Archive for February, 2005

OTT Battle Weekend

Chris P has sent over news about a new upcoming event at OTTA (Over The Top Adventures) who are based in Anglesey. The event is going to be held from the 11th to the 13th of March so if you’re local, or even not so local and looking for something active and engaging to do for the weekend why not give them a shout and book a place? Here’s the blurb about the event:

11/03/2005
BATTLE WEEKEND 11th - 13th March

Background:
The small island of Anglesey off the west coast of Wales won its independence in 2002 and for a short time was a hotspot of revolt whilst groups struggled for political power. In Feb 2004 a small group of farmers attacked and burned the military air field at Valley. They were arrested by the authorities and charged. The riots that followed caused a split across the island with the newly formed Mons Liberation Front (MLF) causing terrorist atrocities across the island and mainland. A civil war ensued until The UN sent in peace keepers and the “Green line” was drawn across the island. A relative peace followed but in a small area near Amlwch in the north of the island an argument ensued over land rights and the peace in this area at least, was under threat.

Government troops of the Anglesey Republican Army (ARA) have moved into position to the south of this small area with the MLF to the north. A stretch of “No mans” land is all that keeps the two forces apart.

  • Friday - set up, We will be onsite from 4pm, camping is available, bring beer.
  • Saturday - admin, team selection, Command staff briefing. exercise begins.

    once the exercise begins you will be on the ground full time until end ex. Food, water and ammunition drops will be co-coordinated through the company commanders.. The protection of drop zones is a vital part of the exercise otherwise the troops don’t get fed, or worse, run out of ammunition.

  • Night ex - set up OP’s, Observe and report, maintain the perimeter, (Guard)
  • Sunday - More fights, more missions… aprox 1600hrs, End Ex.

The battle weekend is designed to test the capabilities of the gamer and will be as close as possible to a real military exercise. Have you got what it takes to sign up here….

THIS IS YOUR SITE.. USE IT! THIS IS BEING DONE FOR YOU.. BE THERE!”

(Over The Top Adventures)

Updates and bits from around the globe

For anyone interested in the new Tanaka M500, which should pretty much cover everyone that loves the stupidly big and powerful stuff (that includes me) Mojji Sanken have added a page covering their thoughts on the new release after getting a chance to play with one.

The new large frame is obiously impressive, but in the shots you can see that the black of the metal cylinder doesn’t quite match that of the ABS frame. The rubber K-frame grips and the original decals are both faithfully reproduced and of note is a new secondary locking mechanism hidden on the frame next to the grip which I gather is a copy of that on the real revolver.

Over at PlumProject there’s news that their flat-top conversion for the SP GBB M16 is coming to an end as they are finding it harder and harder to come by usable M16A2 frames plus it looks like they’ll be building some with and without a fully automatic function according to markings on the main reciever body.

For anyone with issues with their possibly bendy and wobbly G3, X-Fire have launched a new chamber block for the G3 series. The new part sits in the join between the cocking tube and the main receiver along the main barrel and helps bolster the overal strength. Designed to be fitted to the standard plastic frame the new block will require some adjustment to be made to the upper receiver for it to fit, but this is all laid out clearly in the instructions apparently. The finished product comes in plain unfinished aluminium or black and costs around 4,700 Yen.

AirsoftScotland have added a British Army Bandolier bag to their pages today priced at £11.95. The satchel style bag was originally designed for carrying spare rocket grenades and still contains the removable grenade rack. According to the guys there is would also be ideal for carrying mags, grenades/pyro’s or your sandwiches!

Over at BoomArms there’s a new dummy T.E.G. reflex sight in stock that costs 35USD. Not one for me personally but I’m sure it’s wanted by someone. The dummy mount comes with a pistol and an AOG (ACOG?) mount.

More new stock at TheCombatStore

Alun over at The Combat Store has dropped over a follow up bit of news from him after the interest from the last mention on here. New with them are three items of stock:

A replica US helmet ABS plastic helmet which comes with 3 rip-stop covers (tri-colour desert, US woodland and olive green) a fully adjustable liner (one size fits all), weight in at 1.90 lbs and costs
29.95UKP. Do note that as it’s a replica it does not afford any more ballistic protection than wearing a kitchen bin over your head.

A new set of
Russian “Bekas” Tiger Pattern Trousers. These are apparently the same as issued to Russian special forces and paratroopers. The BEKAS suit is a high quality BDU with a mesh in groin area for air circulation, tie bottoms & elastics at the bottom of trousers, renforced knee areas, side, back & front hip cargo pockets on trousers, a hip knife pocket, made from water-repellent greta fabric
(50% cotton / 50% polyester) and retails at 34.95UKP.

The Danish M85 Patter Trousers are designed and modeled on the standard US M65 trouser and feature 2 side pockets, 2 bottoned rear pockets, 2 large buttoned belowed pockets on each leg, pockets ‘overflaped’ to prevent loss of contents, reinforced seat and knees, drawstring bottoms, side waist adjusters, a buttoned fly, 50mm belt loops and retail at £18 a pair.

