AIRSOFT ACTION
P L AY E R S ’
C H O I C E
B E S T
A I R S O F T
M A G A Z I N E
ARMOURY
ASG CZ SP-01 GREY UMAREX HK416 GBB LCT PP-19-01 VITYAZ
IWA 2018 - WE WERE THERE!
INTERNATIONAL SOUTH AFRICA
COMPETITION
EYE PRO
MAY 2018
SECOND LINE GEAR
FIRST TIME ‘SOFTERS
WILEY X
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THE LAST POST
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SCOPES
SIGHTMARK OPTICS
BESPOKE AIRSOFT
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THE KINGDOM
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PROJECT CRETE
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AIRSOFT ACTION
P L AY E R S ’
C H O I C E
B E S T
A I R S O F T
M A G A Z I N E
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ARMOURY
ASG CZ SP-01 GREY UMAREX HK416 GBB LCT PP-19-01 VITYAZ
IWA 2018 - WE WERE THERE!
ARMOURY: ARMOURY: UMAREX HK416 GBB ASG CZ SP-01 GREY
INTERNATIONAL SOUTH AFRICA
COMPETITION
SCOPES
MAY 2018
SIGHTMARK OPTICS
WILEY X
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THE LAST POST
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BESPOKE AIRSOFT
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THE KINGDOM
9 772047 348032
EYE PRO
SECOND LINE GEAR
FIRST TIME ‘SOFTERS
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PROUDLY SUPPORTING PILGRIM BANDITS PROJECT CRETE
MAY 2018 - £4.50
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24
Editor: Nigel Streeter Assistant Editor: Gareth “Gadge” Harvey Graphic Design: Havoc Design Ad Design: Havoc Design Publisher: Nigel Streeter Cover Photo: Courtesy of ICS Captain Sweden Bjorn at Klockar Airsoft; picture taken by sweetkay78 (Instagram) UK 13-issue subscription rate: £46.50 UK 6-issue subscription rate: £24.00 For overseas prices email: subs@airsoft-action.co.uk
EVENT: IWA 2018
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FEATURE: BESPOKE AIRSOFT
INTERNATIONAL: SOUTH AFRICA
Wyche Innovation Centre, Walwyn Road, Upper Colwall, Malvern, Worcestershire, WR13 6PL Tel: 01684 878 003 Web: www.airsoft-action.online ©Calibre Publishing Limited 2018 All rights are reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the express permission of the publisher in writing. The opinion of the writers do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher. The editor reserves the right to edit submissions prior to print. Distributed by Intermedia Brand Marketing Ltd.
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KIT: SITEMARK OPTICS
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 Editor: nige@airsoft-action.co.uk, write to us at the Calibre Publishing address above, or talk to us on Twitter or Facebook.
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SITE: STORMFORCE AIRSOFT
Contents MAY 2018
CONTENTS MAY 2018 6 NEWS 8 ROGUE’S GALLERY Cool photos of Airsoft Action readers.
12 ARMOURY: UMAREX HK416 GBB As licences go, they don’t get much bigger than Heckler & Koch and Scott Allan puts Umarex’s fullylicenced HK416 GBB through its paces.
16 ARMOURY: ASG CZ SP-01 GREY As Les Lee had previously reviewed ASG’s excellent CZ SP-01 Shadow, we thought it only right that he should also examine their latest offering to see how it compared.
20 ARMOURY: LCT PP-19-01 VITYAZ There is a whole family of excellent “AK” variants from Taiwanese manufacturer LCT and this month Jerry Noone brings things up to date with one of the latest designs from IZHMASH.
24 EVENT: IWA 2018 Bill and Gadge report back on a show where there was lots to see and where your favourite airsoft magazine was recognised once again for its on-going excellence!
32 EYE PROTECTION: WILEY X Tactical Optician, Andy Bourne, takes a look at some of the latest airsoft-friendly products from military-grade eye protection specialists, Wiley X.
38 BATTLESIM: OP FIGHTING LIGHT Tom “Anvil” Hibberd returns to a site he last saw from a completely different perspective to take part in a single-day BattleSim event.
42 PROJECT CRETE: SECOND LINE GEAR As the clock ticks inexorably down to WarZone 2018 Bill and Kelly are really starting to pull their personal kit together and this month they share what they have chosen for their “Second Line Gear” and why.
46 INSIDE AIRSOFT: MID WALES AIRSOFT
72 ARMOURY: BARGAIN AK47
Our resident Welshman, Ioan “Iggy” Roberts, takes a trip to Snowdonia where he visits a rapidly growing airsoft shop that has grown out of a successful site.
Sub-£50 guns tend to come with their own set of “challenges” but sometimes you can get an absolute gem, as Frenchie explains…
50 FEATURE: BESPOKE AIRSOFT We all like to tinker with our airsoft guns but buying imported upgrades definitely gets expensive. What happens when the UK starts manufacturing parts though? Georaga takes a visit to Bespoke Airsoft to find out just that!
54 SITE: THE KINGDOM Gadge Harvey heads back to his roots to report from the first event at Op Tactical’s brand new site, which is simply huge…
58 FEATURE: STARTING UP IN AIRSOFT Starting a new hobby or pastime as intense as airsoft can be quite a challenge, so we asked Gadge Harvey to offer some advice and guidance to new players.
62 INTERNATIONAL: SOUTH AFRICA Bill Thomas speaks to Willie Saayman from Alpine Airsoft about both airsoft itself and the “Razors Edge” series of events that continue to thrill not just the local community but a truly international audience!
68 KIT: SIGHTMARK OPTICS Bill Thomas takes a look at Sightmark, an optics brand that has finally reached our shores!
67 COMPETITION:
FIRST TIME AIRSOFTERS Just starting in airsoft and want to win your own gear and AEG? Then enter our simple competition and you could be the lucky winner courtesy of NUPROL.
76 SITE: STORMFORCE AIRSOFT Looking for site where he could take his cousin to play his first game of airsoft, Gadge decided to re-visit one of his local sites that caters for new players.
80 SURVIVAL: PACING For the vast majority of us it is something we do automatically and without thinking but putting one foot in front of the other is a vital skill in certain circumstances, as Paul Yelland explains…
82 THE LAST POST: RULES ARE RULES Love them or loathe them, rules govern both our lives and how we play airsoft are they necessary? Over to Frenchie…
84 AIRSOFT ACTION STOCKISTS Where to buy your copy of The Players’ Choice Best Airsoft Magazine before it goes on sale in newsagents.
86 SITE DIRECTORY & PRACTICAL PISTOL CLUBS Looking for a skirmish site, or your local Airsoft Practical Pistol Club? Then we may have the answer, with pages of sites and clubs throughout the UK.
s w e N t f o s Air
AIRSOFT EXPERIENCE MOVES INDOORS
NOW INTO ITS THIRD YEAR the decision has been taken to move the Airsoft Experience into its own indoor setting making it a more integral part of the Northern Shooting Show. This year’s show dates are Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th May at the Yorkshire Event Centre, just off the A1 to the East of Harrogate. We have over 5,500sq m’s purely dedicated to airsoft. Last year’s area was a big hit and introduced Airsoft to the wider real steel community along with being a one-stop shop for airsofters with their favourite brands and retailers being in one place. We have leading manufacturers, distributors and retailers of all airsoft equipment and specialist clothing confirmed attending, plus plenty of opportunities to “have a go” and enter competitions on our interactive ranges. Mark Farrar and the Halo Mill team will be running a huge 3 gun competition with a viewing area that will allow visitors get up close to this exciting, fast-paced discipline and a new feature this year is a CQB/Hostage Rescue scenario, run by the team at Calibre Shooting that anyone can try out. Non players will have a safety brief and lesson about room clearance and tactics, then given body armour, safety kit and weapons then let loose to see if they can take out the terrorists and bring back the hostage. Experienced players can bring their own kit or borrow it on the day. Beware though, the action will be ramped up for you! Exhibitors include; Ammo Drop, Airsoft Action, Elite Shooting, RedWolf, Fubar Bundy, Viper Tactical, ASG, Halo Mill, Landwarrior Airsoft, GI SPortz, MR Military, Nuprol, Military Patrol, Cannae, UKPSA and Tippman sports. More will be officially added very shortly. For your “Early Bird” £12 day ticket, show organisers promise visitors will certainly get their money’s worth! Visitors will also have access to the rest of the show where 260 shooting related exhibitors are attending. See all the latest “REAL STEEL” firearms, from .22 “Tactical SemiAutos” to .50 Cal, plus all the latest tactical clothing. Clubs, Societies and Associations will be on hand to answer any questions and provide information to anyone looking to get into the sport of shooting. “Have a go” on our outdoor pistol, archery, clay shooting, airgun and .22 LIVE rimfire semi auto range! All in all this is a show not to miss! For more information and to take advantage of the “Early Bird” ticket offers go to: www.northernshootingshow.co.uk
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MAY 2018
HOT NEWS FROM THE IWA 2018 SHOW NUPROL ARE PROUD TO ANNOUNCE that we are now exclusive distributors of Fabarm Airsoft Replica’s in the UK & Ireland. Nuprol are starting the distribution deal with the amazing triple shot spring powered STF Series of shotguns. More exciting news coming soon! Keep your eyes peeled. Available now from all Nuprol stockists. These models will also be reviewed next issue of Airsoft Action and we will be giving one away courtesy of Nuprol!
AA GALLERY READERS’ PHOTOS
ROGUE’S GALLERY
Valhalla Operation Group 1969
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MAY 2018
by Godfather 1-0
AA GALLERY READERS’ PHOTOS
Reading, at The Mall in t. Covering fire grapher Dan Re oto ph of sy courte
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MAY 2018
AA GALLERY READERS’ PHOTOS
From the IWA Outdoor Classics Show (see page 24)
Information Fancy seeing yourself in Airsoft Action? Send in your photos via email (nige@airsoft-action.co.uk) or share on our Facebook page (/AirsoftAction), plus a few words describing what’s going on in the image.
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armoury UMAREX H&K 416 GBB
LICENCED TO THRILL THE H&K 416 HAS LONG been the AR15 platform of choice for Special Forces all around the world. It is equally loved and hated for being brilliant and hard to get on the civilian market. If you can find one the price tag is very high and now that the A5 has been released, we have a look to see if they have reinvented the wheel or if its mutton dressed as lamb. I love a 416, from the second I saw the VFC version all those years ago I thought they were brilliant. Admittedly I am a H&K fan boy and have, or have owned, the 416, M27, G28, 417 and of course my much loved and now out of production 416 in 22lr.
AS LICENCES GO, THEY DON’T GET MUCH BIGGER THAN HECKLER & KOCH AND SCOTT ALLAN PUTS UMAREX’S FULLYLICENCED HK416 GBB THROUGH ITS PACES.
Umarex, based in Germany, are now really starting to spin up the gears on the Airsoft production. In the past things have been painfully slow leaving them lagging behind key competitors but this last year, gaining the fabled Glock license and the release radar for this year jam packed with 100% accurate licensed models, I predict they’re going to become very big players on the Airsoft field. The 416 style has been cloned by a number of manufacturers but only Vega Force Company in Taiwan have really nailed it for Umarex. VFC seem to have reinvested in their products in the last few years, taking them from pretty but occasionally a little iffy, to rifles of all round perfection. I actually owned their M82 A1 Barrett about 12-13 years ago and when it arrived I was unbelievably excited. I gassed the rifle (yes the actual rifle) with the large part of a tin of gas and filled the magazine with the 8mm BBs. I got myself set up in the prone position and started at about 10 metres to zero the scope …and that’s when I realised I had an utter lemon! I couldn’t hit a target at 10 metres at all. Lots of faffing around and finally the shop I bought it from sold it on my behalf. It was a total waste of money and I was sceptical of VFC for many years after that. Dealing with their rifles now on a day to day basis I can see things have changed massively for the better and maybe this is the Umarex influence.
THE REAL VERSION
The Heckler & Koch 416 is effectively a M4/AR15 external design - and why not? It’s a proven external layout that is both popular and functional. What is different this time, is that this is Heckler and Koch’s punt into the huge world market and oh my, did they do a good, yet expensive job. Think of it like Marks and Spencer’s “this is not just any food”, this is not just any M4, this is an H&K M4! 12
MAY 2018
armoury UMAREX H&K 416 GBB
“THINK OF IT LIKE MARKS AND SPENCER’S ‘THIS IS NOT JUST ANY FOOD’, THIS IS NOT JUST ANY M4, THIS IS AN H&K M4!” As you would expect it uses the NATO standard 5.56mm round as it is an excellent performer. What is new in the A5 version? Well the A5 is a further development of the HK416 assault rifle. The most striking changes compared to its previous versions as well as to market available AR15/M4 platforms include an improved and tool-less gas regulator for suppressor use, a redesigned lower receiver that allows complete ambidextrous operation of the weapon and ensures optimised magazine compatibility, as well as numerous technical improvements to maximize the operator safety, reliability, ammunition compatibility and durability under real operating conditions.
THE VFC VERSION
The VFC version doesn’t just pay homage to its real counterpart - it looks and feels exactly the same! I am continually surprised by many Airsoft manufacturers these days, every time I think I’ve seen the most impressive replica possible another comes along to equal or surpass it. Sadly this is mostly by companies making AKs using a lot of steel but VFC have this ability in bucket loads. When you start to examine the A5 you find more and more nice new features, like the ambidextrous fire selectors which are firm and positive. The same with the magazine release catch, an ambidextrous design for left and right handed shooters alike. The traditional black colour has been replaced by the H&K famous RAL8000 colour. RAL8000 has advanced IR properties making it better for camouflage required environments.
VFC rifles; excellent shooting performance and realism feeling. In order to be able to cope with the need to use a silencer (for the Real Steel), the 416 A5 has a cylindrical knob that is designed in the gas block seat to allow the user to quickly adjust the gas setting. VFC restores the entire mechanism and converts it to a hop adjustment knob and the brand new design allows the player to quickly adjust without the need to dismantle the gun or use any tools - but I’ll come back to my experience with this later. The VFC edition of the 416A5 rifle incorporates VFC’s optimization of the 416/AR-like system of GBB in the last 10 years (remember my Barrett). It sports new internal components and adjustment dials, whist maintaining a highly accurate dimensions and operation – but is it any good? It really does seem to be a high specification from VFC - and for the price you would expect this. Being a fully licensed product from Umarex the price is quite respectable though, considering the new GBB G3 is rumoured to be around the mid £500’s. Spare
The HK416 A5 Gas Blow Back (GBB) incorporates all the latest of the VFC technology, in addition to the basic requirements of materials and measurement, and incorporates improved bolt, fire control and all adjustment systems. This is the new generation of www.airsoft-action.online
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armoury UMAREX H&K 416 GBB
magazines are pricey too at £60 a pop but all gas rifles have expensive magazines, especially good gas rifles. I still struggle with the reason for the much higher costs of gas products and in particular the magazines. There is an undoubtedly good reason for it but as yet it alludes me. The quality of the rest of the construction really cannot be questioned, steel outer barrel and flash hider and a CNC aluminium barrel locking nut. The faithful replication of the patented hand guard fitting notch allowing quicker and more solid rail replacement. I like that the A5 also has a RIS rail system still rather than Keymod or MLOK too, it’s just something less to have to think about for me but it does make it heavier. It also has the quick release flip up rear sight that is beautifully made and this works in conjunction with the flip up integrated front sight. I’m not always a fan of gas guns because of the cold weather issues we have in the UK. I mean one Beast from the East and your game is most likely over for the most part. The newest generation of Umarex rifles from VFC have been a decent step forward in reliability so their realism and reliability are much more useful to the end user. Are you going to beat someone walking along with a drum magazine on fully automatic? No probably not. The only issue I had with the hop up was that I couldn’t get it to lift 0.30s. Thankfully I had a spare 416 A5 for testing that did lift them. After a quick look at the system (which is pretty clever) the gas system just hadn’t been assembled quite right. 20 minutes later is was all back together and working perfectly well. The hop system is simple; the gas block is basically a screw, the threads run along corresponding threads on a long rod travelling down the gas block. As you screw it, it pushes the rod more so it’s simple. The problem I had was the rod was set to far off/out during assembly so full hop wasn’t enough. A quick reset allowed it to work much better. Use of the rifle is as standard as you would expect, the gas magazines are fairly weighty compared to many of the new lightweight polymer electric rifle magazines you see these days. Only having 30 rounds means you’re probably going to want 5 magazines and you’re going to need to carry a couple of cans of gas. This increases the running cost of gaming, slows down reloads and makes your magazine changing a bit slower but GBB is all about the realism.
CONCLUSION
The Umarex GBB range has really gained popularity in the last few months and quite rightly so. Bridging the gap between reliability and realism is every company’s dream and working with VFC they seemed to have achieved this. Crunching shots out at a respectable power until the bolt locks back is always going to be a rewarding experience provided your usual game field isn’t a high speed drum magazine laser fest. The HK 416 A5 is a masterpiece to be proud of and definitely a GBB to put on the wish list today.
features Length 780-880mm Inner barrel 275mm Weight 2.9kg Magazine capacity 30 rounds FPS 310fps (with Blaster 0.20g BB) RAL8000 genuine paintwork Gas Blow Back Realistic function Fully licensed Latest GBB Technology RRP £440
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MAY 2018
armoury ASG SHADOW SP-01 URBAN GREY
AS LES LEE HAD PREVIOUSLY REVIEWED ASG’S EXCELLENT CZ SP-01 SHADOW, WE THOUGHT IT ONLY RIGHT THAT HE SHOULD ALSO EXAMINE THEIR LATEST OFFERING TO SEE HOW IT COMPARED.
GREY IS THE NEW BLACK
ONE THING I HAVE NOTICED about Danish giant ActionSportGames is that they tease, they listen and then they act… but let me explain what I mean by this ambiguous comment. First of all comes the tease, quite often some eye candy from the real steel world and by closely scrutinising the response to a particular piece of featured hardware, ASG can get a firm grip of the opinions offered-up and then as a definitive consequence, a conclusion is drawn from this … and then BAM!! There’s a new kid in town as ASG are just as reactive as they are pro-active in their productions. In brief… They ask, we talk, they listen then deliver.
ASG – THE COMPANY
ActionSportGames of Denmark are one of the biggest names in our beloved pastime. As industry leaders these guys have so many shooting and tactical related products on the menu, that it is highly likely that you will have something of theirs in your gear bag. From almost everyone’s favourite BBs (Blasters) to the weapon that sends these plastic projectiles down range, chances are that if the shooter itself isn’t an ASG product, then the sight, scope, sling, silencer, gas, battery or any part of the kit you are wearing or carrying is likely to be of ASG origins. In 16
MAY 2018
armoury ASG SHADOW SP-01 URBAN GREY
effect, what I am saying is that this Danish company produce, license or are connected to in some way to much of the top quality airsoft gear that we use today. For this review I have decided that I am going to place emphasis on the actual gun itself because ASG’s reputation is firmly established so why waste valuable magazine real estate telling you things that you probably already know, besides I have a lot to say about this particular piece (and Nige is always reminding me to keep to a maximum word limit) but I get so immersed in my work that I get carried away and write as much as I talk, and I talk a lot!
THE HARDWARE
Now this is the handgun that I have been waiting for! For me, aesthetics are a huge part of the game, dressing up for the party is a whole lot of fun so to find a pistol that matches (what’s left of) my hair is a very big plus and if this pistola performs as good as it looks then I am gonna have me a very good time. The CZ SP-01 SHADOW is an ultra-realistic airsoft gun with full metal construction and authentic take-down. Based on the latest generation of pistols from CZ, which is designed from input provided by Law Enforcement, Military and Police communities worldwide and with additional input from the world premier shooters of Team CZ, the CZ SP-01 Shadow is becoming a very popular gun for IPSC shooting competitions. It is also a firm favourite of many Special Forces around the world. I know that many of you will already be up to speed on the design and performance of this pistol, you may even be familiar with its sister sidearm, the P-09, but for those that have never had the pleasure of handling and shooting one then this should give you some idea of what to expect if you do indeed decide to procure one. Starting at the business end, there are a couple of changes from the Gen.1 ASG Shadow. The first difference that you will notice in this shooter is without fail, the pre-installed and fixed adaptor at the muzzle, presenting a 14mm CCW thread for anything that you may wish to add, from a suppressor to a sound amplifier (which actually sounds damned awesome if I may say so). It already has a hefty crack out of the box but screw one of these on and your adversaries will know you mean business. When I originally saw the fixed adaptor I had more reservations than Big Chief Sitting Bull had in the Wild West, however, after the simple fitting of a sound amplifier, a suppressor plus the addition of a rail hung flashlight/laser, the “tacticality” (made up word but it sounds rather cool) and visual assault on my senses blew my socks clean off! Another neat feature is the addition of oversized white dot sights. ASG designers have fitted a set of tall iron sights to allow for clean target acquisition over a suppressor or amplifier or whatever you choose to attach, but if accessories aren’t your thing then included in the box are an additional set of original fibre optic (front only) iron sights so that you have the best of both worlds. As we move back along the upper, we have front and rear slide serrations for crisp racking and some nice, subtle embossed trademarks and a unique serial number plus the black dust-cover ejection port. The lower hosts a solid 20mm accessory rail which should be more than adequate for your bolt-ons and a trigger guard housing the black double action (internally upgraded on this new model I understand) trigger. The safety is oversized and ambidextrous and the slide lock and extended mag release can be found on the left, enabling all of the essential controls reachable without removing your hand. Of course the black hammer sits at the back and finally the pistol grip is super comfy in chequered rubber, gives a nice firm purchase for both skin or gloved hands and finished (yes you guessed it) in black. And if you are wondering why I keep mentioning the word black, the reason is simple. I don’t think any other colour (and yes I know black is technically not a colour) could have complimented this very unique shade of grey. It just works so well, however, if you do decide that you
really want to go to town with this already striking array of externals then there are a selection of coloured replacement parts in the form of pistol grip panels, magwells and other externals which are widely available from ASG retailers and are relatively easy to fit. These give you a unique customised finish, which I know from experience with my original and go-to SP-01 with bright metallic orange trimmings, will get heads turning but personally I wouldn’t even think about trying to change the appearance of this beauty. Build quality is second to none! It scored a big fat zero on the shake test and the slide is as smooth as butter, with all the operating quality you could wish for. And for me (I take
“NOT TO BE BEATEN, I REPEATED THIS EXERCISE ANOTHER FIVE TIMES BECAUSE I WAS HOPING IT WAS THE SHOOTER HAVING A BAD DAY AND TURNS OUT I WAS BECAUSE AS I GOT A FEEL FOR THE ACTION, WEIGHT, WIELD, RECOIL AND BALANCE I WAS FINALLY PUTTING THEM WHERE THEY NEEDED TO GO ON A TORSO SIZED TARGET.” a medium sized glove), the weight is a comfortable 1.1 kg. I also found that balance and sizing of 212mm x 150mm is spot-on so speed and control make it feel like an extension of my hand which, and let’s face it, is the quintessential element that we should all seek when buying any handgun (even a pew pew). How you draw and wield a pistol is typically unrehearsed and easily dismissed because, as it stands, this is generally considered a backup weapon but when your primary fails or you run out of ammo then suddenly this becomes your primary, and that is when you find yourself either flourishing or floundering in the heat of the moment. Internals are as you would expect from a leading brand name, with standard disassembly exposing the hop unit. And finally, a 105mm x 6.05 bore barrel make this gun a force to be reckoned with. And of course, this is dual-fuel so if you prefer to use green gas instead of the included CO2 26+1 round magazine then these are readily available.
