APRIL'S NEWS 1/2

last updated: June 1, 2001 5:39 PM (GMT)

"Wassat?", "This is a shotgun, Sol", "It's an anti-aircraft cannon, Vincent" - Snatch

April 2001 page #2 | March News
Monday, April 30, 2001 8:27 PM

Coming soon to an airsoft skirmish site near you: Are you bored of your standard airsoft conversions? Looking to build a bit of kit that will have your fellow airsofters rolling in the aisles? If so, have a look at this website, Birdman.org have some amazing bits of kit to inspire you.

The product that really jumps out at me is the 300 round UZI magazine, especially after watching a hilarious JohnWoo film by the name of 'Better Tomorrow' that I picked up at Blockbuster. If you want a hilarious beer movie, rent this - it also comes back-to-back with a movie by the name of 'Heroes Shed No Tears', this too is unmisable, it's handily subtitled, so the more inebriated can understand what's going on. (umm.. if you watch this an work out what's going on, please email me the plot, many thanks)..

Birdman.org has a few other interesting bits of kit, including the "MountainDew" shotgun.. ANGS grenade conversion here we come..

Just so I don't confuse people here, Birdman.org don't actually make anything, their site is a joke - it's obvious I know, but I don't want people getting the wrong idea. J

You call THAT a Hi-cap ?
For those comedy moments, when 500 rounds just aren't enough...
Sunday, April 29, 2001 5:11 PM

Click here to visit the ClubMichelle M29 page
This is a .44 magnum.. just not a Ruger, but no-one's built a decent Ruger .44 replica yet.

Not all Tanaka airsoft replicas are useless! Yes it's true! Now bear with me here, because a lot of people will have trouble believing this, but there are actually some Tanaka made replicas that don't leak gas like a sieve, and have decent power. (DolphiN#1 has been bouncing up and down about this one for ages, so I thought I'd do the right thing and write a decent length article for him).

Take for example, the Tanaka S&W M29 .44 6.5" Magnum. If you want to have an look at an article, try this translated article from Club Michelle. Now, anyone who's tried a TM revolver will know how dissappointing they are, furthermore anyone who knows what a PPC is will know what a wallet-breaker they are (last time I checked ~£700 at Wolf'sArmouries). Well how's about the Tanaka M29 (honest to God this is a true translation):
"..Even among them the movie where this M29 is used with " Dirty * Halley " the scene which is the force which makes the car stop which travels with .44 magnums..."

Um well.. firstly it's Dirty Harry, and secondly it's a Ruger .44 magnum, not a Colt .44 magnum.. blast it. Isn't it a pain when people flood out to buy something, under the wrong premise? Oh well back to the point... airsoft revolvers are a lot less complex than the semi-automatic equivalent, and are hence less expensive, and (in theory) more reliable.

Now combine these advantages with the fact that Tanaka's M29 is quoted as having a muzzle velocity of roughly 90 m/s (that's 300fps), and you've got a winner. I believe that speed is also quoted with HFC134a gas (I'll try and confirm this later). How's that for power? This revolver is pushing fps limits that a WesternArms SV would be proud of... Now, why are you still reading this? Haven't you gone and ordered one yet? J
Saturday, April 28, 2001 11:59 PM

CAW M79 Info: DolphiN#1 sent me some info about a review of the new CAW M79 replica.The link is in Japanese and it's been run through Altavista's Babelfish translation service (I hope everyone's spotted the HHGTG reference). Strangely unlike most translations it's actually readable. Have a read, here's the original article, and here's the translation. If you can't be bothered to read the words, there's some nice images of the new replica. =)

Click here to vist the KSC website

More on the new pistol from KSC: Matt has kindly sent me some more information about the new KSC replica pistol - here's the scoop:

"It is a Strayer Tripp International 2011 5.1 Eagle (2011 because it is 100 years ahead of the 1911 hence STI's designation - also wide body for more ammo, and 5.1 because of the barrel length in inches) with the Titanium frame option (you could get Steel, Aluminium or Titanium with the real thing). KSC have modelled it after the more traditional looking version with the "stirrup cut" on the slide and the short dustcover (frame)."

Safety goggles: After my recent experiances with broken goggles, I'm doing a bit of research into what people use and wear for eyeprotection. I'm specifically interested in:

  • How comfortable they are.
  • How good the vision is through them.
  • Safety (are they ANSI/BS rated?).
  • Are they really fog-proof?

