Airsoft Action - September 2017

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SKIRMISH CUP OPERATION ZANDER G&G CQB WORLD CUP INTER-COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP

ARMOURY

SPECIAL FEATURE

TM UZI G&G ARP9 DESERT EAGLE ANGRY GUN M1911

BELARUS AND GERMANY SEPT 2017

WARRI O RS

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INSIDE AIRSOFT 308SNIPER AIRSOFT

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GIVE IT TO A GEEK

GEARTECH CUSTOM PAINT SKILLS

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IT’S A CLASSIC

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ARMOURY: G&G ARP 9

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ARMOURY: ANGRY GUN M1911

AIRSOFT ACTION

EVENTS

SKIRMISH CUP OPERATION ZANDER G&G CQB WORLD CUP INTER-COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP

TM UZI G&G ARP9 DESERT EAGLE ANGRY GUN M1911

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INSIDE AIRSOFT

GIVE IT TO A GEEK

GEARTECH CUSTOM PAINT

308SNIPER AIRSOFT

R EA L S T EEL

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S U RV I VA L

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SK I L L S

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I T’S A C L A SSI C

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ARMOURY

SPECIAL FEATURE

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Editor: Nigel Streeter Assistant Editor: Gareth “Gadge” Harvey Graphic Design: Havoc Design Ad Design: Havoc Design Publisher: Nigel Streeter Cover image: Curtesy of Project Gecko.

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EVENT: G&G WORLD CUP CQB 2017 KIT: LAYLAX BITE MAG HOLDER

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INTERNATIONAL: GERMANY

SURVIVAL: TERRORIST ATTACK

CONTENTS SEPTEMBER MARCH 2017 2014

CONTENTS SEPTEMBER 2017 6

NEWS

10 ROGUE’S GALLERY Cool photos of Airsoft Action readers.

11 HOW TO AIRSOFT Airsoft Action’s exclusive cartoon.

12 ARMOURY: G&G ARP 9 It has taken a little while to arrive but now that it is here, how does G&G’s “baby M4” perform? Scott Allan gives us the low down…

16 ARMOURY: ANGRY GUN M1911 The venerable “1911” is probably the pistol equivalent of the “M4” in airsoft terms but what truly makes a stand-out 1911 in an already wellsubscribed market? Jerry Noone gives us his thoughts.

20 EVENT: G&G WORLD CUP CQB 2017 Kelly “Femme Fatale” Hardwick makes a long journey to report from the World Cup of CQB Competitions, held bi-annually in Taipei, Taiwan and staged by G&G. 24 INSIDE AIRSOFT: 308 SNIPER Les Lee heads to Chatham and visits a relatively new shop that is growing very quickly.

28 KIT: LAYLAX BITE MAG HOLDER What happens when a manufacturer of first rate airsoft upgrade parts turns their attention to tactical gear? Jerry Noone takes a look at the BITE MG Mag Holder from Laylax.

30 IT’S A CLASSIC: 20MM RAIL SYSTEMS Gareth “Gadge” Harvey continues his series with a look as something we all accept as “standard” but it wasn’t always that way, as he explains…

34 EVENT: 7TH ANNUAL SKIRMISH CUP Airsoft Action welcomes new contributor, Georaga, as he tallies up the score at the Skirmish Cup, a six-man tournament that gets the adrenaline going and the bbs flying!

38 GITAG: GEARTECH CUSTOM There are loads of “paintjobs” out there, some are good, some not so but here Gerry Noone writes about a company that produces work that is truly exceptional.

43 KIT: ELITE 3W LED TORCH You can often find bits of useful kit in the most unusual places, as Military Historian, Will Fowler, discovered.

44 EVENT: INTER-COUNTY AIRSOFT CHAMPIONSHIP Les Lee returns to Dogtag Airsoft to report on a tournament series that is set to spread Nationwide.

48 ONLINE OFFLINE: GHOST RECON - WILDLANDS Leaping from the small screen to the airsoft field, Gareth “Gadge” Harvey recreates four excellent loadouts from this summer’s huge digital hit, with help from our good friends at TacTree.

70 SKILLS: RANGE KIT Although not a “skill” in itself, if you don’t have the right kit you cannot train (or fight) properly.

Andy Nightingale spent many years on “the circuit” and shares some of his thoughts about kit you need when training at the range.

72 LOADED OR UNLOADED: TACTICAL ATHLETE Jerry Noone returns to his regular slot to bring us an update on the newest pieces OF 5.11 to hit the stores, especially as there’s a direct tie-in to one of the biggest video game releases of 2017!

76 REAL STEEL: MP5 In his continuing series looking at “real steel” weapons Gareth “Gadge” Harvey writes about possibly one of the World’s most iconic submachine guns, the Heckler & Koch MP5.

54 INTERNATIONAL: BELARUS Maria Litvinova concludes her two-part article about airsoft in the former Soviet State of Belarus.

58 INTERNATIONAL: GERMANY Gerry Noone chats to another “Players Choice” winner about airsoft in Germany – and gets some rather surprising answers!

62 EVENT: OP ZANDER Seventy-three years after the event, Stuart Howes joins the German Fallschirmjäger to repel the recently arrived British and American Paras in the hedgerow hell of the bocage.

64 WARRIORS: POLISH INFANTRY 1939 Technically inferior to the forces attacking them, WW2 Polish infantry fought hard and well, as Gareth “Gadge” Harvey explains...

68 POCKET ROCKET: TM UZI In the July issue Gadge took a look at the Uzi in real life; he also mentioned the elusive Tokyo Marui airsoft version. Jerry Noone actually has one in his sizeable and eclectic collection. Stand by for a real blast from the airsoft past!

78 SURVIVAL: TERRORIST ATTACK What would you do if you were caught up in a terrorist attack?

Survival expert, Paul Yelland, offers a view on how your airsoft skills might help.

82 ARMOURY: DESERT EAGLE There are pistols and there are pistols …and then there is the Desert Eagle, an awesome weapon in both real steel and airsoft, as Frenchie explains.

84 AIRSOFT ACTION STOCKISTS Where to buy your copy of The Players’ Choice Best Airsoft Magazine before it goes on sale in newsagents.

86 SITE DIRECTORY & PRACTICAL PISTOL CLUBS Looking for a skirmish site, or your local Airsoft Practical Pistol Club?

Then we may have the answer, with pages of sites and clubs throughout the UK.

s w e N t f o s Air

FIRE DESTROYS REDWOLF AIRSOFT At just before 11pm on the night of 12th July, fire tore through RedWolf Airsoft’s warehouse in Tewkesbury, destroying everything inside.

Photos: Chloe Lomax/Gloucestershire Live

Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service started receiving calls at around 10:47pm from worried local residents, who reported seeing smoke and fire coming from RedWolf’s Northway Trading Estate location and three fire engines were despatched from Tewkesbury and Cheltenham West Fire Stations. Such was the ferocity of the blaze, a total of seven fire engines, a hi-reach aerial appliance and a bulk water carrier attended the scene, which continued until just after three forty in the morning. Initially, a nearby rail line was also closed when the fire started but this re-opened at around 2:00am, as everything came under control.

At the time of writing, the cause of the fire is not yet known and investigations are already underway.

Both Chris Kong and Danny Yau were alerted and attended the scene but, obviously, there was little they could do other than watch as events unfolded.

Chris Kong has informed Airsoft Action that, so far as he is aware, nothing could have survived the fire and they will need to gain access to the remains before they can fully assess the level of damage.

In the meantime, they will be seeking a temporary location from which to trade and new stock will be ordered from Hong Kong.

Everything that had been prepared for the Airsoft Surgeon Championship (which takes place over the weekend of 5th and 6th August), such as trophies, banners and prizes etc. has also been lost, however, the tournament will take place as scheduled and we hope as many spectators as possible will attend to show their support.

RedWolf Airsoft has been a solid supporter of this magazine from before day one and it was with a heavy heart that we learned this news but, knowing Chris, Danny and Gaz as well as we do, were are certain they will not let a small thing like fire destroying everything stop them!

We wish them all the very best for the future and look forwards to reporting from the opening of the new RedWolf Airsoft shop!

For more information, check out both the Airsoft Action and RedWolf Airsoft (UK) Facebook pages.

UMAREX RETURNS TO THE UK After the slow yet sure disappearance of Umarex goods, Land Warrior Sports Ltd has recently been awarded distribution of Umarex Airsoft products in the UK, with goods expected to start arriving from August 2017.

After a very successful series of meetings at IWA ealier this year, discussing the best way to distribute their goods within the UK, it was agreed that the distribution wing, EZ Distribution, of Land Warrior Sports would handle the B2B sales.

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september 2017

UMAREX

Umarex have some of the most well-known airsoft licences, including H&K, Walther & Beretta and are one of the largest sporting shooting goods companies in the world. With nearly 1,000 staff, they work closely with firearms companies to deliver high-end products.

With the exchange rate being weak for the UK at the moment, pricing is paramount and Scott Allan, owner of Land Warrior Sports, is as keen as always to bring player-friendly pricing to the market and the second-to-none service that Land Warrior Sports provides.

EZ Distribution is the wholesale division of Land Warrior Sports and welcomes all businesses wishing to establish an account.

With attractive products and quality goods, Umarex is a solid backbone for any business.

For more information, contact EZ Distribution via email: info@ezdistribution.co.uk or via their website: www.ezdistribution.co.uk Land Warrior Retail Outlet: www. landwarriorairsoft.co.uk

Airsoft News PRODUCT RECALL:

NUPROL COMBAT PRO GLASSES IF YOU USE NUPROL COMBAT PRO EYE PROTECTION IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU READ THIS...

NUPROL aplogise for any inconvenience caused and would like to state that although this is an isolated case, they are issuing the recall to avoid any potential safety issues.

They would also like to make it clear that only the models mentioned above are affected and all other NUPROL eye protection remains unaffected.

NUPROL have announced a PRODUCT RECALL of NUPROL COMBAT PRO GLASSES, in all lens colours, following the identification of a potential flaw that could lead to a lens falling out of the frame if impacted in a certain manner.

Player safety is THE Number One Priority at NUPROL and so they are recalling all glasses in the line to ensure no player’s health is compromised.

The model numbers affected are: 6043-CL, 6043-SM, 6043-YE NO other NUPROL products are affected.

NUPROL advises that if you have purchased any of the above products that you return them to the retailer from where they were bought for a full refund. If you are a Trade Customer, please contact NUPROL asap to arrange returns.

Airsoft Action would like to add that it is really good to see a manufacturer taking immediate action to remedy a potential issue, no matter how slight the chance of injury might be. This clearly demonstrates a company that is prepared to put safety before profit – something that certain other sectors of our society would do well to learn from!

ALL ABOUT THE EVO! FIRST-EVER ASG EVO OWNERS CLUB EVENT ActionSportGames and HALO MILL have got together to host the first ASG EVO Owners Club event in the UK. The event, which will be held at HALO MILL’s “Proving Grounds” near York on 10th September, is exclusively for EVO Owners ONLY and any player arriving with anything else will not be allowed to take part - pistols or small sidearms will be permitted as a secondary, however, shotguns, SMG and other rifles are not permitted.

This is all about the EVO! Paul Wignell, ASG’s UK Country Manager said: “The EVO Owners Club event is exactly what it means. A club event with a club feel. Very simular to a Ferrari car owners club but for EVOs. ASG feels there is no better way to bring our passionate EVO owners together, to meet the manufacturer and make new, long-lasting freinds too. For ASG it is a privilege to have a passionate following where we can give back to our ASG EVO owners.

“On the day there will be a meet and

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september 2017

greet, EVO Q and A and time to shop. We have UK companies like Viper Tactical who will be at the event, along with US companies Wolverine Airsoft, HB Industries, Manticore, Yeti Wurks and CZ Customs all supporting the club event by the way of gifts and prizes.

“New to the EVO event will be the very first “3D Airsoft Showcase”. We have invited companies that make 3D printed EVO aftermarket parts, just like 3D Soft who are traveling from Portugal, to come and showcase what they are producing. Not to forget Airsoft Action is the Official Media supporter so we know there will be excellent media coverage!

Plus YouTube/Blog contributors & EVO owners like Femme Fatale will be present too.”

The plan is to get all players in by 09:30 with the first

game starting at around 10:00 - possibly a two-hour “mini MilSim” game, followed by an extended lunch to allow people to speak to guests and check out the the shops. There will be a prize draw during this period and after all that, a few varied smaller games will take place with play expected to end between 16:00 and 17:00.

If you want to stop over on the night of the 9th, there are loads of hotels nearby or there is space for up to 100 peaole to camp on-site (although you will need to be packed up and clear by 07:30 to allow others to arrive and park).

Player numbers will be capped at 300 so if you want to go and haven’t already booked, you can get your tickets here: http://halomill.com/booking/4589789101/ pvg---evo-exclusive/9979950

AA GALLERY READERS’ PHOTOS

ROGUE’S GALLERY Photos by Jon Reed, from Invicta Battlefield

Information Fancy seeing yourself in Airsoft Action?

Send in your photos via email (nige@airsoft-action.co.uk) or share on our Facebook page (/AirsoftAction), plus a few words describing what’s going on in the image.

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september 2017

AA GALLERY READERS’ PHOTOS

Photos from the 7th Annual Skirmish Cup (see page 34)

CARTOON

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ARMOURY G&G ARP9

IT HAS TAKEN A LITTLE WHILE TO ARRIVE BUT NOW THAT IT IS HERE, HOW DOES G&G’S “BABY M4” PERFORM? SCOTT ALLAN GIVES US THE LOW DOWN…

THIS BABY

BITES! FINALLY 2017 HAS BRIGHTENED UP with something fun!

After seeing the ARP9 from G&G at the tail end of 2016 I was excited to see this fun little M4 SMG and try it out. I am crossing my fingers that being a bit odd doesn’t mean it is a fiddly and disappointing performer, like the G&P 9mm M4s.

If you haven’t heard of G&G then you live under a rock, as they pretty much own Airsoft in the UK these days. But are they the best brand out there? Well not necessarily but what they do very well is marketing, customer service, availability and good designs – and most importantly, at the right price for the end user. The team at G&G have their fingers on the pulse with what is hot and what is not and there is a steady rate in which their new releases continue to innovate and follow the trends quite closely. Surprisingly, this year seems to be a bit slower, with new designs appearing at a much lower rate than usual.

Personally I don’t think that is a bad thing at all, there are only so many new M4s I can stomach before you are just trying to reinvent the wheel for the four hundredth time in a year.

The ARP is a nice nod to the 9mm SMG M4s, such as the Colt M635 but with a more modern twist by changing to a Glock style magazine over the straight Uzi stick magazine.

Short AEGs are always a little hit or miss for me personally, they rarely peak my interest but with the Krytac Vector only a few weeks away, slick modern SMGs appear to be ruling the battlefield this summer. Like most G&G rifles, this isn’t a true replica of anything “real”, following G&G’s normal path of “we’ll make something that looks very like a real rifle but is

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September 2017

different enough to avoid any licensing”. Surprising though, is the MLOK front rail but I’ll touch on that again later.

THE REAL STEEL

While this isn’t a real replica exactly, the 9mm SMG M4/AR15 platform isn’t anything new. As mentioned, the Colt M635 made in around 1982 was the first of these hybrids. Since those early days, the US has steadily seen more of them, especially in recent years. Even UK manufacturers such as Southern Gun Company make a 9mm platform. Part of the reason in the US, is in states such as California they do not class them as Assault Rifles if they are a pistol calibre. So your quick magazine change on a 5.56mm M4 is a huge no-no but if you have a 9mm SMG it is deemed safe and therefore totally okay. No one ever got hurt from a 9mm after all..

The reason for the 9mm M4 is quite clever, firstly you already know how to use it. All the controls are familiar and in the same place as the standard 5.56 version. Have you ever got into a mate’s car and struggled with the clutch, gears and controls for the first few miles? Well imagine that but its life or death with someone shooting at you and you can’t find the safety catch! Also, the 9mm is a less penetrative round so if you do have to use it in a confined or populated area, it’s not going to go quite as far as a full rifle round causing unintentional harm. The downside is that lack of penetrating power will often be stopped by most body armour.

ARMOURY G&G ARP9

“THE ARP SORT OF REMINDS ME OF THE MEN IN BLACK PISTOL USED BY WILL SMITH, THE “NOISY CRICKET”. THE CROWN AMPLIFIER REALLY DOES WORK AND PRODUCES A VERY SNAPPY MUZZLE REPORT.”

BACK TO THE G&G

Oh the ARP9 is a looker, I won’t deny that! Their new polymer receivers are definitely more swish than their older counterparts and while they aren’t actually different in anything other than styling it does suit the rest of the design.

The new GOS V5 PDW stock is close to the Honey Badger stock but in many ways better. The Honey Badger stock is very popular for skirmishers at the moment too and is being used by companies such as Krytac also. I was surprised how solid and positive the stock was as you adjust it, like all PDW stocks it is a shorter, more compact stock – so anyone with ape arms might find it a little too small. The flash hider is being called a “Crown Amplifier” and gives you the sound hog/ fire hawk amplified muzzle crack. This is definitely one of the loudest AEGs I have seen (heard?) for some time. The

front rail is a tiny 5” CNC MLOK rail but do not confuse this with most other Airsoft MLOK rails. MLOK, much like Keymod, became a generic term without companies actually following the correct specification. G&G spent time working with Magpul to get the accreditation so that their MLOK system is perfect and that means your stuff will not fall off or wobble.

This is a Combat Machine at heart but G&G have really outdone their Top Tech range by making their Combat Machines so darn good! They are an excellent price, flawless quality and, most importantly, excellent performers. In fact, I would go as far to say that they have single-handedly broadsided the high end market. The days of buying a £350 rifle and then taking it to a store for upgrading seems to have been killed off by G&G - but is that a good thing? It depends on what side of the fence you stand, or sit on. Imagine if Dacia started producing a car that matched a Nissan GTR for the same price as the original Dacia. Good for the consumer

www.airsoft-action.online

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ARMOURY G&G ARP9

little lower than I would have liked but is still very useable. The magazine change could also take a little getting used to with the 9mm stick. It’s not as difficult as something like an M14 but it can be a bit of a fiddle under pressure. The last issue I found is magazine storage; the same issue all the existing and new Vector players are going to find. Best pouches I found were pistol Tacos but the extended ones would be even better until someone comes out with something else. The magazines are long and narrow yet bigger than most MP5 pouches will allow.

CONCLUSION but not so good for the Nissan dealer. Markets change and companies have to adapt to keep abreast or they fall behind and sink.

When you look at what you get, it is really staggering for a mere £180. Is the day of the custom tech special limited these days? In my opinion, yes… but then the days of the petrol/ diesel car are also limited if you look at France’s plans to get rid of them in the next 20 years. I believe these new “high spec low cost” AEGs will hurt a massive number of small “gun tech only” businesses if they do not adapt in time. Yes okay, things still break and need fixing but they don’t need to be upgraded out of the box. Jeez, I remember 15 years ago guys spending hundreds on upgrade components on top of a gun that had already cost them £400. Now for £180 you can have parts better than those we saw years ago! Now you get Electronic Trigger Units (ETU), MOSFET, quality inner barrels, tough gears and great styling for the cost of a pair of Crye trousers.

The ARP sort of reminds me of the Men in Black pistol used

by Will Smith, the “Noisy Cricket”. The Crown Amplifier really does work and produces a very snappy muzzle report. The battery compartment in the GOS V5 stock is large enough still to fit a decent battery inside and can be accessed without any tools. Too often companies seem hell-bent on making a rifle stock obscenely short - that of course isn’t needed unless you want to store it in something small. Personally I think G&G did something smart here, by making the tube slightly larger and the stock start further out it is a more functional gun for the player.