PERFORMANCE
So how does this sexy semi perform out of the factory? Up until now, we have a lot of boxes ticked in my eyes but one can tick all the boxes in the world if performance was based on good looks alone but it isn’t and anyone that
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armoury ASG SHADOW SP-01 URBAN GREY
thinks that way be assured that you will get your butt kicked out on the battlefield if this is your only means of firepower. So I loaded up the magazine with .25 Blasters (which are the recommended BB weight) and loaded an ASG ULTRAIR lubrication CO2 bulb. Set the targets at 10 and 30 metres, in relatively good weather and I was ready to go. My first mag was to be used for feel alone, a testing area that is often ignored and after lining up the sights I pulled back the hammer and squeezed the trigger. Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t shabby at all with a short pull when cocked. The recoil was superb on CO2 but on the test model I didn’t have a standard gas mag so I can’t offer a comparison on this test but I don’t think that it would be too far behind. The balance was just right for me bearing this size of pistol so by now I’m smoking to get more rounds down range. After emptying the mag on single shots and good old double taps without fault, it was time to install a new bulb and load up on plastic bullets. So now for the bread and butter... At ten metres I started grouping nicely, very nicely in fact. The results can be seen on the image, however having dropped back to thirty metres the rounds weren’t consistent so with a fresh bulb and with a new mag inserted and a benchrested position, I emptied another at the target and it was a little better but not fantastic. Not to be beaten, I repeated
“WHEN I ORIGINALLY SAW THE FIXED ADAPTOR I HAD MORE RESERVATIONS THAN BIG CHIEF SITTING BULL HAD IN THE WILD WEST, HOWEVER, AFTER THE SIMPLE FITTING OF A SOUND AMPLIFIER, A SUPPRESSOR PLUS THE ADDITION OF A RAIL HUNG FLASHLIGHT/LASER, THE “TACTICALITY” (MADE UP WORD BUT IT SOUNDS RATHER COOL) AND VISUAL ASSAULT ON MY SENSES BLEW MY SOCKS CLEAN OFF!” this exercise another five times because I was hoping it was the shooter having a bad day and turns out I was because as I got a feel for the action, weight, wield, recoil and balance I was finally putting them where they needed to go on a torso sized target. The performance result was what I was hoping for and not disappointing, but what did impress me was the consistency of the shots. Even the double-taps were equally dispatched which is such an underestimated factor! The chronograph was next and for this part of the test, I used .20s which keeps things in line with generic testing across the board. Shot one.....332, shot two......327, shot three.....329, shot four......310, shot five....298, and then things levelled out around the 290-320 mark which is plenty although a little inconsistent but the recoil remained the same throughout. Simply, simply lovely!
TO CONCLUDE
I think by now you may have guessed that I rather like this puppy, yes I like it a lot for a number of reasons. For me, it is just unparalleled but it may not suit everyone. The one thing that I was initially unimpressed with was the protruding and quite frankly, unappealing muzzle adaptor ...until I started to play around with it which changed everything. What really got me buzzing was the solid fitting of a sound amplifier which not only exaggerated the crack but it enhanced the whole sound of the shot to one of a more realistic and authentic nature, and if you could add the sound, sight and smell of a real steel then this would be the perfect pistol! Nice one ASG! It looks like you have done it again. Les OUT!
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MAY 2018
TAKE COMMAND
Features:
Our all-new STRIKE SYSTEMS Commander XP18 and DP18 gas blowback pistols feature a high quality, fibre-reinforced lower and a machined metal slide. Ergonomic shaping, modern ”hybrid” styling and a familiar control layout, ensure they will be a hit on the Airsoft field.
• Metal slide with grip serrations
Chromed internal parts and a choice of green gas or CO2 magazines, ensure the pistols will deliver, whatever conditions you put them in.
• Red fibre optic front sight
• Tough and ergonomic polymer lower • Chrome-coated internal sears for durability and smooth operation
• Green gas or CO2 magazines
ActionSportGames® is a worldwide leader in the business of replica firearms and accessories manufacturing – including Airsoft guns, Airguns, CO2 guns and firearms replicas.
0022-0318_AirsoftAction_Strikepistols.indd 1
0022-0318_March2018
All new STRIKE SYSTEMS Commander XP18 and DP18 pistols
19-03-2018 11:33:09
armoury LCT PP-19-01
LCT VITYAZ-SN REINVENTING A CLASSIC THERE IS A WHOLE FAMILY OF EXCELLENT “AK” VARIANTS FROM TAIWANESE MANUFACTURER LCT AND THIS MONTH JERRY NOONE BRINGS THINGS UP TO DATE WITH ONE OF THE LATEST DESIGNS FROM IZHMASH, IN THE FORM OF THE LCT PP-19-01 – THE 9MM “VITYAZ”. THE “AK” MARKET SEEMS TO be going through a renaissance right now with more suppliers, custom builders, and accessory manufacturers than ever before, and I have to say that this pleases me no end as the venerable Kalashnikov deserves its place in the limelight just like any other rifle or carbine. What I also find slightly surreal is that the people at the forefront of the “AK Revolution” are based in the USA! Surely it must be some form of sacrilege for custom AKs to be made in the “Land of the Brave” but the likes of Krebs Custom and Rifle Dynamics are truly producing some works of art using the Russian platform, although it must be noted that the base rifles can originate from many different parts of the old Soviet Bloc. Add to this that companies like Zenit are now shipping their up to the minute accessories worldwide, along with replicas specifically for airsoft and you have a real recipe for success! Whilst many airsofters, myself included, enjoy a good classic AK replica, there are actually more and more players out there that are doing some fine living history
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standard loadouts based around modern Russian forces. It’s been a topic of discussion amongst the Airsoft Action crew that this is possibly a “backlash” now that MTP and Multicam products have become cheaper and therefore more accessible to all, as there will always be those who want to do something unique and different, which is always really cool. For the airsoft market LCT are not only producing replicas for the OPFOR enthusiast though, but also for those who truly take on the MilSim-immersion side of things and want everything “just so”. LCT offer products that are not only equally as unique and cost effective as the loadouts themselves, but RIFs that are also reliable in performance and solid in build quality. To this end they continue to look at “new models” and drive forward again with the Vityaz-SN PP-19-01.
REINVENTING A CLASSIC
To fully understand how the Vityaz-SN fits into the picture, it’s probably easiest to look at how the venerable “AK” has moved on in the real world. The Kalashnikov AK-12 (formerly АK-200) is one of the newest derivatives of the Soviet/Russian AK-pattern series of assault rifles and was proposed for possible general issue to the Russian Army. In late September 2013, the AK-12 was passed over by the Russian military but it was announced in December 2014 that it had passed state tests and now the AK-12 rifles chambered in 5.45 mm and 7.62 mm are being evaluated by the Russian Army; as of this moment the AK-12 is in trials with select units. The predecessor to the AK-12 was the AK-74 and one thing
armoury LCT PP-19-01
“THE AKS-74U (“U” FOR UKOROCHENNIY, OR SHORTENED) WAS INITIALLY ISSUED TO A FEW VERY SPECIFIC UNITS BUT BY 1979 IT WAS FAR MORE WIDESPREAD, BEING FIELDED BY SPECIAL FORCES, AIRBORNE INFANTRY, REAR-ECHELON SUPPORT UNITS AND VEHICLE AND HELICOPTER CREWS.” that came to light during the early design glimmerings of the “12”, was that there would be no shorter carbine variant to replace the AKS-74U. The AKS-74U (“U” for Ukorochenniy, or Shortened) was initially issued to a few very specific units but by 1979 it was far more widespread, being fielded by Special Forces, airborne infantry, rear-echelon support units and vehicle and helicopter crews. As time went by more and more of these carbines ended up in the hands of special units of both the military and police and the question of course was “what would be the replacement?” Chambered for the standard Russian 9×18mm Makarov pistol cartridge and able to also fire the new high-impulse armour-piercing 57-N-181SM round, the PP-19 “Bizon” was developed at the request of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) in the early 1990s and was primarily intended for counter-terrorist and law enforcement units that usually need fast and accurate fire at close ranges. The helical magazine under the front end that was designed to keep it ultra-compact was a departure from the traditional box and encountered some feed issues. Prototypes were trialled by the Special Equipment Research Institute in 1995 where they outperformed several competitors and the weapon was accepted into service on December 28, 1996. Although a good performer, there were defects in the “Bizon” that eventually led to it being replaced. The Vityaz-SN PP-19-01 is a 9×19mm Parabellum submachine gun developed in 2004 by Izhmash. It is based on the AKS-74U carbine and offers a high degree of parts
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armoury LCT PP-19-01
fire most commercially available 9x19 Luger/Parabellum or 9mm NATO ammunition, as well as Russian issue 7N21 armour piercing ammunition. The roll-out of the “Vityaz” will correspond broadly to that of the AK-12.
A NEW CLASSIC IN AIRSOFT FORM!
“AS WITH OTHER LCT “AKS” THE FEATURES ARE EXCELLENT AS IT COMES WITH A FULL STEEL RECEIVER AND BARREL ASSEMBLY AND AN EXTREMELY SOLID SIDE-FOLDING STOCK.” commonality with it. The PP-19-01 has evolved from the relatively unsuccessful PP-19 “Bizon” submachine gun after requests from the elite Russian law enforcement team “Vityaz” (“Knight” in Russian) for a highly compact firearm that could be used in the close quarter environments found in cities. The PP-19-01 shares about 70% of the parts found in the AKS -74U, utilising standard AK-type trigger and safety/fire selector controls. A special magazine housing is attached below the receiver, which accepts proprietary double-stack magazines, made from polymer. Two magazines can be clipped together using a special steel coupler for faster reloading. The PP-1901 retains the “tried and tested” AKS-74U-style side-folding skeletonised butt and the tangent style adjustable rear sight found on many AK variants. With a simple blowback action it uses more conventional (non-helical) magazines and fires the more powerful 9x19 ammunition which is now standard in Russia. As of mid-2007, the PP-19-01 was in limited production in Izhevsk and is already in use by some specialised “OMON” teams of the Russian police and other law enforcement agencies. The PP-19-01 can
So keeping up to speed with the very latest developments, the LCT take on the “Vityaz” features a very high-quality external build, utilising 9mm bearings, a 22,000rpm motor, a brass, chrome-plated cylinder and both the cylinder and piston heads are CNC Aluminium Alloy. The wiring throughout is, as usual for LCT, high quality 18AWG, which will give good, reliable long-term performance. As with other LCT “AKs” the features are excellent as it comes with a full steel receiver and barrel assembly and an extremely solid side-folding stock. The polymer furniture and modernised pistol grip are very well achieved and the detail is perfect, even down to the new-style flash-hider. Like the AKS-74U the PP-19-01 has a retained top cover, hinging just behind the classic AK-style rear sight. The twin 50 BB magazines come with the correct style of coupler although they can be removed from this for easier pouch storage; additional 50 BB twin-pack magazines are available for £24.99. Having now had quite a lot of experience with LCT’s AEGs I had high expectations for the PP-19-01. Once again LCT recommend an 11.1v Li-Po as the power source for the AEG and as usual it’s a tight fit given that the battery sits under the top cover. As I’d worked out the battery fit already on my own AKMS (thanks NUPROL for your excellent “stick” LiPos), it was time to get the beast to chrono, and the test sample came in at a UK site (and now legal) friendly mean of 1.01 Joule/330fps using .20g RZR BBs - note that all LCT replicas are in fact downgraded by the factory in Changhua to UK legal specification and tested before they are shipped. With my targets at 10 and 30 metres and after setting the hop at 20m range on semi-auto it was time to get some plates falling, and the “Vityaz” was no disappointment; even though the inner barrel is relatively short at 255mm, and struggled a little with accuracy at the 30m extent, the replica proved precise enough to hit a “Fig 11” at that distance unsupported which in airsoft is, of course, what we’re after! My sincere thanks go Fire Support, who kindly supplied the test sample. They currently have the PP-19-01 available for sale at £259.00, and an abundance of spare magazines in stock. If you fancy the idea of an AK variant but want something that’s a little unique, different and thoroughly up to date then the “Vityaz” could be just the thing you’ve been searching for. Please visit www.fire-support.co.uk, or call them on 01733 247171 for more information.
Technical Details Material: Steel and Reinforced Nylon Polymer Weight: 3220g Length: 480mm/705mm Colour: Black Muzzle Velocity: 1.01 Joule/330fps
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Event IWA 2018
IWA ONCE AGAIN THIS MARCH THE AIRSOFT ACTION CREW MADE THEIR WAY TO NUREMBERG IN GERMANY FOR THE IWA OUTDOOR CLASSICS SHOW AND 2018 PROVED TO BE ANOTHER VERY SPECIAL YEAR. BILL AND GADGE REPORT BACK ON A SHOW WHERE THERE WAS LOTS TO SEE AND WHERE YOUR FAVOURITE AIRSOFT MAGAZINE WAS RECOGNISED ONCE AGAIN FOR ITS ON-GOING EXCELLENCE! 24
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Event IWA 2018
T R O P E R W O SH OKAY, PICTURE THE SCENE IF you will; four fairly big lads (namely Nige, Gadge, Iggy and I) all piled into a 4x4 filled with tactical-style packs and gear rocking up at the Dover Docks check in! To say that both immigration and customs gave us more than a cursory glance would be lying… this was one hell of a road-trip, heading as we were to the IWA Outdoor Classics Show 2018! This has to be my favourite event of the season; although SHOT as reported on by Kelly last issue is still bigger there’s a certain something about the show in Germany that always brings a heady mix of excitement and expectation for me. Held in early March each year, “IWA” brings to Europe the very best in firearms, optics, accessories, clothing, gear and of course, airsoft. When I first started attending the show six years ago, RedWolf really were the flagship of our industry but since then I’ve seen a sure but steady influx of airsoft and airsoft related kit, and each year the show just gets better and better for our industry. Airsoft now dominates a good part of Hall 7 and has expanded into both Halls 7a and 8 and this expansion shows absolutely no sign of stopping! For the 2018 show the number of exhibitors was up again with 1,558 exhibitors and almost 47,000 trade visitors from around the world. Exhibitors from almost 60 countries and trade visitors from about 130 countries gave the 45th edition of IWA Outdoor Classics even more of an international flavour than last year. This year, eight out of ten exhibitors and almost two-thirds of the trade visitors travelled to Nuremberg from locations outside Germany, which shows the draw of what is fast-becoming “EUROSHOT”. This event is exclusively for trade visitors; children and young people under 18 years of age are not allowed to attend. Tickets for the IWA Outdoor Classics are issued only to visitors from appropriate specialist suppliers, official bodies and security companies on submission of relevant credentials. Hitting Nuremberg late on Thursday after a 500 mile drive, the doors to the show proper opened bright and early on the Friday morning, and after a brief visit to the professionally run Press Room (I discovered I’m not the only one on the AA team to run on caffeine and cake!) it was time to get rolling. As much as I like to see as much as possible when I visit IWA, experience has taught me that you need to make a schedule and stick to it. It’s simply just not possible to see everything
but with so many friends in attendance there was a constant “heads up” flow of information in relation to exciting new products.
HALL 7
Our first meeting of the show was with a thoroughly great team who are also very good friends, and I’m going to come straight out and say NUPROL blitzed it AGAIN! With a bigger stand than even last year and with the entire team “suited and booted” they looked every bit the professionals (especially the ever-dapper Danny!) and this is absolutely superb, a real business-like boost for airsoft in general! Following the launch of the new RAVEN pistol range at the back end of 2017 the guys were once again rocking in Germany and were constantly busy, with the impressive stand quite literally rammed most of the time. They seem to have new products every month at the moment, and speaking to Ross it seems that there is WAY
www.airsoft-action.online
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NUPROL HARD CASES
FEATURES: • IP67 dust & water protection. • Pick/Pluck & Wave foam options. • L: Four easy closing latches. / XL: Six easy closing latches • Wheels on the bottom with a handle at the top to easily pull the case along. • Side handle to carry by hand. • Inner padding on the top and bottom to hold the contents secure and protected. • L: Two padlock holes on front edge. / XL: Four padlock holes on front edge. • Available in four colour options: Black, Tan, Green, Grey. • L: External Size: 109×39×15cm (42.92*15.35*5.91 inch) XL: External Size: 137x39x15cm (53.9*15.3*5.9 inch) • L: Internal Size: 101×32×12.5cm (39.76*12.59*4.92 inch) XL: Internal Size: 130x32x12.5cm (51.1*12.59*4.92 inch) • L: Weight: 5.5kG / XL: Weight: 6.5KG
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DOMINATE THE FIELD
Event IWA 2018
more yet to come, including their new distributorship of FABARM shotguns. In our current economic climate it is just stunning to see a British company doing so very well on the worldwide market. Next up was Evolution Airsoft; best known as a distributor of fine airsoft replicas, accessories, and consumables in their native Italy things are moving on at a frantic pace for them. They had a number of really first rate “Cerakote” finished AEGs on show licenced with the likes of “Tango Down” “ZM” and “ADC” and confirmed that “things are in the pipeline” for some new products of their own, including the very first airsoft pistol that will become a real firearm! I really look forward to working with them and to bringing you the very latest news as soon as I hear it. G&G also always have something new to talk about and this year was absolutely no exception. There were two new (now in production) CQB AEGs in the form of the ARP9 and the ARP556, both super-compact with PDW style sliding stocks, a slightly longer PDW15 and a super “larger calibre” offering in the shape of the TR16308 which will be a dedicated, out of the box DMR. They were also showing their pistol models, but have added a new “RONI” style pistol carbine to the line which looks absolutely ace! To put the icing on the cake they also had TWO new bolt-action Lee Enfield rifles on show, one of which is the sniper variant; both operate from a gas tank that mimics a filled stripper clip of cartridges and fits into what looks to be almost a real .303 magazine! With the new “AR LMG” on show it certainly looks like it’ll be another exciting year for them, and us!
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My old friends from ICS had their usual fine stand this year with their “Captains” including my mates Bjorn and Turgay on site, and like other manufacturers continue to tweak and refine their already super AEGS. As well as an extension to their new “XFG” handgun line, including a “Makarov”, they were showing off a really nice looking “light tan” finish and some excellent new rails. Classic Army were just across the way and once again seem to have upped their game in terms of quality and appearance, they also had more stand-alone accessories and rails than ever before with both KeyMod and M-Lok in evidence, but of course it was their new “DT4” that raised some eyebrows! Luckily they were also showcasing some new “Bizon” designs and their ENF series too. ASG are always “loud and proud” at IWA, and now my old mucker Ben has joined their ranks there’s even more reason to visit! In the UK Paul and Jake have done such a great job already and with Ben now fully on board it looks as if they are ready to plough ahead in 2018! Big news included getting “hands on” the new HERA Arms/ICS/ ASG collaboration in the form of the CQR which although stunning both internally and externally I feel will be a bit of a “marmite gun” for many. There were also some cracking new pistol models which Les will be looking at in due course, and of course their “CZ EVO and BREN” train continues to steam ahead unabated!
MOVING ON! Day 2 and the miles were taking their toll, not to mention a bit of a late “business meeting” in the ever-popular Finnegans! IWA is a VAST show and one day I’ll take a step-counter… the start of the second day though took our steps to the stand of LCT! Whilst their display at the show was of largely existing products, they did have some great new rails and accessories to drool over, as well as their new BBs, and much of the talk was of their new EBB “recoil system”. This new system (no release date or price yet sadly) is due to be a “drop-in” upgrade for their existing AK range which is pretty darn exciting! Talking of “recoil AKs” a trip to meet with BOLT revealed their own new take on this, and what a take it is! Although still in pre-production form their “AKSU” looks to be nearly there, and oh, what a nice kick it gives in the shoulder as Nige and I discovered to our joy. Tech just keeps on rolling forward and another superb model that caught our eye was the shellejecting RARE ARMS AR; whilst not a skirmish gun this is still an absolutely stunning piece of engineering and gives you a
Event IWA 2018
full travel bolt group with the C02 stored in the pistol grip! The operation seems to be mega-efficient, so these guys are really “one to watch” and I’m speaking to them in terms of review models right now. I said earlier that airsoft continues to expand at IWA, and as usual RedWolf were all over this, leading from the front as always. With some stunning new “Airsoft Surgeon” replicas to drool over, including Clarence’s rather wonderful “cutaway” creations, their stand as always was absolutely chock-a-block with airsoft goodness and innovation but one thing that particularly caught my eye was the new range of “Avatar” grenades which look superbly and filthily cutting edge. I look forward to having a closer look at these in due course. Of course the real “showstopper” for many of us was their own Lee Enfield but their continued collaboration with Agency Arms means that there are again a few absolutely righteous looking pistols on the way soon! Before I wrap up, as usual I have to make a couple of “honourable mentions” of things that I saw that I thought to be first rate. Gunfire were showing off a number of their “custom” projects and these were really superb and their continued investment in the SPECNA ARMS brand is really starting to pay dividends. We’ll be working with these awesome Polish guys more in 2018, and oh boy, will we have something exciting to report on. VFC were showing off their new VIRGO kit which is basically an M4 conversion/ performance kit including parts like brushless motors and dropin digital triggers which are again certainly unique. King Arms continue to build their range of pistols and once again were showing a very, very respectable looking “RONI” kit licensed by CAA. Umarex, it has to be said, pulled a bit of a blinder with their G3 GBBR, and although Scott tells me it ain’t going to be cheap I’m going to bet there’s a few out there that will find the cash for this stunner!
AWARDS AND CELEBRATIONS This years’ Airsoft Meetup, arranged by Ronald from NLA and Vic from Popular Airsoft (and their worthy, hard-working teams!) was bigger as well. In addition to the Awards Ceremony I was honoured to be part of the first-ever Airsoft Discussion Panel along with my great friend and fellow AA contributor Kelly. Luckily this went well, although I did manage to nearly kick all the awards onto the floor! The Meetup also hosted the Popular Airsoft Players Choice Awards and the Airsoft Action team were honoured with the award for “Best Airsoft Magazine” for the second year running and it was my real pleasure and privilege when my friend Nige stepped up to collect the “shiny thing” that acknowledged the hard work that he and the entire team have put in over the past few years. Our congratulations go to all the award recipients, and I and we look forward to working with you all in the future! And to conclude I will use simply one word…
“MEALSIM”… if you weren’t there man, you wouldn’t know… Next month I’ll head into Hall 9 for our usual clothing, footwear, and gear review, but for now I’ll just say that IWA 2018 was a tremendous show both for me personally and for Airsoft Action, and I hope to see just as many folk from the UK airsoft community in Nuremberg next year; the show has already been fixed for Friday 8 to Monday 11 March 2019, so get it in your diary and the Airsoft Action crew look forward to seeing you in Germany next year! While I have been many times before, it was Gadge’s first visit to this assault on the airsoft senses, so I’ll hand over to him for his first impressions… It’s the biggest airsoft meet up in Europe, it’s the continents largest display of skirmishing and outdoor kit each year and for some reason I’ve been doomed to miss it, until now. Each year Nuremburg in Germany plays host to IWA outdoor classics and almost every big name in airsoft is there to show off their latest product and thrill retailers and players alike with enticing new inventions… and each year the Airsoft Action team have been there, only sadly without me as almost every March some new disaster has kept me from going. This year I was merely suffering from the flu and a chest infection so NOTHING was keeping me from going, and so dosed up with Lemsip and cough sweets I undertook the long haul drive to Southern Germany with Nige, Bill and Iggy (and did my best not to infect them on the way). IWA is (for want of a better word) “massive” in every sense. Filling several halls, each the size of Birmingham’s NIA, you’re simply overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of “outdoors” stuff. From “hunting and fishing”, through to real steel shooting (shotguns through to assault rifles) and airsoft nestled somewhere safely in the middle. The boys and I had a fairly full appointment calendar and it took of the best part of three days to see everything and meet up with the representatives from Nuprol, LCT, ASG, Gunfire, RedWolf and G&G to name but a few. In fairness it would take the best part of the magazine to list every cool new product we were given a sneak preview of so I’m just going to list a few of the highlights of the show for me.
