Airsoft Action - May 2022

WINNER BEST AIRSOFT MAGAZINE 

ISSUE 137 

MAY 2022 

ISSN 2634-9515

TAP/CLICK IMAGES FOR MORE INFORMATION 

TAP/CLICK IMAGES FOR MORE INFORMATION

CONTENTS 

8 ARMOURY: ARES X-CLASS AR-091E 

After a bit of a drawn-out launch period ARES have released to 

market their new X CLASS AR models; these combine thoroughly 

modern styling with some tried and tested internals and certainly 

look righteous! Bill has been putting the 091E carbine variant 

through the mill to see if its stunning looks are equalled by real 

range-readiness! 

WINNER BEST AIRSOFT MAGAZINE 

ISSUE 137 


ISSN 2634-9515 

Editorial Director: Bill Thomas 

Graphic Design: Calibre Publishing 

Ad Design: Deadshot Design 

Publisher: Calibre Publishing 

18 ARMOURY: ICS CXP MARS II 

Jimmy is really on a roll with the latest products to come from 

our friends at ICS Airsoft! With his ever-expanding technical 

knowledge, and indeed very specific knowledge of the systems and 

components involved in the new ICS AEGs and GBBs he’s the very 

man to check out the newest addition to the CXP line, the mighty 

MARS II! 

Wyche Innovation Centre, 

Walwyn Road, 

Upper Colwall, 

Malvern, 

Worcestershire, 

WR13 6PL, UK. 

Tel: +44 (0) 1684 878 003 

Web: www.airsoftaction.net 

©Calibre Publishing Limited 2021 

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 publication. 

FIND US ON… 

24 ARMOURY: SNOW WOLF MP18 

Whilst in no way a new AEG to hit the market, the MP18 is a 

classic historical model which set the tone for all SMGs that 

followed it, and Snow Wolf have replicated it as a thing of beauty 

in airsoft form! Long wishing to get his hands on one, Bill finally 

got an MP18 on the range recently and was most definitely 

enthralled! 

LETTER, IDEA OR 

QUESTION? 

Got something to say? A question for our 

experts? An article or article idea? 

Drop us a line and let us know. Either email the 

Editorial Director: bill@airsoft-action.co.uk, write to 

us at the Calibre Publishing address above, or talk to 

us on Twitter or Facebook. 

54 RED CELL: SUPPORT GUNS 

When it comes to range and even magazine capacity; an AEG 

fitted with a 2500/3000BB drum mag offers the same range and 

firepower on the field as a true support gun, and is actually far 

more handy! So why is it that many of the Red Cell team love a 

support gun, and which models do they love?

Contents 


32 GEAR: OUTRIDER TACTICAL 

“YOUR EQUIPMENT IS OUR 

PASSION!” That’s what the team 

behind the new clothing brand, 

Outrider Tactical, tell us and after 

taking a look at some of their clothing 

Bill thinks that this is a claim wellfounded, 

so let’s get this (range) party 

started! 

66 TECH: PKM UPGRADES 

We’ve been checking out support 

guns in this issue, what better a 

time to look at what can be created 

to make the “BFG” more fieldable 

and easier to use in game. Dan gets 

under the hood of the mighty PKM 

to create something that truly will be 

a “beast” on the skirmish field! 

36 TOD: WEEKEND WARRIOR! 

We hope that what has been 

covered so far in our Tactical Outdoor 

Development column has helped to 

point you in the right direction! This 

time Bill concludes his “packing list” 

with an overview of that all-important 

gear that will see you through! 

70 TECH: GATE STATUS 

We’re cramming more and more 

electronics into our AEGs these days. 

Miguel has been looking closely at 

the GATE STATUS and now tells about 

how this can help you make sure that 

everything you add to increase your 

on-field performance is working in 

harmony! 

40 IWA GEAR REPORT 

Last month the crew looked at all 

the airsoft goodness that they saw 

at IWA 2022, and this time our 

in-house “gearfreek” Bill turns his 

attention to the clothing, footwear 

and equipment side of the show, 

looking at innovations that he found 

particularly noteworthy! 

86 EVENT: ACTION AIR TAIWAN 

Another year, another challenge! 

2022 is already. For Stewbacca it’s 

already off to a very busy start in 

terms of a menagerie of spinning 

plates of interests and responsibilities, 

trying his best to make time for all 

the things he wants to do and all 

those he has to! 

46: I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW 

A nice shiny optic looks just the thing 

atop an AEG or GBBR, and these 

days even on a GBB pistol! Ultimately 

though are we just putting them 

there for show, to make our “Gats 

look Gucci”, or are they there for a 

solid reason? Bill checks in with the 

AA Legionnaires to find out more… 

94 FEATURE: RETAILERS 

Following the article on the rise of 

dedicated distributors in the UK, 

industry-veteran Frenchie spent the 

intervening period speaking with two 

of our most established retailers in 

the UK to find out what the state of 

the industry is in 2022, and how that 

has changed in the past few years. 

50 GEAR: MAPA 

In Issue 135 Bill took a deep dive 

into the creation of the Polish MAPA 

pattern, and a first look at some of 

the new clothing and gear to become 

available for airsoft use; this time, 

having spent some “quality alone 

time” with the gear he looks at the 

individual pieces in more detail! 

98 LAST POST 

While he was at Landwarrior Frenchie 

was fortunate to be able to spend 

some time on their “real steel” 

range. This represents some of the 

diversification that the company has 

undertaken and Frenchie reflects how 

very different parts of shooting sports 

can sit comfortably side by side… 

74 EVENT: MOA CAMPFEST 2022 

Despite recent spikes in the ongoing ‘Rona pandemic in Taiwan Eric 

Chu and his team from QRF Magazine, as well as numerous local 

airsoft industry professionals, players and enthusiasts, managed to 

come together against all the odds to hold another in a long line of 

excellent events in Taiwan that we’ve covered for some years now! 

With Stewbacca “in country” and on the ground for Airsoft Action 

we’re very pleased to bring in his report on MOA CAMPFEST 2022!

Facebook (Global): 

ICSBBAirsoft 

Twitter (Global): 

icsbbairsoft 

Youtube: 

ICS AIRSOFT 

Instagram: 

icsbbairsoft

ARMOURY 

ARES X-CLASS AR-091E 

FIRST 

CLASS 

8 

MAY 2022

ARMOURY 


AFTER A BIT OF A DRAWN-OUT LAUNCH PERIOD ARES HAVE RELEASED TO MARKET THEIR NEW 

X CLASS AR MODELS; THESE COMBINE THOROUGHLY MODERN STYLING WITH SOME TRIED AND 

TESTED INTERNALS AND CERTAINLY LOOK RIGHTEOUS! BUT BEAUTY NEEDS TO BE BACKED UP WITH 

SOLID PERFORMANCE, AND BILL HAS BEEN PUTTING THE 091E CARBINE VARIANT THROUGH THE MILL 

TO SEE IF ITS STUNNING LOOKS ARE EQUALLED BY REAL RANGE-READINESS! 

For some reason I seem to have spent a fair 

amount of time with new ARES models on the 

range in the last year, but there’s one series that 

both Jimmy and I have got a little excited about, 

but for very different reasons, and that’s their new 

“X CLASS”! Ever since we saw the teaser image 

on their social media of the tricked out Model 12 

we’ve been talking about it, and when the guys from 

iWholesales offered us one to get on the range we, 

of course, jumped at it! 

AR-style models just keep on rolling out, and 

there’s more and more going on with them both 

internally and externally! I sometimes wonder if 

we’re going too far down the electronics route (as 

an “old skooler” more inside means more potential 

problems to me!), but Jimmy continues to educate 

me on the benefits of all the new systems… that said 

I’m still a “program basic functions and go” kind of 

guy, and as long as an AEG continues to spit BBs I’m 

happy. 

Am I missing a trick? Quite possibly, as an out-ofthe-box 

AEG is now far more capable than anything 

I was able to get my hands on back in the day, and 

the new directions that ARES have taken recently 

with their programmable EFCS and their quick 

change front ends has really impressed me. I really 

www.airsoftaction.net 9

ARMOURY 

ARES VORSK X-CLASS OSIRIS AR-091E 

like the X45 and the MUTANT, again for different 

reasons, but both have proved solid on the range, and 

durable thus far in terms of “internal ops”. 

I’ll come back to the internals of the X CLASS later 

but what I will say here is more of a general overview. 

Most people love a Marui, and why is that? Basically 

Marui make AEGS for their home market, and as 

much as we may now scoff a little at the power levels 

they deliver as standard, nobody can doubt that they 

work sweetly as new and continue to do so unless 

you mess with them unnecessarily. Fact is that they 

are made to function at their initial power level due to 

Japanese law, but everything in them is 100% set up 

and balanced to work at that level; gearboxes, gears, 

pistons, motors and electronics are absolutely working 

in harmony and the net result is an AEG that works 

flawlessly, from the box… okay, if something does go 

wrong, and it will eventually with all electric models, 

Mauri’s proprietary gubbins is going to be a right 

pain… 

What we have seen though is other manufacturers 

start to follow this model; once upon a time many 

manufacturers looked to the majority of Europe 

and the USA markets where higher power levels are 

legal, and indeed sought after in my experience, and 

simply “up-powered” their basic AEGs with stronger 

springs, and the fallout from this was internal failures 

everywhere! Motors burned out, gears and pistons 

stripped, and that awful “whizz, grind, silence” 

became a pretty standard sound at every skirmish day 

we attended!. 

However, again in my opinion, many 

manufacturers, ARES included, are now approaching 

things differently and these days the internals are of 

better quality generally, and certainly more balanced 

to handle higher power-loads for longer. The entire 

AEG is now put together with parts that actually work 

together properly, and although certain manufacturers 

will always find new directions to explore, these 

directions are generally real enhancements to what’s 

already a sound system. Better parts, better quality 

and quality control, and a real desire to REALLY 

make things the best they can be are more often 

than not the norm now, and I rank ARES amongst 

the manufacturers taking this approach, and if you’ll 

pardon the pun, all power to them! 

A CLASSY NUMBER! 

So, what’s new and interesting about the new X 

CLASS variants, of which there are a few ranging from 

the 555-650mm Model 6 “PDW” up to the 850- 

930mm Model 15? Basically put ARES have created 

a line of AR AEGs that are designed from the get-go 

to be a reliable yet stylish, up-to-the-minute choice 

for players, with a billet style ambidextrous lower 

receiver, flat-faced trigger, a uniquely designed CNC 

handguard, and a steel QPQ flash hider. In addition 

to this, the X-CLASS models come as standard with 

a 6.03 inner barrel, a very usable set of flip-up front 

and rear sights and a redesigned stock. The stock itself 

is slimline and low profile, and easy to adjust, and 

for better control the AEGs come with a slim motor 

grip, angled with a 1911-rake for a more comfortable 

and controllable shooting experience. The carbines 

and rifles are available in two colours, and whilst the 

black looks great, the bronze colour looks downright 

gorgeous! 

The latest releases in the X CLASS line have some 

great features and the externals as I now expect from 

ARES, and they’re first rate in terms of fit and finish. 

First off, this premium AEG has thoroughly modern 

styling with a Radian Arms-inspired lower receiver; 

the real Radian Model 1 Upper Receiver is a thing 

of beauty, precision CNC machined and structurally 

reinforced in critical areas for improved strength and 

rigidity, such as the contouring around the magwell 

and beefy “fences”. The upper receiver on the real 

Radian setup is billet-style 7075-T6 aluminium and is 

assembled with dust cover, hand guard anti-rotation 

pin, light weight forward assist, and Raptor-SD 

Ambidextrous Charging Handle; sadly the X CLASS is 

missing a Radian-style RAPTOR charging handle and 

the curved forward-assist cutaway on the upper, but 

it ain’t half bad, and after all is “inspired by” and not 

a replica of the real which of course would need to be 

liecenced! 

There’s also a Geissele-style rail system, one which 

seems to be very popular in airsoft circles at the 

moment! The high-grade alloy CNC 6063 handguard 

fitted as standard to the X CLASS looks very much 

“IN THE PAST MANY MANUFACTURERS LOOKED TO THE MAJORITY OF EUROPE AND 

THE USA MARKETS WHERE HIGHER POWER LEVELS ARE LEGAL AND SIMPLY “UP- 

POWERED” THEIR BASIC AEGS WITH STRONGER SPRINGS, AND THE FALLOUT FROM 

THIS WAS INTERNAL FAILURES EVERYWHERE! MOTORS BURNED OUT, GEARS AND 

PISTONS STRIPPED, AND THAT AWFUL “WHIZZ, GRIND, SILENCE” BECAME A PRETTY 

STANDARD SOUND AT EVERY SKIRMISH DAY WE ATTENDED!” 

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like an M-LOK Super Modular Rail MK4, but without 

the additional picatinny sections at 3 and 6 o’clock, 

and it looks great! We talk a lot about M-LOK these 

days, and for newer players it may be useful for you 

to know that M-LOK is, and I quote directly that it is 

“a modular locking accessory mounting system that 

is a direct attachment method for hard mounting 

accessories to a negative space mounting point”. 

Developed by Magpul Industries Corp in 2007 for 

the Masada Concept Rifle, the system first featured a 

polymer handguard with three elongated holes that 

acted as a “negative mounting surface” for accessory 

rails. These slots became one of the first “negative 

space” attachment systems that allowed the user to 

only put rails sections where they were required rather 

than covering the entire surface with full-length rails, 

then covering those rails with protective covers. The 

system also allowed direct mounting of accessories, 

such as fore-grips and flashlights with no rail interface 

needed, and it’s become the preferred option for 

many shooters, both real and airsoft! 

INTERNAL HARMONY! 

Internally the X CLASS variants come with the ARES 

RVTSTM, or Rapid Velocity Tuning System Quick 

Change Spring System, along with their tried and 

tested programmable EFCS gearbox and everything 

is compatible with other V2 gears and parts, not that 

you’ll need to be thinking major upgrades any time 

soon! As an added bonus, the X-CLASS models now 

come standard with Airsoft T-Plugs and work ideally 

with Titan Batteries! Like most ARES AEGs these 

days, the X CLASS variants have that Electronic Firing 

Control System (EFCS) gearbox. With the development 

of this easy-to-use system, ARES now seem to be 

making the EFCS Gearbox “standard” in line with 

what is on offer from other manufacturers, but unlike 

some, the EFCS has now been around for a little 

while. 

This programmable system will still need the 

external programmer but most good airsoft shops 

seem to have one these days and can set up your AEG 

just as you want it in mere seconds. However, when it 

comes to the X CLASS my advice would be to invest 

in one of your own. The programmer will allow you 

to set up your AEG in different ways but also protects 

it by having it withstand current to around 30A, 

enhances piston positioning and allows it to set up 

with rapid semiauto fire. 

The gearbox is of the highest build quality, coming 

with a quick release spring guide, silver wiring, and 

an electronic trigger. Allied with a high-torque motor 

that sits beneath and in line with the gearbox it all 

equates to an efficient and effective setup. The EFCS 

system can be programed to use either 7.4v or 11.1v 

batteries and you can also program either semi and 

auto, 3 round burst and auto, or semi only, which is a 

very useful thing to have in any AEG! In full, the EFCS 

features: 

• Gearbox protection system - EFCS will shut 

down the battery if there is a malfunction in the 

gearbox 

• Able to withstand large firing current to around 

30a 

• Enhanced ABS and precise magnetic sensor to 

improve piston position 

• Suitable for advanced player settings 

• Able to withstand rapid semi-auto fire 

• Adjustable trigger stroke distance 

• Reduction in battery use 

• Easy to manitain 

• Programmable for different shooting modes 

(ARES electronic gearbox programmer required) 

DOWNRANGE 

The model that was kindly sent to me for testing was 

the mid-length 690-770mm AR-091E; I’ve regressed 

slightly back to mid-length ARs recently unless it’s 

a .308/7.62 replica, and I have to say that in recent 

builds of my own this is undoubtedly the length that 

suits me best for general use, as an AEG of this size 

and weight (2600g in respect of the 091E) is easy to 

manipulate yet still has decent inner barrel to work 

with. As much as the X CLASS performed extremely 

well in in initial testing, and I’m now more confident 

with their internals overall, experience has taught me 

that with an ARES model I still need to perhaps tweak 

the hop unit and rubber, and check the air seals to 

ensure real long-term performance… only time will 

tell on this. 

With the EFCS programmed at the shop again 

thanks to Marcus, I loaded up the 140BB midcap with 

.20g and had at it on the 30m range. When it comes 

to getting the 091E rolling, a battery can be easily 

housed inside the buffer tube and stock; as I’ve found 

with other ARES AR carbines of late a decent stick 

LiPo will fit easily into the buffer tube if you’re careful 

and don’t compress the stock fully, which means you 

can use the new ARES slim stock without any bother, 

and I fitted my normal “ARES tester battery”, a 2600 

mAh 11.1V TITAN LiPo. 

The standard rotary hop really is easy to work with 

and adjust, and once set, it stays firmly in place, and 

with everything set on .20g BBs the 091E is a bit of 

a performer! The trigger is most certainly crisp, as 

just a nudge sends BBs downrange happily with the 

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standard magazine feeding smoothly; on semi you 

really can get shots away quickly, and full chat with 

an 11.1 works brilliantly for a great ROF. I’m pleased 

to report that the 091E I received for testing chrono’d 

with consistency at 1.12 Joule/348fps using .20g BBs; 

I jest not when I say “consistency” as with a ten BB 

string I noted a deviation of less than 0.85fps with 

zero misfeeds! That’s pretty cool for any AEG and 

comes back to what I mentioned earlier in relation to 

all the internals working in harmony together! 

The flip-up sights that come fitted as standard to 

the 091E are more than adequate for most situations, 

so the AEG is ready to roll straight from the box if you 

add a battery and some BBs, although for full testing 

at longer range I added my favourite holosight and a 

foregrip. At 30m unsupported it was easy to get hits 

on a 400mm x 400mm torso-sized target with each 

BB flying straight and true. I also took the 091E up to 

my local site for longer range testing, and the carbine 

performed superbly on .28g BBs, easily and accurately 

sending them to target at 60m, and that’s pretty much 

straight out of the box before any “bedding”! 

I have to say that the 091E definitely lived up to the 

promise that Jimmy and I first talked about when we 

saw it, and has most definitely been worth the wait. 

It looks great, feels great, and shoots superbly! You 

have the now-fully-tested EFCS gearbox system along 

with a quick spring change system at the rear and the 

super slim high torque motor grip. The carbine has full 

ambidextrous controls throughout with multiple QD 

sling points on the rail and the stock. The handguard 

is a great length and the barrel is threaded 14mm 

with a steel muzzle device. In fact everything is in situ 

to make shooting the 091E a pleasure from the first 

time you lift it out of the box! 

I really do like the 091E, and by extension the X 

CLASS models as a whole; for the carbine tested 

it’s an exceptionally tight package both inside and 

out, and care has obviously been taken to provide 

something in AEG form that’s fully worthy to take 

ARES forward into their next iteration. If you’re 

looking for a thoroughly modern, high-performance 

AR AEG that with care and maintenance will see you 

through many airsoft adventures, then I believe that 

you may well find a trusted friend amongst the ARES 

X CLASS models! 

As usual my thanks go to the guys at www. 

iwholesales.co.uk for providing the 091E test model, 

so please do take a moment to go and check what 

else they offer that can be ordered easily from most 

good airsoft stockists! AA 

“I HAVE TO SAY THAT THE 091E 

DEFINITELY LIVED UP TO THE 

PROMISE THAT JIMMY AND I 

FIRST TALKED ABOUT WHEN 

WE SAW IT AND HAS MOST 

DEFINITELY BEEN WORTH THE 

WAIT. IT LOOKS GREAT, FEELS 

GREAT, AND SHOOTS SUPERBLY! “ 

14 





ARMOURY 

ICS CXP MARS II 

MIGHTY 

MARS! 

18 


ARMOURY 


JIMMY IS REALLY ON A ROLL WITH THE LATEST PRODUCTS TO COME FROM OUR FRIENDS AT ICS 

AIRSOFT! WITH HIS EVER-EXPANDING TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE, AND INDEED VERY SPECIFIC 

KNOWLEDGE OF THE SYSTEMS AND COMPONENTS INVOLVED IN THE NEW ICS AEGS AND GBBS HE’S 

THE VERY MAN TO CHECK OUT THE NEWEST ADDITION TO THE CXP LINE, THE MIGHTY MARS II! 

The CXP (Concept eXclusive Program) series 

is a brand new AEG platform developed and 

designed based on the existing SALW (Small 

Arms and Lightway Weapons) from our great 

friends at ICS, which not only combines erogonomic 

theories and designs, but also applies with years 

of experience gained by ICS manufacturing and 

operating AEGs. A massive shout out to ICS and 

a big thank you for sending out these exquisite 

specimens to test and review it means a lot being 

part of the journey! 

ICS certainly are spoiling us of late and this really 

goes to show in the latest offering in the form of 

the CXP MARS II sss3 carbine. Currently ICS offer up 

TWELVE different variations in the CXP range and 

all sport the same commitment to high-end quality. 

It has to be said that the quality of ICS products, 

whilst always good, over the last few years has 

improved tremendously and many of their models in 

my opinion are now simply impeccable. You expect 

that from a premium manufacturer of performance 

products and expectations have been fulfilled. 

In the last Issue of AA I had the pleasure of testing 

the new LIGHTWAY DAGGER, a platform I was 

highly impressed with, but the new MARS II has 

impressed me even further to a point I just cannot 


ARMOURY 


leave it alone. This thing is dripping quality and you 

will be hard pushed to find any flaws in the materials 

used but then ICS have been producing fine airsoft 

products for a very long time, around 27 years. 

So to the product in hand is the latest iteration of 

the very popular CXP range; while keeping on track 

with their split gearbox design this AEG has had an 

internal make over with the addition of some very 

up to date components and some pretty radical 

styling, ensuring the customer, you the airsofter get 

the best possible platform straight out of the box, 

and a platform this good should get the recognition 

it deserves. ICS have created a package that is highly 

desirable and offers a vast list of features that not 

many can compete with, features “from the box” like: 

• SSS.III E-trigger system 

• Smart Trigger & Pre-cocking Function 

• Titan T-Dean Plug 

• EBB System 

• Lightweight 13” M-Lok handguard 

• High capacity Battery Space ERGO Stock 

• 20° Verticle Pistol Grip 

• Competition Short Stroke Flat Trigger 

• Blaster Steel Flash Hider 

• Reinforced Full Metal Teeth Piston 

• MASTER AL6061 Cylinder Head & Piston Head 

& Air Nozzle 

• MASTER Hop Tensioner Nub 

• ICS Split Gearbox 

• QD Spring Guide Design 

• One-piece Metal H-UP Chamber 

• Release Spring Function 

• Basic specs on this particular model are: 

• Length- 872mm to 946mm 

• Weight- 2940g 

• Barrel length- 13 inches 

• Velocity- states 394fps but upon chrono we 

achieved an average of 323fps +/- 2fps 

• Materials- full metal 

• Magazine capacity 300bbs 

• Motor- long shaft evo 35000 

ICS recommend the use of either 7.4v or 11.1v; 

this recommendation will differ depending on your 

velocity and the motor being used. It does state use 

only 7.4v if using the evo motor and I can confirm 

that on an 11.1v I experienced PME (premature 

engagement) but even on a 7.4v it is still very 

responsive. 

STRAIGHT OUTTA THE BOX! 

SO… out of the box this new AEG is very aesthetically 

pleasing and looks modern with its sleek body and 

ergonomic feel which makes it comfortable and easy 

use. Being a carbine it is an acceptable length so will 

cater for all and the adjustable stock can be finetuned 

to fit many different people. 

Handling the carbine feels so right; the angle and 

shape of the grip nestles nicely in the palm and the 

Magpul-esque M-LOK handguard is very slim, allowing 

fir the perfect “Chris Costa C-clamp”, and due to this 

slim design it accommodates attachments incredibly 

well and doesn’t become over bulky. Up front you will 

find a metal screw on shroud neatly etched with the 

words ‘BLASTER’ which covers a full metal flash hider, 

I’m not sure if any suppressors will screw direct on to 

that flash hider, that I’m yet to discover. 

The full metal outer barrel sits just proud of the 

front of the handguard and it is solid, not one bit of 

movement, which is pleasing. The handguard being 

mainly M-LOK offers a vast amount of real estate 

even across the top as the standard 20mm picatinny 

has been removed all bar about 2” right at the very 

front allowing easy fit of iron sights or maybe a PEQ 

or DBAL. You could attach sections of rail should you 

choose, but for me I really like the look of M-LOK 

which keeps everything slim and very modern looking. 

Moving on to the receivers, these are very well 

made and very futuristic looking and sport some fine 

laser etching. They chose to go with a non-ambi mag 

release on this strangely, but offered ambi fire select 

(sorry leftie shooters). The 300 BB polymer mag fits 

superbly with a very tiny amount of movement and 

clicks in place with no effort whatsoever. Even though 

the mag is a nice snug fit, upon release it will just fall 

out, so if you are the tactical reload kind of person ICS 

have you covered. When I say tactical reload kind of 

person I mean for those who think they are Mr J Wick 

esq and don’t pay for their magazines… 

I really like the pistol grip on this as it is for me is a 

perfect size, not to skinny and not too wide with some 

“WHILE KEEPING ON TRACK WITH THEIR SPLIT GEARBOX DESIGN THIS AEG HAS 

HAD AN INTERNAL MAKE OVER WITH THE ADDITION OF SOME VERY UP TO DATE 

COMPONENTS AND SOME PRETTY RADICAL STYLING, ENSURING THE CUSTOMER, YOU 

THE AIRSOFTER GET THE BEST POSSIBLE PLATFORM STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOX, AND 

A PLATFORM THIS GOOD SHOULD GET THE RECOGNITION IT DESERVES. ” 

20 


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aggressive detailing for better grip; on the base it has 

a quick release baseplate held in by two stainless steel, 

very well machined pins (no more stripped threads) 

and on the rear of the receiver you will see a nice size 

sling plate with yet more fine etching. That isn’t the 

only sling mount point as ICS has you covered again 

(it’s almost like they are thinking about us airsofters) 

as there are another two more points on the stock 

itself. A solid metal buffer tube accommodates the 

ERGO stock and the fit between the two is better than 

most, with only minimal stock wobble. The butt pad 

is a nice chunky piece of rubber, very grippy, and is 

also quick release which then gives access to the vast 

battery compartment! It’s probably the largest battery 

compartment I have seen truth be told. 

