” (who coined this

“POLYMER TECHNOLOGY HAS MOVED ON AND ON, AND THE NYLON-FIBRE REINFORCED MATERIALS THAT WE SEE TODAY ARE A VERY DIFFERENT THING… IN GENERAL TERMS POLYMER-BODIED AEGS TODAY CAN BE AS STURDY AND RUGGED AS THEIR METAL COUNTERPARTS, OFTEN AT A FRACTION OF THE COST”

HUNTSMAN M4 CQBR POLYMER

0” rear sight! This will work with the front “A” sight post and will allow red dot optics to be co-witnessed, and FYI the sight was first used circa 2001 on the Mk18 Mod0, which started as a shipboard weapon with VBSS and associated units. Chuck on a holosight, and PEQ-2, and a VLI and you’ll be good to go “noughties style”.

And that’s not all, as wrapped up in the durable polymer body is a full metal gearbox that benefits from more modern and advanced components such as a QD spring system for easy spring changes, a polymer piston with full metal teeth for smooth operation, a stainless steel cylinder, and a doubleseal aluminium anodized piston head for improved

air compression. There’s also a brass inner barrel and a rotary hop unit for great range and accuracy as standard. You do get a NiMH smart charger and a NiMH 9.6v 1600mAh cranestock battery as part of the deal, and if this is your first AEG then you’ll be all set, but if you already have batteries then the HUNTSMAN is rear-wired to Tamiya in the easily accessed buffer tube.

At just 1907g (mag out) this is an AEG that you could run with all day long, and it’s shorter overall length (710/800mm) means that it’s no slouch in urban terrain; a bit of a no-brainer this, as that’s what the CQBR was designed for in the first place. It’s lightweight and compact, and for the smaller player it will be absolutely ideal!

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

So all the internal parts of the HUNTSMAN are of the high standard I would expect now from them even whne producing a “budget” model, and they are assembled with great care and attention to detail into a robust, durable, and well-finished collection of polymer outer parts. The battery space means you can fit a decent stick LiPo into the buffer tube if you’re careful which means you can choose a slimmer stock if you wish; I fitted an 11.1V LiPo and once in and the stock refitted, the battery disappears from sight, so

“AT JUST 1907G (MAG OUT) THIS IS AN AEG THAT YOU COULD RUN WITH ALL DAY LONG, AND IT’S SHORTER OVERALL LENGTH (710/800MM) MEANS THAT IT’S NO SLOUCH IN URBAN TERRAIN; A BIT OF A NO-BRAINER THIS, AS THAT’S WHAT THE CQBR WAS DESIGNED FOR IN THE FIRST PLACE”

HUNTSMAN M4 CQBR POLYMER AEG

“od skool” gaffer tape needed here!

The CQBR comes with a 300 BB STANAG-style base-winder which is perfectly serviceable, but it also works very well on other AR mags too, and you don’t have to be picky in this respect! The original mag though offers smooth and uninterrupted feeding of BBs even with a high ROF. Once the rotary hop was set, an easy control to adjust, I had the CQBR hitting targets out to the end of the 30m range at a completely site friendly 0.99 Joule/328fps average on a .20g BB, and on the 10m Short Range it was awesome! The trigger, as with the other HUNTSMAN models I’ve tried, is light yet positive with very little lag so it’s easy to get consistently accurate shots away time after time on semi, just perfect for when it gets up-close and personal.

Now I’ve had a chance to spend some time with the CQBR I can tell you it’s a proper little tack-driver once you get it set up right on .25g, and I’m certainly adding one of these to the RED CELL pool for longertesting, although my local airsoft store tells me that these sell out just as quick as they get them in, and that thus far they’ve had zero problems and some very happy young players!

Bottom line is, if you are looking for a great first “AR” on a budget, or indeed you’re after a platform to use as a base for a “project” then the HUNTSMAN M4 CQBR is certainly worth a very close look before you part with your money! It’s a great looking little replica with some real history behind the design, it performs superbly out of the box, feels spot-on, and at around the UK£110-120 mark at the time of writing, it’s an absolute steal!

As always my sincere thanks go to the guys at ww.iwholsales.biz who provided the test AEG and do make sure to keep an eye on their website for further additions to the HUNTSMAN range! AA

HUNTSMAN M4 CQBR ARMOURY www.airsoftaction.net 35

POLYMER

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

GEAR IS MEANT TO BE USED!

WE ALL KNOW WHAT WE LIKE AND EVERYONE AT AIRSOFT ACTION HAS GEAR, CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR WHICH HAS BEEN TRIED AND TESTED EXTENSIVELY; INCREASINGLY THOUGH THERE’S ONE BRAND WE ALL TURN TO, AND THAT’S VIPER TACTICAL. NOW THAT THE “LATEST GEN” MODELS HAVE BEEN WITH US A WHILE, MIGUEL LOOKS IN DETAIL AT HOW HIS VX GEN 2 PLATE CARRIER HAS PERFORMED… AND IS STILL PERFORMING!

We’re sure that like us at some point in your airsoft “life” you’ve owned a least one piece of gear from VIPER TACTICAL, even if it is just a simple sling or pouch, but these days it’s very likely that it will be more than just one piece, as the guys at VIPER have really come through in recent years, and some of their kit is now very much our first choice, and is indeed worn by many of the members of Red Cell and the AA Legion in the form of Elite Trousers Gen2, Mesh-Tech T-Shirts, Mesh-Tech Armour Tops, Fleece Hoodies, and Frontier Jackets!

In the many years that VIPER been with us they have become renowned for an unsurpassed level of personalised service to the trade. They have friendly, knowledgeable staff always on hand to help get any order out quickly and efficiently. Although they have streamlined the sheer number of “units” they have in their line (and the line is the better for that!), they hold huge stocks to keep availability to a maximum; generally orders placed before 12 noon are dispatched the same day to their trade customers!

They are constantly developing and researching new products to expand their ranges and enhance their brand, and their “Ambassador” program around the world shows that their designs are appreciated internationally. The VIPER brand has have been involved in the military and airsoft market for over a LONG time now, so they have the experience, the knowledge, and the resources to offer all of us players fantastic equipment manufactured to the highest standards using quality materials at affordable prices.

But the team at VIPER have upped their game considerably again, offering an ever-expanding range of seriously upgraded products in their line up, and I have to say that the products look very good indeed in the new versions which are absolutely ideal for those who need good gear and don’t want to pay the earth. It would have been an easy and cheap “out”

for them to produce this new range based on existing products and designs, but instead they have gone for something completely new and taken their time about it too, concentrating not only on what works, but what continues to work over time!

We all know that doing “out-of-the-box” reviews can’t really cover what the item is about though, its quality, features, downsides, and what, if anything, could be improved; in fact we mostly see “out-of-thebox” reviews because they are easy to do… but that’s NOT how WE roll! To do an extended-use review, you need to use that piece of gear for many months or even years, so that you can really get a feel for it. How does it perform in the heat, in the cold, in the rain and during long games and events? These are some of the topics that I’m going to go over in this article.

“IN THE MANY YEARS THAT VIPER BEEN WITH US THEY HAVE BECOME RENOWNED FOR AN UNSURPASSED LEVEL OF PERSONALISED SERVICE TO THE TRADE. THEY HAVE FRIENDLY, KNOWLEDGEABLE STAFF ALWAYS ON HAND TO HELP GET ANY ORDER OUT QUICKLY AND EFFICIENTLY”

SECOND GENERATION

The VX Gen 2 Plate Carrier is a second-generation carrier offered by VIPER TACTIAL. It is an upgraded version of their original VX Plate Carrier, designed to provide enhanced functionality, comfort, and versatility for the wearer. Of course, it comes with MOLLE (MOdular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment) webbing on the front, back, and sides. This allows users to attach and customize pouches and accessories as needed for their specific mission or loadout. It includes adjustable shoulder straps and side straps to ensure a proper and comfortable fit for different body types; I’m a big guy, and it fits me well. You’ve got your typical plate pockets to accommodate standard ballistic plates (e.g., SAPI plates) for ballistic protection (if you like to go full hardcore), or just dummy plates like I use. And from my experience, VIPER usually uses high-quality materials to ensure durability, breathability, and water resistance while keeping the overall weight of the carrier manageable, and the padded areas on the interior to increase comfort during extended wear, which for me is really important in a plate carrier.

Now that we are over the main features. How does it perform in longer games?

Well, I’ve used the VX Gen 2 in some of the main events in Portugal, and some do rank up the levels in difficulty, so the main aspect that a plate carrier must have in these scenarios is comfort. A longer game (24h+) will wear you out, physically and psychologically, so you can’t have part of your gear making it worse. This VIPER carrier gets high scores in this area, as the padded areas, especially in the shoulders, really help carry all that gear around for extended periods during missions. The only issue that I could find is that if you are using one of VIPER’s chest rigs attached to the vest using the VX system (e.g., the Utility Rig or the Ready Rig), the original side clips from the vest cannot be removed, so they will say under the clips of the vest rig that you are using. So, if you have the plate carrier too tight to the waist, you might feel the plastic clips pressing in, especially if you are using a combat shirt. My advice, don’t adjust the waist too tight.

How about those games where the heat is unforgiving?

“A LONGER GAME (24H+) WILL WEAR YOU OUT, PHYSICALLY AND PSYCHOLOGICALLY, SO YOU CAN’T HAVE PART OF YOUR GEAR MAKING IT WORSE. THIS VIPER CARRIER GETS HIGH SCORES IN THIS AREA AS THE PADDED AREAS, ESPECIALLY IN THE SHOULDERS, REALLY HELP CARRY ALL THAT GEAR AROUND FOR EXTENDED PERIODS DURING MISSIONS”

We all know that a plate carrier will never let you breathe as much as a chest rig, and I do try to use my Viper Utility Rig setup whenever I can during summer games, but there are some games where using a plate carrier must also be an option. Games that have CQB or urban combat scenarios spring straight to mind here as you want more protection, or even longer games where you need to carry more. As I mentioned above, VIPER uses breathable material and an interior netting that helps vent the heat coming off our torso; of course you still have the plate area in the front and back, so I do recommend the use of a combat shirt to help breathing and to vent the heat. The side MOLLE panels have well-designed webbing, which also helps dissipate the heat. Overall, if you are a plate carrier hardcore user, this Gen 2 is a great option to use in hot days.

And to finish, let’s talk about the cold and rainy days.

This is the easiest one; a plate carrier is always a great option for rainy and cold days. It will offer better protection against the rain, helping some areas to keep dry or drier than other exposed parts, but it’s also important to mention that VIPER uses waterproof

materials that will protect any sensitive piece of gear that you are storing, like a radio, paper maps, mission items, etc., against water or humidity.

The cold will also be less of an issue while wearing a plate carrier; of course there is a lot of action, and we tend to keep warm, but I’ve been through game missions that had us defending positions or placing ambushes, in which there was a possibility of being a lot less active and the cold will start to get you, so one of my techniques is to place my hands between the carrier and my chest, using the heat that my body vents. The VIPER TACTICAL Gen 2 will help keep a bit warmer, but it’s not a miracle worker; if you are going to a game and the weather points to cold, do use appropriate clothing.

So let’s wrap it up! It’s no wonder that the VX Gen 2 plate carrier is VIPER’s flagship in the VX range. It’s a well-built platform that I’ve been using close to FOUR years now, and it has been with me through a lot of games, from small practices to 24h + nationwide events. Cold, heat, dust, rain, it has seen it all and it keeps going strong; of course the original colour has faded away a bit, but with so much use, that’s normal.

And in my opinion, gear is meant to be used! AA

“VIPER USES BREATHABLE MATERIAL AND AN INTERIOR NETTING THAT HELPS VENT THE HEAT COMING OFF OUR TORSO; OF COURSE YOU STILL HAVE THE PLATE AREA IN THE FRONT AND BACK, SO I DO RECOMMEND THE USE OF A COMBAT SHIRT TO HELP BREATHING AND TO VENT THE HEAT”

THE CAGE: CAMO FOR ALL!

WE’RE GOING TO KICK OFF THIS NEW SEQUENCE OF THE CAGE AS THE MEMBERS OF THE AA LEGION LOOK AT THE CAMOUFLAGE (AND BLOCK COLOUR) PATTERNS THAT WE ALL USE, WITH A BIT OF HISTORY OF THEIR DEVELOPMENT, WHAT WENT INTO CREATING THEM, AND THEN CONCENTRATE ON A SINGLE PIECE OF GEAR THAT THEY OWN IN THAT SPECIFIC PATTERN THAT THEY LOVE! TO GET THINGS ROLLING WE’LL START OFF WITH THE OBVIOUS AND CURRENT “KEEPER OF THE CAMO CROWN”, AND THAT OF COURSE IS MULTICAM!

Iknow that we all love different patterns/colours for our gear so not everyone will be able to chip in to every solution that we discuss among the team, but I think MultiCam (MC) is a pretty obvious starting point! Of course not everything that we see today is “pure MC” as the multi-terrain camouflage patterns that we see at MilSims and at our local skirmish sites can be variations on the “MC theme” when we factor in MTP, Suez, M2017, Camogrom and V-CAM just to mention a few!

And also of course what I’m talking about here is “classic MC” and not the derivitives like MC-ARID, TROPIC, BLACK and ALPINE! “Classic MC” is the one that was first developed by Crye Precision in conjunction with United States Army Soldier Systems Center to effectively limit the visual and near-IR signature of the user across a very wide range of physical environments and seasons. Like many modern camouflage patterns MC “takes advantage of the way the human eye and brain perceive shape, volume, and colour. Since only a very small portion of the human eye perceives colour, the brain does a lot of “fillingin” for the eye. The unique high resolution design of MultiCam takes advantage of this principle and helps the observer to “see” the pattern as part of the background.”

Essentially MC relies more on a blending effect than a traditional contrast effect. This effect allows it to perform well in a wide range of environmental conditions, and it also helps maintain the patterns’ effectiveness even at close ranges where low resolution patterns often “stand out against the natural (non-pixelated) environment”.