COOL SUMMER INC.
I was somewhat flattered that despite not having a stand this year, Alex Yang from CSI made the journey over to Europe purely to chat to Airsoft Action. This year CSI gave us a top secret preview of their new sci-fi styled carbine. We can’t show you the pics just yet (stay tuned for an AA exclusive!) but suffice it to say the new SMG/ Carbine utilises the www.airsoft-action.online
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Event IWA 2018
same aesthetics as the XR5 (and the same mags) but is in a nifty CQB form with some VERY cool features. Once again CSI have broken the mould and designed something “outside the box”.
GUNFIRE
Gunfire has been making something of a name for themselves lately and their Specna Arms range is certainly not to be sniffed at. What caught our eyes this year, however, was their “custom” range of AEGS on display. The crazy Polish guys have put a lot of time and love into some epic “conversions” of classic AEG designs including some artificially aged “zombie apocalypse” AKs and a brutal looking, dual-mounted M14 called “The Harvester” that brings back memories of the “smart gun” from Aliens
G&G
As expected G&G continued to wow show goers with their extensive range of AEGs (including the fantastic ARP9 which you could have a test fire of on their MET electronic target range) but for “old school” airsofters like me, well we were drawn to the stand by a tripod mounted German WWII MG42 and once there couldn’t fail to notice a brace of Lee Enfield No4 gas rifles. Not content with making the standard British Infantry rifle of WWII the G&G team had also released the “No4 T” sniper version (in the real world a rare beast indeed) which is bound to prove popular with airsofters and re-enactors alike.
REDWOLF AIRSOFT
Also sporting a tasty new No4, albeit springer this time, were RedWolf but once I’d got past the wonder of their .50cal HMG on display (yours if you have a couple of grand spare!) I couldn’t help noticing their novel new grenade system. RedWolf’s new modular airsoft grenade is surely a thing of beauty! Consisting of a “core” that can be set for time, impact or remote detonation, the core can then be inserted in a “skin” of your choice. From a conventional grenade shape all the way through to a more spherical skin that can be rolled to the target!
5.11
Regular readers will know that I’m something of a fan of 5.11 and I had to drag myself away from their new “Geo 7” camo kit on their stand. Designed to work at a variety of ranges and terrains the Geo 7 comes in woodland and urban/night variations and while it looks a little “floral” on the stand it’s clearly effective in the field. It’s not a design for everyone, evoking memories of “Maharishi” designer combats but I can’t wait to trial the pattern out for Airsoft Action.
SECUTOR/DUAL CORE
While most of us will know Secutor for their range of elegant pistols and shotguns, the Airsoft Action crew were blown away by their “Dual Core” range of distraction and pyrotechnic devices. From simulated, motion or remote detonated “C4” boxes to strobe/tracer firing claymores and “set piece” bomb packs (probably more for the site owner as an exciting prop than a player purchase) there was a bewildering array of airsoft explosive devices on the stand. Perhaps most interesting - and possibly the thing to sort out once and for all whether you have “hit” a vehicle - was an 80mm mortar and a light antitank weapon that could both propel water balloons over 200 metres! Certainly a way of adding AT and indirect fire to a game experience but I’d hate to be a player hit by one. And that, dear reader, is just a small sample of some of the great new ideas coming out to Airsoft in the next year. A lot of people will say that airsoft has reached its peak and that there is nothing new out there and no “game changers” left. Personally I think from just a quick scoot around just one hall at IWA it’s clear to see that Airsoft innovations are happening every day and that there is a lot of life in the old girl yet!
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Eye Protection WILEY X
WILEY X: IN FOCUS TACTICAL OPTICIAN, ANDY BOURNE, TAKES A LOOK AT SOME OF THE LATEST AIRSOFTFRIENDLY PRODUCTS FROM MILITARY-GRADE EYE PROTECTION SPECIALISTS, WILEY X. AIRSOFT IS A HOBBY WITH few demands. There are numerous ways to indulge our chosen hobby, or obsession. From casual walk-on to hardcore weekend MilSimmer, airsoft is particularly accessible with few constraints. Desert or multicam? Modern era or WW2? There are few constants that we all need but the two that come to mind are something to throw bbs downrange and eye protection. As airsofters, we often imitate the current trends in the military world, be it the latest tactical nylon or hardware and, to a lesser extent, eye protection. The latter is rarely held up as an item of tactical fashion, unlike the first two examples but we have a wealth of cutting edge products that were conspicuous by their absence only a decade or so ago.
Wiley X Nerve Goggle
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As a callow youth, I cut my teeth in the paintball world of the early nineties. Anyone else who recalls this time (looking at you, Ed!) will recall very little choice in goggle protection. The products available were prevalently from the motocross world and had no formal impact protection rating. We paid our money and took our choice. The other arena in which I spent a deal of time in the same era was the military. Of course, there was no eye protection in this field over and above the goggles issued to armoured vehicle crewmen. Modern military requirements since the turn of the century have been the genesis of eye protection as we know it, driving ever improving products that are designed in the crucible of warfare. The beauty of these products is that they are tailor-made to fit the
Eye Protection WILEY X
requirements of airsofters by dint of their origins in the tactical world. Impact protection? Check. Anti-fog? Yup. Durability? Definitely. Adaptability? Check. Modern combat has shown us that around 10% of battlefield injuries are penetrating eye injuries, prevalently from fragmentation. Although this sort of trauma is rarely fatal in itself, the immediate effect is to render an individual combatineffective and the ramifications are usually irreversible sight loss. In the airsoft world, we thankfully don’t face the same fragmentation threat, but the damage inflicted by a bb striking the eye can be just as serious. The primary mechanism of damage is blunt trauma; bbs aren’t sharp of course. The eye is quite resistant to rupture but hit it hard enough, or in the wrong place and significant damage can be done to the delicate internal structures. The results could blind, or cause a long term condition requiring lifetime drug management. I don’t think that anybody would consider these risks as acceptable. So we have a ready-made product base which has been produced for professional military and law enforcement use, designed to function under conditions similar to that which we are exposed to. But let’s look a little closer at the standards used to certify the protection. Most military eyewear originates in the USA, so the most prevalent standards are the ANSI (American National Standards Institute) Z87.1 and Z87.1+ which will be marked on the product. Without descending into too much detail, the Z87.1 standard encompasses impact testing of frame and lenses (a higher impact test is used for Z87.1+), as well as non-ionising radiation exposure and corrosive substance testing. Suffice to say that choosing eye protection that has been tested to a known standard is sensible but it is wise to know which standard is appropriate for your needs. If in doubt, ask your local eye care professional; optometrists are professionally obligated to ensure that your protection is appropriate for its intended purpose, if they supply it. In the European Union the comparable standard to look for is EN166, which shows that impact testing
has been carried out to similar standards to Z87.1 testing. Eye protection generally can be broken down into two formats; eye shields and goggles. Goggles of course are a sealed or partially sealed unit, offering all round protection. The inherent disadvantage to this arrangement is fogging. The eye shield takes the form of a visor or spectacles, without the lens edge contacting the face. Advantages are lighter unobtrusive apparatus, allowing air flow and better anti fog but gaps in the extreme periphery are potentially a greater risk. At this point, it’s worth touching on anti-fog; in my opinion there is no such product as a fog-proof lens. Every lens fogs in the wrong conditions. There are many variables including (but not restricted to) how much the wearer sweats, the dew point, humidity, temperature, wind speed, the wearing of hats/ helmets, the cleanliness of the lens, and so on. If using an antifog preparation, understand its use and apply according to the instructions. So, having navigated the wealth of information necessary to look at eye protection with a critical eye, where should the prospective buyer start looking? Well, in my humble opinion, start with a military eye wear provider, who has a wide range of products that are certified to a minimum of ANSI Z87.1 or Z87.1+. Wiley X fits the bill admirably. Wiley X started in Livermore, California, thirty years ago, manufacturing eye protection and gloves for tactical applications. Since then they have produced and evolved products that encompass military and law enforcement, as well as motorbiking, cycling and leisure activities. Their products remain standard issue for many organisations and their
Wiley X SG-1
“SUFFICE TO SAY THAT CHOOSING EYE PROTECTION THAT HAS BEEN TESTED TO A KNOWN STANDARD IS SENSIBLE BUT IT IS WISE TO KNOW WHICH STANDARD IS APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR NEEDS.” Wiley X Spear Goggle
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Eye Protection WILEY X
Wiley X XL-1 Advanced
protective pedigree is impeccable. Lenses are all high impact polycarbonate which they call Selenite™. These are coated with a scratch resistant layer, which is normally necessary as polycarbonate being ductile, is more prone to scratch than normal spectacle lenses. Be warned before wiping your eye protection lenses on your shirt or trousers! The lenses also block 100% of UVA and UVB light, irrespective of tint level. For the purposes of this article, the good folk at Military1st have kindly supplied Wiley X products for a closer look.
WILEY X NERVE GOGGLE I chose the Nerve goggle, as it is an excellent illustration of the evolution from vehicle crew protection to lightweight tactical protection. First impressions are of a minimalist approach; this goggle is compact, under 70mm in height at the tallest point. There is no danger of it getting in the way of helmets as it is shallow framed, but cleverly a heavily curved lens affords a good field of view. The strap mounts have vertical and horizontal articulation, there is a good degree of adjustment in the retention strap (so wearing over a helmet or face mask is easily accommodated), and there is an integral dust gaiter on the strap. The lens shows a Z87.1+ engraving, specifying high impact testing, and the frame has EN166 marking too; all bases covered here. This particular pair comes with interchangeable clear and dark lenses, a nylon carry case and a microfibre cloth. As expected, these lenses pass my “fog resistance” test easily; a deep breath and exhale into the goggle yields no noticeable fogging. Top marks. There are ducts on the frame brow to promote airflow, and a foam covering to retard dust ingress. I would advise resisting the temptation to pull off the foam for better airflow. Dusty lenses will fog up much quicker than clean ones, so this modification is usually counterproductive.
WILEY X SPEAR GOGGLE
The Spear is a solid goggle designed for performance at the expense of a little bulkier fit than the Nerve, but don’t let that put you off; it still gives a surprisingly unobtrusive fit. This is to a great extent due to the customisable Facial Cavity™ seal that is proprietary to Wiley X eye protection. This takes the form of an extra foam & rubber gasket which attaches securely to the goggle frame. This gives a greater stand off from the face as well as a hydrophilic foam which wicks sweat away from the wearer’s face. Additionally, the seal is very effective at keeping dust and fine contaminants from the inner lens surface and the wearer’s eyes. As with the Nerve goggle, the strap articulates easily, the adjustment range is wide enough to accommodate headgear, and the interchangeable lenses are easy to switch out. This particular Spear goggle comes with dark, clear and yellow lenses (all Z87.1+ marked), and an excellent ripstop waterproof belt pouch that contains the extra lenses and a microfibre cloth. Despite a bulkier fit than the Nerve, both these goggles fit comfortably under Night Vision equipment, and the lenses resist any attempt to fog them by breathing on them. Impressive.
WILEY X SG-1
The SG-1 is a hybrid product; half eye shield, half goggle. It is easily switched between the two modes by removing the arms of the frame and substituting them for a goggle strap. This is a clever bit of lateral thinking, which gives the user two wear modes. The individual lenses are also easily swapped; this particular model came with clear and dark ones. Each lens unit has closed cell foam backing for comfort where it will rest against the wearer’s face, but this won’t wick moisture away. Saying that, I couldn’t fog the lenses with my breath at all.
Wiley X Valor
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Eye Protection WILEY X
Wiley X Guard Advanced
The frame is Z87 marked, with a smaller Wiley X engraving on each lens; important to ensure that the lenses are original and certified. The frame has an extreme wrap around with helps it provide good all round protection despite not being a true goggle. Of course, there is often an element of compromise in the execution of a hybrid system, and I found that the fit across the wearer’s nose to be that for me. In the interests of a lightweight execution, there is no padding around the nose as the SG-1 is designed to be close fitting. For my somewhat “Romanesque” nose, I found it a touch uncomfortable. For users with a more normal nasal profile, I suspect these will fit very nicely without gaps.
WILEY X XL-1 ADVANCED The XL-1 Advanced is an outwardly similar frame to the SG-1, but the difference is that this is purely an eyeshield frame; there’s no customisable goggle fit. The frame boasts EN166 and Z.87+ markings, and the lenses have Wiley X + engravings. The arms have mounting points for a retention lanyard which is supplied, as well as a microfibre cloth and a hard nylon case. The frame inner has a closed cell gasket to promote a close fit and comfortable interface. Despite a similar fixed bridge to the frame across the nasal area, the fit is significantly comfier for the wearer with a larger nose, and I had no issues with comfort while wearing the XL-1. Once more, an aggressively wrapped fit gives a particularly close fit for an eye shield; it is almost goggle-like in its conformity. It also has facility to swap lenses like the other eye protection here, with a trademark tool-less swap easily achieved in the field. Once again, attempting to fog the lenses by exhaling on them is futile; Wiley X fog resistant coatings are very impressive.
WILEY X VALOR The Valor is an example of what is, for me one of the signature products of the Wiley X range. This is outwardly a simple spectacle frame, sunglass-like in appearance. The lenses are engraved, the frame has EN166 and Z87 markings, but most strikingly these frames are light. Very light indeed. So light that I had to weigh them. According to my trusty kitchen scales, the Valor has an all-up weight of thirty one grammes. Thirty one! Fit-wise, these things are “wear & forget”, thanks to the weight and a grippy rubber shoe on the arms, plus, as they are wrapped there are few gaps peripherally. There’s also a push on lanyard for extra security and of course, the lenses are changeable in under a minute. The only small surprise was that the lenses misted under my breathe-on test unlike the previous examples which all resisted my fogging. I wouldn’t take this as a deal-breaker at all, as an application of a good anti-fog product would be all that is needed here. In the nylon case you’ll find the second set of lenses, lanyard, microfibre cloth and instructions.
WILEY X GUARD ADVANCED
The Guard Advanced is very similar in appearance to the VX Valor, with the exception of having larger lenses which fit deeper. In common with the Valor is the simple lens swap mechanism, and lack of bulk. Conformal face fit again gives a close but not claustrophobic fit. In my opinion there is always a trade-off between close protective fitting About the author: and airflow; I think Wiley X has it about right here. Andy Bourne BSc, Once more there are engraved lenses and Z87 marked MCOptom, Prof Cert frame, and a removable lanyard, but the frame fit Glauc is also known as is secure even without this. The depth of the lenses the Tactical Optician. A naturally give a slightly greater degree of protection former reserve forces for my face, but for a smaller face this may not be officer and airsofter, necessarily the case. Without a little stand off from the he works full time at cheeks, lenses are more prone to fog, so consider this a large regional eye when choosing. Despite the slightly larger lens, these hospital. This gives him also weigh in at an incredible thirty one grammes, I a unique perspective on was surprised to find. As with the Valor, the lenses the importance of eye fogged under breath testing, so plan on using an antiprotection. fog preparation as a matter of routine. In all honesty I always carry one in my trouser pocket for any airsoft outing in any case, so there’s no hardship in this. In summary, eye protection has evolved in response to the needs of the primary consumer; the military end user. But we in the airsoft world are well placed to benefit from the fruits of such development. Wiley X eye protection is a prime example of the modern standard of protection now easily available to us. Protection is now lightweight, adaptive and more unobtrusive than ever before. Lens systems are interchangeable, frames are now following suit and can be modified depending on need at the point of use. Truly innovative, cutting edge products that are manufactured to the highest standards have been brought to the market by Wiley X. Your eyes are irreplaceable. They deserve the best protection that you can give them.
Prices Wiley X Nerve: Wiley X Spear: Wiley X SG-1: Wiley X XL-1 Advanced: Wiley X Valor: Wiley X Guard Advanced:
£89.95 £89.95 – £114.95 £99.95 £99.95 – £114.95 £99.95 – £139.95 £99.95 – £114.95
All these products are available on the Military1st website: www.military1st.co.uk Many thanks to Military1st for supplying the Wiley X products used in this review.
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BattleSim OPERATION FIGHTING LIGHT
OP: FIGHTING LIGHT BRIT-TAC @ CAMP SPARTA! TOM “ANVIL” HIBBERD RETURNS TO A SITE HE LAST SAW FROM A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE TO TAKE PART IN A SINGLE-DAY BATTLESIM EVENT. THE LAST TIME I SAW Camp Sparta (aka RAF Kirton-In-Lindsey) I had just jumped out of a perfectly good plane over nearby Hibaldstow Airfield and was in freefall at 15,000ft! 10 years later I returned to my old stomping grounds to take part in a one-day battle-sim run by Brit-Tac Events. Camp Sparta is a former RAF base and is readily accessible from the A15, situated 15 miles north of Lincoln. It consists of a variety of accommodation blocks and other structures with some small areas of woodland around the perimeter. The safe zone is housed in one of the camps administration buildings and features crew rooms, lighting, running water and proper toilet facilities. Much appreciated by an older airsofter such as myself! Brit-Tac’s marshal team were welcoming and very organised getting the players booked in and ready for the game in short order. The safety brief was given in the base’s auditorium which added to the sense of drama and it was a feature that was appreciated by the players, getting us out on the field as soon as possible. Prior to the day Facebook groups had been set up to allow the teams to get organised and ready for the action. This was a great touch and greatly added to the immersion. As the day was a battle-sim there was a bit more to it than go and blast away at each other however…
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BRIT-TAC EVENTS: brittacairsoft.com
Location: Camp Sparta RAF Kirton-In-Lindsey Near Gainsborough Lincolnshire DN21 4HY Price: £30 for walk on players. £40 for basic hire. (£10 deposit for both) FPS Limits: AEG/GBB - 350fps with a .20g BB Single Shot Bolt Gun – 500fps with .20g BB (30m engagement range) DMR – 450fps (locked to semi) Ammo limits: Assault Weapons – 8 Midcaps Bolt Guns – 100 BBs plus sidearm (5 mags) DMR – 5 Midcaps Semi auto fire only within buildings
BattleSim OPERATION FIGHTING LIGHT
OPERATION: FIGHTING LIGHT For centuries myths and rumours of the Illuminati have been whispered around the world, whispers of an all controlling secret society pushing and moulding the world to continually favour their gain. As the world’s natural resources dwindle and the ravages of constant war taking its toll on even the largest defence budgets, some leading heads of state have stepped forward and defied the pressure from the supposed Illuminati. With their secret grip of the world’s powers slipping, the Illuminati have been forced to take drastic measures and deploy their unique soldiers “The Elite”, a force expertly versed in sabotage and stealth operations, used to force destabilisation and disruption in the most volatile theatres. Their overall intention for The Elite is to create enough chaos and distrust as to initiate another world war. Soon realising the consequences of their defiance of the Illuminati, the countries that stood against them have hastily formed a multinational military task force drawn from the world's Tier 1 SF Operators, with the mission to hunt down The Elite and prevent their sabotage. With intelligence agencies around the world providing discreet information it’s soon found that The Elite forces are amassing at an abandoned training camp in the highly volatile and increasing unstable fundamentalist safe haven of Mauritania. With the fear that the Elite will plunge the region in to all-out war, the hunt is on and the leash removed Task force X-ray have been given the green light...
RAF KIRTON-IN-LINDSEY
Camp Sparta has quite a history. The airfield was initially used by the Royal Flying Corp during the First World War after which it returned to farming use. It was then rebuilt for use in WW2 by Fighter Command covering the North East of England. Various squadrons of Hurricanes and Spitfires were stationed at the base until it was allocated to United States Army Air Forces in 1942. In 1943 it returned to RAF control and was used as a Fighter Operational Training Unit for Spitfires until the end of the War. It remained in active use throughout the cold war serving as a training centre for various units. In the late 60s it was transferred to the British Army and became the barracks for the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and later the Royal Artillery. When the Army departed the site in 2004 it was once again returned to RAF use and was extensively refurbished for use by No.1 Air Control Centre before it’s eventual closure in 2014. Parts of the airbase are being redeveloped, however the old accommodation blocks, services and messes now form CAMP SPARTA and are being used for Airsoft Events. The airfield itself continues to be the home for a glider club.
“THE FIGHTING WAS TENSE WITH THE ENEMY COMING VERY CLOSE AT SEVERAL POINTS DURING THE MISSION. LUCKILY WE HELD ON AND AT THE APPOINTED HOUR BRIT-TAC SET OFF PYRO SIMULATING A DOOR BREACH AND AGENT GAMMA WAS DISPATCHED.” him. Echo 1 were to provide perimeter security and fight off the attempts by the Task Force to rescue their operative. The fighting was tense with the enemy coming very close at several points during the mission. Luckily we held on and at the appointed hour Brit-Tac set off pyro simulating a door breach and Agent Gamma was dispatched. The surviving Elite fought a running battle to get back to their base for a re-tasking and the next mission. During the day the teams were only given a short period of 15 minutes between taskings to “bomb-up” and eat and drink. This added to the tension and kept the players focussed. In addition both team’s bases were far from the safe zone which meant that any kit and gear needed had to be taken out at the The Elite Forces move out for their first objective
GAME ON!
My teammates and I normally play in Flecktarn so we had signed up to join The Elite as the task force were playing in desert and tan uniforms, plus I quite like playing as one of the “bad guys”. I really like games with uniform rules as it makes target acquisition much easier than squinting to see which colour armband a player is wearing! What’s more, as riflemen we were limited to carrying 8 midcaps with no reloads unless you returned to base. Squad machine gunners were allowed more ammo which made them much more important than they would be at a normal open day where everyone is capable of laying down their own suppressive fire. The Elite were assigned to two platoons, “Echo 1” and “Echo 2” and set out on our first mission of the day. Echo 2 were to secure a building that contained Task Force Agent “Gamma” and carry out an interrogation before executing
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BattleSim OPERATION FIGHTING LIGHT
beginning of the day making you feel that you were part of an operation. Next up, The Elite had to defend their communication gear scattered across the base. After losing Agent Gamma the Task Force were eager for revenge and managed to secure three of the five laptops, stopping The Elite from gaining the upper hand. It appeared that after their initial disappointment the Task Force had re-organised themselves and were communicating efficiently between their different units. Our next tasking was to secure our satellite communications gear from capture. Echo 1 were set to guard this vital piece of equipment with Echo 2 occupying another building to act as a distraction and draw the Task Force’s attention. However, our plans were compromised when a swift assault led to the satellite gear being extracted by the Task Force. The Elite regrouped and attacked the enemy’s Forward Operating Base to regain their equipment. This engagement was frantic but the Task Force held on long enough that The Elite needed to withdraw to organise their final move. The final mission of the day was to (simulated) shoot down two airliners with MANPADS. These were fantastic Surface to Air Missile Launcher props built by Brit-Tac, complete with pyrotechnic effects. The SAMs needed to be in position at given times in order to accomplish the mission. Small teams were assigned to each missile and the rest of the Elites spread out to lead the Task Force away from the launch sites. One team managed to be in place and on time while the other was just a few minutes late. Although The Elites had managed to fulfil some of the objectives on the day the Task Force had managed to drive them back into hiding …for now.