Latest on the Systema Training Rifle

A recent press release from Systema Engineering concerning their training rifle has been forwarded over to me to have a look at, and it looks suitable for publication so I’m adding it here (you can grab the PDF if you want). The article details the improvements that have been made to their Training Weapon product and gives a bit more background into the product. If anyone is interested in the new training rifle in the UK I gather that the guys at Airsoft Armoury will be stocking them (although I don’t know if they know that yet). wink

Systema is well known manufacturer for its unique product corresponding to Electric gun, which is covered by major Japanese magazine every year they are published. What impresses us completely is their “Training Weapon” which has been commercialized since last year. This product is specifically developed for the military training purpose.

For this specialized purpose the product is required to meet very rigid conditions. Then it is a requisite that the product has a extremely firm structure and easy-to-maintenance performance. In addition it need to be just like real rifle both in its weight and balance. Otherwise it does not help at all for the actual training. The requirements to endure the professional use are quite tough and strict. But Systema finally has satisfied them.

We raised the Training Weapon in Feb. version of our magazine. Systema has made many improvements on the latest Training Weapon adopting the opinions from their end users. The latest version is completely different from the conventional one. Now let me introduce major improvements one by one:

1.) In the previous version certain amount of current flows during the time the board is waiting for the input from a trigger switch. However the program in the circuit board is changed so that the current flow is restricted to almost 0. As a result this mechanism controls power consumption as less as possible. Consequently the Weapon can operate for more than 4 days with battery connected.
2.) Previous CPU has been replaced with the new one with high performance in order to increase the reaction speed against the input from trigger. Consequently the mechanism enables locking time to be reduced and thus their grouping ratio is expected to be enhanced a lot.
3.) Capacity of FET (transistor) is increased to a large extent, which is used both for operation system and for electric brake system. As a result it prevents the afterheat inside the electric board, which is caused by heavy use of the machine (eg. excessive automatic fire under semi-automatic mode). Thus endurance of the machine has been enhanced as a whole.
4.) Chamber is newly manufactured. Under this design BB bullet inserting position through nozzle is fixed. Due to the stable engagement of the hop with the shooting mechanism grouping ratio in the distance has been considerably improved.
5.) Unit stiffness of motor has been improved. Its revolution speed and torque has been upgraded accordingly. Thus motor’s endurance has been enhanced greatly.

As I mentioned most of the improvement was made inside the body of the machine. Therefore we have to try shooting to confirm the result.
I tried shooting actually. Then I really impressed with the nice response of trigger in comparison with that of ordinary electric gun. I can easily realize its difference when I shot with semi-automatic type rifle. BB bullet is fired with comfortable shock by feel.
What has brought about this nice feel.? The reason attributes to the fact that the piston stroke shortens as the number of tooth of selector gear is one piece smaller than that of existing electric gun. In addition stopping position of selector gear is set by electric control to the adjacent position where it will contact a piston lack gear. In other words free-running distance during the time after we pull the trigger till it works shortens.

Place an order for this Weapon if you want to experience this good feel of response actually. The latest version with enduring battery will be released soon. Feel at ease to try shooting since the power is properly adjusted for the domestic survival game according to the relevant regulations as long as they are sold in Japan.

Finally as I mentioned since Systema has developed this machine for the military training purpose they exhibited their product at the Shot show held in Las Vegas from Jan.28th to 31st this month. They said that they have a great public response. Genuine-oriented tool has gradually accepted in the USA. This Training Weapon is indeed a satisfactory item for the people who are looking for a genuine gun. Kumi, (Systema Engineering)

5.11 HRT Tactical Watch article @ DefenseReview

Mike over at Edgar Brothers has sent over a link to an article covering the new 5.11 Tactical watch (over at Defense Review) that’s due out this year.

When I ran into Bill Berry, 5.11 Tactical Series’ Executive Director and all-around great guy, at their booth, he said “David, I’d like to show you something.” He was sporting a rather large grin on his face, as he said this. He then brought his wrist up into my view, and on it was this cool-looking sports watch that looked like a diving watch (As it happens, you can dive with it, since it’s water-resistant to 100 meters.). He immediately started punching numbers up on it, and that’s when I felt a fairly large grin forming on my face. Right in front of my eyes, Bill was punching in calculations, as if he were working a computer. In fact, that’s exactly what he was doing.