Internally there is a lot of the new generation of standard G&G parts, rotary hop (like a G36), V Shaped Hop Bucking (gives you a better performing hop up), 8mm gearbox case that is also reinforced and steel gears. The inner barrel is a little lighter a material than I would like normally but it still performs well.

USE IN THE GAME FIELD

This is a CQB player’s wet dream! The magazines are either 300 round high capacity, or a 60 round standard magazine (the rifle comes with a 300 round as standard). 60 rounds is a 14

September 2017

If I had to pick flaws with the ARP 9, it would be the smaller standard capacity magazines of only 60 rounds, the slightly fiddly magazine inserting and the flip up rear sight (I’ve never been a fan of the 600m flip up sight). Those things aside, the ARP 9 looks brilliant and I don’t usually like the super compact guns as much but this one really has caught my eye.

The performance and internal specifications really are top of the tree and the price is incredibly competitive, the pros unquestionably outweigh the cons. I struggle to think of a good reason not to buy one of these!

The only thing to look forward to now is the ARP 556!

features Mil Spec 5” MLOK Rail Crown Amplifier 300 Round High Capacity 9mm Magazine Flat speed trigger GOS V5 PDW Stock Electronic Trigger MOSFET 330 FPS on Blaster 0.20g Length 497mm Weight 2kg Rotary Hop Unit New G&G Pistol Grip Flip up sights RRP £180

ARMOURY ANGRY GUN M1911 TACTICAL

ANGRY GUN!

THE VENERABLE “1911” IS PROBABLY THE PISTOL EQUIVALENT OF THE “M4” IN AIRSOFT TERMS, AS VIRTUALLY EVERY MANUFACTURER WORTH THEIR SALT MAKES ONE! BUT WHAT TRULY MAKES A STANDOUT 1911 IN AN ALREADY WELL-SUBSCRIBED MARKET? JERRY NOONE GIVES US HIS THOUGHTS.

I THINK THAT PRETTY MUCH every airsofter I know either has owned, does own, or indeed will own some form of the classic Colt M1911 pistol and with such a range of styles, from the bog-standard “WWII” vintage single-stack to the current day Hi-Capa-based “race guns”, there’s something for everyone whatever your style of airsoft may be!

In the real world we’ve seen the rise of the “Tactical 1911” from companies such as Salient Arms, STI and Kimber, to name but three and the use of the STI by Chris Costa really brought a breath of fresh air into the 1911 market. But where did this trend start?

In the mid-1980’s, whilst the rest of the US military starting making the transition from the aging arsenal of original Colt military handguns (that had been in service for donkey’s years), by adopting the Beretta M9, as usual “Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children” (AKA the US Marine Corps) had other thoughts on the matter.

In the 1980’s, USMC Colonel Robert Young laid out a series of specifications and improvements to make Browning’s design ready for 21st century combat, many of which have been included in MEU(SOC) pistol designs. The Marine Expeditionary Unit; Special Operations Capable (MEU (SOC)) model, which was officially designated the M45 MEUSOC, was a magazine-fed, recoil-operated, single-action, semi-automatic pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. It was based on the original tried and tested M1911 design by John Browning 16

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ARMOURY ANGRY GUN M1911 TACTICAL

and has been the standard-issue side arm for the Force Recon Element of the United States Marine Corps’ Marine Expeditionary Units since 1985.

Online research tells me that in 2002 an article in American Handgunner stated that: ”Marine armorers from the Precision Weapons Section, MCBQ are making 789 MEU (SOC) 1911’s.

The revised parts list includes barrels, bushings, link pins, sear springs, ejectors, firing pin stops, mainspring housings and mainsprings, all from Nowlin Manufacturing. Slides were ordered from Springfield Armory, with front sight pins, beavertail safeties and recoil spring guides from Ed Brown.

Novak was contracted for rear sights, Wilson Combat provided extractors and mag release buttons, while King’s Gun Works supplied ambidextrous thumb safeties.”

Research further tells me: “A Marine operator may shoot as many as 80,000 rounds from this pistol during a training-cycle and subsequent deployment. However, it is more common for a Marine to return the pistol to the PWS at Quantico for a rebuild after 10,000 rounds have been fired. A rebuild entails discarding almost all of the gun’s parts except for the frame, which prior to 2003 was a U.S. Government frame last manufactured in 1945. The frame is inspected and reused if it is still within military specifications. There are frames in the USMC inventory that have had as many as 500,000 rounds fired through them.”

500,000 rounds through frames that were last manufactured in 1945! It’s came as no surprise then, that due to wear and tear of the MEU(SOC) pistols and increasing numbers of Marine personnel in Marine Force Recon and MARSOC, the U.S. Marines had to look for commercially available replacements. Marine Corps Systems Command announced in February 2005 that it was going to purchase 150 Springfield Armory Professional Model pistols for use as MEU(SOC) pistols. In 2010, requirements were once more issued for an off-the-shelf system to replace the custombuilt pistols. Three pistols were offered to the USMC as a replacement for their existing M45 Pistols. Colt offered a modified version of their O1980RG (Rail Gun) pistol, which was derived from their existing XSE line of 1911-style pistols with a desert sand-coloured surface treatment and Novak night sights.

Springfield Armory entered a variant of the full-sized Loaded MC Operator M1911A1 pistol with a military-standard 1913 rail, tritium night sights and finished with a two-tone black slide with an olive-drab green frame. The third entry from Karl Lippard Designs, a Colorado Springs-based arms maker, was called the Close Quarter Battle Pistol: an M1911A1-

“WHILST THE REST OF THE US MILITARY STARTING MAKING THE TRANSITION FROM THE AGING ARSENAL OF ORIGINAL COLT MILITARY HANDGUNS (THAT HAD BEEN IN SERVICE FOR DONKEY’S YEARS), BY ADOPTING THE BERETTA M9, AS USUAL “UNCLE SAM’S MISGUIDED CHILDREN” (AKA THE US MARINE CORPS) HAD OTHER THOUGHTS ON THE MATTER.” style pistol, built using S7 tool steel and a large number of proprietary components including accessory rail, grip safety and sights.

In July 2012, the Colt 1911 Rail Gun was selected and Colt won a contract to initially deliver 4,000 pistols for MARSOC and MEU (SOC) forces. The pistol was redesignated the M45A1 Close Quarter Battle Pistol (CQBP) and serves to this very day!

AN ANGRY GUN!

You may ask why I go into the history of the M45 pistol, when I come to talk about the Angry Gun M1911 Pistol Tactical Grey Deluxe Version that I have in front of me - I’d simply say that the closest I can come to a real world 1911 that’s anywhere close to this new GBB, is indeed the MEU(SOC) version. Moreover, whilst the Angry Gun model comes in a rather fetching and muted “Tactical Grey” that’s right up to the minute in terms of “tacticool”, the look and the features scream out to me “M45!”

It’s a beautifully finished airsoft pistol both inside and out, which comes as absolutely no surprise, given the people behind its creation.

Angry Gun Airsoft, established in 2012, have become world famous for their airsoft accessories, specialising in their “Power Up” Silencer Series, Suppressors and GBB Upgrade Parts and in this case they’ve teamed up with Hong Kong-based GBB www.airsoft-action.online

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ARMOURY ANGRY GUN M1911 TACTICAL

specialist Unicorn Precision Inc. to create an absolutely 100% high-performance pistol that is superb right out of the box!

The pistol itself, priced at £165.00, is not exactly the cheapest 1911 on the market but I’d go as far as saying that you could almost class it as “pre-upgraded”. Angry Gun have worked their magic on a pistol that’s already a corker and just made it better …oh so much better!

Full metal throughout, it comes with an exclusive CNC integral rail light mount and CNC steel slide release/lock, an extra CNC threaded outer barrel, 3-hole metal trigger, functional beavertail grip safety, metal extended and ambidextrous thumb safety and metal front and rear sights.

Although the sights don’t feature the Tritium of the “real deal” they are undoubtedly designed to look like 1911 Novak Cut models that adorn the M45, which is a nice nod to detail.

Inside you get a built-in 6.03mm Stainless Steel inner barrel and the pistol comes pre-fitted with an Angry Gun Double Points Hop Up Rubber; it’s a properly tight package to say the least!

The barrels are simply and easily changed so you can go swiftly from “standard” to “tacticool threaded” and installing the flashlight rail is also straightforward and quick; the pistol comes with a pretty comprehensive, full-colour, full-English instruction manual that walks you through both processes.

And as you might expect, the pistol is a bit of a tack-driver in use too! I chrono’d using .20g RZR BBs and got an absolutely consistent 0.75 Joule/284fps. Honestly, over the 24BB mag the power hardly fluctuated! Okay, it was a warm day when I tested but you expect to see at least one BB go well-awry

power-wise but no. Stunning! Accuracy-wise the “Unicorn” is top-notch too as at 10m I was easily (and I do mean easily) hitting side-plate sized targets each and every time, plus the highly textured pistol grips give an extremely positive grip which lets you move from target to target smoothly.

I’ve been running an original WE classic single-stack 1911 for over ten years now and it’s an accurate and reliable pistol.

I’ve always said that until that one finally died, which BTW it shows no sign of doing any time soon, I’d not need to be in the market for another 1911. After living with the “Tactical Grey” though, I think I may have finally found my “1911 Unicorn” and I am indeed loathe to return this sample. I believe I may be having words with Frank at Fire Support about adding this little beauty to my personal pistol cabinet.

Many thanks as always to www.fire-support.co.uk for supplying the test model. They are constantly updating their inventory so make sure you keep a regular eye on their website!

“WHILST THE ANGRY GUN MODEL COMES IN A RATHER FETCHING AND MUTED “TACTICAL GREY” THAT’S RIGHT UP TO THE MINUTE IN TERMS OF “TACTICOOL”, THE LOOK AND THE FEATURES SCREAM OUT TO ME “M45!” IT’S A BEAUTIFULLY FINISHED AIRSOFT PISTOL BOTH INSIDE AND OUT, WHICH COMES AS ABSOLUTELY NO SURPRISE, GIVEN THE PEOPLE BEHIND ITS CREATION.” 18

September 2017

event G&G WORLD CUP CQB COMPETITION 2017

G&G WORLD CUP CQB COMPETITION 2017 KELLY “FEMME FATALE” HARDWICK MAKES A LONG JOURNEY TO REPORT FROM THE WORLD CUP OF CQB COMPETITIONS, HELD BI-ANNUALLY IN TAIPEI, TAIWAN AND STAGED BY G&G. WHEN OUR EDITOR, NIGE, called me and asked: “Would you like to go to Taiwan to cover the G&G CQB Championships this year?” I literally jumped for joy and squealed down the phone!

The G&G World Cup CQB Shooting Competition is the World’s first Airsoft electronic target shooting competition, where contestants from around the world compete in a series of stages, including the G&G 5x5 MET system, for the title of

World Champion in the gorgeous city of Taipei in Taiwan.

In 2015, 38 contestants from 12 countries around the globe competed in the first ever CQB shooting competition and this year the competition was bigger, better and more intense with 60 contestants from 25 countries, including Taiwan, USA, UK, France, Switzerland and others, all competing for the title - and the first prize of $10,000 USD! All the teams had been chosen from qualifying events in their respective countries and those who qualified were rewarded by G&G with flights to and accommodation for the competition in Taiwan – plus, of course the chance to be World Champions!

So what exactly does the competition involve? The G&G World Cup CQB Shooting Competition has four stages, as follows:

STAGE ONE: M.E.T 5X5

The M.E.T 5x5 stage is the first stage of the competition, where contestants use the G&G CM16 – SRS rifle to eliminate the 25 targets until completion. So what’s the catch? The target changes every 1.5 seconds! Each shooter is given a lane adjacent to their partner and must use the provided RIF to eliminate all of the targets in the quickest time possible.

STAGE TWO: HUMVEE SNIPER

The Humvee Sniper stage is the second stage of the competition and is one of the more elaborate stages (as the name suggests). The “Spotter” sits in the front passenger seat of the Humvee with a GPM-92 pistol (hands on console to

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September 2017

event G&G WORLD CUP CQB COMPETITION 2017

begin) and the second competitor sits in the front driver seat (with hands on steering wheel to begin). When the M.E.T is activated, the “Sniper” mounts the back bed of the Humvee with a G960SV sniper rifle and each must then eliminate their targets (Sniper 2x3 and the Spotter 3x3).

STAGE 3: SEARCH & DESTROY

Search & Destroy is the third stage of the competition and is linked to the Humvee Sniper stage. Upon completion of the previous stage the competitors leave the Humvee and their previous weapons in the car, pick up their CM16 – SRS rifles and activate the M.E.T system. During Search & Destroy the targets light up and emit a sound until cleared – more than one target may light up and emit sounds at a different location at the same time. Contestants during this stage are allowed to move around the whole field but shooting can only take place in designated shooting areas.

STAGE FOUR: CQB

The CQB element is the final and most physically demanding stage of the competition. This stage is also completed using the CM16 – SRS rifle. It is a tough CQB course littered with the M.E.T system targets. The first competitor activates the system and the stage begins, each area is activated on completion of the last and the contestants must retrieve the document case.

There are DQs (disqualifiers) for each stage and each stage has its own particular set of rules which contestants must adhere to. Countries that have the M.E.T 5x5 system and the full CQB course set up send 2 teams to the world shooting cup, while countries who just have the M.E.T 5x5 system (like the UK) are only permitted to send one team.

THE COMPETITION

Most of the contestants arrived in Taiwan from their respective countries on Thursday 8th June ready for the competition to kick off on Friday 9th. Due to the flight times from Heathrow, I arrived in Taiwan on Friday 9th just 2 hours before the competition was due to commence, so it was a mad rush for me to get from the Airport to the Hotel the contestants were staying in and eventually to the Expo centre itself!

The Riviera hotel is a luxurious hotel in the centre of Taipei, located close to the expo centre. All the contestants stay at the hotel so it is like a big sleepover and no expense is spared on the experience. Upon walking into your room you are greeted by a G&G “Care Package”, which includes tonnes of G&G branded swag such as a personalised hat, a towel, a small hard case and other bits and bobs which is a really nice touch! Luckily I got to the Expo centre with time to spare and had the chance to catch up with the team from G&G and the international media that were in attendance over a lunchbox of traditional Taiwanese cuisine.

The Expo centre had been decked out for the event with no expense spared – it had a huge branded stage, G&G branded gazebos for the operations, medical and maintenance teams

(the contestants are very well taken care of by the team) and all of the competitors. The competitor tents were decorated with bunting and flags of the team’s countries, which gave the whole event a very patriotic feel!

The official start of the competition was signalled by lights and music coming from the main stage, quickly followed by dancers in inflatable costumes performing a lively little number before the G&G CEO himself, Mr James Liao took his place on stage to welcome the competitors. The first day of the competition is a chance for the teams to meet and get to know the G&G team, the rival teams, set up their weapons/ get to grips with them, to test them out on the M.E.T and to ensure there are no gun issues prior to the competition starting. For the competition, each team gets 2 CM16-SRS rifles, a GPM-92 pistol and a G960SV sniper rifle – all of which are straight out of the box. I spent Friday mingling with the teams and the international media, including the awesome guys from GSP, The House Gamers and Airsoftology.

DAY TWO

The second day of the competition is where the competitors qualified for their ranking the next day – those who came higher up in the rankings would go later in the day. Each team gets two attempts to run through each stage and their best time is used as their ranking for the finals. The day started at 9am with all contestants ready to get their rankings and the day went off without a hitch and all the teams were on great form, which could be seen in their scores. The second day was also when G&G held the “Contestant’s Banquet”.

After the day was over all the contestants made their way to their designated mini buses (dubbed “the party buses”) and we were on our way to The Grand Hotel in Taipei – one of the most famous hotels in the city. The hotel is absolutely gorgeous; as you walk up the marble steps it gives way to a luscious scarlet red carpet that spans the entire length of the foyer of the hotel. It is decorated with lanterns and ornate patterns and dripping in the traditional oriental colours of red and gold. As we made our way through the hotel into the banquet hall itself, there were banners and flags lining the walls. The banquet was a great evening with lots of traditional Taiwanese cuisine and the contestants are treated to Taiwanese beer and rice wine. The banquet is a super enjoyable event with

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event G&G WORLD CUP CQB COMPETITION 2017

a lot of laughter and camaraderie all round and after it was over, everyone was transported to the Riviera Hotel to carry on an evening of camaraderie and drinks…

As I was only there for 4 days, my nights were spent exploring the city of Taipei – after all, how often do you get to fly to the opposite side of the world? During the evenings we explored downtown Taipei, from the Shiling night market which was alive with colour, people and the smell of street food, to the quiet little artisan beer bars in the expo centre, to the famous beef rice bowl restaurant a short ride into the city on the MRT. Taiwan is a stunning country full of life, colour and scents that really make you feel alive. My only complaint, is the heat (typical Brit!) - most days the temperature was hitting 35-40 degrees and it is really humid so shorts are an absolute must!

DAY THREE

The third and final day of the competition was where the teams would secure the final scores that would decide their fate in the competition. The day started at 8.30am and all the contestants were at their stations ready to take on the day – first up was the M.E.T 5x5 final, followed shortly by the Humvee Sniper and Search & Destroy final before finishing up with the CQB finals.

The day went well and the competition was intense, with crowds of people coming to watch the CQB finals from the stands, the whole expo was alive with activity and cameras flashing recording the event. It is my understanding that there were a few gun fails during the last day but these were

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September 2017

quickly resolved by the G&G Maintenance team. The Finale was a spectacular event and definitely the highlight of the competition.

After the competition was complete and the scores had been counted, all of the contestants lined up with their respective country’s sign and flag awaiting the results. Music began to play and Mr Liao started to present the winning teams with their awards and, of course, the coveted prize funds.

The overall winners of the 2017 competition were Chile Team B coming in 1st and winning a very handsome $10,000 USD, Taiwan came in 2nd and took home prize money of $5,000 USD. Hong Kong came 3rd, taking home a fab $2,000 USD. There were also monetary prizes for the winners of the individual stages. Germany took the prize for Stage 1 – M.E.T 5x5, Hong Kong took the prize for Stage 2 – Humvee Sniper, Chile team A were crowned the champions for Stage 3 – Search & Destroy and Chile team B took first for Stage 4 – CQB. At the end of the ceremony we turned to face the ranking flags, with the Chile national anthem being played as their flag rose to the top of the pack. The most poignant memory I have of this moment was the Chile team – hands over their hearts, pride in their eyes and singing their hearts out to their anthem.

It was an amazing sight to see and a very well deserved win by the Chile team.

The UK team was sponsored by none other than Zero One Airsoft – the shop/site where the UK M.E.T 5x5 system is based.

Our UK team was chosen from the 2,500 players who attended the National Airsoft Festival at Ground Zero in Ringwood over the August Bank Holiday. Over the weekend players compete in teams of two to eliminate the 5x5 in the quickest time possible – which is no easy feat with so many competing for the chance to go to Taiwan. Ian Cobbledick and Gavin Andrewartha from Cornwall qualified for the 2017 G&G World Shooting Cup during the 2016 NAF with the fastest time over the weekend.

During the competition they ranked an impressive 13th in the qualifiers and 24th overall. Their plans moving forward are to train on their very own M.E.T system and defend their title of National Champions at the National Airsoft Festival 2017. The guys were great competitors, fun to chat to and did their best in the stages.