So, that’s the “science bit”, and there will be more to come in this respect as we look deeper into more patterns over the coming months! However, “classic”

has been with us for some considerable time now. MultiCam was designed for use by the US Army in varied environments, seasons, elevations, and light conditions and it essentially is just a seven-colour pattern. It really first came to my attention is an airsoft setting round about 2007, although of course it had already been around a few years before with “Tier 1” military units. I remember distinctly seeing a full team turn up at a big weekend game in Florida with this cool new kit, although the original Crye pants had that full-zip “nappy” look that I personally found a little ridiculous! The guys looked AWESOME though, and props to Tony and the team…

Roll on a few years to 2010 and thankfully we saw the end of the US Universal Camouflage Pattern (UCP) and from that point onwards it was MC all the way baby! Wherever you look these days at militaries all over the world you’ll invariably find something that is, or looks very similar to, MultiCam. It’s still in use with the most elite military units all over the globe, and of course for that reason alone it’s become beloved of airsofters everywhere!

Add to that the fact that “MC” in one shape or another is widely available both as new “real”, as repros featuring the real fabrics, or indeed as simple military surplus in many countries, and it’s really a bit of a no-brainer when it comes to creating a loadout that works for you, and looks righteous too!

TEAM TALK

So, lets’ start with MULTICAM/V-CAM/Camogrom et al, and I asked the guys to tell me about one piece of gear that they loved, and why?

Stewbacca: MC works for me; my TRU SPEC Asia MC trousers have already been serving me well since I acquired them. Their different material blend feels

“MULTICAM WAS DESIGNED FOR USE BY THE US ARMY IN VARIED ENVIRONMENTS, SEASONS, ELEVATIONS, AND LIGHT CONDITIONS AND IT ESSENTIALLY IS JUST A SEVEN-COLOUR PATTERN. IT REALLY FIRST CAME TO MY ATTENTION IS AN AIRSOFT SETTING ROUND ABOUT 2007, ALTHOUGH OF COURSE IT HAD ALREADY BEEN AROUND A FEW YEARS BEFORE WITH “TIER 1” MILITARY UNITS”

a lot lighter, more breathable and comfortable than most other BDUs I’ve worn as they’re specifically tailored to the conditions in the tropics; by comparison the AOR2 trousers I recently acquired are noticeably sweatier and although roomy don’t feel as unnoticeable during wearing. To my mind that is what defines the best equipment in general, that which you forgot you’re wearing or using, as it doesn’t get in the way or make you uncomfortable. My MC BDUs definitely fit that bill nicely and are a favourite go-to solution for field work even when not gaming. It also helps that they’re now Team TaiJi’s official second line Camo after AOR2, so it also helps build team and unit identity as well as looking baller!

Smooth Jase: When I first started down the “MC route”, money was tight! I had a small family dependant on me and UK surplus was all I could afford. I longed for gucci Crye kit but I was happy with my RAF issue MTP trousers and UBACS, as at that point in the early/mid 2000’s MTP was pretty hard to get hold of. So, one day Bossman Bill phones me to say he has a rather large box of goodies he wishes to share with me as party of a collab on the new Viper V-CAM series, so when he did turn up, it was like Christmas. I know Viper isn’t (or wasn’t at the time) viewed as a cutting-edge brand but it really brought home bang for buck; Boots, Pants, Jacket, Belt kit, PC and Helmet (which I only binned this year, after 11 years use!). All of it did me proud for so, so many years, which I was so thankful of. I can’t

pick one item right now as my collection has grown, but the Viper MK2 ELITE trousers and my Platatac MCPC would be high on my list…the original pants only got replaced last year with a pair of newer MK2 V-Cam series, that’s how highly I rated them!

Jimmy: My favourite item has to be my trusty Bulldog Tactical pack! I have had this about four years and it is still going strong; it gets used, and has been used, every day for that time. It is a 40L pack consisting of five compartments one of which is capable of taking a hydration bladder. The addition of laser cut MOLLE makes it easy to add and increase your carrying capacity. The padding in the rear and on the main straps make it very comfortable to wear and in the event you need to remove it fast the shoulder straps are attached by large quick release buckles. It is waterproof to a degree but I think it does need

“I CAN’T PICK ONE ITEM RIGHT NOW AS MY COLLECTION HAS GROWN, BUT THE VIPER MK2 ELITE TROUSERS AND MY PLATATAC MCPC WOULD BE HIGH ON MY LIST… THE ORIGINAL PANTS ONLY GOT REPLACED LAST YEAR WITH A PAIR OF NEWER MK2 V-CAM SERIES, THAT’S HOW HIGHLY I RATED THEM!”

some maintenance as the waterproof properties have diminished with time. Up until I purchased this pack I never even gave Bulldog Tactical a look as I wrongly assumed it was cheap and cheerful. I shall eat my words as I highly recommend their equipment now knowing just how well it is made!

Dan: I’m a big fan of MultiCam Arid. Since both of our fields locally trend towards the drier end of the foliage spectrum in the hot summer/fall months, I’ve found this blends in well here and maybe doesn’t absorb as much heat as the darker patterns do. Here I use a Crye G4 top paired with G3 bottoms. Comparatively speaking, I prefer the G4 cut up top, but like the G3 cut for pants.

Ben: My favourite part of MultiCam gear is a plate carrier.... because no matter what set up or loadout you run, the MultiCam plate carrier will suit...I love the multi-mix “PMC” look as it has a

modern day operator look and it allows you to be flexible with what you want to wear. It’s just a quick good-to-go set up which also allows you to just strip off the obvious and just blend into the normal civi look depending on the type of game you’re playing, which is far more effective than having to change your whole loadout look. As for the plate carrier itself there’s so much available now that if you think the same as myself then something with the quick buckle-up system like the VIPER VX is perfect for quick change-out mag pouches or even to swap over to a chest rig for that lighter, even quicker, set up.

Bill: And for me? Like Jase I can’t for the life of me put my hand up for one single item as I adore my Wild Things Tactical Gore-Tex which has seen some serious action… and a lot of abuse! Likewise the Snugpak MML6 smock and the VIPER ELITE MK2 V-CAM trousers which I kind of live in, but I believe my favourite MultiCam thing is my WAS DA MK1 Shooters Belt. I truly believe that WAS were thinking WAY ahead with this twopiece belt setup as the system came complete with a variety of their excellent accessories, including a Single Pistol Magazine Pouch, two Rifle Magazine pouches, a Slimline Foldable Dump Pouch, IFAK First Aid Pouch, one Small Horizontal Pouch. All I’ve added to this is a genuine MultiCam personal security lanyard for working with vehicles/helos and a MultiCam-wrapped holster for my G17/ Surefire combo from Kydex Customs… it’s a brilliant setup, and I love it! AA

“MY FAVOURITE PART OF MULTICAM GEAR IS A PLATE CARRIER.... BECAUSE NO MATTER WHAT SET UP OR LOADOUT YOU RUN, THE MULTICAM PLATE CARRIER WILL SUIT...I LOVE THE MULTI-MIX “PMC” LOOK AS IT HAS A MODERN DAY OPERATOR LOOK AND IT ALLOWS YOU TO BE FLEXIBLE WITH WHAT YOU WANT TO WEAR”

RED CELL SBR LOVE!

WAY BACK IN ISSUE 124 RED CELL GATHERED TO LOOK AT ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT AEG GROUPS OUT THERE, THAT OF AR SBRS (SHORT BARRELLED RIFLES), AND NEARLY TWO AND A HALF YEARS LATER THEY PUT THEIR HEADS TOGETHER AGAIN TO SEE HOW SOME OF THE TEST MODELS HAVE DONE SO FAR, AND WHAT NEW ONES HAVE CAUGHT THEIR EYE AND BEEN ADDED TO THE TEST POOL!

So, we’re pretty much dead-on half way through the RED CELL program right now, and what a ride it’s been so far for everyone, as over the course of the last two and a bit years we’ve been hammering both AEGs and GBBs to find out just how durable they are! It’s true that manufacturers continue to drop shiny new models on us at a sometimes alarming rate, but it appears to me that players everywhere are becoming more knowledgeable and more discerning about what they buy, and why.

As I’ve said before on many occasions, times are tight for many of us, and as someone who has lived through several recessions the fact that “we, the players” have become more picky about our “airsoft spend” doesn’t surprise me at all, as when money is tight we all tend to keep spare cash for actually getting out to play, and the purchase of a new platform gets pushed back in favour of keeping what we already have going. It strikes me that this makes what we do in the Red cell program incredibly valid, as many of the models we have “in test” are models that you own, and where we are beginning to encounter problems (or not!) then we can comment on the potential fixes for these very issues you may yourself be facing.

Bottom line is that EVERYTHING electrical and mechanical will eventually fail! We do all tend to give our replicas a proper hammering when we play, and even with the very best maintenance regime in the world, parts WILL wear and eventually lead to the failure of a very complex piece of machine art. What we always intended to look at in Red Cell is when things fail in some very popular brand AEGs and GBBs and then come up with fixes for these; is it a simple, inexpensive fix, or something far more involved?

The fact is that none of us have a bottomless wallet

(oh, how we wish!) and that we need to get the very best performance from our platforms, not just as new, but also in the long-term. This is especially true when money is tighter than usual, so the fact that some of our test AEGs featured here are now older models, we hope will give you a heads-up on where best to spend your money!

But, and this is quite an extensive “but”, technology moves onwards so the test program must reflect this! Whilst we still have all of the original models ongoing, we keep on adding to the pool as new models come available; thankfully virtually every manufacturer we work with sees and appreciates the benefit of what we’re trying to achieve with Red Cell, so we’re thankful that they continue to feed new blood into the program, and our thanks go to them all for placing their trust in us.

What does this mean for the Red Cell crew? Well, some of the platforms in the test pool are now well into 15,000 BB+ territory, and when a new model comes in, that needs to be “caught up”, so on my regular weekly range session on the 30m “woods range” for instance, one or two of the models will come with me to get some more mags through them, and the rest of the crew are also getting them on to the range and in-game whenever they can! This allows us to monitor the performance of the newer models, whilst at the same time giving an opportunity to reflect back on the older ones.

TIME TELLS!

With this is mind the Red Cell crew once again got their heads together to review suitable “SBRs”, models that we have now used in game and can comment on with “time in”, or those that have impressed us in testing and have now entered the test program. We have started to notice some little niggles, and whilst we’ve yet to have a test model in this category become a “catastrophic failure”, we have now started to see some small problems developing. Going back to our brief, Jimmy and Dan are going to kick off this month as they put out their observations on one of the platforms that we all loved initially, and that’s the CYMA 0.97…

Jimmy: Having owned and used the CYMA 0.97

“BOTTOM LINE IS THAT EVERYTHING ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL WILL EVENTUALLY FAIL! WE DO ALL TEND TO GIVE OUR REPLICAS A PROPER HAMMERING WHEN WE PLAY, AND EVEN WITH THE VERY BEST MAINTENANCE REGIME IN THE WORLD, PARTS WILL WEAR AND EVENTUALLY LEAD TO THE FAILURE OF A VERY COMPLEX PIECE OF MACHINE ART.”

I can safely say that it is a super platform that now holds a small question mark against it after extended use; while it is a lovely carbine it is not without its flaws. In my opinion there are two design flaws on the 0.97, the lower receiver and the stock electronics. Not only have I owned one but I have also had a few on the bench all suffering from failed electronics.

CYMA have used an electronic trigger system which is identical to something that Jefftron made a few years back, they are very similar if not identical. Mine very early on stopped functioning and others I have seen either just stopped functioning or were fried due to over-heating. I swapped mine out for a Jefftron Leviathan V2 and never saw any issues after that. Internally the platinum range gearboxes are pretty solid and many people see CYMA parts as good replacement parts over stock. Their pistons are renowned for being very robust and I for one have used them in many different gearboxes as upgrades.

The second flaw on the 0.97 is the lower receiver and the way they have designed the spring guide. The spring guide screws directly into the rear, meaning the receiver is under stress from the spring and can be detrimental to the receivers integrity. I have seen several crack at the exact same spot just around where the rear gearbox pin goes through. You may think they were using a spring which is too strong but two I know of were fitted with a M110 spring. I could understand it breaking had something like an M140 or M150 but to crack on a lightweight spring shows weakness in the design. I couldn’t wait to get one when they first came out but now I have questions… which is annoying as I really do like the platform!

Dan: The CYMA Platinum 0.97 is one of the newer releases from CYMA, now having been on the market for a few years. It has established itself with a mid-range price point that sports a little nicer feature set out of the box compared to competitor models. This AEG replica is based off the hugely popular AR style platform, with a 14.5” length barrel wrapped in

an M-LOK rail, billet-style receiver, and multi-position collapsible stock. A true quick-change spring guide is found under the buffer tube assembly, the latter of which can be removed without tools. I personally have not seen any 0.97 model experience a cracked receiver, such as Jimmy has reported.

Here in the USA, most of these will come shooting at approximately 380 – 400 FPS out of the box. With a little tuning and some upgrades, most will sit closer to the 400 FPS mark for general field velocity, with its big brother, the SR-25 or CM 0.98, often being set up as high as 550 FPS for fields that allow it. If anything, what I have seen is if people are excessively changing springs out, they can potentially strip the threads on the receiver. A steel spring guide is always going to win over softer cast material. I would recommend cleaning the threads on the spring guide and receiver well the first few times you use it, as there will often be fresh material getting cut from the threads. A bit of grease will also help smooth it up too.

My only other contention with the externals on this gun is the M-LOK rail is literally held in place with two small grub screws, which is enough to elicit the infamous meme of the man sitting amidst a raging inferno saying “This if fine!” This can be remedied by drilling and cutting threads in the barrel nut for some black button-head style screws, which will greatly secure the rail from ever walking loose on you.