DEBRIEF
All in all a great day’s play from both sides, I enjoyed myself immensely as did my team mates and we are looking forward to the next chapter in the story. For those looking for a more thematic game than a normal open day Battle Sims are a good idea. Camp Sparta is a great site and has benefited from some recent improvements that add cover and allow better movement across the open ground between buildings. Have a look for Brit-Tac events on Facebook to get notified of upcoming games and their regular open days or visit: brittacairsoft.com.
THE SAS HOUSE
Some buildings in Camp Sparta aren’t available to play inside. The most notable of these is the one known as “The SAS House”. It appears that this structure is directly responsible for the pyro rules that are used at the base. A few years ago at 3 in the morning an SAS unit helicoptered into Kirton for a training exercise. They conducted an explosive entry, blowing most of the doors off and windows out. Understandably this upset many of the local residents and now means that loud bangs can only be used indoors with only smokes allowed outside. The building still stands though is cordoned off and is quite a sight.
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project crete WARZONE 2018
GETTING IN THE ZONE AS THE CLOCK TICKS INEXORABLY DOWN TO WARZONE 2018 BILL AND KELLY ARE REALLY STARTING TO PULL THEIR PERSONAL KIT TOGETHER AND THIS MONTH THEY SHARE WHAT THEY HAVE CHOSEN FOR THEIR “SECOND LINE GEAR” AND WHY. FUNDAMENTALLY, WHEN IT COMES down to your “Second Line Gear” it’s very much personal choice but to recap, what I’m talking about here is the “fighting load” and this is essentially the way you carry spare magazines for your primary. The “light” second line is for when you are trying to avoid a fight, and the “heavy” for when you definitely know you’re going to be in contact at some point in the very, very near future! You could say that the “template” for your “second line” choice comes down to one of two things (I’m discounting “old skool” tactical vests here although they are still a valid choice!) and that’s a plate carrier or chest rig. I’ll start with the “heavy” option which is what I personally have chosen for myself but there are SO MANY options 42
may 2018
for a plate carrier setup out there that you can easily find out what suits YOU best. My personal choice is the DCS (Dynamic Combat System) from Warrior Assault Systems; a lightweight, low profile system which is rugged, yet ergonomically designed to provide exceptional comfort and functionality. Designed with direct input from active S.F. personnel the DCS is suitable for all types of operating environment and is available in a number of camouflage patterns, plain colours and platform specific configurations. As well as the Ranger Green version shown here with the WAS Open Top mag pouches and admin/utility pouches, they also have closed top M4, G36 (which will carry 7.62mm mags) and AK specific setups available from stock. I specifically have chosen Ranger Green as it works well with my GreenZone kit but also doubles up when I’m wearing plain colours for OPFOR/PMC roles in a game. Fabrics and materials used are all top specification; 500D Cordura, MilSpec Webbing, UV and Mildew resistant nylon thread and ITW military rated fixtures and fittings are used throughout. The shoulders are fully adjustable and have an Emergency Release on one side which frees the left hand side shoulder section and allows you to remove the whole
project crete WARZONE 2018
fully loaded, rig without having to remove a helmet if you’re wearing one. The Side sections of the DCS are fully adjustable for size and can be adjusted in under fifteen seconds! 3D Spacer Mesh lining is used for comfort and allows body heat to move away from the body surface while assisting in air flow to provide cooling. Even when fully loaded and ready for bear this rig is extremely comfortable to wear for extended periods of time. I’ve been running this setup for a little over five years now, upgrading it along the way with a tear-off IFAK, a forwardopening admin pouch and a MOLLE cargo pack on the back, and even with regular games and “real steel” range training sessions in all types of environments the DCS has stood up exceptionally well and has provided top rate levels of comfort and functionality; this is a set of gear that comes with my complete recommendation!
LIGHT IS RIGHT
For Crete though, I’ve decided to run more of a “Recon Rig” so for this I’ve dropped things down to lighten weight for a longer duration “Op”. To this end I’ve chosen a Guardian Chest Rig in GreenZone from Helikon Tex. The HTX Lines Project was created in 2016 as a whole new concept of product development within Helikon-Tex and they’ve been slowly but surely rolling it out since then. Initial concepts were turned into pre-production samples, the final versions of which are now hitting the stores worldwide. Everything went according to a plan, and Helikon-Tex enters the third year of their plan with continued energy and even more new ideas. Their assets are the right people combining to create one of the most innovative design teams in the industry. The Guardian Chest Rig is a universal carry platform built to accommodate a basic ammunition load and personal equipment. Designed to work along with a backpack and belt kit, it can optimise the configuration of your “shoot gear”. Depending on the number and size of magazines the height of the fixed pouch flaps can be adjusted (think STANAG v AK), and exchangeable magazine/handgun inserts can be rearranged swiftly and easily. The Guardian has a universal, removable and adjustable Xor H-harness, channels on straps for wiring, antenna, hydration tubes, exchangeable inserts (included), double pistol magazine pouches, double rifle/carbine (AR/AK) magazine pouches and three fixed double rifle/carbine magazine pouches(AK/ AR). There are height-adjustable magazine pouch flaps, two spacious cargo pockets (USGI canteen compatible) and multiple PALS/MOLLE panels for additional pouches / accessories. All in all it’s a well thought out bit of kit, and the bonus is that the lightly padded shoulder harness actually makes it comfortable for extended periods. We’re also hoping to have the new Helikon Tex Mini Training Rig for WarZone 2018, but as I write that’s still to be released… Now as I tend to carry most essentials on my torso (“old skool fool” that I am!) I’ll hand over to Kelly for her take on a great belt kit setup!
KELLY: ALWAYS PREPARED! My belt set-up has evolved so much in the four short years I have been playing airsoft, from not using one in the beginning (because why would you EVER need to carry more than the 3 mags on your plate carrier right?! *chuckles*) to a full, heavy battle belt set-up that had far more kit than necessary to my current lightweight, shooters belt set-up. It has taken me a long time, to not only find a belt that doesn’t bruise my hips and also to create a set-up that has everything I need to hand but isn’t excessive in weight or unnecessary kit. I now have two set-ups, one for my MultiCam kit and one for my green team kit. In this we’ll be looking at my MultiCam belt set-up as it’s fully
finished. First up, let’s look at the belt itself! The base of my build is a MultiCam FRV Tailoring Cobra Shooters Belt. It is a low profile, lightweight and affordable alternative to some of the pricier shooters belts on the market. It has an inner belt made of one layer of webbing with Velcro hook on the outside which you feed through your trouser belt loops as you would any normal belt, then you place your outer belt with all your pouches, holsters etc. attached over the inner belt and fasten it with the cobra buckle. The belt is 50mm/2” wide and has 18 columns of MOLLE. The MOLLE loops run along the top and bottom of the outer belt and they’re compatible with any MOLLE pouches and holsters. The outer belt has a double layer of webbing to give it that rigidity and a cobra buckle that is rated up to 4,000lbs. What I love about this belt is it sits quite high up on my hips so it doesn’t bruise me or get uncomfortable even when there’s a fair bit of weight being carried, and I can have all my pouches/holsters set up on the belt without needing to take them off when the belt is removed. What I have learned over the years is that I DON’T need to carry a first aid kit on my belt for every single www.airsoft-action.online
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project crete WARZONE 2018
skirmish and I DON’T need to carry 4 extra midcap magazines in addition to the 3-5 on my chest – talk about overkill! So now it’s all about the essentials, as I don’t want to be swapping holsters constantly I opted for a Warrior Assault Systems Universal Holster in MultiCam, which is the best holster that I’ve used to date. What I really like about this holster and the reason why I always come back to it, Is because it fits every pistol I currently own, securely! The adjustment system is easy to use and the pistol is held in place by a trigger locking system. To release the pistol you simply push in the release and pull the pistol and to lock the pistol into the holster you just push it back in. To carry pyro and empty magazines I have a Warrior Assault Systems Gen 1 Dump Pouch, just something simple to
keep anything that doesn’t have a dedicated pouch. I recently swapped my pistol mag pouches and 40mm pouches from MultiCam fabric to Kydex carriers, which are still lightweight but have a cleaner look for longer and are more durable. My carriers are in grey and pink which matches my brand colours and adds a little pop of fun colour into my loadout. My 40mm carriers are Gen 1 Kydex from Mile Gear, which has a Kraken design on each carrier. My TRMRs are really easy to deploy from the carrier – just push the TRMR out from the bottom then pull upwards. They’re easy to use and keep my TRMRs and any other 40mm pyro secure! My pistol mag carriers are made by Phoenix Tactical in the “Femme Fatale” colourway, they keep my mags secure and accessible ready for use. Overall, my belt set-up is built around the ideals of accessibility and security! For Warzone 2018 I will recreating this set-up with an FRV Tailoring OD belt, and I’m just awaiting my med kit and dump pouch for the green kit! For information on any of the kit featured here please visit www. warriorassaultsystems.com, www. helikon-tex.com, https://frv-tailoring. myshopify.com, http://www. phoenixtacticalgear.com, and http:// www.milegear.nl Also please go to www.military1st.co.uk for Helikon Tex gear and a great selection of rigs and plate carriers. www.airsoft-action.online
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Inside Airsoft MID WALES AIRSOFT
MID WALES AIRSOFT SHOP OUR RESIDENT WELSHMAN, IOAN “IGGY” ROBERTS, TAKES A TRIP TO SNOWDONIA WHERE HE VISITS A RAPIDLY GROWING AIRSOFT SHOP THAT HAS GROWN OUT OF A SUCCESSFUL SITE. MIDDLE EARTH, OR AT LEAST that is what it felt like as I drove through Snowdonia National Park, heading south to Newtown, Powys in Mid Wales to check out the latest venture of a standalone “Airsoft shop”. Sitting in a street pretty much in the centre of Newtown is the Mid Wales Airsoft shop. This is a unique idea and pretty much the only one in the local area. When I first heard about the idea of the shop I have to admit I was a little apprehensive and truly wished them every luck in their endeavour. I am, however, very happy to say I can eat my words!
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The shop was an idea with a long background seeing as it was the original business plan before Mid Wales Airsoft Site but, the land in which the site uses became available, so Tish and Tim made the decision to create the site. The idea of a full time shop refused to leave their minds and when there was a chance that a shop front was opening in Newtown, they couldn’t refuse the opportunity. The position officially became available in early autumn and by the end of October they were open for business. Once they were in they worked around the clock to build and adapt the layout to suit their idea. There is a lot put into this venue but it still manages to avoid feeling cluttered. The shop door is permanently, electronically locked. To enter you simply knock and then a member of staff will release the lock from the till counter, or more often than not people attempt to open the door as I did; only to be confused as to why it’s not open until you read the sign explaining how to enter. This may seem an odd, almost uninviting, aspect of the shop but it is a great idea when you think about it. It allows the staff to monitor who is coming in and out of the shop at any one time. Meaning that they can responsibly display their range of RIFs and other age restricted items. As soon as you walk into the shop you are welcomed by the member of staff that let you in. The staff are all passionate about airsoft and have extensive experience about the game and kit and they are very enthusiastic to share their love of the sport. This means that right from the off you are not allowed to be a shadow in the background. They are keen to hear your story and see where you are in terms of airsoft experience. For the beginners, who’s first experience of the sport is literally walking through the door into this “what could seem, other
Inside Airsoft MID WALES AIRSOFT
world”, it’s an education and the staff are great at making new airsofters from the average punter that walks in off the street because of that fateful natural sense of curiosity. Robin, a customer, explained “I saw the shop, knocked on the door and when I was let in I asked, what is this all about? The staff took the time to teach me and now I am hooked on airsoft and have spent a fortune. I visit when I’m shopping for a chat and a tea, it’s great, only I often leave with something new!” The shop’s layout is sorted into parts, airsoft consumables and accessories, scopes, silencers and camping equipment all on shelving as you enter the shop heading towards the till. On the opposite side of the shelving and taking you through the shop is their stock of tactical clothing and gear. Then, on the wall along the far side of the shop is their display of RIFs, ranging from ARs and sub machine guns, to sniper weapons and shotties. This is complimented with a shelf at the base of the gun wall, running along the whole length boasting a varied selection of pistols. The entrance to the range is situated at the end of the gun wall. So as a customer you can literally say “I
wan’ that un” and try it in the range. Use of the range is controlled by one of the staff and access will only be granted when accompanied by said member of staff and both parties are wearing eye protection. In the range there is a counter followed by a 7-8 meter passageway to a selection of targets ranging from an automated mini duck shoot where the targets will drop when hit, to a selection of spoons all individually coloured and a rabbit that takes a lot of accurate hits to make it finally drop. The range is fully enclosed and is designed with lower FPS weapons in mind such as pistols and shot guns. It’s a place for adults and youngsters to try firing an airsoft gun for the first time as well as trying out a gun before you choose to buy it. Under 16’s are strictly accompanied by an adult related to them. The shop is almost a social club with tea, coffee, snacks and soft drinks on offer. The regular players at the site can often be found in the shop. It really has a sense of community where everyone is likeminded and share stories and knowledge about all things airsoft Mid Wales Airsoft shop stocks products from Kombat, Nuprol, One Stop Coffee Company and a range of framed prints of military aircraft taken by local photographer, Terry Holloway. Their selection of RIFs come from a range of manufacturers from Nuprol to iwholesale. Mid Wales Airsoft are keen to try and support UK businesses as much as they can. There is a section of the shop for second hand sales of RIFs and kit. This is done on a commission basis and all second hand products are examined before sale by the staff. Other services include custom paint jobs, chroming, www.airsoft-action.online
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CYAN, MAGENTA, YELLOW, BLACK
Helikon-Tex @OUTBACK LINE#AIRSOFT ACTION 03-2018
JOURNEY TO PERFECTION WWW.HELIKON-TEX.COM
OUTBACK
Inside Airsoft MID WALES AIRSOFT
upgrades, repairs and servicing (although they stress that they can’t perform miracles). All jobs are done in the shop’s “work room”, meaning that nothing is taken away from location. The shop accepts all the usual payment methods from card to cold hard cash. They also have a website on which products can be bought using PayPal. The shop itself is only the tip of the business. The range is accompanied by a sofa and office chair with a wall mounted TV connected to a games console that provides a very attractive hangout. In the window is a poster saying “Man crèche; Ladies, leave your man here while you go shopping!” Tish and Tim also run a pistol club every Wednesday and Friday evening. Originally it was one night a week but because of its popularity and high attendance they split it to the two evenings and separated Wednesday for adults and Friday for under 19’s. The idea behind the pistol club is to create a social atmosphere, where they educate people in safe handling of airsoft guns and basic marksmanship principles relevant to airsoft, with a little bit of competition thrown in for good measure. The groups in both evenings are split into 3 teams that compete against each other in various trails such as bunny down and moving target challenges. Each is scored by how many shots it takes for each contestant to complete the challenges as well as how long it took them. Annually there is an awards night where the teams win the BB award and the loosing team gets the lemon award. They also cater for private social evenings where the place is
booked out by a club or organisation for an alternative activity. One of these events were booked by the local Women’s Institute where they all tried shooting various airsoft guns down the range and enjoyed a selection of soft drinks and nibbles in the process. Mid Wales Airsoft shop are working closely with the local police force and are arranging an evening where they come in and educate the under 19’s pistol club members in the law regarding airsoft RIFs. A number of charities are supported by the means of club members giving up their time to support various charities or simply collection boxes placed on the till counter. The ethic of Mid Wales Airsoft is to bring people that are above the Mid Wales Airsoft legal minimum age into the sport 1 Shortbridge Street and get them onto the UKARA Newtown SY16 1AA database. Then, through the shop Phone: 07851476315 / 07762760157 be able to supply them with quality Web: www.midwalesairsoftshop.co.uk affordable products. The shop is open 6 days a week under They strive to promote airsoft the following hours: in a good light by being a positive contribution to the local economy Opens 09:30 every day of business. and educating the community that On Monday Tuesday and Thursday they express an interest in safe gun close at 15:30. handling. On Wednesday and Friday they close at I really enjoyed my visit and if 21:00 because of the pistol club. you are ever in the area, go and ring the bell at Mid Wales Airsoft On Saturday they close between 17:00 Shop and tell them “Iggy” sent - 18:00 depending on how busy they are. you.
Contact Details:
www.airsoft-action.online
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feature BESPOKE AIRSOFT
A BESPOKE VISIT WE ALL LIKE TO TINKER WITH OUR AIRSOFT GUNS BUT BUYING IMPORTED UPGRADES DEFINITELY GETS EXPENSIVE. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE UK STARTS MANUFACTURING PARTS THOUGH? GEORAGA TAKES A VISIT TO BESPOKE AIRSOFT TO FIND OUT JUST THAT! STOP! Look around your home; your office; your car. Think about all the things you own; the computer, the TV, the iron, the wardrobe... the candles? Now think about where these things came from, look and then tell me, where were they made? (I hope you say it out loud!) The likelihood is that they were made abroad, maybe in China or Taiwan, or maybe imported from Germany or South Asia. Am I right? Over the last several decades, the UK has further shifted from manufacturing products and materials to importing them, which often leads to a hike in consumer prices as retailers are crunched by smaller profit margins... don’t worry... this isn’t a hard-hitting political deep-dive, I’m just setting up the theme for the article. The nice thing is that even though the majority of airsoft guns are also imported from abroad, there is a growing trend in the UK that’s leading both individuals and businesses to manufacture aftermarket parts and accessories. People are 3D printing their own custom rails and fore-grips or spare parts, while others are working with local companies to produce upgrade parts and adapt popular platforms. Now I think it’s fair to say that I’m one of the world’s foremost experts on manufacturing, my experience is unrivaled (I have zero, zilch, nada, none... I lied... I’m not one of the world’s foremost experts... Ssssh!) and with that in mind, I am curious to know if this aftermarket trend is not only viable in the UK but whether or not it’s leading to UK-specific airsoft manufacturing. For now though, one of the companies with a clear vision for viable manufacturing here is Bespoke Airsoft. I sat down with James to talk through some of the pros and pitfalls of doing things locally, addressed some of the common themes that people like you and me hear about on the news and look through some of their current line-up of aftermarket parts.
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Before we go any further, I also recorded our conversation as a video interview which covers way more than I can in this article, so if you fancy watching that 12minute cut-down (disclaimer: my second camera didn’t do well in the low light) that can be found at https://goo.gl/XQw278 or here in the mag if you’re reading the digital version! So the first thing I was curious about was that age-old question… Why? In my humble experience and with the news cycle being what it is, my whole notion of manufacturing is that it’s expensive. Time and time again we hear about China being the country of choice for both large and small companies due to its low labour and material costs (however you feel about that) so why would you even want to manufacture in the UK and if you do, what are the benefits and drawbacks to doing so? ”Say if we decide to go to China, we might get things a little bit cheaper but I can’t control what’s going on over in China, whereas we work with a company here that’s quite local to us so if there’s any changes that need to happen or we need to check that everything’s okay I can literally just jump in the car, go to the factory and we can deal with it there and then and so it’s not massively more expensive than if you go to China.” Setting aside the cost for the time being, James hit on a point that also comes up a lot in the media; Quality Control! It’s one of those things, with airsoft especially, where popular products can go from “incredible” to “garbage” as a result of a good design but poor QC and a lack of response to feedback as the inevitable hype wears off. This is one of the reasons people have such stark polarizing opinions when it comes to certain brands; passed experiences lead them to question any product that comes from that company for years on end and it takes a lot to earn back that reputation if they don’t act fast to make wide-spread changes. Bespoke are no exception
Feature BESPOKE AIRSOFT
to this which we touch on properly later in this piece, but the idea of being able to “pop in” to your manufacturer is I think a comforting thought, especially when importing even a prototype from abroad can take up to 2-3weeks for delivery. Imagine that you get a prototype through after waiting for almost a month, to see immediately that there’s something wrong... imagine then the frustration in knowing that you have to try and communicate exactly what it is and then have to wait another 3 weeks for it to be rectified (or to realise it’s not been understood). Okay so I know why he decided to make stuff here. The question then becomes how do you decide what to make? ”… we sort of fell into it with the ARES Striker platform because when we opened it was a new product, we were selling a lot of them at a time and we were having them open every day finding issues that you know ARES struggled with, with their QC; so it just kind of snowballed from there from an idea and that’s what opened the door to us in terms of our manufacturing route. […] The Striker platform has less air available behind the BB compared to a VSR so it’s got a smaller air cylinder, air volume ratio to the barrel; so we started doing the dual bores from EdGI which again were expensive, about £120 for a barrel […] so we started doing the short outer barrels and it was basically doing the same thing as the dual bore barrels but it was shortening the rifle as well […] the 290mm barrels that fit into these things perform just as well as the longer barrels. […] We went from the barrels to the full upgrade kit; the Striker suffers from a bad sear design so we wanted to completely redesign the way the trigger box worked and have a true 90o sear system which is what we’ve done and we wanted to make the cylinder housing itself out of one piece because the standard cylinders that comes with the ARES Striker and the ARES upgrade part, all suffer from a poor design and can break within the first couple of times of using it. As far as I’m aware, we’re the only company in the world that produce a cylinder for an airsoft sniper out of one piece of stainless steel.” Now, unfortunately, I can confirm that the Striker (Gen 1) had these common issues; I was in the market for a lightweight sniper, picked one up and it didn’t make it through 100 test shots. It never made it to an actual game with the stock internals and I found myself posting videos of the Striker slamfiring on the various Facebook groups and forums to find that it was an extremely common theme. This brings us nicely round to what I mentioned earlier… QC. It’s a major concern in cases like this and Bespoke have not been free from manufacturing mistakes. In their time producing parts they have made several recalls of products; this as a sentence in and of itself sounds like a bad thing... within context, however, is pretty admirable. Shortly after they
released the shorter outer barrel for the Striker, Action Army developed and released a new Hop-Unit which very quickly became a popular choice for upgrades. Having made a barrel that didn’t know of and therefore didn’t fit the new unit, James redesigned the part, recalled the first barrels and sent out the new barrels at zero cost to the customer. The second recall is again, a pretty decent decision. ”When we released this [cylinder] kit we were working with this company (I found out later that they work primarily in aerospace) and were promised that if we made these pistons in aluminium and hard anodised them to a certain depth that they would be up to the task of taking the force from the spring and the sear; as we released the pistons we had a few reports of the pistons being soft.” This is where “popping in” really helped. James was able to quickly make the decision to go directly to the manufacturer, come up with the solution to remake the part in stainless steel and again, ship them out to customers that had already bought one free of charge and in a pretty quick turnaround. ”I want people to not only think of Bespoke as high-end parts but that also when they buy something, the company’s going to be there for them no matter what”. So as of writing this, here is the current Bespoke Airsoft manufactured parts list from their website (James also mentioned that they’re waiting for 25 different Spring types to come in, that they’re manufacturing inner barrels and upgrade parts for the Silverback SRS, ASG Scorpion Evo and even producing their own rifle): ED1 (Edition 1) Full ARES Striker Upgrade kit - £149.99 ED1 ARES Striker Cylinder Kit - £119.99 ED1 ARES Striker Trigger Kit - £39.99 ED1 ARES Striker Stainless Steel Body Pin - £12.99 ED1 Bespoke Striker Shorter Barrel - £69.99 Bespoke Krytac Kriss Vector Extended Mag Release - £39.99 Bespoke Airsoft Stel-Tek M150 AEG Spring - £8.99 Bespoke Airsoft Paracord Single Point Sling - £34.99 ED1 individual spare parts - £4.99-£49.99 One of the added benefits of manufacturing in the UK, well, for we the consumer at least, is that as they don’t have the same import taxes or surcharges as products from abroad, the prices don’t have to be so high for retailers to be able to make a profit on them. That means that prices are likely to be lower for us buying the products... which in my book is a win. Now full disclosure, I’ve been testing out the ED1 kit and AA Hop Unit in my own Striker. Suffice to say that it now not only lasts but the accuracy and distance is drastically improved. It’s currently zeroed in at 85m using .43 Longbow BBs but I can still push it further and it’s finally performing the way I wanted from a short build, lightweight sniper. I’ve still got a few personal things to do to reduce noise but as far as performance goes and for the price of the upgrades I’m extremely impressed. So what’s the conclusion? If this is the way that UK manufacturing is going... I’m in.