The G&G World Cup CQB Shooting Competition is held at the same time as the Taiwan Camo Festival, where stores and manufacturers come together to put on an expo-like event where players can come to try out new guns, run stages and compete in mini competitions for prizes and, of course, purchase new shiny camo and Airsoft goodies. Companies in attendance included WE Airsoft, Modify, ICS Airsoft, VFC and Armourer Works. The Camo festival brings hundreds of visitors every year to view new products etc. It was fun to walk around taking in the sight of all the different camos and to try out the marksmanship challenges that were dotted around the exhibition. There was a lot of kit there that I REALLY fancied

event G&G WORLD CUP CQB COMPETITION 2017

bringing home but my suitcase was already filled with swag thanks to the team at G&G! Overall, the event was a spectacular show of skill and determination from the contestants. It was an enjoyable event filled with camaraderie and sportsmanship and really epitomised the best aspects of the Airsoft community – friendly competition, honest play and sportsmanship. The trip itself is the trip of a lifetime. The competitors did a great in the competition and many international friendships were forged. It was great to meet so many people from different cultures and learn about their customs, languages and Airsoft communities.

One thing that is clear to see is just how much time, passion and funds G&G invest in this event - I am so grateful to Airsoft Action for allowing me to represent them at the 2017 World Cup CQB Shooting Competition and to G&G Armament for flying me out, being such fantastic hosts and giving me the experience of a lifetime.

The final scores/places were: 30th Paraguay 29th Bolivia 28th Mexico 27th Finland 26th Romania 25th French Polynesia 24th United Kingdom 23rd Philippines 22nd France Team A 21st Spain Team A 20th New Zealand 19th Colombia 18th United States Team A 17th Switzerland 16th Netherlands 15th Canada 14th Poland 13th France Team B 12th Spain Team B 11th United Arab Emirates 10th Argentina 9th Germany 8th Chile Team A 7th Republic of China (Taiwan) Team A 6th United States Team B 5th Japan 4th Brazil Hong Kong 3rd 2nd Republic of China (Taiwan) Team B 1st Chile Team B

www.airsoft-action.online

23

Inside Airsoft 308 SNIPER

308 SNIPER LES LEE HEADS TO CHATHAM AND VISITS A RELATIVELY NEW SHOP THAT IS GROWING VERY QUICKLY. CHATHAM IN NORTH KENT, nestled on the river Medway, is famous for two things: 308 Sniper is one of them and there’s also something about a former Naval Dockyard thingy!

However, getting back to the important issue, 308 Sniper, the shop in the high street, has been open a little over a year but the concept had been around a lot longer when shop owner Chris “activated” his passion and took things to a whole new level.

As always, I was curious to see what was on offer and when I was invited up for a visit and a cuppa, I was in the Jeep and hitting motorway after motorway until the trusty sat nav uttered those immortal words “You have reached your destination.” YAY! I glanced over to my left and saw the shop frontage and as I did so, a parking space became available right outside the door. This had all the promise of being a great day so after grabbing my trusty DSLR and notepad I eagerly entered the shop and was very pleasantly surprised when I saw wall to wall camo and everything to go with it. One thing that

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September 2017

did surprise me was how on earth have I missed this shop in my travels around the South East visiting everything airsoft during the five plus years writing reviews for Britain’s No1 airsoft magazine, Airsoft Action?

However, I had now found them and that’s what counts and no sooner had I said hello to Chris and his wife and co-owner Lindsay, aka “Lins”, a cup of coffee was in my hand and my inquisitive gland (if there is such a thing) fired-up and began looking and learning.

So here I was, surrounded by all things airsoft still wondering how I had missed these guys because clearly, this is one very established retail shop, so after the usual chit-chat (yeah yeah.... everyone knows that I talk a lot) I began perusing the shop in a grid by grid style making sure that no stone was left unturned and I was very impressed indeed! It was time to ask Chris and Lins some questions about 308 Sniper, their journey so far, what is going on currently and any future plans they have in mind.

308 Sniper started due to Chris’s love of shooting back in 2009 when Chris got back into shooting, specifically rifle shooting with .308 tactical sniper rifles. This was the 1st time he had shot since leaving the Army in 1999 and as a consequence (and due to his new found hobby and love for the sport), Chris, together with Lins started their 1st website www.308sniper.co.uk to showcase some rifles and videos, pictures and information on sniper rifles. It was from this that they started to receive enquires for clothing and equipment for shooting etc. so in 2012 they sat down and looked at the market for military style clothing and accessories that could be used for shooting. Thanks to his background it looked like a market they could utilise to provide a great range of products via a few different suppliers. So in January of 2013 they took the plunge and activated 308 Sniper as a limited company. They

Inside Airsoft 308 SNIPER

launched their shop website www.308-sniper.co.uk and started attending military fairs and shows in the summer months, covering most weekends from April to September. The shows started to build in strength and their regular customers wanted more, a place to come back to, so in October 2015 they took a “leap of faith” and opened the shop in Chatham. Along with the shop opening they had started supplying airsoft players with vests and pouches in various other ways but, at that time, they deliberately avoided supplying RIFs and BBs as the market seemed already well supplied. However, they had seen from their trips to the IWA show in Nuremburg that airsoft was growing at a very rapid rate and after their trip in March 2016 they opened up a trade account with NUPROL. The next step was to team up with a few airsoft sites and bring out their mobile shop. On a Tuesday night they attend Battle Sector X, once a month they set up shop at Mayhem Airsoft and now fortnightly travel to the mighty Dogtag Airsoft in West Sussex, where they have a potential customer base of over 200 players every game day.

And on top of all of the aforementioned, demand is such that they also attend a different military show every weekend from April through to the end of September and it’s not unusual for them to split off in different directions to provide a mobile shop at different locations over the same weekend!

Such is their passion and popularity that they get invited to attend a host of other events such as military, bike, classic car, airsoft shows and even a metal detector show!

Chris added: “Whatever we do we like to try and keep it fun at our shop, where you will find Steve the mannequin holding his riot shield and keeping an eye on things”. You have been warned!

With NUPROL, Kombat UK, Gunfire and (during the writing of this review an account was set up with our good friends) iWholesales being their primary suppliers, they do and will be carrying a significant and varied range of products and consumables. I also noticed that their prices tended to be more “buyer friendly” than some other shops - which is good for us, agreed? NUPROL have been a huge part of their development and in particular, the legendary “Red Van Man”, Trent Halligan (the founder of Airsoft Great Britain), who has been instrumental in supporting Chris and Lins in the perpetual and positive progress of the shop.

One interesting point I noticed was that 308 Sniper is chocka full of combat clothing and boasts probably one of the biggest stocks of battle fatigues in the South East. And this not only limited to combat clothing, their range of other attire such as tee shirts and other military-style clothing and accessories was very impressive indeed Although 308 offer two tone airsoft “IFs” if required, at the moment they cannot offer an in-house repair or gunsmith service at the shop, however, they are able to provide a service or repairs via NUPROL for customers that have purchased NUPROL products. Other than that, normal warrantee conditions are not only applied, this area takes precedence and issues are resolved on an “absolute priority service” basis, such is their value on their customers.

Some may agree that our “Young Guns” of today are our airsofters of the future and what was nice to see was an extensive range of tactical gear for our younger players. I have seen many retail shops that seem to forget our younger shooters but this certainly doesn’t apply here …and while on that subject, younger ‘softers don’t always need high end kit which is just as well because chances are, most are saving up for that particular tac vest, battle belt or elusive (and probably expensive) part of their load out that they have seen on their X Box game and this is where 308’s prices are very welcomed.

Three particular items are in high demand at the moment at

308 Sniper are: NUPROL hard cases (which seem to be a must-have addition in your arsenal to keep a couple of rifles safe in transit); the good old tactical vest and an item selling like hot cakes (but probably not tasting quite the same) are Spec Op boots from Kombat UK. These are a great pair of boots with double zips which make putting them on and taking them off even easier (nicknamed by Lins as the “lazy boot” but don’t worry Lins, I won’t tell anyone that you were wearing a pair....that’ll be our secret!).

Like many things airsoft, players, shops, sites and other segments of our pastime are related to local clubs and charities and 308 Sniper are no different because they like to give a little to their community, so I asked Chris about their connections “outside the box” and this is what he told me.

“We currently support a couple of charities. Scotties Little Soldiers who provide help and support for children that have lost their parents in service. This is a small but fantastic charity run by a great team of people and we often set up next to this charity at military shows we attend. The second charity we support is Homes for Heroes, again this is a great charity that helps ex-service men and women that have ended up homeless after leaving the services. The charity is run by a Pearly King and Queen (Michelle and Jimmy) that put all their effort and www.airsoft-action.online

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Inside Airsoft 308 SNIPER

passion into it and for this reason we offer them support where we can. We also passionately support the Poppy Appeal each year by selling the range of poppies and bands, etc. Besides supporting the charities, we regularly link arms with clubs Battle Sector X and their Elites, Mayhem Airsoft and of course Dogtag Airsoft. We have also built up a good friendship with the guys and girls of the Fallen 26th. In addition we also attend and support the Airsoft Boot Fair twice a year at Beths Grammar School. This is a great event run by Phil Bromley, a top guy. We get the chance to get involved and have even been judges for the best load out competitions”.

A busy team as you can see but before I conclude this feature I need to add a couple of comments. Although the shop is in Chatham High Street, parking can be as near as right outside the shop (just don’t forget to pay and display) and of course, tea, coffee and toilets are there if wanted (or needed) and if you are a Cadet or a serving member of the military, you can have a 10% discount (with the relevant credentials/ID card)

as a gesture of recognition and/or gratitude for your service. (Author’s note: I like and respect that gesture...

NICE ONE!) I asked Chris to summarise their “venture” and he replied: “I guess the main thing for us is we are a family-run business that wants to keep our business fun and friendly.

With a great following of customers and supporters, we know we are made by our customer and what they want, so if we haven’t got it we will always try and get hold of it if we can. We want to not just be a business but a place people want to come and visit, stop by for a chat and a tea/coffee and tell their mates and family about. We like to get involved on social media and we have two Facebook pages (308sniper with over 8100 likes and 308sniper airsoft with over 70 likes) where we promote events we are attending and post our videos and updates. We also do the same on Instagram with over 120 followers and Twitter with over 720 followers under @308sniper2012 and 308sniper2012, as well as our YouTube channel, 308sniper, which has over 100 subscribers”.

On behalf of all the team at Airsoft Action we wish you all the very best for the future as clearly you guys are as passionate about airsoft as we are.

Les OUT!

Contact Details: 308 Sniper Ltd 66 High Street Chatham Kent ME4 4DS 01634 921278 www.308sniper.co.uk facebook.com/308sniper twitter.com/308sniper2012 youtube.com/308sniper2012

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27

kit LAYLAX BITE MAG HOLDER

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A MANUFACTURER OF FIRST RATE AIRSOFT UPGRADE PARTS TURNS THEIR ATTENTION TO TACTICAL GEAR? JERRY NOONE TAKES A LOOK AT THE BITE MG MAG HOLDER FROM LAYLAX.

MAG RETENTION WITH A BITE!

OVER THE YEARS I HAVE TRIED many different ways of carrying extra magazines for my rifle or carbine and with new material technology, these days we’re not just stuck with nylon or webbing pouches to choose from. I’ve had US M56 pouches, ’58 webbing, ChiCom chest rigs and then moved on to various types of Nylon and Cordura and all of them have worked fine but had certain drawbacks. In terms of design I’ve tried closed top pouches, open-top “CQB” pouches, belt-mounted and had them affixed direct to a chest rig or plate carrier and again, everything works.

More recently people have started to change things in terms of design and the materials used; I’ve seen things like the excellent HSGI “Tacos”, which mix high-quality plastic with traditional nylon and bungee retention, come onto the market and I’ve played with “Fast Mag” mag holders. I’ve had a long-term relationship with the developer of the innovative polymer Rapid Access Magazine Pod (RAMP) and seen the guys at IMI Defense come out with their own take on things.

But there’s always someone who wants to push the boundary isn’t there and to my great surprise, this turned out to be LAYLAX from Japan!

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September 2017

LAYLAX are no newcomers to the airsoft industry as they are a highly respected and well-reputed Japanese manufacturer of high quality aftermarket parts for airsoft guns. Their products include the Prometheus, Nine Ball and First Factory lines and for many airsofters LAYLAX are at the very pinnacle of both internal and external upgrade parts.

Up until now though, they’ve not been known for “tactical” gear but that all changed when I met them at IWA; amongst all the shiny, high quality parts I spied a family of “AR/ M4” magazine holders and when I spoke to the guys they were keen to tell me all! LAYLAX are known for highly technical yet elegant solutions to airsoft problems and it turned out that they had turned this expertise to the carriage of magazines and they were kind enough to send me home with a selection of their BITE MG “M4” and handgun Quick Mag Holders.

These are extremely innovative products in that they combine the best elements of open-top CQB mag pouches, with bungee retention and the newer plastic or polymer pods.

Essentially, the BITE is made from two opposing super-tough plastic sections, a base and a face, through which runs a bungee tensioning system which is really easy to adjust. The BITE’s are constructed in such a way that when you secure a magazine into them they quite literally “bite” down on it,

kit LAYLAX BITE MAG HOLDER

keeping it snugly and securely in place; you need to be careful with these things though, they’re right “finger snappers”!

On the rear of the BITE is another, more flexible plastic strip which can be secured to MOLLE in numerous positions; three screws hold this securely in place and once you’ve got the BITEs attached to your rig they are certainly not going anywhere anytime soon.

In use they can be fitted in a standard configuration for an indexed magazinechange grip, or inverted for a swift “beer can” pull; I’ve tested them using both techniques and they work perfectly whichever way to choose to mount them. The retention is truly excellent but when you need to change all “M4” style mags are easy to remove. Personally I find the pistol versions a little “clunky” but they certainly do the job they were intended for.

I’m going to run the rifle/carbine versions on my Warrior DCS rig during the summer and I think they’ll serve very well indeed!

The BITE MG holders are available from www.fire-support.co.uk; the rifle/ carbine models are £11 a pop which is a very fair price, with the pistol versions coming in at £20 for a twin pack. The “M4” holders come in Black, Tan and Ranger Green. If this is what is in store from LAYLAX in the future, then I for one will be paying VERY close attention.

www.airsoft-action.online

29

It’s a Classic PICATINNY RAILS

GARETH “GADGE” HARVEY CONTINUES HIS SERIES WITH A LOOK AS SOMETHING WE ALL ACCEPT AS “STANDARD” BUT IT WASN’T ALWAYS THAT WAY, AS HE EXPLAINS…

ON THE RAILS FEW THINGS ARE AS UBIQUITOUS on the airsoft field as the 20mm accessory rail. These days we take it for granted that a new model will have these as “standard” but there was a time when this handy system was truly cutting edge. Some players may call is a RIS (Rail Interface System), some a RAS (Rail Accessory System) but here we’ll give it its true name, the Picatinny Rail and look into its origins.

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September 2017

For a long time most firearms post-WWI and up to the end of the cold war had “iron sights” as standard, with optical scopes reserved for special purpose weapons, crewed weapons and most noticeably, snipers. While a few battle rifles and assault rifles had a provision for an optical scope or a built-in scope (the embryonic post war British Em42, the WWII German FG42 and the West German G11 project to name a few), by far the norm was a soldier relying on the “Mk1 eyeball” and lining up the front and rear sights of his rifle in a manner that would not be unfamiliar to a rifleman of the Napoleonic wars.

During the post-war years an increased demand for more accuracy from riflemen led to an increase in optical aids on standard rifles. British experience in Northern Ireland led to the inclusion of the “SUIT” sight (Sight Unit Infantry Trilux) to be attached to the L1a1 SLR of one or two men per section, to ensure accurate target identification and avoid civilian casualties in a firefight. At the same time, the development of the army’s new “Individual Weapon” rifle of the future SA80 family included the specification for a similar sight, the SUSAT (Sight Unit Small Arms Trilux) and for the SUSAT sight to be easily replaceable with an iron sight (for jungle operations), or a CWS night sight (Common Weapons Sight) for night patrols and combat. Provision for a quick change of the scope was to simply allow it to lock on to an 18mm rail on top of the rifle.

Previously, fitting a scope to a rifle required some thought and/or “jury rigging”. Many rifles like the G3 and AK series were designed with no provision for mounting a scope and required either a clamped on “claw mount”, or a top cover capable of taking scope mounts. In the case of the AK series, the scope mount had to be mounted on the side of the weapon (like the one affixed to the Dragunov SVD sniper

It’s a Classic PICATINNY RAILS

rifle). This system, known as the “Warsaw Pact rail”, was initially designed to mount a night vision scope rather than a daytime red dot or telescopic sight, although with modernised Russian forces a wide array of optics can be seen utilising Warsaw Pact rails that have a 20mm picatinny rail on the top.

The Sa80 family’s 18mm rail made changing the weapon’s sights a simple process, taking seconds without need of any specialist tools in the field. One of its main advantages was to allow the section to transfer the CWS night sight to a different rifleman quickly, or to change from day to night operations equally swiftly – the trade-off being a loss in “zero” on the rifle.

This system was similar to the commercially available 20mm “weaver” mounting system which was, in itself, a breakthrough in firearms design. Weaver rails had been around since the mid-20th century but had not been adopted by any military in any serious way, being mainly utilised as a civilian shooting accessory. In 1980 the US army, inspired by the previously mentioned “quick change” optics on other nation’s small arms, put forwards a proposal to standardise the Weaver system for its own firearms. Development work was undertaken by the ARMS company and took until around 1994 to standardise a rail system to replace the handguards for the M16a2 and the newly developed M4 carbine. The rail system was then further tested at the Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey (from which the system takes its name) before being granted a military standard. Known as a “MIL-STD-1913 rail”, or “Standardization Agreement 2324 rail”, the Picatinny system allows rapid placement and replacement of weapon accessories, taclights, lasers and not only firearms but other equipment such as some helmets, also incorporate rails of the same standard to affix tactical kit like flashlights.

Many “classic” real world firearms have been retrofitted to take advantage to the versatility of 20mm rails and it’s now not uncommon to see an old “war horse” like the AK47 bedecked in RIS attachments, alongside more modern firearms with furniture purpose-built for rails. In some cases it is simply a case of bolting a rail system to the existing wood furniture and in others replacement handguards and receiver top covers can be purchased to modernise a classic gun.

While Picatinny rails look almost identical to the earlier Weaver system, it is important to realise that they are not the

“IT’S NOW NOT UNCOMMON TO SEE AN OLD “WAR HORSE” LIKE THE AK47 BEDECKED IN RIS ATTACHMENTS, ALONGSIDE MORE MODERN FIREARMS WITH FURNITURE PURPOSE-BUILT FOR RAILS.” same. Weaver rails have differently spaced recoil grooves and while a weaver based accessory will fit a Picatinny rail, the reverse is not true. However, nearly all airsoft accessories now conform to the Picatinny Military Standard so few players will have to worry about this.

It’s safe to say that the 20mm rail system is a firm favourite with airsofters. Almost every new player will choose an AEG with as many rails as possible and then spend their next month’s wages bolting everything from a flash light to sniper scope to every available surface! But to be fair, it is an incredibly versatile and practical system and it’s easy to see why the Picatinny rail system has become a modern day classic!

www.airsoft-action.online

31

ICS CAPTAIN

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13/06/2017 21:11:25

event SKIRMISH BILLERICAY: 7th ANNUAL SKIRMISH CUP

7 ANNUAL TH

SKIRMISH CUP

AIRSOFT ACTION WELCOMES NEW CONTRIBUTOR, GEORAGA, AS HE TALLIES UP THE SCORE AT THE SKIRMISH CUP, A SIX-MAN TOURNAMENT THAT GETS THE ADRENALINE GOING AND THE BBS FLYING! LIKE NIGE WHO COVERED the Skirmish Cup 2016 last year, I wasn’t sure about just how successful “Tournament Airsoft” could be. In my 9 years as an airsofter, I haven’t really had the chance to play in one and when I read those words, I think more... targets; ranges; 3-gun practical shooting (like Keanu Reeves training for John Wick 2)... that sort of thing - (seriously have you seen that? YouTube it!). So when I turned up to find a tournament that ran like a well-oiled Tokyo Marui gearbox, I was pleasantly surprised. Plenty of marshals, a tonne of players,

a well-planned format and the attendance of companies like Valken, Viper, ASG and SMS Surplus Clothing, there was definitely an energy in the air.