Gorgeous as the externals are, inside this beaut 

you will find a fine array of components from Master 

Mods as standard, components I rate very highly. 

One part I believe would really set this off and make 

it perfect is the addition of the Master Mods barrel 

and R-hop; if that was in there I would go as far as 

to say that this is one of the best airsoft guns out of 

the box your money could buy… it’s definitely a major 

contender, but why settle for contention when you 

can be the best. 

“THE MARS II HAS A VERY RESPONSIVE SEMI-AUTO WHICH IS ALL DOWN TO THE 

E-TRIGGER SYSTEM, THE GREAT EVO MOTOR AND THE SHORT STROKE FLAT BLADE 

COMPETITION TRIGGER; THE MARRIAGE BETWEEN THEM IS A TRIPARTITE HARMONY 

AND THIS GIVES YOU THE EDGE WHERE A MECHANICAL TRIGGER SYSTEM WILL FLAG!” 

22 


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RANGETIME 

On the range I’m not nice to RIFs when testing; like 

Bill and Stwebacca I will abuse the mechanics and 

don’t care if they break as after all that’s what we here 

to do, not just tell you how shiny AEGs and GBBs are, 

we want to know can they stand up to “the suck”? 

Giving the testing we do I can’t say that a particular 

platform will last for a million BBs or never break, 

but if I can put 5000 BBs through something with 

heavy full auto bursts and continual trigger spamming 

in semi then I’m happy. When I say “burst” I don’t 

mean 5 seconds or even 10 seconds, I mean drum 

mag dumping keeping the finger on that trigger and 

emptying it! 

For an out of the box AEG the MARS II operates 

flawlessly and will be very competitive out on site 

giving you an advantage over many. Sending BBs out 

to over 50m with ease and able to effortlessly lift 

0.30g BBs (this is largely due to the effective rotary 

style hop unit combined with the Master Mods brass 

hop tensioner and great air delivery) the MARS II 

has a very responsive semi-auto which is all down 

to the E-trigger system, the great evo motor and 

the short stroke flat blade competition trigger; the 

marriage between them is a tripartite harmony and 

this gives you the edge where a mechanical trigger 

system will flag! There is no flagging with the new 

E-trigger system. I would like to see some sort of basic 

programming from this system maybe in the future 

this is something ICS could revise. 

This model comes with the EBB feature, and while 

I do like EBB I found this one to be a little weak; I like 

to really hear and feel that blowback, and I know 

some of you are just going to say “if you want the feel 

of blowback why don’t you just get a GBBR? Truth is I 

am not a fan of GBBR, I like AEG and that’s final! 

So to conclude I do believe that ICS are at the 

forefront of AEG manufacturing right now (and 

doing some very interesting things with GBB now 

too!), and the CXP MARS II just shows it; buy an ICS, 

it just makes sense! Okay, it’s a premium rifle with a 

premium price tag but you’re getting your moniesworth 

here, every penny of it. 

As ICS say “Be a game changer!” 

The CXP MARS II is also available as a “Komodo 

Junior” model, but my thanks as always go to our 

friends at ICS in Taiwan for supplying the carbine 

test model reviewed; do be sure to check out their 

website, www.icsbb.com, and busy social media feeds 

for the very latest news!! AA 


ARMOURY 

SNOW WOLF MP18 

TRENCH 

BROOM! 

24 

APRIL 2022

ARMOURY 


WHILST IN NO WAY A NEW AEG TO HIT THE MARKET, THE MP18 IS A CLASSIC HISTORICAL MODEL 

WHICH SET THE TONE FOR ALL SMGS THAT FOLLOWED IT, AND SNOW WOLF HAVE REPLICATED IT AS 

A THING OF BEAUTY IN AIRSOFT FORM! LONG WISHING TO GET HIS HANDS ON ONE, BILL FINALLY 

GOT AN MP18 ON THE RANGE RECENTLY AND WAS MOST DEFINITELY ENTHRALLED! 

I 

believe that in one shape or another we will all 

have some form of SMG in our airsoft collection, 

be it a classic MP40 or Thompson, or something 

more up to date like the Uzi or MAC! A number 

of my airsoft friends are currently going through 

another MP7-phase, and of course you can’t really 

call yourself an airsofter unless you own, or have 

owned, an MP5! However, reeling things back, 

WWII was surely the “War of the SMG”, and whilst 

the Germans were again at the forefront with 

the excellent MP38/MP40, the Allied forces soon 

followed with the likes of the Thompson, the STEN, 

the Austen, Owen Gun and Patchett, the PPSh-41, 

and of course the M3A1 “Grease Gun”. 

WWII saw most armies still largely armed with 

those bolt-action rifles, and the .303 SMLE did 

sterling service against the venerable 7.92×57mm 

Kar98k, but the with the “Blitzkrieg” came a new, 

fast-moving type of land warfare fought from the 

backs of vehicles that required more easily carried, 

fast-firing sub-machine guns with effective riflemen 

and LMG gunners in support; far from the days of 

the “Sturmtruppen” being over when the trench 

warfare of WWI ceased to be the norm, the soldiers 

of a new war were confronted with fighting in towns 

and cities, and the “weapons mix” was chosen 

accordingly. 

But the tale of the SMG starts for me way before 


ARMOURY 


WWII! I would argue that the very first of what we 

would refer to as the “modern military SMG” was 

the MP 18 manufactured by Theodor Bergmann 

Abteilung Waffenbau that was brought into service 

in 1918 by the German Army during World War I as 

the primary weapon of those “Sturmtruppen”, the 

specialised German WWI trench assault groups. Up 

until then infantry combat was traditionally “ranged” 

and the bolt-action rifle and fast-firing HMG were the 

undoubted kings of the battlefield, but the bloody 

and gruesome, often hand to hand combat seen 

within the close-confines of trench systems called for 

something smaller, and with a higher rate of fire… 

the term “trench broom” which referred to shotguns, 

automatic pistol-based-carbines, and eventually the 

Bergmann MP18 was coined for a reason! 

In December, 1917, at the height of World War I, 

that talented German gunsmith, Hugo Schmeisser, 

patented “a light machine gun chambered for 9x18 

mm”, something that we might now refer to as a 

submachine gun. Created with Schmeisser’s great 

attention to even the smallest detail the resultant 

weapon resembled to some degree a “normal” light 

machine gun. Equipped with a heavy wooden stock, 

a rifle butt and a sizeable vented barrel shroud, it was 

still big, heavy, but thirty-two rounds were fed from a 

from drum designed for the Luger pistol rather than 

the belt-feed of a regular machine gun of the time, 

hence the phrase “sub” being added; this said, the 

German descipton for this type of weapon was (and is 

still) ‘machine pistol’. Again, this was actually nothing 

new as a lightweight (relative term!) magazine-fed 

machine gun had already been created, and the true 

paternal heritage of the SMG can be traced back 

to the Pistola Mitragliatrice “Villar Perosa” M1915, 

a rather ungainly twin-barrelled model that was 

originally designed to be used by the observer of an 

aircraft but that was later issued to ground troops! 

However, by 1918, the Schmeisser-designed 

“SMG” began to be mass-produced in the factories 

of Theodor Bergmann(who incidentally designed 

the Bergmann MG15 nA machine gun that was in 

service until WWII), and soon entered service with the 

“Sturmtruppen” of the Kaiser’s Army, and it is said 

that some 30,00 had been made by the end of 1918; 

it somewhat turns the belief that this was a “rare” 

weapon on its head, although when the armies facing 

one another across the battlefields of WWI numbered 

millions, “rare” is of course another relative term! 

After WWI weapons of this type though were 

removed from German service under the terms of 

the Versailles Treaty, but what started as the MP18 

served as a prototype for the design, development, 

and tactical deployment doctrine of the “SMG” not 

only in Germany, but also in England (the Lanchester) 

and Japan (the Type 100/Shiki Kikantanju). However, 

as the treaty allowed the Weimar Republic to keep 

a small quantity of submachine guns for police use, 

a few hundred MP 18.1s were modified to accept 

Schmeisser’s original 20-round magazine design; 

having found a loophole in the conditions of the 

peace treaty, German designers began to improve the 

MP18 as a “police weapon” with some modifications, 

and in 1928 the MP28 was adopted by the German 

police! This model was widely used during the Spanish 

Civil War and really set the tone for the “modern 

SMG”, but by the beginning of WWII, the MP18/28 

was outdated and remained in service only with the 

police forces. 

Although further modified the “further improved” 

Bergmann MP34/35 inherited most of the flaws of the 

MP-28; it was bulky, heavy and quite unbalanced, and 

still made use of the side-feeding magazine that made 

it difficult to manipulate and aim. For some time the 

MP-34/35 remained in service in the SS, Luftwaffe, 

police and vehicle crews, but it would not be long 

before a new and thoroughly modern SMG appeared 

in the form of the MP38/40, and the rest, as they say, 

is history ... but that’s not the entire story! 

At the start of WWII the RAF made the decision 

that they needed a fieldable and reliable (not the 

26 


ARMOURY 


STEN MkI then, which was also under development 

at the time!) SMG of their own for airfield defence. 

Since Britain was only really just beginning to get 

itself onto a war footing, and the ignomy of Dunkirk 

had occurred not long ago, there was not time or 

resources to design and produce a new weapon… 

so the designers decided to simply copy a tried and 

true design, the MP-28! Online research tells me 

that this SMG was named after George Herbert 

Lanchester of the Stirling Armaments Company, 

but was quite different from the STEN concept; the 

STEN was esigned to be an easily mass-produced 

and economical weapon utilizing stamped sheet 

metal parts, whilst the Lanchester was more “old 

skool”, being scrupulously well made with a carefully 

machined action and breech block, and indeed one 

feature of the Lanchester that stands out from the 

“blueprint” MP-28 is its brass magazine housing 

that is an absolute thing of beauty when it comes to 

weapons design! It also featured a bayonet mount 

and shortened stocks from Lee Enfield bolt action 

rifles! 

The Lanchester used either 32 or 50 round 

detachable magazines and was chambered for 9mm 

Luger! They were produced in two models, the Mk.1 

and the Mk.1*. The Mk1* was a simplified version 

of the Mk1, with simpler sights and lacking a selector 

switch (thus it was fully automatic only). Roughly 

96,000 were produced, most of which were issued to 

the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy. A number 

were also issued to the Royal Air Force as well…. Nice 

to know they actually got some of the weapons that 

they ordered in the first place, isn’t it! 

REPLICATING A CLASSIC! 

Jeez, I do like writing about firearms history, just as I 

did recently with the Lee Enfield, especially when it’s 

a “foundation model” that set the tone for so much 

that followed! We talk a lot at the moment about 

how the lessons of history should never be forgotten, 

and the MP18 serves as an abject lesson in how a 

piece if technology changed fire and manouever 

doctrine fundamentally! Gone were the days when 

“a well-trained infantryman could fire 15 rounds a 

minute” as with the MP18 the cyclic rate was 500 

rpm! And those rounds could be laid down accurately 

to the effective range of the weapon, and the MP 

18 proved to be a first- weapon. Its concept was 

well-proven in trench fighting, and that fundamental 

concept directly influenced later designs and showed 

the superiority SMG over the regular infantry rifle in 

urban, mobile, and guerrilla warfare. 

And so to the Snow Wolf replica! Rumour has it 

that Chinese manufacturer Snow Wolf came into 

being as its own company after some changes a few 

years back at STAR airsoft; whether this is true or not, 

I can’t confirm, but what I can tell you is that they 

make some really interesting historical replicas like the 

PPSh and the M1938 sub-machine gun, along with a 

not-bad-out-of-the-box version of the “Aliens” M41A. 

I’ve tried all of these models and they function well, so 

given that they obviously like to work on older styles 

the fact that they’ve created “The Daddy of SMGs” 

comes as no surprise to me, and oh boy, have they 

done it well! 

The Snow Wolf MP18 is a beautiful and thoroughly 

faithful replica the venerable “Maschinenpistole 18/I”. 

Weighing in at a hefty 3929g with a spotless metal 

body that includes that distinctive signature vented 

barrel shroud, somewhat rudimentary “iron” sights, 

sling swivels, a steel 130BB midcap magazine, and one 

of the very nicest real wood stocks I’ve come across 

as standard in airsoft terms this is not just an AEG to 

own, but a piece of history in 6mm form to cherish! 

Everything on the outside appears to be scrupulously 


ARMOURY 


replicated, and the only things to me that feel even 

slightly fragile are the sliding fire selector and safety 

catch, but only time and use will tell on that front. 

I’ve not been inside the MP18 myself but after 

speaking to a number of tech friends who have I 

understand that the gearbox and trigger box unit 

(yes, they are separate and I’m told they operate via 

a simple metal rod linkage!) are pretty much bespoke 

as I’ve discovered with other Snow Wolf models, but 

should be V2/V3 compatible. Other than an internal 

design which has been created specifically for this 

AEG there’s nothing really more to shout about, other 

than that components are all pretty standard and 

workmanlike; I’d love to see what Jimmy would make 

of this though, as I’m sure that he could perform 

marvels with the basic inline motor and rotary hop! 

DOWNRANGE 

Given that internally everything is pretty “AEG 

standard”, and that’s not a bad thing to be honest 

as there’s less to go wrong, once everything is set up 

correctly the MP18 is actually a lot of fun to shoot; the 

130bb magazine feeds very nicely, and once you’ve 

got the rotary hop set I was sending BBs out to the 

end of the 30m range with a nice, flat trajectory, 

which I hadn’t expected from a short 215mm inner 

barrel! The accuracy overall is very good indeed, with 

nice tight groupings achieved out to 25m prone on 

the open sights, as new. I chrono’d the MP18 using 

.20g RZR BBs and came out with an average velocity 

of 0.84Joule/301fps which is perfectly respectable and 

pretty much site friendly from the get go. The MP18 

is absolutely perfect as a CQB tool given its length of 

825mm and the fact that unlike some SMGs it does 

have safe and semi settings as well as full auto; I can 

totally see why it would have been so devastating in 

trench-fights compared to a long, bolt-action rifle! 

So, is the MP18 an ideal skirmish-ready replica? I’d 

have to say that with that overall weight of 3920g 

it’s a bit of a beastie to lug around all day, especially 

if you’re of smaller stature, and there’s also that 

long, side-feeding magazine to factor in if you’re 

in any kind of enclosed space. But I’ll backtrack to 

it having serviceable internals as standard, good, 

easy-to-change-out battery storage (it’ll swallow a 

medium capacity 7.4v LiPo!) in the butt, solid range 

and accuracy, and superlative externals that will 

undoubtedly turn heads, so overall it’s a winner as far 

as I’m concerned, and as it has both semi and a safety 

setting this would make a great CQB AEG with some 

real character and panache! For those who are actively 

involved in “WWI/II” type gaming then the MP18 is a 

must have. 

I believe that Snow Wolf have again made a really 

bold statement to the marketplace and to players 

with their MP18, that they do things differently, and 

long may they continue to create the “unusual and 

esoteric”! Although we may not know much about 

them as a company I don’t actually care, as each 

and every one of their creations that I’ve tried to 

date has both enthralled and entertained me, and 

in this case caused me to further my own firearms 

knowledge. I love the MP18 for what it is, and what 

it has meant in the history of military firearms and 

tactics development, and therefore although I have no 

immediate NEED for one, the WANT for one of these 

gorgeous looking AEGs is actually very strong indeed! 

Many thanks to Tim at www.iwholesales.co.uk for 

finally finding me an MP18, and please do pay a visit 

to their website to check out all the other goodies 

that they offer from Snow Wolf and a veritable 

cornucopia of brands! AA 

28 


ARMOURY 



TOKYO MARUI 

L119A2 CUSTOM BUILD 

NEXT GEN RECOIL SHOCK CONTACT US FOR DETAILS 

THE L119A2 IS JUST ONE POPULAR 

EXAMPLE OF OUR CURRENT RECOIL 

MODELS, BASED ON TOKYO MARUI’S 

FANTASTIC SYSTEM - FITTED WITH 

THE ANGRY GUN RAIL SYSTEM AND 

REAL STEEL MAGPUL FURNITURE

KIT & GEAR 

OUTRIDER TACTICAL 

RANGE 

READY 

“YOUR EQUIPMENT IS OUR PASSION!” THAT’S WHAT THE TEAM BEHIND THE NEW CLOTHING BRAND, 

OUTRIDER TACTICAL, TELL US AND AFTER TAKING A LOOK AT SOME OF THEIR CLOTHING, BILL THINKS THAT 

THIS IS A CLAIM WELL-FOUNDED, SO LET’S GET THIS (RANGE) PARTY STARTED! 

Tacticool is a thing, right? For me it certainly is 

as the kind of clothing that you might describe 

as “tacticool” is the clothing that I wear pretty 

much every day, but as an old git I’m not buying into 

the “cool” factor as I left that way behind me many 

moons ago… although I am old enough that clothes I 

own are coming back into fashion… AGAIN!!! 

“Tactical” clothing has taken on a bit of a life of its 

own in recent years as more and more of us buy from 

the brands that create an aspirational feel to the way 

we’d like to think we live our lives, but in reality very 

rarely do. How many of us spend all of our time on a 

range, in a gear locker or armoury, or every day on an 

airsoft site? In reality, very few, but we still like the kit 

and caboodle that gives the impression that we do, 

and what’s wrong with that? 

In truth, some of us DO live our lives that way, 

and I’m on my own range in the woods a couple 

of days a week, every week test shooting and zeroing. 

If I’m not on the woods range testing AEGs and 

GBBs I may well be in another set of woods or on a 

site somewhere doing or directing photoshoots, and 

indeed a couple of mornings each week I’m on my 

“short range” at home working on my own “skills 

n’ drills”. And then of course there’s time in the 

workshop, and time in the “gear locker”, so in reality 

quite a large part of my time is centred around “guns 

n’ gear” each week, and that’s before I head to a 

live-fire range or lawd-forbid I actually get out to an 

airsoft game! Then there’s range days at shows… 

Bottom line is that the “tactical lifestyle look” 

for many of us involved in the airsoft industry is 

more than just a “look”, it’s the most sensible way 

to dress… in clothing that was purpose-designed 

for what we do. Now to me that doesn’t mean 

wandering around in full “battle rattle” as walking 

the dog in a plate carrier is best left to the extreme 

sports crowd who for some reason have adopted this 

as a “cool training tool”; I kind of get it as you can 

carry a lot of weight in a well-dispersed and balanced 

way for endurance training, but I still find it a bit odd 

when I see someone out with their pooch wearing a 

5:11 Tactec, but perhaps that’s just me! 

What it DOES mean to me is that I want clothing 

that’s been designed for dynamic movement and 

shooting sports without me looking like a Team Six 

wannabe or the tweed-encrusted lord of the manor. 

How many times have you seen the guy at the airport 

or the train station carrying his MOLLE pack, with a 

patched-up (and not in a “I’ve worn this darn thing 

to death” way) softshell jacket, coyote tan boots, 

and an “insert name of favourite firearms accessory 

manufacturer here” ballcap and thought “oh my, now 

THAT’S lo-profile”… 

I’m not trying to be snippy, but there is such a 

thing as a time and a place, and when I buy my own 

“I WANT CLOTHING (AND BY EXTENSION FOOTWEAR) THAT’S GOING TO BE WELL MADE FROM 

DECENT FABRICS, THAT HAS BEEN DESIGNED FOR THE USE TO WHICH I INTEND TO SUBJECT 

IT, PERFORMS WELL AND IS COMFORTABLE IN ALL WAYS, AND DOESN’T IMMEDIATELY 

SCREAM “LOOKY, LOOKY! SHOOTER WANNABE HERE!”” 

32 


KIT & GEAR 


“tacticool” gear you can bet that a) it’s going to 

spend most of its life on a range or in a shootingrelated 

setting, and b) it’s going to get the living 

bejaysus kicked out of it in short time! Basically I want 

clothing (and by extension footwear) that’s going 

to be well made from decent fabrics, that has been 

designed for the use to which I intend to subject it, 

performs well and is comfortable in all ways, and 

doesn’t immediately scream “Looky, looky! Shooter 

wannabe here!” 

And in a nutshell, that’s why I’ve embraced Outrider 

Tactical, a new clothing brand from Austria. 

MADE TO EXCEL 

Okay, I’ll be the first to admit that when it comes to 

their clothing you could look at Outrider Tactical and 

say “Mmm, just another clothing brand riding on 

the shooter’s back…” but that’s pretty much true of 

all tactical clothing brands. What sets Outrider apart 

for me is that I know the guys behind the brand, 

know that they’ve been involved at the sharp-end of 

functional tactical clothing, and know that they work 

with the right people who have “been there and done 

that” to ensure that their designs, and how those 

designs are put together, are 100% fit for purpose. 

They tell me that... 

“Our design team develops the products and sews 

the prototypes in-house in our development site in 

Austria from the first idea to the final prototype. 

It consults experienced partners from the areas 

of special operations, military, intelligence, law 

enforcement, sport shooting, survival and outdoor for 

development and worldwide field testing.” 

Again, long story short Outrider Tactical makes 

clothing for the shooter, and they’re very serious in 

how they go about it. Knowing this, and knowing 

them, lets me have confidence in what I get from 

them. 

So what do Outrider Tactical produce? Actually 

it’s a pretty darn tight line of designs that goes from 

more comfortable EDC wear like polos and hoodies, 

right through technical T-shirts and base layers, 

technical mid-layers and fleeces, up to and including 

technical outerwear. All of it is built right and fit for 

purpose, and some of it, in my opinion, does indeed 

look “cool” although I will point you back to the age/ 

appreciation of cool statement that I made at the 

outset… 

I’ve been wearing three of their garments for a little 

while now, and yes, I will admit that there’s nothing 

particularly technical about the first garment as it’s a 

pretty standard hoodie… and I do love my hoodies 

which 

for a 

is somewhat inappropriate 

man of my age, or so I’ve 

been told, although 

frankly I don’t 

give a flying… 

thing… about 

“appropriate”! I 

just like what 

is comfortable 

and works for 

me, and the OT 

Logo Hoodie 

certainly works. 

It’s a simple 70% 

cotton/30% 

poly hooded 

sweatshirt 

with a big old 

kangaroo front pocket that you can wear happily on 

the range, in game, or for a not-so-quiet post-game 

trip to KFC (sorry, that’s probably just me, and us 

again…)! It may be simple, but it’s impeccably put 

together, and the slight brushed finish to the inner 

fabric surface makes it feel super-snuggly (a technical 

term for sure!). The Outrider logo is there, but it’s 

pretty subdued so this is a hoodie I’d feel comfortable 

wearing virtually anywhere; it’s comfortable, warm, 

and simple… which again is a bit like me these days 

so we’re a match made in heaven! 


KIT & GEAR 


GETTING TECHY WITH IT 

Next up I am going to get a bit more technical; one 

garment that I do wear every single day is a longsleeve 

zipneck base layer, and the Outrider T.O.R.D. 

Long Sleeve Zip Shirt in Ranger Green is perfect (it’s 

also available in plain back, but I do love my Ranger 

Green!). This long-sleeved shirt is designed for 

daily use on the range, but is also ideally suited for 

outdoor activities and sports. A slim fit was chosen 

by the Outrider design team to prevent pressure 

points, to achieve an optimal warming effect and to 

ensure a rapid transport of moisture. 

The fabric is extremely comfortable to wear, 

breathable and dries quickly. The shirt is great as a 

base in colder weather, but also takes into account 

that the wearer is moving a lot and deals with 

heat dispersion effectively. The collar has been 

ergonomically designed to the shape of the neck, 

and the end of the zipper is enclosed in a soft flap 

of fabric to prevent chafing on the neck; the use 

of overlocked stitching achieves a multidirectional 

stretch between the material and the seam, 

without creating excess bulk which can cause 

discomfort. The length is just right to allow the shirt 

to be worn tucked in, so that access to any pockets 

or the belt is always straightforward, but it can of 

course also be worn loosely over the pants too. An 

innovative pulse warmer in the wrist area provides a 

comfortable and versatile sleeve-end and is optimally 

tailored for combining with liner gloves. The raglan 

sleeve allows for a seamless and wrinkle-free fit in 

the shoulder area, and even the logo has been very 

discreetly placed on the left chest and is colour – 

matched to be just visible but not overtly obvious. 

In terms of outerwear Outrider Tactical offer some 

pretty clever solutions! The T.O.R.D. Flex Windblock 

Hoody LW (yes, in Ranger Green!) is an extremely 

breathable and uncompromising “mid-season” 

jacket with a light build and low stowage volume 

for a wide range of tactical and range applications 

as well as everyday use. The full-time hood is big 

enough to go over a FAST helmet, but is volume 

adjustable if you’re just wearing a beanie or ballcap. 

The seam-free shoulder area offers pack/range bag 

carriage without pressure points and prevents excess 

wear on this crucial point, whilst an internal baffle 

prevents cold air getting inside through the zipper, 

and the cord-adjustable waist rounds off a closefitting 

and functional design. The Flex is highly windresistant, 

extremely breathable, and uses a durable 

water repellent fabric throughout, a 92% Poly, 8% 

Spandex mix that works extremely well and offers 

a great two-way stretch, and a minimal four-way 

stretch for 

added wear comfort. 