The best set I've tried so far were a set of T-800 Bolle Tactical's (shown to the right), unfortunately they broke, so I'm now in search of a better pair to replace them. I'm interested in all opinion's about eyewear, if you feel like dropping me a line, then please do so

Click here to visit the Bolle website

Bolle T-800 Tactical goggles

Links page: I've updated the links page, and tidied up the comprehensive links list some more. Listed in my personal links section you'll now find Florida Airsoft, which is a US website that I frequently read and report on here. FA have some really nice reviews online, you'll notice the M4 review mentioned lower down on this page.
Friday, April 27, 2001 6:29 AM

Click here to visit the Grenade page for this model

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No.. it's a 40mm grenade pistol.. Well that's what I think anyway =). Go and have a look at the images for yourself, you can find them on the Grenade Model-Works homepage.

Could this be the 40mm pistol that I've been after for ages? Pinch me I must be dreaming...I'll keep you posted on any more news that comes my way about this one.
Update (6:29AM): I've done a bit of translating, and here's what I've discovered so far about this new grenade pistol. It comes as a 28 piece kit, which the user has to build, here's an image of the parts. The entire kit is made of a strong, black, ABS polyurethane resin, except the trigger (made from a metal alloy), spring and firing pin. The kit will require reasonable model-making skill, and "slight adjustment" to get everything working smoothly, you'll also need basic tools and some good glue. It's also recommended that you paint it for a good looking final product. The pistol will take standard ANGS shells (it should also take the First Factory copy - although this is not confirmed), or the newer hop-up ANGS versions. List price is 19,800Yen, which is roughly £111. How's that for a guy who can't speak a word of Japanese?

CAW M79 images&info: Looking for some images of the M79 from Craft Apple Works? If so head on over to the ANGS website in Japan, there are two images there that give you a good idea of the kind of quality you can expect if you buy one.

Dang.. there's another bit of kit that I've got to add to my airsoft wish-list.
Update (6:29AM): I've translated some of this page too.. Here's the scoop so far: The CAW M79 features a die-cast aluminium reciever, wood-stock and metal rear sight! Oh, and it takes standard 40mm ANGS cartidges (including that one-piece styrofoam shell).. Now that's what I call quality design.

Of course, my favourite part of translating Japanese pages are some of the comedy comments you get. How's this for a laugh? "The strongest clutch hitter weapon where the flow of the game changes with this!". I think the gist of what they are saying, is "I pity the poor bugger that you pepper with this sucker"

Click here to vist the KSC website

New pistol coming from KSC: There's a new 5" pistol on it's way from KSC, it's 1911 based and therefore incredibly similar to the WesternArms SV's in terms of looks. The pistol has 'Titanium' and '2011' cut into the side just above the trigger guard. There's no other information on their site as of yet, as usual I'll post anything else I come across.

This should be another winner from KSC, following shortly after their launch of the new M11, and is likely to be cheaper than the similar WesternArm's models. It's also likely to be of similar quality... trouble is, it isn't a WesternArms pistol, but for those of us on a budget, things are looking good (yes, not all of us involved in airsoft are made of money =).
Thursday, April 26, 2001 11:40 PM

Systema "Tubb 2000": I've just read about a new rifle thats in production from Systema: the 'Tubb 2000' . It does look lovely, and if it's built to a decent quality (as nearly all Systema kit is - i.e. with plenty of metal parts), it won't break the second that I lean/fall on it =). Anyway, here's what APEC had to say:

"Systema's newest project a spring cocking sniper rifle modeled after the David Tubb bolt action rifle will be released late spring early summer. Not much information is known yet about this model except that it will be expensive..."

Click here to see a larger image of this replica
Systema's Tubb 2000

FPS article: I've been adding to my 'FPS article', now added you'll find an online range estimation calculator, and some more useful links. I hope to add some real-world figures shortly, to compliment the theory work there.
Wednesday, April 25, 2001 7:55 PM
Click here to vist the MC51-k project page

MC51k project page updated: A very kind fellow airsofter (Matthew) has sent me some photos he took of an article in a magazine which covers the MC51k project (it's listed as a 'G-3K' there). I've revamped the MC51k project page with this new influx of information.

To the best of my knowledge this page now contains all the information in the English speaking part of world about the G-3k/MC51k airsoft project.
Tuesday, April 24, 2001 10:36 PM

Photo gallery @ Airsoft Dynamics: AirsoftDynamics have put a new gallery system online, that has some rather amusing photos of players at Skirmish Chobham. You'll also find some photos of equipment in use, including photos of the G3 series and the AK47.