Moving over to the interior, we’ll find CYMA’s current 22 TPA Neodymium motor paired to a set of 13.65:1 gears and 8mm bearings. Many have stated that the gears themselves are actually made

“MOVING OVER TO THE COMPRESSION PARTS, WE HAVE THEIR HIGHLY DURABLE FULLMETAL RACK PISTON AND A CNC ALUMINIUM PISTON HEAD AND DOUBLE O-RING ALUMINIUM CYLINDER HEAD. CYMA’S FMR PISTONS ARE LEGENDARY IN THE TECHING COMMUNITY. I HAVE BEEN USING THEM FOR YEARS AND HAVE FOUND THEM TO BE EXCEPTIONALLY DURABLE, PUNCHING FAR ABOVE THEIR PRICE POINT”

ARES X-CLASS AR-091E

Price: iro UK£390.00

Age: New

Weight: 2600g

Length: 690/770mm

Magazine Capacity: 140, will accept all STANAG/AR

Cold Chrono: 1.12 Joule/348fps

Hot Chrono: 1.12 Joule/347fps

Taclite Compatibility: M-LOK

Suppressor Compatibilty: 14mm CCW

Supplied By: www.iwholesales.co.uk

BOLT DD DAGGER LITE

Price: iro UK£315.00

Age: 11 Months

Weight: 2760g

Length: 645-725mm

Magazine Capacity: 140, will accept most STANAG/AR

Cold Chrono: 1.11 Joule/346fps

Hot Chrono: 1.13 Joule/349fps

Taclite Compatibility: Standard Rail

Suppressor Compatibilty: 14mm CCW

Supplied By: www.nuprol.com

CYMA CM.097B

Price: iro UK£155.00

Age: 4 Years

Weight: 2770g

Length: 730/815 mm

Magazine Capacity: 160, will accept all STANAG/AR

Cold Chrono: 109 Joule/344fps

Hot Chrono: 1.09 Joule/344fps

Taclite Compatibility: M-LOK

Suppressor Compatibilty: 14mm CCW

Supplied By: www.taiwangun.com

EVOLUTION RECON

Price: iro UK

Age: 2 Years 7 Months

Weight: 2200g

Length: 690/775mm

Magazine Capacity: 130, will accept all STANAG/AR

Cold Chrono: 0.94 Joule/319fps

Hot Chrono: 0.94 Joule/319fps

Taclite Compatibility: M-LOK

Suppressor Compatibilty: 14mm CCW

Supplied By: store.evolutioninternational.it

SPECNA ARMS FLEX

Price: iro UK£125.00

Age: 2 Years

Weight: 2130g

Length: 650/740mm

Magazine Capacity: 300, will accept all STANAG/AR

Cold Chrono: 1.07 Joule/340fps

Hot Chrono: 1.04 Joule/335fps

Taclite Compatibility: Standard Rail Sections

Suppressor Compatibilty: 14mm CCW

Supplied By: www.gunfire.com

maybe a very convincing clone! Moving over to the compression parts, we have their highly durable fullmetal rack piston and a CNC aluminium piston head and double O-ring aluminium cylinder head. CYMA’s FMR pistons are legendary in the teching community. I have been using them for years and have found them to be exceptionally durable, punching far above their price point. I have seen some of the 0.97’s come in with a conventional ported aluminium piston head, and some come with the “silent” mushroom style. Based on what I’ve worked on, the mushroom style seems to be a bit more prolific.

If anything were a bit dismal in this gearbox, it would actually be the Zeus ETU. This is a dodgy bit of soldered mish-mash that I swear gets less and less refined every time I see one. They have not been known for exceptional reliability, often the inverse, with many reporting issues. I would therefore only consider this as a placeholder until one can swap in a proper ETU, such as a TITAN or Perun Hybrid. CYMA made an odd little design choice with the way the manual safety lever is fitted to the shell, so the material support for that will need to be milled away to fit an ETU. It’s far easier to modify than something like the Krytac shell, at least.

Over on the barrel side, I have seen both the ‘oldschool’ style metal M4 hop up chambers used and a blue plastic rotary style. The rotary chamber seems to be the current setup used as most 0.97’s I have received in are fitted with those. While the tolerances are a bit loose, it does an acceptable job once set up with a quality bucking. As is CYMA’s forte, one can often expect copious amounts of lube to be present on the bucking and barrel, so I recommend giving both a good cleaning before first use and this will improve accuracy a lot.

Overall, I would say the 0.97 has some quirks and foibles, but is built to a higher standard than the oldschool CYMA most are familiar with. It’s a relatively good base for a new player to pick up as their first gun, and also a good base to build upon; especially as it only requires minimal upgrades to be well optimized, owing to many of the components being good out of the box.

MOVING ON!

Bill: So, with the 0.97 covered in some detail now, let’s move on to a couple of the newer additions to the test pool, and never let it be said that we only look at the “Gucci stuff”, as I’d like to concentrate on two models this month that have joined the party and thus far acquitted themselves well although they are by no means expensive AEGS, and the first is the HUNTSMAN M4 TACTICAL.

As I said in my RELOADED take on this neat little AEG, further rangetime has proved that my initial assessment was 100% correct, and now some 7000 BBs have now been put through it, it’s really starting to come into its stride. I’ve reached the conclusion that .28g is the perfect weight for this AEG set to UK spec, as using this weight gives a fabulous combination of range and accuracy; just an incremental BB weight change has worked to deliver optimum performance.

The electronic trigger is working extremely well thus far, and this is most definitely something that the crew have commented on, that the trigger is light yet crisp; everyone that has shot the HUNTSMAN so far has commented both of the feel of the trigger, and indeed on the quietness of the AEG overall when in operation. The motor sounds as if it is perfectly set and balanced, with no whine or “drag”, and the gearbox is pretty darn quiet which indicates to me that everything is mated properly and working together efficiently; so far so good! I’ve just finished testing with HUNTSMAN’s “budget polymer AR”, and you’ll find my evaluation of that earlier in this issue…

The next model that I’ll concentrate on is the SAF01 FLEX from Specna Arms! This superbly-priced little AEG has actually found a bit of a soft-spot in my heart as it reminds me of the ARs that I first started playing airsoft with so many moons ago… but in a very good way as it actually works, all the time!

Although the FLEX models are super-cheap in terms of price (and that should make any airsofter cheerful!) that’s not to say that they are in any way deficient when it comes to doing their job… okay, they ARE pretty much 100% polymer as the receiver set, freefloat rail system, buffer tube, CRANE style- stock, “iron sights”, and the pistol grip are made of polymer

“ALTHOUGH THE FLEX MODELS ARE SUPER-CHEAP IN TERMS OF PRICE (AND THAT SHOULD MAKE ANY AIRSOFTER CHEERFUL!) THAT’S NOT TO SAY THAT THEY ARE IN ANY WAY DEFICIENT WHEN IT COMES TO DOING THEIR JOB”

HUNSTMAN M4 POLYMER

Price: iro UK£120.00

Age: NEW!

Weight: 1907g

Length: 710/790mm

Magazine Capacity: 300, will accept all STANAG/AR

Cold Chrono: 1.09 Joule/344fps

Hot Chrono: 1.09 Joule/344fps

Taclite Compatibility: Standard Rail

Suppressor Compatibilty: 14mm CCW

Supplied By: www.iwholesales.biz

HUNSTMAN M4 TACTICAL

Price: iro UK£230.00

Age: 9 Months

Weight: 2122g

Length: 650/740mm

Magazine Capacity: 300, will accept all STANAG/AR

Cold Chrono: 1.05 Joule/337fps

Hot Chrono: 1.05 Joule/337fps

Taclite Compatibility: M-LOK

Suppressor Compatibilty: 14mm CCW

Supplied By: www.iwholesales.biz

ARCTURUS KARAMBIT AT-NY04

Price: iro UK£250.00

Age: 19 Months

Weight: 2500g

Length: 575mm (PDW Stock)

Magazine Capacity: 340, will accept all STANAG/AR

Cold Chrono: 1.07 Joule/340fps

Hot Chrono: 1.09 Joule/344fps

Taclite Compatibility: M-LOK

Suppressor Compatibilty: 14mm CCW

Supplied By: www.taiwangun.com

ICS DAGGER SSS III

Price: iro UK£285.00

Age: 1 Year

Weight: 2305g

Length: 640/711mm

Magazine Capacity: 340, will accept all STANAG/AR

Cold Chrono: 0.95 Joule/320fps

Hot Chrono: 0.95 Joule/320fps

Taclite Compatibility: M-LOK

Suppressor Compatibilty: 14mm CCW

Supplied By: www.icsbb.com

VALKEN KILO

Price: iro UK£150.00

Age: 2 Year 6 months

Weight: 2494g

Length: 620mm/700mm

Magazine Capacity: 300, will accept most STANAG/AR

Cold Chrono: 1.01 Joule/330fps

Hot Chrono: 0.98 Joule/325fps

Taclite Compatibility: M-LOK

Suppressor Compatibilty: 14mm CCW (11mm CW to 14mm CCW

thread adapter included)

Supplied By: www.308-sniper.co.uk

KRYTAC TRIDENT MKII PDW

Price: iro UK£400.00

Age: 2 Years 5 Months

Weight: 2400g

Length: 535mm (PDW Stock)

Magazine Capacity: 300, will accept most STANAG/AR

Cold Chrono: 0.92 Joule/315fps

Hot Chrono: 0.92 Joule/315fps

Taclite Compatibility: M-LOK

Suppressor Compatibilty: 14mm CCW

Supplied By: www.landwarriorairsoft.com

G&G SR30

Price: iro UK£360.00

Age: 2 Years 2 Months

Weight: 2760g

Length: 700mm/770mm

Magazine Capacity: 90 (G2), will accept most STANAG/AR

Cold Chrono: 0.98/325fps

Hot Chrono: 0.95 Joule/320fps

Taclite Compatibility: M-LOK

Suppressor Compatibilty: 14mm CCW

Supplied By: www.nuprol.com

SECUTOR ASTRA III

Price: iro UK£370.00

Age: 1 Year

Weight: 2730g

Length: 700mm/770mm

Magazine Capacity: 120, will accept most STANAG/AR

Cold Chrono: 1.06 Joule/339fps

Hot Chrono: 1.06 Joule/339fps

Taclite Compatibility: M-LOK

Suppressor Compatibilty: 14mm CCW

Supplied By: www.iwholesales.biz

SPECNA ARMS SA-E04

Price: iro UK£230.00

Age: 3 Years

Weight: 2600g

Length: 700/780mm

Magazine Capacity: 2x125 S-MAG, will accept most STANAG/AR

Cold Chrono: 0.98/325fps

Hot Chrono: 0.95 Joule/320fps

Taclite Compatibility: Standard Rail

Suppressor Compatibilty: 14mm CCW

Supplied By: www.gunfire.com

SPECNA ARMS SA-E12

Price: iro UK£235.00

Age: 2 Years 1 Month

Weight: 2400g

Length: 620/700mm

Magazine Capacity:

Cold Chrono: 0.98/325fps

Hot Chrono: 0.95 Joule/320fps

Taclite Compatibility: 2x125 S-MAG, will accept most STANAG/AR

Suppressor Compatibilty: 14mm CCW

Supplied By: www.gunfire.com

reinforced with nylon fibre, but this reinforcement makes the structure more durable than older polymer structures, and WAY different to our “plastic AEGs” of years gone by…

Everything internally is very workmanlike too, obviously designed to meet a pricepoint, but again not deficient in any way because of this, and it just shows how far even “entry level” AEGs have come! The FLEX models come with a rear-wired V2 gearbox, a decent standard motor, 8mm bearings, steel gears, a polycarbonate piston with steel reinforcement, and the guys at Specna Arms tell me that everything is rated still to handle up to an M140 spring… as I have said before too, if you’d put that spring in one of my old “plastic ARs” back in the day it would have just climbed back into the gun case in defeat before I’d even squeezed the trigger!

So far the F01 has proved to be a great little AEG to work with, with great ergonomics and a good weight; just heavy enough to feel right, but light enough that you could run with it all day long. The trigger is light yet crisp, with very little lag so it’s easy to get consistently accurate shots away time after time. So, if you are looking for a lightweight and reliable AEG to get you rolling then after thorough initial testing of the SA-F01, I have to say that this is a really super little AEG that will get you going, or keep you going in a pinch, and at the price they’re certainly not going to break the bank… up to 6000+ BBs now with this one, so let’s see what the next 5000 bring!

Miguel: Sticking with Specna Arms I remember when the “PDW” models first appeared, still within the EDGE 1.0 range. Gunfire and Specna Arms were kind enough to send one for review at the time, since the ambassador program wasn’t a thing yet, and my first thought was “what a little beast this is”! I liked it so much that when the first models with the Aster were available, even before the official “birth” of the EDGE 2.0 range, I got one, and passed the 1.0 to a teammate who still uses to this day!

Being a highly compatible replica, it’s my main choice for pure CQB games, since it’s a model that lets you be more nimble in those corners and tight locations. And of course having the Aster is a great addition; it’s an already well known electronic trigger that offers the players a good amount of

customizations, like a faster trigger response and burst fire. The only downside of this model is the battery compartment, which is small, and if you have the 1.0 model, the X-ASR protection Mosfet will leave even less space. Specna Arms did release some extended battery tubes, but they are hard to come by.

The only upgrade I’ve done to my E12 PDW was changing the hop up rubber, something I’ve done to most of my replicas. Other than that, it’s been one of my go-to replicas for the past few years when I know that we are playing in urban environments. It has never failed me.

Jimmy: Now for something different! I’ve had the ICS Lightway Dagger S3 in my possession for quite some time now and it has been heavily used in both CQB and woodland environments with great effect. It’s never missed a beat and performed impeccably time after time. I have a great fondness for ICS and over the last few years they have excelled themselves producing more and more airsoft goodness.

The Dagger makes for a formidable CQB rifle being short and lightweight due to its polymer construction (a different thing these days as Bill pointed out earlier!) which allows you to manouver quickly giving you the element of surprise. The addition of the smart Mosfet coupled with a short stroke trigger and the set precock function makes it lightning quick, meaning you can get off a few shots before your opponent has even realized what happened!

The precock function is factory set and nonadjustable; after the first shot the piston lies in a state of readiness and returns to the same position every time. Included is ICS’ famous spring tension release button so you don’t have to worry about the spring being kept under tension at the end of the day, and this is easily operated by simply pushing the forward assist, a great little idea I feel and ICS have been using this for years and if I’m not mistaken the only manufacturer to implement this.

When I first got hands on with the Dagger it came out of the box with a very healthy yet UK legal velocity but over time and with a good cleaning of the barrel and hop rubber the power started to increase slightly to a point it was no longer safe to use for my local sites; strange right, as this is not usually the case and most rifles decrease in power over time. The last

“I LIKED IT SO MUCH THAT WHEN THE FIRST MODELS WITH THE ASTER WERE AVAILABLE, EVEN BEFORE THE OFFICIAL “BIRTH” OF THE EDGE 2.0 RANGE, I GOT ONE, AND PASSED THE 1.0 TO A TEAMMATE WHO STILL USES TO THIS DAY!”

chrono check I carried out was showing a 0.30g bb 300fps @ 1.38j which is crazy (and entering legally questionable territory here in the UK!), but rest assured the power was adjusted back down and sits perfectly @ 1.1j which is spot on for CQB venues.