With an 

innovative low profile yet 

spacious 

pocket arrangement the 

Flex is 

extremely comfortable 

to wear 

and the modern styling 

allows a 

full range of unrestricted 

movement. The Flex 

benefits from two 

mid-position, 

mesh-lined 

hand-warmer 

pockets, a 

pocket on 

both upper 

arms, and 

velcro patches 

for team/ 

unit patches; 

there’s also an 

inner pocket 

which allows 

routing for 

comms cables 

if you should 

need them! 

The Flex is 

easy 

to pack and takes up 

minimal space in a pack, so it’s absolutely ideal 

if you want to stow it away “just in case”. Overall it’s 

a superbly designed jacket made of high end fabrics 

and components, and the finish of it just oozes 

quality and attention to detail. If you’re in the market 

for a new performance wind and weather-resistant 

jacket in the very latest “tacticool” colours then I 

would thoroughly recommend you take a very close 

look at the Flex, because I already love it! 

So, that’s Outrider Tactical for now, although 

when possible I’m going to check out their Flex 

trousers and shorts as well. Thus far I’m really 

happy with their clothing, and although it’s not 

the cheapest out there you most certainly do get 

what you pay for… and that’s comfortable, highperformance 

“tacticool” gear that you can wear 

wherever you may be! 

For more information on the entire Outrider 

Tactical range of clothing and accessories simply pay 

a visit to www.outrider-tactical.com AA 

34 



OUTDOOR 

TACTICAL OUTDOOR DEVELOPMENT 

THE COMPLETE 

WEEKEND 

WARRIOR! 

IF YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TO A GAME THAT LASTS FOR 24 HOURS OR LONGER, WE HOPE THAT WHAT HAS 

BEEN COVERED SO FAR IN OUR TACTICAL OUTDOOR DEVELOPMENT COLUMN HAS HELPED TO POINT YOU 

IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION! THIS TIME BILL CONCLUDES HIS “PACKING LIST” WITH AN OVERVIEW OF THAT 

ALL-IMPORTANT GEAR THAT WILL SEE YOU THROUGH! 

Over the last few months Jon and I have 

looked in detail at how you can really thrive 

rather than just survive in a longer duration 

game setting, and to bring this initial sequence to a 

close I’m going to bring everything together in one 

place. What Jon and I have outlined will see you 

right for games Spring to Autumn, and next month 

I’ll take a look at how we can adjust our gear for full 

winter use. I’ve said many times before most of us 

continue to skirmish during the winter, but it’s the 

thought of those longer, warmer days and lighter 

evenings that really get me thinking about which 

games I’m going to sign up for, and now things have 

eased in relation to Covid I’m looking forward to 

seeing some righteous “weekend warrior” action 

soon, and indeed some of the team are already on 

this train! 

I’ve played weekend games that have 

encompassed military training areas in the UK, vast 

tracts of forest woodland, French mountains, and 

even former monastery buildings on Crete, and a 

good “weekender” to me is the best possible form 

for an airsoft game as not only will it usually give 

two full days, possibly with a night game thrown in, 

of airsoft, but it will also give me an opportunity to 

catch up with fellow players from different parts of 

the world! There will always be a bit of a “social” 

element to a weekend game with good friends 

slinging “plastic death” at one another all day long 

and then coming together for a barbeque and an “ 

adult lemonade” when play ceases. 

Tactics from the day will be analysed, new kit will 

be discussed and rated, and new RIFs will be drooled 

over; it’s always great fun, especially if it’s warm 

“THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A BIT OF A “SOCIAL” ELEMENT TO A WEEKEND GAME WITH GOOD 

FRIENDS SLINGING “PLASTIC DEATH” AT ONE ANOTHER ALL DAY LONG AND THEN COMING 

TOGETHER FOR A BARBEQUE AND AN “ ADULT LEMONADE” WHEN PLAY CEASES.” 

36 


OUTDOOR 


and fair, and the evening is mild. But in the UK of 

course we must always be prepared for that “liquid 

sunshine” moment, and the preparation of our gear, 

what we carry, and how we carry it must always be a 

primary consideration. 

WHAT YOU REALLY, REALLY WANT! 

I always pack the same set of gear whether it’s an 

informal weekender, or a more structured MilSim 

event; the real things to consider for any weekender 

are actually quite straightforward and can be 

broken down into eight key elements; Load Bearing, 

Hydration, Food , Cooking, Lighting, Sleeping, 

Hygiene, and Comfort (I’m assuming here that most 

of us carry some type of First Aid Kit as part of our 

usual gear), and this time I’ll address the first three. 

First up is Load Bearing, and what I mean by this is 

simply how you’re going to carry your gear, and my 

last two article have addressed this in some detail. 

At many weekenders you’ll be able to camp directly 

next, or at very least close to the vehicle you arrived 

in so having your kit packed and organised in a large 

haul bag, something like the Snugpak Subdivide 

Roller which gives you separate compartments to 

keep everything stored and ready to hand when you 

need it. 

However, there are some games where you can 

crash out in buildings onsite overnight and this will 

often mean that you need to carry everything on 

your back; indeed part of the scenario itself may 

involve you actually making a march in to a FOB site 

which will become your “home” for the duration so 

not only do you need to haul your gear in, but you 

need to keep it squared away too. Therefore your 

very first consideration must be some form of Ruc or 

backpack. 

As I’ve said before, I usually try to look for packs 

that sit in the 40/50L volume range as that’s big 

enough (if you pack properly!) to hold everything 

you need without becoming overly cumbersome. 

Look for a pack that offers not only a good harness 

system with a sternum strap, but also a good, solid 

belt harness too; anyone who has spent any time 

hauling a ruc will tell you that you actually want 

most of the weight distributed onto your hips rather 

than hanging from your shoulders which becomes 

very tiring, very quickly. 

Hydration is the key to keeping going and keeping 

alert, especially when things get warmer, but equally 

important at all times. I’ve been to games in the very 

height of summer where even in good old Blighty 

the temperature has been WAY up there, and at one 

particular weekender in Florida I recall going through 

some twelve litres of water during the course of the 

day! Now there’s no way you’ll be carrying all of that 

on your back and you can usually rely on re-sup, but 

I tend to have a two litre bladder mounted on my 

plate carrier, and another inside the ruc. I also carry 

a wide-mouth Nalgene bottle which I keep filled 

when I’ve dropped my ruc off; this is a great bit of 

kit which allows you to get liquids into yourself far 

faster than a bite valve. 

Food is also an essential; many players I know 

heading for a weekender will always stock up on 

good, old fashioned ration (RAT for a reason!) packs 

or MREs (Meals 

Rejected by 

Ethiopians!) 

and there’s 

absolutely 

nothing wrong 

with this at all 

as the packs 

are designed 

specifically to 

provide all the 

necessary calories 

and nourishment to 

keep you going in 

the field. Camping 

and outdoor stores 

are also a great 

place to find food 

that’s prepared 

with hauling it 


OUTDOOR 


in mind, and many of the “boil in the bag” meals 

are super tasty and can be eaten straight from their 

foil packets. I like to carry a “nosebag” too, basically 

a Ziploc bag into which I crumble digestive biscuits, 

nuts and dried fruit (a former SBS guy actually gave 

me the “recipe”!) which is a good way to give 

yourself a quick boost without the highs and lows of 

sweets or chocolate bars! 

When the BB-slinging has stopped then you need 

to be looking at the other elements and one of the 

best phrases I ever heard to describe this was from 

an American friend who referred to it as “Snivel 

Gear” and the first consideration here is hot food 

and drink so you’re going to need something to 

cook on. I’ve tried various ways of cooking in the 

field over the years, but I am settled on a gas system. 

My absolute favourite cooker is the “Pocket Rocket” 

from Mountain safety Research (MSR); this is an 

ultralight isobutene-propane backpacking stove that 

weighs just 73g (2.6 ounces) with a flame that easily 

adjusts from a simmer to a rolling boil; in fact, if 

pushed, it boils a litre of water in just 3.5 

minutes! It’s easy-to-use design needs 

no 

priming, preheating 

or pressurizing, and 

serrated pot supports 

accommodate a range of 

cooking pot sizes (it’s ideal 

for the classic Mess Tin!) and 

fold exceptionally small into an 

ultralight hard shell protective 

carry case which is easily 

stowed in a pouch. 

Powered by differentsized 

canisters (small 

for in your gear and 

larger for when you’re 

operation out of a FOB) 

that are widely available 

all over the world it’s 

the ideal solution for a 

“fast and light” gear setup. 

Combined with a simple Mess Tin, if push comes 

to shove you can always drop your “boil in the bag” 

packet straight into the water and have sufficient 

liquid at the end of it for a hot drink as well. If 

money is tight though there is still absolutely nothing 

wrong though with a hexamine cooker and that 

good old mess tin! I do tend to chuck in a plastic 

mug, bowl and plate, along with a “spork” as it’s 

nice to eat properly when you get the opportunity, 

and the knife from my Gerber multitool serves yet 

another purpose here as well. 

As darkness falls you’re going to need some light, 

not only to go about your admin and planning with, 

but also to find your way around as many sites 

are not lit. I always carry a micro head torch in my 

Admin Panel but I beef that up by including a Petzl 

Tac Tikka in the top compartment of my ruc (as well 

as a Princeton Tec Switch-MPLS Task Light on my 

helmet!), as that way I’ve got redundancy should one 

or the other fail; don’t forget to pack a few spare 

batteries either!. I also tuck away a Storm Candle 

which comes in a lidded tin; not only can this provide 

light but you’d be surprised how much welcome 

heat one of these will give off in a basha too. 

Remember to also pack some waterproof matches or 

a Storm Lighter (shows are always a good source for 

these as many companies have these on their show 

stands as little “giveaways). 

The next element to me is a really important 

one, and that’s how you go about sorting out 

your sleeping arrangements and my setup works 

equally well in a tent, basha, or chilly building. 

One investment I made many moons ago was a 

Special Forces Sleeping Bag System from Snugpak. 

The complete system gives you the Special 

Forces 1 Bag for use in above 

freezing temperatures and 

the Special Forces 2 

Bag for use in 

temperatures 

right down to 

-10°C. Then, 

when you’re in 

extreme conditions, 

you place the Special 

Forces 2 Bag inside the 

Special Forces 1 Bag 

and join them together 

with the extra zip baffle, 

so you’re protected in 

conditions right down to 

-20°C. Ingenious! 

To protect myself from 

the cold ground, and 

to prevent losing heat 

by conduction, I place 

underneath the sleeping 

bag a Thermarest selfinflating 

mattress; mine is ¾ 

length and weighs in at just 

230g, but the streamlined 

shape makes it highly 

38 


OUTDOOR 


packable while continuing to provide the comfort 

you need. Over the top of both of these I place a 

Snugpak Special Forces Bivvi Bag which provides 

an extra barrier to moisture whilst helping to retain 

warmth. 

PERSONAL ADMIN 

The last two elements I consider for my packing list 

are Hygiene and Comfort, and I’ll take the latter 

first. If you’ve had a long, chilly day playing in the 

rain and have the chance to get dry then having 

clean dry socks, thermal underwear, a good fleece 

hat, neck gaiter, and lightweight gloves to pop on 

can be complete luxury! I also carry a spare combat 

shirt (VIPER Mesh Tech) and trousers (VIPER Elite) to 

change into. Added to that if I know it’s going to be 

proper chilly I’ll chuck in a Snugpak MML6 smock 

which gives huge amounts of warmth, packs down 

small, and weighs in at just 720g in size Medium, 

and an extra set of Snugpak 2nd Skinz base layers. 

Again, dependant of the time of year I’ll also carry a 

waterproof hardshell (mine is a Wild Things Tactical 

model), and there’s always a Helikon-Tex Windrunner 

Windshirt tucked into my 

hydration 

pouch on the plate carrier. 

Hygiene is one that 

raises eyebrows for 

many, but to me it 

really separates “the 

adults from the 

stripling youths”. 

Yes, I know that 

most weekenders 

are just for a 

couple of days and 

that you can rough 

it out knowing there’s a 

hot shower waiting when 

you get home, but I always try 

and look 

at it from the perspective that if you set yourself 

good discipline from the outset then that will aid 

you for longer periods. When you get into a MilSim 

for instance that lasts days (such as the “WarZone” 

72 hour event I attended in the mountains of Crete) 

rather than hours keeping yourself clean is a very 

good habit to get into, not just for yourself but for 

those around you! I carry a small wash kit (an old 

Web Tex roll) that contains the essentials, along with 

a small microfibre towel. With the wash kit I stow in 

a tiny sewing kit as you never know when something 

is going to get ripped or torn. 

Once you’ve got all your elements gathered 

together then it’s time to test-pack everything. Think 

here about what you’re going to need immediately, 

like “hard routine” food, and what will get used 

later, like your sleeping system or your cooker. To 

reiterate, necessary items stay closer to the top of 

your pack and in external pouches and pockets, 

while spare clothing and that “snivel gear” can 

be packed lower. I break all my kit down into 

“groups” and then all items used together will go 

into individual dry bags which I mark with different 

coloured cableties for ease of recognition. 

With everything packed up, get your pack on and 

go for a walk as you’ll soon find out if you’ve got 

everything balanced correctly and comfortably. Last 

but not least there are four essentials you should 

never head off to a weekender without; paracord 

which serves a multitude of purposes, gaffa tape 

ditto, a couple of bungees and… some toilet paper 

in yet another Ziploc bag! However you roll when it 

comes to approaching a weekend game, get your kit 

sorted and believe me, it will be even more fun than 

you thought possible! 

Virtually all the kit featured in this article is 

available from “one stop shop” www.military1st. 

co.uk or from www.snugpak.com so go and pay 

them a visit! AA 

“HYGIENE IS ONE THAT RAISES EYEBROWS FOR MANY, BUT TO ME IT REALLY SEPARATES 

“THE ADULTS FROM THE STRIPLING YOUTHS”. YES, I KNOW THAT MOST WEEKENDERS ARE 

JUST FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS AND THAT YOU CAN ROUGH IT OUT KNOWING THERE’S A HOT 

SHOWER WAITING WHEN YOU GET HOME, BUT…” 


IWA 2022 

GEAR REPORT 

GOOD GEAR 

TO GO AT 


LAST MONTH THE CREW LOOKED AT ALL THE AIRSOFT GOODNESS THAT THEY SAW AT IWA 2022, AND 

THIS TIME OUR IN-HOUSE “GEARFREEK” BILL TURNS HIS ATTENTION TO THE CLOTHING, FOOTWEAR AND 

EQUIPMENT SIDE OF THE SHOW, LOOKING AT INNOVATIONS THAT HE FOUND PARTICULARLY NOTEWORTHY! 

IWA is most definitely my very favourite show of 

the year when it comes to airsoft and new gear; 

all too often airsoft is an “also ran” alongside the 

mass of the shooting sports industry as a whole, 

and all too often we airsofters are relegated to our 

own little area, thankfully an area that grows years 

on year in normal circumstances! But when it comes 

to the “tacticool” side of things we are made very 

welcome by most companies, and this also continues 

to grow for numerous reasons that will become 

apparent throughout my report, but largely down 

to the fact that they view the airsoft community as 

knowledgeable and professional these days. 

Each and every year IWA gets bigger and better, 

of that there is no doubt even if 2022 was a little 

more muted than usual, and both airsoft and tactical 

have grown with it. It’s a huge show; the Nuremberg 

MESSE covers 12 floors in total, some of them as 

big as a football stadium, and the show now covers 

many of them, even in a “slow year”. To put that 

in perspective, when I first attended IWA only six of 

the halls were in use, but the show just keeps on 

growing! 

I know that many of you have a good laugh at us 

when the topic of any show comes up, but let me 

assure you… it’s actually bloody hard work! Yes, we 

do get first look at all the new “shiny things”, but the 

schedule is brutal! 0300 get-ups to catch planes and 

trains for some, and many hundreds of miles under 

the car tyres for others to and from the show are the 

norm. Seventeen-plus hour days are standard from 

start to finish, as just as much work gets done after 

the show as in it. 

One of the guys this year actually tracked their 

footfall in the show and it came in at over nine miles 

a day, and that’s just inside the show itself! When 

you see a picture of your favourite journo, blogger 

or vlogger cracking a cold brewski and tucking into a 

MealSim meatfest at the end of the day, believe me, 

they have bloody earned that, and so has everyone 

that’s been on stands all day long! Sadly this year 

due to the continued Covid Restrictions in Germany 

the social side was severely restricted, and actually 

meant that Smooth Jase and I had to endure cooking 

in our apartment and watching a Batman movie in 

German… we did however manage to find what must 

rank as one of the biggest steaks (with a little bit of 

sad salad on the side!) I’ve ever seen though, so it 

wasn’t all bad! 

Suffice to say that we pack in as much as possible 

to the days we are at the show, because this is our 

chance to be face to face (or mask to mask this year!) 

with all the manufacturers and distributors of tactical 

goodness in person, and the opportunity must be 

“SADLY THIS YEAR, DUE TO THE CONTINUED COVID RESTRICTIONS IN GERMANY THE SOCIAL 

SIDE WAS SEVERELY RESTRICTED, AND ACTUALLY MEANT THAT SMOOTH JASE AND I HAD TO 

ENDURE COOKING IN OUR APARTMENT AND WATCHING A BATMAN MOVIE IN GERMAN…” 

40 



GEAR REPORT 

embraced in full so we can continue to bring you the 

stories you want to read all year round. 

RECOGNISING THE GOOD GEAR 

I’m lucky that after working for so many years in 

the outdoor performance market with some of the 

big names in climbing, mountaineering, and general 

outdoor pursuits I have a bit of a “head start” when 

it comes to looking at the ideas and technologies 

that are continuing to finally filter through to the 

tactical gear market, and 2022 saw this continuation 

accelarate! 

Over the past few years I’ve witnessed some really 

HUGE steps forward by the tactical clothing, footwear 

and gear companies, and some of them have really 

embraced the latest and greatest developments in 

performance fabrics, technologies and materials. Not 

only are some of them really using the best materials 

that are available, but they’re also thinking “way 

outside the box” in terms of design for functionality. 

Whilst for many a “10 £/$/ €” of surplus combat 

trousers will suffice for a skirmish day every couple 

of months (and there’s nothing wrong with that at 

all!) more and more of us are searching for that ideal 

pair of trousers, that super comfortable pack, or 

that properly waterproof pair of lightweight boots. 

Many will call this “elitist” in some way, but when it 

comes down to being well-protected and above all 

comfortable I’m certainly prepared to dump a couple 

of quid to get a solid set of kit! 

My personal mantra is “any fool can be 

uncomfortable”, and whilst I understand that pennies 

are always tight when you’re an airsofter, scrimping 

on the very kit that can help keep you in the game is 

false economy in my eyes. The “outdoor community” 

went through this process years ago, and frankly I 

see fellow dog walkers with better kit than many 

airsofters; once upon a time I used to joke about “dog 

walkers” but now I’m one myself I know that I will 

be out in all weathers, and it can be horrible or a joy 

depending on your kit choice... playing airsoft is no 

different. 

Most of the companies I visit at IWA are staffed 

by folk that I have the deepest respect for, so I do 

tend to concentrate on them. That’s not to say that I 

don’t keep an eye out for things that are completely 

new (some smaller companies may make just a single 

piece of outstanding kit after all!), but if report on 

something that you’ll never be able to buy then that 

sadly is a waste of valuable page space, isn’t it? 

DESIGN TWEAKS AND TECH 

I do however expect to see innovation from those 

companies I believe to be good, not just once, but 

as part of a continuous process, and IWA 2022 

certainly didn’t disappoint, even though virtually every 

manufacturer told us that they were extremely low on 

stock having sent some meaningful “care packages” 

out to Ukraine; 2022 was not the year for “swag” for 

an exceptionally good reason as rightfully everything 

had gone to those that needed it most, and it was 

fabulous to see so many companies giving so freely to 

a just cause! 

There was still a LOT to see though; UF PRO are 

a company who really do “get it” in my opinion, 

but in the past have been humble enough to not 

shout about it. This is thankfully changing as both 

their range of products and their confidence in 

what they produce grows; their design guru, Armin, 

totally understands every stitch and every piece of 



GEAR REPORT 

technology they use to achieve their outstanding 

clothing. UF PRO keep adding new technologies 

and tweaking their designs! This year the company 

unveiled its 2022 line up of advanced-technology 

tactical garments, along with some teasers for other 

gear coming later! I particularly liked the updated 

designs, material and features for the Striker X Series 

as well the new waist flex system on their ULT Pants; 

more updates will be available on the soon-to- bereleased 

Gen3 Striker XT Uniform! 

Although there wasn’t a lot of information yet 

on the new Gen 3 Striker XT gear, the new combat 

shirt looked awesome, both in terms of fit and the 

combination of cutting-edge fabrics used. The ULT 

pants though have been designed from the ground 

up to be remarkably light in weight and to deliver 

outstanding performance. These combat pants will 

excel in both hot and temperate climates, and I 

spotted right away the enhanced fit at the waist, 

thanks to the new Waist/Flex system that includes 

Schoeller side stretch-inserts that adapt to the 

width of your hips for a perfect fit when you move. 

The guys at UF PRO told me that this new design 

“connects the pants to your waist and comfortably 

keeps them there as if they were a part of your 

body”, so no drooping or annoying folds even 

when fully loaded with gear. Along with maximising 

comfort through both fabrics used and mechanical 

venting options, these new pants should help 

minimise the potential for skin chafing or blistering if 

you have to stay in your gear for extended periods. 

Staying firmly in Eastern Europe Helikon-Tex are 

always on my “must see” list at IWA, and in the last 

couple of years they have really been making some 

headway, not only in an ongoing “re-branding” 

in terms of their product categories, but in the 

uniqueness of their designs; they’ve also shown a 

massive step up in their quality control which in my 

mind is placing them high in the “tactical rankings”. 

Their continued focus on sharing knowledge and 

“how to” articles and videos also impresses me, and 

we’ll be sharing more of this later in the year. 

This IWA saw them adding a host of new products 

for the general outdoor and shooting communities, 

focusing a number of their products in more 

“civilian” colours and designs, and adding to their 

“bushcraft kit” range which will be very useful for 

any of you that love a weekender; they clearly aim 

to expand their customer base, and by the look of 

some of their new “tacticool” shirt and gear designs, 

both male and female fit, they are well on track. The 

tactical sector are not forgotten though, and the 

Covert Tactical Pants (CTP) look great for every-day 

use as well as airsoft! They are more discreet, yet 

functional, and all the features are smartly hidden. 

There are four inner pockets (two front and two 

sides) for magazines and side arm, along with six 

external pockets; the pockets are placed in a brand 

new pattern, to allow you to carry all your ingame 

necessities comfortably. Wide belt loops will 

support a belt even with mounted holster, and the 

combination of design with stretch fabric gives you 

huge freedom of movement. The pants are made of 

42 



GEAR REPORT 

lighter version of Helikon’s own VersaStretch fabric to 

provide even more breathability in hot days, and the 

CTP would look equally great with a tactical jacket or 

a classic hoodie for range work! Helikon also showed 

some more incredibly neat tactical gloves, as well as 

advanced tactical and outdoor backpacks, shoulder 

bags and chest packs, tactical belts and gun carriers, 

all part of their growing line of nylon gear, and we’ll 

take a detailed look at all of this in the future. 

Once again Pentagon were continuing to press 

on with their “Tactical Athlete” concept, and they 

are a brand that as an outdoorsman I’ve come to 

appreciate more and more! Whilst their designs are 

not quite as “overt” as some, they do make a superb 

finished product; their easily compressible vests and 

jackets, made with super-soft nylon fabrics and filled 

with 550 duck down were really nice! The company 

also presented more advanced tactical jackets, with 

Primaloft Eco filling encased in durable and waterrepellent 

Nylon Taslan. Also on display were more 

tactical backpacks and combat uniforms, and a whole 

spectrum of combat trousers which certainly took my 



GEAR REPORT 

eye. Speaking to them at length they have some great 

plans for 2022/23 and I’ll be updating on these as 

soon as is feasible. It must be said that Jase actually 

fell in love with the Pentagon gear not having seen it 

close up before, so no doubt he’ll be looking at this 

brand in some detail! 

No trip to a show would be complete without 

seeing old campaigners 5:11, and although I’ve 

not been “wowed” with any of their designs for a 

little while it is good to see them firing all cylinders 

again. Not only had they upgraded their clothing 

and footwear line, but they look to have tightened 

up their overall design-ethos with some pared back 

clothing items for “the range warrior”; I really liked 

the look of the new Defender Flex Range Pant, along 

with their “Trail” gear and the Mesos Tech fleece 

jacket. Their 8’ A/T boots look VERY cool, and the A/T 

Mid looks perfect for the fast movers! The AMP and 

AMPC packs really look very good indeed, and as with 

all 5:11 packs they’re available in a big range of sizes, 

so there’s something for everyone here. All the new 

gear looks very interesting indeed and I look forward 

to finding out more! 

I thankfully got the chance to spend some “quality 

time” with my old mate Chris from the Airsoft & 

MilSim News blog, and I’m pleased to say that we’ll be 

collaborating on a number of “gear projects” in the 

coming year, and I’ll welcome his expertise and unique 

take on things when we do! Sticking with “Euro” 

gear folk I always drop in to see Tasmanian Tiger, and 

as Chris works with them directly he kindly took some 

time to point out this year’s highlights to me. The 

company introduced a new line of load-hauling gear 

this year along with some new designs; showing new 

packs like the MIL OPS PACK 30 and 80+24 (which 

the MilSim crowd are sure to love) along with the lodrag 

SENTINEL, they also had some interesting tweaks 

and upgrades to some of their existing pouches and 

equipment. The new lightweight tactical mission 

backpack, the MODULAR GUNNERS PACK really got 

my attention though as it offers many options in one 

net package! Made in lightweight T-Square Rip FD to 

save weight and make life easier when on a mission, 

44 



GEAR REPORT 

the Multicam version and a version with IRR treatment 

is made of Cordura 500, and has a whole host of 

unique features; I’ll be looking at this model in more 

depth in due course! 