www.airsoft-action.online
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site THE KINGDOM
GADGE HARVEY HEADS BACK TO HIS ROOTS TO REPORT FROM THE FIRST EVENT AT OP TACTICAL’S BRAND NEW SITE, WHICH IS SIMPLY HUGE…
THE KINGDOM AS A STAFFORDSHIRE LAD it’s always nice to go back to the “old county” now and then and this month I seem to have been somewhat spoiled by being asked by the editor to go back to my old stomping ground and review not one but TWO sites in “God’s own County”! So, as you can imagine, I practically snapped Nige’s hand off when he asked me if I wanted to go and review a new site near Cheadle in Staffordshire run by the Op Tactical crew, known as “The Kingdom”. Now this was exciting to me for all sorts of reasons… Firstly I got to have a drive back to my old “area” - where I’d first started playing paintball back in the late 80s and secondly, I got to go to an event ran by “Op Tactical” who I’d met briefly via the magazine and had heard great things about; but thirdly and most importantly, I would get to go and check out a VAST (yes, vast, more of this later) new site that had not yet been given an airsoft “trial by fire”. By now the run from Nottingham to Staffordshire is something I can pretty much can do on autopilot and it was easy enough to find “Huntley Wood” via the directions on Op Tactical’s site (do listen to the directions and don’t use your sat nav as it will try and take you down some frankly shocking routes). To those not in the know, Huntley Wood is a new site for airsoft but it’s not a new site for “adventure games”. Don’t worry it’s not another converted paintball site… 54
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the woods are in fact set out for Live Action Roleplay (yeah all that dressing as orcs and hitting each other with rubber swords stuff) and so boasts an impressive existing set of “structures”, from wooden huts to command tents to “mine workings”. The site itself is huge as I mentioned earlier. When it’s used for LARP it actually consists of three separate “zones” and each of these is easily as big as your average airsoft site on its own. The zones are “The Wyldwood”, which as you can expect is a heavily wooded region, “The Greenvale” which is also quite heavily forested, but also boasts a number of open clearings and fields, and lastly, an old flooded gravel quarry and, you guessed it, surrounding woodland called “The Deepmere”. So, new team with a vast new site, it’s an ambitious first even to run, so how did it go?
IMPRESSIVE TURNOUT
In a nutshell, pretty well. Over 60 players turned up on site and parked their cars in the large car park before setting up their kit in a covered bench area. The weather was bitterly cold, which may have put a few off but for a first event on a new site it was a fairly impressive turnout. As well as ready benches, the Op Tactical guys had also put on a tea and coffee station at the check-in desk and had arranged for retail stands to be in attendance from Staffordshire Militaria and RedWolf Airsoft, with an array of BBs, eye pro, tactical kit and even a new AEG if you fancied it. Rob and the team at Op Tactical had clearly done a lot of work in the run up to the event and within minutes it was clear to see the “military efficiency” behind the scenes as the guys began assembling the players for the safety brief. The safety brief confirmed my suspicions as Rob introduced his team and it was clear that nearly all of his marshals were either serving or ex-military personnel. The brief was delivered in a no nonsense “forces” way – that special mix of matter of
Site THE KINGDOM
fact rules statements with a subtle dash of humour that kept players listening intently throughout. The safety brief was pretty standard for a woodland site, but it was interesting to see that Rob’s teams had put measures in place to safeguard younger players (keeping them in at least pairs in the game area for example).
THE INVISIBLE ENEMY After the safety brief we returned to the ready benches to kit up. A pretty diverse bunch of airsofters had turned up and as I was chatting to them I couldn’t help noticing that equally diverse were the “props” Op Tactical had arrayed to one side for the day’s gaming. Everything from virus bombs in suitcases, to mobile phones and laptops through to mannequins representing “high value targets” were laid out in a row. Another novel touch from the Op Tactical team was issuing the players with a red or blue “shemagh” scarf to wear as they saw fit, rather than the traditional armband. Now, I quite liked this, as most players opted to wear them as scarves which meant that “friend or foe” identification usually meant that aiming BELOW the colour would minimise the amount of headshots. While the team scarves are a great idea for winter games I’m still not sure they will be as popular in the heat of summer! After gun chronoing (AEGS were limited to 350fps with a .20g bb) the sides were lead out into the Wyldwood area. The Red team were tasked with holding onto laptops which contained vital information, while the Blue team were dead set on relieving the Reds of their critical intel. Game on was called and the teams both sought to navigate the unfamiliar terrain, often meeting dead ends in impenetrable thickets, or even worse finding themselves emerge into a clearing under fire from an invisible enemy. Op Tactical’s marshals were on hand and very much “on the ball” working out whether the game they had planned “on paper” was working “on site”. On one occasion a sensible decision was made to move some of the regen points, as players were getting exhausted making the long trek back from regen! All in all though, the first plan survived contact with BOTH enemies and the teams seemed to be having a cracking day out. As aforementioned, the site is normally a LARP site where players often have less “sensible” footwear and a lot of the slopes have had hessian matting laid on them to prevent players slipping down muddy embankments. This was a nice touch, but the flip side to it being a LARP site was an absence of the sort of low cover you normally find at an airsoft site and a tendency for some of the woodland to be far too dense to patrol through in kit without making an awful lot of noise! With a call of “end ex” the first battle was over and it was time for lunch – a much needed hearty stew (a choice of either a meat or vegan-friendly vegetable) and bread roll, and by this point in the day I was grateful for the calories. I spent a little time chatting to RedWolf, and also to the Ed, Nigel Streeter, who had turned up to visit the site and was planning to get some gaming in in the afternoon. Now I’ve known “the boss” for some time but we don’t normally get to battle at the same events, let alone the same side, so I was looking forwards to the next instalment.
“ON ONE OCCASION A SENSIBLE DECISION WAS MADE TO MOVE SOME OF THE REGEN POINTS, AS PLAYERS WERE GETTING EXHAUSTED MAKING THE LONG TREK BACK FROM REGEN! ALL IN ALL THOUGH, THE FIRST PLAN SURVIVED CONTACT WITH BOTH ENEMIES AND THE TEAMS SEEMED TO BE HAVING A CRACKING DAY OUT.” www.airsoft-action.online
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n Expandable, 4-14ltr n Front zipped compartment n Internal nylon bladder sleeve n Rear bladder outlet n Elastic hydration/comms retention n Padded back panel n Lazer MOLLE webbing n 1 x Velcro ID panel n Main grab handle n Comes with spare puller Capacity: 4-14ltr (approx) Dimensions cms: 34 x 24 x 22 Material: HEX-TECH Colours: Brown Coyote, Green, Black, Titanium
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Site THE KINGDOM
The afternoon’s battle started off somewhat “confused”. The guys at Op Tactical had planned an attack and defence game on the hills overlooking the Mirewater, but within about fifteen minutes of the battle it was clear that it wasn’t really working. At this point I have to say that Rob’s team handled this as well as could be expected. As I’ve said, with a new site it’s very much a case of finding your feet and learning when things don’t go to plan rather than forcing the issue and making players play an unsatisfactory game. In this case the guys quickly decided to move onto another pre-planned game (wisely abandoning the one that didn’t work) and on the way there, threw in a quick “jungle ambush” scenario so we could “battle” to the new game rather than just walk. This in itself was a rather good move as it kept us all in a gaming rather than grumbling mood, and so without further ado Nige and I found ourselves pushing forwards past hoards of concealed enemies in an effort to reach the plateau where we could regroup.
DISASTER STRIKES
Back at the new scenario’s starting points, we were tasked with the new game. Each side would have to collect a number of marker flags hidden throughout the game zone, and also to guard a high value target while attempting to steal the enemy’s flags and capture their target. All in all it would be a highly violent treasure hunt, and my team (the Reds) got stuck in from the off and began hoovering up all the flags we could see, and stashing them in our command tent while I laid down to set up an ambush next to our VIP. Before long we found our initial optimism was unfounded, as the Blue team kept on pushing at our front lines. I soon found myself shot out, and after regenning had found our VIP was missing - disaster! This pretty much set the pace as the Blue team dominated the field, and shortly before the end of the day I found myself out of batteries and gas and forced to leave the field… as I trudged back I was dismayed to see a group of Blues with a pile of flags and both VIPS, the day had quite clearly been lost.
Winning and losing aside the safe area was full of happy faces. We’d entered “The Kingdom” and found ourselves thoroughly entertained. To be sure there were some “teething issues” as you would expect with any new site , especially one so large, but it was clear to see the Op Tactical team were on the ball and fixing what they could there, and then and making a note to plan the next event to better suit the terrain. By the time you read this Op Tactical will have probably run their third or fourth event at “The Kingdom” and by now I’d be amazed if they hadn’t squared away those tiny niggles (and believe me they were really tiny problems), so why not do yourself a favour and plan a trip to “The Kingdom” this summer? I promise you that you’ll come away wanting more!
Contact: Op-Tac – The Kingdom Cheadle ST10 2NS Tel: 07510 127056 Email: rob@op-tac.co.uk Web: http://op-tac.co.uk
www.airsoft-action.online
57
feature STARTING UP IN AIRSOFT
STARTING UP IN AIRSOFT STARTING A NEW HOBBY OR PASTIME AS INTENSE AS AIRSOFT CAN BE QUITE A CHALLENGE, SO WE ASKED GADGE HARVEY TO OFFER SOME ADVICE AND GUIDANCE TO NEW PLAYERS.
STARTING AIRSOFT CAN BE A daunting thing. Almost every forum and Facebook page is full of “good advice”, some of it fantastic, some of it contradictory… so what exactly do you need to get started in this amazing hobby? Now while “veteran” players might want to skip this article, in fairness I think it’s worth reading as the question of “what does a new player need?” was brought home to me, a veteran player of some 15 years, the other day when my young cousin asked if he could come along with me to a skirmish (see the Stormforce site review this issue).
SAFETY FIRST
Knowing that being 16 makes your budget a bit tight I decided to treat my cousin by providing his “basics” for his first game but this made me really have to sit down and think about it, as the stuff I’ve got at home I’ve taken for granted for years. Clearly safety is paramount so the first thing I had to do was sort him out some eye and face protection. I was fortunate here in that I had a spare Nuprol mesh face mask that I’d picked up along the way (I usually have one mounted to my FAST 58
may 2018
helmet and another free fitting one for use with soft caps) and also managed to find a spare pair of clear glass Bolle shooting glasses while going through the “old kit” box. So with eyes and teeth protected we were some way to starting. I rounded off the head protection by loaning him my wife’s own FAST helmet but I’d not consider a helmet an essential to a new player, just a bit handy (or heady) if you have one. Another critical thing to consider when starting out in the sport is decent footwear and ankle protection. Luckily my cousin Ben had some sturdy boots from doing D of E expeditions at school but a decent pair of army surplus boots can be had for around a tenner from most surplus stores. On the subject of “army surplus” I was quite keen that Ben felt clean and comfy on his first event and as he’s not a “massive” lad I was unable to lend him any of my camo gear. Luckily I was able to pop down to “Anchor Supplies”, my local surplus store and kit him out with a full set of DPM fatigues for about £20. You don’t need camo for your first game, any combats or hoody tops in a neutral colour will do but classic camo patterns like DPM and German Flecktarn are cheap as
Feature STARTING UP IN AIRSOFT
chips and pretty much designed for the European woods we play in. Lastly, I needed something to keep water bottles, spare mags and snacks in on the day. My eyes hovered over a DPM chest rig in the surplus store that was again only about £20 but then I remembered I had a black tactical vest I’d bought and never used at home! One again you don’t need a tac vest or chest rig for your first skirmish but you can, if you want to splash out, get a decent “budget” starter rig or vest for under £30 from EBay. This starter vest had capacious pouches and was easily able to carry all the aforementioned essentials and also the one essential that most new airsofters forget –water! Staying hydrated is paramount to playing your first few games and its critical to make sure that you have some way of carrying fluids around even if it’s just a water bottle in a cargo pocket or pouch!
EVERYONE WANTS A GUN
At this point I pretty much had Ben’s kit sorted bar a pair of gloves (which, like his boots, he already had) but the thing that draws us all to airsoft is the guns if we’re honest (otherwise we’d just be doing bushcraft or something). Back in the day your first AEG was something of a “hurdle” and a significant “cash barrier” to entering the hobby, as most skirmish ready AEGs would cost around £250 upwards… way out of the price range of most new players and a sizable chunk of cash to splash out on a hobby you might not like. Add to this that new players without a valid “defence to buy” needed to purchase a two tone gun until they can prove they are a legitimate “skirmisher” and you can see why most players opt for using a
hire gun for their first handful of events. This isn’t a bad thing, as it lets you get to try out a variety of “platforms” and find out if you’re an M4 guy or an AK man etc. but my cousin being pretty similar in mind set to myself really wanted his own gun and who am I to argue? As we’ve said, there was a time when this would have been a bit of a financial nightmare but these days getting a decent AEG that won’t break the bank is no longer a problem. Companies like CYMA, Cybergun and NUPROL excel at making decent entry level AEGS for around the £100 to £150 mark. In fact NUPROL’s Delta range features a cracking M4 at a “starter” price range that simply cannot be faulted as a “pick up and go” choice for first AEG (one lucky reader can even win one in this issue!) and while “new” players will have to two tone their starter gun for their first three games, it’s a durable bit of kit that will stand up to hard skirmishing way after its been reverted to a more “tactical” finish. In my case I’d not come across the Nuprol Delta range when planning my cousin’s first game day and did a bit of “begging” around the Airsoft Action offices to see if any of the guys had an M4-type AEG they could sell me. Cue “airsoft hero” Bill Pryce Thomas coming to the rescue and donating an ASG M4
“BACK IN THE DAY YOUR FIRST AEG WAS SOMETHING OF A “HURDLE” AND A SIGNIFICANT “CASH BARRIER” TO ENTERING THE HOBBY, AS MOST SKIRMISH READY AEGS WOULD COST AROUND £250 UPWARDS…”
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Feature STARTING UP IN AIRSOFT
“IF YOU DO WANT TO GO DOWN THE ROUTE OF BUYING YOUR OWN AEG BEFORE PLAYING (AND TO BE HONEST IT’S NO LONGER THE LOTTERY IT USED TO BE) THEN A BUDGET OF £150 TO £200 CAN SET YOU UP WITH A RESPECTABLE AEG THAT CAN HOLD ITS OWN AGAINST MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE MODELS. DON’T FORGET, HOWEVER, TO FACTOR IN UP TO ANOTHER £100 FOR A BATTERY CHARGER, BATTERIES, SPARE MAGAZINES AND AMMUNITION.” carbine to the cause! Bill had been tinkering with this rifle for a while but quickly posted it to Tom and I who burned the midnight oil to get it fitted with a battery, a UK legal spring chucking out a more sensible FPS than the stock one and generally get it fit for skirmishing in record time (to be fair Bill had done most the hard work!). As I was loaning this to my cousin for his first game we didn’t need to “two tone” the AEG which was a relief as we were running out of time and also, to be fair, it looked great in “black”.
YOU’VE NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD
So, on a fairly small budget we had Ben kitted out. Protective safety gear was paramount and luckily I had spares but, again and as with AEGs, decent spec safety kit is now available at sensible prices for the starting skirmisher. Practical combat fatigues were also easy to source and a starter tactical vest like a South African Assault Vest can be as little as £30 on EBay. If we throw in boots and gloves then the whole “base” loadout should be available for the new player for around £70 to £100, sure it’s not a “cheap” hobby to start up in but once you’ve been in a while you’ll probably think nothing of spending £70 on just a couple of pouches! If you do want to go down the route of buying your own AEG before playing (and to be honest it’s no longer the lottery
it used to be) then a budget of £150 to £200 can set you up with a respectable AEG that can hold its own against much more expensive models. Don’t forget, however, to factor in up to another £100 for a battery charger, batteries, spare magazines and ammunition. All of these purchases are in some ways investments though. A decent balance charger will last you your entire airsoft career and most magazines will be interchangeable with similar “platforms” by different manufacturers (it’s always good to check mind you that your old CYMA AK mags Fancy winning enough will fit your new LCT AK!). kit to get you started in To wrap things up… airsoft PLUS a brilliant Pioneer Every few years we take a look at Defender, courtesy of NUPROL? starting off skirmishing and print a guide Simply head to page 67, enter our to help the new player set off in the hobby competition and you could be the and every year we at Airsoft Action are lucky recipient of this great prize! pleased to see that the “entry level” to get established in the game gets lower and lower while the quality of kit gets higher and higher. If you’re still not convinced, just think about this… when I started playing in 2001 my first AEG cost me over £350 and my first red dot optic about £100. Back then “starter” systems that were actually any good didn’t exist – trust me guys, you’ve never had it so good!
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International SOUTH AFRICA
PLAYING ON A R BACK IN 2016 BILL THOMAS LOOKED AT AIRSOFT IN SOUTH AFRICA BUT TIME MOVES ON AND OUR “GREAT GAME” CONTINUES TO FLOURISH AROUND THE GLOBE. THIS MONTH HE SPEAKS TO WILLIE SAAYMAN FROM ALPINE AIRSOFT ABOUT BOTH AIRSOFT ITSELF AND THE “RAZORS EDGE” SERIES OF EVENTS THAT CONTINUE TO THRILL NOT JUST THE LOCAL COMMUNITY BUT A TRULY INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCE! LET’S FACE IT, THE RUN-UP to major games gets better and better doesn’t it? In my opinion though nobody can quite yet equal the work done by Willie Saayman and his team in South Africa. I’d wanted to do an “International” update from there for some time and when I saw the latest video they posted on YouTube I just knew that THIS was the time, so read on to learn more about the “state of play” in South Africa and the absolutely unique and gripping background to Alpine Airsoft’s next event “Razor’s Edge 3”! AA: Hi guys! Please can you tell me a little about how airsoft has developed in and the current state of things in South Africa? WS: “In the past three years Airsoft has been growing at healthy rate here in the Western Cape from where Alpine Airsoft mainly operates. Events have steadily grown in numbers and we see fresh new players with almost every game hosted. Nationally the amount of Organizers have also grown, which leads to new venue opportunities. That’s always good for the players, having more choices. In our region we are focusing heavily on a sense of community and cooperation, to that end Alpine Airsoft Assault and U-Tac (Urban Tactical) have been coordinating on things like synchronizing our event dates to make sure they don’t clash, aligning safety standards and rules and recently have our scenario games crossover between our fields. “Elsewhere organizers are hosting ever greater games all over South Africa, like Paul Johnson, Paul Kleynhans, Green Ndaba and Grant Bruce Cameron–Ellis in Gauteng area, Ronaldo Fourie, aswell as Airsoft Pro’s in the Natal area, Airsoft Armada and Slaughter house guys in the Worcester Area. There are many more great organizers just too many to mention them all here. Most of the Organizers communicate regularly about issues that pop up from time to time to make sure we deal with it appropriately. As for Legislation around airsoft in South
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Africa, Airsoft itself is not defined in our legislation on its own but we are guided by by-laws.” AA: Can you tell me a little more about Alpine Airsoft? WS: “Back around August 2014, I was following LevelCap Gaming’s Channel for tips on Battle Field 3, when I stumbled on his Airsoft gameplay videos. I immediately started searching the Internet for more info. From my search I realised, that where I lived, there was only one established field about 60km away. Even before playing my first game I decided with the support of my wife, I have to host my own games. So a friend and I attended a pop-up game on a paintball field close by, hosted by Alwyn Strydom, on the 1st of November 2014 with rental rifles. I was hooked, and on the 29th of that same November we hosted our first Game at a Paintball Field close to where I live. We never looked back from that day. “The vision from the start was to grow the sport and make it more accessible to everyone. Since Jan 2015 we started with a game hosted once a month at various paintball fields. Then after a lot of searching we secured a piece of land from a local farmer that we have been using since September 2015. We dubbed it “Alpine Gorge”. We host a minimum of 2 games a month there. It’s an Outdoor bush Field with some structures that we built. Alpine Airsoft Assault has been steadily growing since, even encouraging Marshall training as setting a bar. It’s always been a team effort from some awesome friends and family to where we are today. We host, game direct or train all for the pleasure of the game.” AA: Do you have many established outdoor sites in South Africa? Could you tell me a little more about them? WS: “Nationally the amount of fields is increasing every year as the sport grows. In the Western Cape it’s a bit more difficult but we haven’t given up as it’s getting easier as more and more people get to know what exactly Airsoft is. A lot of People still confuse airsoft with Paintball and think it will dirty their
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RAZOR’S EDGE properties with paint everywhere. Recently we have made contact with more Farm owners for possible MilSim events in the future.”