With the famous split gearbox design and QD spring guide the power adjustment is very easy to do and is completely tool free, making my life as a tech so much easier and better for all users; less time on the bench, less money from their pockets… winner winner!

For a short rifle of 620mm fully collapsed and with an inner Barrel of only 180mm it is surprising just how far it can sling a BB! This is mainly due to the precision barrel and the Master Mods Hop tensioner which is a concaved design cnc’d out of brass making it capable of easily lifting a 0.32g BB. To date I have put over 10,000 BBs through and it sounds as good as the day I received it, and to look at the internal components it shows no signs of wear, which is largely due to the quality of the components and the fact it has been perfectly shimmed from the factory which is another thing ICS pride themselves with, the way they put their AEGs together.

The new Evo motors they use can really take a hammering and unlike other brands this thing does not heat up even after prolonged semi-auto spamming, although I have found that S3 systems seems to be a bit more power hungry than the S system but that isn’t a major problem just carry more batteries! Overall ICS have done a sterling job with the Dagger and jam-packed it with components and features that no other manufacturer are offering to date, and it is a true out of the box contender which I said from Day 1 and that is an opinion that stands firm.

Jase: One of the test models I’ve had longterm access to is G&G’s take on the Knights Armament SR30. My first thoughts on the

SR30 were “impressive”. The immediate quality of this RIF was good. It felt solid, really solid! Apart from the stock giving off a wee rattle, the whole platform did not make a noise, and this has remained the case; I wasn’t expecting this. In the years I have been a player, I have fettled my fair share of AEG’s from expensive to cheap so I know what a good RIF feels like.

I have been treated to plenty of well trademarked RIF’s of late so was pleased to see how well G&G had engraved this SR30. Talk about a good job, from what I can tell this is the spitting image of the real thing. The trades are super crisp, and I’d go as far as to say

programmable Mosfet as standard and it’s great to see G&G moving this along; their “take” on this gearbox/Mosfet combo offers really handy features! Here in the UK this SR30 is competitively priced for a solid, well-made, beautifully “traded” AEG. Would I recommend this G&G SR30? So far it’s still a “Yes”.

Bill: Finishing up now, and a couple more models from me! A while back I had the ARCTURUS KARAMBIT LITE to test, and although it was a super short PDW I loved it. Off the back of that I invested in the longer model, the KARAMBITAT-NY04 and even though this still has the sliding PDW-style stock (something I may still change out at a later date when “project time” allows!) the increased rail-length makes it more comfortable for me to use.

There are also some elements of the Karambit’s construction that I have to comment on as I REALLY like them, especially considering the price of this AEG; the magazine catch, bolt catch and fire selector are ALL ambidextrous. The handguard is a very, very nicely achieved alloy M-LOK, but it still has a top-rail that marries up perfectly with the railed upper, and the sliding “PDW-style” stock is solid as a rock (and has QD sling-stud-points both left and right) although it does suffer from the tiny battery compartment that means you have to pick your battery carefully, especially as it’s T-Plug wired; I found that small 11.1V 800mAh 15C works very well indeed.

It’s a great SBR to work with, with great ergonomics and a very positive cheek weld even with the minimalist stock. Adding a finger rest makes it very easy to drive the muzzle from target to target, and the overall length of the rifle makes it easy to work with. Once the rotary hop is set, an easy control to adjust, the Karambit puts BBs straight out to the end of the 30m range, dead-flat-out all the way. The microswitch trigger is light yet crisp, with very little lag so it’s easy to get consistently accurate shots away time after time. Switching it up to full auto sends a nice stream of BBs downrange in quick time at a rate nobody would moan about, apart from perhaps the airsofter on the receiving end!

And so to ARES; the X CLASS line has some great features and the externals as I now expect from ARES, and they’re first rate in terms of fit and finish. First off, this premium AEG has thoroughly modern styling with a Radian Arms-inspired lower receiver; the real Radian Model 1 Upper Receiver is a thing of beauty, precision CNC machined and structurally reinforced in critical areas for improved strength and rigidity, such as the contouring around the magwell and beefy “fences”.

The upper receiver on the real Radian setup is billet-style 7075-T6 aluminium and is assembled with

dust cover, hand guard anti-rotation pin, light weight forward assist, and Raptor-SD Ambidextrous Charging Handle. There’s also a Geissele-style rail system, one which seems to be very popular in airsoft circles at the moment! The high-grade alloy CNC 6063 handguard fitted as standard to the X CLASS looks very much like an M-LOK Super Modular Rail MK4, but without the additional picatinny sections at 3 and 6 o’clock, and it looks great!

Internally the 091E comes with the ARES RVTSTM, or Rapid Velocity Tuning System Quick Change Spring System, along with their tried and tested programmable EFCS gearbox and everything is compatible with other V2 gears and parts, not that you’ll need to be thinking major upgrades any time soon. With the development of this easy-to-use system, ARES now seem to be making the EFCS Gearbox “standard” in line with what is on offer from other manufacturers, but unlike some, the EFCS has now been around for a little while.

And this shows with in performance so far as the 091E has definitely lived up to the promise that Jimmy and I first talked about when we saw it, and it has most definitely been worth the wait. It looks great, feels great, and shoots superbly! In fact everything is in situ to make shooting the 091E a pleasure from the first time you lift it out of the box; it’s an exceptionally tight package both inside and out, and care has obviously been taken to provide something in AEG form that’s fully worthy to take ARES forward into their next iteration, and I’m looking forward to even more rangetime with this AEG!

We’re running out of space again this month as I really wanted to include all the comments Jimmy and Dan had to make on the CYMA 0.97, which frankly, and perhaps luckily, I’ve experienced no issues with thus far as mine is still running like a dream! Suffice to say that the KRYTAC, Secutor, BOLT, Valken Kilo and the Evolution Recon are all running as they should, and the new models in the mix are all good to go thus far! AA

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MAINTAINING WHAT OTHER’S DON’T!

STEWBACCA AND ‘MILITARY ANNY’ RECENTLY TRAVELLED OUT TO THE EAST COAST OF TAIWAN BACK IN LATE MAY TO VISIT ONE OF THE MORE REMOTE, BUT PERHAPS EQUALLY INTERNATIONALLY WELL-KNOWN MANUFACTURERS, RED ALERT TECH (OR RATECH AS WE BEST KNOW THEM) AND THEIR SALES AND DISTRIBUTION DIVISION AIRSOFT TAIWAN (AST), AND THE TWO OF THEM GOT THE BACK STORY ON WHERE THE OWNER JOHNNY HSU GOT HIS START IN THE INDUSTRY, HOW FAR THE COMPANY HAS COME SINCE, AND WHERE THEY ARE PLANNING ON GOING IN THE FUTURE!

Even when I was back in the UK, I was already aware of the ‘RA Tech’ name as many of my teammates at various stages in my ‘career’ (if you can call it that!) made use of their upgrade components to make their GBBRs more useful in the less tropical climes of our homeland! One of Team Honey Badgers at Ground Zero one year had a decked out WE M14 GBBR with all their trimmings making it more of a hammer in the hot bank holiday weekend… and apparently that remains one of their best-selling kits!

Fast forward a few years and I had already been making use of the likes of their WE AR GBBR bolt carrier groups with magnetic locking NPAS and replacement fire control units to help make my troubled T91 and HK416 models more reliable and adjustable in terms of their power output here in Taiwan. I’d seen them at shows and talked to some of their operatives beforehand, even making inroads to visit them but unfortunately a literal disaster occurred on the day I planned to head east and see them. Nonetheless, the interest to find out more was still

ticking over in the back of my mind and eventually it turned out that Anny was working with them more closely, representing them at their front entrance booth at MOA2022, demonstrating their latest products to the local and international visitors alike, and of course I made myself as useful as possible in spreading the good word taking plenty of product photos! I took copious notes and made a video segment with Duane of I AM Airsoft at MOA covering their fairly involved and realistic manufacturing processes that mimic the real steel counterparts of the high end licensed products they are producing such as the EMG Noveske N4 GBBR they later sent to me for review as covered in Issue 152.

Suffice to say their build quality and attention to detail already shone through pretty clearly just from handling their products at the show, let alone my own prior experiences of components I’d bought personally before ever meeting them in person. Many of my experienced teammates who got hands on with the Noveske N4 systems as well as M14, M14 EBR, Thompson M1A1 and other products they had

“I HAD ALREADY BEEN MAKING USE OF THE LIKES OF THEIR WE AR GBBR BOLT CARRIER GROUPS WITH MAGNETIC LOCKING NPAS AND REPLACEMENT FIRE CONTROL UNITS TO HELP MAKE MY TROUBLED T91 AND HK416 MODELS MORE RELIABLE AND ADJUSTABLE IN TERMS OF THEIR POWER OUTPUT HERE IN TAIWAN”

at the show were duly impressed by what they have been turning out, and as covered in my N4 review, many of them were lining up to get hands-on in the field… and a few of them have made the outlay for themselves to attain the quality and performance the licensed turnkey platforms offer.

TOUR-MODE ENGAGED!

Anny helpfully kept in contact with them directly after MOA and eventually helped organise our collaborative effort when we found time for us both to head out and do a site visit with them and spend the day getting to know the people behind the products in greater detail. Taking the train from Taipei main all the way to Hualien (directly opposite Taichung on the west coast) meant a very early morning start for us; taking a leisurely saunter through the beautiful countryside of northeast Taiwan all the way down the coast and to Ji’an station not far from RATech’s headquarters, with Johnny himself picking us up from the station and chauffeuring us to their facility a few blocks away..

Taiwanese hospitality is a constant as warm as the weather out here, I have found.

We got settled in and had a tour of their facilities as well as meeting their staff in various divisions, getting the low-down on recent and upcoming products, taking photos of their production and distribution facilities, and then sat down in Johnny’s upper-floor office to get the low-down on his own origin story in the airsoft industry, and how RATech, and Airsoft Taiwan, came to be where they are today.

Anny has the advantage of better understanding the native language and culture, and thus she can ask the more nuanced questions and strike a more personal tone to get a better understanding on the people and history side which really compliments my own more ‘brass tacks’ business and technical approach… and of course some things don’t translate readily on the fly so it helps to have both of us covering off different aspects of the on-site visits!

One of the main aspects she gleaned from Johnny was the core philosophy that one of his Hong Kong

compatriots instilled upon him from early days; “the Law of Survival - As long as you have something that others don’t, you can survive”. Back in the formative years of RATech, one of the main aspects Johnny leveraged was his existing love of RC cars and planes which he had a lot of experience in, and being one of the early introducers of LiPo battery technology crossing over from the RC to the airsoft world. However, upgrade gas components and feed nozzles for GBBRs have remained the ‘bread and butter’ of their business model and product strategy, and having, or indeed developing, what others do not, has kept the company steadfast on its own mission to produce better components to serve the market and improve on the durability of the likes of Marui MWS or earlier products in the harsher use cases of Taiwan and elsewhere beyond Japan’s power regulations.

GETTING IN EARLY!

From the outset, Johnny developed an early love for replica guns when his father returned from travels to Japan with an early model toy revolver for him, which he eventually modified and improved… as well as, like many here, including myself, being an ardent fan of Taiwan’s night market shooting galleries where drilling balloons lets you walk away with a cuddly toy or other prize, evidently the shooting bug took root with him. As a student Johnny would spend his summer vacations helping out at the local toy shop; as in the UK, long before specialist airsoft stockists began springing up, most youngsters would get their “soft air guns” from the usual toy specialists who also stock paints and RC cars or planes… my own original Marui M92F springer was acquired from just such a place in my hometown more years ago than I care to admit! Johnny made a deal to work not for a salary, but to obtain his favourite airsoft gun at the time from the shop.

Years passed and he went off to do his national service with the army, and following his discharge the era of early electric guns was dawning in the developing world of airsoft. With Marui’s early models making landfall in Taiwan, he purchased a SIG 550 AEG and immediately went about dismantling and improving its internals as he had long before to make it more durable and usable in Taiwan’s survival games

environment, rushing out the next day to test his new purchase! Noticing this passion for upgrading and overhauling the guns on the burgeoning market, the toy shop owner would occasionally ask him to repair or upgrade other player’s guns that were brought to him; working as a lone operator at the time he acquired parts locally and sold them to other players as well as cultivating local teams of friends and players to grow the user-base and industry on the east coast.

Around this time he was also helping his father in the construction of a new home, but in the evenings would stay in his own studio and after a couple of years made the decision to start his own business proper, With no capital to speak of at the time, he relied on the trust of the bank his wife worked at to give him a loan with which to kickstart the business. As well as receiving help from other more established industry names such as Guarder, eventually with the much appreciated support of others he began to carve out a name for himself and grow the business and its capabilities and establishing ‘Red Alert Tech’, the name being derived from him and his compatriots shared love of video games, and this morphed into simply ‘RATech’.

After establishing the original business model porting LiPo technology over from RC applications, RATech focused more so on kit components for upgrading the durability of AEG and GBBR platforms with CNC machined aluminium and steel components such as gearbox innards, valves and strikers, hammers, other trigger components or HOP units having found Marui’s original stock components somewhat wanting when importing and making use of them locally. In more recent years this has seen a shift towards injection moulded components as well which has allowed their already proven NPAS and feed nozzle designs to be produced more economically and made more accessible to all end users as a result;- much of the success of their existing products was built off the back of mentions on technical forums and positive end user recommendations and feedback, without much need for hard advertising or pushing the products, with the positive community experience and word of mouth doing a great deal of the work in extolling RATech’s product’s virtues.

“I TOOK COPIOUS NOTES AND MADE A VIDEO SEGMENT WITH DUANE OF I AM AIRSOFT AT MOA COVERING THEIR FAIRLY INVOLVED AND REALISTIC MANUFACTURING PROCESSES THAT MIMIC THE REAL STEEL COUNTERPARTS OF THE HIGH END LICENSED PRODUCTS”

RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!