If you’re like me, you’re probably curious about how an airsoft tournament could possibly work and if it does, how do you manage and enforce the “honour-bound” elements of our hobby? When I think about the trickiness of playing competitively, I think about those things we all get frustrated with; non-hit taking being the biggest factor, followed by the terrain of the AO used (if it’s harder beginning in certain areas, how do you minimise any disadvantages caused?). What about cross-squad co-operations, or aggressive behaviour?

Well I had a bit of a chinwag with site owners and operators, Jim and Jacky Sidroy, along with several of the Skirmish marshals in order to find out how they’ve been running this tournament every year and developing the rules to make it more and more fair, reducing the amount of variables that come into play with competitive tournaments.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Firstly though, let’s look at the main shape of the tournament because I want you to grasp the sheer magnitude of this thing.

There are 15 squads signed up, each with 6 players per squad; that’s 90 players in total and 84 players opposing each individual team (DAYUM!). So with that many players it’s a good thing they’re not all playing at the same time... oh wait... no... no, they are... IT’S WAR TIME! 34

September 2017

event SKIRMISH BILLERICAY: 7th ANNUAL SKIRMISH CUP

The day consists of 8 rounds of play, each playing host to a minimum of 12 squads while the remaining teams are off earning (or losing) points on the Pistol Run - but more on that in a bit. At the start of every round Jim randomises the order of the teams and the squad captains are given individual “jumping off points”, spread around the site, where they and their squad have a strict 5 minutes to rendezvous together before the start of game.

The interesting thing about this tournament is that it’s a point-based competition. As the squads enter through the AO entry point, each player receives a playing card.

The playing card is their life. If you get hit?

“HIT!” - throw your arm in the air like normal and then take your playing card to either the player that shot you, or if the opposing player requests it, a nearby Marshall in order for them to pass it on.

NO RESPAWNS!!!

The aim as you can probably gather, is to do just that... “gather”. Use those “sick operator skillz” to take out opposing players and collect their playing cards, trying to build a phat stack because the more cards you hold on to and collect, the more points your squad gains at the end of the round (each kill only earns you one card). Sounds easy right? Let me remind you, you’re playing against a minimum of 72 other operators all with the same aim, to get you and your comrades in their sights and lay down some serious pew pew!

At the end of each round, the squad captain collects the cards and reports to the command HQ in the safezone where the results are displayed, live, for all to see.

The Pistol Run is operated alongside the main game mode in a separate area away from the main AO and between two and three squads are pulled from each round to take part. It is a time-trialled, tag, target test (say that five times fast) utilising pistol discipline and speed to rack up points to take back to the main scoreboard. There are a potential 18 points at stake, including 3 main targets and 2 “bonus” targets should you choose to sacrifice time for potential points. It’s free from any

rival interference, meaning it’s purely down to you and your proficiency to get the maximum from your run, however, that freedom from your rivals is countered by point deductions for foul-ups like extra shots or completing the course outside of the time limit.

As I mentioned earlier, I was curious about what they were doing to ensure that the rounds were as fair and consistent as possible for every squad and the very idea of marshalling so many different squads over such a large area is a daunting thought. The marshals explained to me that the AO had been split up into zones, each zone consisting of between 3 and 4 jumping off points and observed by no less than two patrolling marshals whose sole roles were to move to the action (calling for backup if needed) and just watch the players throughout the firefights. The marshals were under strict instructions not to interfere in the gameplay if they saw anything “unsavoury” unless it was unsafe (test shots were still in play though) and, instead, mark down any infractions against the squad to have points deducted at the end of the round. Doing this, they said,

www.airsoft-action.online

35

event SKIRMISH BILLERICAY: 7th ANNUAL SKIRMISH CUP

one... but fought as two (just wait... there will be a Judas Priest reference somewhere in this article) and it was also the case for the returning legends of... wait for it... paintball... Storm Masai and Storm Zulu, who after playing airsoft for the first time last year and taking home 3rd place, decided that they wanted another run at the title.

Speaking of titles though, the winner for “most squads entered from one team” goes to... ready?

Tactical Warfare Airsoft Team (I’ll let you have a moment to giggle about the acronym... done?

Good.)

TWAT entered this year’s tournament with FOUR teams. Alpha, Bravo, Charlie and Delta and as TWAT Alpha took home the gold last year, the pressure was definitely on to defend their reign; even against their own team.

THE SKIRMISH CUP 2017

So the safety briefing finishes and what was a moment ago stunning silence, erupts into a pacey race to get ready as players kit up and head out to the AO. The energy is tangible and once the playing cards are in hand and they’re through the entry checkpoint, I can see squad captains order their team to head double-time to their jumping off points.

Round 1:

“means that teams are less likely to cheat because they could very quickly end up losing more points than they gain and not know until they see the scoreboard”. I should note, there is an informal appeals process directly after the round which means the squad captain has a chance to talk to Jim and the marshals and either speak their case or find out more info on why deductions were made. The final say though, is the final say.

In my mind, your starting point has a lot of effect on your ability to gain an upper-hand right? For example if you start at the bottom of a huge hill, or between two other teams every time, you are already on the back foot. Jacky told me that these kind of questions are something that they’ve been adapting year on year, making changes to get it as balanced as possible and Jim said “We organise the squads so that no one starts from the same place twice and where we can, we try to split up squads that are from the same [overall] team. We can’t do it all the time but it makes it much less likely for them to work together against others”.

They also deducted points from teams if they weren’t at their designated jumping off point at the beginning of the round to stop anyone from running off and setting up an ambush ahead of time, which I think was a fair way to make sure everyone began on a level playing field.

So they’ve thought about the starting locations, they’ve thought about unfair gameplay... what about comms? Surely if certain squads have radio contact with each other but other squads don’t, the comms teams have more advantage right?

GOOD POINT! I’m glad you raised it, thanks! Well it turns out that Skirmish agrees and so this year, they acted on feedback and removed comms from the field leaving the only radios where they belong, with the marshals.

TEAMS AND BACKGROUND

This is the 7th annual Skirmish Cup and as the years go on and it becomes bigger and more renowned, it seems we have teams submitting more than one squad into the mix. This was definitely the case for The Law and Lawless who came as

36

September 2017

TWAT Alpha start strong with an aggressive push from the outset. They move fast and swiftly through the AO making their presence known; they’re here to play and play properly, racking up an impressive 18 points.

Wolf Recon, who had never been to this site before, didn’t have such a strong first round. They managed to rack up 6 points but unfortunately didn’t manage to make it to their jumping off point in time for the start of the game and as a result, lost points. The captain spoke to the marshals and organisers and explained that they’d followed a marshal’s directions but still hadn’t been able to find the location in time and were allowed to keep half of their points in good faith (the right call in my opinion).

Round 2: With a bad start to the day, Wolf Recon had a solid round bringing another 6 points to the table after impressively holding their ground at the CQB site.

TWAT Alpha ran the pistol course this round and failed to meet the high standards of speed and discipline required to earn big (they took 2 points back with them) and that allowed the legendary paintballers, Storm Masai, to earn a nice 13 points with The Law following closely behind with 10.

Round 3: The intensity of the first few rounds is taking its toll and the round is very evenly matched, with Storm Zulu and Lawless coming in at the top.

With rumblings of non-hit taking, the marshals exercise their right to “hit-check” players. Any players that ignored the shots would have points deducted and those that took the hit would be told to carry on and ignore the kill. No deductions were made.

Round 4: I follow the Pistol Course for this round alongside squads Dessert Eagles and Never Back Down. It was a hard run for both of the teams and it becomes clear that players are losing points for easily made mistakes, such as firing 4 shots instead of 3 or walking over the line instead of running.

The scoreboard reads that TWAT Alpha (15) and Storm Masai (13) are back up there, followed this time by Russian Airborne and Global Warfighters Bravo tied in 3rd with 11 points.

event SKIRMISH BILLERICAY: 7th ANNUAL SKIRMISH CUP

Round 5:

Round 8 – FINAL RESULTS:

The round is much quieter after lunch as players are choosing to utilise stealth over speed and aggression. The energy is tense and there is an air of suspense around the AO; it feels very different to the morning rounds.

Storm Masai (who are in 1st at this point) take on the pistol course and come away with 0 points, allowing The Law and TWAT Alpha to captitalise, knocking them down into 2nd.

After an intense round that begins with a blaze of immediate warfare, causing me to dive out of the way as soon as the starting whistle is blown, TWAT Alpha get solid 10 points cementing them as this year’s tournament winners but after a heartfelt rush for the finish, Storm Masai pull together a whopping 16 points, doubling the take home of The Law’s 8.

1st Place – TWAT Alpha 2nd Place – Storm Masai 3rd Place – The Law SKIRMISH AIRSOFT BILLERICAY, Outwood Farm Rd SUMMARY Billericay, Well there we have it. Following the Essex final round, the squads returned to the CM11 2TX safezone to take part in a raffle and to present trophies to the winners which included the “Riflemen Trophy”, presented to a younger team that has proven their mettle (or plastic in our case) and battled on against the odds throughout. This year the Riflemen Trophy goes to... Never Back Down.

Well done chaps.

Alongside that we see that the old dogs Storm Masai managed to improve on their placing last year by going up to 2nd showing that paintballers can still (double) stack up against the best of us and TWAT Alpha have defended their title for the second year, taking that coveted 1st place trophy once again and I guess now they can sing “I fought The Law and The...

Law lost?” (THERE’S THE REFERENCE!) who of course battled really hard for their 3rd place position.

After a long day, every person that I spoke to seemed to have a great time and enjoyed the 6-man style format, claiming that “it changes the way the game is played and it’s much harder but you just have to keep going and enjoy it.” – Never Back Down.

So I wonder, having seen a competitive tournament held so successfully; where the rules are continually balanced and fair, the players show great sportsmanship and the gameplay is varied and intense... is this a thing more of us are likely to seek out?

It’s certainly a shift from the norm and one I think is wholly embraced by those taking part.

“We have had so much great feedback from the players on Saturday. It makes it all worthwhile.” – Jacky Sidroy

Round 6: Players are feeling the strain now as the mid-afternoon game saps some of their energy.

Never Back Down are staying true to their namesake and even though they’re fairly young at 17, they push on through.

Storm Masai bring home a strong 16 points; 5 points ahead of their closest rivals The Law and it seems like we have a real competition brewing.

Round 7 – The Penultimate: In a shock round, TWAT Alpha have broken their own record held since last year (19 points in one round) and brought back a huuuge 20 points, pushing them way out in front on the scoreboard.

Excitement now builds though as it’s a fight for 2nd place... at this stage there’s only ONE point between The Law and Storm Masai and the tension in the safe zone is palapable!

Who? Where?

www.airsoft-action.online

37

gitag GEARTECH CUSTOM PAINTING

GEARTECH CUSTOM PAINTING THERE ARE LOADS OF “PAINTJOBS” OUT THERE, SOME ARE GOOD, SOME NOT SO BUT HERE GERRY NOONE WRITES ABOUT A COMPANY THAT PRODUCES WORK THAT IS TRULY EXCEPTIONAL. EVEN WHEN YOU’RE PART OF a team I’m sure that you’ll agree that we all like to be individual in relation to some aspects of our individual loadouts and what your AEG or GBB looks like is often the route we take to achieve that. Now I’m no slouch when it comes to a camo “rattlecan” job but recently I got to speak to some guys who take this to a whole new level!

Over the years I’ve painted a fair few of my own airsoft guns and these days I find friends coming to me for advice on how they can get a certain “finish”. Painting your RIF can be a pretty scary experience the first time you give it a bash and I recall standing over mine, Krylon in hand, with a great deal of trepidation the first time I tried it. Over time though, trial and (in some cases) error will get you the result you desire.

I’ve also seen some pretty darn

38

September 2017

atrocious paintjobs and this does bring the resale value of any AEG or GBB down considerably. I have to admit to picking up some real bargains where people have just got fed up trying and decided to bin the project entirely, sell up and start again.

The flip-side of this though, is that when a RIF is painted expertly and the paintjob is highly individual and stunning to look at, the “desire level” to own said object can go up dramatically. When I first saw some of the utterly stunning paintwork projects posted online by GearTech I have to say that my jaw quite literally hit the floor; this was not just “a bit of painting”, this was true artwork!

Luckily, Editor Nige was able to put me directly in touch with Chris from GearTech, so I decided I (and we) all needed to

gitag GEARTECH CUSTOM PAINTING

get the lowdown.

Airsoft Action: I’ve been following your stunning work online; could you tell me a little about the history of GearTech, how things started and what you do?

Chris: “GearTech came in to being about three years ago when I started to notice more and more people online asking if there was anyone that could paint their beloved airsoft kit.

Often it was down to them just not having the confidence to have a go themselves. Having run my own antique restoration business for over 15 years I classed myself as a “bit of a dab hand” when it came to a paint brush or airbrush. I had also started to paint some of the boys Nerf guns and that had led to commissions from people online or friends and family.

One day in response to someone asking about paint jobs, I decided to post some of the Nerf guns I had finished. To be perfectly honest I was expecting people to laugh at them, here I was posting pictures of £30 plastic guns in groups where the average price of a primary weapon ran into the hundreds.

The response was quite the opposite and all night I was glued to the lap top trying to keep up with people’s questions and enquiries. Once the first airsoft commission went online the rest is, as they say, history.”

Airsoft Action: What is the usual process in creating a bespoke design and once an order is placed, what happens next?

Chris: “The aim behind GearTech is really rather simple, to work with the customer and give them something unique to them and at the end of the day stands out and they can be proud to show off on game day. This can be in the form of a more conventional type camouflage finish, the worn tan “Afgan” look being the most popular, or something based on one of the many PC or console games that are so popular. With those, things start to get interesting but working closely with the customer and discussing what’s possible a final pattern is soon agreed on. If the customer has any images that they like then that speeds up the process as it helps me visualize what they have in mind.”

Airsoft Action: Without giving away any “trade secrets” what’s the basic process for creating a one off design and what goes into the paintjob?

Chris: “The key to any paint commission is good preparation.

Some items, especially gas models, can come covered in

lubricant and if not cleaned properly can lead to all kinds of disasters later in the process. A good clean and degrease will avoid this. It is not necessary to strip everything down like some people think but care must be taken to make sure the paint can’t get into the internals. Magwells and barrels should be packed with tissue and areas such as those around the trigger masked off. Once this is done I always go over the entire piece with a fine wire wool. This helps the paint to adhere better and gives it a longer lasting finish. Masking during the process to achieve patterns or straight edges between colours is the most tedious part of the job but can also give the most striking results when carried out properly. Don’t be tempted to pop along to your local DIY suppliers and grab a cheap roll of masking tape. These can often be unforgiving when you come to peel them off, taking previously applied paint layers away. They also don’t give the crispest of edges. For the best results modeling tape such as Tamiya tape is what you should be looking at.”

Airsoft Action: From following you online I know that you find inspiration from many places but does this mean there are designs that you would steer clear of?

Chris: “People always surprise me with their ideas for paint schemes and that is the most fun part for me. It has in a way led to the success of GearTech, as some of the finishes I’ve ended up doing that have had the biggest response came from someone else’s imagination. I just translated that on to plastic or metal. Of course there are some images people have sent that I can’t recreate

www.airsoft-action.online

39

TACTICAL

get the tactical advantage PATROL GLOVE

RECON GLOVE

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n Polyester/spandex n Micro fibre palm n Webbing finger pull

n Polyester/spandex n Padded micro fibre palm n One piece rubber knuckle guard n Rubber/Velcro wrist fastening n Thumb/finger grip

n Polyester/spandex n Micro fibre palm with reinforcing n Rubber finger impact protection n Hardshell knuckle protection n Rubber/Velcro wrist fastening n Glove puller

Colours: V-Cam, Titanium, Coyote, Black, Green Sizes: S-XXL SRP

Colours: V-Cam, Titanium, Coyote, Black, Green Sizes: S-XXL

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gitag GEARTECH CUSTOM PAINTING

with an airbrush. Usually it is a gun skin from a game which might be possible to design with the aid of a computer but a bit beyond my skill set. I’ve currently got an ASG Mk23 pistol on the bench that I’m trying a new technique on. I won’t give anything away but if it works it will be a real bench mark for GearTech and open the door to previous patterns I thought were not possible.”

Airsoft Action: Since I first started following you online I have seen some great comments on social media about what you do; to what do you attribute your success?

Chris: “The response from the UK airsoft community has been incredible. The mere mention of someone needing paint work doing and I’ve been tagged two or three times before I’ve even had chance to open Facebook up. People recommend me before I know a conversation is even taking place. That in itself is the biggest pat on the back and lets me know the work I am doing is having the desired effect.”

Airsoft Action: Where do you see GEARTECH heading in the future?

Chris: “Nearly three years on and it’s still great fun doing what I’m doing but there are always new avenues to explore.

I’ve recently started working on custom body armor and helmets. This is something I’ve wanted to do for many years and the initial response to the first completed projects has been fantastic. With 3d printing making advances all the time it’s exciting to think what might be possible when combined with current off the shelf items. Sales are another important factor and I must give a big thank you to Stuart Kennedy from Airshooters for bringing me under his wing and adding me to his selling team. With this we can not only provide people with most of the airsoft products currently available on the market but, if they wish, give them a very personalised finish.”

Airsoft Action: If someone is interested in having a custom design created what should their first point of contact be?

Chris: “If someone is interested in a paint scheme then they can reach me via the website: www.geartechcustompaint.com or ask to join my Facebook group: GearTechs Custom Work.

Here they can see all the latest projects at various stages of completion and the final product.”

www.airsoft-action.online

41

kit ELITE 3W LED FOCUS TORCH

ELITE 3W LED FOCUS TORCH YOU CAN OFTEN FIND BITS OF USEFUL KIT IN THE MOST UNUSUAL PLACES, AS MILITARY HISTORIAN, WILL FOWLER, DISCOVERED. OCCASIONALLY YOU SPOT A BIT of kit that just looks good and sometimes it is in a most unlikely place.

It wasn’t in a military kit or camping and outdoor store that I found the Lighthouse Elite 3W LCD Focus Torch but in my local hardware and DIY shop. But the little torch from Lighthouse Torches of Norwich looked good and later I was to find that its looks and performance were well matched and, to top it all off, it only cost £7.99.

It has a compact (35 x 110mm) black aluminium body that is shock and rain resistant, plus a wrist strap and sits very easily in the hand. The strap is a useful feature in situations where you may need both hands but do not want to put the torch down – or if there is a risk that you might drop it in a crisis.

Weighing in at just 135grams including three AAA Cell alkaline batteries that come with it, the torch is very light and has a battery life of up to six hours. However, it is the light that it delivers that is truly impressive… this little torch kicks out 3 Watts and 210 Lumens from its CREE LEDs and polycarbonate reflector lens - the strength of the beam is such that there is a warning not to look directly into the light. The simple sliding focus adjustment changes the beam from a low/wide for overall illumination, down to an intense narrow beam that would be ideal for finding small objects in confined spaces and these settings are marked on the torch. The on/off button is rubberised and textured and located at the base of the torch

and can be operated onehanded. The focus adjustment also has eight 30mm slots that ensure that the torch does not roll if it is placed on its side.

This may all sound pretty impressive but this little torch has one more trick.

Press the on/off button again after you have switched the torch off and you activate a strobe function. This is invaluable for anyone who may find themselves in an emergency – be it broken down in bad weather or in a search and rescue operation. A mobile phone and GPS fix can be very good, however, there is nothing to beat the regular pulsing flash of a strobe to give rescuers something to home in on. The low price of means that everyone in a group of walkers could carry one of these torches as part of their emergency survival kit along with a space blanket and survival bag.