Chris also gave me the heads up on some superb 

new gear from industry-veterans Carinthia, that he 

in turn had been given the nod on by the guys from 

Soldier Systems… I won’t go into detail as the guys 

have already covered it on their own blogs, but you 

can check out pictures and more links to the new 

Carinthia kit by visiting https://airsoft-milsim-news. 

com! I do love how we all sometimes work together 

to search out the best new gear, it 100% adds to the 

feeling that we are all working together to dig out 

“good gear for the good guys!” 

WRAPPING IT! 

In terms of footwear there was again not a huge 

amount to report; seasoned campaigners MAGNUM 

still seem to be having a real push, and who couldn’t 

love their “show special” (sorry, even we are sworn 

to secrecy on this one!)! Salomon and Lowa are still 

forging forwards, taking their excellent “mountain 

heritage” and incorporating it into their tactical 

ranges, but for them it was mostly colour updates 

rather than new models, although I have to say the 

Salomon “low cuts” look great and the addition of 

extra-wide fitting options in some models is a positive 

move. The upgrade to the INNOX boot (one of my 

favourite LOWA boots!) along with the roll-out of 

the new Lowa colours means they are going to work 

perfectly with your “urban grey” and Multicam/MTP 

gear, so… WIN! 

As always I will make my “honourable mentions” 

before I conclude, but this year it’s really a mention 

of those that I would usually see that for one reason 

or another were absent for the 2022 show; I missed 

meeting with my old mates from Clawgear, VIPER, 

and Direct Action especially as they always have 

something cool to show me, but rest assured that I 

speak to them regularly and they’ve all promised to 

keep me updated on their developments. I also have 

to comment here, as I do for every IWA, that “Camo 

of the Year” was undoubtedly Polish MAPA this year, 

as it was everywhere; kind of lucky that 

we have Part II of our look at gear in 

that pattern right here in this very issue! 

Each year I head to IWA hoping to be 

impressed, and I have to say that 2022, 

although strange year still, proved to 

be a great show in relation to some of 

the brands we work closely with! Rest 

assured that we’ll be covering many 

of this year’s releases as they come to 

market, and you can also rest assured 

that in the hands of the AA team they’ll 

all be thoroughly “used and abused” by 

the time we report back on them! 

And to end my report there’s one 

shout out that I simply have to give… 

MealSimmers, you were missed, and I 

for one look forward to reconvening for 

MEALSIM 2023! AA 


THE CAGE 

OPTICS 

THE CAGE: 

Photo courtesy of Krios Photography: www.kriosphotography.com 

I CAN SEE 

CLEARLY NOW! 

A NICE SHINY OPTIC LOOKS JUST THE THING ATOP AN AEG OR GBBR, AND THESE DAYS EVEN ON A 

GBB PISTOL! ULTIMATELY THOUGH ARE WE JUST PUTTING THEM THERE FOR SHOW, TO MAKE OUR 

“GATS LOOK GUCCI”, OR ARE THEY THERE FOR A SOLID REASON? BILL CHECKS IN WITH THE AA 

LEGIONNAIRES TO FIND OUT MORE… 

46 


THE CAGE 

OPTICS 

Do optics add to your performance when 

you’re playing airsoft, or are they just Gucci 

accessories to make your RIF look cool and you 

feel even cooler? The real answer to this question in 

my mind is “a bit of both”… personally I do like a 

“real steel” optic as they come with an assured level 

of performance, my personal faves being EoTECH 

holosights, and as I’ve followed the “Vortex Story” 

pretty much from the beginning I do have a bit of a 

leaning towards this brand, and tend to recommend 

them to my friends in the category of “money well 

spent”. 

The THETA OPTICS QD Holosight and Magnifier set 

I got from the guys at GUNFIRE some years back is still 

one of my favourite combos and holds zero well on 

the heaviest of GBBR recoils, and I do run a number 

of clone RDS on AEGs, but they’re from brands that 

I’ve learned to trust over the years. When it comes 

to magnified optics these days I really run just one 

model, the NP OPTICS - 1.25-5X26 IR which is a great 

bit of glass for the money… this sits atop my DMRs 

and works very well in this role. 

Many moons ago I learned my initial (prone) 

shooting skills largely on iron sights, and to be honest 

in most situations and with airsoft engagement 

distances being what they really are I still tend to use 

just the sights that are built into the rifle/carbine or 

flip-ups mounted on the rail. To give an example of 

this I have a pretty poor replica PSO-1 that I bought 

to dress up my gas SVD, and I find that this actually 

reduces the effective range of the rifle… with it 

I’m lucky if I can hit a target at 70m, but using the 

rudimentary “irons” on the SVD I’ve taken a running 

target at 100…witnessed too..YAY! 

This leads to an interesting question though about 

optics in general though, one that I know most 

marshals reading this will nod sagely at. You have your 

favourite AEG, and you’ve tested it out to XXX metres 


THE CAGE 

OPTICS 

so you know it has legs. Then you fit a real-deal 

short-dot scope that you know has effective range 

WAY beyond XXX metres, and this must surely be a 

marriage made in heaven, right? Proudly you hit your 

local skirmish the next weekend, get eyes, and optics, 

on target and let rip… and the beggar doesn’t call 

their hit!!! Annoyed as hell you rightly call 

in the marshal to check your hit and 

well, how embarrassing, the marshal 

confirms that you’re dead on-line 

but your BBs are falling WAY short 

of the target… red-faced mumbling 

ensues… 

The fact of the matter is that it’s 

all well and good dressing up your 

rifle, carbine, or pistol with an optic, but 

PLEASE do practice and train with your 

setup to ensure that it really does have the 

range and accuracy that you think it does! 

Also, if you buy an optic for a few bucks online 

don’t expect that to give you the performance you 

might think it should, as often they are out of kilter 

before you even start, especially once you factor in the 

reciprocation of a thumping gas system! 

Do buy an optic, either real or a good quality 

replica, and learn to work with it; train with it, learn 

about how optics work, and work out just what range 

you can tweak from your chosen package. Do by all 

means buy that 20 buck replica but realise it ain’t 

gonna qualify you as a “Team 6 Shooter” any time 

soon, although it might look kinda cute on your Insta 

feed! 

TEAM TALK 

So, once again I got together with the AA Legion and 

asked them “What optics do you use on your AEGs 

and GBBs (both primary and secondary)? Why do 

you like these optics, and how do they enhance your 

shooting/gameplay?” 

Miguel: For me, a good red dot is a must. I don’t 

like to shoot and see where my BBs are going before 

correcting it to the target. Of course, one needs to 

calibrate the red dot according to the replica and even 

our shooting position, but I like to know that if I place 

my dot on a target the BBs will go there. Sometimes I 

also like to use an ACOG style scope (4x32), especially 

for games where we are playing recon or running 

scouting missions. It’s important to be able to see a bit 

further for mission purposes. 

Jimmy: I have tried and tested a plethora of optics 

and dots to date. They have all played a part and done 

the job in hand and I have discovered that you don’t 

need to spend a huge amount. Yes, it’s nice to be able 

to say I have the 

latest Vortex 

but for 

airsoft it 

isn’t a 

prerequisite. 

Okay, so if 

you’re using 

a recoil 

AEG or a 

heavy recoil 

GBB then yes, the 

need to spend out 

on something may help but for a 

regular AEG it really isn’t necessary 

to be honest. I started off using an 

Aimpoint M2 clone in CQB and it was fine; 

the aperture was perfect for the scenario and it 

never needed to be adjusted! It was a solid build from 

G&P but after a while I felt it looked a little dated 

compared to something like the 552 holo which I was 

starting to see more and more, so inevitably I made 

the decision to change to the 552. With its fairly bulky 

body and large field of vision it was brilliant for both 

CQB and outdoors and I built up quite a collection, 

but one thing that fast became apparent was it sat 

just a little low for me. I hated the look of it sat up on 

two risers, it just didn’t look right. They work just fine 

but I found I needed to tip my head in order to find 

the reticle so something needed to be changed. 

That’s when I discovered the T1 style red 

dot; the T1 offers so much more and is 

far more easy to use. They tend to sit 

far higher allowing 

you to bring the 

rifle up into 

the shoulder 

and find your 

line of sight 

without having 

to move your 

head. This is 

something I have 

learnt, bring the sight 

to your eye, not your 

eye to the sight. The 

T1’s generally have a 

large dial to turn 

the device on and 

select settings which 

is great if you wear gloves, and 

48 


THE CAGE 

OPTICS 

most airsofters do. I have been using Feyachi T1 now 

for some time and they are actually very good for the 

money. Great quality, easy to use, very clear view and 

due to the slimness of the body it doesn’t block what 

is in front of you as a result of its slim build makes 

for fast target acquisition. As I am now a fan of the 

T1 style red dot I decided to spend out a little extra 

and get something a little more Gucci; I purchased a 

Vector Optics Maverick 1x22 and a repro Unity mount; 

not only does it look the part it works incredibly well 

and I think I have finally found the perfect red dot 

setup 

for me. I like the Unity 

mount as it is 

made of 

solid 

aluminium 

and the finish 

is exceptional for 

a repro. I like the 

fact it has integral 

adjustable iron sights 

built in so should 

your dot got down 

you have a backup that 

doesn’t take up any rail space. 

The Vector Optics Maverick is the 

Gen 3 version which is covered in a rubber 

protective coating, comes with a screw on killflash 

and the dot is a dot and not a blurred red light. 

Pricewise it’s perfect at around UK£45 it even comes 

with a 5 year manufacturer’s defect warranty! 

Robbie: I run a T1 on my AKM (Ultimak rail scout 

style) as it allows me to run both eyes open at very 

high speed (CQB style) and matched my real firearm 

setup too. On the 700 style sniper I had, I had a 

3-9x40 front parallex adjustable air rifle scope; this let 

me “po man” estimate distances 0-100 yards pretty 

accuratly which seriously helped get on target first 

shot. I also run an RMR clone on my training Glock 

that matches my real G26; worth every single bit of 

pain top install and setup! 

Stewbacca: Optics-wise I use EOtech 552/558 

replicas for my AR/Carbines like the G36C, HK416, 

T91, ELCAN for the L85, and T1/T2 reddots for the 

MP5A5, MP5k PDW, PP2K and USWA1, and an 

ACRO for the USW Glock, Docter for my HK45 and 

RMR for my M17. They definitely increase reaction 

time and accurate shooting in my experience as I 

have worn all my hop units in well for consistency, 

use heavier ammunition and have everything zeroed 

well. I definitely think a well-adjusted optical sight of 

some form is a must have, especially for CQB. I’m only 

just getting back into the habit of using 4x or more 

scopes for the L85 and PSG-1; those do reduce your 

situational awareness somewhat with not being able 

to keep both eyes open and looking much further 

away at a narrower field of view. I definitely think 

the EOtech looks best on a G36C, but maybe that’s 

just having grown up around them in use with the 

UK Midlands police; I’m not a fan of them on MP5s, 

MP7s or the PP2K but have tried them on those, I just 

think it looks a bit over the top for such small guns. 

Boycie: Recently I have used the SIG SAUER 

Romeo 5 and, when needed, the Juliet 3 

magnifier. Most of the time I had 

cheap dots on rifles but never 

had a battery in them as the 

range was so close it hardly 

seemed worth it. The Romeo 

5 however will turn on 

when I pick up the 

rifle and when 

I put it down 

for more than 

two minutes it 

will turn itself 

off. I also have 

Vortex Sparc AR 

II and Eotech 552 

(genuine) which seems 

to “fit” on some builds but 

not on others. 

Dan: I’m a big fan of red dots 

myself. It’s the difference in speed between making 

that first round hit in an engagement or walking your 

fire over the top of the rifle like they’re tracer rounds; 

you simply cannot argue the first option is faster. For 

what I personally use, I tend to favour and use real 

optics and mounts myself as they’re simply more 

reliable. I have a variety of Aimpoint’s: T2, M2 and 

Pro’s. There’s still a lone EOTech that doesn’t see much 

use (outside of photos) as I don’t really care for the 

large reticle for airsoft use. I also have a few Holosun 

HS403R’s which are great little inexpensive T2 clones 

that are nicer quality than most, and feature a rather 

crisp and bright reticle too; I don’t feel bad about 

beating them up either. My Real Sword SVD runs a 

genuine 4x24 POSP and is the only magnified optic I 

presently use. The Glocks are running RMRs. AA 


KIT & GEAR 

MAPA GEAR - PART 2 

PART 

TWO 

IN ISSUE 135 BILL TOOK A DEEP DIVE INTO THE CREATION OF THE POLISH MAPA PATTERN, AND A FIRST LOOK 

AT SOME OF THE NEW CLOTHING AND GEAR TO BECOME AVAILABLE FOR AIRSOFT USE; THIS TIME, HAVING 

SPENT SOME “QUALITY ALONE TIME” WITH THE GEAR HE LOOKS AT THE INDIVIDUAL PIECES IN MORE DETAIL! 

Okay, yet another new camouflage pattern to 

talk about, but one that I honestly believe 

will please many players who need a full-on 

concealment package for use in more temperate 

woodland environments. I’ll preface everything by 

telling you that MAPA or the Multi-environmental 

Adaptive Pattern, from Poland was without doubt THE 

camo at this year’s IWA… it was everywhere… and 

very obvious given it was in a show hall and not in the 

woods! 

It seems that every year there is one pattern that 

really dominates IWA, and MAPA was certainly IT 

for 2022! However, having garments and gear at 

a show does not necessarily mean that the pattern 

is widely available, and all too many times I’ve seen 

a fully-gucci’d mannequin on a show stand, then 

subsequently struggled to find the “total solution” 

anywhere! 

What do I mean by a “total solution”? It’s a simple 

phrase that means that every piece of clothing 

and equipment that you need, from combat shirt 

and trousers, through load bearing equipment to 

accessories is easily found. I’m talking about first, 

second and even third line gear here, as having a pair 

of pants and a t-shirt does not a loadout make! 

Some may say I’m being super-picky here, as not 

everyone wants “the full set”, but after many years of 

creating my GreenZone loadout and improving on it 

step by step, piece by piece, I can tell you that it can 

be pretty frustrating if you’re searching, for instance, 

for a certain type of pouch in a specific pattern 

and its unavailable (ie, it doesn’t exist!)… I’ve even 

“WHAT DO I MEAN BY A “TOTAL SOLUTION”? IT’S A SIMPLE PHRASE THAT MEANS THAT 

EVERY PIECE OF CLOTHING AND EQUIPMENT THAT YOU NEED, FROM COMBAT SHIRT AND 

TROUSERS, THROUGH LOAD BEARING EQUIPMENT TO ACCESSORIES IS EASILY FOUND.” 

50 


KIT & GEAR 


resorted to having custom pieces made for me when 

I couldn’t find them commercially. 

But with MAPA I’m pleased to tell you that there 

is already a wealth of kit to go at, and over the 

past couple of months I’ve been working with the 

lovely chaps over at GUNFIRE (in Poland, natch!) 

honing everything down into that “total camo 

solution”, with everything in place now other than 

performance outerwear… this I can forgive as the 

creation of decent “weatherproofs” requires both a 

lengthy development process and VERY deep pockets 

on the part of any potential manufacturer! 

Just finding the right performance fabrics that 

will “take” the pattern correctly is hard enough, but 

then you need to look at the technologies behind 

each and every garment and have them agreed by 

multiple parties! I’m sure outerwear will come in 

time as the range of gear widens and matures, but 

as I said… lengthy and very expensive process… 

However, there’s enough MAPA gear available 

right now to cover pretty much all of our basic gear 

needs, and certainly enough to create a very solid set 

of gear, pretty much up to and including hardcore 

MilSim level! I outlined the initial clothing in my first 

look at MAPA, so let’s start there and get into some 

detail. 

FIRST LINE 

“First Line” refers to all the clothing and gear that 

is ALWAYS with you; what you wear in terms of 

clothing, and your basic belt kit “IRL” it’s the kit that 

you’d keep with you when everything else went 

to RS; fundamentally think of the classic “SAS Belt 

Kit” that would allow them to escape and evade, to 

survive, along with the clothing worn, and you’ll be 

in the right ballpark! 

Clothing thus far from MASKPOL is pretty 

straightforward and to the point, and GUNFIRE 

(along other select retailers who are offering 

parts of GUNFIRE’s comprehensive range) have 

you pretty much covered in every respect. In the 

range offered con their website you’ll find: 

• T-Shirt 

• Combat Shirt 1 (UBACS-style) 

• Combat Shirt 2 (Traditional style) 

• Combat Pants 

• Softshell Jacket 

• Boonie Hat 

• Patrol Cap 

• Ballcap (4 styles) 

• Gaiters 

As I said, this pretty much covers your basic 

clothing needs other than specific performance 

weather gear, and from the pieces that I checked 

over carefully everything is 

very well put together. 

As I said in my 

initial overview 

in Issue 135 

(where features 

for individual 

garments are 

also detailed) all 

of the “cotton” 

garments are actually 

made of a rugged 

yet lightweight 50% 

cotton / 50% polyester 

ripstop mix. The 

attention to detail in 

terms of construction 

is excellent, with lots 

of overlocking and 

box-stitching in stress 

areas. Fabric is doubled-over in 

high-wear areas too, and feature placement is first 

rate. Overall the pattern dispersion is even across the 

face of the fabric, and after a couple of hot washes 

colour-fastness appears to be good (I’d normally 

wash cool, but wanted to force it a bit to find out 

how much fading might take place!). 

On the Combat Shirt 1 the plain green main body 

fabric is 

good 

very comfortable indeed, with 

four-way stretch properties. 

It’s also a good wicking 

fabric as it should 

be as this style 

of shirt will be 

worn under a 

plate carrier, 

and thus far I’ve 

experienced very 

little “pilling” 

with wear. 

The Softshell 

Jacket is more 

of a “comfort 

cut” than a 

truly technical 

one, but again there’s been good use made of a 

comfortable and warm plain green “core” fabric 

combined with the tougher MAPA pattern mix in 

hard-wear and stress points. Overall the fabrics and 

construction are of the highest order, and although 


KIT & GEAR 


the MAPA fabric does feel “light” and more suited 

to late Spring to early Autumn use, it certainly 

feels tough enough to stand up to some “skirmish 

abuse”! 

Now of course none of us are going to have a true 

“survival belt kit” for airsoft use, but to round out 

the “First Line” GUNFIRE are offering an excellent 

two-piece “shooters belt” in three different sizes; 

I’ve become a convert to this style of belt over 

recent years and I have to say that the one chosen 

by GUNFIRE is top notch! Fitted with a COBRA FC45 

buckle and featuring laser-cut MOLLE, the outer belt 

is made of Cordura combined with a dense-weave 

polyester tape, and 

the combo feels 

absolutely bombproof! Within the MAPA range 

there’s a whole host of pouches and accessories, 

but I set mine up in my usual configuration (muscle 

memory, folks!) combining two primary magazine 

pouches, two secondary magazine pouches, a dump 

pouch, tourniquet holder, a secondary pouch holding 

my Gerber multi-tool, and utility pouch (for use as a 

FAK). The belt also carries my KYDEK Customs Glock 

Holster perfectly, and when combined with the 

inner Velcro belt there is masses of support and zero 

deformation apparent even when fully loaded. Once 

again the pattern dispersion is super, and the overall 

finish is impeccable. 

SECOND LINE 

The “Second Line” of gear is ultimately your 

“fighting kit”, and it’s the equipment that keeps you 

rolling in-game! This line encompasses your plate 

carrier, chest rig or pouch setup, and patrol pack, 

and through the guys at GUNFIRE I managed to get 

hold of an excellent plate carrier with some very cool 

features! 

The Maskpol “tactical vest” (read plate carrier) 

carries on the superb pattern dispersal of the 

clothing in the unique MAPA “B” camouflage, and is 

made of massively durable Cordura 770! Although 

the carrier has been designed for the civilian market, 

it is 100% up to “professional user” standard, and 

when Jon and I picked over it there was absoulutely 

nothing we could find even the smallest fault with; 

it’s a RIGHTEOUS piece of equipment! 

Thanks to the use of laser-cut MOLLE mounts 

on the front and back of the carrier, it’s possible to 

arrange pouches and other accesories according to 

your personal preference, and again I set mine up as 

I have done with my other “full spectrum” carriers; 

this is not a low profile “SF-style” skeletonized affair, 

but more an “infantryman’s” carrier! Adjustable side 

cummerbund “pockets” are in place for side-armour, 

but even these are also covered with MOLLE tape. 

And to add to the “full on” feel of this carrier 

you even get Rapid Open Connector Tactical Quick 

Release Buckles (ROCs!)! Due Emme’s ROCs are the 

European answer to the “others” from America, 

so you can put on and take off your gear fast and 

without any hassle. These quick-release buckles are 

used for example in ballistic plate carriers instead of 

classic side-release buckles or velcro closures. 

The ROC 80 is attached to the cummerbund 

through two 40 mm/1.5 inch webbing straps. The 

ROC 40 uses a single 40 mm/1.5 inch piece of 

webbing to integrate into the shoulder straps. The 

ROC system eliminates the time-consuming 

and tedious re- 

adjustment 

of the plate 

carrier to the 

user’s size, 

each time 

the vest is 

put on. The 

release-lever 

of the ROC 

system is 

designed 

to be used 

with 550 

Type III 

parachute 

cord, 

which the 

user can 

“THE MASKPOL “TACTICAL VEST” (READ PLATE CARRIER) CARRIES ON THE SUPERB PATTERN 

DISPERSAL OF THE CLOTHING IN THE UNIQUE MAPA “B” CAMOUFLAGE, AND IS MADE OF 

MASSIVELY DURABLE CORDURA 770! ALTHOUGH THE CARRIER HAS BEEN DESIGNED FOR THE 

CIVILIAN MARKET, IT IS 100% UP TO “PROFESSIONAL USER” STANDARD” 

52 


KIT & GEAR 


grab and pull, in order to swiftly and safely release the 

vest in case of emergency. This is cutting-edge stuff 

my friends, and this is one SOLID bit of kit! Combined 

again with pouches of your choice this can end up as 

a VERY personalised carrier, and it’s all the better for 

that! 

Although there is a simple 18L sustainment pack, 

made again in Cordura 770 DTEX, in terms of true 

patrol packs the guys behind MAPA have been super 

smart by teaming up with one of my favourite pack 

manufacturers these days, and that’s WISPORT! I 

wrote about WISPORT as a manufacturer way back 

in Issue 109 and have the highest respect for them 

as pack-makers, and by including their durable and 

lightweight SPARROW 30 GEN II pack in the range 

means you have a model that is perfect for carrying 

all you need to a full days skirmishing, and serves 

perfectly well as an overnight MilSim patrol pack too! 

“complete concealment solution” that had been 

promised, and I’ll report back again when I’ve run it all 

out. For now though, if you’d like something modern 

and functional, clothing and gear in a pattern that 

will let you fade out into the woodland, then I’d most 

strongly suggest that you check out the MAPA range 

available at www.gunfire.com! AA 

THIRD LINE 

Now “Line 3” gear is all about in-the-field 

sustainment for longer duration “ops” (see my 

“Tactical Outdoor Development” article this month), 

and although I love this level of detail when it comes 

to my own gear, having a specific MAPA set is not 

necessary as your existing gear for cooking, sleeping, 

and personal hygiene can be carried over. One thing 

that I do like though is a bigger “load lugger”, and 

even for me, a proponent of minimalist, lightweight 

gear, the SPARROW is going to be struggling to 

swallow all the kit I need unless I’m going to have 

maximum support and a hefty logistics train behind 

me! 

I have noticed that WISPORT have started sneaking 

in a few key models in MAPA already, amongst them 

the excellent RACCOON 45 that has their FAS PLUS 

ERGONOMIC suspension system, so I hope that they’ll 

continue to expand the pattern into other models 

for those of us that want a larger pack for longer 

immersive games! 

Overall I’m extremely pleased thus far to see so 

much MAPA gear already available and I’m overjoyed 

that it’s of such GREAT quality! Maskpol have 

obviously chosen their manufacturing partners with a 

great deal of “due diligence” to ensure that what is 

on offer is fit for purpose in terms of both design and 

durability. I’ve already reported back to the guys at 

GUNFIRE that I would like to see a helmet cover and 

hydration sleeve (for fitting to the back of the plate 

carrier) added to the line when possible, as for me this 

would complete the initial setup. 

I am definitely looking forward to trying the MAPA 

gear in game this Summer to see if it does offer the 


RED CELL 

SUPPORT GUNS 

RED CELL 

BRING THE 

HEAVY RAIN! 

WE OFTEN SEE THE QUESTION RAISED IN ONLINE GROUPS AS TO WHY ANYONE ACTUALLY WANTS 

AN AIRSOFT SUPPORT GUN AS THEY ARE USUALLY BIG AND VERY HEAVY COMPARED TO A CARBINE 

OR RIFLE MODEL, AND OFFER NO REAL ADDITIONAL BENEFIT OVER THEIR LIGHTER-WEIGHT 

BRETHREN WHEN IT COMES TO RANGE AND EVEN MAGAZINE CAPACITY; AN AEG FITTED WITH A 

2500/3000BB DRUM MAG OFFERS THE SAME RANGE AND FIREPOWER ON THE FIELD AS A TRUE 

SUPPORT GUN, AND IS ACTUALLY FAR MORE HANDY! SO WHY IS IT THAT MANY OF THE RED CELL 

TEAM LOVE A SUPPORT GUN AND WHICH MODELS DO THEY LOVE? 