Over the years the company has had to relocate multiple times before settling into their current location; from earlier days in the studio which also served as a meeting place for local teams and players, with the garage and basement serving as storage, workshops and shooting range, it did limit the ease of growing business in terms of being somewhat innocuous or difficult to happen upon by passers by… you had to be already in the know to find them! Eventually around 2011 the business moved into its current multi-level location which has more space for prototyping, assembly, storage and staff amenities; many of the staff have been long serving employees, many for as much or more than a decade, with specialist training being provided in Taipei for those who work in the production aspect of the business, programming and operating the on-site 3-axis CNC and 3D printing capabilities.

Over the years the focus has shifted to some extent; while the gas nozzles or bolt carrier components have always remained a core specialisation of the company, many of the products have varied in proliferation or popularity, with many of the older kits continuing to sell many years after their initial release largely due to a lack of competition in certain specific models or component types. However, the business has shifted in more recent years to focusing on a slower output of new products which are extensively developed and tested to the point where end-user issues or returns are basically a non-issue, while in other aspects many of the other manufacturers have upped their own production quality so much that it’s reduced the need for RATech’s customised components, thus Airsoft Taiwan was developed and has become more of a focus in recent years.

AST is the sales and distribution wing of the business which since its inception has sat above the

“UPGRADE GAS COMPONENTS AND FEED NOZZLES FOR GBBRS HAVE REMAINED THE ‘BREAD AND BUTTER’ OF THEIR BUSINESS MODEL AND PRODUCT STRATEGY, AND HAVING, OR INDEED DEVELOPING, WHAT OTHERS DO NOT, HAS KEPT THE COMPANY STEADFAST ON ITS OWN MISSION TO PRODUCE BETTER COMPONENTS”

production aspects of RATech itself, as well as being an umbrella under which many other local Taiwanese manufacturer’s products have been stocked and sent overseas (with Maple Leaf among others being close collaborators who have benefitted mutually from AST’s overseas reach and existing sales infrastructure) all of which is set to expand further with the recent advent of their own in house developed mobile phone shopping APP to ease the end-user experience and give users anywhere in the world a more direct line to purchasing and support or information relating to RATech’s own product and those of others they stock.

As a result of this experience and growth the focus is slowly shifting more towards AST’s leveraging of local manufacturers and suppliers; with Taiwan being relatively small and easy to ship parts around overnight, it has made stocking and distributing parts much easier with a more recent increase in the

domestic market. Of course many external or overseas customers have relied upon them for sourcing upgrades or spares, but since COVID has altered the landscape somewhat it’s also pushed many local endusers online to source components they already know and trust, allowing AST to capitalise on domestic markets as well. In past years 90% of their sales were overseas, particularly neighbouring south east Asian countries where shipping costs are not so prohibitive, but now around 60% of their business is within Taiwan and thus the focus has shifted somewhat towards serving local markets and ensuring players can readily get their hands on items in a rapid manner.

Looking forward, RATech will focus largely on upper receiver components such as their well-established bolt carrier and nozzle components, particularly when it comes to Marui’s MW system; Johnny is well aware of the growing fire control group and other

lower receiver components aftermarket support from competitors which makes that a saturated market and difficult to compete in, so again they are sticking to what they know well in terms of NPAS components and uprated HOP units, as well as now leveraging their manufacturing experience and supplier networks to focus on turning out high-end licensed turnkey products such as their Noveske N4 GBBRs in 5.56 and 300 BLK formats.

At this point Johnny has managed to develop the company and the staff into a very stable and comfortable situation where they aren’t trying to expand too rapidly, and are moderating their own research and development to a very sharp focus on doing what they do well and leveraging the wider business and local logistics to minimise their own stock and maximise ease of access to an ever widening range of locally produced items

for their customers. With many of his staff happily sticking around for the long term (the east coast is a particularly pleasant part of Taiwan and offers a relaxed and economical lifestyle in contrast to the industrial and business heartlands of the west coast, after all!) it seems RATech and Airsoft Taiwan are going to be doing what they do so well for the long term.

We look forward to seeing what they have to offer in future, and judging by my own experiences of their N4 GBBR I’m excited to see what products they develop in the long term! I’d like to thank Johnny and his staff for their hospitality and accommodating myself and Anny’s questions and on-site exploits during our visit; please do check out https://ast-gun. airsofttaiwan.com or follow the banner link on the AA website for more! AA

SO HOT RIGHT NOW!

EVERY SO OFTEN WE GET TO PLAY WITH SOME VERY SPECIAL KIT, AND THIS IS WHERE TECHNOLOGY BECOMING MORE EFFECTIVE BUT ALSO MORE AFFORDABLE IMPACTS AIRSOFT IN A VERY SPECIFIC WAY! BILL HAS BEEN SPENDING “QUALITY TIME” WITH SOME THERMAL VISION SCOPES FROM HIKMICRO, AND NOW TELLS ALL ABOUT IT!

It’s true to say that during my years playing airsoft, as much as I have all the kit necessary to play BLUFOR I’ve always had a bit of a failing for the OPFOR role, and this is something that I’ve written about many, many times both in relation to suitable AEG and GBB platforms, but also when it comes to “useful kit”.

Quite often when you’re facing off against the BLUFOR bulldozer you feel like you’re just in the game to give them a good time, by acting as an opposing force so that they can crash about and achieve their objectives; indeed on some occasions I’ve been told “make it hard for them, but not TOO hard”! I’m comfortable with this as often OPFOR get to attend some awesome events at a reduced ticket price as they are there purely to let the event develop as the scenario creator has written it, but I will always go on the proviso that there is at least some space to make things properly difficult for those pesky multicammers!

And this is where technology can truly be my, and our, friend as having certain items of kit can really

make a difference, and these “force multipliers” can take many forms, but having the latest available “tech” is certainly a part of the equation! Undoubtedly BLUFOR will be dripping in “Gucci kit”, with all manner of gizmos including NVGs as standard, and to counter this I’ve always looked to “civvy tech”, equipment that’s freely available for anyone to buy, nonthat conceivably any well prepared OPFOR-ist could have at hand. More and more over the years I’ve seen “thermal scopes” come into play in airsoft, and in fairness not just for OPFOR either, as believe it or not, “NV” does have its limitations, and is not always the “god mode” people imagine it to be! Fundamentally thermal imaging doesn’t need any light to work, whilst night vision (at least at the level available to us mere mortals without a black credit card!) works by amplifying visible light. Thermal imaging uses IR sensing technology to detect temperature differences between objects in its line of sight, whereas night vision enlarges the light available and converts it to those classic green-tinted images…. it’s why once upon a time the name “starlight sight” was coined.

“MORE AND MORE OVER THE YEARS I’VE SEEN “THERMAL SCOPES” COME INTO PLAY IN AIRSOFT, AND IN FAIRNESS NOT JUST FOR OPFOR EITHER, AS BELIEVE IT OR NOT, “NV” DOES HAVE ITS LIMITATIONS, AND IS NOT ALWAYS THE “GOD MODE” PEOPLE IMAGINE IT TO BE!”

So, in a nutshell, thermal = no light, whilst NV = “some” light, and further online investigation tells me that “while both night vision and infrared technologies are used to improve visibility in lowlight environments, their underlying concepts and applications differ. Infrared technology detects thermal radiation to create a visible image, whereas night vision amplifies available light to make a visible image”.

So, which is better? I believe that this is not actually the correct question as I see the two “techs” as complementary and not mutually exclusive. However, although the price of NV-tech is certainly coming down, to get something halfway decent means that you could well be into four figures, whereas the HIKMICRO THUNDER sight that I’ve had in testing for the past couple of months whilst not cheap, is solidly in the high-three-figure-bracket and works superbly well as a rifle/carbine mounted option!

WHO, WHAT, HOW?

HIKMICRO have been around since 2008, and they’ve been developing thermal vision equipment since 2010, but the company as we know it today started proper in 2016, releasing a full portfolio of thermal security products the year after. Since then they’ve grown and grown with representation in over 100 countries, and although they specialise in thermal technology innovation, the company offers thermal cores, modules, cameras, total solutions and also night vision products, which can be used in outdoor, industrial and security industries globally.

Yup, it just goes to show that this is BIG business, but thankfully that also means that “economies of scale” come into play, and resultant products can be made in larger production runs at decreased cost per unit… jeez, I never thought my old A-Level Economics would get used in an airsoft setting, but there you go… and what this means is that the cost of good thermal sights continues to come down, and realistically puts it within the reach of committed players!

And the Thunder IS a good sight for our intended use as it’s recoil rated to 6750J and out to 900m (yeah we wish!), and it sits perfectly on top of a railed platform. The Thunder 19mm 35mK 256x192 12µm Smart Thermal Weapon Scope weighs in at 591g,

which is actually slightly lighter than the 604g ELCAN/ DOCTER combo that I usually run on my VFC Knight’s SR16 GBB, and without the extended “hood” the footprint on the top rail is almost identical!

With five reticle choices pre-loaded, and a colour palette of Black Hot, White Hot, Red Hot, and Fusion, the Thunder is as easy to get on with as it is to mount on your rifle. It has an operating range of -20C to 55C, is protected against temporary submersion in water, and offers a multitude of features including:

• Video recording

• Picture snapshot

• Built-in memory of 16 Gb

• Hot Tracking

• WiFI hot spot

• T-Vision App

At the heart of the TE19 is HIKMICRO’s 256x192px, sub 35 NETD thermal sensor, which is capable of delivering a detailed thermal image without you having to take out a second mortgage! The 19mm focal length provides a base magnification of 2.5x with up to 8x digital magnification and Picture-

In-Picture is available to explore the detail in your surroundings. The high-quality F1.0 lens system transmits all the available thermal signal back to the sensor, boosting the detection ability and detail in the image. HIKMICRO’s advanced algorithm processes this raw signal and delivers a detailed image to the 10mm OLED display, and it also connects to the T-Vision app to seamlessly control, stream and record your shooting and in-game adventures!

Obviously with the recoil-rating the Thunder isn’t going to have any issue dealing with the action generated by even the most aggressive GBBR, and

“AT THE HEART OF THE TE19 IS HIKMICRO’S 256X192PX, SUB 35 NETD THERMAL SENSOR, WHICH IS CAPABLE OF DELIVERING A DETAILED THERMAL IMAGE WITHOUT YOU HAVING TO TAKE OUT A SECOND MORTGAGE!”

when it comes to getting BBs on target it uses HIKMICRO’s latest software which includes an updated zeroing system with a one-shot zero, making it quick and easy to get the scope set up with your platform of choice.

I SEE, I REALLY DO!

So, technically speaking it all sounds mighty fine to me, but I’m sure that there are those out there amongst you reading this that understand “The Tech” far better than I! What I’m interested in is how this scope can make me more effective, and will it enable me to get BBs on target even in the pitch black?

And the answer to both these questions in my mind after extensive testing and use is… OH YES, it most CERTAINLY will!

I’ve had the Thunder mounted full-time to my SR16 and tried it both in daytime and on moonless nights… it’s summer in the UK right now so of course we’ve had LOTS of moonless nights! You may ask why I tested the Thunder in the daytime as well as at night, and the answer here is that unlike NVGs or an NV scope there actually IS a daylight benefit!

I live in the country, and mere metres away from my house are woodland and extensive open fields, and all kinds of creepy-crawly-gribblies are out and about at all times of the day and night. The Thunder allows me to find “hot spots” (ie livin’ creature-things!) that give of a greater thermal signature than their surroundings… put this into airsoft perspective and that ghillie-clad sniper ain’t so hidden any more unless they’ve taken some serious IR-signature preventions!

As a recon tool, even in broad daylight, the Thunder can penetrate quite dense foliage to distinguish the heat-signature of a person, and deep shadow in a woodland setting ceases to have quite the benefit it usually does; the Thunder cuts through the “shadow chatter” and concentrates on that nice warm target, and once you’ve got it and your rifle/carbine properly zero-mated, you can hit said target time and again.

But of course it’s “o-dark o’clock” where the Thunder really comes into its own, and even inside a closed structure at night (regular readers will know we have some cool tunnel systems we “frequent” for photoshoots!) there ain’t any place to hide that thermal vision won’t find you! The sight-picture is super-clear, and because the Thunder rail mount (an optional accessory, but oh, so worth it!) sits nice and low and reasonably close to bore, any shots you take are going to be bang on!

As another illustration I went up to the 30m woods range late one night and placed a shrouded candle behind the steels; okay, it did give off just a little light in the near-total dark under the trees, but when you hit it with the Thunder it was like someone had popped on BIG lumen-count taclite directly behind the target, and I was able to clang them steels times and again… in the dark… believe me, if you have a safe place to shoot then this is just HEAPS of FUN!

So, in conclusion, the HIKMICRO Thunder 19mm 35mK 256x192 12µm Smart Thermal Weapon Scope… yay or nay? For me it’s a BIG YAY! It’s easy to mount, easy to operate, and it even runs on the very same CR123 batteries that we use in so much kit these days, with a solid four-or-so hours of run time (although you can also extend this with the use of an external USB power bank!).This is a highquality thermal scope that is sensibly-priced for the technology it offers, and from my experience of such things it provides an in-the-dark advantage that can’t be beaten.

My thanks again go to the team at www. eliteoptical.co.uk who provided the HIKMICRO THUNDER for testing; they also provided me with a hand-held LYNX thermal device that I’ll come onto another day, and tell me that they now have the new THUNDER 2.0 sight in stock too, so do be sure to check them out! AA

HIKMICRO TE19 THERMAL VISION SIGHT

ALL THE IDEAS… AND ALL THE GEAR!

IN A FURTHER COLLABORATIVE ARTICLE WITH “MILITARY” ANNY WU, STEWBACCA SAT DOWN WITH HER AFTER HER RECENT VISIT TO THE OTHER END OF THE ISLAND TO FIND OUT THE STORY BEHIND ‘SOLOMAN TAIWAN’, A LOCAL TACTICAL GEAR PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION BUSINESS IN TAIWAN’S SOUTHERNMOST MAJOR CITY OF KAOHSIUNG. THEY’RE ALSO DISTRIBUTORS OF OTHER LARGE NAMES IN THE POLICE/MILITARY EQUIPMENT PROVIDER-WORLD SUCH AS 5.11 TACTICAL, AS WELL AS MORE RECENTLY BRANCHING OUT INTO DOMESTIC MANUFACTURE OF BALLISTIC PROTECTION PLATES AND HELMETS, AND DRILL AMMUNITION, AND THE OWNER HAS QUITE A HISTORY WHEN IT COMES TO OUR BELOVED AIRSOFT TOO!