I found that I had an old belt holster that accommodated the Lighthouse torch and allowed it to be carried on a day pack strap or belt order. I do not know if Lighthouse make a holster for this torch – if they do not, then they are missing a trick. In black it would be ideal for Police and Emergency Services while an olive drab holster would work well for the Armed Forces.

Just in case you think this is the only torch from Lighthouse, it is worth checking out their website (www.lighthouse-torches. com) as they produce a wide range of torches and lighting systems in “Standard” and “Elite Professional” ranges.

www.airsoft-action.online

43

Event INTER COUNTY AIRSOFT CHAMPIONSHIPS

LES LEE RETURNS TO DOGTAG AIRSOFT TO REPORT ON A TOURNAMENT SERIES THAT IS SET TO SPREAD NATIONWIDE.

INTER COUNTY AIRSOFT CHAMPIONSHIPS UNLESS YOU HAVE BEEN LOST in a rain forest or marooned on a desert island (which probably has no internet) you have almost certainly heard about a series of competitive airsoft games being played, namely the Inter County Airsoft Championships (ICAC). Whether or not you have taken much notice of what has been going on is up to you but you really should because airsoft has taken a huge step up to tournament status and is set to be the next big thing in our beloved passion.

The clue is in the name! This is competitive airsoft at County level, so if you enjoy playing to competition standards then you really need to check this out because if you think that a regular Sunday skirmish activates your adrenal gland sufficiently then believe me, “you ain’t seen nothing yet!” These “gunfights”

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September 2017

will take that adrenaline to a whole new level, I kid you not!

I was fortunate to be invited along to check out one of these games at Dogtag Airsoft in West Sussex, which saw the Kent and Sussex teams take each other on and what I saw quite literally blew me away. Not only was the initial build of tension and anticipation reaching fever pitch in the safe zone, the competitive undertones were buzzing like a swarm of bees in a jam jar.

Carl Hughes is the brainchild behind this new sub-section to airsoft and although the concept may not sound like it would blow your socks right off, if you saw what I saw then you would be reaching for your gaiters rather pronto. This is airsoft on steroids! The competitive ferocity was something that I had never experienced before, well not in airsoft and even though I was in the field hi-vizzed to the max taking photos, the air was alive with white plastic and I was unintentionally getting shot to pieces just by being there (the best images are captured from the front of an offensive team). I wasn’t that great at running backwards through woodland then I certainly am now, such was the speed of the game-play.

Fortunately I am familiar with the topography at Dogtag Airsoft, as I regularly join the 200 or so players once a fortnight for a skirmish at this incredible site and this was certainly in my favour. Every chosen venue needs to be “fit for purpose” for this type of shoot-up and I can only imagine just how much work goes into the organisation of such events. In a nutshell, it is a series of organised team specific games comprising of one squad from each county fighting for bragging rights, followed by a return battle at the opposition’s assigned venue a few weeks apart. As Carl explained, 2017 has been very much a

Event INTER COUNTY AIRSOFT CHAMPIONSHIPS

“tester” for when the league games start in 2018 and as word gets around, more and more counties are stepping up to the plate for their chance to get involved in this rapidly progressive spin-off from a regular skirmish, Battlesim or Milsim.

I caught up with Carl at Dogtag to find out more about the ICAC and the story behind the championships. This is what he had to say…

“Hello, my name is Carl Hughes, the founder of ICAC. I have been playing airsoft for 4 years. Like everyone here I have long had an interest in all things shooty, shouty and explody. I was introduced to airsoft by a friend and I instantly fell in love with the sport as it was a chance to put some of my otherwise useless collection of military gear to good use!

“For a long time I’ve tried to get more of a challenge out of the sport but how the ICAC started was actually somewhat of an accident. I am a part of the Berkshire airsoft community and in February of 2016 I was scrolling through Facebook when I noticed there was also an airsoft Hampshire community.

Obviously I challenged them to a scrap and we had a couple of awesome games from it at both of our local venues. We caught the attention of other counties, both local and further afield and this has become the Inter County Airsoft Championships.

“This year, we have two goals. The first goal is to show the airsoft community that we really have got what it takes to take this concept to the top. The second goal is to iron out any creases ahead of our first full season in 2018. Behind the scenes we have already discovered that there are a number of challenges to overcome on our journey to success but we have a fantastic team together and I have a lot of confidence in our future.

“Players can find out who is their local County Team

Leader by visiting the ICAC website or Facebook page. Here they will find all the information they need to contact their team leader directly. No tactical knowledge or special kit required, just balls and a willingness to fight for your County! Players wishing to become a county team leader should contact me directly. I can be easily reached through the ICAC Facebook page and my contact details can also be found on the ICAC website. In most cases I will give candidates a phone call or meet them in person to discuss the role.

“Any site hoping to host an ICAC game should simply message our website or Facebook page, where a member of our team will liaise between the venue and teams to get the game set up as swiftly as possible. With the site owner’s permission, we will also try to get your chosen charity involved in the event as well as contact any local airsoft retailers who may benefit from setting up their own stall.

“The beauty of the ICAC is that the number of teams and players is growing by itself, the challenge is being able to keep up! As previously mentioned, this year is all about fine tuning so we are pacing ourselves in terms of growth. 2018 I promise you will be an awesome year for

“IF YOU THINK THAT A REGULAR SUNDAY SKIRMISH ACTIVATES YOUR ADRENAL GLAND SUFFICIENTLY THEN BELIEVE ME, “YOU AIN’T SEEN NOTHING YET!” THESE “GUNFIGHTS” WILL TAKE THAT ADRENALINE TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL, I KID YOU NOT!”

www.airsoft-action.online

45

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Event INTER COUNTY AIRSOFT CHAMPIONSHIPS

airsoft and for the ICAC. “The first ever game was held at SCCQB in August 2016, when Berkshire took on Hampshire. The major problem we had was that the event had to be held on the same weekend as NAE so initially, finding players was a hell of a squeeze! Amazingly, we managed to fully book the event. We (Berkshire) lost and a rematch was held at Iron Sight in Andover. This time we won and decided see which other counties were up for a war!

“Since the second game with Berkshire and Hampshire in February, we have had interest from literally every corner of the country. I regularly travel to many of the participating counties to get them on their feet and support them on their journey.

This is certainly not just a southern venture... if you check out our fixtures you will find that we have events booked as far North as Lincolnshire and Yorkshire and this is still growing!

Overall there are 18 counties involved and we are hoping this continues to grow month on month as this is what we achieved in just 4 months”.

As you can see, Carl really has put his heart and soul into the ICAC and experience tells me that this ingredient alone has and is making it so successful. This guy is a perfectionist and if it isn’t up to the standard then it simply doesn’t make the cut.

He told me…

“Team Captains are selected by myself. I will normally schedule a phone call interview with potential candidates to find out more about them, explain the role to them and determine their suitability to run a team in the ICAC. “We have a private captains group in which I hold regular conferences and live feeds to offer support and take on new ideas provided by the captains.

“One of the most interesting things about the captains is seeing how each one manages their team. All of the captains have very different personalities and management styles and it is interesting to see the various methods each one uses. The way games are organised really depends on the team. Some teams, take Kent as an example, have strong connections with their local sites and communities and they pretty much arrange things by themselves. They know what they need to do and they get the job done with very little interference from the ICAC. “Not all teams are this fortunate and in these cases the ICAC is heavily involved in all facets of the process. I personally oversee the growth of that team until it reaches a decent size and I will often be there to support the team captain when they approach their local site to arrange the match.

All of the processes are supported by the team captains.

The administrative and organisational aspects are heavily supported by Kent Captain Tim Brown and Gloucester Captain

Tony Righton, both who bring business management and people management skills to the table. My marketing and promotional needs are handled by a hardworking group of people lead by Jay AW and his small team who have done amazing job so far as we are all doing it for the love of the sport.

“Currently, games are scored as follows: 5 points for an AWAY win 3 points for a HOME win 2 points for a draw 1 point even if you lose. After all, you did go to all the effort of turning up!

“There is no minimum “standard” of player... the ICAC is open to players of all shapes, sizes and ages (12+ OR the site’s minimum age limit, whichever is higher) and we don’t mind if you want to run a machine gun, a sniper or a water pistol!

Players invest a great deal of money on their preferred weapons and kit and it isn’t up to us to tell them what they can and can’t use, however, think about the game mode and if your weapon of choice will work for you and the team to succeed.

We are confident that we will have everything in place ready for our first proper season in 2018.”

And what’s up for grabs you might ask? Well Carl explained to me that the overall champions can expect a trophy and a round of applause but more importantly, they hope that all of the players will see the potential to build and contribute to the airsoft community regardless of whether they win it or not. In this league it can’t be stressed enough that it really is the taking part that counts.

The Kent and Sussex team game was the 3rd ICAC game. Great site, great organisation and overall a cracking day at one of the South’s premier airsoft site, Dogtag Airsoft just south of Gatwick. It was amazing to see two teams come together that have never met and have an allout war and at the end of the day sharing a beer and handshakes. Everyone left buzzing with excitement and wanting to do it all over again.

And it goes without saying that all of the players are looking forward to the Kent “home game” at Invicta Battlefield on the 6th August - which sold out within 2 days of being advertised.

Finally, everyone is counting the days away to BRING IT ON!!! And long may every one embrace the new ICAC and play a part of it.

Contact: Everyone is welcome (just leave the politics at Carl Hughes home and have FUN!! dinlo25@hotmail.co.uk Les OUT!

www.airsoft-action.online

47

Online Offline GHOST RECON: WILDLANDS

TOM CLANCEY’S

GHOST RECON: WILDLANDS IN ASSOCIATION WITH TACTREE

LEAPING FROM THE SMALL SCREEN TO THE AIRSOFT FIELD, GARETH “GADGE” HARVEY RECREATES FOUR EXCELLENT LOADOUTS FROM THIS SUMMER’S HUGE DIGITAL HIT, WITH HELP FROM OUR GOOD FRIENDS AT TACTREE. IT’S THE GAME TAKING AIRSOFTERS by storm this summer; Tom Clancy’s “Ghost Recon Wildlands” and it’s perfect for a “casual” loadout for airsoft. Playing an elite special-forces operator with a tight knit fire team behind them, the player takes on South American drug cartels in a selection of scenarios ideal for airsoft. It’s certainly captured my teammate’s attention and so, this month, we’re going to take our online gaming offline and replicate a selection of “ghosts” loadouts!

For those of you not in the know, the “Ghost Recon” series of games have been a firm favourite with those preferring a bit of strategy with their shooting for decades. The first few games featured a platoon of US recon troops known as “the Ghosts” who were cut off between enemy lines in Europe.

Later incarnations of the game feature the Ghosts as an elite special operations force and dabbled with Advanced Warfare and future soldier projects but now the Ghosts are back in the present day. The Ghosts are a shadowy elite unit, one you can’t apply to join, if the unit wants you they will find you!

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September 2017

They recruit from auspicious services such as Delta, USMC, Green Berets and Navy Seals, cherry picking the best operators and forming crack rapid reaction teams. These four man teams then deploy to world trouble spots under the command of a captain and with CIA and undercover intelligence agent support.

WAR ON DRUGS

In “Wildlands” the player plays the team captain, callsign “Nomad” and is tasked to help a CIA team destabilise a mighty drug cartel. The cartel, known as Santa Blanca, is led by the nefarious El Sueno, a tattooed giant of a man reminiscent of Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now. El Sueno has an ego to match his stature and has made a cult of personality around him, ensuring utter loyalty from his lieutenants and viciously punishing those who disappoint him. After a long war of

Online Offline GHOST RECON: WILDLANDS

attrition with the Bolivian Government the cartel has legitimised itself by striking a deal with the worn down Bolivian politicians to prevent any more bloodshed on the street. So now, not only do players have to take out drug dealing Sicarios but they also have to avoid the army’s own highly trained and well equipped “anti-drugs” SWAT team, UNIDAD, who can employ armoured cars and even attack helicopters against you. You’re clearly up against it from the start and it only gets harder with each new region you visit. You and three operator buddies (either computer controlled “bots” or, if you’re lucky enough to have three mates with the game… real people) are alone in enemy territory, you’re a deniable asset to the USA and officially, you don’t exist! Your only allies deep in “narco” territory are the Bolivian rebel forces but compared to the cartel forces and army rapid response teams, they are under gunned and badly co-ordinated until you lend a hand.

As we’ve mentioned, the missions in Ghost Recon: Wildlands are perfect for airsoft. Whether it’s locating enemy intel from a guarded village, assassinating US special forces who have “gone rogue” and are now training the bad guys, or blowing up caches of cocaine under the very noses of the cartel (no pun intended). You can see that it’s the sort of “mission task” that translates fantastically to our fast-paced game.

character’s “back up” AEG, shotgun or SMG. While it’s really handy in a computer game to have a second weapon with a different optimum range and purpose, the reality of airsoft gaming means that having two AEGs on slings hanging off your kit is often more of an embuggerance than a benefit.

While much of the kit in this article was sourced from our existing collections Airsoft Action have to say a big “thank you” to TacTree for supplying some of the more top end 5.11 products for this feature… the only downside is that we like the 5.11 range so much we really don’t want to hand it back!

GADGE

Gadge likes to move fast and play the “assaulter” role in games and has decided to use fairly stripped down kit. Basic combat clothing is a 5.11 tight fit black t-shirt, a pair of 5.11 TDU pants in flat forest green, black 5.11 “ranger” shoes an ATACS pattern baseball cap. Ammo for the ASG Scorpion EVO he wields is stashed in the pouches attached to a 5.11 Taclite Plate

PERSONALISED LOADOUT

While you can jump in straight away and get blasting instantly, most players will want to change the “loadout” of their digital self. One of the first things a player notices when customising their character in “GRW” is the sheer amount of possibilities, from a t-shirt to heavy armour, from sunglasses and a smile to a FAST helmet… you can make your player look pretty much exactly how you want them to. A wide variety of civilian and military kit is available to the player but what is noticeable is that apart from a small amount of Oakley and CRYE kit, most of the players “high speed” options are from the renowned tactical and emergency kit company 5.11. It comes as no surprise that Ubisoft have teamed up with 5.11 to replicate top end tactical kit in their game and in the same spirit, Airsoft Action have teamed up with premier 5.11 stockists TACTREE to make sure that our loadouts are true to the look and feel of the game.

While as a player you only get to choose the loadout of your personal “operator” Nomad, your teammates Midas, Weaver and Holt have set kit lists. However, we decided for our feature to replicate a “cooperative game” team of four “player operatives” and asked four of our regular gaming buddies to choose a GRW loadout from a mix of their own personal kit and the items kindly supplied by Tactree – the goal being to get a perfect blend of military/civilian operator chic.

In the single player game you can choose your personal weapon, while your AI (artificial intelligence) colleagues have a sniper rifle, an LMG and a battle rifle to aid you in the fight – again in this case we asked our comrades to choose their own personal weapon and kit-up accordingly. Luckily “Ghost Recon: Wildlands” has a large array of firearms to choose from and while the player starts off with a basic assault rifle and pistol, you can soon amass a sizable arsenal by liberating weapon crates from the cartel Sicarios and cartel Lieutenants. Some of the best weapons in the game, however, come from defeating the “bosses” of each region and while these “signature weapons” can’t be customised like a regular weapon crate find, their exceptional performance usually more than makes up for this.

Without a doubt “shopping” for this article was almost as much fun as gaming in it. The possibilities were endless with everything from a t-shirt and jeans to a full ghillie suit being appropriate. One thing we did decide to omit is each

Team leader Gadge with Scorpion EVO

“YOU’RE CLEARLY UP AGAINST IT FROM THE START AND IT ONLY GETS HARDER WITH EACH NEW REGION YOU VISIT. YOU AND THREE OPERATOR BUDDIES …ARE ALONE IN ENEMY TERRITORY, YOU’RE A DENIABLE ASSET TO THE USA AND OFFICIALLY, YOU DON’T EXIST!” www.airsoft-action.online

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These products are hyperlinked, simply tap any image for more information.

Online Offline GHOST RECON: WILDLANDS

Carrier in sandstone alongside his PRR radio and PTT handset.

A backup Makarov pistol is carried in a Strike Systems drop leg holster for a rapid transition from the primary in the event of a stoppage or running out of ammo! Breaking away from the 5.11 heavy loadout briefly, a pair of Oakley ballistic sunglasses and a black pair of Oakley pilot gloves complete his combat kit. Should it get cold and wet, a Viper Elite Jacket in Titanium is stashed away along with food, water and extra ammo in a Rush 72 backpack from 5.11. While a little bulky for the assaulter role, Gadge chose the Rush 72 over other backpacks as its capacious carrying capacity means that everything for an extended mission can be stashed in the Rush 72 and recovered after the firefight.

Condor cargo pants with a 5.11 “Sierra” soft shell jacket and keeps the mags for his AK in a sandstone coloured 5.11 VTACs Molle compatible tactical vest with 5.11 own AK bungee secured mag pouches.

Often tasked with storming the objective alongside Gadge, Mark has chosen to keep his back mounted kit light to enable him to move fast and opted for a simple Camelbak hydration system to keep him cool and refreshed. Personal protection is minimal but he’s opted for a pair of sturdy leather combat boots and a pair of Oakley pilot gloves to protect his hands and feet. A pair of Bolle shooting glasses safeguards his vision while sun and rain are kept out of his eyes with a Bolivian rancher’s cowboy hat!

MARK

TOM

Assaulter Mark with ‘His AK’

Squad medic Tom with M4

Mark is the section’s second assaulter and is equipped with one of the first signature weapons you can find, the scoped “His AK” you can retrieve from the body of the boss of the game’s first region. While “His AK” is actually a folding stock, scoped AK47 we’ve used an AK74 here to get the right stock type seen in the game. Choosing to keep it casual, Mark wears a pair of tan

Tom is the team medic so is lightly armed and equipped with a trauma pack and able to respond to an in game “pretend” casualty, or administer real world first aid to the lightly injured. Wearing a discrete and civilian looking combination of 5.11 Apex combat pants in Battle Brown and a 5.11 “Sidewinder” flannel shirt in the “grenade” colour checks, Tom rocks a perfect mix of tactical and practical. In addition to his combat kit, LOWA Mountain GTX boots protect his feet and are suitable for the tough terrain while on his hands are Mechanix Gloves, providing excellent grip and control. Tom’s ammo and immediate skirmish essentials are held on

www.airsoft-action.online

51

onSportGames Acti

Team ASG & HALO MILL presents:

ActionSportGames® and partner HALO MILL will be hosting the first ASG EVO Owners Club event in the UK. September 10 . 2017 at HALO MILL the “Proving Grounds”.

ActionSportGames® is a worldwide leader in the business of replica firearms and accessories manufacturing – including Airsoft guns, Airguns, CO2 guns and firearms replicas.

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0048-0717_July2017

More event information can be found on the Official ASG EVO Owners Club Facebook page or HALO MILL's website: www.halomill.com/booking/4589789101/pvg---evo-exclusive/9979950

12-07-2017 16:10:47

Online Offline GHOST RECON: WILDLANDS

GARY

Marksman Gary with Dragunov sniper rifle

his Warrior Battlebelt with assorted pouches including a 5.11 medic pouch with supplies for immediate deployment.

To stay in contact with the rest of the team, ensuring he can quickly respond to any “man down” calls, Tom wears a Peltor Comtac headset on his FAST helmet and utilises ESS Crossbow Glasses for eye protection. Further medical supplies are carried in a 5.11 Rush 24 daysack in order to keep the team fully operational. To take the battle to the Cartels, he carries an M4A1 carbine with Eotech Holographic sight. In addition he has a backup Glock 17 in a Kydex Holster on his battle belt.

