Airsoft/Paintball Thread

[DrakebloodIV]

Hullo fellow playgrounders, I'm starting up this thread for anyone who enjoys games like airsoft and paintball and would like to share anicdotes, cool guns, battle strategies, helpful info, complain about legal issues, advocate one form of weapon as the best or just get together and shoot stuff

I'll start with a few of my things about airsoft...

I usually take the post of sniper ever since I got this shadow ops sniper rifle (http://www.hobbytron.com/SpringUTGOliveDrabS368BHSniperRifleLPSOFTS368BH.ht ml) for Christmas.

I've also been lusting after this SAW machine gun (http://www.airsplat.com/Itemdesc.asp?ic=ERM%2DAK%2DM249PARA&Tp=) but it's really out of my price range for airsoft guns.

[revolver kobold]

I used to play paintball quite regularly, but I haven't played for a few years. I really should get back into it though...

The marker I'm using at the moment is a completely stock 06 Cyborg. Its air efficiency is amazing. I played in a semi-pro tournament once, and had it running at about 55psi, and it was still shooting at 290 FPS (tournament regulations had the limit set to 290 FPS as opposed to 300 FPS. We have funny paintball laws here in West Australia). Combined with a Matchstick barrel kit and an Empire Reloader B, its never let me down. Maintenance is just so simple, and being an Australian made marker, spare parts (o-rings and what not) are very easy to get (I've had friends with Intimidators and Angels who have had to wait weeks for replacement parts to be shipped in from overseas).

My claim to fame in paintball: In the tournament I played in, we had to play against the Sydney X-Fighters (who were at the time the best team in Australia). They walked all over us, but I managed to hit one of them! We may have won the wooden spoon, but at least I can say I shot out an X-Fighter!

[u-gotNOgame]

I usually take the post of sniper ever since I got this shadow ops sniper rifle (http://www.hobbytron.com/SpringUTGOliveDrabS368BHSniperRifleLPSOFTS368BH.ht ml) for Christmas.

I've also been lusting after this SAW machine gun (http://www.airsplat.com/Itemdesc.asp?ic=ERM%2DAK%2DM249PARA&Tp=) but it's really out of my price range for airsoft guns.

Both of those look mighty purdy, but i think they would be unsuitable for how me and my friends airsoft (read: run around a forest and shoot each other).

What? you want a story? ok...My friend got a pellet gun rated for small game hunting and we were shooting ice out on a pond by my house and i had the great idea to shove him onto the ice (hes kindof a big guy) and so he got pissed got of the ice and shot me with it... it drew blood through 2 hoodies, needless to say i didn't mess with him while he had his pellet gun in his hand since then.

-UGNG

[DrakebloodIV]

Okay, I figured I'd post a review of a few guns I've used and maybe give a few anecdotes about my airsoft history.

First, the aforementioned shadow ops rifle-

Shadow ops features
-Full metal body, which gives it a great feel and makes it much more droppable
-7-ish pounds
-Two 30 round clips, loading them is a bitch but they allow for quite a few shots and relatively few misfires. I eventually just put up the extra $15 to get two more
-450 fps with .20g, it flies arrow straight for at least 100 feet and has a crap-load of piercing power making it sting even in a heavy winter coat
-Bolt action reload, it comes pre-greased and once you get the hang of it it is quite efficient, not to mention you don't have to worry about gas or batteries running out
-Foldable bipod, Meh, this one really isn't all that great. Adjusting it is inconvenient and putting it down takes time when your elbow works pretty much as well as a bipod
-Tactical sling, although a sling is great this one is as flimsy as wet toilet paper, you should just buy a more durable sling if you have your heart set on one, and you dont really need one cause the gun's not incredibly heavy


....more later....

[oryx]

I've heard rumors of airsoft zombies in Canada

[Lord Mancow]

What's airsoft?

I've heard of paintball and have even thought about giving it a go but I thought that paintball was guys with the same guns running around in teams shooting each other with paint. But this airsoft thing seems to be some mix of real life military and paintball from the guns but the name suggests air being a ammunition.:smallconfused:

I need an explainantion.

ps. sorry for my lack of knowledge but the thread looked interesting.

[revolver kobold]

Paintball can get pretty full on with the military simulation too. I'm not full bottle on it, as we don't have much like that here in WA, but just reading paintball magazines gives you a huge insight into what the scenario scene is like.

D-Day Omaha seems to be the biggest scenario event in the US, lasting over a few days and recreating battles from WW2. You get folk that rock up in cars converted into Shermans and Spitfires (complete with paintguns mounted in the wings), all sorts of converted paintguns (what I wouldn't give for a Thompson paintgun). I wish I could afford to fly over and have a go.

I got pretty heavily into X-Ball, which is yeah, very different from any sort of military reenactment. But its fast and fun, ad can get very tactical.