AA: Do sites and players have any legal restrictions to contend with? WS: “The Only Legal requirements are the Standard indemnities as well as the issue of how you transport Airsoft Rifles and Pistols as to not make member of the public feel threatened. Then there is the need for permissions from the owner or agreements to use their property for Airsoft. For Special Events like Razor’s Edge we also arrange with the local police and Security Forums so they are aware of what we will be doing inside the building at that time.” AA: What’s a normal game day like for you? WS: “Haha! My game day actually start the evening before, with charging the rental rifles’ batteries, packing the drinks in the freezer, prepping and packing everything. “On the day, we arrive just before 08:00 to set up registration and chrono. With the safety brief held usually around 09:00 to 09:30. Depending on whether it’s a skirmish day or a scenario day, the round can be 4 to 5 shorter rounds of 30-45mins or just 2 rounds of 90 mins each. A typical day ends at 14:30, leaving just enough time to have an after game social at the local pub & grill.” AA: What is a popular style of play in South Africa, regular skirmish, MilSim or both? WS: “Mostly Skirmish games but MilSim Games are gaining momentum. The Alpine Skirmish games are all designed to action-packed and intense and rely heavily on team play rather than Kill/Death ratio of the individuals. We also change the games up during game to keep it flowing and balanced, by giving team’s bomb runs they can request to eliminate enemies if they are over run. We also keep spawn points fluid so teams can still do that awesome long flank without getting into a spawn rape situation. “The Alpine scenario missions with the longer rounds are designed with dual mechanisms, on the one side there is the Dynamic part in which the true LARP player can live themselves into their character and make deals and alliances in-game to achieve the objective. On the other end there is always the more linear part, like defend that base or attack /secure that, for the less experienced player to dig into. In these game
players are also encouraged to use the wounded rule, where once you have been engaged and hit you fall to the ground acting out as if you were wounded. In this state you can only crawl. But can still shoot till you are engaged and shot again. There is a bleed out time of 3mins for a Medic to come revive you. The players are really starting to love the extra layer to the game.” AA: Do airsofters train either as individuals or teams? What avenues are there for training?
WS: “Last year we launched a tournament called “Alpine Cup” where 5 teams competed against each other in 4 v 4 match against the clock in 15min rounds. It was a pilot project with 3 rounds spread 2 months apart from each other. We learned a lot of what works and it evolved with each round we hosted. This has led to teams training for the event and using the social games as a way of practicing while also recruiting new members. This year we are continuing with the tournament and aiming to include some High School teams. “Elsewhere in South Africa other organisers like Paul Johnson also hosted single day events for teams to compete. As to where teams practice, mostly they practice at the fields they play at either during a game or by booking the field on the off weekends. We have been encouraging players to form teams as the team play aspect of the game is probably the best part of Airsoft. The plan for the future is to find a solution for high schools to form school teams. I believe teaching them from a young age to respect the sport and each other on the field will culture them into better players and ultimately better persons. There’s a lot of good that Airsoft can do on that level.” AA: Like us you have an unusual range of annual temperature and weather conditions (just different!) to contend with; what’s important to you in relation to your gear? WS: “Yeah, I get asked a lot by new players “is the game still on, cause it’s raining?” My answer is always, “Yes. Bring an extra towel!” We host games in all weather; yes, we will make certain exceptions like gale force winds or pouring rain in a night game. Fortunately we have not yet had to cancel a game due to weather. We have, however, changed a Night game to be a day game when the forecast said 20mm of rain exactly during the 3 hour that the game was supposed to be. On the other spectrum we can have some scorching hot days in the summer months. We encourage players to invest in a
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Camelback, tell them to bring extra water and sunscreen we also have extra water on hand. We try to keep the game in the shaded parts of the field. Consistency is the key I believe.” AA: What is the situation with airsoft and tactical gear in South Africa; is it easy to get hold of? WS: “In comparison to other countries, SA have had some strain in the past in getting airsoft equipment as the sport was a fair bit smaller than it is today. Airsoft gear was expensive and not very accessible. But with the growth of Airsoft in SA this is beginning to change. Alpine Airsoft have also started importing airsoft rifles and parts last year to try and create a more competitive market. More Airsoft suppliers are opening which breeds healthy competition.” AA: Are there particular brands and models of airsoft replica that are important to you? What brands do players like? WS: “I myself have had great success with Ares and G&G’s products. On the fields the players tend to favour Ares particularly the Amoeba range, as well as the new SRL and TR range from G&G. You will also find ICS, CA, WE and TM a lot.” AA: Do your sites have rental facilities if someone is visiting from overseas? WS: “Yes we do, most sites do their own rentals or have arrangement with someone that does it for them. Rentals usually have to be pre-booked to avoid disappointment.” AA: Of course the big event for you is the “Razors Edge 3”;
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can you tell me about that and about the involvement of RedWolf! WS: “The first Razor’s Edge was planned and executed with great success July 2016 after “Wooki”, an Airsoft legend in these parts, stumbled upon this CQB venue for us. We have been hosting it annually at the same Building and every year we try and make it better than before. “The venue, an old abandoned shopping mall, has also been used to film parts of well-known, Hollywood films like Dark Tower and Resident Evil. What sets the Razor’s Edge games apart from other events, is the overarching story that plays out with specialised characters written into the gameplay. Since the first Razor’s Edge, using social media platforms like Facebook and Whatsapp, we’ve introduced the players to characters and fleshed out back plots for each game following. We carried on with this after the first event having regular scenarios that just built on what was started with the first Razor’s Edge Game. The players really got to live part of the story they are following through the regular posts on Social Media. “For the first 2 events we’ve made promotional trailers that were uploaded to YouTube. It helps when you have awesome friends in the film industry that happens to play airsoft. So when I started planning the promotional video for Razor’s Edge 3 I had this idea of “Wouldn’t it be awesome if the players get to see the characters play out all the wheeling and dealing between
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games”, and that’s how the Razor’s Edge web-series idea was born. “I fired it off to some friends and they all got hit by the idea, so I started working on a script with help from some film industry friends, Scot Newman and Darron Meyer. We’ve already shot most of the scenes. I’ve been busy editing the first footage which I shot with the assistance of camera man Wayne Warren and his crew, to have the first episode uploaded by March 2018, and this is now live if you go to “Airsoft Razors Edge 2018 Webisode 2” or follow the link: https://youtu.be/b_hcobPg8ZM “The way this all works is what’s makes it exciting. The story is told through the games the players play as well as the “webisodes”. In each game there are key events that we film as the players are playing through them in game, we use FPV Gopro footage as well as some footage I take with my DSLR. This footage then forms parts of the next webisode in the series. The story involves 3 main factions: Chimera: A very well organized and misunderstood “Terror” group made up of remnants of Ex- KGB and Russian Special forces. Their Leader is Vladimir Orlov AKA the Kingpin. T.R.A.C.X (Tactical, Recon, Assault, Counter-Terror and Exfiltration): This is a multinational Black-Ops group unofficially sanctioned by the UN to eliminate dirty threats. They are led by General John “Stones” James. Leviathan: This is a private Military Contracting Group that
fights for the biggest pay check. They are mostly contracted through an individual known as “The Salesman” and that is also ultimately where their loyalty lies. “The RedWolf involvement; during the planning and writing of the script I kept thinking of Tim Selby as the one character I had in mind, knowing how he loves acting, I contacted him and he was thrilled to do it. So RedWolf Airsoft got involved with the production of the webisode side of Razor’s Edge. I sent them the script, shot-list and some direction. They the filmed their parts and sent me the raw footage to edit. Their input was just awesome! “Locally we are currently negotiating with sponsors for the actual Razor’s Edge Game. I Feel the Concept is unique and will just grow from here. We are hoping to attract more international sponsors and airsoft personalities to take part in the next one. We want this to be truly international in the future, and raise the bar.” AA: If anyone is visiting South Africa and is interested in visiting a site for a game day, or wish to attend a “Razors Edge” event, where should they head for information? WS: “For more Information on the Razor’s Edge 3 and games at our Site they can contact me through our web page, just use the contact form, the emails come through to me direct. For info on other games in South Africa they can also contact me and I will point them in the relevant direction for the area they will be visiting; simply go to http://www. alpineairsoft.co.za/
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N I W
Competition WIN A NUPROL FIRST TIMER’S KIT
A First Time” Player’s Kit “
As Gadge says in his article, which starts on page 58 of this issue, starting up in airsoft can be quite daunting for the new player and one of the biggest challenges is buying your first AEG. All those questions… “Will I like it?”… “Is it the right gun for me?”… “What if I don’t, or it isn’t? I will have wasted my money!” Well Airsoft Action can help with that. We have teamed up with our great friends at NUPROL to bring you all that you will need to get you playing like a pro! Enter our simple competition and you can win a pair of NUPROL eye protection glasses, a lower face mask, ammo, battery and, best of all, a NUPROL PIONEER DEFENDER!! This is a terrific prize for anyone to win although, of course, you must be over 18 to enter. To win, all you have to do is answer three simple questions about the Pioneer Defender – although you might have to do a little research to find the answers (you will find the “NP Delta: Pioneer Defender AEG – Black” on the NUPROL website). Good luck! Here are the questions:
1) What four items are included in the box? 2) How many Firing Modes does it have? 3) W hat are the outer barrel and Stock Tube made of? Post your entries to: Airsoft Action NUPROL Competition, Airsoft Action, Calibre Publishing, Wyche Innovation Centre, Walwyn Road, Malvern, Worcs, WR13 6PL, or email to: competition@airsoft-action.co.uk with “Airsoft Action NUPROL Competition” in the subject line. You can also enter online, via the Airsoft Action website (www.airsoft-action.online). Entries received after midnight on 2nd May 2018 will not be valid. One entry per person. The winner will be the first randomly drawn from all the correct entries.
ANSWERS:
1 2 3 Name:................................................................................................................. Telephone:.......................................................................................................... Email:.................................................................................................................
I am 18 years old or over: YES NO Calibre Publishing would like to keep you informed of other offers and publications. Please tick here if you would NOT like to be contacted by post or email.
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Kit SIGHTMARK OPTICS
SIGHTING IN IN THE UK WE SOMETIMES SEEM TO BE ALL THE WAY “AT THE BACK OF THE BUS” WHEN IT COMES TO FIREARMS AND AIRSOFT ACCESSORIES AND ALTHOUGH OUR DISTRIBUTORS AND RETAILERS DO THEIR VERY BEST TO KEEP US UP TO DATE WITH THE VERY LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IT CAN TAKE A WHILE FOR THINGS TO REACH US. BILL THOMAS TAKES A LOOK AT SIGHTMARK, AN OPTICS BRAND THAT HAS FINALLY REACHED OUR SHORES! IT WAS BACK AT SHOT 2009 (if memory serves me right) that I first encountered the Sightmark brand of optics and from that day forward I’ve been hoping that someone would give us proper access to a superb range of extremely well-priced optics here in the UK! I was so impressed with what I saw all those years ago that I invested in an original Sightmark Ultra Shot Reflex Sight straight away. The Sightmark series of reflex sights, even back then, were designed to create a lightweight, yet extremely accurate sight. Not only that but they were very well priced too, under US$100 in the USA. The Ultra Shot was Sightmark’s biggest and baddest sight in the reflex line and was incredibly lightweight for its size. It came with a built-in, integrated rail mount, which fitted all standard bases and was able to withstand even heavy recoil from larger calibres; no problems with airsoft then… This, with the ability to choose between four different reticle patterns, made the original Ultra Shot an unusually versatile sight. With a wider field of view than most other reflex sights on the market, and a Limited Lifetime Warranty, the Sightmark Ultra Shot was literally in a class by itself! But time moves on inevitably, and although there were some half-hearted efforts to bring the brand to the UK it was never
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made particularly available… until now! Luckily for us, Scott Country International have now taken over distributorship of Sightmark in the UK.
SAY IT LIKE IT IS
“Long hours, harsh weather, dangerous pursuits: it’s all in a day’s work. You’re devoted to protecting others, so your equipment needs to work as hard as you do. Whether you’re in the line of duty, defending your home or serving as a protector of peace, you can rest assured that accuracy and quality comes standard in every Sightmark product, giving you the ability to Make Your Mark®.” This is what you’ll find quoted on their website and at Sightmark the goal is to deliver confidence by creating optics and accessories that every shooter can rely on. They understand what it takes to prepare and they know that the hours spent hunched over a shooting bench at the range are meaningless unless products do their job. From riflescopes and binoculars to night vision technology and red dots, Sightmark is committed in their pursuit of building durable, accurate optics you can trust. Founded to meet the changing needs of its customers, Sightmark was introduced at SHOT Show 2007 in response to
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the growing popularity of the “modern” shooting market. The goal was to provide state-of-the-art optics and accessories to make the modern sporting rifle, shotgun and pistol as accurate as possible. In addition, each product was designed for the core market, enabling shooters to purchase more high quality items to accessorise their firearm for total performance, whatever their discipline! In 2011, a new 33,000 square-foot headquarters was completed in Mansfield, Texas, combining the company’s corporate offices and a large warehouse to handle the increase in sensitive material and technology being produced. The new facility provided more space for research and development, production, and distribution of defence-related products.
EYES ON!
Time and technology continue to move on unabated and, luckily enough for us in the airsoft world, faster communication means even faster dissemination of information. Now as regular readers will know, I’ve been following the roll-out of some excellent Cannae Pro tactical gear (also courtesy of Scott Country International), and when Paul there spoke to me about their new brand, Sightmark, he was of course preaching to the converted. What he sent me to try was a “combo platter” of the very latest Wolverine FSR 1x28 red-dot sight along with a rather nifty, flip to the side 3x magnifier, which makes an incredibly versatile package! Designed for short-range engagements, the Sightmark Wolverine FSR is specifically built for the AR platform. A digital switch controls brightness of the 2 MOA red dot reticle with
“THE REAL SELLING POINT FOR ME THOUGH WAS THAT WHILST CHATTING WITH SCOTT COUNTRY, THEY TOLD ME ABOUT THE “NO QUIBBLE WARRANTY”. ESSENTIALLY, IF THE LENS GETS SHOT OUT DURING AIRSOFT GAMES, THEY’LL REPLACE OR REPAIR. WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK FOR?“ a 28mm objective lens that is specifically engineered for rapid target acquisition. The durable FSR model weighs only 349g and is built for a lifetime of use. Fog proof and nitrogen purged, the Wolverine family of sights is designed to provide you with the ability to take aim in a variety of conditions and temperatures ranging from -22 to 122 F. The Wolverine FSR also has an IP67 waterproof rating and is submersible to three feet. The 3x Tactical Magnifier Pro offers versatility by increasing the magnification of both red dot and reflex sights to give greater range. In one swift motion, the new flip mount design makes it fast and easy for shooters to increase their magnification for accompanying sights creating a greater engagement range in any situation. This durable magnifier has
been redesigned to provide increased eye relief, along with an upgraded rubber armour housing to give increased durability, providing 3.5 inches of eye relief. The Sightmark 3x Tactical Magnifier Pro is also EOTech and Aimpoint compatible. Overall the standard of finish and fit is superb, and the glass itself is absolutely crystal clear on both optics. The feel of both models is one of durability and once rail-mounted they are locked 100% in place. Now personally I like to run a magnifier as close to the sighting optic as possible to avoid light ingress and potential “flare”, and the Sightmark version allows you to run it really close, a big plus. I also like to have my magnifier flip to the left so that it’s protected against my body, and once again this is easily achievable; the flip also means that you can still run and access “irons” should you need to.
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DARK VISION
When I need to test optics at a greater distance than my own 30m range allows, I’m lucky to have Darkwater Airsoft just down the road from me (www.darkwaterairsoft.co.uk), and I’ll head on there to use their facilities. Jon (aka “Posh”) has also been testing some of the optics offered by Scott Country International so I asked him if he would like to contribute to this article, and this is what he had to tell me; “Chatting away with our friends at Scott Country International I was asked if I’d ever heard of Sightmark? “Who?” Was my reply. Paul there went on to explain that they were a Real Steel Optics company based in Mansfield, Texas and how they produced high quality optics at very reasonable prices. We were chatting about Darkwater Airsoft’s upcoming MilSim “Grey Slate 2” and how well the Thermal Imaging Units they provided the Heresy Group had been received by the attendees at the first game. Paul said that I should try out the Sightmark Ultra and the Pulsar Challenger Optic combo. With that, the deal was done. Two days later a very well presented package arrived. The Sightmark Ultra Shot comes in a very generic looking box with branding. So far, so samey. The charm is found when you get through the security seals and remove the lid. Inside you’ll find a neoprene pouch stitched to the shape of the optic and zips firmly along the bottom. You’ll also find the quick release mechanism, adjustment tools, cleaning cloth and instruction manual. The Pulsar Challenger isn’t quite as exciting, a branded box, the unit and instruction manual. On first inspection the Ultra Shot is a weighty but not heavy, solid well-constructed bit of kit. I have the all-black version but there is also a Tactical Tan version. The two simple operational buttons are on the left side of the optic and comprise of “Power and Brightness”. Nice and simple. The rear of the unit has the reticle selector which, unlike Airsoft replicas, has a stiff leaver and sturdy “click” feel when swapping. When activated the brightness levels cover for all light conditions and are red/green switchable. The reticle is clear and bright with excellent target marking. In NV mode the reticule is clear and crisp with minimal glare when on low and viewed through the Pulsar Challenger NV Optic. I thought this was pretty cool; the fact that you can mount it to a J-Arm and make it helmet compatible is just an added bonus! The real selling point for me though was that whilst chatting with Scott Country, they told me about the “no quibble warranty”. Essentially, if the lens gets shot out during Airsoft Games, they’ll replace or repair. What more could you ask for? The Pulsar Challenger NV is a Gen 1 optic so not the best available on the market but it performed really well when combined with the Sightmark Ultra Shot (mounted to my rifle) and the pricing of the unit is excellent for those wishing to take the plunge but not having to re-mortgage the wife! Once I had figured out the focus, I was able to hit targets 40m out using the inbuilt IR Light and using an external IR Torch, I was hitting 60m targets with a degree of
accuracy. A perfect set up for beginners to NV. I would strongly recommend the Sightmark Ultra Shot to any Airsofter or target shooter. It’s a solid built bit of kit with a lifetime warranty, all for the cost of a good replica. Posh Out.” So there it is in a nutshell! Scott Country International have shown a great willingness to be involved in the airsoft community and thanks to them we in the UK can now access the entire range of Sightmark products. In addition to some (for “real steel”world) keen prices there’s a whole new brand to explore. Sightmark have proved globally that they are here to stay and with an upgraded Lifetime Warranty (designed to “keep you in the field with products that are built to perform; in the event of a defect in materials or workmanship, Sightmark will repair or replace your product immediately.”) choosing one of their optics is a total no brainer!
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armoury COMBAT MACHINE AK47
BARGAIN AK47 SUB-£50 GUNS TEND TO COME WITH THEIR OWN SET OF “CHALLENGES” BUT SOMETIMES YOU CAN GET AN ABSOLUTE GEM, AS FRENCHIE EXPLAINS… BARGAINS. WE ALL LOVE BARGAINS, you just have to sit on the inside of the UK airsoft industry to know that. Requests to “price match”, cheeky attempts to get a discount on a five pound speed-loader, pointlessly cut-throat pricing by some retailers. Yep, airsofters want to pay as little as possible for their guns and gear. Nothing wrong with that, I hear you cry and one of these days I’ll write a piece on why it is ultimately damaging to the industry and to airsoft itself but not today. This month it’s all about a bargain, how you can possibly do the same and a series of airsoft guns that have become quiet classics.
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Let’s start at the beginning however… It is a fact that not all guns that are handed in to retailers or gun techs like myself for repair are returned to their owners, odd as that may seem. It has ever been thus and I can only guess at the reasons for this peculiar behavior. Some players, I suspect, just decide that they don’t want to pay more than £1 for a repair to something they feel has no value to them. Some move away and forget and the store cannot get hold of them, no matter how hard they try. I guess there are some players who decide that they have had enough of airsoft, or their lives change and airsoft no longer figures for whatever reason. Regardless, all stores and techs will occasionally end up with guns that have been repaired for whom there are no owners. These orphans lie on shelves for months, sometimes for years, gathering dust and costing money. That’s another story but let’s just accept that if something in a shop isn’t selling and making money, it is effectively costing the business money, this is true regardless of industry. So what happens to these unwanted guns? In my experience the repairer will do their utmost to locate the original owner and return the gun. Sometimes you get hold of them and they are adamant that they no longer want it. Other times you simply cannot track the owner down. Ultimately you’ll end up with guns which have been repaired or upgraded and for which there is no “forever home”. At this point the only realistic option is to bin them or sell them and the latter option is the most common one. I don’t know of a single shop that doesn’t wait at least 6 months before going down that route, most wait a lot longer. No one really likes doing it, especially if they haven’t been able to contact the owner but they have a reasonable duty to recover the cost of the repair
armoury COMBAT MACHINE AK47
“G&G INTRODUCED THE COMBAT MACHINE (CM) SERIES SOME YEARS AGO AS PART OF A GRADED OFFERING; THE CMS WERE THE CHEAPEST GUNS, TOPTECHS THE MOST EXPENSIVE AND WITH ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES” and if that cost cannot be recovered from the person who brought the gun in, it is within their rights to sell the gun to cover those costs. You’ll never see these guns as advertised as anything other than second hand, at least I don’t think you will, because that what they are, but they can be bargains and may well be sold at a price that reflects the cost of the repair done rather than the going rate for that gun second-hand. Occasionally guns change hand simply for the cost of the repair, I have personal experience of that, one player will cover the costs of the repair for the player who put the gun in but doesn’t want to pay for it, for any of the reasons mentioned above. That brings me to the substance of this article - the G&G Combat Machine AK47. This was a gun I repaired and which ultimately I acquired because the original owner was getting out of airsoft and simply didn’t want it and consequently didn’t want to pay for the repair. The actual cost involved was minimal, around £50 and normally I would have accepted the gun as payment then sold it to cover the cost of my time and the parts installed. In this case because of what the gun was, and for reasons I’ll explain, I decided to keep it, effectively paying for the repair myself G&G introduced the Combat Machine (CM) series some years ago as part of a graded offering; the CMs were the cheapest guns, TopTechs the most expensive and with all the bells and whistles. They have constantly fiddled with these tiers since and in truth, I’m not sure that this has applied for some years. Regardless, the CMs were made to a budget and that budget was intended to take on the wave of cheap guns that were coming out of mainland China at the time. That meant they were retailing for around £140 new. All CMs are plastic-
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armoury COMBAT MACHINE AK47
bodied and feature cost-saving features such as aluminium barrels and simple, non-blowback gearboxes. I have lost count of the number of these I sold over the last decade and I have lost count of the number of players who will remind me that I sold them one, most often the M4A1 variant. What is notable about this little nostalgia trip is the number of these low-cost guns that are still in regular service, either as the ever-present reliable backup or the gun they lend to friends who want to try airsoft. These guns are tough and if you don’t physically break them, they just soldier on and on. In this they are similar to the original Marui AEGs - look after them and they just keep going. Although less popular that the M4 version, the AK47 CM is a little gem. It’s largely made of plastic but the receiver is very solid and the fake wood is as good as anyone’s. The Version 3 gearbox is, like so many of its ilk, solid and reliable and benefits from metal bushes as opposed to the plastic versions found in Maruis and cheaper clones. It is fundamentally a Marui AK47 clone, mimicking the design and construction of that iconic rifle. The barrel is aluminum but well made, the hop unit is metal which is not my preferred material but works very well in these guns and they all come equipped with the excellent G&G cold weather green hop rubber. This particular gun came to me needing a new piston, which I fitted along with a new piston head as the original has an unfortunate tendency to disintegrate after a period of use. I also re-shimmed the gears as they were slightly out - not bad but since I was in there anyway I checked and sorted. The end result is an already strong gun with an improved piston and head that sounded lovely and ran at pretty much bang on 328 feet per second with 0.2g BBs. The only fault with the gun was the missing rear sling mount, a problem not limited to G&G AK47s and really not an issue. The way the real AK47 sling works means that it is easy to loop the rear end around the stock where it meets the receiver. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I seldom play these days, so this isn’t going to see much use but for the little it effectively cost me I couldn’t say no. It is a useful addition to my collection and sits well with my Vietnam-era M16. I used to run AK47s and still have ChiCom chest rigs and a collection of AK midcaps and, like the M16, it’s simply an iconic gun. None of the G&G CM series are the best replicas out there – they are functional rather than aesthetically pleasing like Real Sword
“AT 328 FPS IT IS GOOD FOR ANY SITE, INDOORS OR OUT, IT SHOOTS VERY WELL THANKS TO THE GOOD HOP RUBBER AND EXCELLENT AK HOP UNIT AND IT WON’T CAUSE ME ANY MECHANICAL ISSUES. IF ONLY THAT WERE TRUE OF OTHER AEGS…” guns, or the better E&Ls but it is what it is and it cost me very little. The other upside for me is that I know this series of guns well – I have worked on many of them and with a bit of basic care they simply go on forever. Should the urge ever come upon me to venture forth to try and shoot the odd airsofter or two, I know that I can simply grab this, a battery and a fistful of magazines and I’m good to go. At 328 fps it is good for any site, indoors or out, it shoots very well thanks to the good hop rubber and excellent AK hop unit and it won’t cause me any mechanical issues. If only that were true of other AEGs… I was particularly lucky with this gun, but it is worth chatting to your local store or gun tech; you never know what they may have been left with. As a second hand purchase the G&G Combat Machines are always worth considering if you are looking for a cheap, reliable AEG. They may not be pretty and will almost certainly have seen plenty of use, but they are rugged, well made given their budget nature and easy to keep going. New and shiny is always nice, whether we’re talking about airsoft gear or anything else but be open to alternatives, especially when the price is about the same as a magazine for a gas blowback rifle - it might be an offer you cannot refuse!