Gary is our fire team’s sniper, taking on the role Holt plays in Wildlands. To this end he’s equipped himself with a trusty Dragunov SVD sniper rifle equipped with a Russian PSO scope.

The SVD is one of the first decent semi-automatic sniper rifles you’ll be able to pick up in the game after a short trip to the Villa Verde region and certainly one of our favourites.

As the group’s sharpshooter and acting from concealment Gary, wears a little more camo than the rest of the squad. His loadout consists of a CRYE multicam under body armour shirt paired with some tan combat trouser by Viper with integral knee pads. Ammo for the SVD and other fighting equipment is mounted on a Condor “Ronin” chest rig while his Umarex HK45c sidearm is mounted on his belt. Gary also wear multicam Mechanix gloves and multicam pattern boots

by Tactical Research alongside a Ghillie suit head and shoulder piece over an MC ball cap to further break up his outline and aid concealment. Eye protection (and a bit of cover from the sun) is catered for by his Wiley X shooting glasses with dark lenses fitted. For more in depth infiltration and long “recce” missions observing the enemy, Gary keeps the rest of his ghillie suit stowed away in his Hazard 4 Clerk Pod Organiser Pack.

Airsoft Action would like to thank Mark and the team at Stormforce Airsoft in Rugely for allowing us access to their excellent site and helping us to create our own private corner of “Bolivia”!

We heartily recommend paying Stormforce a visit.

For more information visit their website: www.stormforceairsoft.co.uk

“WHILE IT’S REALLY HANDY IN A COMPUTER GAME TO HAVE A SECOND WEAPON WITH A DIFFERENT OPTIMUM RANGE AND PURPOSE, THE REALITY OF AIRSOFT GAMING MEANS THAT HAVING TWO AEGS ON SLINGS HANGING OFF YOUR KIT IS OFTEN MORE OF AN EMBUGGERANCE THAN A BENEFIT.”

Tagging supplies for the rebels to pick up

Team medic Tom attends to Mark

Unit 3, Stag Business Park Donnington Wood Telford, TF2 7NA www.tactree.co.uk “The UK’s only 5.11 Select Premium Dealer.”

www.airsoft-action.online

53

international BELARUS

MARIA LITVINOVA CONCLUDES HER TWO-PART ARTICLE ABOUT AIRSOFT IN THE FORMER SOVIET STATE OF BELARUS.

AIRSOFT IN THE CIS PART 2 IN THE LAST ISSUE I was talking with members who took part in AATG (Airsoft Assault Tactical Group) 2017 and airsoft in Belarus in general.

advantage that these guys learned a lot of new things, looked at how you can work. I hope this will be an incentive for their development.”

Sergey, your team led one of the groups in the tournament AATG 2017. What are your impressions of the tournament?

What do you personally do to improve the level of your team?

Where do you get information?

Sergey Ivanov, commander of the airsoft club “Mad Elks”, Grodno: “In my opinion, the organizers tried to make the tournament as open as possible, it involved both experienced and new teams. Low level of some newcomers has affected the overall level of the event. However, there is also an

“There are enough people in our team who are former experienced military. But this is not the main thing, because now there is a huge amount of information in the Internet.

For the initial preparation this should be enough. Next steps are common trainings, participation with sport events and seminars. For example, in Minsk there are seminars with active members of military units. There you can get a lot of things.

“In addition, the judges in tournaments and competitions, most often, are very experienced people, judges from the federation of practical shooting, these are judges from the center of practical training. Those people whose job is to train employees of Special Forces. They show us high level, so we have something to strive for.”

Sergei Grom, the commander of the group “Honor”, Minsk: “Throughout the history of our group “Honor” we have always tried to attract instructors with real experience of combat operations, training of combat personnel. Thanks to this approach, for 10 years of our existence we have accumulated experience that others would have received by 20 and 30 years.

Fortunately, the instructors of the operating special units are very social people, they gladly share their knowledge and skills.

Over time, we felt that we are ready to share our experience in military-applied airsoft to our younger comrades. So the idea of seminars on tactical and special training was born. One of them we made through the Komsomolskoye tournament.”

Alexander Bozhko, organizer of the AATG, Minsk: “We try to apply a comprehensive approach. The tournament is not only to win, but also to improve your level. One way is seminars on the specifics of assault units. It gives results, it increases not

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international BELARUS

only individual training but also teamwork.”

Tell us more about these seminars on tactical and special training (TSP)? Who do they need?

Sergei Grom, the commander of the group “Honor”, Minsk: “In fact, this is a full immersion in the atmosphere of professional military training. 4-5 hours of theory and practice on a specific topic. One of the recent topics is assault work in urban conditions. TSP “City” we organized at the tournament “Komsomolskoye”. Recently in our group there was a very serious international level specialist with a huge experience in assault groups. He worked for 15 years as a shish in a special group, then left as an instructor in the leading special subdivision of the republic. Today he is retired and with joy share his skills to the younger generation. Of course, airsoft competitions cannot be compared with real combat situations but the basic behavioral skills are the same.

“During the day at the seminar, the participant may not make a single shot but he will receive much more. This is an individual tactical training, working in pairs, in threes, as part of the units and the assault team. They study the use of assault shields, including stairwells, corridors and rooms with one or

two shields. Can you imagine what experience participants get from a person who has been in real combat conflicts around the world?”

Maxim Mezhuyev, participant of TSP “Gorod”: “TSP “Gorod “is really the best available at the moment. It is possible to gather information in a few months but it is possible to get knowledge at a seminar about which 99% of airsoft players do not even think. It is very gratifying that you pay attention to both theory and practice of action in the group and individually. “ Experience, of course, is grandiose. But where is the guarantee that these skills will not fall into the wrong hands? Unfortunately, the political situation in the world today is very acute.

Sergei Grom, the commander of the group “Honor”, Minsk: “Yes, we understand our responsibility, therefore we conduct a strict selection. Firstly, the format is limited, maximum 20 people for one seminar, that the instructor could give time to each participant, monitor his mistakes and correct them. An age limit of over 18 years is a matter of course.

Secondly, we necessarily analyze the social accounts of potential participants. And at the slightest suspicion that a person has something to do with radical religious, neo-Nazi or opposition organizations, we immediately refuse him. We do not train illegal paramilitary and armed groups, terrorist groups, we do not pursue political goals. The main participants of our seminars are the guys from the airsoft teams, for whom their comrades can vouch.”

Why is tactical assault airsoft interesting today?

Sergei Grom, commander of the group “Honor”, Minsk: “Today, the military-applied field of airsoft in Belarus is developing rapidly. After all, this is a huge field for the reconstruction of modern events, this is a large amount of armor, training tactical skills. People like it. When you are a long time keen on airsoft – for more than 5 years, then the usual “Sunday fights” begin to bore. A military-applied field is a natural development of your skills. The leading airsoft teams of Belarus and our tournaments are “locomotives”, which attract the development of airsoft. We work “ahead of schedule”,

“TODAY, THE MILITARY-APPLIED FIELD OF AIRSOFT IN BELARUS IS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY. AFTER ALL, THIS IS A HUGE FIELD FOR THE RECONSTRUCTION OF MODERN EVENTS, THIS IS A LARGE AMOUNT OF ARMOR, TRAINING TACTICAL SKILLS. PEOPLE LIKE IT. WHEN YOU ARE A LONG TIME KEEN ON AIRSOFT - FOR MORE THAN 5 YEARS, THEN THE USUAL “SUNDAY FIGHTS” BEGIN TO BORE.”

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international BELARUS

think about what will be in the trend in a year, what tasks will be in the tournaments. It’s not just a “game of friends”, it’s more like a sport. And everyone wants to win, get approval and recognition. We are practically not playing airsoft. Frankly, I forgot when the last time I shot from the gun. We grew up from game airsoft and now we are interested in militaryapplied directions. We spend this time working on tactics. It is interesting that some members of our club in principle have never played in “regular” airsoft. For them, airsoft is more sport, more military-patriotic upbringing, and even personal growth.”

Sergey Ivanov, commander of the airsoft club “Mad Elks”, Grodno: “Strong airsoft teams of Belarus, as far as I know, they very rarely leave just to “shoot”. They gather 2-3 times a week and specifically prepare for the competition. And this is not only practical, but also theoretical preparation – in classes with a notebook and pen.

“Now our team is keen on working out the work of assault groups. We learn to storm buildings, rescue hostages. At least once a week on weekday we have a training session - we play and prepare for the competition purposefully. A lot of attention paid to the interaction skills in assault groups, in deuces and threes, with a tactical shield. For this we rent a gym. By the way, the use of a tactical shield is one of the main decisions that tactical airsoft differs from the usual. Its minimum weight is 24 kg (53 lb). We work with a shield, with a shield guard.

We learn to hit targets from different positions, in motion. As it becomes warm, we conduct lessons on assault mountaineering.

But personally our team still appreciates airsoft as a game of friends. Therefore, on weekends, we conduct classic trips to “shoot”, where you communicate with friends from other teams.”

War. Minsk and Gomel are military and sports directions, Mogilev is the center of airsoft sporting events, in Grodno there are role-based airsoft and sports-oriented.”

Sergei Grom, the commander of the group “Honor”, Minsk: “The Belarusian airsoft has a very busy life today. Almost every month there are more or less major events: large-scale games, tournaments, training events.”

Sergey Ivanov, commander of the airsoft club “Mad Elks”, Grodno: “Starting in 2017, the official republican federation of paintball, strikeball and laser tag appeared in our country. As it seems to me, with such state support, sports airsoft will get more widespread. Our Sunday games are free. We even have 1-2 spare guns, we provide for newcomers for free. We try our best to popularize the airsoft in our country.”

Is airsoft popular in Belarus?

Alexander Bozhko, organizer of the AATG, Minsk: “According to our estimates, more than 2,500 people are involved in airsoft in our country. Brest city is the center of Stalker games and airsoft with elements of reconstruction for the Great Patriotic

“NOW OUR TEAM IS KEEN ON WORKING OUT THE WORK OF ASSAULT GROUPS. WE LEARN TO STORM BUILDINGS, RESCUE HOSTAGES. AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK ON WEEKDAY WE HAVE A TRAINING SESSION - WE PLAY AND PREPARE FOR THE COMPETITION PURPOSEFULLY.”

ABOUT THE TEAMS

The group “Honor” from Minsk is not just an airsoft team, it is a collective of people united by the ideals of physical, moralvolitional and military-applied perfection. For 10 years, the band member became 7-fold prize-winners and 4-fold winners of international airsoft competitions in Belarus and the Russian Federation. The best airsoft intelligence group of the CIS. The active and organizational structure of the Republican Sports Public Association Airsoft. Judges and instructors of the Belarus Federation of Practical Shooting.

Airsoft club “Mad Elks” from Grodno was founded in 2007. Over the past few years, the team has three times become prize-winners of international competitions of airsoft assault teams, which took place both in Belarus and in Russia.

Today, the main activity are the organization of games and participation in sports competitions.

The Republican Sports Public Association “Strikeball” is engaged in the popularization of airsoft, the organization of large games, the unification of teams and groups of airsoft players who want to realize themselves in events organization.

This is airsoft in Belarus!

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International GERMANY

AIRSOFT & MILSIM NEWS: GERMANY GERRY NOONE CHATS TO ANOTHER “PLAYERS CHOICE” WINNER ABOUT AIRSOFT IN GERMANY – AND GETS SOME RATHER SURPRISING ANSWERS! IT’S ALWAYS A HUGE PLEASURE to be part of an award winning team but Airsoft Action was not the only winner in the “Players Choice” awards at IWA earlier this year. The Airsoft & Milsim News Blog took the prize in that category which I personally was very pleased to see as they’re good mates of mine and certain members of their team are involved with many similar groups to me.

One of the “main men” behind this super resource is my mate Chris. Like myself he’s another great supporter and participant of the courses run by Eli at Project GECKO and fellow UF PRO fan and since meeting a couple of years back we now correspond on a regular basis, so I thought it would be a good idea to pick his brains about airsoft in his homeland and, to be honest, some of his answers were pretty surprising, especially when it comes to the legalities!

AA: Hi Chris! Please can you tell me a little about how airsoft has developed in and the current state of things in Germany?

Chris: “First I want to say thanks for having me for this Q&A interview; it´s a pleasure for me to do this with you guys from Airsoft Action for your readers.

“Back to the question… how developed airsoft in Germany? I would say airsoft was and still is a growing sport in our country. I see a lot of young kids, let us call them the “next generation”, who enter the fields and enjoy the sport as much as I and my friends do. They also come with their dads sometimes and play together. But, I also see adults in the mid-

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ages who get interested in airsoft who actually never played it when they were kids which is nice and a plus for our hobby.

“The situation we all live with and have to deal with these days, I mean all the terror things and so on doesn’t make our hobby/sport easier. Some people look at us with a critical eye.

They see the camouflage clothing, the guns and they might think something about us we do not represent. Airsoft is our hobby/sport and passion like others has their soccer club for example.”

AA: Do you have many established outdoor sites in Germany?

Could you tell me a little more about them?

Chris: “Yes we do have some around the country but not as much as in Czech, Austria or France for example. Some of them are just small areas good for a bunch of players but some are like most fields here in Europe, old military bases or parts of them or just old manufacturing facility or even old bunker areas. We do not have them all over the country which makes it hard for some players to actually play here in Germany. The big fields are mostly up north in the country. There you find the big events organized from some German teams or shops during the year. The rest of us who are a bit far away from those areas prefer to travel to other countries which are actually closer and faster to reach from the places we live. I say it that way because that´s the way I do it most when I go out for a game. I live in the south of Germany and Austria and France are not that far away. To drive up to 3hrs to get to a game site is normal for me and my guys.”

International GERMANY

AA: Do sites and players have any legal restrictions to contend with?

Chris: “Yes. Especially here in Germany we have one of the hardest guns laws/restrictions all over Europe which includes airsoft guns and parts as well. That means all our guns have to have the so-called “F” mark on it. It shows that this gun was checked by the government before it went on official sale. I´m sure everybody has heard about that before and that´s just a long story short about the “F” I want to write in here.

“PLEASE NOTE: If you travel through our country to get to a game or for whatever reason with your guns be sure you have it on! If not and you get checked by the police, they will take your guns away and you never see them again. They handle it like an illegal weapon. Beside this, we´re allowed to shoot airsoft guns stronger then 0.5J single fire only. No full auto is allowed except you´re under the 0.5J then you can go full auto with it. For example, all our machine gun replicas come with 0.5J only so you can enjoy it the way it´s built for a little bit.

“Some fields have their own FPS limits and special rules regarding AEGs and GBBRs and full face protection etc. But that´s something I guess a lot of you know from some of your local fields as well, right? It´s airsoft so our rules are most the same everybody knows to keep the sport as safe as possible.

Number one priority!

“We do have some 0.5J events especially for the younger generation. Here, it´s about fair play and the chance for all on the field to shoot with the same power. I think that´s a good thing because we want to get these kids into the hobby/sport and make it fun for them.”

AA: Being fairly central within Europe what opportunities does that offer in nearby countries for you?

“Over the years in the hobby you make various friendships with players from nearby countries that gives you the possibility to store some stuff with them and grab it there for a game.

That´s important because you´re also not allowed to own a light or laser which is able to be placed on a gun straight just to highlight a few things more we have to deal with. We don´t want to get into trouble with the law! Because that´s bad for us and of course for our hobby/sport.”

AA: What’s a normal game day like for you?

Chris: “Well a few times during the Year I go for… let’s call it a “skirmish”, just to enjoy airsoft and teach the younger generation how to do it right and give them support in terms they need it to get into airsoft the best way. All other events I attend are more MilSim oriented or team trainings based on tactics from the real world including instructors with military background. I love to train that way and use airsoft as the training platform for force on force training.

“My job at AMNB brings me a lot of product testing from companies of the tactical gear industry with it so I have to be out a lot and test products the way they are built for if you know what I mean. So “real steel” tactical training as well shooting and moving with real guns is a big part of my life now.”

AA: What is a popular style of play in Germany, regular skirmish, MilSim or both?

Chris: “I would say both. Some players just enjoy themselves and use gear which is absolutely necessary and needed to play but some take it very seriously. Re-enactment/Battle Display is very common and lots of teams focus to be correct with their

Chris: “A lot. As I can speak for myself and my friends we almost travel for all our games to other countries. Why? Because the fields are way bigger and the restrictions regarding airsoft and parts are much lower as here in Germany. There we can enjoy airsoft and the features of the guns and parts for them have to offer in full swing and the way they are built for.

“Beside the full auto restriction we have in our country, we´re also not allowed to have any working illumination tools mounted to our guns. As most of the players all over, German players want to have their guns as real as possible. That includes weapon lights and lasers as well. Home, we can have non-working dummies on it but that´s it.

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International GERMANY

gear and guns like the real units have. Most liked these days? I would say MARSOC, Rangers, SEALS and KSK.” AA: Like us you have a huge range of annual temperature and weather conditions to contend with; what’s important to you in relation to your gear?

Chris: “That´s true. I would say the UK is even worse regarding the weather conditions than Germany right? There´s a saying which works best for me regarding the gear: “there´s no bad weather only the wrong clothing you have chosen”. So be prepared! It´s up to you if you have a great day or not…

“The guns I use really depend on the temperatures we have outside. GBB is absolutely nice to shoot and realistic and it’s what I like the most but when it´s cold like a freezer you will have a bad day playing with them. So regularly I run my Systema PTW; she just runs and runs no matter the temperatures outside. I absolutely fell in love with her over the years.”

AA: What is the situation with airsoft and tactical gear in Germany; is it easy to get hold of?

Chris: “It could become tricky when players buy AEGs from outside the country which is possible to do. Remember the “F” I talked about and another problem is that these guns shoot full auto over 1.0J which we are not allowed to. Some players want to have it but they play a dangerous game then.

The same situation exists for weapon parts like internals; if you change something inside the gear box or the hop-up, inner barrel etc. it´s like a new gun and it has to be officially checked by an armorer again, otherwise it´s an illegal airsoft gun!

“Tactical gear is no problem at all. We are good to buy as much as we can get for our money.”

AA: Are there particular brands and models of airsoft replica that are important to you?

Chris: “Yes. I totally love my Systema PTW. It´s my working whore, an awesome gun, very good system and I trust in it. I got an FCC HK416 conversion kit on it, so it’s as real as it gets also regarding the weight of the gun itself. If you ask yourself why this is important for me, well it´s that simple; when I go shooting with real guns I run almost exact the same HK416 for it. So handling and training (muscle memory) is the point of interest here.

“Beside the Systema I run various guns from VFC/Umarex and KWA. Most preferred platforms are the HK416, MP7A1, SCAR-H, Glock-19, FNX45, HK45 and yes, I still have an airsoft Glock!”

AA: Do German sites have rental facilities if someone is visiting from overseas?

Chris: “The bigger ones have for sure. You can stay overnight or a whole weekend if you want to but bring your sleeping bag and everything what is needed to have for “sleeping outside” with you. Normally no pillows or blankets are offered onsite!”

AA: If anyone is visiting Germany and is interested in visiting a site for a game day, where should they head for information?

Chris: “I would suggest visiting the big German forums for this to get in contact with players who will be there as well and collect information straight from them. That´s the best way and you don´t miss out any important things.

“You can contact the guys at “6mm Forum” or maybe the “Airsoft Verzeichnis”.

“Please note that all answers to the questions are given from me from my point of few, the experience I have and how I deal with airsoft personally. There´re maybe some things other players will answer you different but so it is. That´s me!

Cheers!”

AA: And “cheers” to you too Chris! Thanks for answering all my questions and as always I look forward to seeing you at IWA in 2018, if not before on another Project GECKO course!