These days it’s actually pretty easy to get 

even a basic AEG up to a ROF that’s going 

to be “suppressive”, and with numerous 

manufacturers providing not only Hi Cap magazines, 

but also boxes and drums for your “AR” or “AK”, if 

a high ROF combined with virtually unlimited ammo 

is your bag then go for it dear friend! However, if you 

do decide that you want to run full-auto and heavy 

then a good support gun might be the thing, but 

although you’ll undoubtedly have a big old box or 

drum with in excess of 2500 BBs at your immediate 

disposal don’t think for a moment that this is quite 

the panacea it might appear to be at the outset. 

Ultimately your BB-spitting monster will be at the 

same power level, with the same range, as most 

AEGs out there, and a well set up carbine could easily 

outrange you, let alone a DMR or bolty… sometimes 

more is most definitely less! 

As I’ve said many times before though, there is a 

time when you can have both the firepower AND be 

a valuable team player though, and a decent support 

gunner who knows what they’re about will be the 

friend of every other player on their team! If you’re 

prepared to put in the “gruntwork” both in terms 

of physically carrying a support gun AND properly 

learning the “gunner’s trade” then you can be an 

invaluable force multiplier both in attack and defence. 

The key word here of course is “support” and if 

you are using your “LMG” to effectively help the 

rest of your team to achieve objectives, to lay down 

accurate, effective, and controlled suppressive fire 

whilst your teammates either advance, retreat or 

flank, then you’re doing the job right and you’ll be 

an asset that everyone wants to have play alongside 

them. A good gunner needs to securely park their ego 

in the safe zone, and in play they need to get work 

done, and this is equally true in a skirmish setting as it 

is during a MilSim. 

I have to say from a personal perspective that in the 

realm of the support gun, the AEG is most definitely, 

“...HELP THE REST OF YOUR TEAM TO ACHIEVE OBJECTIVES, TO LAY DOWN ACCURATE, 

EFFECTIVE, AND CONTROLLED SUPPRESSIVE FIRE WHILST YOUR TEAMMATES EITHER 

ADVANCE, RETREAT OR FLANK, THEN YOU’RE DOING THE JOB RIGHT AND YOU’LL BE AN 

ASSET THAT EVERYONE WANTS TO HAVE PLAY ALONGSIDE THEM. ” 

54 


RED CELL 

SUPPORT GUNS 

100% still king when it comes to laying down 

massive amounts of suppressive fire in any airsoft 

setting, even up to and including the very highest 

levels of MilSim. More and more I see even basic 

skirmish sites putting up restrictions for the use of 

standard AEGs that are used as “support guns” 

by simply adding a “C-Clip” or drum mag; bluntly 

put the average Hi-Cap mag carries 450+ BBs and 

if that ain’t enough then in my world something 

has gone a bit awry! If you’re going to be a true 

support gunner then shoulder that pig and do it 

right! 

There’s definitely just something about “rolling 

out the big guns” at the right game that sets my 

excitement level to maximum, especially when a 

proper support gun is set up in ambush, to protect 

an overnight position or a compound, or on a 

vehicle; they just look and feel right, and if you’re 

going for full BattleSim or MilSim “immersion” 

then there’s nothing better than being behind the 

big boy when your OPFOR comes a-calling, and 

nothing more satisfying for them than taking out or 

capturing the support gun that’s been giving them 

grief! 

“ IF YOU’RE GOING FOR FULL BATTLESIM OR MILSIM “IMMERSION” THEN THERE’S 

NOTHING BETTER THAN BEING BEHIND THE BIG BOY WHEN YOUR OPFOR COMES 

A-CALLING, AND NOTHING MORE SATISFYING FOR THEM THAN TAKING OUT OR 

CAPTURING THE SUPPORT GUN THAT’S BEEN GIVING THEM GRIEF!” 


RED CELL 

SUPPORT GUNS 

LAYING DOWN THE FIRE! 

With all that in mind, let’s get right on down to it and 

look more closely at the models that the members 

of Red Cell favour, some of which have been doing 

sterling service for many years, and have had many 

thousands of BBs down their barrels! This is what 

The Cell is all about; when we put Red Cell together 

we knew that we had a lot of long-term knowledge 

among the members, but it’s times like this that we 

realise just how much, and how deep that knowledge 

is, and just how committed the guys are to creating 

something pretty darn special! 

Bill: I do love an M249, but to date I’ve hated 

lugging around a heavy support gun for skirmishes 

as I don’t really feel it brings any amazing benefit 

to my game other than to look “tacticool”; as I said 

in my intro there’s no real plus points for the added 

“embuggerance” given that a regular AEG with a 

box mag can fulfil the same role at a fraction of the 

weight and bulk, and I guess that’s why I was really 

taken with the KRYTAC TRIDENT LMG. 

Since their first introduction to the UK airsoft 

market at IWA 2014, KRYTAC have really made some 

inroads with players, and every time they seem to 

come into stock they sell out quickly, especially the 

elusive LMG model! Weighing in at just 3530g and 

with an overall length of 750/835 mm, the Trident 

LMG Enhanced actually combines the firepower of a 

full-sized LMG with the portability and the controls 

the traditional “M4”platform; I view it as a bit of 

a modern- day Stoner! With a Keymod handguard 

and shortened barrel the LMG is even more usable 

than before; the size and weight mean that even the 

smallest player can comfortably carry and LMG for 

extended periods of time, and with its large 3000 

BB box magazine, the Trident LMG is ideal for laying 

down copious suppressive fire. For a skirmishable 

LMG the Trident really does tick all the boxes for me 

and with a sensible retail price for a support gun it’s 

one hell of a beast. If you fancy yourself as a support 

gunner then the KRYTAC could well be the very thing 

you’ve been searching for! 

One positive thing I see though is the move by 

many manufacturers to now produce their support 

guns with high strength polymer bodies to keep the 

weight down. This is nothing new to be honest, but 

the strength and durability of the latest reinforced 

polymers does mean that not only do these LMGs 

look great and weigh very little, but they’re also 

durable enough for the rigors of regular skirmish use! 

There are a number of manufacturers following this 

path right now, but at the head of the pack for me is 

the SPECNA ARMS SA-249 PARA CORE. 

The CORE line makes good use of polymer, alloys 

and steel in combination to create a solid and durable 

AEG that in the form of the PARA weighs in at a not 

insubstantial 4970g with the empty box in place. It 

feels superb when you first pick it up though, and 

although the main body is polymer it doesn’t feel at 

all “plastic”; some elements in the CORE LMG have 

been purposely made of polymer in order to reduce 

their weight and make them more “user friendly”, 

and the polymer parts include the receiver, top 

cover with a RIS rail, front sight with a base, stock, 

magazine and the pistol grip. On the flip side alloy 

parts include the outer barrel, magazine well (which 

can at a push use a STANAG mag), buffer tube and 

the flash hider, and several steel parts are in evidence 

in the form of the bipod, external barrel lock, stock 

support, trigger guard, transport handle as well as all 

pins and assembly elements. 

After a couple of minor “hiccups”, which I’ll 

put down to a newly-fitted spring, the SA-249 

chronos very nicely, and pretty consistently, at 1.07 

Joule/340fps on .20g. I was very pleased to find that 

the box mag fed very evenly as this can sometimes 

be a downfall of even the most expensive support 

AEGs. In terms of accuracy I’m actually more than 

happy just on the iron sights; this is supposed to be a 

“full-auto support-beast” and be able to spit out BBs 

consistently and give an area-dominating effect rather 

than being nail-on-the head accurate, but I will tell 

you that it’s no slouch in this respect as at 30m prone I 

56 


RED CELL 

SUPPORT GUNS 

was easily able to put all my BBs on steels, and it kicks 

them out past 70m without a problem too! 

Boycie: Over the years I’ve owned a number of 

support guns but always seem to have got bored 

with them as they were not too accurate and I didn’t 

like pushing out a rod of plastic with high ROF, so 

I decided to go more to employing an LMG for the 

purpose it was designed, to create a cone of fire and 

a reasonable beaten zone. I had the opportunity to 

get a KRYTAC TRIDENT LMG and this seemed to fit 

my needs really well. I didn’t have to lug about a huge 

long RIF and could even use the LMG indoors on sites 

where semi-auto rules apply. The KRYTAC also allows 

me to use mags from other team members if I run out 

of ammo, much like the Classic Army M249 does, but 

the Trident feeds in the same way that an M4 type 

rifle does. I’m currently working on it to create more 

of a spread at 40-50m so tight bores are not needed; 

I’m likely to be running a 6.08 or bigger, along with 

a mix of .20, .25, .28 and .30 BB’s to help with the 

spread and have the hop set for .25s. 

I really enjoyed the SPECNA M249 when Red Cell 

had chance to try one out; it was accurate but with 

a good little spread at longer distances, felt solid and 

handled really well, yet lightweight to the point where 

I was firing it one handed like a pistol... 

Stewbacca: Having gotten hands on with VFC’s 

shiny new Mk48 LMG AEG I was very impressed with 

its user friendliness and all the mod-cons incorporated 

into it. The usefulness of a quick detach barrel unit for 

ease of cleaning and maintenance of the hop as well 

as accessing the feeding port is something that will 

no doubt be beneficial for long term users; similarly 

the hop adjustment being right above and easily 

accessible with or without the top cover lifted aids in 

sighting in and zeroing when the gun is new or you’re 

setting it up for your preferred ammunition weight. 

The fact the whole thing is so light and easily 

handled and manoeuvred is undoubtedly a major 

selling point as well, given just how cumbersome 

some guns can be to handle when prone; the three 

position adjustable bipod was also easy to use 

and change the length of even one handed while 

supporting the gun on the pistol grip as per my own 

use of it during my video introducing the Mk48. Oh, 

and with the deluxe version sporting the electrically 

fed box magazine that links up with the internal gun 

battery as well as the on board internal capacity you 

have a total of 8800 rounds... That’s ELEVEN minutes 

worth of solid cyclic rate firing, although I’m not sure 

dropping it all in one burst is wise or even possible! 

Jimmy: My Classic Army M249 started its life as 

a MK1 but I’m now converting it into the Para style. 

Quite frankly out of the box it’s a disappointment as it 

fell flat on its face sadly. High hopes were had for this 

but those hopes were fast dashed. On the outside it 

looks fantastic, sporting a full metal build and rocking 

the FN Herstal trademarks, but it’s on the inside where 

it matters. A RIF which carries this price tag should be 

worlds better in my opinion. 

Early on it stripped the piston and this is mainly due 

to a very bad AOE (angle of engagement), the point at 

which the sector gear picks up the piston. The motor 

is a high torque motor with a very slow ROF even on 

11.1v. Power was low due to a poor 

airseal across all of the compression 

parts. It soon developed major feeding 

issues, which was largely due to poor 

tolerances between the hop unit, barrel 

and gearbox to hop unit alignment. The 

cast hop unit offered little adjustment 

and when it did work barely lifted a 

0.25g BB. Overall this platform has 

demanded over a further UK£100 and 

around five hours of my time (so far!) 

in order for it to be an affective support 

platform. 

Things I needed to replace were the 

piston, piston head, cylinder head, 

“SPORTING THE ELECTRICALLY FED BOX MAGAZINE THAT LINKS UP WITH THE 

INTERNAL GUN BATTERY AS WELL AS THE ON BOARD INTERNAL CAPACITY YOU HAVE 

A TOTAL OF 8800 ROUNDS... THAT’S ELEVEN MINUTES WORTH OF SOLID CYCLIC RATE 

FIRING” 


RED CELL 

SUPPORT GUNS 

CLASSIC ARMY M249 

Price: iro UK£300.00 

Age: 18 Months 

Weight: 6300g 

Length: 1050mm 

Magazine Capacity: 300BBs but drums will fit 

Cold Chrono:1.07 Joule/340fps 

Hot Chrono: 1.01 Joule/330fps 

Optic Compatibility: Good 

Suppressor Compatibility: No 

Available From: www.taiwangun.com 

SPECNA ARMS SA-249 PARA CORE 


Age: 18 Months 

Weight: 4970 g 

Length: 790-920mm 

Magazine Capacity: 2500BBs 

Cold Chrono: 1.07 Joule/340fps 


Optic Compatibility: Yes 

Suppressor Compatibility: Yes 

Available From: www.gunfire.com 

KRYTAC TRIDENT ENHANCED 


Age: Two Years 

Weight: 3530g 







Available From: www.landwarriorairsoft.com 

VFC MK48 MOD1 


Age: New 

Weight: 3950g 


Magazine Capacity: 800 (internal)/8000 (box) 





Available From: www.redwolfairsoft.com 

G&P STONER MK63 


Age: OLD… like its owner!!! 

Weight: 4620g 

Length: 930mm 

Magazine Capacity: 1200 BBs 



Optic Compatibility: Only on the yucky railed version! 


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

58 


RED CELL 

SUPPORT GUNS 

A&K M60VN 

Price: iro UK£450.00 (average) 

Age: Not as old as Bill’s Stoner but old! 

Weight: 7600g 



Cold Chrono: 1.07 Joule/340fps (after Spring Change) 


Optic Compatibility: No 

Suppressor Compatibility: Yes, but why? 

Available From: Most good airsoft retailers! 

LCT RPD 


Age: Two Years 

Weight: 7000 g 





Optic Compatibility: Hell NO! 

Suppressor Compatibility: Yes, but NO! 

Supplied By: www.nuprol.com 

CYMA CM052 RPK 


Age: Three Years 

Weight: 4500g 


Magazine Capacity: 800 BBs (AK drums will fit nicely!) 

Cold Chrono: 1.07 Joule/340fps (after Spring Change) 


Taclite Compatibility: No on the “classic” 


Supplied By: www.gunfire.com 

A&K PKM 

Price: iro UK£450.00 (average) 

Age: Four Years 

Weight: 7350g 





Optic Compatibility: No, but accessories available 

Suppressor Compatibility: Yes (Spetsnaz reasons only!) 


LCT CK-16 (RPK-16) 


Age: New 

Weight: 5940g 





Optic Compatibility: Yes 




RED CELL 

SUPPORT GUNS 

cylinder, nozzle, hop unit, spring, motor, and micro 

switch. I replaced the hop unit for an AirsoftPro Gen1 

unit but that wasn’t a straightforward fix as the barrel 

needed modding in order to sit in the correct place to 

allow BBs to feed. The inside of the gearbox needed 

some refinishing as there was some imperfections on 

the piston rails from casting, and the quick release 

spring guide was sticking so it was difficult to remove 

it. I would highly recommend the Bullgear hop unit 

over the stock OEM or the AirsoftPro units as it is a 

popular upgrade and has proven to work well. Gears 

needed reshimming properly due to a very half-arsed 

attempt. All in I’ve been very disappointed with the 

Classic Army 249 internals; that said the gearbox case 

is a pretty solid, a very heavy design which has the 

added bonus of a quick change spring. On reflection, 

as much I am now starting to love the CA, I think if 

I were to recommend an M249 to anyone “out of 

the box” it would be either the A&K or the SPECNA 

versions. 

Stewbacca: In terms of the M60, I had the 

pleasure of borrowing my team mate’s at one of our 

Copehill games for doing attack buggy runs in; it’s 

perfect for vehicle use with its side-mounted box 

mag and general heft, although as with apparently 

many AEG LMGs it had some feeding issues with the 

connection hose thing, still bags of fun. As for the 

old LCT version, it must be a very accurate replica, as 

the TWAAA have one as part of a militaria display at 

their headquarters and Mr Zhang was telling me how 

they exhibited it at a gun show years back and an 

enthusiastic American buyer was making joyful plans 

to purchase a whole load of them until he was finally 

informed they were not, in fact, real steel guns! 

Iggy: I had the Ares M60E4 for a couple of years, 

and it was a great little MG. the box carried 3000 

- 4000 BB’s, and removing the barrel and attached 

hop was easy. Simply twist the bolt and unlock then 

guide it out holding the carry handle. Performance 

was pretty good. It had a nice range and scatter as an 

MG should. Its Achilles heel was the boxmag; when 

it worked it was great but every single one I bought 

died and I had to repair and alter to feed well and not 

kill the mag motor. After my “home” repair/upgrade 

to the inside of the box mags they worked. They fed 

on demand as you fired. 

The highlight of my support-gun world though has 

always been the M60 Vietnam (VN)/ the OG/ the PIG! 

During attending a Ground Zero NAE event I spotted a 

guy acting as sentry with the A&K version, before that 

I had only known and dreamed of the Inokatsu version 

that was WAY out of my budget! I approached him to 

admire and look at this fabulous M60 Vietnam only to 

have him turn around and say he was selling it to get 

an SA80 as it was too big and bulky to play. I snapped 

up his offer and bought it that night only to use it the 

following day lugging it from objective to objective 

on the Sunday, loving every second. I sold my Ares 

M60E4 to a team mate the same night, so between us 

we had our squad covered with both M60’s. 

The A&K M60VN I owned right up until I emigrated 

to Australia and it still hurts that I parted with it today. 

It performed flawlessly for three years, spitting out 

BB’s at a variable fire rate, using an adjustor on the 

“AT MY LOCAL SITE (OTT IN NORTH WALES) OTHER PLAYERS ON THE ENEMY SIDE 

WOULD OFTEN CHECK TO SEE IF I WAS USING THE “PIG” AND MOANED IF THEY SAW 

IT. NEWBIE’S WOULD FEAR IT IN THE SAFETY BRIEF AND LITERALLY RUN AWAY WHEN I 

OPENED UP ON THEM IN GAME.” 

60 


RED CELL 

SUPPORT GUNS 

replica gas tube to alter the ROF. Then the wiring 

going down the gas tube broke, so my friend and I 

rewired it bypassing the ROF adjustor meaning it only 

fired at the last mode it was set… that classic chugchug 

of the M60. It wasn’t ever pin-point accurate but 

it didn’t need to be. It ranged 50-70 meters effectively 

on 0.20g BBs… I used 0.25g and higher on my battle 

rifle platforms as accuracy was important but the 

“PIG” I fed on 0.20’s as it was cheap but still gave 

range and covered the enemy as they attempted to 

advance or escape from the hell it would unleash. 

At my local site (OTT in North Wales) other players 

on the enemy side would often check to see if I was 

using the “PIG” and moaned if they saw it. Newbie’s 

would fear it in the safety brief and literally run away 

when I opened up on them in game. It was a PIG to 

carry but I loved every game I had with it, firing from 

prone position and even standing, unsupported it was 

just ridiculous fun. If I was tasked as a support gunner 

role in my squad for the MilSim/skirmish I would often 

be at the back with the other guy carrying the E4; 

we each had backpacks with bags of BB’s and extra 

batteries to keep the beasts pumping. The scouts 

would reach the objective first, stir the enemy in time 

for the riflemen to join the chaos then we would roll 

on in and lay down suppression allowing our guys 

some breathing room and mopping up the enemy 

that were brave enough to stick their heads up. When 

possible I would definitely go another A&K M60VN 

or even the G&P Stoner Mk63 as every owner I know 

loves the G&P... GET SUM!!! 

Chris: The G&P Stoner, where do I start, well a 

good place is with my attraction to the real steel 

firearm. I picked up a copy of Navy SEAL Veteran 

Darryl Young’s “The Element of Surprise” back in 

2001, and it started from there. The Stoner, what a 

cool looking and sounding bit of kit it was. The want 

for one to be made in airsoft was strong as soon as 

I had finished the book, and to my surprise one had 

been made by KM; some time in the late 90’s KM 

made a Stoner powered by 2 EG700 motors (one for 

the gun one for the box mag), but sadly my hopes 

of getting one were dashed by the reports of 

the rarity and the prices upwards of 

UK£3000! 

Many years went by until 

G&P announced 

their version was in the works, and after released I 

was teased with one at a military show here in the 

UK by none other than this magazine’s Bill. Sadly at 

the time I couldn’t afford one and had to wait an 

agonising two years to finally have my own, second 

hand, but my own. I can’t say much more than I think 

it is iconic, light, comfortable, although it’s not the 

real thing I can see the genius behind Eugene Stoner’s 

design. Airsoft-wise G&P made it solid (although some 

early releases had delicate stocks) with a reasonably 

good V2 gearbox, hop and barrel setup that for 

an out of the box gun is thankfully very admirable. 

As with all things airsoft these can and have been 

upgraded and changed to suit your needs. 

The only small gripe I have is the box mag auto 

winder, this, is very noisy so I’ve opted to disable mine 

(black tape over contacts) and re- route the minute 

box mag winding button to just above the foregrip so 

I can press it with my thumb instead of being hidden 

away under the ammo feed chute. Another bijou 

gripe purely from a collectors stand point is that there 

are no other parts available on the market to maybe 

turn it into the long barrel version, or top mag fed 

(Bren style) feed cover. For an support gun it certainly 

takes some beating though! 

(Note: If the classic look isn’t for you then there is 

a “modernised” version available with railed fore end 

and top cover; if that sort of thing floats your boat on 

a Stoner though you need professional medical help!) 

OPFOR SUPPRESSION 

Dan: In my role as a tech and as a player I’ve got 

lots of mileage on most the models in the “big list”, 

but I’ll fill in for the A&K PKM since that’s what 

I’m currently overhauling. Aside from LCT’s very 

uncommon and expensive PKP, the main contender 

and most prolific PKM on the market is still firmly in 

the grasp of A&K. There are several variants produced 

under the A&K umbrella in different trim packages, 

including wood and polymer 

equipped versions as well as the 

modernized PKP 

and PKP 

bullpup model sold 

through TWI, both of 

which are fully A&K 

OEM under the hood. 

Like many other 

LMG/GPMG 

variants, this one 


RED CELL 

SUPPORT GUNS 

holds true to the real version in having a quick-change 

barrel assembly, which in the case of the replica, 

allows for easy access to the hop up unit. The large 

box magazine boasts a massive 5000 round capacity, 

which exceeds that of any competitor design. Only the 

Echo1 M240B or Ares M60E3 comes close at 4000 

rounds respectively. Overall the body is quite stout and 

solid, with the weight surprising many who pick it up 

for the first time. That being said, it benefits one to go 

about applying threadlocker to the majority of visible 

screws as they will inevitably vibrate free and become 

lost to the field. 

For better or worse, A&K’s internals have 

remained largely unchanged for decades now. While 

other manufacturers will undergo routine product 

improvement processes, the most we’ve ever seen 

from A&K in this arena is a microswitch with a higher 

amperage rating. Ultimately, the veteran Airsofter 

will find the internals on these to be disappointingly 

uninspired and lacklustre and likely will only be 

interested in the platform as a base to build upon 

and improve. Fortunately, these enjoy much part 

commonality with existing Version 2 AEG’s, and there 

are good aftermarket components available for the 

proprietary bits; namely the excellent Bullgear box 

magazine insert and CNC hop up chamber, to list off 

a few. On the externals side, there are plenty of optics 

mounts, rails and various cosmetic options to either 

modernize the platform or make it more bespoke 

Bill: Although I own and cherish my G&P Stoner, 

and have had a number of M60 models (VN and E4) 

and M249s (oh my, that STAR plastic gearbox!) over 

the years, it’s my OPFOR fetish that brings out the 

support gunner in me and there are three models that 

I particularly love for different reasons, and the first 

is the A&K PKM. This AEG has been with me about 

four years now, and it is one of the very few AEGS 

that I have been “gifted” after I completed a review; 

the guys at A&K supplied one to me for testing via 

my mates at NUPROL, and when I went to return it 

they told me to hold onto it and really give it some 

beasting and report back… which I 

have continued to do at 

regular intervals! In 

fact, if pushed it 

was 

that proactive action on the part of A&K that first 

gave me the fledgling idea to create Red Cell, to test 

our beloved platforms over an extended period and 

bring our findings back to other airsofters before they 

spent their money! 

And the PKM has never failed to bring a HUGE 

smile to my face! It’s big and heavy (heavier than you 

might think!), and is a serious amount of metal to 

lug around all day, but just like Iggy’s M60VN it never 

fails to impress those that lay their eyes upon it in the 

safe zone! The internals of the gun are thoroughly 

workmanlike as Dan pointed out, but you do get 

a bore-up cylinder and cylinder head, 8mm steel 

bushings, hi-torque motor, ball bearing spring guide 

and low resistance wiring throughout. There’s also an 

adjustable MOSFET which allows you to change the 

ROF. The self-winding green metal box on this gun 

holds an almighty 5000 BBs, allowing you to bring 

down the “heavy rain” on you opponents to your 

heart’s content, and the box can be filled by splitting 

it as per a drum or via a neat fill port on the right 

hand side should you need to reload “on the fly”. 

The box also holds the battery and connection for the 

self-winding mech, and there’s lots of space for a big 

battery inside. 

The PKM is not a new model, and A&K have 

been with us for years, but sometimes it’s genuinely 

worth looking at a model more than once, especially 

as they’re now going to be easier to find, and also 

because the prices appear to be stabilising. I’m seeing 

the PKM models in my home market around the 

UK£450-£470 mark, and for a big support gun that 

gives solid performance and oozes “OPFOR Cred” 

that’s a great price! 

And the RPD? I’ll start from the beginning when it 

comes to my personal relationship with airsoft RPDs. 

This replica has been one of my “holy grail” models 

out in airsoft-land; whether you be a Cold 

War Russian player, a ‘Namsoft 

commando, or 

indeed 

a modern 

day OPFOR MilSimmer 

then it’s way high on the list of 

“things I must have”. Nearly fifteen 

years ago I became involved in a 

project to create a functioning 

airsoft RPD, and after taking 

mouldings from De-Acts, 

sourcing real RPD drums, and some 

serious fettling the group concerned finally 

62 


RED CELL 

SUPPORT GUNS 

got one to work. My financial input to the project 

was somewhere iro UK£350, but there were ten of 

us in the group plus the developer himself who all 

contributed equally. Yup, that’s right, developing our 

“baby” cost us collectively the best part of UK£4,000! 