Well known to many in Taiwan, within both the real steel and action air community, ‘Philip’ Chen Hsin-Hung’s name adorns many certificates on people’s walls, including my own, as he was the figurehead within local law enforcement and military training who travelled to Hong Kong a good few years back in 2000 to help broker the agreement to bring Action Air / IPSC to Taiwan as a sporting discipline under the “Taiwan Practical Shooting Association” that he has spearheaded for many years now.

Philip served as the senior instructor and administrator with regards to on-island standards, training and certification for new shooters, and I myself finally had the pleasure of meeting him back at Xmas 2022 for the Kaohsiung level 3 TPSA Pistol and TSMOC Rifle competitions (featured in my coverage back in Issue 147), and as well as getting involved in the shooting himself he was spending his time

meeting competitors, helping to take photos and videos of other people’s stage runs and the general scenes, and even manning the barbecue at times!

Now at 53 years old, he also continues to maintain his own storefront, the import and manufacturing company ‘Soloman’ was founded back in 1995 and has, like the man himself, at this point a long and storied history of serving the local law enforcement, military and shooting enthusiast communities. Now in their 28th year of operation Philip is busy preparing the next generation of successors to eventually take over the reins of the business and build on his existing product lines and successes as well as take the company forward following more recent developments and diversification of their product lines; Anny went to visit and get the lay of the land and find out more about the business and its direction, and now she can share her story!

Located in Kaoshiung’s Lingya district, not far from

“PHILIP SERVED AS THE SENIOR INSTRUCTOR AND ADMINISTRATOR WITH REGARDS TO ON-ISLAND STANDARDS, TRAINING AND CERTIFICATION FOR NEW SHOOTERS, AND I MYSELF FINALLY HAD THE PLEASURE OF MEETING HIM BACK AT XMAS 2022 FOR THE KAOHSIUNG LEVEL 3 TPSA PISTOL AND TSMOC RIFLE COMPETITIONS”

National Highway 1 and within a 10-15 minute walk of both the Zhengyi and Wuweiying MRT stations, the Soloman store is immediately distinguished from its more sedate neighbours by the huge fullheight climbing wall affixed to its upper storefront (although this is not open for public use as of yet) and the similarly huge 5.11 Tactical advertising banner emblazoned with a tactically-clad rifle-bearing man and their ‘Always Be Ready’ tagline, which also adorns the door lintel below the Chinese characters for ‘Soloman’ and an electronic scrolling LED marquee typical of Taiwan’s shops.

The name ‘Soloman’ is somewhat of a play on words; like Stewbacca and many others in the shooting and general community, he is an ardent Star Wars fan, and naturally a Han Solo admirer, as well as being a man of Christian faith, so the store name is a nod to both the lovable rogue trader, and his own

dummy showcasing the more down to earth products available within… the next thing you’re likely to notice is the shop’s resident adorable Corgi Kiva coming to greet you as warmly and enthusiastically as the rest of the staff will!

The ever growing range of products available in store covers myriad offerings from well-known international names such as 5.11 Tactical, Ghost Holster, Condor Outdoor, SIGHTMARK, RADAR1957, NITEIZE, Nextorch, VEXOR, Piexon, BLUE LINE,

one man journey through his business, life and faith. To that end the first thing you’re likely to notice upon entering the premises is the imposing Darth Vader mannequin display stood guarding the doorway, beside a more conventional riot police gear clad

IPSC shooting equipment as well as their own “V-WARRIOR” and “SOLOMAN” produced brands, which are derived from Philip’s own long career’sworth of experiences in military and police service and training environments; having been officially in the employ of Taiwan’s law enforcement and military units as a firearms instructor, as well as travelling further afield in Asia as a guest lecturer or contributor to international policing and shooting conferences, he’s well aware of the needs of his widespread colleagues

AIRSOFT

and their active service requirements in terms of equipment and how they work with it and make best, comfortable use of it daily.

ALWAYS FOCUSED

The main focus of their own brand is police and military customers, with many of the more specialist products only being available to serving officers who provide identification, as well as being offered with services discounts. Philip is personally a strong

and ever growing array of MOLLE/PALS pouches, soft holsters, battle belts, plate carriers and soft ballistic vests, range bags, and all manner of other specialist accoutrements duty personnel will find useful, available in flat black, navy, dark earth colours or even Taiwanese RoC military DCCU digital camouflage patterns.

Initially Soloman also stocked a fairly wide array of airsoft replicas to appeal to that market; however these are slowly being sold off and not so actively replenished in order to make space for the more specialist self-produced items that are increasingly the ‘bread and butter’ of the business; collaborative efforts with the locally based ‘Hardware Coffee’ also give shoppers more of an excuse to take their time in store while enjoying a hot drink too.

A more recent shift in the company’s direction came last year when foreign operatives began tendering for ballistic protection plates, so Philip invested in research and development of such products to domestically produce them and meet what is apparently a growing need for rifle level protection and at present, again with the right credentials, Soloman have plates available that are certified with American NTS laboratory testing and standards, with four models available thus far that are rated for varying levels of protection from pistols and rifles, as well as ballistic helmets also tested by NTS labs and rated to stop 9mm rounds… with the sample bearing the scars of multiple shots taken at it from the top, front, right, left and overhead.

supporter of law enforcement and military personnel and offers discounts to ensure they can acquire the most appropriate equipment for themselves in preference to or supplement to their standard issue gear and thus help keep them as best protected and effective in their work as possible.

With the in house brands being 100% designed, developed and manufactured in Taiwan Philip is able to both draw on his own experiences as well as feedback or suggestions of the community his products are aimed at, as well as ensure quality control and their suitability for purpose, with a wide

Another recent product development is also the production of lightweight polymer inert drill or practise rounds, with Soloman producing 5.56mm NATO and 9mm parabellum variants to facilitate handling and training with minimal risk. The dummy cartridges are mostly of translucent polymer

“‘SOLOMAN’ WAS FOUNDED BACK IN 1995 AND HAS, LIKE THE MAN HIMSELF, AT THIS POINT A LONG AND STORIED HISTORY OF SERVING THE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT, MILITARY AND SHOOTING ENTHUSIAST COMMUNITIES”

construction but feature brass case heads to ensure they can be reliably and repeatedly extracted and ejected from real firearms during training.

The main showroom on the ground floor provides ample room to display the imported and domestically produced wares, however the upper floors provide further storage space as well as the seamstressing and pattern room facilities for the regular weekday staff to use in turning out the in house own brand products, and personal space for Philip’s growing collections of both Star Wars memorabilia and shooting certifications or letters of appointments and awards issued from the numerous associations he cooperates with.

A DISTNGUISHED AIRSOFT HISTORY

Evidently Philip, like many of us, caught the shooting bug at a young age, beginning in airsoft at the age of 16, and he also quickly became part of the furniture at the Tainan air pistol and air rifle shooting range. He would travel there right after school on a regular basis to the point where the senior members decided to act as guarantors for him, seeing his obvious enthusiasm, and make him a fully-fledged member of the club despite his young age.

Back then in the mid 1980’s airsoft itself had a somewhat restricted and barren landscape compared to the world-leading industry and community it has flourished into now, and much of this can be traced back to Philip and his friends in Taipei back when he was just 19. Making fast friends with those who are now the leading figures behind major names in the local airsoft industry, many of whom were collegeera friends at the time, and many of whom were around at the very burgeoning of airsoft as a hobby and industry. Back then airsoft relocas had external tanks (before HPA!) and SQB made them resurgent in popularity, and Taiwan even required red muzzle devices, thankfully a long since eradicated legal hurdle which was overcome in no small part thanks to the efforts of the ‘old guard’ Philip grew up with.

Philip was also involved with the Republic of China Gaming Gun Association back in the 1990s and officially established the ‘Kaohsiung Toy Airsoft Sports Safety Development Association’ as a more locally-based concern in 1998 to help promote survival games as a legitimate activity and further overcome legal hurdles present at the time. Such efforts from the seniors in the industry lead to a much more positive environment with a hopefully ever improving interaction with local and further-flung media as a result of everyone’s efforts! Whether it’s enthusiasts looking to make use of airsoft guns in survival games

and competitions, or law enforcement or military personnel on the much sharper end, it seems Philip’s on a somewhat personal mission to deliver what the people need!

Many thanks to Philip for his cooperation and Anny for making the trip South and providing the story for us; we have lots more to come in the following months as our collaborative efforts continue to expand now we can cover more ground together or separately! AA

FAST TIMES!

WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN YOU TAKE A BUNCH OF EXCELLENT AIRSOFTERS, PLACE THEM IN A BRANDNEW, PURPOSE-BUILT, CUTTING-EDGE CQB TRAINING FACILITY, AND ADD SOME TOP TIER TRAINERS TO THE MIX? BILL FOUND OUT WHEN HE WAS INVITED TO ATTEND THE INAUGURAL LEVEL 1 AIRSOFT TRAINING COURSE RUN BY FAST TACTICAL LAST MONTH AND NOW REPORTS BACK…

Over many years of working within the tactical, firearms, and airsoft communities it has been my distinct privilege to every-so-often get an invite to go and report on some righteous training courses. Many will question the necessity of “training for airsoft” but it’s almost inevitable that if you stick with our beloved game for more than a few years you will simply want “more”.

Whilst there are courses for shooting skills and accuracy, and for “greenside” skills appropriate to rural ops, the most common airsoft training course that I see is for CQB. We all love a bit of “urban action”, and indeed there are many games each and every year all over the world that offer a “unique AO” either

on military sites or within carefully chosen urban settings… they are often “big ticket events” with a hefty price-tag attached, but when they’re run correctly, with some solid, imaginative scenarios and good marshalling they can create airsoft memories that will last you a lifetime!

So, when you get the chance to hit a big game, you want to be on your A-Game, and this to me is where investing in some quality training comes in. Yes, of course you can just turn up and blow BBs downrange at all and sundry and love every minute, but the real joy of any CQB scenario is when you see entire teams moving efficiently room to room and owning the real estate!

So, training for airsoft? Sign me up every time!

My invitation to attend the course offered by FAST TACTICAL as always came via a personal contact, and right now if you try and find them they’re a bit like the “A-TEAM”, as a place on their training courses is by invite only! You won’t find a website, and you most certainly will not find them flapping their gums on social media; this is not some sort of elitism though, it’s just down to the fact that the FAST TACTICAL Directing Staff (DS) are professionals who are/have been involved in real-world operations at the very highest level, and like many of this breed they don’t shout about things, they just crack on and “get work done”.

As I said, I’ve been lucky enough in my “career” to have worked with some absolutely righteous trainers, and of all of them the FAST TACTICAL DS are somewhat unique, and all the better for that. Whilst they have used and refined what they teach in the real-world what they offer is training that is focused squarely towards the airsofter! I’ll say straight off that their approach is not one of “this is what we do, you do it the same” (anyone that’s been about a bit knows that this doesn’t always work in an airsoft setting!), but instead is “this is what we do, now let’s see how you can apply this to airsoft effectively”.

As well as having the right kit in the right place (more of this next issue), when you hit a FAST TACTICAL training course the first thing that you will need is your brain! They will help to provide the tools to place in your “tactical toolbox”, but they encourage you both as an individual and as part of a team to think through what you are doing and why you’re doing it. There’s no “wrong” per se (other than safety of course!) but rather every mis-step is seen as an opportunity to analyse, rectify and improve in a positive way.

SETTING THE SCENE

CQB, even in airsoft, is one of the most dangerous and rapidly changing environments, one that is unforgiving and that can decimate both plans and

“THEIR APPROACH IS NOT ONE OF “THIS IS WHAT WE DO, YOU DO IT THE SAME” (ANYONE THAT’S BEEN ABOUT A BIT KNOWS THAT THIS DOESN’T ALWAYS WORK IN AN AIRSOFT SETTING!), BUT INSTEAD IS “THIS IS WHAT WE DO, NOW LET’S SEE HOW YOU CAN APPLY THIS TO AIRSOFT EFFECTIVELY””

teams when things go south. CQB environments are problematic and complicated; there are no fixed solutions or procedures and too many problems. It is short range (under 10m), violent and has immediate effects which promote or hinder the player and their team from being proactive. As a rule CQB is all about finding an immediate solution to an immediate problem, and the FAST TACTICAL system is based on the tried and tested doctrine and the experience of the DS in specialised units really shines through at every stage. The focus of the system is to deal with and “solve” a room from a tactical point of advantage, and then own it.

The crux of their “Tactical Movement 1” training course and introduction to their system is actually right there in the name “FAST”, as this stands for Fearlessness/Awareness/Speed/Teamwork. The “Fearlessness” aspect here is really the “airsoft bit” in that they appreciate that at least one player in the team will probably get hit; we don’t have fancy body-armour or other protection and they totally get that a BB-strike is “done and out”, so they ask you to engage brain and accept that it’s highly likely that someone may need to “take one for the team”, so be fearless, get work done, and ensure that the ultimate goal is attained!

And FAST TACTICAL DS do not believe in just running into rooms, or working in dogmatic patterns which frankly speaking any decent OPFOR will understand; they teach you to evaluate a problem and then take swift and immediate action. This is done with careful assessments of the target area and then manipulations of angles and a healthy risk assessment “muscle” that they develop with their students. All in all this system is a cool approach and will ensure that you will learn more than just that ‘’running’ into rooms” looking for your corner.

In the system FAST TACTICAL focus on engaging the threat from an advantage perspective; they want us to work as safely as possible while maintaining efficiency. FAST TACTICAL believe in the idea that most of the problems in the room can be examined and fixed, if necessary, through reconnaissance from the outside of the room or with a deliberate manipulation of “angles” while sticking to basic principles. These principles will allow you as a player to work and deal with threats with less risk; not totally

“THE FAST TACTICAL DS ARE SOMEWHAT UNIQUE, AND ALL THE BETTER FOR THAT. WHILST THEY HAVE USED AND REFINED WHAT THEY TEACH IN THE REAL-WORLD, WHAT THEY OFFER IS TRAINING THAT IS FOCUSED SQUARELY TOWARDS THE AIRSOFTER!”

without risk as this is airsoft-focused after all, but by minimising exposure of the entire team.