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event OPERATION ZANDER

SEVENTY-THREE YEARS AFTER THE EVENT, STUART HOWES JOINS THE GERMAN FALLSCHIRMJÄGER TO REPEL THE RECENTLY ARRIVED BRITISH AND AMERICAN PARAS IN THE HEDGEROW HELL OF THE BOCAGE. Photos by Ron Mahoney

HEDGEROW HELL HAVING SUCCESSFULLY STORMED ashore on June 6th, Allied Forces soon got bogged down in close quarters hedgerow fighting with German forces in the Normandy bocage. Allied Forces took ground by day and often lost it to determined counterattacks at night. Thanks to Ron Mahoney and his team, we had 24 hours at MOD Piddington to see if this was going to be the case once again.

Both sides assembled on Saturday morning and the rules and objectives were redressed slightly to minimise the impact of a number of no-show participants. The overall objectives were scaled back to three buildings to hold as control points and a small number of subsidiary items to locate and use along the way.

It was these items that we concerned ourselves with in the opening stages of the game. Prior to the event, pictures had been released of the items but this did not make it any easier to find green webbing pouches in the overgrown yet varied greenery of the site. Having covered two-thirds of the area to no avail, our lead elements then bumped into the combined force of allied Paratroopers. Attempting to medic an injured kamerad using the reasonably standard white bandage – red bandage rules, a grenade sailed in and sent us back to regen before I had even seen any enemy troops.

Seeking retribution, a quantity of our forces spent some time offensive patrolling against the allied search teams, whilst a smaller detachment of us went to mine Le Mensil Farmhouse in accordance with the scorched earth policy we had adopted if we hadn’t enough troops to hold all three points, we would not let the Allies control any of them.

The Allies had briefly taken Herouville compound, so a German attack across a mostly open field was mounted to retake it from them. This was notable as airsoft tends to be a cover-heavy game, so the fire and manoeuvre across fields is a nice touch to historical games as we tried to emulate Fallschirmjager small squad tactics – helped in this by many players coming from the blank-fire re-enactment scene rather than an airsoft background.

Reassembling our forces in the newly won Herouville compound, a communique gave some more pointers on where we would find the missing items. Armed with this

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event OPERATION ZANDER

new intelligence, we soon recovered a map tube giving us a supplementary mission and a satchel containing more boobytrap equipment. Despite continued search for the remaining items they ultimately fell into allied hands. Whilst the new orders were sent back to our HQ, we again went out to Le Mensil to do a better job of denying it to the enemy.

Upon arrival we found that not only had some of the charges been found, they had been re-laid by allied engineers.

Incensed at the impunity and now armed with a spade, the doorway had a schu mine buried in the floor and a distraction wire running across the opening. At the next regroup we told all to our forces about the positioning of mines at Le Mensil and the possibility of triggering repurposed allied charges. Every bramble snagged was now potential death!

Having not seen any Allied Forces for quite some time, our force moved towards the allied headquarters to locate and destroy them. After a hard fought push towards the compound, we withdrew back to our own HQ for dinner and a plan.

Food had been provided in the form of a 12-hour ration pack for the first ten players of each side to book onto the event – which, given the numbers, was every attendee – and whilst eating these an allied probe approached the HQ. Having laid waste to most of the contents of compound one, they withdrew and we returned to dinner. Posted as a sentry on the compound walls, I watched the open country surrounding Litteau grow dark and remain empty, as early warning of any impending raids. Having called it a night, we settled into our overnight home but in the fading light of dusk and ten minutes before HQs were closed down for the night, the Allies attacked again.

Beaten off far more certainly than they had been an hour earlier there was sadly no time left to pursue them and instead we had to resort to fat chewing and planning for the next.

0400 dawned and a small number of us headed out into the area of operations to ambush any unsuspecting early-rising allied troops. Most movement we saw was heading to and from the out-of-game toilets but having lain in wait for over an hour I scored the first kill of Sunday by shooting a lone and surprised British Bren-gunner at just before half five.

Now joined by the rest of the Germans, minus two very sporting players who defected to the Maquis to rebalance the teams following the departure of two Americans, an endgame strategy was established to maximise our winning points at end-ex at noon.

The extra mission we had gained the previous day now became a large drain on our already stretched resources. It required six men to hold a drop zone for resupply in a field next to Le Mensil. This was now

over half our force and it was decided to write off The Chateau as untenable and concentrate our resources on holding the Drop Zone and Herouville, with a reaction force stationed in a row of bunkers between the two.

Going defensive at Le Mensil had us deploy into the surrounding areas and camouflage ourselves with wheat and grass. Despite the Theresa May jokes and looking somewhat like scarecrows, we were very hard to spot from the open ground surrounding the building. Sporadic attacks led by the Maquis regularly probed the positions and were regularly thrown off, with a grenade thrown by me wiping out some unsuspecting resistance fighters and getting me a handful of the dreaded Piddington thorns as comeuppance.

Increasingly small numbers involved in the allied probes made us begin to worry that they had packed up and gone, so another push on their HQ was mounted to gauge the response.

Despite receiving more attention than we expected, we pulled back to our defences on the objectives confident of imminent victory.

A large concerted allied push onto Herouville was closefought but ultimately defeated, costing us many defenders sent back to HQ to regen and reload. In the meantime, a second Allied attack through dense undergrowth was pinned by Fallschirmjäger firing from an open field whilst I hunted them down from a series of abandoned overgrown buildings; pitting my bolt action rifle against their machine guns in some fun, challenging and historical CQB. I ultimately fell to a Thompson wielded by the last remaining American, having spent some time playing cat and mouse through buildings, brambles and meadow.

This meant I did not see action in the closing minutes of the game, where troops holding the drop zone deployed smoke grenades to mark for the incoming supply drop, securing a German victory 70 points to 40. We Fallschirmjäger had grimly hung onto our positions and ultimately thrown the troublesome Allies back into the sea.

Operation Zander was a good event which was sadly let down by the low participant numbers. The constant shortage of troops meant everyone was constantly busy – but went some way to recreate the strain and difficulty of fighting in the Normandy countryside. Given good reviews by players, Ron and his team intend to run another event and if World War 2 Airsoft is your bag, I would highly recommend attending. A similar event with good-sized forces on each team would be a truly epic experience.

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Warriors POLISH INFANTRY 1939

POLISH WARRIORS TECHNICALLY INFERIOR TO THE FORCES ATTACKING THEM, WW2 POLISH INFANTRY FOUGHT HARD AND WELL, AS GARETH “GADGE” HARVEY EXPLAINS...

THERE ARE MANY MYTHS about Polish forces in WWII, not least the outlandish claim being that their cavalry took on German panzer tanks with lances! But it’s fair to say that despite being outnumbered, outgunned and attacked without warning, the Poles gave a surprisingly good account of themselves.

Suffice it to say, Polish cavalry never went head to head with German tanks. In reality the lance had been retired from service some years before and the units equipped with horses were utilised as fast moving infantry who would fight as dismounted dragoons. This curious myth does, however, neatly sum up the contrast between the equipment of the two nations and the fact that Poland was technologically lagging behind its warlike neighbour.

MECHANISED WARFARE

Polish army formations on the eve of WWII had changed little since the days immediately after WWI and unlike the British and German armies of the time, had spent little in developing 64

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any serious mechanised and armoured formations and relied mainly on horse drawn transport and bicycle units. Those tanks the Poles did possess tended to be “tankettes”, two-man mini tanks armed only with machine guns, which had been in favour with many armies in the inter war years as a “tankette craze” swept through military theorists. At the outbreak of war the Poles, British and German utilised bicycle-mounted infantry units to provide cheap and relatively fast road movement.

While a cycle mounted infantry unit may seem odd to modern readers, it’s fair to say that in 1939 bicycle reconnaissance units were integral to most nation’s armies and by no mean “quaint” or “obsolete”. Compared to “foot” infantry a bicycle unit was cheap to equip, could cover large amounts of ground in rapid time and, unlike cavalry, required no extra “fodder”. In addition, a cycle platoon could quickly dismount if fired upon and use piles of bicycles as improvised cover from enemy small arms fire in an emergency.

Despite being technologically disadvantaged compared

Warriors POLISH INFANTRY 1939

to Germany, Poland by 1939 had in fact undertaken massive “standardisation” of its armed forces. Previously the country had used a motley collection of German, British and French weapons and equipment but by the outbreak of war most infantry arms and equipment were domestically produced.

While the Polish army of 1939 was under armed in terms of tanks and aircraft (they also notably deployed huge outdated armoured trains equipped with artillery and anti-tank carriages that were easy pickings for the Luftwaffe’s Stuka formations), compared to the German army its infantry were certainly the most comparably equipped and trained. The biggest disparity between the two nation’s foot soldiers would be in the infantry’s small arms, as the Germans could field significantly more firepower per platoon than the Poles. While both armies used a version of the 1898 model Mauser rifle the Germans were able to field the, new at the time, MP40 SMG and their belt-fed MG34 light machine guns were able to put down greater sustained fire than the Polish licence-built, magazine-fed BAR automatic rifles.

rapidly advancing German Army was not enough to deal with, the beleaguered Poles would within days be attacked on a new front by the Soviet Red Army and the fate of Poland would be sealed.

Our warriors this month are represented by members of the “Piechota” Airsoft skirmishing and WWII re-enactment group.

Piechota means “infantry” in Polish and the group purposely keep their impression quite “general” so as to be able to represent any Polish infantry unit of the early war period, this is aided by the Polish army practice of removing collar patches and other unit Insignia before going into battle.

The Polish army of the 1939/1940 period was dressed in a style common to many European armies and had much in common with the their German enemies in terms of arms and equipment. As with most armies of the time, our infantrymen wear a khaki serge tunic and trousers of the Wz.36 pattern along with black leather ankle boots and khaki wool puttees.

BORDER WARS

Poland’s lack of modern firepower was the least of their problems, as the nation was massively outnumbered by its enemy. At the time of war breaking out the Polish army numbered a mere 210,000 men, compared to Germany’s 600,000 and national expenditure on defence was even more unbalanced. Records show that between 1935 and 1939 Poland had spent $760 million on its armed forces, in contrast Nazi had spent a staggering $24 billion - almost 30 times more!

WWII was not the first clash between Poland and Germany, however, as the two nations had battled for the contested Silesia and Pomerania. These areas both had mixed populations of Germans and Poles and both nations claimed them as their own in a bitter four year border war between 1918 and 1922 but it would be Hitler’s underhand and deceitful attack of 1939 that would plunge Poland into war.

Poland was caught somewhat unprepared by this “stab in the back” from Hitler’s Germany, as while it was wary of its belligerent neighbour it was careful not to directly antagonise the Third Reich.

However, prior to the outbreak of war German Special Forces conducted a “false flag” operation on a German radio station and left concentration camp victim’s bodies dressed in Polish uniforms to “prove” that German radio station at Gleiwitz was the victim of Polish aggression. The ensuing campaign against Poland was equally brutal as German armoured formations attacked the Polish lines en masse creating a “schwerpunkt” (literally “heavy point” but really meaning “main emphasis”) to break through the lines while Stuka dive bombers acted as “airborne artillery”. With the Polish forces in disarray the German infantry would encircle and destroy them while the armoured and airborne forces moved onto the next target to begin the process again.

BLITZKRIEG

This lightning fast campaign was so successful and the German advances so rapid that it soon became known as “Blitzkrieg” (Lightning War). As if the www.airsoft-action.online

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CYAN, MAGENTA, YELLOW, BLACK

PATROL LINE #Airsoft Action, JUNE 2017

PATROL LINE

PATROL LINE Patrol Line gives you a choice of best Mil/LE field and combat type clothing, including some specialized individual camouflage solutions and uniform accessories. Our idea is to combine and supplement the elements of the Patrol Line with other HTX lines – such as Outback Line for inclement weather conditions, Range for shooting practice etc.

WWW.HELIKON-TEX.COM

Warriors POLISH INFANTRY 1939

Khaki was adopted by the Polish army in 1919 after the Great War and by 1935 had become the universal standard across the army. The tunic was a simple affair with a single breasted button front and a stand and fall collar. In peacetime and on parade unit insignia and the regimental number were worn on dark blue collar patches with yellow piping but, as said, this insignia was often removed in the field. Puttees were common with many armies as they not only prevented wear on the bottom of the trousers (and prevented the trouser hems snagging on undergrowth) but also stopped any ingress of stones or debris into the tops of the low ankle boots. Headwear of the Polish army on campaign at the time was the classically Polish four sided soft wool 1937 pattern “Rogatywka” field cap, while our other soldier wears the wz.37 pattern steel helmet which has been covered in a textured paint to prevent sunlight shining off the surface and giving away the unit’s position.

A leather belt supports most of the men’s field equipment, which includes leather ammunition pouches for their Mauser 1898 rifles (almost identical to the shorter German Kar98 rifle of the period), the rifle’s Wz.1924 bayonet and an entrenching tool in 1928 pattern leather cases. While most the men’s “fighting equipment” is carried on the belt their spare clothes, cooking and field equipment are all secured to their Wz.1933 pattern backpacks with their blankets fastened around them in a horseshoe shape. Secured to the back of the backpack is a Wz.1931 pattern mess kit. While normally carried on the back, the backpack was able to be strapped to the Polish army military bicycle. The last two parts of the Soldier’s kit are worn suspended from straps across their shoulder and consist of a Wz. 1932 gas mask in a tarpaulin bag and a Wz. 1933 bread bag containing basic rations for use in the field.

Of particular note are the 1898 Mauser rifles. The members of Piechota have cleverly got around the fact that no one makes a Polish Mauser by converting Tanaka Kar98 gas powered rifles in order to keep their impression accurate and provide themselves with “skirmish ready” small arms.

For certain, early war Polish infantry is a niche impression in an already niche field of WWII Airsoft but it’s certainly something different! As you can imagine sourcing original Polish equipment can be tricky but a decent amount of Ebay trawling and checking out militaria fairs can pay off.

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Pocket Rocket TOKYO MARUI UZI

IN THE JULY ISSUE OF AIRSOFT ACTION GADGE TOOK A LOOK AT THE UZI IN REAL LIFE; HE ALSO MENTIONED THE ELUSIVE TOKYO MARUI AIRSOFT VERSION AND AS USUAL IT TURNS OUT THAT JERRY NOONE ACTUALLY HAS ONE IN HIS SIZEABLE AND ECLECTIC COLLECTION. STAND BY THEN FOR A REAL BLAST FROM THE AIRSOFT PAST!

BLAST FROM THE PAST IT’S NOT OFTEN THAT I get asked to write about older models of airsoft replica, as most magazines and blogs tend to concentrate on the newly released stuff but sometimes when you’re talking about an absolute classic you have to reach back in time and it can be a sobering thing to do.

In his article on the “real deal” Uzi, Gadge rightly commented that the Tokyo Marui (TM) airsoft version has been out of production for some time and that finding parts can be a real nightmare; the latter point is certainly very true but from time to time you do see the TM Uzi come up for sale, both as a full RIF or as a box of parts and if you’re

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lucky you can pounce to keep your Uzi rolling!

The Uzi for me is one of the “must have” airsoft replicas out there as it’s such an iconic firearm; I won’t go into the history of the Uzi as Gadge already covered that pretty comprehensively in his article but if you want to delve deeply you’ll discover that Uziel Gal, the designer, did actually crib a few features from the Jaroslav Holecek-designed Czech ZK 476 (prototype only) and the production Sa 23, Sa 24, Sa 25 and Sa 26 series of submachine guns, namely in relation to the open-bolt, blowback operation. What truly makes it unique in my mind though was the fact it was designed when Israel stood alone and produced entirely in that country!

Since its introduction in 1954 the Uzi has been exported to over 90 countries. Over its service lifetime, it has been manufactured by Israel Military Industries, FN Herstal and other manufacturers. From the 1960s through the 1980s, more Uzi submachine guns were sold to more military, law enforcement and security markets than any other submachine gun ever made, so the coverage you get from this one model in relation to Vietnam and Cold War airsoft is substantial.

Pocket Rocket TOKYO MARUI UZI

AHEAD OF ITS TIME

Introduced at the back end of 1998, the TM Uzi was a long awaited replica that proved an immediate hit with airsofters around the globe. With an EG1000R motor and a completely unique V5 gearbox and piston design, the Uzi also offered a small amount of recoil/blowback vibration for added realism, which TM christened “the recoil shock system”. You have to remember this was 1998 and TM were already talking about “recoil” so it does beg a question as to why it took them so long to bring their next one into production, doesn’t it?

My interest in the Uzi, although I’d always liked the weapon, really began when I got involved in Vietnam-era living history. The group I belonged to at the time was based around MACV-SOG who were renowned for their use of unusual and unconventional weapons (if you’re interested you can read about SOG and the Uzi in the post on www.modernforces.com entitled “MACV-SOG HALO Teams 1970 -1971”).

As with many things, my involvement with living history filtered through into my airsoft and I soon started hunting out suitably themed games and although I had airsoft M16s and XM177s, I wanted something that was uniquely “SOG” for my personal loadout and that meant the Uzi. Luckily I was still able to buy one over the counter at Fire Support at that time and if memory serves, I paid iro £200 for it. I was also able to buy not only more of the 40BB magazines that came as standard with the TM but also a 220BB Hi-Cap as well.

Metal parts include the upper receiver, muzzle, trigger, magazine release, cocking lever and folding stock; the stock itself is an absolute work of art, functioning exactly like the real thing and is surprisingly solid if not exactly comfortable once it’s deployed. The plastic parts are made up of what, back in 1998, was the revolutionary “PCV Engineer Plastic” which is highly durable; in fact if I look at my Uzi today the plastic parts have actually aged better than the metal!

The stick battery is stored in the upper receiver and these days I run it on a 7.4V LiPo, which seems to suit it down to the ground. The battery compartment is easily accessed by simply removing the whole top-plate and you’ll also find a sliding hopup adjuster here too. There is a metal charging handle which functions and can be pulled back but other than that it’s purely cosmetic.

While very popular in style, the TM Uzi is hopelessly restricted by limited upgrade potential and allegedly it’s a real pig to work on in any meaningful way. I have mine looked after by James at Paradigm Rifleworks, who probably has more experience with this model than many given his own longevity in airsoft. When I bought my Uzi I wanted to run a tracer unit on it so he kindly fashioned me an adapter for this and when he sent that to me he sent a whole bunch of Uzi spare parts, telling me that even at the time I was one of the few players to run one as my primary skirmish gun. Again, if memory serves, he told me “hang on to these parts, you WILL need them in the future” and oh boy, was he right!

SCALP TAKER!

So, is the old TM Uzi any good as a skirmisher, I hear you ask?

Well, as a CQB tool it’s absolutely ideal as, just like the real thing, it comes with semi and full auto functionality; it also has a working grip safety which means even if you have it off safe it still won’t fire until you depress this. It’s relatively low-powered at just 0.55 Joule/245fps on a .20g BB, again just perfect for CQB as it’s also super-accurate.

With a relatively low power output and a short 244mm inner barrel you’d probably be thinking that when it comes to outdoor games things would go a little south but I can absolutely assure you that this is by no means the case!

Admitted, you’re not ever going to get the range of even a half-way decent modern M4 but I’ve taken scalps out to 25 meters plus with it, so it’s no lightweight and in the close confines of the fern-beds we often encountered in a “Namsoft” game, it was absolutely 100% the right tool for the job.

Although I’ve had other airsoft Uzis over the years, such as the Guarder-enhanced WA/KWC CO2 “Mini”, these have come and gone and the TM is the only model that’s been with me for the duration. It’s a super little AEG, sturdy as anything and even after many moons and a few services still manages to raise an eyebrow with other players when I (very!) occasionally take it out to a game and they see just how good it is.