Approved safety specs: Another article/image that I saw on the net at AirsoftRetreat, that hit home rather hard after some recent personal experiences with safety goggles. It's an image of a set of goggles that were shot with an MP5SD5 upgraded with a 150% spring and a new air nozzle, at a range of 20 meters. That's roughly 500fps, and can be compared to the sniper rifle limit in the UK of 2.31 Joules. Please note the rather large hole in the left lense.

Be aware folks, all safety goggles are NOT equal. I'd personally recommend checking the suitability of all goggles and eyewear that you use. The easiest way is to shoot them with your (preferably upgraded) AEG at a decent range of about 6 feet or so, and then inspect them for damage, this isn't foolproof, but it's a quick test.

TM P90 Woes: I spotted this news over at Defcon4, and a few other places on the internet. It seems that the 'launch' of the Tokyo Marui P90 isn't going ahead without it's fair share of issues and problems. There have been (so far unfounded) rumours of the reddot sight not being fitted to TM P90s produced in the future.

It seems now that the reddot sight was contracted out to an unknown 3rd party by Marui. They have now halted shipment of the P90's as the sight isn't built to a standard that TM were happy with.

 Click here to visit the official Tokyo Marui website

As a result of this, Marui won't be shipping any P90's to their resellers until the end of June. The problems don't seem to stop there, as there's no word on the high capacity mags yet. This means that if you buy one, you'll be stuck with the standard mag which only carries 68 rounds. On the bright side the standard magazine is by all accounts easy to fill, just as well really. =)

New M4 review @ Florida Airsoft: There's a new review of the Tokyo Marui M4 up over at Florida Airsoft. The review is by Skully.

"Seems like everybody has an M-4. If you own one, you know why. If you don't, I'm going to tell you why you should."

New page: I've updated the news page, and moved half the news in April to a separate page to help this page load faster. It's now down to 116k, which on a 56k modem, should only take 16 seconds to load (assuming you've got nothing cached).
Monday, April 23, 2001 11:27 PM
Click here to visit dEFCON4 and read the P90 review

P90 review @ dEFCON4: Defcon4, recieved a TM P90 to review, courtesy of ZeroOne Airsoft. Curiously enough there was one at CombatSouth this weekend, so I had a chance to eyeball the new model.

Personally, it's not my type of gun, but there are plenty of people out there who love it. Here's what Defcon4 thought:
"...Now, our favourite Airsoft manufacturer has got its thinking caps on, and have came up with a very simple but effective design, crammed with some very new and exciting features. Making this weapon a 1st class CQB gun, and in my opinion will be the favoured weapon over the MP5 K and Steyr TMP for some very good reasons…..."

New photos: I've put up the photos that I took this Sunday at CombatSouth online. I haven't named them yet, but I'd appreciate it if people who are in the photos tell me their names/nicks so that I may put those details up.

As usual I'm open to suggestions for the "comedy captions" for the photos, if you have any, then just email them to me..

 Rule #42 in airsoft, "Know thine enemy". - especially when they have a large sniper rifle

FPS article: I've started writing a handy article on airsoft muzzle velocities and the like, I've put a handy calculator there, that you can enter your replica's chrono'd fps, and the BBs that you use, and it'll give you the energy in Joules of your equipment. Sniper rifles can be more accurately tested with 0.3g-0.4g ammo as 0.2g bb's have left the barrel before the action has completed, leading to innacurate readings that give misleading results - For example the same sniper rifle will chrono at 380fps with a 0.36g BB (2.4Joule), and 480fps with a 0.2g BB (2.13Joule).

This article was prompted by the fact that a rogue sniper-shot this weekend cracked my mil-spec safety goggles and smashed them into two pieces. I'm not too bothered though, as the specs weren't performing as they should, and kept steaming up, so it gives me a chance to replace them - But that's another article, that I'll write.. I don't blame the guy that shot me though, it's just one of those things that happens, and is why we wear safety gear.
Sunday, April 22, 2001 1:46 AM

Site news: Right I'm back, apologies for no news updates, but I went to go an visit a very kind relative (with a rather large, and useful, garage) with my car, to go do some work on it, and I've just got back. I'm now rather knackered, after completely rebuilding the engine from the piston-head up. It turns out the headgasket was completely chewed, and #1 cylinder was full of water when I cracked the block open... Anyways enough of that, the car's running fine now - which is a bonus, as I can now get to the skirmish at CombatSouth this weekend, without the need of a lift.