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Site STORMFORCE AIRSOFT
STORMFORCE REV I LOOKING FOR SITE WHERE HE COULD TAKE HIS COUSIN TO PLAY HIS FIRST GAME OF AIRSOFT, GADGE DECIDED TO RE-VISIT ONE OF HIS LOCAL SITES THAT CATERS FOR NEW PLAYERS. THERE IS NOTHING BETTER THAN a new player getting into airsoft for the first time, and it’s even better when that new player is someone well known to you. In my case, my young cousin Ben had seen a few copies of Airsoft Action lying around my mum’s house (my mums a big fan of the mag!) and was more than keen to get stuck in with a game or two as he’d just turned 16. Well, I was more than happy to take him along but the key question was “where”? Now I can think of several great sites to take a beginner to but given that my cousin lives in Staffordshire, it seemed to make perfect sense to take him to
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a site “local” to him and one that I knew could cater well for new players - and that site was clearly Rugely’s “Stormforce Airsoft”. We’ve been to Stormforce before with the Airsoft Action team but it was a good few years ago and the weather that day was pretty atrocious, so I was more than keen to find out how the site had changed over the last two years and also, if possible, what a slightly less wet day would hold.
EXCELLENT HIRE KIT
Picking up my cousin meant an earlier than normal start to the day and I was somewhat dismayed to find out that it was absolutely tipping it down as I went to load up the car that morning. Oh well, so much for a “nice day”, at least we’d packed waterproofs! After a while, we arrived at the site and we were pleased to see that the awful weather was beginning to lighten up. While there was still a bit of a breeze in the air, the incessant downpour had all but stopped and things were indeed looking up and promising a dryer day’s ‘softing than I’d expected. We promptly signed in at the payment desk and headed off to the excellent “ready benches” with their overhead cover - something I greatly appreciated on my last visit. The safe zone was largely the same as our previous visit and boasting the aforementioned “kit up” areas under cover and with wide benches, toilets, fire-pit (for warming up cold players) and shooting for both chronoing and tinkering with guns. I was most impressed to see this time, however, that the shop had come on somewhat and as well as the usual stocks of snacks and pops it was host to “Six Mil Airsoft” who provided Stormforce’s hire kit. Hire kit normally gets a hammering and you can forgive most sites for only providing the most basic of kit and the
Site STORMFORCE AIRSOFT
V ISITED cheapest guns they can but with Six Mil it was clear that you could hire everything from the basics, to a full on skirmish loadout that would put most player’s private collections to shame. As well as a range of AEGs and camo combats, players could hire Kevlar helmets, osprey vests, red dot optics… pretty much the whole shebang! As soon as we were kitted out and chronoed (and it was good to see the Stormforce marshals being very strict on their chrono limit of a max of 350fps with .20bb) it was time for the safety brief. Given the amount of players on site, (a healthy 150 plus, which is impressive considering the weather must have put a few “casual” players off but a little shy of their normal 200 or so players that attend these days) this was held at the site entrance. Unfortunately this made it hard to hear as the wind often caught the marshal’s voice. Still, the rules were simple and concise enough and we were soon taped up into red and blue teams and set out to take part in the first game. The morning’s game was a “land grab” with key features around the site being equipped with a flag pole with either a red or a blue flag that could be raised. Each team would need to stay in possession of the most amount of flags by the end of the battle. While this is quite a “simple” game mechanic, given the large numbers of players on site and the scope of the Stormforce woods (which are pretty big) it worked really well. For certain, my cousin Ben found it easy to get stuck in and also to get to grips with the medic rules (a ten second count with a hand on the shoulder from a friendly player got you back in the game) and to find the regen points which were easy to see yellow painted posts at key points around the site. The morning play was fast and ferocious with the players displaying uncharacteristic teamwork, for open day play and the blue team in particular hitting the flag points “en masse” and storming past the red defences. Moving around the site in search of flag points to take over it was clear to see that the Stormforce crew had not been idle in the last few years,
“IT WAS CLEAR THAT YOU COULD HIRE EVERYTHING FROM THE BASICS, TO A FULL ON SKIRMISH LOADOUT THAT WOULD PUT MOST PLAYER’S PRIVATE COLLECTIONS TO SHAME. AS WELL AS A RANGE OF AEGS AND CAMO COMBATS, PLAYERS COULD HIRE KEVLAR HELMETS, OSPREY VESTS, RED DOT OPTICS… PRETTY MUCH THE WHOLE SHEBANG!” the site’s original excellent scenery and buildings had been improved and, what’s more, the previously quite sparse areas around the extremities of the site had been bolstered by some excellent “watch tower” type wooden constructions, overlooking important paths, locations and objectives. Before long, or so it seemed, the morning’s long ranging battle was over and it was time for lunch. As we traipsed back up the path to the safe area we got into several conversations with the Stormforce regulars who were a friendly bunch and more than happy to take us new players into the fold. Back in the safe area it was time to reload and refuel and after reloading our mags and changing batteries we joined in the queue for lunch, which consisted of some tasty sandwiches, crisps and a can of pop. Munching on lunch we chatted to a number of players and soon realised that as well as a hard core of regular players to whom Stormforce was their home site, there was also a fair amount of new players also trying out the site for the first time. Perhaps most pleasing to see was a real spread of “styles” of play and loadout; everything from Multicam and MTP clad players, a smattering of guys in Russian Federation kit and even a fair amount in classic “black kit” and players in more casual “PMC” type impressions.
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Site STORMFORCE AIRSOFT
“THROUGHOUT THE DAY I’D BEEN STRESSING THAT BEN WOULDN’T ENJOY IT BUT FROM THE HUGE GRIN ON HIS FACE IT WAS CLEAR THAT HIS FIRST AIRSOFTING EXPERIENCE HAD BEEN A SUREFIRE HIT.”
THE BATTLE RAGES
With lunch out of the way and the team ready to rock it was time to get stuck into the afternoon’s battle. Again this would be a long duration game and so we were encouraged to take out all the BBs, power and water we’d need to stay out at long as possible. In this game our team would have to collect key artefacts, cumulating in obtaining an anti-tank gun to take out the enemy targets. In much the same way as the morning, the teams were equally matched and the battle raged across the site with objective items changing hands constantly. By the end of play though it was clear that the Blue team were playing a
strong side and were able to keep possession of the AT gun and win the day. Despite it being horribly wet underfoot the overall weather had been pretty dry and “perfect” for airsofting. The nature of most of the site’s gaming areas, being in a sort of natural “valley”, also meant that once off the main car park field, the wind was less of an issue and overall conditions were good. Throughout the day I’d been stressing that Ben wouldn’t enjoy it but from the huge grin on his face it was clear that his first airsofting experience had been a surefire hit. After a quick round of goodbyes to our new found friends we began to pack up the car for the long journey home (after dropping off my cousin) and we all agreed that we needed to revisit “Stormforce” once more - but this time to just play for the day and leave the cameras behind as taking pictures for the review had taken us out of some excellent gaming. All in all, it’s fair to recommend Stormforce as a friendly site with good facilities, excellent marshals and some good game mechanics. Most importantly it’s clearly a friendly site that is suitable for both beginners and veterans of the airsoft hobby alike. One word of warning, however, while the facilities are excellent, Stormforce cannot at the moment offer a battery charging service so it’s a good idea to make sure you bring plenty of “juice” to keep your AEG going all day. But, that said that’s the only thing the Airsoft Action team could fault Stormforce on and in general we rated the site as “excellent” and, to be sure, we’ll be back! www.airsoft-action.online
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survival PACING
THE LONG WALK
FOR THE VAST MAJORITY OF US IT IS SOMETHING WE DO AUTOMATICALLY AND WITHOUT THINKING BUT PUTTING ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER IS A VITAL SKILL IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES, AS PAUL YELLAND EXPLAINS‌ PACING DISTANCES Knowing exactly where your position is on a map is an important detail to be aware of. When walking over familiar ground, and in good visibility, local knowledge will come into play, but when in unknown terrain or at night/poor visibility, you are going to need a way of working out how far you have walked to make sure that you have not overshot your destination. If you are using a map that has been drawn to scale (like with an ordinance survey map) it is possible to measure how much distance you have covered by counting how many paces you have taken. I am going to explain the basic theory behind the method of pacing and talk about some things to consider.
HOW TO PACE
Pacing is very unique to each individual as everyone walks slightly differently. Each person will need to find out how many of their paces it will take for them to walk one hundred metres in distance. One pace is counted on every other step - each time you step down with your right foot. The best way to find out how many paces it takes for you to walk one hundred metres is to first measure that distance out on an ordinance survey map. Choose a straight and level area with lots of regular features that can be easily identified on the ground such as road junctions and phone boxes. Set off at a normal speed and count each pace – remember, every time you step down with your right foot. Once you reach the one Variations in gradient and terrain can affect the accuracy of pacing
Calculate your pace by walking 100 metres along a flat straight section of road
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survival PACING
hundred metre marker make a note of the number of paces that you have taken to reach that position. That number is your pace count for covering one hundred metres. From this, you can now use your pace count to work out how far you have walked and how far you still need to travel until you reach your destination.
VARIATIONS AND ERRORS
A few factors will have an effect on how many of your paces it takes to cover a set distance. Say for example, you have a pace count of 60 per one hundred metres on flat easy ground. When walking up hills or travelling across difficult terrain, you can expect your pace count for each one hundred metres to increase slightly due to taking smaller paces and walking slower. On the flip side, when walking down hill, you might find that you take longer paces which would lessen your pace count some what. Also, carrying heavy loads will have an effect on your pacing. Bear in mind that the distance you intend to pace is only as good as the information that is taken from the map. If the distance is not measured accurately on the map when planning the route, you will only find out about the mistake when you are actually on the ground and walking the route.
PUTTING THE THEORY INTO PRACTICE
The only way to become proficient with pacing is through practice. It is best to start on flat roads with a pre-planned route worked out. Start at a prominent feature that is marked on the map such as a road junction or bridge. Walk towards the objective which could be another feature such as an isolated building or another bridge. The distance between the two locations should already have been calculated during the route planning phase and is best to keep it within a few hundred metres to start off with - the distances can increase as you become more confident. If, say it takes you sixty paces to cover one hundred metres, then you can work out that to walk three hundred metres should take you one hundred and eighty paces (3x60) and so on. By knowing how many paces that it will take to reach a destination will give you a more accurate picture of where you actually are and how far you still have to travel. Once the basic principle is mastered, try to pace over more challenging terrain such as common land, woodland and varying gradients. The real test is then doing all of the above at night and being able to reach your selected target.
EQUIPMENT
Pacing equipment is very basic. The most common item used to help you keep count is pacing beads. These are ten beads that are threaded onto a length of cord. Pacing beads can either be purchased or easily made up by the individual. All of the beads are pulled to one end of the cord to start off with and each one is moved to the opposite end of Commercially available pacing beads the cord each time one hundred metres has been walked. Each bead represents one hundred metres and when all ten have been moved, one thousand metres (one kilometre) has been covered. Another item that is used for pacing is a click tally counter. Out of the two, the pacing beads are more reliable as they can be felt by hand and counted in the dark, unlike the tally counter which can also be accidentally altered.
Carefully measure distances to avoid mistakes
BREAK IT UP
Pacing over longer distances will allow for more errors to occur. Therefore, it is best to break the route up into shorter legs. Identify checkpoints along the route and pace between these instead. If for some reason you experience a problem identifying where you are, you can always return to the last checkpoint and restart from there. Routes that include changes in direction would also benefit from checkpoints.
BEARINGS
If following a well established foot path or a road, the direction of travel to the destination may well be obvious and there will be little chance of venturing off course. However, if pacing across open country with no tracks to follow, the risk of straying off course is high, so by using a compass and walking on a bearing you will stay on track and make sure that your pacing stays accurate.
A click tally counter
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Last Post RULES ARE RULES
DON’T BREAK THE RULES! LOVE THEM OR LOATHE THEM, RULES GOVERN BOTH OUR LIVES AND HOW WE PLAY AIRSOFT ARE THEY NECESSARY? OVER TO FRENCHIE… “RULES ARE RULES!” THE LAST retort of the scoundrel or the terminally unimaginative but, actually, they are. We are all taught that “rules are there to be broken” but really that is an invitation to think laterally and imaginatively, not to indulge in spectacular bank heists or the overthrow of democracy. Airsoft is no different; there are rules common to most sites that exist to ensure a level playing field (metaphorically) and safety and then there are the rules that are specific to
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a particular event. It is generally recognised that the former shouldn’t be broken, however, the latter are a whole different kettle of fish. I’ll deal with the easy bit first; conduct and safety. Pretty much every site has a series of rules that exist to ensure that all players are afforded the same level of respect, enjoy the same opportunities during game play and are kept as safe as running around like a lunatic will permit. On the whole few airsofters
Last Post RULES ARE RULES
have a problem with these rules and on every site I can think of that I have attended over the years, these rules form the basis of the daily briefing. Although I knew many players would ignore it, I always used to brief against running - ours was a woodland site and inherently uneven underfoot. I would patiently explain that if a player ran into a tree, the tree wouldn’t really care and that I would be less than sympathetic if they were being clearly irresponsible. That said, I also fully expected many players to ignore that rule, or rather to make their own risk-assessment which factored in the demands of the game at any given point in time. The important thing was I had explained what our rule was and why it was in place. Other rules were less flexible, these generally being the ones that covered matters of safety and common decency. No fighting - that’s pretty obvious. No posting pyro down the underpants of the opposition, or indeed your own team. No full-auto point blank, minimum engagement distances, prohibited areas, the importance of clearing all guns before entering the safezone. You have all heard these rules a thousand times before and really should understand what they are there for. Most sites and marshals will quite correctly give players a bit of a bollocking for deliberately flouting these rules; that kind of behavior is also most likely to get you removed from a site tout suite. So far, so straightforward, but what happens when rules are there to shape the game, or to create a certain atmosphere? I’m most likely talking to site owners and game organisers here. Hands up if your carefully considered plans have stumbled or even fallen loudly to the ground because there are always some players who either cannot, or will not, obey the rules? Yeah, a few of you… This manner of transgression more often than not applies to special games, games where there might be specific camo rules, or ammo limits. Maybe restrictions on the types or numbers of weapons allowed, possibly strict time limits relating to tasks. All the good stuff that goes into planning something other than shooting lumps out of other players on a Sunday… It is much harder to stomach flagrant breaches of these rules and frankly, why should we have to? I have never known a situation where a site has announced the beginning of a special game with only 15 minutes notice. In such an improbable case players would be entitled to ask “where am I expected to get 6 mid-caps and a Hawaiian shirt at such short notice?!” That never happens, instead players have weeks, sometimes months to prepare. I’m going to say here that I have some (just some) sympathy with those who simply cannot afford to shell out more money on kit specific to a one off game but (and I’m going to be a little harsh here only because I have seen what happens when
players decide that game rules do not apply to them) who the hell are you to expect them to? If funds are tight maybe you should decide whether or not this is the event for you? If you don’t want to buy more gear, likewise. I got tired of explaining that green camo (DPM or Flecktarn) could be bought for sweeties before an event only to have to explain that, yes, while MultiCam does have green in it, it is NOT a predominantly green camouflage. Further, if the player was permitted to carry on there would be inevitable pouring of oil on troubled waters when one of the Green team lit him up and then refused to be apologetic for the fact that at 60 metres MC didn’t look even a tiny bit green. Been there, got the scars. Rules like this, relevant to a single event are equally important as the basic safety and fair play rules. Thinking that they don’t apply to you is simply rude; why wouldn’t they apply? Personally I think that site owners should be more unforgiving in enforcing such rules - players have had plenty of time to prepare or to improvise - why should the organiser have to bend over backwards to accommodate a player’s failure to prepare? I know that sounds harsh but looking back I wish I had been a lot harsher where enforcing rules was concerned. Often compromises were made because the owner was looking at the bottom line and not at the experience or the intention of the game. I would suggest that a wellrun, immersive game that is raved about by its attendees would do more for the bottom line moving forward, than a fudged compromise that
“I GOT TIRED OF EXPLAINING THAT GREEN CAMO (DPM OR FLECKTARN) COULD BE BOUGHT FOR SWEETIES BEFORE AN EVENT ONLY TO HAVE TO EXPLAIN THAT, YES, WHILE MULTICAM DOES HAVE GREEN IN IT, IT IS NOT A PREDOMINANTLY GREEN CAMOUFLAGE.” ultimately satisfies no-one. Been there, done that. So yes, rules are rules and they exist for a reason. Without them there is too much compromise, too much blurring of lines that should not be blurred and too much ambiguity. Bad rules should be challenged and if appropriate, changed. That however is a conversation, not the dictat of one or two lone warriors who think they know better than the rest.
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SITE DIRECTORY FIND SOMEWHERE TO BE THIS WEEKEND…
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Email nige@airsoft-action.co.uk to add or change a site listing
ABER AIRSOFT – THE BUNKER
Allt-lywd Wood Farm, outside Llanrhystud, nr. Aberystwyth, Wales. Tel: 07511554740 www.aberairsoft.co.uk
ABSOLUTE AIRSOFT
Maidenhead, SL6 3SS Tel: 07871 314951 www.absolute-airsoft.co.uk
ACE AIRSOFT WAR GAMES
Holbrook Coppice, Buidwas Bank (A4169), Buildwas, Telford, Shropshire, TF8 Tel: 07786 192832 www.aceairsoft.co.uk
AIRSOFT ASYLUM
North Lanarksire, ML7 5 www.airsoftasylum.webs.com
AIRSOFT KGB
Porkellis Moor near Helston, Cornwall, TR13 0 Chef1322@hotmail.com www.kgbairsoft.com
AIRSOFT PLANTATION
Goatsmoor Lane, Billericay, CM4 9RS Tel: 07534 636289 / 07771 556395 www.airsoftplantation.co.uk Email: apairsoftplantation@gmail.com
AIRSOFT SKIRMISH
Stoulton, WR7 4QW Tel: 07764 587410 www.airsoftskirmish.co.uk
ACE AIRSOFT WAR GAMES
Tong Wood, Newport Road Wolverhampton TF11 8PN Tel: 07786 192832 www.aceairsoft.co.uk
ALPHA ELITE GAMING
BADLANDS AIRSOFT
AMAZON EVENTS
BARNSLEY AIRSOFT
AMBUSH ADVENTURES – CHOBHAM
BATTLETEC AIRSOFT
Le Mont de Rozel, Jersey, JE3 5 Tel: 01534 733697 www.aegairsoft.je
Hellingly, East Sussex, BN27 4HL Tel: 0844 2570433 www.amazonoutdoorevents.co.uk
Chobham, Surrey, GU24 8SL Tel: 01252 315225 www.ambushadventures.co.uk
AMBUSH ADVENTURES SOUTHAMPTON
New Forest National Park, SP5 2DW Tel: 01252 315225 www.ambushadventures.co.uk
Rowlands Castle, Hamps PO9 6DP Tel: 07534 465589 www.badlandsairsoft.co.uk
Shafton, Barnsley, S72 8RE Tel: 07779 236166 www.barnsleypaintball.co.uk
La Couture, Guernsey, GY1 2 Tel: 07781 104068 www.battletec.co.uk
BETTER BATTLES
Ravenshead, Notts, NG15 9DH Tel: 07967 940043 www.better-battles.com
BLACKDAGGER AIRSOFT AIRSOFT SKIRMISH CQB Studley, B80 7LY Tel: 07764 587410 www.airsoftskirmish.co.uk
APOCALYPSE AIRSOFT Sittingbourne, Kent, ME9 7QP Tel: 07872 348 576 www.apocalypseairsoft.com
Grasscroft Wood, Barlow Lees Lane, Dronfield, S18 7UR www.blackdagger-airsoft.co.uk
BLUESTREAK AIRSOFT ACE COMBAT
Kent, TN12 7DG Tel: 01303 814803 www.acecombat.co.uk
AIRBORNE 101 AIRSOFT CLUB Downpatrick, Co. Down, BT30 Tel: 07718 032541 robinsonm24@btinternet.com
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MAY 2018
ALL ARMS AIRSOFT Near Trawden, BB8 8SN Tel: 07909 683464 www.allarmsairsoft.co.uk
ALPHA 55
Halkyn Wood, North Wales CH8 8DF www.alpha55.co.uk
ARENA AIRSOFT
Grimsby, DN31 3JD Tel: 07752 404060 www.arenaairsoft.com
AWA HERTS
Sawbridgeworth, Herts, CM23 4BJ Tel: 07732 184957 www.awaherts.com
Westcott Venture Park, Westcott, Aylesbury, HP18 0XB Tel: 01296 658600 www.bluestreak-airsoft.co.uk
BORDERLINE AIRSOFT
51 Green Road, Ballyclare, Co. Antrim Northern Ireland, BT39 9PH Tel: 028 9303 7030 or 07729219341 www.borderlinecombat.com
SITE DIRECTORY FIND SOMEWHERE TO BE THIS WEEKEND…
BRAVO 2-2 AIRSOFT
Leisure Lakes, Mere Brow, Southport. PR46JX Tel: 07790 715059 www.bravo22airsoft.com
CERBERUS AIRSOFT – THE WORKS (URBAN)
Off Badger Lane, Hipperholme, Halifax, West Yorkshire HX3 8PL Tel: 07891 469492 www.cerberusairsoft.co.uk
BRISTOL AIRSOFT
Bristol, BS1 2HQ Tel: 07776 288826 www.bristolairsoft.com
BRIT-TAC AIRSOFT
Sheffield, S2 5TR Tel: 07795 631331 www.brittacairsoft.com
BUNKER 51
Charlton, SE7 8NJ Tel: 0870 7549653 www.wolfarmouries.co.uk
BUSH VALLEY AIRSOFT
Runham Woods, Lenham ME17 1NQ Tel: 07786 448608 Email: bushvalairsoft@gmail.com
C3 TACTICAL
Longhope, Gloucestershire, GL17 0PH Tel: 07597 938011 www.c3tactical.co.uk
CERBERUS AIRSOFT – THE COMPLEX Horsforth, Leeds LS18 4RP Tel: 07891 469492 www.cerberusairsoft.co.uk
CERBERUS AIRSOFT – THE OUTPOST (WOODLAND) HPC, York Road, Flaxby, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG5 0XJ Tel: 07891 469492 www.cerberusairsoft.co.uk
CHESTERFIELD IMPERIAL AIRSOFT
Bolton Wood Quarry, Bolton Hall Road Bradford, West Yorkshire BD2 1BQ Tel: 07891 469492 www.cerberusairsoft.co.uk
CERBERUS AIRSOFT – RIVOCK EDGE Keighley, BD20 0LS Tel: 07891 469492 www.cerberusairsoft.co.uk
CERBERUS AIRSOFT – SHEFFIELD WOODLAND Sheffield, S6 6JE Tel: 07891 469492 www.cerberusairsoft.co.uk
Truro, Cornwall, TR2. Tel: 07863 240153 www.cornwallseliteairsoft.co.uk
COTSWOLD AIRSOFT
CLOSE ACTION AIRSOFT
Corby, NN17 3BB Tel: 07740 165787 www.close-action.co.uk
COMBAT ACTION GAMES
Combat Street, Felthorpe, Norwich, Norfolk, NR10 4DR. Tel: 07748 023832 www.facebook.com/combatactiongames
COMBAT AIRSOFT
Just off the A11 outside Thetford Norfolk follow signs for Combat Paintball Tel: 07703 045849 www.combatairsoftgames.co.uk
COMBAT READY CQB
38 Full Street, Derby DE1 3AF Tel: 01332 493258 Email: info@combatreadyairsoft.co.uk www.combatreadyairsoft.co.uk
COMBAT READY OUTDOOR
Middle Wildpark Farm, Wildpark Lane, Brailsford, Ashbourne DE6 3BN Tel: 01332 493258 Email: info@combatreadyairsoft.co.uk www.combatreadyairsoft.co.uk
CUMBRIA AIRSOFT
FIREFIGHT COMBAT SIMULATIONS
Dumfries, DG12 cumbria.airsoft@virgin.net www.cumbria-airsoft.com
Fareham, PO17 5ND Tel: 02392 655636 www.combatsouth.co.uk
Swindon, Wiltshire, SN5 0AN Tel: 01380 728982 www.experienceairsoft.co.uk
Lewisham, SE13 5SU Tel: 07973 240177 www.firefight.co.uk
DANGER CLOSE AIRSOFT
Ellough Lark Raceway, Benacre Road, Ellough, Norfolk Tel: 07455 906132
FIFE WARGAMES
St Andrews, KY10 3XL info@fifewargames.co.uk www.fifewargames.com
DARKWATER AIRSOFT LTD.