From what I understand about Airsoft (feel free to correct me if im wrong), but they are pretty much air rifles, but with a much lower muzzle velocity, making it safe(er) to shoot each other with them. Need a gun license over here to get an air rifle, so it pretty much rules Airsoft right out. (Need a license for a paintball gun too, but there is already a paintball community here, along with fields and what not. Its complicated...)

[ObadiahtheSlim]

Airsoft = plastic pellet guns. Generally made up to look like actual guns. Local gun laws may apply so I'd ask your local law retailer about that.

[Dristin]

Paintball has always been fun. Been playing off and on for about 12 years. Advise to anyone who wants a good reliable gun. Get a tipman. Have had mine 12 years the only things that have gone wrong have been easy fixes (easy enough for me to fix myself). Always run and gun. It is the funnest and best way to play.

[Linkavitch]

I like paintball. I play it whenever I get a chance. Don't use anything too expensive, just a Viewloader Orion that I got a couple years back as a birthday present. The safety sticks in the 'On' position, but that's about the only thing I've ever found wrong with it, other than it won't shoot faster then 250 fps.

[revolver kobold]

Ive had a lot of mixed results with Tippmans. I'm talking about a stock 98 Custom, no upgrades on it. Some days they shot fine, other days every second round was chopping. They were rental markers (and also the field was using really dodgy paint that even my Cyborg hated), which probably explains why they performed so poorly.

The Tippman A-5 is a very flash marker though. Last time I played, one of the refs had an A-5 with a telescopic stock and a Flatline barrel. Shot nice and straight, with a pretty decent rate of fire.

I think the best investment, regardless of marker, is a good squeegee set. Keeping your barrel clean makes a world of difference, even with bad paint.

[zaei]

From what I understand about Airsoft (feel free to correct me if im wrong), but they are pretty much air rifles, but with a much lower muzzle velocity, making it safe(er) to shoot each other with them. Need a gun license over here to get an air rifle, so it pretty much rules Airsoft right out. (Need a license for a paintball gun too, but there is already a paintball community here, along with fields and what not. Its complicated...)

Judging from the above 290fps number above, airsoft generally has a higher muzzle velocity (I think the impact energy is far lower due to the mass of the smaller pellets in airsoft, though). I could swap the spring in my sniper rifle to go from ~350 to ~550 fps depending on the game.

I used to have an APS-2 SV sniper rifle and an mp5a4 with high speed gears. I sold both of them several years ago after not playing for quite some time, but I recently bought an MP7 for CQB play. My opinion on the sniper rifle is that it's not very feasible for airsoft (not enough range and not enough accuracy to compete with a tricked out AEG).

I've gotten to play around with a pretty large number of different guns... the standard m4/m16, mp5a4 and a5, and SD, an AUG, gas mac11, p90 (fun little gun, that), a FAMAS, my MP7, and a bunch of different gas pistols (I love my SV Infinity, that thing scares people when they hear it).

Probably my favorite story was from a CQB tournament, where I was on the hostage taking team, and the good guys were an actual SWAT team (or similar, actual law enforcement dudes). I actually managed to take them all out single handedly. Was a blast.

drakeblood4, have you tried using heavier BBs in your rifle? Mine was terrible unless I was using 0.38g BBs outside. You lose some power, but you gain a lot of flight stability outdoors.

[zaei]

And while I'm thinking about it, some games that my friends and I have played and loved:

Sniper
The first game we played, when people were still getting into airsoft, and all we had were springer pistols. Generally played at night.

One guy with the best springer he can get goes outside and hides somewhere. The rest of the guys come out about 5 minutes later. The sniper tries to kill everyone, while everyone else tries to kill the sniper.

Bombing Run
Like Unreal Tournament.

Find a long, narrow playing field. The one we used was a shallow ditch, maybe 15 feet wide and maybe 300 feet long, and 5 feet deep, with sloped sides that people could walk up if they wanted. It had trees and bushes on the sides, etc.

Put something that's easily grabbable in the center of the playing field. This is the flag. Split everyone into two teams, each at one end of the field. The goal is to get the flag to the other team's end of the field. When you get shot, you drop the flag, then go back to your goal area, and start over. Awesome fun, make sure you have a TON of BBs.

Zombies
Play this at night, in the woods, because it's SCARY.

Designate a goal, and a starting spot. Make sure they are far away from each other. We played this at a friends house, and our goal was getting through his front door (it was closed when we played), and the start was across a high tension wire field that was behind his back yard (so to get from start to goal you had to go across the field, through the back yar around the front of the house, and into the front door).

Pick one person to be the survivor. This person grabs as many weapons as possible, and goes to the starting spot, and waits for about 5 minutes.

Everyone else is a zombie. Zombies have no weapons. Zombies are fast zombies. Zombies make moaning sounds if they like (for extra scary). While the survivor is waiting, all of the zombies hide somewhere, and wait for the survivor to come by (or hunt him/her, if you like). When a zombie is shot, they drop for five seconds, and then get up. Zombies attempt to either touch or tackle the survivor. Make absolutely sure that you are completely covered, becuase you will be shot multiple times at point blank range by a terrified survivor.