I still have that RPD but to this day it’s never been 

skirmished as it’s just too darn fragile, but it’s a fine 

“wall hanger” and conversation piece. Other friends 

through the years went down the RPD route and 

I have to admit that I saw some great full-metal 

examples created by clever engineers from real RPD 

parts, but once again these cost serious, SERIOUS 

money, and involved some pretty cutting-edge 

engineering talent. 

So, my point here is let’s not be TOO harsh on the 

pricetag of the drop-dead gorgeous LCT RPD! What 

makes the LCT RPD so special then? Well, simply put 

LCT have made a true 1:1 replica of the RPD with 

stamped steel and wood, the same way the original 

guns were made during the Cold War! The RPD just 

absolutely oozes quality with absolutely impeccable 

steel (NOT alloy or “monkey metal”) metalwork and 

superb, highly burnished woodwork. The attention to 

detail is utterly staggering wherever you look; muzzle? 

Absolutely spot on! Folding steel bipod? Yup! Three 

position gas regulator? Yup again! Nowhere and 

nothing on the RPD looks as if it has been rushed or 

bodged and I’d go as far as saying that it’s probably 

better made than the real thing ever was. 

Internally things are equally impressive as the RPD 

benefits from an all-new 9mm bearing Gearbox, a 

High-Strength Polycarbonate Piston, CNC Aluminium 

Hop-Up chamber, Steel Gear set, Quick Change 

Spring and a MOSFET wire assembly design for lower 

resistance, saving power for the 23,000 rpm motor! 

If like me you like your “Cold War” or OPFOR airsoft 

then I have to truly say that you WILL want an LCT 

RPD. Yes, it’s big, it’s heavy, and it is indeed expensive, 

but oh my goodness, this thing just looks fabulous 

and it performs like a beast. LCT have really created 

something quite staggering here, something that 

many of us have been waiting years for! 

If you’re on a budget though and you want an 

alternative that will still let you perform that OPFOR 

support gunner role with a price that’s not going to 

make your eyes water then you could do far, far worse 

than to check out the CYMA RPK models. Whilst not 

quite so iconic as the PKM or RPD, the RPK still ticks 

and awful lot of boxes when it comes to longevity and 

timeline; introduced first in 1961 as a successor to 

the RPD in the same 7.62×39mm calibre as the AK47 

and AKM, the RPK is still very much in service around 

the world to this very day, albeit in the updated 

5.45×39mm calibre used by the AK74 family. If you’re 

an OPFOR player that wants to grasp the support gun 

role then the RPK should be a model that craves your 

attention! 

Overall the external features of the CYMA RPK 

are excellent for the money as it comes with a full 

metal receiver and barrel assembly, a well-achieved 

wooden fore-end, wooden pistol grip, and a rocksolid 

side-folding wooden stock, all of which look 

A1 with a little bit of re-finishing. Enhanced by good 

quality externals (apart from a weak point around the 

receiver/butt connection), solid internals and attention 

to detail, the RPK is a strong, reliable, and extremely 

attractive AEG. The CYMA CM052 has all the benefits 

of the full-stocked variant with the added versatility 

of the side-folding stock, and covers off many, many 

years of service life. If you’re a MilSim player then with 

the supplied 130 BB magazine it’s absolutely ideal, 

and by chucking on a 2,500 BB Drum Mag you’ve got 

yourself the perfect “skirmish slayer” without breaking 

the bank; in fact we have two CYMA RPKs in the AA 

armoury, and what’s not to love about them! 

To conclude this month I won’t recap too much on 

the LCT (LCK) RPK-16 as I only looked at it relatively 

recently (my full review can be found in Issue 122 in 

BACK ISSUES on the AA website), but as I said at the 

time LCT have a great reputation for durability and 

long-term performance so I’m thinking that things will 

stand up well even when you’re talking about an AEG 

that’s going to be used on full-auto the majority of the 

time. I’m seeing the LCK-16 being used “in game” 

now, and for a thoroughly modern support gun that 

has an outrageous amount of “OPFOR Cred” it really 

is just the thing! 

Having had one in my hands for review and on the 

range I am most seriously considering adding one to 

my own personal collection, and that’s the very best 

recommendation I can give you. AA 


FRONTIER JACKET 

■ Chin guard 

■ Full length two-way front zip 

■ Zipped pockets 

■ Hook and loop ID patch on left arm 

■ Fully adjustable hood with elastic draw cords 

■ Vented mesh underarm panels 

■ Elasticated waist band / cuffs 

■ Stow bag 

Sizes: S-XXXL 

Black / Dark Coyote / V-Cam / SRP: £69 .95

VENOM BOOTS 

■ Lightweight 

■ Rubber toe protector 

■ Moulded TPU heel stabiliser 

■ Internal nylon stabiliser shank 

■ Integrated EVA midsole 

■ Aggressive, multi-directional grip, rubber sole 

■ Moisture wicking lining 

Material: 1000D Cordura upper 

Sizes: 7-12 

Black / Dark Coyote / SRP: £89 .95

TECHNICAL 

PKM UPGRADES 

THE TIME OF 

THE BEAST! 

AS WE’VE TAKEN A CHUNK OF 

SPACE CHECKING OUT SUPPORT 

GUNS IN THIS ISSUE, WHAT BETTER A TIME 

TO LOOK AT WHAT CAN BE CREATED TO MAKE THE 

“BFG” MORE FIELDABLE AND EASIER TO USE IN GAME. 

DAN GETS UNDER THE HOOD OF THE MIGHTY PKM TO 

CREATE SOMETHING THAT TRULY WILL BE A “BEAST” ON 

THE SKIRMISH FIELD! 

If you’ve been playing Airsoft for a number of years 

now, you might occasionally find yourself looking to 

try something different to spice up your hobby. So 

it has been with me, where I typically play the role of 

sniper, I have now become quite interested in fielding 

something on the opposite end of the spectrum: a 

General Purpose Machine Gun! 

With the bug firmly planted in my head now, the 

debate came down to what platform to settle on. 

As I am possessed of the stature and size relative 

to a Hobbit, weight and size considerations were 

forefront in my mind. If I couldn’t easily handle it, I 

wouldn’t use it. This naturally excluded larger and 

more cumbersome designs such as the M240B and 

MG 42, both of which are a beast to attempt to fire 

from an unsupported or standing position. Naturally 

the venerable M249 comes to mind, but everyone 

has at least one 249 in their squad. I had always 

been keenly interested in chopped and lightened 

LMG / GPMG concepts, so something that could be 

externally modified without too much trouble was 

also important. As it happened, one of my friends 

mentioned he had an A&K PKM he was considering 

offloading as he rarely fielded it. This just so happened 

to fit perfectly within what I was beginning to envision 

in my head… 

66 


TECHNICAL 

PKM UPGRADES 

EXTERNAL MODIFICATIONS 

Now, the PKM isn’t exactly a featherweight itself; 

and one could rightly argue the length of the gun is 

right up there with some of its longer brethren too. 

In stock form I definitely agree with this sentiment 

and wouldn’t be too inclined to operate such a 

beast outside of supported conditions. I enjoy a 

good challenge though, so with that in mind, 

we’ll see about how much weight we can 

trim off and see about shortening her up 

considerably to make the gun more man 

portable. 

Bone stock, the A&K PKM weighs 

7320g (16.14 lbs.) with the box 

magazine and is a whopping 

expensive (in the case of real ones), very difficult to 

source, or rely on the age old standby of just slapping 

an AR-15 buffer tube on everything. Most of these do 

not actually reduce length of pull much, if any. In my 

mind, the ideal solution would allow for a dramatic 

reduction in length, but also have the ability to fold 

to the side. While not absolutely necessary, folding 

stocks are a nice luxury for moving in and out of 

vehicles or tight structures. 

Consequently, the first step in my project started 

with binning the OEM stock. As it happens, I’m a fan 

of SIG’s 1913 rail interface for stocks, so the 

idea of an alternative 

stock eventually 

morphed into creating 

a 1913 interface 

for the PKM. 

Incidentally, the 

stock I chose to use 

SIG’s collapsible 

for this was also 

folder as usually 

found on the 

MCX. Rather than 

attempt 

1180mm (46.45 in.) long. Most of that length is made 

up in the barrel assembly, which comes in at 635mm 

(25 in.) end to end. The stock and receiver are roughly 

approximate in length to one another if excluding the 

gas piston housing. The stock itself trends on the long 

side, which is perfectly fine for prone use, but doesn’t 

help with shouldering and maneuvering the gun while 

standing; especially if you’re of smaller stature, such 

as myself. While there do exist some aftermarket 

options for alternative stocks, they are typically quite 

to make something fit 

the existing stock mounts, which consists of a 

pair of rather long AK-style tangs extending from a 

bracket that’s riveted to the receiver (and thusly would 

have constituted needless bulk and weight), I opted 

to cut both off flush with the back of the receiver. 

The rest of the bracket was kept intact with the top 

rivets drilled out to make room for some M5 screws to 

secure the insert I would be fabricating. Then, a small 

block of 7075 Aluminum was slowly milled out on my 

ancient Unimat SL1000 to fit within the bracket. This 

would become the new base for a short 1913 rail. 

I installed the rail with a deliberate slight-left offset 

to account for allowing the stock to lay folded flat 

against the receiver. Fully retracted, this modification 

accomplished a 101.6mm (4 in.) total reduction in 

length compared to the original stock. The rubber 

buttpad also grips the shoulder much better than the 

slick metal buttplate that was previously there - and it 

folds beautifully out the way knocking off a whopping 

“THE PKM ISN’T EXACTLY A FEATHERWEIGHT ITSELF; AND ONE COULD RIGHTLY ARGUE 

THE LENGTH OF THE GUN IS RIGHT UP THERE WITH SOME OF ITS LONGER BRETHREN 

TOO. IN STOCK FORM I DEFINITELY AGREE WITH THIS SENTIMENT AND WOULDN’T BE 

TOO INCLINED TO OPERATE SUCH A BEAST OUTSIDE OF SUPPORTED CONDITIONS.” 


TECHNICAL 

PKM UPGRADES 

285.75mm (11.25 in.) in length versus the original 

stock! 

With the stock out of the way, attention was then 

turned to the other end of the gun. I was able to do 

some of this modification myself – specifically the 

shortening of the gas tube housing. It was reduced 

in length by 76.2mm (3 in.). I wanted to keep this 

looking like a “functional” gas assembly rather than 

completely omitting most of these parts. Additionally, 

the mount surface for the bipod still exists here should 

I ever opt to use it. 

The actual chopping of the barrel was hired out to 

Sharps Airsoft Chop Shop who was also tasked with 

remounting the gas block and front sight post and 

rethreading in 14mm CCW. Overall, this 

was a total of nearly 304mm (12 in.) 

in length removed from the barrel. I’ve 

installed a Dytac SLR Rifleworks Synergy 

compensator to handle our hypothetical 

recoil and ensure it will rattle teeth and 

light vegetation on fire with the muzzle 

blast from a short barrel firing mock 

7.62x54R. I was going to remove the 

carry handle in the interests of saving 

weight, but decided to keep it on a 

solely aesthetic choice. At just a few 

grams of additional weight, it wouldn’t 

have budged the needle much. 

One of the other considerations for 

me was optics mounting and some 

method of handling the front end of 

the gun. The first was accomplished 

by simply installing a short picatinny rail 

section on the top cover. The second 

part was to take another section of 

picatinny and mount that to the flat 

bottom of the gas piston housing. This 

became home for a Zentico B-25U 

45 degree adapter and an LCT RK-2 

grip. The 45-degree foregrip makes 

reaching around the wide box mag a 

lot easier and more comfortable than 

trying to use something mounted 

inline. To finish it all off, I also installed 

a Noveske QD sling socket adapter and 

some additional screws to eliminate the 

traditional wobble in gas block area. 

Suffice it to say, there’s no movement in 

the front end on this thing. 

The stock PKM comes fitted with an 

AK style grip; in this case, it’s very much 

like the real version as it doesn’t house 

a motor, so is instead retained via a 

long screw. I personally am not a fan of 

the relatively skinny nature of the grip, so I modified 

the more ergonomic Magpul K2 AK grip to fit. This 

has a slightly more vertical grip angle and the thicker 

grip feels much nicer in the hand. 

The final touch was to purchase some inert linked 

7.62x54r . I drilled a hole through one of the cartridge 

cases and threaded the feed tray so I could keep it 

affixed via a screw. This is a more elegant solution 

than simply zip-tying it in place. 

INTERNAL MODIFICATIONS AND 

UPGRADES 

A gun this far modified should not be content with 

68 


TECHNICAL 

PKM UPGRADES 

mere stock internals, and thusly will be given the full 

internal treatment! 

One area we can shed some nice weight from is 

the gearbox. The A&K’s gearbox is a heavy chunk 

of mystery metal that tops in at portly 1310g (2.9 

lbs.). By using a Retro Arms CNC 7075 ALU gearbox, 

I can drop that down to 257g (9.1 oz.). But mainly 

I wanted this gearbox because of the generous 

shimming room and concentric 8mm bushing holes, 

something the A&K boxes often come up short on. 

Like most GPMG and LMG platforms, the PKM does 

not have a semi-auto function and only fires in full 

auto. The aim here then is to build a nice and efficient 

full auto setup that can be run hard without heating 

up. In this case, the excellent Warhead brushless 

motor will get me to the bottom of that 5000 round 

box mag with little effort. A set of SHS 16:1 gears 

gives it a slight, but not excessive, increase in rate of 

fire over conventional 18:1’s. Local field velocities for 

GPMP/LMG’s is 450fps with a .20g, so this will be 

outfitted with a Guarder SP130 spring to get it field 

legal. 

The compression parts consist of a Lonex cylinder 

head with a ¾ ported cylinder from ZCI and (trialing) 

the Aztech Xtreme piston and piston head combo. FLT 

8mm bushings and a Lonex anti-reversal latch finish 

it out. I’ve installed a higher amperage rated trigger 

switch and rebuilt the wiring harness assembly out of 

16AWG Alphawire Ecowire. Moving to the accuracy 

side, we’ve got a Lambda Five SUS304 cold-forged 

stainless steel barrel with an R-Hop fitted and installed 

into the regular hop up chamber. 

Finishing out our internal upgrades is the Bullgear 

PKM insert for the box magazine. This is a nicely 

assembled 3D printed chassis that houses a new and 

much improved motor with a CNC rotary arm and 

greatly improved wiring. A rheostat dial is also fitted 

that allows for adjusting the speed of the motor as 

well, which is definitely a bonus when increasing your 

base rate of fire. I’ve also added in a bit of thin rubber 

sheeting on the inside of the box mag to dampen the 

traditional rattle made by the “tactical maraca.” 

After much extensive work has been done, I feel 

I’ve definitely met the goal of having my “Ultimate 

PKM” built. I’ve managed to shave off a total of 

2260g (5 lbs.) in weight and reduced the length of 

the gun by 330mm (13 in.) or 513mm (20 in.) with 

the stock folded. The ergonomic improvements 

and reduced length of pull makes this handle like 

an entirely different gun now. It is easily run off the 

shoulder and on the move, while the folding stock 

assembly compacts the build even further, allowing 

easier ingress and egress from vehicles. Without 

turning to more exotic and expensive materials, such 

as carbon fibre and titanium, this is probably about 

the lightest and shortest setup possible. For now, I’m 

quite happy with the massive improvements and am 

looking forward to hitting the field with this beast! AA 

SPECIFICATIONS 

• A&K PKM 

• Dytac SLR Synergy Mini-Compensator 

• LCT RK-2 grip with Zenitco B-25U 45 degree 

adapter 

• Noveske QD socket 

• Magpul K2 pistol grip 

• SIG collapsible stock 

• Blue Force Gear VCAS sling 

• Lambda 6.05 SUS304 inner barrel 

• Prometheus purple bucking 

• R-Hopped 

• MAXX 21mm CNC air nozzle 

• Guarder tappet plate 

• Lonex double O-ring aluminum cylinder head 

• 70D AirPad 

• Aztech Xtreme CNC aluminum piston head 

• Aztech Xtreme piston 

• SHS 16:1 gears 

• FLT 8mm bushings 

• Guarder SP130 spring 

• Warhead standard torque brushless motor 

• Retro Arms CNC gearbox shell 

• Retro Arms CNC spring guide 

• Reinforced trigger switch 

• 16 AWG Alphawire Ecowire 

• Bullgear Custom PKM box magazine insert 

• Joules: 1.84J / 446 FPS 

• ROF: 22 RPS w/11.1v 

• Weight: 5.48kg / 12.10 lbs. 

• Length: 838.2 / 33 in. 

• Length (folded): 66.75mm / 26.25 in. 


TECHNICAL 

GATE STATUS 

WE’RE CRAMMING MORE AND MORE ELECTRONICS INTO OUR AEGS THESE DAYS, BUT HOW DO YOU KNOW 

THAT THESE ARE UPPING YOUR GAME AND NOT JUST ADDING MORE POTENTIAL GRIEF FOR THE FUTURE? 

MIGUEL HAS BEEN LOOKING CLOSELY AT THE GATE STATUS AND NOW TELLS ABOUT HOW THIS CAN HELP 

YOU MAKE SURE THAT EVERYTHING YOU ADD TO INCREASE YOUR ON-FIELD PERFORMANCE IS WORKING IN 

HARMONY! 

This is how the story is told... 

“Get full data in real-time directly from the GATE 

STATUS screen to reinforce your tactical decisions 

and get the confidence and the advantage necessary 

to win. No more surprises with an empty magazine or 

a discharged battery. Take aim with precision thanks 

to the replica’s angle indicator. Just connect your 

TITAN or ASTER Electronic Trigger Units via Blu-Link 

and use complete data as well as dozens of functions 

at your fingertips!” 

...but how about a slightly different analysis? How 

about we talk about a less common replica accessory? 

You probably already have an idea of what I’m talking 

about from the photos. 

Well, I had the opportunity to test the 

new Gate Enterprise Status in the field 

and I can say that it was an interesting 

experience. During almost fourteen 

years of airsoft, nothing like this has 

ever passed through my hands but it’s 

good to see airsoft evolving in several 

different areas (in addition to replicas and 

equipment). 

Well, what is the Status? This small 

box is a display that makes a connection 

to the well-known Titan or Aster mosfets 

also from the Gate brand. This connection 

is possible through a third accessory, the BlueLink, 

which is connected before the battery and allows all 

components to be paired via BlueTooth to the Gate 

App for a smartphone. It seems a bit complicated, and 

the first time it was because the instruction book is 

not very clear at this stage, but after about 10 minutes 

of testing, I already had the Status connected to the 

Aster of my Specna Arms H20 (model HK416) and 

operating at 100%. 

And what is it for? This display shows the player a 

huge amount of information about their replica and 

not only that, its main function is the cycle counter, 

which whenever we shoot, it subtracts a number 

equal to what was fired from the number on the 

“I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO TEST THE NEW GATE ENTERPRISE STATUS IN THE 

FIELD AND I CAN SAY THAT IT WAS AN INTERESTING EXPERIENCE. DURING ALMOST 

FOURTEEN YEARS OF AIRSOFT, NOTHING LIKE THIS HAS EVER PASSED THROUGH MY 

HANDS BUT IT’S GOOD TO SEE AIRSOFT EVOLVING IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT AREAS“ 

70 


TECHNICAL 

GATE STATUS 

screen; this value can be customized according to 

the capacity of the magazines we use in our replicas 

(midcaps, lowcaps, etc). It is important to bear in mind 

that it is not a 100% real counter, as it only counts 

the cycles performed, so if we shoot “dry” it will still 

count! 

But it still gives you a general idea of the amount of 

BBs we still have from match to match, and as a team 

leader it sometimes comes in handy. 

One of the stats that is also shown on the 

display but that I didn’t find useful is the number of 

magazines we still have available (also 

a configurable value); I just look at 

my equipment if I lose track! On the 

other hand, we can see how many 

km’s we go through during the game, 

which for me is always interesting. We 

can also see other small details like 

the ambient temperature, whether 

the replica is levelled, and the battery 

Status. 

There is also information that is 

only shown if necessary; in this case, I 

am talking about warnings such as a 

low battery, problems with the replica, 

or even overheating of the motor, all 

of which of course can e very useful to 

ensuring that your replica runs right, and for longer! 

Now, is the Gate Status for everyone? In my 

opinion, no, it is an accessory with a somewhat high 

price and turns out to be another aspect that we 

have to worry about or pay attention to on the field. 

However, if you’re looking for something special to 

light up your loadout, for those who build different 

loadouts (futuristic for example), or for fans of replica 

technology then the Status should be on your list. 

For more information please go to https://gatee.eu/ 

products/statuss AA 

“...IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING SPECIAL TO LIGHT UP YOUR LOADOUT, FOR 

THOSE WHO BUILD DIFFERENT LOADOUTS (FUTURISTIC FOR EXAMPLE), OR FOR FANS 

OF REPLICA TECHNOLOGY THEN THE STATUS SHOULD BE ON YOUR LIST.“ 




EVENT 

MOA CAMPFEST 2022 

DESPITE RECENT SPIKES IN THE ONGOING ‘RONA PANDEMIC IN TAIWAN ERIC CHU AND HIS TEAM FROM 

QRF MAGAZINE, AS WELL AS NUMEROUS LOCAL AIRSOFT INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS, PLAYERS AND 

ENTHUSIASTS, MANAGED TO COME TOGETHER AGAINST ALL THE ODDS TO HOLD ANOTHER IN A LONG LINE 

OF EXCELLENT EVENTS IN TAIWAN THAT WE’VE COVERED FOR SOME YEARS NOW! WITH STEWBACCA “IN 

COUNTRY” AND ON THE GROUND FOR AIRSOFT ACTION WE’RE VERY PLEASED TO BRING IN HIS REPORT ON 

MOA CAMPFEST 2022! 

Having had hopes of holding MOA2021 at the 

usual Taipei 101 International Convention 

Centre dashed due to pandemic restrictions 

relating to indoor event capacity limits and cleaning 

requirements, those behind this important even, 

Eric Chu and his team, persevered and managed to 

organise the first MOA ‘Campfest’! Making use of the 

recent developments of the local industry and TaiWan 

Airsoft & Airgun Association’s management of the 

riverside camping park in Shulin, a large scale event 

could still be held using a giant marquee with plenty 

of ventilation and pandemic prevention measures! 

In spite of the odds, and the inability for our 

international friends from manufacturers, distributors 

and media partners to join in the fun in person this 

time, the event was nonetheless a surprising success; 

I imagine after two years of basically being trapped 

within our own protective bubble and last year’s short 

quasi-lockdown people are just looking for any game 

in town to get involved in, myself very much included. 

So, from Friday the 1st of April through Sunday 

the 3rd, a wealth of big name manufacturers, smaller 

scale independent outfits, local distributors, surplus 

and custom product purveyors (and of course their 

followings and customers!) descended upon the 

outdoor event campsite in the Southwest of Taipei” 

Despite it being somewhat of a trek out of the city 

centre by local standards, and near continuous 

heavy rain for the Friday and Saturday, the footfall 

and general mood seemed defiant and enthusiastic; 

nothing’s going to dampen OUR spirits. 

With the continued rains also came some flooding 

of our end of the marquee however, and poor Unicorn 

Airsoft got pretty thoroughly washed out as the water 

“IN SPITE OF THE ODDS, AND THE INABILITY FOR OUR INTERNATIONAL FRIENDS FROM 

MANUFACTURERS, DISTRIBUTORS AND MEDIA PARTNERS TO JOIN IN THE FUN IN PERSON 

THIS TIME, THE EVENT WAS NONETHELESS A SURPRISING SUCCESS” 

74 


EVENT 


“EVENTUALLY AFTER BAILING THE DELUGE INTO BUCKETS AND ERIC EVEN PERSONALLY 

TAKING A FEW SWIGS OF THE MOST HORRENDOUS BROWN WATER TO TRY AND GET 

A SIPHON GOING TO DRAW THE POOL TO A NEARBY DRAIN, A PUMP WAS EVENTUALLY 

SOURCED WHICH HELPED CLEAR AWAY THE PROBLEM” 

slowly built up throughout the first day and night, so 

we arrived on Saturday to a bit of a Greek tragedy! 

Eventually after bailing the deluge into buckets and 

Eric even personally taking a few swigs of the most 

horrendous brown water to try and get a siphon 

going to draw the pool to a nearby drain, a pump 

was eventually sourced which helped clear away the 

problem, and throughout it all, the show went on… 

the things I’ve seen the man suffer through lately… 

props to him for keeping chipper and making it all 

happen at any cost. 

WHAT HAVE YOU GOT? 

This year I was helping out my good friends at 

Archwick and grabbing a ride with them each day 

in their Abduction Wagon of doom, dealing with 

the basic setup and logistics of moving 

a decent amount of their product line, 

prototypes and general infrastructure to 

the venue as well as doing the filming and 

photographic assistance that’s part and 

parcel for the show. For them this event 

saw the continued release and promotion 

of their L119A2 GBBR platform which 

I covered in depth back in Issue 129 of 

September 2021; having sold out of all their 

GHK based models they’re now focusing on 

fulfilling the Marui MWS compatible kits as 

well as announcing the intent to provide full 

turnkey MWS platforms in future through a 

partnership with their Japanese friends over at Guns 

Modify. Players won’t have to sacrifice a donor gun in 

future with their release of further models which will 

be pre-assembled, taking out all of the inconvenience, 

risk and guess work, and hand-assembled by their 

well versed team. 

Also on show was their recently 

re-worked and fully licensed 

(through Action Sport Games 

and their sub-licensing) final preproduction 

prototype or their B&T 

SPR300 urban sniper platform, 

something which seems to have 

gained a great reception and is 

really a move towards a more mass 

market and economical but still high 

quality platform better suited to the 

players rather than the collectors. 