Mobile: 07947 558433 www.darkwaterairsoft.co.uk Email: darwaterairsofthythe@gmail.com DARKWATER AFTER DARK C.Q.B, (Battlezone Building), Britannia Lane, Kingsnorth, Ashford, TN23 3NA facebook.com/afterdarkcqb
FINMERE AIRSOFT Buckingham, MK18 4JT Tel: 07976 184897 www.finmereairsoft.com
DARKWATER SITE, Dering Wood, Church Lane, Shadoxhurst, Ashford TN26 1LZ facebook.com/darkwaterairsoftdarkwater
FIREBALL SQUADRON
DELTA TEAM 3
FIRST & ONLY: ANZIO CAMP
Skelmersdale, Lancs WN8 8UT Tel: 07986 053076 www.deltateam3.co.uk
Houston, Renfrewshire, PA6 7BP Tel: 07853 195290 www.dow-airsoft.co.uk
DOG TAG AIRSOFT COMBAT SOUTH WOODLAND
Bexley, Greater London, DA5 1NX Tel: 07968 448475 www.elitebattlezone.co.uk
EXPERIENCE AIRSOFT
DOGS OF WAR Portsmouth, PO6 3LS Tel: 02392 655636 www.combatsouth.co.uk
ELITE BATTLEZONE
Bourton Woods, On the B4479, Blockley Near Bourton-on-the-hill www.cotswoldairsoft.co.uk Tel: 07724629140
Brimington, Chesterfield, S43 1DQ www.cia-airsoft.co.uk
COMBAT SOUTH URBAN CERBERUS AIRSOFT – THE SANDPIT (DESERT)
CORNWALLS ELITE AIRSOFT
Horsham, West Sussex, RH12 4SE TEL 01293 852 314 www.holmbushpaintball.co.uk/airsoft
Sutton Coldfield, B75 5SA Tel: 07582 684533 www.fireballsquadron.com
Leek, ST13 8 Tel: 0161 727 8863 www.firstandonlyairsoft.com
FIRST & ONLY: BUNKER WOOD Kidderminster, Worcs, DY11 5SA Tel: 0161 727 8863 www.firstandonlyairsoft.com
FIRST & ONLY: KHE SANH
WOODS
Otley, West Yorkshire LS21 2NA Tel: 0161 727 8863 www.firstandonlyairsoft.com
DRAGON’S LAIR CONTACT! FIGHT SCHOOL Kelvedon Hatch, Essex, CM14 5 Tel: 01438 368177 www.thefightschool.demon.co.uk
Brentwood, Essex, CM15 0LA Tel: 07703 530189 www.dragonslairairsoft.co.uk
FIRST & ONLY: MANCHESTER
WOODLAND
Bolton, BL7 9TS Tel: 0161 727 8863 www.firstandonlyairsoft.com
DRAGON VALLEY AIRSOFT COOL UNDER FIRE
Doddington, Kent, ME9 0JS Tel: 07960 532613 www.coolunderfire.co.uk
Caerwent Training Area, South Wales, NP26 5XL Tel: 07921 336360 www.dragonvalley.co.uk
FIRST & ONLY: THE HIVE
Middleton, Manchester, M24 1AZ Tel: 0161 727 8863
www.airsoft-action.online
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SITE DIRECTORY FIND SOMEWHERE TO BE THIS WEEKEND…
FIRST & ONLY: THE ARMOURY Wrexham, Denbighshire, LL13 9RG Tel: 0161 727 8863
FIRST & ONLY: THE ACADEMY
Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV32 6QF Tel: 0161 727 8863
FIRST & ONLY: THE ASYLUM
GRANGE LIVE GAMING Bravo One Birmingham, 93–99 Holloway Head, B1 1QP Tel: 0121 643 2477 info@grangelivegaming.com www.grangelivegaming.com
GREENZONE COMBAT Co. Armagh, BT60 1NE Tel: 07772 919974 www.greenzonecombat.com
Kidderminster, DY10 3PT Tel: 0161 727 8863
GUN HO AIRSOFT FIRST & ONLY: THE OUTPOST Kidderminster, DY11 5SA Tel: 0161 727 8863
FIRST & ONLY: SLEEPY HOLLOW Bridgnorth, Shropshire, WV16 5LS Tel: 0161 727 8863
GROUND ZERO WOODLAND
Guisborough, TS7 0PG Tel: 07525 435696 www.gunhoairsoft.co.uk
ISLAND RECON AIRSOFT COMBAT
Near Shorwell, Isle of Wight, PO30 Tel: 07964 751047 www.islandrecon.co.uk
LAND WARRIOR AIRSOFT
MILITARY OUTDOOR ADVENTURES
LAC SITE 1
MILSIM UK
Gorebridge, Midlothian, EH23 4LG Tel: 0131 654 2452 www.airsoftedinburgh.co.uk
Gainsborough, North Lincs, DN21 4JH Tel: 07775 877057 www.lincolnshireairsoftclub.co.uk
GUNMAN AIRSOFT – TUDDENHAM
Cavenham Road, Tuddenham, Bury St Edmunds IP28 6DF Tel: 07711 774461 (Doug) or 07711 774401 (Josh) www.gunmanairsoft.co.uk/gunmanairsoft-tuddenham/
LAC SITE 2
Gainsborough, North Lincs, DN21 4JH Tel: 07775 877057 www.lincolnshireairsoftclub.co.uk
LAC SITE 3
Saxillby, LN1 2JW Tel: 07775 877057 www.lincolnshireairsoftclub.co.uk
The Grange, Frogmore Grange, Balsall Common, Coventry CV7 7FP Tel: 01676 532 384 info@suspensionofdisbelief.co.uk www.giairsoft.co.uk/Skirmish-days
LAC SITE 5
Kirton Rd, North Lincs, DN16 www.lincolnshireairsoftclub.co.uk
LAGAN AIRSOFT CLUB FRV AIRSOFT
Annacloy, Downpatrick, BT30 8JJ Tel: 07730 586926 www.frvairsoft.com
FULL METAL AIRSOFT
Cilyrychen Quarry, Llandybie, Ammanford, Camarthenshire, SA18 3JG Tel: 01269 850404 www.fullmetalairsoft.co.uk
GASS AIRSOFT – PENN Penn Bottom, Bucks, HP10 Tel: 07907 788970 www.gassairsoft.co.uk
GUNMAN AIRSOFT – EVERSLEY The Welsh Drive, Fleet Road (A327), Eversley, Hants RG27 0PY Tel: 07711 774461 (Doug) or 07711 774401 (Josh) www.gunmanairsoft.co.uk/gunmanairsoft-eversley/
Wolverhampton, WV10 7HU Tel: 08000 354490 www.paintballuk.com
HOMELAND TACTICAL AIRSOFT
Spanby, Lincs, NG34 0AT Tel: 07971 560249 facebook.com/HomelandTacticalAirsoft
HUMBER AIRSOFT
North Lincolnshire, DN21 www.humberairsoft.co.uk Tel: 07792 680297
GRANGE FARM AIRSOFT Leicester, LE9 9FP www.gingerliberationfront.com
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MAY 2018
17G Stationview, Dunmurry, Belfast BT170AE Tel: 07733128484
LEEDS AIRSOFT: THE FOUNDRY CQB
Haigh Park Road, Stourton, Leeds LS10 1RX Tel: 0113 277 7707 / 07968 258952
HILTON PARK AIRSOFT
GASS AIRSOFT – PIDDINGTON Piddington, Oxfordshire, OX25 1 Tel: 07907 788970 www.gassairsoft.co.uk
Wrightington, WN6 9PL Tel: 01942 514724 www.militaryoutdooradventure.co.uk
Checkley, Staffordshire, ST10 4NS Tel: 07523 916607 www.milsimuk.co.uk
LINDSEY AIRSOFT
Manby, Lincolnshire, LN11 8HE Tel: 07955 487983 www.lindsey-airsoft.co.uk
Fenwick, Ayrshire, KA3 6AY Tel: 07904 998250 www.nomadairsoft.com
NORTHERN ALLIANCE AIRSOFT
Thirsk, North Yorkshire, YO7 3LQ Tel: 01845 565465 www.northernallianceairsoft.co.uk
NORTHFLEET CQB
Northfleet, Kent, DA11 9AA Tel: 07968 448475 www.elitebattlezone.co.uk
NPF AIRSOFT, NPF BASSETTS POLE
Trickley Coppice, London Road, Bassetts Pole, Sutton Coldfield, B75 5SA Tel: 0121 323 1000 info@npfairsoft.com www.facebook.com/npfairsoft
NSC AIRSOFT
MATLOCK COMBAT GAMES Matlock, Derbyshire, DE4 5FW Tel: 07974 507166 www.matlockcombatgames.com
MAW
Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, LE14 Tel: 07793 404346 1midaw@gmail.com
INVICTA BATTLEFIELD
Wilden Park Road, Staplehurst, Kent TN12 0HP Tel: 01622 831788 / 07876 263290 www.invictabattlefield.co.uk
Edinburgh, EH14 4 nick@ncis-airsoft.co.uk www.ncis-airsoft.co.uk
NOMAD AIRSOFT
GUNMAN AIRSOFT – MIDLANDS Farcet, Peterborough, PE7 3DH Tel: 01733 247171 www.freefirezone.co.uk
Abbey Cwm-hir, Midwales, LD1 6PG Tel: 07497 480243 www.facebook.com/Midwales-airsoft
NCIS AIRSOFT
Ringwood, Hampshire, BH24 2DF www.groundzerowoodland.com
FREE FIRE ZONE
MIDWALES AIRSOFT
MIA
Cornwall, EX23 9JL Tel: 01288 331748 www.airsoftsouthwest.co.uk
Hetton, Sunderland, DH5 0 Tel: 07983 333521 www.nscairsoft.co.uk
NTAC
Durham, DL4 2ER Tel: 01642 281220 www.ntac.co.uk
OBAN AIRSOFT – ILL ARGYLL Argyll and Bute, PA37 1 Tel: 07967 710185 www.argyllsurplus.com
SITE DIRECTORY FIND SOMEWHERE TO BE THIS WEEKEND…
OP-TACTICAL UK – TEAN-OPS
RIFT AIRSOFT (COTTENHAM)
OVER THE TOP AIRSOFT CLUB
SECTION 8 AIRSOFT
Tean, Staffordshire, ST10 4JT Tel: 07964 990831 www.op-tac.co.uk
Anglesey, LL71 www.ottairsoft.co.uk Tel: 07731 744471
PATHFINDER GROUP AIRSOFT MILITARY SIMULATION
Former RAF Camp Sopley/Merryfield Park, Hants, BH23 Tel: 02380 899369
PHOENIX AIRSOFT
Welbeck Airsoft, Academy, Budby Road, Notts NG20 9JX Tel: 07956 587213/01623 812483 www.phoenix-airsoft.co.uk
PLATOON 1HQ
Rochester, Kent, ME1 1 HQ Tel: 01634 829063 www.ptt-1hq.co.uk
PLAYERS OF WAR
Cambridge, CB24 8RL Tel: 07751 586781 www.riftairsoft.com
Shotts, North Lanarkshire, ML7 5AB Tel: 07974 026517 www.s8airsoft.com
Co. Londonderry, BT45 8NA Tel: 07713 273102 www.sg1combatgames.co.uk
SKIRMISH AIRSOFT BILLERICAY
Billericay, Essex, CM11 2TX Tel: 01277 657777 www.airsoft-billericay.co.uk
SKIRMISH EXETER Exeter, Devon, EX4 5 Tel: 01548 580025 www.airsoftexeter.co.uk
SOUTH COAST CQB
PREDATOR COMBAT GAMES
SOUTHDOWN AIRSOFT
RAVEN’S NEST
Suffolk, IP8 4 Tel: 01473 831563 www.ravensairsoft.co.uk
Browndown Road, Lee-On-Solent PO13 9UG Tel: 07533 434203
Petworth, West Sussex, GU28 0LR Tel: 07766 770830 www.southdownairsoft.com
SPEC OPS AIRSOFT – BLOXWORTH
Wareham, Dorset, BH20 7EU Tel: 07984 656947 www.specopsairsoft.co.uk
RAW WAR AIRSOFT CUMBRIA Wigton, Cumbria CA7 3SZ Tel: 01900 85645 www.airsoftcumbria.co.uk
RED1AIRSOFT CQB
Red1 CQB. Kings Langley, WD4 8RN Tel: 07956 522691/01727846069 www.red1airsoft.co.uk
RIFT AIRSOFT COM’S SITE 3
Chipping Warden, OX17 1LZ Tel: 07751 586781 www.riftairsoft.com
TA EVENTS
Hemel Hemstead, Herts, HP2 7QB Tel: 07894 059794 www.ta-events.co.uk
TACTICAL WALES AIRSOFT Reynoldston, Swansea SA3 1AS Tel: 01792 473336 www.tacticalwales.co.uk
TACTICAL WARFARE AIRSOFT
SPEC OPS AIRSOFT– THE ROCK Portland, Dorset, DT5 2EG Tel: 07984 656947 www.specopsairsoft.co.uk
STIRLING AIRSOFT
Coventry, CV3 6NX Tel: 07831 429407 www.stirlingairsoft.com
STORMFORCE AIRSOFT
Rugeley, Staffordshire, WS15 4LD Tel: 07515 937633 www.stormforcepaintball.co.uk
Slinfold, RH12 Tel: 020 8150 9284 www.sussexairsoft.co.uk
Co Tyrone, BT71 4DY Tel: 07922 377131 Facebook: search ‘Torrent Warfare’
TROJAN AIRSOFT
Macclesfield, SK10 4SZ Tel: 07428 024874 www.trojan-airsoft.com
TROJAN AIRSOFT – OLYMPUS CQB
Weir Mill, Viaduct Street, Chestergate, Stockport, Cheshire, SK5 7JP Tel: 07428 024874 www.trojan-airsoft.com
UCAP AIRSOFT
TAZ AIRSOFT
UCAP GREEN OPS
Farr, Inverness, IV2 6XB Tel: 07848 448408
TECH BRIGADE
Newgate Street, Hertfordshire. SG13 8NH Tel: 07841 713356 www.techbrigade.org
Portsmouth, Hants, PO17 6AR Tel: 07590 818881 www.ucap.co.uk
Linch, West Sussex, GU30 7 Tel: 07590 818881 www.ucap.co.uk
ULTIMATE WARGAMES – FAWKHAM Fawkham, Kent, DA3 8NY Tel: 01268 796130 www.ultimatewargames.co.uk
TASK FORCE SKIRMISH Cowbridge, S Glamorgan, CF71 Tel: 02920 593900 www.taskforcepaintball.co.uk
ULTIMATE WARGAMES – LIMPSFIELD Oxted, Surrey, RH8 0RH www.ultimatewargames.co.uk
THE BUNKER
Aberystwyth www.aberairsoft.co.uk Tel: 07841 462806
Glasgow, G45 9SB Tel: 0161 727 8863 www.thedepotglasgow.com
THE EX SITE
Mold, CH7 4 Tel: 07840 001975 www.theexsitewales.co.uk
URBAN ASSAULT
Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, PE26 1 Tel: 01733 247171 www.urbanassault.org.uk
VIKING AIRSOFT
Welwyn, Hertfordshire, AL6 0UN www.vikingairsoft.co.uk
WARMINSTER AIRSOFT Warminster, BA12 7RZ www.warminsterairsoft.co.uk
THE WARGAMES CENTRE Lundholm Road, Stevenston, Ayrshire, KA20 3LN www.thewargamescentre.com wargamescentre@gmail.com
THUNDER PARK AIRSOFT SUSSEX AIRSOFT
TORRENT WARFARE
Warlingham, Surrey, CR6 9PL Tel: 020 8665 1299 www.tacticalwarfare.co.uk
THE DEPOT
RED1AIRSOFT
Chislehurst, Bromley BR7 6SD Tel: 07956 522691/01727846069 www.red1airsoft.co.uk
Boathouse lane, South Wirral, Cheshire, CH64 3TB www.swatairsoft.eu Tel: 07703 177756
SG1 COMBAT GAMES
High Bonnybridge, FK1 3AD Tel: 07767 203979 www.playersofwar.co.uk
Ballynahinch, BT24 8NF Tel: 02897565651 / 07825169631 www.predatorcombat.com
S.W.A.T. AIRSOFT
Luxulyan, Bodmin, Cornwall, PL305FA Tel: 07751808055 www.thunderparkpaintball.co.uk Food & drinks available on site.
WEST MIDLANDS AIRSOFT
F O B (Woodland), Hollington Road, Upper Tean, Staffordshire, ST10 4JT On site parking, HPA Top ups, covered safe zone, male & female toilets, hot lunch included, free tea and coffee available all day. Site memberships. Tel: Paul – 07861427553 Email: paul@wmairsoft.co.uk www.wmairsoft.co.uk
www.airsoft-action.online
89
SITE DIRECTORY
Email nige@airsoft-action.co.uk to add or change a site listing
FIND SOMEWHERE TO BE THIS WEEKEND…
WEST MIDLANDS AIRSOFT
High Command (CQB), Doulton Trading Estate, Doulton Road, Rowley Regis B65 8JQ On site parking, HPA top ups, secure safe zone, male & female toilets, hot lunch included, free tea and coffee available all day. Site memberships. Tel: Paul – 07861427553 Email: paul@wmairsoft.co.uk www.wmairsoft.co.uk
WORTHING AIRSOFT Arundel Road, Worthing Tel: 07877 210898 www.worthingairsoft.co.uk
XSITE AIRSOFT OUTPOST Dunstable, LU6 2EE Tel: 01494 881430 www.xsiteairsoft.co.uk
XSITE AIRSOFT – LANE END High Wycombe, HP14 3NP Tel: 01494 881430
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MAY 2018
PRACTICAL PISTOL DIRECTORY AIPSC
The Grange, Frog Lane, Balsall Common, West Midlands, CV7 7FP Tel: 01676 532384 www.aipsc.co.uk Facebook: A.I.P.S.C info@suspensionofdisbelief.co.uk. Every Monday night 7pm– 9pm (except bank holidays). £5 or £10 with pistol and shooting rig hire. UKPSA-qualified coaches. UKPSA-qualified Range Officers.
COBRA ONE ZERO AIRSOFT Unit 9 Imperial Buisness Centre Mortimer Road, Hereford, HR4 9SP www.cobraonezero.co.uk Facebook: cobra one zero Airsoft
WATFORD PRACTICAL PISTOL CLUB WatfordPPC@gmail.com
DOUBLE TAP PSC
StrikeForce CQB, Morelands Trading Estate, Bristol Road, Gloucester GL1 5RZ Facebook: www.facebook.com/ Double-Tap-Practical-Shooting-Club979585958732937/?ref=hl doubletappsc@gmail.com
EBSC
MOD-approved gun club PP, IDPA, IPAS, IPSC, 3GUN UKPSA Coaches UKPSA-qualified Range Officers Equipment hire available www.ebsc.co.uk ebpracticalpistol@gmail.com 07752 713 970
HALO MILL
The Penthouse, Colne Valley Business Park, Manchester Road, Linthwaite, Huddersfield HD7 5QG Tel: 01484 840554 www.halomill.com
XSITE PRACTICAL SHOOTING Fryers Farm Lane, High Wycombe, Bucks HP14 3NP Tel: 01494 881430
SOUTH WEST PRACTICAL SHOOTERS (SWPS)
Action Air IPSC Club Based at The Tunnel Target Sports Centre near Charmouth The Tunnel, Axminster Road, Charmouth, Dorset DT6 6BY Contact: SWPSClub@Outlook.com
WETHERSFIELD AIRSOFT TARGET SHOOTING CLUB (WAT SIC)
Wethersfield Village Hall, Braintree Rd (B1053), Wethersfield, Braintree CM7 4EB. https://www.facebook.com/WATSiC/ Open Thursday & Friday evenings. Set-up from 6:30pm. Club shooting commences by 7:30pm. Pack-up starts at 9:30pm if you can stay to help. Contact via FB or 07939557029. Indoors. Club offers Action Air plus 2 & 3 Gun training and events.