GETTING OUR CQB ON!

The course was run at the outstanding new Tactical Training Centre that’s been purpose-built as an extension to the existing Silverstone Shooting Centre, one of the UKs best live-fire facilities, and it’s been created with the professional user in mind. Radiating from a central car park with a briefing/dining facility and toilets are “spokes”, tunnels through the high berms, that lead to both live-fire-rated ranges and two-storey Skills House elements… and EVERYTHING is video monitored so you can see what’s going on in every room!

I’d not been to this particular facility before so when I rocked up I was taken immediately by the layout; this is a professional-standard training facility and from the car park you can see nothing of what awaits you behind the berms, so the central area is more than a “safe zone” in every way. Of course the

unloaded and made safe at all times. The majority of the guys attending were using gas platforms, and I for one made use of a breech flag to visibly indicate cleared status of my G17 and Mk18.

I was greeted onsite by the FAST TACTICAL DS and by John who owns the whole centre and runs the logistics; I would stress here that it is NOT Silverstone Shooting Centre that runs the course itself, just the absolutely first-rate facility, so please don’t go calling John to see if you can get onto a FAST TACTICAL course as he genuinely won’t be able to help you… remember, INVITE ONLY!

Training Centre is attached to a live-fire facility, and indeed is one itself, so RIFs need to be transported from training element to element in gun cases,

I was given a walk round of the elements we would be using; these are all self-contained areas set up specifically for CQB training with multiple “room spaces” that can be changed easily and quickly simply by opening and closing doors, and by moving wheeled “wall” sections. The rooms also came complete with an array of targets (including one “shoot/no shoot” fondly known by all as “Little Vern”; “Big Vern” sadly didn’t make it past the trial day at the site allegedly…) of different styles set at different heights that could be positioned anywhere as required. Shortly after I arrived the guys began to filter in, and by 09:00, the “kick off” hour for the course to start, the full group had assembled. Some had trained together before, and some had attended the “trial day” on site prior to the first course proper. All were well kitted out and well prepared as per the Joining Instructions issued, and one thing was immediately obvious to me… all the guys attending were switched on and had taken it upon themselves to come along and better their ever-growing skillsets.

After introductions the DS immediately got cracking with the briefing. They first briefed us about

“SO, WHEN YOU GET THE CHANCE TO HIT A BIG GAME, YOU WANT TO BE ON YOUR A-GAME, AND THIS TO ME IS WHERE INVESTING IN SOME QUALITY TRAINING COMES IN… THE REAL JOY OF ANY CQB SCENARIO IS WHEN YOU SEE ENTIRE TEAMS MOVING EFFICIENTLY ROOM TO ROOM AND OWNING THE REAL ESTATE!”

the site itself, our safe deportment around it, and specific safety requirements. They explained that the course would be all about identifying problems, and about solving them safely, efficiently and effectively. They immediately encouraged us to share our thoughts about our expectations, and from this point it was obvious that they intended to push the guys not just physically, but mentally as well.

After a short range session to ensure everyone was zero’d we moved on to the superb 50m range, discussing kit choices and gear placement, room anatomy, hard corners, soft corners, entry angles, and the DS introduced the principle of analysing a situation using this information, how we could work out the room in some cases before even entering by examining the external features. Quietly spoken and humorous, yet authoritative at all times the DS encouraged input at every stage; their approach was that if we were asking questions we were paying attention!

DRIVING ON!

After a some practice moving through the rooms on the 50m range, as well as some work in lo-lite/no-lite situations (the guys with NVGs LOVED this!) the run up to lunch featured a debrief on tactical movement through skills learned so far, with a further “round robin” session on situational awareness/entry points, attractions/distractions, threat recognition, action/ reaction, tactical peak, and finally stoppage drills, both 1 and 2 person. . The DS drove the guys forward with their passion and obvious skill, and they seemed intent to deliver a thoroughly full course with each and every

minute accounted for.

After and excellent (but swift!) lunch the DS opened the afternoon session with a thorough briefing of what could be expected as we entered the “Skills House Phase”. This would take things from a single storey range environment to a two-storey with multiple entry/egress points, and again being “switched on” was a pre-requisite! Then there was a walk-round, and some familiarisation with the Skills House itself, and I would stress here that any pictures you see where eyepro is off means that all rifles, carbines, and pistols were safe, with mags out.

After this it was 100% on for individual skills development and practice; this moved swiftly onto working as a two man team, then four or larger. Eventually during the course of the day, individuals began to meld into teams “Alpha” “Bravo” and “Charlie”, with those breaking down into “Heavy”, “Sneak” and “STEAL TEAM 6” (joke of the day!) sticks for specific scenarios. As the afternoon wore on though the sheer overload of information combined with the sheer physicality of the course saw attention beginning to wander as the “black dogs” of fatigue

“MY INVITATION TO ATTEND THE COURSE OFFERED BY FAST TACTICAL AS ALWAYS CAME VIA A PERSONAL CONTACT, AND RIGHT NOW IF YOU TRY AND FIND THEM THEY’RE A BIT LIKE THE “A-TEAM”, AS A PLACE ON THEIR TRAINING COURSES IS BY INVITE ONLY!”

and stress kicked in. Things started going south, techniques got sloppy, mistakes were made, and frustration came to the fore, but the guys just dug in, learned from everything… and got the job done!

and yet more exultant highs individually and together. They’d felt pain and the sheer tired numbness that a full-on day will bring and overcome these to achieve the fundamental basics that with time and diligence might become CQB excellence… and all of this was down to a superb training facility in the shape of the Tactical Training Village at Silverstone, and ultimately to the FAST TACTICAL DS.

The guys were pushed HARD; as gifted instructors the DS took them ever forward, made them question techniques they had previously thought gospel, showed them new ways to work a scenario, gave them the skills to do so, and finally rebuilt them into a functional and efficient airsoft unit, building confidence with each and every “pie cut”.

I’ll conclude this report with a blunt statement; if you are a physically fit individual, with a true desire to learn and a passion for enhancing your personal airsoft skillset, then you REALLY need to get yourself on a FAST TACTICAL training course. You WILL be pushed hard, but the physical skills and the mind-set you learn will make you welcome in any group of like-minded players anywhere in our big, wide world of airsoft!

I asked some of the guys after the course what they felt they had gained and they told me:

Richard, Red Widows: “My thoughts on the day? It’s different from your average skirmish day as you’re not firing loads of shots. You are however learning new tactics and ways of doing things. All in all I had a great day!”

After a short break where everyone was told to eat and hydrate, the teams that I saw re-enter the Skills House had changed. With just a short time to contemplate what they had learnt, there was a new drive and urgency about them. Back in the Skills House scenario flowed to scenario and the guys rocked. Pressure was piled upon pressure and they excelled each and every time with the DS’ critical yet supportive eyes upon them.

Drill followed drill and the pace continued unabated. By the time the course concluded with a “force on force” scenario the teams were working efficiently and cohesively, the skills and practices they had learnt flowing smoothly and naturally. Everyone had worked their backside off; they’d had highs, lows,

ReaperCrew Airsoft (@reapercrewairsoft), G-Man, Ben, and Urban Reaper: “We were the only ones available on the day for the training course. We found it very educational and it taught us tactics that we will use for future games, events and situations we would find ourselves in. The rest of the crew will be attending the course to catch up with us so we can move forward as a team and complete the other segments together. Great instructor, location and course, 10/10!”

Cameron, Titan Corp Airsoft (@titan_corp. Pallas): “What I’d say about the day? Incredible! It offers an an amazing chance to try something different and develop new skills while building confidence and teamwork with some amazing staff

“DRILL FOLLOWED DRILL AND THE PACE CONTINUED UNABATED. BY THE TIME THE COURSE CONCLUDED WITH A “FORCE ON FORCE” SCENARIO THE TEAMS WERE WORKING EFFICIENTLY AND COHESIVELY, THE SKILLS AND PRACTICES THEY HAD LEARNT FLOWING SMOOTHLY AND NATURALLY”

and community. It’s a totally different day compared to a standard skirmish; immersive, practical and engaging.”

SOG – Jester: “I attended the training event with some of my team and we appreciated the exclusiveness of the opportunity that was given to us. We appreciated that the training course was catered to both real steel and airsoft, which made it interesting, and the open topic of conversation amongst everyone was really productive. We are definitely in line to have a full squad training event on the next one. Can’t thank FAST TACTICAL enough!”

Nigel, Airsofterbritain: “What can I say about the course? Well, if you want to turn your CQC to the next level, then this is the course for you. It’s the top tier level of immersion into the elite phenomenon that is close quarter combat. If you’re serious about airsoft and you want your team to dominate on the playing field, then why aren’t you here!? Learn how to communicate with simply gun movement, learn how to react by your position number, improve reaction time and understand how your whole team will function. It’s just brilliant, with a venue designed

for real world use and instructors to match. We are hopeful to progress to team leader level and beyond to instructors. Simply brilliant, See you on the game field!”

Stu, LinkSTU: “What a blast and learning curve! Doing this training has given my airsoft a whole new lease of life! I learned how things are tactically planned so that you can enter effectively and conquer your mission objective/s… a great day with a bunch of like-minded airsofters and great instructors… what a privilege to be invited!”

My thanks go to everyone that was involved with all the WhatsApp banter and that attended the course, to Richard for all the chats during the day, and to Stu for just being Stu! A big hi-five to the REAPER CREW guys that kindly let me run one of the scenarios with them, and of course to the excellent FAST TACTICAL DS for inviting me along!

Listen out for details of FAST TACTICAL courses in the future, and to paraphrase the “A-TEAM”… “If you need great airsoft CQB training, if no one else can help and if you can find them, maybe you can train with FAST TACTICAL!” AA

“LISTEN OUT FOR DETAILS OF FAST TACTICAL COURSES IN THE FUTURE, AND TO PARAPHRASE THE “A-TEAM”… “IF YOU NEED GREAT AIRSOFT CQB TRAINING, IF NO ONE ELSE CAN HELP AND IF YOU CAN FIND THEM, MAYBE YOU CAN TRAIN WITH FAST TACTICAL!””

POLK3 –HEATWAVE MILSIM!

ONCE AGAIN OUR DYNAMIC DUO IN THE “WILD WEST, OUT EAST” ‘MILITARY’ ANNY WU & STEWBACCA HAVE TEAMED UP TO BRING ANOTHER TALE OF INTRIGUE FROM ‘AIRSOFT CENTRAL’, THIS TIME BRAVING THE SEARING HEAT OF MID-SUMMER ON THE EAST COAST NEAR THE POPULAR BEACH RESORT OF FULONG! POLK 3 MILSIM WAS HELD IN THE SAME REGION AS LAST YEAR’S POLK 2 (COVERED BACK IN ISSUE NO. 144) BUT THIS TIME WAS HELD EARLIER IN THE YEAR AND IN A MUCH BETTER PLAYING ENVIRONMENT, WITH MUCH BETTER RESULTS ALL ROUND… FOR THE MOST PART!

Once again the brutality of the tropical summer climate has descended upon our beloved home of Taiwan, but nonetheless we continue playing in the heat and humidity, usually hosing ourselves and our tactical gear off, after sweating out all our electrolytes; I guess it keeps your joints warm and mobile at least… Last year’s POLK 2 MilSim was an excellently run event but as I relayed in my article about it, the sheer density of the jungle vines and terrain at the Northern end of the campsite made the playing experience punishing and somewhat insurmountable for many, even beating the lights out of this veteran of many weekender games in the UK and Spain, despite my enthusiasm in the face of the adversity.

Thankfully the organisers, Chen Ming, “Ben” Wan LiWei and Fan JunWei, and their extended team of organisational staff are all good friends of the airsoft community and directly involved with participating in a lot of the teams who were in attendance of these events, so they took a lot of the feedback from last year’s event to heart and persevered. They pulled this year’s MilSim weekender forward ahead of the main tourist rush that books out the great facilities of the Fulong Longmen campsite every summer (including the excellent camping areas with electrical outlets, toilet and shower blocks), making it much easier to attract female players as well as have guys bring their families out to enjoy the base camp and barbecue as well. As a result 2023’s 3rd event was even better than last year, with a much improved playing area that allowed for greater team coordination, communications and fire and manoeuvre to be enacted; leaning on the tactics and extensive training and practise Team Taiji had been drilling in as I relayed in my article in August’s issue No.152 much of this effort paid off well for us in the end with better gameplay.

‘POLK’ is an event name derived from the Taiwanese

phonetic interpretation of the English ‘Pork’ - the event being so named because the centrepiece is a barbecue that quite literally ‘goes the whole hog’, with a specialist catering team coming on site each event to spit roast a pig so that everyone involved can ‘eat well, sleep well and play well’. This is much like the epic Ground Zero events in the UK, the focus is not purely airsoft and the skirmishing or MilSim aspect, but a good excuse to get co-operating teams and players from all over the island to come out in force for equal measures of gunfire and merriment… although the merriment tends to spill into the night and affects the numbers rallying for the second day’s gameplay!

Anny elucidated to me there is a Chinese saying: “有句話三軍未發，糧草先行”(Yǒu jù huà sānjūn wèi fā, liángcǎo xiānxíng) which translates to “the three armies have not yet set out; food and grass go first”, which I guess would equate most directly to Napoleon’s understanding that “An army marches on its stomach”; the provisions are dealt with first, or the forces aren’t going anywhere! Suffice to say throughout the event everyone remained well fed and watered, especially important given the very real danger of heat exhaustion in the conditions.