New CAW's M79: Den have just started stocking the CAW's M79 grenade launcher. CAW are "Craft Apple Works", I've personally never heard of them, but as usual with these things, that doesn't mean that they haven't been around for ages, or that their products are poor, it just means that they probably aren't big in the UK. Den list its ammo capacity as one, so I presume that it takes standard ANGS shells (or compatible versions such as the FirstFactory model).

Click here to visit the Airsoft.org website Airsoft.org: The new Airsoft.org website is now online, after a major interface makeover, care of Wig/CJ/OD. Go and have a look, it's well designed, tidy and easy to navigate. There's not been a great deal added to the site (in the way of content) that's new, but there's probably a lot there that you didn't know was there before. More content, such as reviews and articles, should come online shortly
Thursday, April 19, 2001 7:04 AM

New links section #2 up : I've been working on a huge links section for this website to compliment my personal links section. This page contains every link I am aware of that has anything to do with airsoft. I've begun sorting everything, and my first draft of the page is up. I checked 99% of the listed sites, and checked for 404 errors and the like.

This is just my first draft, when I get a few more free moments the list will be sorted alphabetically, and sorted further into sub-folders.
Wednesday, April 18, 2001 11:23 PM

New Interview posted @ Airsoft Players: The long anticipated interview with 'Sniper' has been posted over at AirsoftPlayers, which includes some pictures of some rather rare bits of kit. Various questions were posed, from various sources, and the answers make interesting reading. Oh and there's a video of the (Airsoft) M134a Vulcan Cannon firing. I'm guessing that I have people's attention now. Oh. and this is what his closet looks like. Some people have far too much fun with this sport. =)

"...Sniper has been an active contributor to the development of airsoftplayers.com- he is the guy that scans in the TM tech manuals you find in our manuals section. He was also generous to donate his exclusive review of the new P90 within 1 day of its release in Japan. If being the first publicized owner of the P90 isn't enough reason to want to know more about Sniper, he is also well-known for his ownership of the Vuclan BB Hose (not official name.)..."

New reviews are up! I've upped some more reviews, they are as yet incomplete, but the bulk of the text content is there. You can now find a new review for the Glock 26, the HK21 and the SV Infinity 5" (all written by Sykobika). I'll take some photos tonight and add them as I tweak everything.

I'm working on a new design for the reviews page, and I'm reworking the links section, they should be up shortly.
Tuesday, April 17, 2001 6:23 PM

New Silencers over at RedWolf: RedWolf have a few new silencers in stock. Added to their stock list today you'll find:

  • Beretta Silencer (28mm x 118mm)
  • Sky One Touch Silencer for M4A1 (35mm x 185mm)
  • Guarder SOCOM silencer (looks similar to KSC MK23 Silencer but matte silver with no markings)
  • ICS SOCOM silencer (a replica of KSC's MK23 SOCOM silencer)

Silencers are generally an esthetic addition, with little functional use. Uses in airsoft include the ability to improve the looks of your airsoft gun, or to provide somewhere to extend the inner barrel into (to improve accuracy/range). It really depends on how realistic you want things to look, and how serious you are.

G3 TechManuals are up: The TokyoMarui G3 A3/A4 technical manuals are up and running locally on this site. I've produced them in my usual format, with thumbnails etc. Remember these aren't mine, they are from AirsoftPlayers, I just host them here for the UK.

G3 TechManuals over at Airsoft Players: Pikachoad has posted the technical manual for the G3 series. These manuals are the TM workshop manuals for their rifles, and are much more useful than the manual that comes in the box (they lack those stupid safety cartoons for a start). If you've got a G3 series and are at all interested in upgrading or disassembling it, this is the manual that you shouldn't do without. I'll add a local copy of these manuals to my site shortly for the UK (permission kindly granted by Pikachoad).
Monday, April 16, 2001 5:59 PM

Happy Easter! Well I'm back from my weekend off, I was away for slightly longer than I expected. I've put up all the photos that were taken by Sykobika with my digital camera over the Easter event at Sopley. I should have some more to put up at a later date. I'll post some updates about news around the world shortly... You'll have to forgive me for not being particularly quick tonight, but I'm feeling a little under the weather...