[revolver kobold]

Judging from the above 290fps number above, airsoft generally has a higher muzzle velocity (I think the impact energy is far lower due to the mass of the smaller pellets in airsoft, though). I could swap the spring in my sniper rifle to go from ~350 to ~550 fps depending on the game.



I meant lower muzzle velocity than an air rifle, as I've seen them fire at about 900 to 1100 FPS (some of those real flash Gamo air rifles).

Paintball guns are definitely capable of muzzle velocities over 500 or 600 FPS. Ive had mine clocked at 580 before. But for safety reasons, they keep paintball guns at 300 FPS or lower. They don't need to fly much faster than that when capable of 30 rounds per second.

[oryx]

Zombies
Play this at night, in the woods, because it's SCARY.


YES. This is exactly what I want to do!

[Skult]

Paintball has always been fun. Been playing off and on for about 12 years. Advise to anyone who wants a good reliable gun. Get a tipman. Have had mine 12 years the only things that have gone wrong have been easy fixes (easy enough for me to fix myself). Always run and gun. It is the funnest and best way to play.

yeah, my brother plays paintball too. He has an old tippmann 98c he doesn't use anymore, so hopefully he might give it to me.... here's hoping. He claims to have run over the thing with a car once, and it still works. :smallamused:

i've seen him take it apart a few times, but there's a lot of small parts to keep track of. No electronics or anything, so i guess it's easy to fix.

[DrakebloodIV]

I just got night vision goggles, they are one of the most difficult to adjust to tools that I've ever had but ones you get used to them they're amazing. The right eye has a camera uplink to an inferred thing on your forehead and the left eye has an openable latch in case you need to not use the night vision (Like if bright flashes of light occur. But the most exasperating thing is that the camera is on the top and center of your forehead. When combined with the lack of peripheral vision, this makes it much more difficult to see and aim and will leave you tripping for a half an hour. On the upside, a good submachine gunner can adjust to it and within a short amount of time begin to dominate anyone without have the goggles.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

My brothers used to be into the whole Airsoft thing. We still have a couple Airsoft guns around the house. I mostly remember them as something that got them out of the house for an afternoon with their friends so I could use the computer in peace. They kinda grew out of them though. Getting shot with those things is rather annoying especially indoors, and we're still finding Airsoft pellets on the floor when we vaccum the carpet. I think all of us at my house wonder why in hell we even bought them!

[WychWeird]

I used to play paintball a few years back as well (here in the UK); a couple of friends and I used to go to a site on the outskirts of the New Forest by Cadnam. I still have my stock Spyder (http://www.wearepaintball.com/admin/include/getFile.php?sw=products&fileID=1&id=1057) but I did add a remote to it which made it very much more useable.

Used to be a lot of fun especially playing night games - markers were turned down from ~300 FPS to around 240 as you found you tended to be a lot closer to your opponent when you opened fire! You soon learnt to hold your torch away from your body as people aim at lights :smalleek: Night makes the game a completely different challenge!

[Lupy]

My friends and I play some CQB woodsoft in a 2ish acre lot near my house. I used a G36C with about 200 fps until it broke, but for $40 it was pretty nice. I'm going with something a little more high end next time, but not more than ~300 fps, because we don't have masks yet. (The goggles are just as good if you wear a blacava) Another friend of mine has a generic shotgun with about ~350 fps, but to my knowledge his name is so bad he's never hit anyone in over 10 games. He's a decent shot with a handgun though. The rest of my friends have generic m4s which also need replacing.

All in all, airsoft is much cheaper if you aren't super serious about it, and it hurts less.

[Lost Demiurge]

Airsoft's really catching on down up here in Ohio. Hard to find a flea market that doesn't have a couple of airsoft booths, and the stores are doing pretty good business.

It's become so good that I'm starting up a live-action-roleplaying game that uses extremely low-powered airsoft guns. So far, playtests have been good, and our first official event is in two weeks. The site's here;

http://www.wastelandlarp.com/

I also know of a more formal airsoft group in Pennsylvania that does zombie hunt games, low rules airsoft, and normal combat scenarios. Don't recall their site offhand, but I'm sure a little searching could turn them up. (Zombie Hunt, Pennsylvania, and airsoft would be good keywords.)

[TheThan]

I used to play paint ball with some friends. Then one day we invited some others that we didn’t know and they brought a real gun and fired it off. So that pretty much killed paintball for me and my friends. It’s a shame how one thing can ruin an otherwise fun pastime.

[revolver kobold]

I used to play paint ball with some friends. Then one day we invited some others that we didn’t know and they brought a real gun and fired it off. So that pretty much killed paintball for me and my friends. It’s a shame how one thing can ruin an otherwise fun pastime.

Wait, what?!

How the hell can somebody get a real gun onto a paintball field like that?