“‘POLK’ IS AN EVENT NAME DERIVED FROM THE TAIWANESE PHONETIC INTERPRETATION OF THE ENGLISH ‘PORK’ - THE EVENT BEING SO NAMED BECAUSE THE CENTREPIECE IS A BARBECUE THAT QUITE LITERALLY ‘GOES THE WHOLE HOG’, WITH A SPECIALIST CATERING TEAM COMING ON SITE EACH EVENT TO SPIT ROAST A PIG SO THAT EVERYONE INVOLVED CAN ‘EAT WELL, SLEEP WELL AND PLAY WELL’”

TEAMS TOGETHER

This year nearly 200 participants amassed, of which our own team Taiji fielded 45 members, around half of our official on-the-books roster, although many of those are semiretired or have other commitments that lessen their ability to get involved with activities. Nonetheless we were out in great force and had a command structure in place that saw 8 squads working together under our unit leaders to great effect; all the preparation we had put in since the previous POLK 2 had definitely shown and our command, communication and movements were on point and noticed by many of the staff and our opposition, it seems. It may have been slow going at times, or we faced entrenched and stubborn OpFor, but apparently it felt to some like we were everywhere and moving with a purpose, so that’s pleasing to hear!

We set off early on the morning of Saturday the 7th of July, Anny and myself thankfully getting a ride all the way to the site with our Irish teammate Colin, which meant I didn’t have to worry about cramming all my guns and gear into my 5.11 SOMS 2.0 and navigating Taiwan’s crowded rail network like last year with the guys. The organisation of our team also meant that small units amassed all over Taipei and further afield to share vehicles or ride to the east coast in convoy on scooters! We- arrived on site first and set up camp while Anny mucked in and made herself useful as she always does taking pictures of the area and helping the organisers to churn through the typical wealth of admin tasks as our own team and other participants arrived throughout the morning. We received our individual event patches at the sign in gazebo at the camping are entrance; a large square with “POLK3” across the top, a red wild boar logo and the team colour (blue or yellow) as the lower right triangle half ad this functioned as both team identifier in lieu of bands and memento of the event.

By the time Colin and I finished setting up our part of the base camp with our tents, extension leads, washing lines and overhead awnings, I’d already expended all of the 7 litres

of fluids I’d originally brought with me, and wrung out my lightweight shirt! Thankfully a run to the local

7-11 was made to restock us all with fresh cold water and sports drinks (yeah, ‘hot’ doesn’t really cover it); Taipei and the north were basically hitting 40 degrees centigrade, plus we had the seaside humidity on top. Once everyone got settled in we began changing into BDUs and preparing all our gear to rally for the initial briefing and action.

Following the usual sign in and gun chrono procedures we began amassing just at the top of the campsite at the main open air but canopied mess hall

“A RUN TO THE LOCAL 7-11 WAS MADE TO RESTOCK US ALL WITH FRESH COLD WATER AND SPORTS DRINKS (YEAH, ‘HOT’ DOESN’T REALLY COVER IT); TAIPEI AND THE NORTH WERE BASICALLY HITTING 40 DEGREES CENTIGRADE, PLUS WE HAD THE SEASIDE HUMIDITY ON TOP”

area around midday, with the typical Taiwanese lunch boxes of rice, meat and veg being distributed along with sports drinks to make sure everyone had a decent lunch in them to operate on. Command elements began the more extensive top level leadership briefings, while the subordinate units went back to their tents just down a short ramp and made final checks and preparations of their personal equipment, as well as the usual posing and picture taking in full battle-rattle looking freshly turned out and sharp, before the day’s impending actions inevitably drenched us in sweat and made us look forlorn and dishevelled!

Some of the others and I took to scouting the game area and take in the awesome views of the beachfront nearby which we couldn’t really see from the opposite northern end of the site at the previous year’s event; suffice to say we were much more excited at the prospect of open spaces with foliage and buildings dotted around which would undoubtedly be a welcome break from the murderous dense jungle at the other end of the site!

As the sun climbed into the sky and we climbed into our plate carriers and started warming up our comms and dialling in command and squad specific channels for listening in on orders from higher up as well as talking among ourselves on lower levels respectively. At 13:00 we all amassed in separate BluFor and OpFor (yellow team) briefings from our command elements, taking in the features of the aerial photograph map and the spawn points, bounds of the game area

and various routes through from one team’s start point to the other, and then the medic rules making use of team coloured tie-wraps distributed to the designated medics within squads, to be wrapped around casualty’s wrists in game and then removed by marshals at respawn to give everyone two lives each round and make counting losses easier by the organisational team who were co-ordinating throughout.

GAME ON!

While the terrain was still hilly in places and had some smattering of very dense or impassable jungle, it was much more forgiving than last year’s and allowed us to move as complete elements with ease, covering each other off and advancing under covering fire

BluFor started at the top end of the site just near the mess hall area so didn’t have to trek quite as far, at around 14:00 after a bit of a false start however we

“CLAMBERING INTO THE BUSHES AT THE SIDES OF ONE OF THE PATHWAYS OUR ALPHA ONE SQUAD LISTENED IN ON COMMS AND THE DISTANT GUNFIRE AS CHARLIE AND DELTA SQUADS VEERED OFF RIGHT DOWN THE JUNGLE PATHWAY TOWARD THE YELLOW TEAM’S SPAWN IN AN ATTEMPT TO SHOOT OUT THEIR EMPLACED SCORING BALLOONS”

had expended some of our energy reserves in vain making like the wind to take up positions over the pathways up to our spawn point, and on the second go signal people were less rapid in their deployment.

Clambering into the bushes at the sides of one of the pathways our Alpha One squad listened in on comms and the distant gunfire as Charlie and Delta squads veered off right down the jungle pathway toward the Yellow team’s spawn in an attempt to shoot out their emplaced scoring balloons at the rear of their start point; nothing much happened for us for a few minutes as the Bravo squads had secured the main road curving through the site ahead at the base of the hill and prevented any movement of OpFor to our position, so we then displaced right down the same road Charlie and Delta had done to assist them and replenish the members already eliminated by Yellow team’s entrenched defence teams.

Eventually we became somewhat bogged down in our advance at a bit of a ridgeline halfway down the hill overlooking Yellow team’s spawn point, and took enough incoming fire sporadically to make movement and engagement more difficult. Running my VFC FAL with a 4x ACOG I had somewhat of a range advantage so ended up sideways rolling and leopard crawling my way to the front of the line into a bit of a depression with my teammate Roger ‘Kiwi’. Incoming fire peppered around us but it seemed that luckily a particular branch right in our line of sight was thankfully deflecting the direct fire from us, and we managed to stay in until the end of the round, slowly edging forward and taking deliberate and aimed shots at the enemy positions that were pouring fire into our team with varying levels of success.

Having gotten stuck in, very well muddied on my arms, BDU’s and tac gear as well as dumping four magazines through my FAL and emptying my PPQ sidearm in a pinch during trying to reload, the whistle went signifying the end of the round just before 1500. We picked ourselves and our scattered gear and spent magazines up, dusted ourselves off and made our way back to the mess hall area for all important rehydration and re-arming. I arrived to see one of the unfortunate Taiwanese players sprawled out, hanging half-out of one of the shower cubicles and surrounded by his squadmates trying to hose him down and cool

him off; shortly after an ambulance arrived to get him to better treatment, and thankfully I’m told he made a full recovery, but we all took heed of the situation and ensured we took on sufficient fluids alongside reloading.

Having made a bit of a mess of my gear and already being drenched in sweat, I decided to go a step further and ditched off my plate carrier, sidearm and mags and had one of the guys hold the mess hall hose over me and let rip! I certainly managed to get all the mud off my BDUs as well as a lot of the sweat out of them, and drenched head to toe in cool water I felt much refreshed in the otherwise oppressive heat!

Having taken around half an hour to ensure everyone was physically surviving the climate and had rehydrated and rearmed sufficiently, we moved out again for the next action. In retrospect, we could have left our sustainment packs at the mess hall area and been les encumbered by weight and gear seeing as the distance to camp was less than a hundred

“INCOMING FIRE PEPPERED AROUND US BUT IT SEEMED THAT LUCKILY A PARTICULAR BRANCH RIGHT IN OUR LINE OF SIGHT WAS THANKFULLY DEFLECTING THE DIRECT FIRE FROM US, AND WE MANAGED TO STAY IN UNTIL THE END OF THE ROUND, SLOWLY EDGING FORWARD AND TAKING DELIBERATE AND AIMED SHOTS AT THE ENEMY POSITIONS THAT WERE POURING FIRE INTO OUR TEAM WITH VARYING LEVELS OF SUCCESS”

metres, and the actions didn’t give us much time out of contact to expend our hydration or make use of snacks we’d packed; all feedback and lessons given and learned after the fact, you always end up carrying more than you need to, but I’d already thinned my own gear out considerably given past experiences of MilSims, nonetheless I could carry less, I felt.

SWITCHEROO!

Switching ends with us taking up position downhill in what had been the yellow team’s spawn point, with a commanding view down to the horseshoe in the main road below, as well as looking left and uphill back up the way we had assaulted from in the first round, a few guys hung around at the spawn to cover it, but the majority of squads got actively stuck

in taking both main paths and some off-road routes in between, putting pressure on the OpFor from the outset. Me and the rest of Alpha One hung back a little and then followed others in down the main road to take control of the curve and move along it; we began taking casualties from the unmistakable cadence and high volume of fire of support weapons (VFC Mk48 LMG AEGs!) as yellow team had gotten stubbornly wedged into a shrub line at the crest of the hill we were following the road up.

Anny, it turns out, was up there taking pictures of the OpFor action while we were below trying to move and co-ordinate through their fusillade; we managed some progress individually and leapfrogging in pairs on both sides of the road, but eventually attrition and a loss of momentum set in; I got eliminated and returned to respawn, listening in on the chatter of my teammates over the radio while I took cover in one side of the shrubbery and I just finished reloading all my magazines as the OpFor broke through and wiped out the rest of my squad without me realising! I could have taken a good few of them out if I’d realised they were enemies moving up the road, but the way they were displacing and looking back I assumed they were our own forces, something that irked me a great deal after I realised too late and they took me out as the last man standing in our lines. Sad times.

With that round thoroughly in the hands of yellow team we all retired to the mess hall again where the eponymous pig barbecue was nearly ready and after quickly ditching our gear and a very much welcome shower we began queuing around 1800 to take our share of the various meats, veg, noodles and rice. Everyone was in immediately better spirits having cleaned ourselves and our plates and the cooler baths full of beer soon followed, a large stockpile having been gifted by Bolt Airsoft who were on site all weekend showcasing their latest products including allowing people to test out their new upcoming foray into GBBRs!

The sun went down just before 19:00 and the evening’s festivities were in full swing with the beers and conversation flowing freely, although many were clearly beaten and retired to their tents early; unfortunately we soon had to see Anny off as well; she could only join us for the first day due to yet more

“LISTENING IN ON THE CHATTER OF MY TEAMMATES OVER THE RADIO WHILE I TOOK COVER IN ONE SIDE OF THE SHRUBBERY AND I JUST FINISHED RELOADING ALL MY MAGAZINES AS THE OPFOR BROKE THROUGH AND WIPED OUT THE REST OF MY SQUAD WITHOUT ME REALISING!”

international adventures and she had to be up early and at the airport for on Sunday morning, but she’d nonetheless already managed to take an substantial amount of photos, getting right into the thick of the action on both sides. By 20:00 Team Taiji had already returned to our camp and taken a few beers with us to assess the day’s events, and run through what we did well and could improve on the next day.

After putting paid to a lot of the events as well as a substantial number of cans, many of us finally sidled back to our own tents to attempt some sleep and prepare for the next morning, however the ambient noise of generators, loud insects and other such things, coupled with the heat and humidity made it somewhat of a rough night’s sleep for most - compounded on top of the dehydration from the day’s exertion and that of the inevitable beer related frivolities nobody seemed to be particularly ready and raring to go the next day. I immediately started sinking substantial amounts of water and sports drinks to try and alleviate my own woes, while we all began preparing our equipment for the second day.

RINSE AND REPEAT

With the lessons of the previous day freshly in mind, coupled with my hydration plate and bladder apparently leaking somewhat, I removed a lot of the snacks and water from my kit and focused on bottled drinks and a smaller amount of supplementary ammunition having not had much chance to reload in the field the previous day. Everyone gathered at 0800 as one of the organiser’s 4x4s reversed up to the mess hall area and unleashed the single largest McDonalds order any of us had ever seen, With breakfast muffins, hash browns and iced tea for the best part of 200 bodies pouring out of the vehicle and into the thankful gullets of the waiting masses!

By 0930 all remaining forces had coalesced in full battle rattle again; as is often the case with these events, many had left early either the previous night, or in the morning, with many having other commitments given that Sunday is widely seen as a day for family in Taiwan. Many will join the shooting and festivities of the first day and then return home early, and of course some were just defeated by the sheer heat this year, like they were by the jungle itself last year. Yellow team were left severely depleted to barely double digits it seemed, and BluFor was halved, with Team Taiji losing half of our numbers as well. To keep the action going the decision was made to rebalance the teams, and in the end Taiji were given the ‘us versus the world’ mandate and formed the whole of one team with everyone else remaining

joining forces to take us on… always nice to be able to work with your friends!

The last action was to be a simpler capture the flag action with a switching of sides afterwards; however the first round was won by us almost immediately as our own resident Russian Ivan ‘Rabbit’ ran like hell and took the flag before the OpFor could even get near the middle ground… a bit of an empty victory all told, but good effort on his part! We switched things around and at least managed a more balanced firefight for the closing action of the second day, with me and a few others in our squad breaking off from the main firefight and moving through very heavy jungle directly towards the flank of the enemy lines. We could hear their chatter and gunfire mere metres away, but getting BBs through the foliage was somewhat of a challenge for both sides; eventually they found their mark before I could and I trudged back to the mess hall for the final roundup and to prep my gear for packing away after a few final promotional photos of me and some of our team to help out with Bolt’s new product drives.

Finally we could break camp, stow all our gear and change out of our sodden BDUs, boots and head home, seeing off the remnants of our team with many of them leaving on scooters in convoy, myself and Colin at least had the luxury of his air conditioned 4x4 and each other’s good company all the way back to the west end of Taipei.

Many thanks as always to the indispensable and often unsung efforts of the organisational team, coordinating staff, Bolt Airsoft for their support of the event, my compatriots in Team Taiji, and of course the fine folks of other teams who fought alongside and against us with such enthusiasm despite the challenges. Special thanks of course go to Anny Wu for her help with the photography and story, as well as additional photos from our teammate Jerry Wu who took time out of game to take shots with his camera in lieu of his GBBRs, and of course to Colin for the transport and good conversation to and from site. A good weekend had by all, despite the mercury rising, fellow shooters... November will be our next MilSim. AA