AirsoftPlayers P90 review updated: Sniper has updated his P90 review with some more pictures, one of the P90 with a new inner barrel, and one with the TM tracer unit installed. Some text has also been added to the review to accompany these images.

Springer Retreat photos: Some people after my own heart.. Those mad buggers over at Springer Retreat have put some images up of a small meeting where they took on AEG's with springers. I'd have to say I can vouch for springers. I have a P228 Sig that I have as a small backup (erm.. well actually it's a backup to my backup's backup) that I used last weekend. I happily held my position against 2 TM Shotguns with it, and even hit one of them with it.. Until I ran out of ammo that is..

New airsoft video up at AirsoftRetreat: VAXC3 has posted a airsoft video that he made over at AirsoftRetreat. It's 18 Megs in size. You can find it here (you'll need to be able to play divx formatted videos).

BBGunLand updates: BBGunLand have updated their site content catalog, with their latest content. There you can find a list of all their reviews and articles including some articles covering some bits of kit that are very rare here in the UK.

Zero One offer on RC Tanks: dEFCON4 have posted some news about ZeroOne. ZO have a special offer on the TM RC tanks, and are now selling them for £149. dEFCON4 handily have a review of this rather fun bit of kit here. As a small aside, dEFCON4 have also updated their site with a few new readers letters.

Friday, April 13, 2001 11:42 PM

Webpage updates : Just so that people know, I'm rather bust till Saturday night as I'm taking part in a rather large event at our local urban site (Sopley). It's been great fun today, and we go back tomorrow. I'm completely knackered so I won't be able to update the news to the extent that I'd like to, until Saturday night.

I've picked up a new chrono' unit (Combro cb-635) on the cheap so that I can check the fps on all the kit that I service, so we'll have a review of that shorty.

News in brief:

There may be more new things around.. but quite frankly I'm so tired I'm almost falling asleep on the keyboard as I type this. I'll get into full article writing mode tomorrow night if I'm not too tired. G'night folks.
Thursday, April 12, 2001 8:18 PM

Click here to view the news page at RedWolfAirsoft

Well it certainly looks nice, but I think it's more suited as a collectors piece, much like the other Biohazard replicas from Tokyo Marui. Having said that I wouldn't mind fitting a suppressor system like that to my M93r.

RedWolf Airsoft Samurai Edge info: RedWolf airsoft have added a few pictures and some info on the "Samurai Edge" Beretta from Tokyo Marui. The good points for the pistol seem to be mainly in it's looks. As far as bad points go, the inner barrel is no longer than a standard M9 (it doesn't extend into the compensator). Another downer from my point of view is that the extended mag only holds 32 rounds. The extended mag on my M93r holds 38, and it's identical in external size/shape to the Samurai Edge extended mag. Let's face it, on an airsoft pistol every shot counts. You can pickup this new Beretta from RedWolf for $200, and it comes in a metal presentation case. Here's the comments from the RedWolf site about it:

"Commemorating the 5th anniversary of Biohazard's STARs police force comes the Samurai edge. Sporting a lower rail frame to take accessories and a front compensator, plus long magazine with 30% more gas capacity than the previous version - this pistol is equipped to eliminate any kind of zombie. Comes in exquisite metallic collectors box. Hop up. Constructed of ABS plastic. Limited edition for 2001."

X-Ring article on room clearing: X-Ring have posted some diagrams on room clearing by 'T.O.C. Code 4' . Most of these diagrams are simply common sense, but anyone new to CQB may wish to have a look at them .

New airsoftgun articles over at BBGunLand: If you can read Chinese, or simply like looking at pictures, there's a whole bunch of new articles and reviews covering revolvers/semi pistols over at BBGunLand.

The articles covering the pythons from Kokusai/Marui/Tanaka, are (I believe) a comparison review covering the available .357 Magnum replicas out there:

  1. Colt Python 6" (starting article)
  2. Kokusai Python
  3. Marui Python
  4. Tanaka Python

Click here to view the article on the Colt Python 6"

I love revolvers, they look a feel great, but beware! -Power can be as low at 0.15Joule.

I'm sure that the WA Shorty has been out for a bit, but as I've said before I can't read Chinese. My best guess is that the article on the Shorty40 is a review, rather than a news article. Anyway here are the reviews, at worst case you can simply pull out the power and spec details, and have a look at the images:

If anyone out there is willing to translate articles in Chinese and produce 'minutes' for me it'd be much appreciated.

Copyright 2001Arnie's Airsoft