As it turns out, 5.11 Tactical Series and Horus Vision, LLC have teamed up to design and develop a ballistic computer in the form of a titanium-cased divable sports watch for long-range interdiction specialists (i.e. snipers), and, well, it’s REALLY cool. With the H.R.T. Tactical Watch/Ballistic Computer, a military Special Operations (SPECOPS) sniper, law enforcement (LE) sniper, or civilian competitive (or recreational) long-range shooter can…

calculate all their come-ups really quickly and easily. The best part is, the 5.11 Tactical Series H.R.T. Tactical Watch/Ballistic Computer puts this capability all right there on their wrist, for them. So, they can take their ballistic computer with them anywhere. And, it even tells the time! When Bill let me strap it on my own wrist, my smile became even broader. David Crane, ( Defense Review )

New products at RedWolf and Ricko TacLamp

Click here to visit RedWolfKeith at RedWolf Airsoft has sent over news from RedWolf and news of a new product from them. First up there’s a new tac light from Ricko that’s similar to the M900 lamp from SureFire but offers better value for your average Airsofter even when compared to the Laylax replica. You won’t be able to get the Ricko Tac Lamp from anywhere else, and RedWolf are open to wholesale enquiries:

Ricko Tactical Combat Light:
This stylish tactical light is a new and exciting product from Ricko! With lots of experience designing other kinds of consumer goods products, Ricko used its skills to produce this sturdy light that ressembles the SureFire / Laylax V900! These pictures show a prototype that is in the final stages of development. If the prototype is any hint of the final product to come, then the specifications are impressive indeed:

Full aluminum housing with polished striker flashlight head and butt cap. Powered by three CR123A batteries. Heavy guage ABS molded housing for rugged performance. Thumb screws ensure tight attachment on your gun, which is more than we can say for the ARMS quick release catch design on the SureFire which catches easily on your gun sling. A 200 lumen high power bulb is activated through either a twist knob on the back of the main flashlight housing, or by dual-sided pressure switches on the broom-handle grip. Two built-in LED navigator lights on either side of the main bulb can be activated using a third pressure switch on the back of the unit, allowing the operator to light up an effective 10 - 15 foot radius with white light for moving around.

Launch of this exciting product is set for March and will be sold exclusively at RedWolf Airsoft. Retail price is estimated in the $130 - $150 range, which is much more affordable than the $250 - $300 pricetag for a Laylax V900! Wholesalers inquiries welcome (please e-mail to sales@redwolfairsoft.com)! Keith Ng, (RedWolf Airsoft)

In RedWolf’s new stock lineup are the Iasus Noise Terminator series of radio headsets, designed for noise free radio communication and looking the part the NT range of models will fit dual pin Motorola, Garmin, Cobra style radio systems and also single pin Motorola sets.


Also on their pages is a G&P one piece outer barrel and tactical RIS foregrip for the M16A2/ M4 series, the G&P Military Type Standalone Grenade Launcher Pistol with four position retractable stock, and two nifty face masks from KingArms. There’s a half face mask and a full face mask from King Arms priced at 19/21USD, both are made from breathable neoprene with velcro adjustment straps so that they should fit most people and provide decent facial protection in skirmish environments. If your after an Aimpoint look-a-like scope there’s the King Arms Red Dot sight with L shap mount which is a full metal unit and certainly not bad for 62USD, there’s also some 0.3g BBs from Maruzen (6mm this time) and the G&P M16A2 metal front set.

Two new issues of Ballistic online

Click here to read BallisticPat over at Airsoft Hawaii has dropped me a quick email to let everyone know that there are two new issues of their online magazine called Ballistic online now. The February issue contains an interview with Shoei, M2000 Pro Gun Bag Review, Western Arms 1911 MEU Review, HFC M191 Special Force Review and the usual news. The March issue covers an announcment of the 2005 ASH BASH, Eye Protection, Tokyo Marui S-System Review and more.

Also of note is that the Airsoft Hawaii pages are being transferred to AirsoftHawaii.org (not dot-com) so time to update those bookmarks.

PlasticShot.tk competition

The guys over at PlasticShot are holding a competition. Zootso wanted everyone to know that they are invited to submit an original airsoft comic, and the winner will recieve two novelty springer airsoft pistols free, and get their comic posted on www.plastic-shot.tk.

The prizes aren’t staggering, but the point is to have some fun and send in your ideas and doodles.. so go on what you waiting for? If you’ve got scribbles on the back of a cigarette packet or a napkin it’s time to find a scanner or borrow that office copier.

Before I forget their latest comic is also inset above click the link to visit their site or go directly to the latest strip page.

Latest releases and parts

For those of you crying out for a “man’s Glock” (yes we know who you all are wink ), the new straight frame KSC G34 HW is now up on ClubMichelle’s pages. Priced at 19,425 Yen the new G34 is a ported long slide version of the previously released straight framed Glock 17.

For those of you with TM mini AEG G18C pistols looking for more bits and bobs to strap onto your new toy, well look no further as there’s a 100 round extended magazine coming in the middle of March for your electric pocket rocket. Price is not that clear at the moment but it should be around 2,500Yen or so according to First Factory.

Over at X-Fire they’ve added a new replacement pin (set pin-u) for the Type-96 rifle from APS. They detail on their pages that the new pin is stronger and reduces the chances of it failing in an upgraded rifle because of its build and that it’s slightly longer than the stock part. Oh there’s also a new 6.05mm barrel for the CAWM24 there too.

Latest magazines at BoomArms

Boom Arms have added new issues of GUN, ARMS and COMBAT that are out now to their stock lists today.

Each magazine retails for 14USD and is out monthly. All the new issues are issue number "04" which doesn’t make a whole heap of sense to your average joe given that we’re in the second month of the year, and coming up to the third.