With dual interchangeable feed 

mechanisms allowing for use of 

standard VSR magazines in the 

typical forward position, or the use of a bridge system 

and more realistic proprietary magazines in the same 

location as the real one this looks great. 

They were also exhibiting their ‘PCC’ Hi Capa kit, 

which also gained a lot of attention, as a variation 

on their popular B&T USW-Glock chassis carbine kit 

(which yours truly has been enjoying his personalised 

laser engraved G18C model of!) the PCC version has 

basically the same outline but will be compatible with 

the vast majority of Hi Capa platform pistols, making 

it ideal for the SpeedQB community or anyone who 


EVENT 


wants to field their 1911 or 2011 format sidearm 

in a more practical and force multiplying format. 

Their modular silencers with Acetech tracer module 

compatibility and dual 14 & 16mm reversible thread 

adaptor was also on show, along with a variety of 

their new sub-brand ‘Mechbox Pro’ AEG upgrade 

components to suit discerning end users, and 

supported by their recently acquired in house expert 

gunsmith who has decades of experience. 

Across from our stall were PAF Airsoft, exhibiting 

a range of their M2HB AEG/EBB/GBB heavy machine 

guns, as well as their crank handle and automatic 

grenade launchers, a Striker Shotgun system they’ve 

been toying with, and of course their own imagining 

of the Carl Gustaf M3 recoilless rifle, along with an 

array of the compatible ammunition on display, able 

to fire typical 40mm/37mm plastic projectiles, shower 

shells, and a variety of other objects depending on 

the outer casing you load in its rear. Also teased was 

their next upcoming project in the form of posters and 

T-Shirts sporting the FIM92 Stinger outline. 

Next to them Joanna of Slong Airsoft was showing 

off her latest products again; along with her recent 

release of classically styled wood furniture bolt action 

sniper rifles, she also has a folding stock compact 

modernised sniper rifle, as well as now providing 

90 degree sear system trigger boxes after receiving 

market feedback that that’s what the players demand 

these days to avoid wear or piston override when 

tuning bolt actions up. She told me that hers will be 

good at least up to M190 spring powers, so I can’t 

imagine anywhere in the world allowing power levels 

that would challenge her new internal components. 

Alongside this was an array of her other existing 

product lines including a nice looking and feeling 

Glock carbine kit that includes a standard AR buffer 

tube as a fixed stock option as well as her original 

KRISS Vector style front handguard grip which also 

holds your spare magazine at the ready for fast 

reloads and features a full-length top rail for mounting 

optics or other accessories. 

To her side was local custom components outfit 

Unicorn Airsoft; Mr Kuo is a fairly recent addition to 

the manufacturer base here but is already making 

waves with his high grade internal components such 

as high polish AEG & GBB inner barrels of numerous 

lengths and hop rubbers pre-fitted for convenience, as 

well as separate hop nubs of varying shore hardness, 

gas magazine fill valves and other components or 

consumables such as greases and QD inserts as well as 

even full custom gun solutions. 

On the other side of Archwick, towards the front 

of the show and entrance (and more importantly 

the bar!) was Northeast Airsoft, rocking their typical 

understated but well-presented stall, complete with 

their comfy couch that steals the show for many! 

Stephen, Sebastian and their production team (which 

seems increasingly to be comprised of my SPPT Action 

Air teammates!) were making a big splash with 

their much-awaited release. Despite their arguably 

small footprint at the show and in the industry, they 

continue to make their presence felt with the release 

of not only further STEN GBB SMG models to fill 

the entirety of the variants based on their open bolt 

system, but more importantly in spite of all the trials 

and tribulations of the supply chains and pandemics 

they can finally answer the baying masses with the 

production samples of their Uzi GBB SMG platform. 

It somewhat stole the show and was announced 

in both earlier Secret Service style wooden stocked 

models (their prototype featuring a real stock as they 

just hadn’t had time to produce their own as yet; this 

model will be the best part of a year after the initial 

offering) as well as the collapsible stock variant. I 

couldn’t wait to get hands on with it, and the surface 

finish and colouration, as well as the general handling 

and recoil experience are excellent – they’ve really put 

together another well considered and executed niche 

product that’s bound to please. Available from May 

2022 (just in time to be my birthday present gun to 

myself!) and with 32 round green gas and 25 round 

shorter CO2 magazines planned alongside an initial 

run of 1000 units, be sure to get your name on their 

waiting list or your nearest distributor’s, I can’t wait to 

get mine! 

Opposite their stall was the organiser’s QRF 

Magazine stand itself, selling a variety of event 

patches and paraphernalia and also militaria model 

kits ranging from ground vehicles to aircraft of various 

nationalities; with an impressive US aircraft carrier 

filling a long table and providing a nice centrepiece 

and talking point to enter the show to, their allimportant 

Yongjin beer pump unsurprisingly helped 

fuel me through the long weekend, the only thing 

better than a hard earned adult beverage is maybe 

four… 

“ON THE OTHER SIDE OF ARCHWICK, TOWARDS THE FRONT OF THE SHOW AND ENTRANCE 

(AND MORE IMPORTANTLY THE BAR!) WAS NORTHEAST AIRSOFT, ROCKING THEIR TYPICAL 

UNDERSTATED BUT WELL-PRESENTED STALL, COMPLETE WITH THEIR COMFY COUCH THAT 

STEALS THE SHOW FOR MANY!” 

76 


EVENT 



EVENT 


Besides QRF were Acetech, showing off their 

latest targeting systems which included a very 

interesting omni-directional illuminating orb target 

which can register hits from basically anywhere, 

and more importantly is on a modular track system 

with separate track pieces being clipped together 

between two end sections that have contacts that 

register the end of travel and send the target truck 

back and forth, adding an interesting challenge and 

yet more modularity and adaptability to their already 

popular APP driven system of targets. Also on display 

was their impressive QUARK tracer unit. This may 

seem like a bit of a niche product at release due to 

its inclusion in a specifically modelled outer casing 

which makes it proprietary to the KSG gas shotgun (it 

matches the front end geometry and stylisation of this 

platform well), despite it being a less prevalent gun, 

but knowing Acetech it’s a bold move and technology 

demonstrator to signal the arrival of a shotgun tracer 

unit that will no doubt be made more mainstream 

and likely as a separate module in the same vein as 

their existing pistol and rifle compatible lines, allowing 

other third parties to produce silencers or housings to 

adapt the technology to myriad other platforms. 

COOL FOR OLD SKOOL 

On the other side of the wall was a long display stand 

and gun wall featuring an array of offerings both old 

and new from our good friends at LCT Airsoft. This 

year’s centrepiece was a trio of their Christmas 2021 

announced Dragunov SVD AEG; available in both 

traditional wood and modern polymer furniture, and 

with bipods also in production, this was definitely 

a highlight for me! Having owned the Real Sword 

version back in the UK I was very interested to see 

how their imagining stacked up. It felt familiar, to be 

sure, but the execution of course has LCT’s signature 

obsessive attention to both detail and functionality. 

I’m sure Dan, our US contributor, who also runs the 

Real Sword version can attest to the mind-numbing 

misery of trying to tinker with it and having to 

dismantle the entire damned gun around the gearbox, 

something I did fifteen times the first night I had mine 

to downgrade the power to reasonable levels. 

Well, LCT have added the creature comfort of 

a quick-change spring system to enable much less 

painful modification of their own offering. They also 

had on display an example of the receiver in both its 

final form, but also how it begins its life, as a near 4 

kilogram lump of forged steel. Yes. Their obsession 

with realism has now extended to the manufacturing 

process as well… just like you’ll find in a real steel 

factory, a lump of metal is pounded into a general 

shaped forging and then heavily CNC processed to 

remove a massive amount of the material to provide 

a perfect replication of the real gun’s production 

method and durability. They also announced a second 

generation upgrade which will follow the completion 

of their initial run of a thousand or so units, with 

the factory inclusion of a MOSFET system which 

allows for prodigious trigger response that they were 

demonstrating during their livestream show, and 

of course being LCT the external dimensions are as 

close to perfect as possible, so if you have real PSO- 

1 or other suitable Russian optics, they will fit right 

on just as the real examples they had on their display 

examples did. 

Further product lines were also announced in the 

form of more derivatives of their AK lines, including a 

very nice looking all stainless steel finished AKM that 

took the fancy of my teammate who’s already an avid 

fan of his own LK74 that he’s regularly seen fielding, 

and I got hands on with numerous different models 

including the LK53 HK SAS derivative carbine which 

was a very handy but sturdy package, among their 

other sterling offerings. I also had the chance to finally 

meet the lovely Benita, the face of their LCT Fresh 

YouTube channel, and discuss plans for a factory tour 

the week after the show, so watch out for a much 

more in depth company profile Island Insider article 

coming soon! 

Over the other side of the main corridor was a 

similarly imposing stand sporting the latest goods 

from our friends at VegaForceCompany (VFC) with 

their typical panache and presentation standards in 

full force, their tidy looking display units emblazoned 

with their latest high grade showstoppers were 

flanked by an attack buggy sporting a bunch of their 

own heavy weapons offerings, as well as presenting 

an obvious photo opportunity and an impressive gate 

guardian for the front entrance. 

Alongside their somewhat epic Mk48 AEG LMG 

that I got hands on with in great detail and tested for 

your adoring eyes in our March issue No. 135, they 

were also displaying their M110K1 Semi-Automatic 

Sniper System (SASS) replica which has all the latest 

“ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WALL WAS A LONG DISPLAY STAND AND GUN WALL FEATURING 

AN ARRAY OF OFFERINGS BOTH OLD AND NEW FROM OUR GOOD FRIENDS AT LCT AIRSOFT. 

THIS YEAR’S CENTREPIECE WAS A TRIO OF THEIR CHRISTMAS 2021 ANNOUNCED DRAGUNOV 

SVD AEG” 

78 


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trimmings such as their much appreciated guide-hop 

adjustment system as well as an ultra-durable surface 

finish in flat dark earth which I was discussing with 

Ryan from their team at length, along with many 

other products and manufacturing techniques and 

woes – when engineers meet… 

Their BCM Air AEG & GBBRs still took centrestage 

with a huge display wall footed with a table of 

examples of both, as well as one of the separate stand 

units displaying all of the currently available additional 

BCM licensed accessories such as front handguards 

and grips, as well as their compact carry M1911 

and the larger full framed IDPA branded variant. To 

the front of the stand in an amusingly presented 

‘emergency break glass’ style case was an array of 

VFC’s own Carl Gustaf M3 offering which is entirely 

separate to the PAF version and has a different system 

of unitised ammunition and firing mechanism, with 

numerous shells and tubes also adorning the front 

of the attack buggy which also had Mk48s mounted 

on the roof and side seat with some very interesting 

mounting systems, it was certainly an impressive 

display of arms. 

Of course the majority of people attending and 

watching remotely were best pleased to see not 

only their announcement of the first of no doubt 

boundless possibilities for retro AR carbines in the 

form of their Colt Commando M733, but also to hear 

that their much awaited LAR/FAL GBBR should be with 

us before the end of the year, likely just after the midyear 

point. What’s that screaming? Oh. The sound of 

my wallet! It’s going to be an expensive birthday gun 

season for me this year… 

Alongside a good conversation with Ryan I also 

managed to finally get around to introducing myself 

to the top man Vega himself and elaborated on our 

activities and desire to provide more inside coverage 

of what each company is about and what they are 

looking to bring to market and the end user and 

how; hopefully we can find time to make that happen 

too… 

Modify occupied the other corner of the marquee 

with their well-presented booth; of course their 

ASG licensed Steyr Scout was centre-stage for them, 

with great sales and reception reported already 

(and a number of our own AA Legionnaires and my 

teammates investing in their own) they clearly got 

that one right, but nonetheless have released the Elite 

variant with an ultra-fine adjustment dial wheel hop 

unit as well as enlarged magazine and well, and a full 

length uninterrupted picatinny rail system to avoid 

any scope mounting issues of the original layout. 

Beyond that, their existing range of XTC AEGs will 

also be joined by further AR variants building off the 

same solid internals they made their name developing, 

while their flagship MOD24 bolt action sniper and 

gas blowback PP2K and its OTS carbine variants were 

also on display. I got to chat with Jane and Nelson for 

a while and even went over some feedback from my 

personal experiences of the PP2K (covered back in 

March 2021 Issue No. 123) as well as realising it’s in 

fact been over four years since I first visited them for 

TacticalTwo, and I should really schedule another site 

tour and update article for Airsoft Action. Eyes peeled. 

Opposite Modify and the other side of the wall 

to VFC was everyone’s favourite power couple; 

Clarence Lai and his partner in crime Katherine were 

showcasing the latest in his and hers holster and 

belt gear for competition revolver division use, with 

magnetic retention spindles to hold CLPD custom 

moon clips in either double or even six clip belt kit 

setups, as well as moulded holsters for 4” and 6” 

wheel guns, all making use of Blade Tech attachment 

hardware to allow for fairly industry standard cross 

compatibility and ease of attachment. The moon 

clips themselves are of all steel construction to avoid 

the denting and resultant misfeeding typical of other 

brands which are inevitable when they are dropped 

during competition usage, thus ensuring your 

continued pain free usage. 

Of course of greatest interest to myself was the 

continued expansion of the ASG licensed KJ Works 

CZ75 Shadow SP01 and Shadow 2 line of accessories, 

being that it’s where my own competition shooting 

love lies; with nearly all the components complete and 

bestowed upon me to completely refit my own ageing 

example, expect me to be singing their praises soon, 

while the new top slides are also available in optics 

cut ready variants to sport the likes of SHIELD red dot 

sights for use in production optics or perhaps open 

division depending on what’s available in your local 

club or circuit. 

While I was hanging around the booth the room 

was once again lit up by the arrival of local influencer 

and shooter ‘Military’ Anny Wu, who was mentioning 

her envy of our competitive pistol exploits and who 

“THEIR MUCH AWAITED LAR/FAL GBBR SHOULD BE WITH US BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR, 

LIKELY JUST AFTER THE MID-YEAR POINT. WHAT’S THAT SCREAMING? OH. THE SOUND OF MY 

WALLET! IT’S GOING TO BE AN EXPENSIVE BIRTHDAY GUN SEASON FOR ME THIS YEAR…” 

80 


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I was very much imploring to take up a Shadow 2 

and come and join as well; presented in civilian garb 

and even short heels for the first time in all my years 

knowing her she was standing almost as tall as me 

and obviously looking much nicer behind the guns, so 

hopefully we’ll see more of her running and gunning 

sooner rather than later. 

Sharing CLPD’s stand was also local outfit Narcos 

Airsoft. Fronted by ‘JeffTheKid’ one of our local 

YouTube personalities who presents testing of 

guns, he also produvces his own custom line of 

components, particularly for the Action Army AAP- 

01 in the form of custom grip panels, entire lower 

frames and upper accessories, as well as HiCapa 

slides and even custom GBBR M1 Garand en bloc 

clips which give you a better ‘ping’ sound than the 

originals thanks to his material selection and geometry 

modifications. 

THE GREAT OUTDOORS 

With the main hall pretty much covered in the first 

day or so I ventured outside and braved the elements 

to see the militaria and independent stalls; next to 

the main marquee the local armed forces of both 

the RoC Army and Marines were displaying some of 

their vehicles and equipment with their Para jumping 

SF in full digital camouflage garb and a variety of 

paraphernalia on offer as well as videos of their 

training regimes playing. 

Across the other side of the campsite was an array 

of independent sellers and smaller scale outfits. In 

particular I spent some time at Poseidon’s stall being 

briefed in depth by their engineer Fred on their 

latest Glock compatible accessories and full turnkey 

solutions in the form of their Orion pistols which 

have a hidden select fire option actuated by sliders 

underneath the rear of the top slide that avoids the 

typical Glock 18C selector lever that can cause issues 

with holsters or carbine kits, and their ‘engine’ system 

has an enclosed bottom to avoid excessive wear on 

the gas and ammunition feed nozzle that prevents 

damage. 

Their adaptor systems for use with Glock or Hi 

Capa magazines and pistols allow the SpeedQB 

oriented crowd as well as Gel Blaster users to have 

higher capacity AR format magazines as well as HPA 

adaptor routing for their pistols. I also checked out 

their partners CSI and their futuristic looking AEG 

platforms very reminiscent of Tom Cruise’s ‘Oblivion’ 

film and its featured carbine, as well as an innovative 

power tool like interchangeable battery compartment 

handguard which allows rapid changeover of standard 

LiPo batteries held inside them, but also features an 

electronic LED power level readout-built in. 

FACETIME! 

Over the course of the three days I also helped out 

administering the livestream feed system, which was 

making use of a mixture of Google Meets and Twitch 

streaming, featuring presentations from Modify, PAF 

Airsoft, VFC (yes, Bill and Ray were on at it again, 

especially about the new 1911 Ultra Carry… so much 

“bro love” right there!), Archwick, LCT Airsoft, CLPD 

and Northeast and saw folks from the UK including 

our own Bill, Vic from popular Airsoft, Tom of 

AATV and Ben of The English Kiwi tuning in to field 

questions following the presentations; it’s always a 

pleasure to see people, even if it has to be “virtual” 

for the moment… hopefully not for long! 

After surviving on a diet of ice cream, M&Ms, 

coffee and beer for the best part of the weekend 

we quickly broke down the Archwick stall as soon 

as the livestreams were done with and along with 

the majority of other exhibitors said our goodbyes 

and congratulations for everyone’s great efforts 

and cleared site, Nelson and I grabbing dinner after 

dropping off all of the equipment back at Archwick 

HQ. 

Once again I’d like to extend my thanks to Eric and 

his team for enduring all the hardships to put on such 

a good show, and to all our industry partners and 

firm friends for showing up and making such superb 

presentations of so many exciting new products! 

Lots to be done… AA 

“AFTER SURVIVING ON A DIET OF ICE CREAM, M&MS, COFFEE AND BEER FOR THE BEST 

PART OF THE WEEKEND WE QUICKLY BROKE DOWN THE ARCHWICK STALL AS SOON AS THE 

LIVESTREAMS WERE DONE WITH AND ALONG WITH THE MAJORITY OF OTHER EXHIBITORS 

SAID OUR GOODBYES” 

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COMING 

IN EARLY 

2022!

EVENT 

ACTION AIR TAIWAN 

THE HAND 

YOU’RE 

DEALT! 

ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER CHALLENGE! 2022 IS ALREADY… A COMPLICATED YEAR THUS FAR, FOR MANY 

PEOPLE AND FOR MANY REASONS. FOR STEWBACCA IT’S ALREADY OFF TO A VERY BUSY START IN TERMS OF 

A MENAGERIE OF SPINNING PLATES OF INTERESTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES, TRYING HIS BEST TO MAKE TIME 

FOR ALL THE THINGS HE WANTS TO DO AND ALL THOSE HE HAS TO! 

Work-work has been throwing some 

curveballs at me to juggle and I’m just 

churning through my final contract before 

I can apply for permanent residency here in Taiwan 

and be less beholden to my present day job and more 

capable of spending time on the stuff I enjoy doing, 

namely designing, testing and writing about airsoft 

guns and accessories, and training in competitive 

shooting to put my skill sets to use. 

So having made those excuses for my own 

lacklustre performance compared to my overall second 

place last year… how was the first Shooting Centre 

Shooting Cup of this year? As with last year we will 

have three competitions on home turf that my team, 

Setup Practical Project Team, and Team Yamars, share 

our training ground in West Taipei, with separate 

prizes for each individual competition heat, and an 

overall score aggregated from the heats combined, 

with further heats planned for August and November 

time as per last year. 

In terms of my own training I’d had an entire 

month of missed sessions due to short term private 

lessons running late into the evenings; Chinese New 

Year shutdowns and design work during my Tuesdays 

off eat into my training times in general, all of which 

means I tend to only make Friday sessions to practise 

stages without focusing on the speed and accuracy 

drill training we usually cover on Tuesday sessions. 

So, going into the competition I felt somewhat 

underprepared and didn’t ‘snap into it’ like last time 

where I heard the buzzer and went ‘man possessed’ 

with the high speed target drilling of targets. 

Nonetheless, it’s all a great learning experience, 

and many of my compatriots from my own team and 

others had similar feelings of lacking in their skills 

or performances, with some just having bad days or 

situational things like equipment failures or fumbling 

reloads which ate into otherwise excellent stage 

times and runs. Regardless of my malaise and others, 

we all seemed to be getting back into the swing of 

things after a somewhat dire year in 2021 due to 

COVID cancellations of one of the three heats, as well 

as the Penghu island shoot and other competitions 

elsewhere in Taiwan. Indeed it seems as of late the 

Shooting Centre Cup has been the only game in 

town! 

All that said, on Sunday March the 13th we 

all rose fairly early into a very bright and sunny 

“IN TERMS OF MY OWN TRAINING I’D HAD AN ENTIRE MONTH OF MISSED SESSIONS DUE TO 

SHORT TERM PRIVATE LESSONS RUNNING LATE INTO THE EVENINGS; CHINESE NEW YEAR 

SHUTDOWNS AND DESIGN WORK DURING MY TUESDAYS OFF EAT INTO MY TRAINING TIMES 

IN GENERAL” 

86 


EVENT 


morning (- somewhat of a trend I have found, for 

our competition days) and I’m always sweating by 

the time I even get to the shooting centre as every 

time it seems to coincide with a searing weekend! 

Functioning as usual on a mix of caffeine, M&Ms and 

adrenaline, I signed in around 09:00 and we began 

prepping our equipment, donning our belt rigs, pistols 

and loading & gassing up magazines, as well as our 

individual shooter number cards. 

With this competition, as with the tail end of last 

year, we had reduced numbers to around 20 shooters 

total following earlier competitions where two 

groups of that size had to be dealt with, so again we 

managed to fit everyone into one sitting so to speak, 

albeit still split into two squads to undertake medium 

stage 1 and short stages 2 and 3 in the now typical 

format of the morning half of the shoot, arranged in 

three bays along the length of the upstairs training 

room. 

WALKING THE PLANK 

Squad one,- with my team SPPT, and Team Spring 

Rain visiting from their training ground in central 

Taipei, as well as a handful of independent shooters, 

took on Stage 1 first. This was the longest of the 

first three stages; six papers, one with a no-shoot 

obstruction, five poppers, and the ending plate. 

Seventeen shots total, 85 points available, and starting 

in condition one, mag in and a 

BB chambered, on-safe but ready 

to rock on the draw! 

All sounds simple enough 

right? James Zhou, who 

along with the centre owner 

and operator Chris Leung is 

responsible for hosting and 

planning the event, had warned 

me on our final practice session 

the Friday night before that none 

of the stages were particularly 

long range, but nonetheless 

were not easy by any measure. 

Always a foreboding omen… 

Stage 1 involved ‘walking the 

plank’ during any movement; 

with an inverted Y arrangement 

of quadruple laterally stacked 

wooden batons tie-wrapped 

together in composite planks end to end, and 

shooting had to be done from a stationary position 

anywhere along these, with procedural errors and 

penalties for every instance of the shooter’s feet 

touching the floor… this took me back to the old 

‘shark infested custard’ command tasks of my cadet 

days, but with shooting and balance alongside a time 

constraint thrown in. 

I started off fairly well, straddling the neck of the 

inverted Y and taking out the paper and twin poppers 

on the left quite slickly, then moving right with my 

fire taking out the central popper in the rear bay at 

the foot of the Y, and on to twin papers in the centre 

right, then having to crab shuffle my huge canoe feet 

carefully along the planks to get the twin poppers and 

single papers visible from the far right position, before 

cheesing it back the way I came and damn near falling 

into the rear bay to engage the rear right hand paper, 

and sweeping left to the final no-shoot obstructed 

paper and ending plate next to it. 

17.36 seconds, 16 alphas, one charlie. Very happy 

with the marksmanship aspect of things, but I was 

just slow and shaky; I was admittedly, the first shooter 

called on to undertake it, so I guess I was showing 

people how not to do it as such? Sharp shooting, but 

slow moving, only 3 of the 21 shooters were slower 

than me. At least I shot well and didn’t get DQ’d, I 

guess! 

“STAGE 1 INVOLVED ‘WALKING THE PLANK’ DURING ANY MOVEMENT; WITH AN INVERTED 

Y ARRANGEMENT OF QUADRUPLE LATERALLY STACKED WOODEN BATONS TIE-WRAPPED 

TOGETHER IN COMPOSITE PLANKS END TO END, AND SHOOTING HAD TO BE DONE FROM A 

STATIONARY POSITION ANYWHERE ALONG THESE” 


EVENT 


THE HAND YOU’RE DEALT 

Stage 3 was next for us, as the remaining members 

of squad 2 filtered through Stage 2 before moving 

to Stage 1 we’d just vacated. This was one of the 

typically fun and interesting creations of James & 

Chris; four papers, three no-shoot obstructions, two 

poppers, and the ending plate. Ten shots total, 50 

points available, and starting in condition one with the 

shooter beginning seated at a table, gun stored within 

either the left or right bounding boxes taped onto the 

table, with a handful of playing cards taped together 

as a prop in hand, elbows off the table. When the 

starting buzzer goes, you angrily and indignantly 

throw your cards on the table (but don’t let them hit 

the floor, that’s a procedural error!) grab your gun and 

get to work, standing and moving into the stage if 

you so choose, I myself worked from the rear of the 

table given my height advantage. 

To the left was a high paper target, a low paper 

target obstructed by a no-shoot, with two poppers 

on the floor in the middle rear of the stage, the left of 

which activated a left-right sliding non-disappearing 

target on a trolley, with a further low no-shoot 

obstructed paper on the right centre and a far right 

no-shoot which the moving target came to rest 

partially obstructed behind, should you miss it during 

transit. This one was a very rapid and enjoyable stage 

with many of the competitors jockeying for the most 

ridiculously rapid shootout time, with ‘Tom Lau the 

machine gun from Macau’ laying down everything 

in a hair over 4 seconds! My own time was a more 

modest 6.32 seconds, but again all clean aside from 

a single Charlie, which was not on the moving target, 

strangely enough.. I really seem to drill A-Zones better 

when the targets are trying to run away, perhaps a 

holdover from all those years spent skirmishing! 

That felt fast at the time, but I was second from last 

overall on speed it seems; again, the competition is 

increasingly stiff especially with some people having 

a penchant for moving around divisions between 

competitions, or the attendees varying from time to 

time. I think I lucked out with an easy time last time 

somehow, or I just haven’t been putting in enough 

time to shave off the precious seconds with all my 

focus on chasing perfection in terms of tight groups 

and accuracy. 

TAKE A KNEE! 

Stage 2, shot third by us, was undoubtedly the 

slowest and worst performance of the day for me, 

as it was just deliberately awkward given my height 

and difficulty with my knees. Four papers, two with 

no-shoot obstructions, two poppers, and the ending 

plate; ten shots total, 50 points available, and starting 

in condition three. Starting on a wooden plate to 

the right centre of the bay, the shooter had to run 

rearwards and left to behind a table where their pistol 

was stowed inside a closed clamshell box; you had to 

retrieve and load it, as well as bust open twin swing 

open doors above this table to get sights on the 

targets in the main bay 

behind. 

However the noshoot 

obstructed 

swinging target on the 

mid-right of the main 

bay was activated by 

a dropping popper 

on the right outside 

of the bay within a 

short and narrow 

window, with a further 

popper and high paper 

target on the right 

of the main bay, but 

most awkwardly, a 

further front centre 

paper which was only 

“WHEN THE STARTING BUZZER GOES, YOU ANGRILY AND INDIGNANTLY THROW YOUR CARDS 

ON THE TABLE (BUT DON’T LET THEM HIT THE FLOOR, THAT’S A PROCEDURAL ERROR!) GRAB 

YOUR GUN AND GET TO WORK, STANDING AND MOVING INTO THE STAGE IF YOU SO CHOOSE, 

I MYSELF WORKED FROM THE REAR OF THE TABLE GIVEN MY HEIGHT ADVANTAGE.” 

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accessible by getting down and sighting under the 

table through a shooting window there, hence my 

snail pace getting on my knees and accurately letting 

off two rounds into this paper target before shooting 

the activator popper on the right outside, as well as 

the high paper at the rear right and standing up to 

clear everything in the main bay before swinging out 

right to get the ending plate! 

14.04 seconds, 8 alphas, one charlie and one miss/ 

failure to neutralise; that happened to a few people 

on the left obscured popper and Tom even got a 

reshoot after a calibration shot. I should have piped 

up and asked for the 

same previously during 

my turn I suppose, 

but I hadn’t thought 

about it at the time as 

such; I guess I got JJ 

Racazza’d eh? 6th out 

of 9 production division 

shooters on this stage, 

not the slowest at least, 

and would have been 

higher on points if it 

wasn’t for the popper 

fail. Such is life. 

With everyone 

cycled through the first 

three stages we took 

our customary midsession 

lunch break 

and went across the 

road for Italian food 

before chilling out 

with ice creams and 

energy drinks in the 

7-11 nearby while the 

guys re-set the shooting 

centre for the fourth 

stage after lunch. 

KILLING HOUSE 

We returned after a 

good feeding feeling 

somewhat more at 

ease having digested 

both lunch and our 

performance and 

problems in the stages 

beforehand. The fourth and longest stage was the 

now typical monstrosity that filled the entire running 

floor of the shooting centre. For this competition it 

was a ‘killing house’ style multi-bay run-around with 

a rectangular ring of fault lines to run within, around 

the central main bays section, as well as cutting 

through in front of the separate rear bay at the far 

end. 

Twelve papers, two with no-shoot obstructions, 

eight poppers, and the ending plate. Thirty two shots 

total, 160 points available, and starting in condition 

“THE FOURTH AND LONGEST STAGE WAS THE NOW TYPICAL MONSTROSITY THAT FILLED 

THE ENTIRE RUNNING FLOOR OF THE SHOOTING CENTRE. FOR THIS COMPETITION IT WAS 

A ‘KILLING HOUSE’ STYLE MULTI-BAY RUN-AROUND WITH A RECTANGULAR RING OF FAULT 

LINES TO RUN WITHIN...” 


EVENT 


one. The shooter began on a wooden plate outside 

the centre rear of the ring of fault lines, and had to 

step into the lines before firing, as well as informing 

the range officers whether they’re going clockwise or 

counterclockwise around the course to enable them to 

plan their movements accordingly. 

I went immediately left before running the course 

counter-clockwise, with the dreaded prison bars 

covering twin paper targets in the front centre, as well 

as mirrored side bays left and right with high, noshoot 

obstructed medium and swinging papers, the 

latter being activated by poppers next to each. The 

trick being that some of these papers were accessible 

more closely by gaps in the barricades down either 

side, but more importantly diagonal poppers on each 

side that forced you to stop and at least engage them 

if not some of the papers, depending on the shooter’s 

choice. 

The rear bay 

comprised two pairs of 

diagonally accessible 

papers on opposite 

corners, as well as 

four poppers in a line 

underneath a tent of 

barricades that were 

only accessible by once 

again taking a knee 

and shooting through a 

low port. After this the 

shooter had to return 

up the other side of the 

course and get that final 

diagonal popper and 

any papers they hadn’t 

already, as well as the 

end plate; I thankfully 

could get this from 

the side bay due to my 

longer reach, some had 

to run all the way back 

to the front bay to get 

eyes on it, so finally, my 

height and gangliness 

was useful again. 

Once again they 

called me up first to 

tackle this, so I set the 

mood I guess, 33.11 

seconds felt fast at the 

time, but again I ended 

up sliding down the 

pack as everyone else 

got their attempts in; I 

did shoot fairly clean again, 24 alphas, 5 charlies, one 

miss (those damned prison bars getting in the way of 

my BBs!) and one no-shoot (those damned civilians 

getting in the way of my BBs!), but at least I made 

up for the no shoot with a further alpha as I saw my 

hit and realised I had to take a further shot to avoid 

additional miss penalties. 

GONE SIDEWAYS! 

So, with everyone cycling through the fourth stage 

we once again broke down the barricades and targets 

and they were rearranged to the fifth and final stage 

of the competition. Again this was to be a reasonably 

short stage, both in terms of physical shooting 

distance and the time spent on it, with the stage 

comprising parallel fault lines left to right to move 

90 


EVENT 


within, only allowing for sideways progression through 

the stage, with four large barricades at the front 

providing three separate shooting windows between 

them to engage the targets through before moving 

to the next, with some wide transitions required 

to ensure all targets hidden around the stage were 

engaged. 

Nine papers, two with no-shoot obstructions, five 

poppers, and the ending plate. Twenty three shots 

total, 115 points available, and starting in condition 

three. The shooter began on a wooden plate in 

the centre rear of the fault lines, before choosing a 

direction to head whilst initially drawing and loading 

to minimise time and movement. 

This was at least a relatively simple affair and 

my gangly arms and legs had no bearing on my 

performance as such thanks to the lack of physical 

obstacles and minimal movement during the 

shooting! 20.82 seconds, 11 alphas, 7 charlies, so 

a bit of a mixed bag in terms of shots on paper, but 

nothing terrible happened at least; my speed put me 

around a third from the bottom of the overall pack, 

and actually 4th out of the 9 in production division, 

my best performance of the day, having spent the 

other 5 stages in 2nd, 3rd or 4th from the bottom of 

my division. 

With everyone wrapped up on that we broke 

down all the barricades and targets and tidied the 

place up ready for the finalisation of the results and 

their announcement. In the production division, the 

previous champion Zhou TingYu of Team Yamars 

ended up taking 3rd place, with Spring Rain’s ‘Bear’ 

Jan DengXiong taking second place having decided 

to run in our division this time instead 

of open (he had a bit of a bad reload 

in the first stage that scuppered 

and otherwise great run); he took 

champion in open last year, but 

running a stock Glock with production 

division 15 round magazines! The 

championship this round was secured 

by his Spring Rain teammate Zheng 

JiaHua who I’ve recently seen has been 

working on his fitness as well as his 

shooting a lot, judging by his social 

media feeds, so clearly his hard work 

has clearly paid off! I should probably 

follow suit… 

Standard division saw our own Dan 

DingXuan of SPPT take 3rd place, with 

recent newcomer from Hong Kong 

Cheng JiXiu taking second place and 

Tsai YuQi of Team Yamars taking the 

championship; a sterling performance from them all 

and some very fast shooting in their division indeed. 

Du HsinPin, also of Team Yamars, once again flew the 

flag for fast shooters of the fairer sex adeptly, taking 

ladies standard champion. 

Finally for open division; our own team leader 

‘Mars’ Liu HanLin took 3rd place, Team Yamars’ ‘Jacky’ 

Hou BoXian took 2nd place, while ‘Tom’ Lau JiaYu 

took the championship spot; I’ve nicknamed him “the 

machine gun from Macau” as a result of his ridiculous 

trigger speed that makes it sound like he’s running full 

auto! He at least has youth on his side and remains 

fast on his feet; an excellent performance and that reshoot 

was clearly justifiable and ensured his deserved 

success! 

Congratulations once again to all the champions 

and runners up from each division, and many 

thanks as always to the excellent and good natured 

range officer team from Taiwan Practical Shooting 

Association who always keep things moving forward 

safely, effectively and in a well humoured manner. 

Now I guess I need to take the time to finally detail 

strip, clean out, refinish and re-assemble my muchabused 

KJWorks CZ75 Shadow 2 and install all the 

goodies Clarence Lai of CLPD has gifted me to try 

out; maybe a fresh look for that, and the apparently 

pending new SPPT team uniforms, will encourage me 

to get my backside in a higher gear again! All that of 

course will be the subject of maintenance videos and 

photos as well as no doubt a RELOADED article about 

the upgrades made available by Clarence following my 

feedback and gripes about the stock Shadow 2. 

Until next time, fellow shooters! AA 


EVENT 


92 


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RETAILERS PERSPECTIVE 

THRIVING, 

NOT JUST 

SURVIVING! 

FOLLOWING ON FROM THE ARTICLE ON THE RISE OF DEDICATED DISTRIBUTORS IN THE UK, INDUSTRY- 

VETERAN FRENCHIE SPENT THE INTERVENING PERIOD SPEAKING WITH TWO OF OUR MOST ESTABLISHED 

RETAILERS IN THE UK TO FIND OUT WHAT THE STATE OF THE INDUSTRY IS IN 2022, AND HOW THAT HAS 

CHANGED IN THE PAST FEW YEARS. 

As you might expect there’s an element of plus 

ca change, plus c’est la même chose. 

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and their operating models vary quite a bit. Some like 

to buy in bulk and sell as competitively as possible, 

in the process tying themselves into a core range of 

products simply because they have loads of them. 

Others tend to be a bit more selective about what 

they sell, adopting a quality over quantity approach. 

Just like retailers across all sectors, there is no wrong 

or right way to do this. 

I spoke at some length with two retailers, 

Landwarrior Airsoft based near Edinburgh, and 

Firesupport who are situated in Peterborough. Both 

have been in the business for years, both have steered 

their businesses through law changes, Covid and 

Brexit. The stories they told were interesting and quite 

different. 

Given My proximity to LWA I was able to visit and 

chat, Firesupport was sadly too far for a quick round 

trip! Frank and I exchanged emails instead. I was 

interested in how Brexit and Covid had affected them, 

expecting these to be major issues. It turns out that 

neither had as much impact as I suspected. 

What changes have you noticed over the past 

decade? 

FS: Lots more manufacturers, Lots more game sites 

and lots more small airsoft retail businesses mainly 

as a result of easy access to wholesale products in 

the UK facilitated by the appearance of UK located 

distributors. 

LWA: Interestingly, LWA are seeing an increase in the 

competitive speedsoft side of the sport as opposed to 

the more ‘traditional’ re-enactment style of play which 

we all know. (When I get the chance I’ll explore that 

further. Airsoft Action has had a look at this side of 

the sport previously and try to find out why this might 

be). 

Have buying habits changed? 

LWA: We’ve seen a major change in people’s buying 

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FEATURE 


habits. It is much rarer for 

us to see one-off large value 

purchases but this has been 

more than compensated by an 

increased number of repeated 

smaller purchases. 

FS: Not particularly 

Has the nature of products 

being bought changed? 

FS: We are seeing more players 

wanting to tweak their guns to make them a bit more 

unique. 

LWA: Because of the diversification that’s happened 

over the past years, we offer a range of products that 

go beyond ‘traditional’ airsofting gear. So yes, we are 

seeing increasing sales of things like the Umarex T4E 

range and firearm related products, whilst also seeing 

an overall increase in sales volumes for purely airsoft 

related gear. 

This one may be a bit anecdotal but – do you 

think individual players are still importing guns 

and gear as was the case some years back? 

LWA: Certainly not from the EU! It used to be as easy 

to buy from Poland as it was to buy from Portsmouth, 

but that has changed dramatically. There will still be a 

few diehards out there, but we doubt it’s many. 

FS: There are no doubt some but we don’t think the 

numbers were ever that significant; certainly we never 

worried about them impacting our business. 

Is the market stronger than it was? 

FS: In our view it found its level around 2018 and has 

been steady since then. 

LWA: It had been steady for some years but postlockdown 

we have seen a significant and sustained 

increase, predominantly in the airsoft side of the 

company. 

SUPPLIERS 

Have you changed the way you source products, 

either because you chose to or because 

circumstances have forced changes? 

Both: No, not really (See the comments below from 

LWA about reduced manufacturing output). 

Are you still importing as much as you used to, 

either from the EU or beyond? 

LWA: The airsoft industry has always imported 

the majority of its stock and that hasn’t changed. 

We import a lot from one of the major suppliers 

in Europe; that has as much to do with particular 

product lines, which we also distribute within the UK 

market. 

FS: In a word? Yes. 

Has the rise of distributors like Nuprol, and the 

presence of ASG in the UK altered your supply 

chain? 

Both: Not massively. ASG has had a market presence 

for decades and their products still have to be 

imported from Denmark to the UK. Wholesalers like 

Nuprol make it easier to source some product lines 

within the UK, but the airsoft industry has long been 

used to importing, mainly from the Far East. 

FS noted that UK-based wholesalers made it easier 

for new companies to enter the market since supplies 

were local and generally not subject to minimum 

orders. 

BREXIT 

Has the UK’s departure from the EU forced 

changes that you otherwise might not have 

made to your business? 

LWA: It seems to have driven an increase in business! 

Whether that is down to the products we stock or the 

increased difficulties involved in importing goods from 

the EU we can’t say. 

FS: Frankly it hasn’t altered our business, supply lines 

or market to any appreciable degree. 

“ASG HAS HAD A MARKET PRESENCE FOR DECADES AND THEIR PRODUCTS STILL HAVE TO 

BE IMPORTED FROM DENMARK TO THE UK. WHOLESALERS LIKE NUPROL MAKE IT EASIER 

TO SOURCE SOME PRODUCT LINES WITHIN THE UK, BUT THE AIRSOFT INDUSTRY HAS LONG 

BEEN USED TO IMPORTING, MAINLY FROM THE FAR EAST.” 


FEATURE 


COVID 

While the pandemic will hopefully be a one-off 

(eventually) how did it affect you as a business 

and has it led to changes which are likely to 

persist well beyond it? 

FS: We made changes to our shop hours in light of 

our experiences, but that’s about it. 

LWA: Twitchy bottom time at the start of the 

first lockdown, but in fact we found that sales 

remained healthy despite players having very limited 

opportunities to use their gear. We suspect that those 

on furlough actually had a bit of spare cash to put 

into their interests as they weren’t carrying the costs 

associated with getting to and from work. 

THE FUTURE 

Do you have any concerns as to the future 

viability of airsoft as a business? 

FS: Nothing in particular beyond the expected 

competition within the market. There is only so much 

pie there and we’re all fighting for our slice. 

LWA: The next ten years, aside from supply issues 

and reduced production across the board I think 

the number of players and game fields will steadily 

increase. I don’t see any reason for it reducing so 

long as Call of Duty type games keep appearing 

to pique an interest. We’ve seen big reductions in 

manufacturing, with the likes of Classic Army, G&P 

and Real Sword slowing output. I doubt any new 

manufacturers will appear either, but then how many 

new AR15s can we need? 

As always we’re only a law change away from 

things being illegal which is always a mild concern but 

I think the future is bright. 

SUMMING UP 

Unsurprisingly there is a lot of common ground 

between the two companies, and knowing the 

two companies and the people behind them, I 

can see where the differences might emerge. The 

general opinion is upbeat. Both expect to see airsoft 

continuing and growing. 

LWA distributes Umarex in the UK and have 

been handling a lot of their paintball equipment, in 

particular the T4E range, in addition to their airsoft 

offerings. This is proving to be exceptionally popular 

although it’s been a bit of a slow burner. One of the 

collateral results of this is an increase in the number of 

other paintball retailers who are becoming interested 

in airsoft, and vice versa. Firesupport has remained 

wholly dedicated to airsoft and continues to carry an 

extensive range of replacement and upgrade parts. 

Both companies serve the same airsoft community 

in slightly different ways; this has been the case for 

many years. 

I was genuinely surprised that neither Brexit nor the 

pandemic seemed to have been as dramatic interludes 

as I expected. 

Looking at Brexit, I realised that as mentioned by 

both companies, importing is a way of life, and the 

vast majority of that comes and historically has come, 

from outside the EU. This trade would be unaffected 

by Brexit and the changing relationship between 

Britain and the EU, in fact the effects were more 

obvious as far as trade from the UK to Europe was 

concerned. In part that has been adversely affected 

by the massive increase in shipping costs which have 

arisen on the back of the pandemic and aren’t being 

helped by the price of oil these days. LWA has one 

major European supplier in Umarex, but it will be 

no surprise that a global player is capable of quickly 

responding to changes in regulation. 

Covid simply doesn’t seem to have affected either 

company in the way I think most of us would have 

imagined. The idea that sales would increase during 

a protracted period when sites were closed is rather 

counterintuitive however that seems to be what 

happened. In fairness, at the beginning of the first 

lockdown two years ago none of us could have 

foreseen a situation where the government would 

literally pay people to stay at home. It seems that 

some of that money has found its way to the retailers. 

I was surprised not to hear of more drama from 

both Firesupport and LWA. The last several years 

have been interesting on several levels and I suppose 

I expected to see that reflected in businesses. I have 

concluded that both retailers are sufficiently mature to 

weather the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, 

and while one shouldn’t draw definitive conclusions 

from such a small sample, it would seem that the 

sector is not just healthy but, in places, thriving!.AA 

“I HAVE CONCLUDED THAT BOTH RETAILERS ARE SUFFICIENTLY MATURE TO WEATHER THE 

SLINGS AND ARROWS OF OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE, AND WHILE ONE SHOULDN’T DRAW 

DEFINITIVE CONCLUSIONS FROM SUCH A SMALL SAMPLE, IT WOULD SEEM THAT THE SECTOR 

IS NOT JUST HEALTHY BUT, IN PLACES, THRIVING!” 

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last post 

TIME TO GET REAL! 

TIME TO 

GET REAL! 

WHILE HE WAS AT LANDWARRIOR A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO FRENCHIE WAS FORTUNATE TO BE ABLE TO 

SPEND SOME TIME ON THEIR “REAL STEEL” RANGE. THIS HAS BEEN IN PLACE FOR A FEW YEARS NOW 

AND REPRESENTS SOME OF THE DIVERSIFICATION THAT THE COMPANY HAS UNDERTAKEN OVER THE 

YEARS, AND FRENCHIE CERTAINLY MADE THE MOST OF IT, REFLECTING WITH HIS USUAL PANACHE ABOUT 

HOW TWO VASTLY DIFFERENT PARTS OF SHOOTING SPORTS CAN SIT COMFORTABLY SIDE BY SIDE… 

It’s a brave move, building a Home Office approved 

shooting range, and getting it through the system 

is no small undertaking! Add to that the fact that 

attracting shooters is not as simple as you might 

think, you might reasonably ask if this is a sensible 

direction to move in… As it turns out, good oldfashioned 

effort and word of mouth is paying off and 

both the range and the associated club are growing 

in popularity. I was surprised to learn that many 

airsofters were completely unaware that shooting was 

legal and available in the UK, but you know what they 

say about assumption! 

Since it’s been several years since I shot anything 

other than an airsoft gun, having some full-bore fun is 

worth writing about. A little background; between the 

age of (I think) 11 and now, I have shot shotguns, 

a full-bore rifle (a No 3 Lee Enfield), 

several full bore pistols and plenty 

of .22 calibre guns. I have also 

spent several years working for 

or 

as a Registered Firearms Dealer 

(RFD) and 

while I am aware of how little I know compared to 

many, this is not completely unknown territory for 

me. I understand how firearms work, I know how to 

handle them safely and what to expect when you pull 

the trigger. 

I was presented with three rifles to try; a Umarex 

416 in .22 Long Rifle (LR), a lever action AR-style 

9mm rifle with a sweet suppressor on it and a 

traditional lever-action carbine in .38 Special, an 

absolute cowboy classic. These are all calibres I have 

shot before, but both 9mm and .38 special were shot 

through pistols. Yes, it was quite a while ago. 

As the law currently stands in the UK, a self-loading 

rifle can only be in .22LR and must be at least 60 cm 

in length. The 416 meets those criteria easily and 

was the only semi-auto fired that day; although a 

little heavier than 

its airsoft cousins, 

the rifle would be 

nearly all airsofters. 

Fitted with a red 

dot sight only 

my varifocal 

glasses gave 

me any 

familiar to 

issues as I had 

to play chase the dot 

occasionally! Shooting a .22LR is always 

a pleasure. Although it’s a tiny round, it should be 

treated with as much respect as any other calibre. The 

human body is not designed to accommodate extra 

holes and the .22 is quite capable of creating them! 

On the other hand it delivers so little recoil that 

you could genuinely shoot this stuff all day; it’s also 

relatively cheap at a time when ammo prices seem to 

be rising constantly. The 416 was therefore a delight 

to use, easy to aim, easy to shoot and very easy to 

keep on target. 

Onto the 9mm lever action AR. This rifle was 

specifically designed to deal with the law which bans 

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LAST POST 

TIME TO GET REAL! 

self-loading rifles in centrefire calibres. The lever sits 

in front of the pistol grip and has to be cycled for 

each shot. This gun uses Glock magazines and as 

mentioned above has a substantial suppressor fitted. 

That notwithstanding hearing protection is absolutely 

mandatory, even the lowly .22 is bloody loud, 

especially in an enclosed space. Shooting is great fun 

but it’s not worth losing your hearing over. 

The trick with manually cycled guns is not to be too 

gentle with them; if you don’t work the action with a 

certain vigour you will have misfeeds and other issues. 

It took me a couple of rounds to feel comfortable with 

this rifle but once you get into the groove it’s great 

fun. What surprised me was how noticeable the recoil 

from the 9x19mm round was, even in a full-sized 

rifle. It wasn’t painful in any way, but I was aware of 

each shot as it went downrange. Having shot a 9mm 

handgun years ago, I remember thinking at the time 

that my Webley air pistol had more kick! 

The final rifle was the lever action Winchester-style 

carbine. No red dots here! I was surprised just how 

compact this gun was, it truly is a carbine, short and 

very handy. We were running .38 Special through 

this, which again I have shot in a handgun. 

The cartridge is the same size 

as 

the .357 Magnum 

round 

but 

has a lower 

loading. Small gun, 

slightly more felt recoil and 

plenty of ‘boom’ as there is no option 

of fitting a suppressor here! I could 

have happily spent much more time 

with this little gun, which given 

that 

the basic format dates back to the 

late 

Nineteenth century, is testament 

to the 

original designers, among whom 

is 

John Moses Browning, designer of 

the legendary Winchester Model 94. 

shooting while also doing so safely and ranges like 

Landwarrior’s will ensure that safety procedures are 

rigorously observed. 

Airsofters will be well aware of the dichotomies in 

British society’s attitudes to guns. On one hand, we all 

love a good action movie with plenty of gun play. On 

the other there is a generalised and unjustified fear 

of guns and shooting in general. It was not always 

this way and the Twentieth century saw a progressive 

tightening of the laws governing the ownership and 

use of firearms. Firearm crime is still exceptionally rare 

in the UK, and this ironically means that it tends to be 

reported in quite lurid terms. There have been some 

tragic events which have dramatically changed the 

legal landscape for shooters, and I have no intention 

of delving into the arguments surrounding those 

here. The fact today is that to legally own and use a 

firearm in the UK is a lengthy and bureaucratic affair, 

but it can be done and indeed is being done in greater 

numbers than previously. 

If your interest in airsoft extends beyond skirmishing 

or speedball, if guns themselves and the art of 

shooting also pique your curiosity, the two sports 

can sit side by side. Really the only thing they share 

are some basic skills, an emphasis on safety and the 

use of gun-shaped equipment. If you’ve never shot 

a firearm I highly recommend finding out if you have 

a local shooting club. Most welcome guests and will 

guide you step by step through your first experience 

of sending lead downrange. It’s possible that you 

may decide it’s not for you, but you may just discover 

a whole new world to fill your hours and drain your 

wallet! AA 

LEGAL FUN! 

Three guns, three calibres and two actions. Shooting 

sports take their responsibilities seriously, and it is right 

that they should, however I have always feared that 

the fun of shooting can get lost in the message. It is 

entirely possible to have a thoroughly enjoyable day’s

Airsoft Action - May 2022

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