Like Gadge I too hope that Tokyo Marui might re-release this little gem, or that someone makes one that’s as good; I’d have another in a heartbeat!

www.airsoft-action.online

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skills RANGE KIT

RANGE KIT ALTHOUGH NOT A “SKILL” IN ITSELF, IF YOU DON’T HAVE THE RIGHT KIT YOU CANNOT TRAIN (OR FIGHT) PROPERLY. ANDY NIGHTINGALE SPENT MANY YEARS ON “THE CIRCUIT” AND SHARES SOME OF HIS IT IS NOT ALWAYS POSSIBLE to hit the Training Range with the very kit you are issued with, or intend to use for every job that requires you to protect the lives of others. Many LEO or PMCs won’t have the luxury of personally owning the same kit they use at work. So, how does one train for situations of extreme violence if the very kit you rely on isn’t at hand?

In this article, I want to share some of my own thoughts and ideas on kit that may well help you overcome this very problem.

I’m going to leave out weapons as there are too many different kit configurations to mention. I want to just concentrate on the basic, personal, kit that will get you up and running those all-important drills on the range.

During training we can make allowances for cheaper, poorer quality, kit. I don’t mean “poorer” in the sense that kit that will fall apart in just a few days-worth of training on the range but cheaper in financial terms, yet still be able to perform

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and see you through at least 12 months of range work. I have stopped training with high quality kit as my kit really does get chewed up on the range. In my line of work (I’m now retired) as a PMC, I have always replaced my kit as soon as I felt it was showing any signs of any stress. I’ve done this because my life and the lives of others - may very well depend in its integrity. To replace the same quality kit that I used for work, when it gets hammered on the training range, would simply prove to be far too costly.

There are many kit manufacturers that will jump at the chance to grab your hard-earned cash. They will also tell you that their products are the best. My advice is to shop around and trust your gut instincts. If it’s an all-singing, all-dancing item that is the lowest price on the market, it’s probably going to fail even before you get it home. Purchase the best you can afford without breaking the Bank.

skills RANGE KIT

BOOTS

EYES

Boots are a must. There are many quality boots on the market that won’t break the Bank, however, a quality GorTex boot, for example, will no longer be waterproof if you rip them. If there is a choice of two similar boots, one waterproof and one not, go for the cheaper option, normally the nonwaterproof one. A good deep tread on the sole is essential, as is the height of the boot. This must cover the ankle in order to aid support while on uneven ground. The upper material is up to you. There are some very strong breathable fabrics available that may well be a better option over a quality leather boot.

We only have one pair of eyes so don’t compromise safety by saving money.

Buy the best you can.

Eye protection should be worn on the range at all times even when you’re not shooting.

A good wrap around pair has more protection than any others that have gaps at the sides or top.

Several manufacturers offer interchangeable lenses that enhance the light or offer shade to the eyes. This is your choice but whatever you go for make sure they meet the correct safety requirements for the type of shooting you intend to use them for.

CLOTHING

What you choose really does depend on your own personal choice and style. I normally wear a cargo/combat pant while on the range. The type I use have a small pocket on the leg to facilitate a small foam pad that acts as a knee pad. These I have found to be of little help as, although they are comfortable when kneeling down on uneven ground, it does very little, if anything, to protect the trousers from wearing out at the knees. As I’m all for saving money, I have found a cheap set of knee pads, the type used by skateboarders, not only protect my knees when firing from the kneeling position but also save me from gouging out whopping great holes in the knees of my pants.

Shirts or jackets run the same as the trousers. There is no need to spend copious amounts of money on designer gear when it’s going to be subjected to the evils of the range. As with waterproof garments a GorTex jacket is no good with holes in it. Grab a cheap waterproof that will keep the rain off during Range time that you can bin when it’s no longer holding back the wet. I’d rather bin a £5.00 jacket than a £200.00 jacket after only a couple of outings. The same goes for your outer top. My duty jacket costs in the region of £350.00 but when I’m on the range I substitute it for an old £10.00 military surplus jacket. It does the job just as well but it’s a cheap disposable item.

GLOVES

Gloves are pretty cheap to purchase no matter what the quality. To be honest they pretty much all do the same job so go for the ones that feel right, fit well and don’t hinder the manipulation of the weapon.

HEAD WEAR

Head wear is an important consideration when on the range. It allows the shooter to adapt to environmental conditions as well as safety.

Baseball-type caps are 10 a penny and will shade your eyes and protect you from the sun (also wind and rain). In colder climates a woolen or micro-fibre skull cap will suffice.

VEST/BELT KIT

There is just too much to mention here regarding all the different types of vests and belts on the market. To do so would mean filling a whole publication - and I don’t think the Editor would let me get away with that! However, there are manufacturers out there that have near perfect copies of most of the professional issue vests and belts which are perfect for sacrificing on the range.

ARMOUR

This is not something that I always used in the past as not all of my jobs warranted the use of ballistic protection. Do I use armour on the range? Yes, I do - although not with SAPPI plates in anymore (well not now that I am retired) but I do use a soft armour. This is typically a simple vest with soft inserts where the SAPPI plates would normally go to protect me when I take a dive into cover or into the prone position on uneven and broken ground. A lot of my drills are done in an old stone quarry with an unforgiving surface and while the soft armour vest offers no ballistic protection whatsoever, it does save my ribs from getting battered and bruised a lot!

Prepping kit for a day’s training on the range doesn’t have to cost the earth. Your kit will get hammered during rigorous repetitive activity and destroying expensive kit just doesn’t make sense when you can achieve the same quality training with cheaper, more disposable kit and equipment.

Range time affords us the luxury of finding our own limitations and striving to be better at what we do, without the stress of a gunfight.

Range time should be enjoyable as well as hard work and that also means being able to afford it.

Work hard, fight easy.

www.airsoft-action.online

71

Loaded or Unloaded TACTICAL ATHLETE

IT’S BEEN A LITTLE WHILE SINCE WE HAD A LOOK AT THE LATEST OFFERING FROM THE MIGHTY TACTICAL BRAND THAT IS 5:11 SO THIS MONTH JERRY NOONE RETURNS TO HIS REGULAR SLOT TO BRING US AN UPDATE ON THE NEWEST PIECES TO HIT THE STORES, ESPECIALLY AS THERE’S A DIRECT TIE-IN TO ONE OF THE BIGGEST VIDEO GAME RELEASES OF 2017!

WILDLANDS:

TACTICAL ATHLETE WHEN IT COMES TO PUTTING a complete loadout together there are so many sources of inspiration and information to choose from that it can be quite daunting when you come to put your kit together! Many airsofters I know don’t go for a particular “look”, or try to recreate any particular military unit, they just want comfortable, reliable and functional gear that is going to work well on a skirmish day and with the rise and rise of the so-called “tactical athlete” look things are more relaxed than ever before!

Let’s face it, there are just SO many sources of inspiration available these days and a whole industry has grown up to cater for our whimsies. And in this respect the internet can be our very good friend or our worst enemy! We quite literally have a whole online world at our fingertips and even the loosest internet search will bring up information that you never even knew existed. Specialist websites exist to document and cover every loadout you could possibly dream of and the level of information is simply staggering.

More and more I find myself returning to a simple, generic “contractor style” loadout as not only is it fairly simple to put together but most of the clothing and footwear can easily be worn every day justifying me spending a little more on my airsoft kit than perhaps I normally would. There was an interesting debate online recently about this very topic and the overwhelming consensus was that “buying right, buying once” was most definitely the way forward!

FROM FIELD TO GAME

Looking at the “tactical athlete” style in more detail I know that many of you, like me, have been inspired by UBISOFTs latest smash “Ghost Recon Wildlands” (see Gadge’s “Online Offline” article elsewhere in this issue) and if you pay a visit to www.511tactical.com you’ll find that they actually have a dedicated section of the website dealing specifically with the gear worn by the characters “Holt, Nomad, Midas and Weaver”!

5:11 Tactical obviously took their time about this and the net result is just massively impressive and great fun! They are

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a huge international company that have the luxury of being able to really work things through, rather than just jumping on the bandwagon for the sake of a quick buck but they aren’t averse to singing their own praises when they get it right - as they assuredly have with the game tie-in. As much as 5:11 gear has always been popular with airsofters they really do build for the “real world” so every single thing that they make has to be 100% fit for purpose. No corners are cut in terms of fabrics, materials and construction, so when you buy into 5:11 you really are getting the “real deal”, not a Far Eastern copy that’s going to come apart just because you look at it!

Although we don’t need gear of this standard (hopefully our Sunday Skirmish is not going to put our lives on the line!) buying into it can actually be a financially sensible thing to do

Loaded or Unloaded TACTICAL ATHLETE

and as I always say, spend your money wisely! Yes, you’ll pay a little more for gear from brands like 5:11 but in the long term it will wear much, much better than cheap copies; I’ve got a pair of ten-plus year old 5:11 Tactical Pants that are still going to this day that attest to this fact!

INTO THE WILDLANDS!

As I’ve done before in “Loaded or Unloaded” I wanted to create two separate loadouts based on one “core” set of gear, so the first choice I had to make was the basic uniform and I would stress that this is my personal “take” on a “Wildlands” style loadout and not necessarily what the game characters wear!

5:11 offer a considerable range of shirts and trousers but the STRYKE Tactical Duty Uniform (TDU) seems perfect for airsoft. This uniform is really a three component set that gives a lot of flexibility. Crafted from highly durable 4.84 oz.

Flex-Tac mechanical stretch fabric and treated with DuPont Teflon Shield+ fabric protector for superb stain, liquid and soil resistance, the new Stryke TDU Shirt from 5.11 features two canted front chest pockets and sleeve pockets for increased storage, hidden document pocket, together with Velcro adjustable cuffs and mandarin collar for a truly personalised fit and overall comfort. Additionally, the Stryke TDU Shirt comes with a YKK concealed zip front, reinforced articulated elbows for added durability, loop patch platform and an epaulette kit which can be sewn on where you want them.

This highly practical shirt features “Flex-Tac”, a revolutionary fabric utilising proprietary fibres and developed exclusively for 5.11 Tactical. The lightweight, breathable, polycotton ripstop incorporates mechanical stretch yarns, meaning the stretch and recovery of the fabric is achieved without the use of Spandex.

As a result, the breathability, colour retention and durability of Flex-Tac are superior to other cotton/Spandex fabrics currently in the market. If you favour more of a UBACS style shirt, the Stryke TDU Rapid Shirt is probably the one to go for. This new model has a torso made from a highly flexible blend of polyester and Spandex material and the shoulders and sleeves are made of an exclusive 4.84 oz. Flex-Tac mechanical stretch fabric, again treated with Teflon.

Crafted from a specialised proprietary blend of mechanical stretch polyester and cotton material, the new Stryke TDU Pants are perfect for general use and are the perfect partner for either of the shirt models. The TDU pants feature canted ergonomic cargo pockets, double layered articulated knees and fully gusseted crotch for superb freedom of movement in virtually any tactical situation. The TDU pants come with stretch panels at the waist and behind each knee and are Teflon treated for stain, liquid and soil resistance and enhanced bartacking is used throughout for increased durability and longevity.

If however you like to run a little more “contractor” then 5:11 offer some super “low profile” gear that’s made to the same standards as the uniform pieces but will be equally at home in the pub as in a firefight!

The Covert Flex shirt is something that I would wear daily as it looks really good. Designed to grant immediate access to a holstered secondary, the new 5.11 Covert Shirt Double Flex is a comfortable and cool to wear short sleeve shirt with the unique 5.11 RAPIDraw placket, sewn-on “fake” buttons hide breakaway snaps. Crafted from a durable and highly breathable polycotton moisturewicking material, this concealed carry shirt is extremely comfortable to wear; it’s a contemporary fit and style with hidden document pockets and fast, reliable sidearm accessibility in urgent situations.

Keeping with the more relaxed vibe, a real favourite amongst the new pieces in the clothing line is the Taclite Anorak Jacket which is a comfortable and weather resistant, highly versatile jacket perfect for rapidly changing environments and evolving situations. The jacket features a kangaroo style front pocket with immediate RAPIDraw pass-through for easy access, unique Quixip System with full length zippers and discreet utility pockets at the chest for increased storage.

Additionally, the Taclite Anorak Jacket comes with flannel inner lining for extra warmth and comfort, Teflon finish for stain and soil resistance and three piece contoured hood for superb protection against the elements. The Taclite Anorak Jacket offers excellent freedom of movement with superb protection against the wind, rain and weather; I feel like I may well be parting with my own pennies for one of these!

GETTING THE GEAR-VIBE ON!

With clothing options sorted now it was time to get down to business. First up I wanted a simple belt system so that I could carry a backup handgun, it this case a G26 and affix a dump pouch. The 5.11 Traverse Double Buckle belt is a strong, durable and comfortable multi-purpose belt with a low profile design which makes it ideal for casual or tactical wear. It’s perfect to carry a holster and sidearm without rolling or deforming and it features twotone lightweight aluminium anodized buckles, ribbed weave nylon webbing, a reinforced signature 5.11 belt-tip and subtle logo touches throughout.

Talking of holsters then 5:11 have a great system which can be worn either belt mounted or as a drop leg when combined with the correct platform. The Thumbdrive holster system is model specific and comes in both left and right hand variants; do bear in mind that these have been designed for use with real handguns

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Loaded or Unloaded TACTICAL ATHLETE

so some of the airsoft replicas with slightly oversized frames won’t fit. That said, the righthanded the one I received for testing was suitable for Glock 17/22. It’s reinforced for increased Level II weapon retention. The basic holster package includes belt slide and paddle and the belt slide adjusts to fit up to 2.25” width. If you prefer a leg rig there are drop and offset kit available as accessories. To complete my belt I went with another long-time favourite (I own three to date!), the 5:11 Large Dump Pouch.

Carrying kit? No problem as 5:11 offers a multitude of solutions. I chose the Tac Tec Chest Rig as it’s a lightweight, breathable and versatile bit of kit! One size fits all and it has eminently customisable configurations. As standard you can carry up to six internal M4 mags with a either a nylon cover or bungee retention; the bungees are included. Two outside compartments can be converted to carry 500ml water bottles and there is an internal web platform for holster, pouch or knife attachment along with a map pocket.

The front of the rig has extensive MOLLE so I decided to mount two further two cell magazine pouches and spare pistol magazine pouch and a medical pouch to cover all eventualities.

The final bit of gear required was a ruc and keeping with the more “covert” look I decided for once to ditch all the MOLLE and have a look at something different. Designed for speed, agility and dependability in any environment and crafted from abrasion resistant 1680D ballistic Polyester material, the 5:11 COVRT Boxpack is a lightweight and highly durable concealed carry tactical backpack with comfortable to wear construction and multiple externally-accessible pockets. The pack features a quick roll top main compartment opening, durable padded carry handle, CCW pistol compartment, two side magazine pockets and

“NO CORNERS ARE CUT IN TERMS OF FABRICS, MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION, SO WHEN YOU BUY INTO 5:11 YOU REALLY ARE GETTING THE “REAL DEAL”, NOT A FAR EASTERN COPY THAT’S GOING TO COME APART JUST BECAUSE YOU LOOK AT IT!”

fleece lined sunglass pocket.

The COVRT Boxpack also comes with an internal hydration pouch and padded laptop storage, reinforced padded shoulder straps with minimal MOLLE and a sternum strap and waist belt for added security and custom fit.

If you fancy something more compact then the COVRT Box Messenger

comes with a spacious main compartment and a number of discreet and functional inner and outer pockets, an adjustable shoulder strap with shoulder pad and stabiliser strap for comfortable and customisable carry and a pull-out ID panel. The innovative roll-top and top quality YKK zippers guarantee fast and smooth access to stored gas, BBs, magazines, waterbottles and game day essentials.

With all this pulled together I simply needed to add some boots, lightweight TAC A2 gloves, Ops Core helmet and 5:11 shooting glasses and I was good to go! For the “relaxed” look I simply added a ballcap and 5:11 offer a whole range of these.

So, my inspiration for this loadout came specifically from a video game and then I let my mind wander to create something a little different that would work either on or off the field of play. All the gear is beautifully put together from first rate materials and even though this is by no means the cheapest loadout I’ve ever put together, everything is going to last for some considerable time and will work in virtually any environment. If you find something that inspires you then follow your heart and go for it, no matter what it may be but again as always I’ll say do your research, buy right and buy once!

My thanks go to www.military1st.co.uk for their kind co-operation in pulling this article together. Please visit their excellent website for all your 5:11 Tactical needs and so much more!

www.airsoft-action.online

75

Real Steel THE MP5 SUBMACHINE GUN

REAL STEEL:

5 P M NO COMPREHENSIVE LIST of “classic firearms of the 20th century” would be complete without a mention of the venerable Heckler and Koch MP5. Coming to fame on the world stage in the early 80s as the “weapon of choice” of the SAS, the MP5 is in use today with security and police forces across the globe.

As the world held its breath in May 1980, black clad troopers of the previously highly secretive Special Air Service launched a very public raid to free hostages held by terrorists at the Iranian Embassy at Princes Gate in London. While millions of TV screens across the world saw these highly trained warriors move with lightning speed and precision, to many military enthusiasts their sub machine guns were of particular note… for they were not using the British Army’s standard SMG the Sterling but the relatively unknown German firearm, the MP5.

In fairness, the MP5 had been in service with the West German police since the mid-1960s (oddly the West German army had decided it was too expensive and instead purchased the Uzi which they called the MP2) but after the high profile operation by the SAS, it soon became a prominent part of the “anti-terrorism” arsenal around the world.

For a long time the MP5 was (and still is in many services) often the weapon of choice for those in special operations or law enforcement who need stopping power without fear of over-penetration, while maintaining pinpoint accuracy and reliability.

The MP5 is, in essence, a selective-fire, air-cooled, magazine-fed, blowback Sub Machine Gun like many others but owes its high performance to the famed Heckler and Koch

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IN HIS CONTINUING SERIES LOOKING AT “REAL STEEL” WEAPONS GARETH “GADGE” HARVEY WRITES ABOUT POSSIBLY ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST ICONIC SUBMACHINE GUNS, THE HECKLER & KOCH MP5.

developed “delayed roller system” used in the operation of its bolt.

The origins of the MP5 lay in the plans for the never produced WWII German Stg 45 rifle and in the 1950s and 1960s Heckler and Koch worked on a “family” of four firearms which were based around the WWII weapons delayed roller blowback system. This system would be used in all four new firearms; three variants of the G3 and the MP5.

Unlike traditional firearms, the delayed roller system utilises rollers and cams to slow down the rearwards travel of the bolt and increases the stability and accuracy of the weapon.

Inclined surfaces on the locking pieces within the bolt carrier, these lie between two rollers on the bolt head and are forced into recesses in the barrel extension when the weapon is ready to fire. After the round is fired from the closed bolt, the rollers are cammed inwards against these locking pieces by rearwards pressure from the ignition on the bolt head. The bolt carrier’s velocity is much higher than that of the bolt head and after the carrier moves 4mm to the rear the rollers align and the pressure from the shot drops to a safe level and the two parts continue

Real Steel THE MP5 SUBMACHINE GUN

the rearwards movement together.

The Heckler and Koch bolt operating system gives the MP5 exceptional accuracy and handling in a small package, due to the combination of the stabilised travel of the bolt and the inherent increased accuracy present in SMGs that fire from a closed bolt to begin with. As previously mentioned, its 9x19mm parabellum round is perfectly capable of taking down an unarmoured assailant with a well-aimed shot but has the bonus of not being powerful enough to penetrate brick walls, parked cars and the like and potentially injuring an innocent bystander.

While for a long time this was often a one of the main reasons law enforcement preferred the 9mm MP5, in recent years the tendency for well organised criminals to employ body armour has led many Police and Security forces to change to 5.56mm assault rifles and risk “collateral damage”.

Original 1960s Mp5 were capable of firing either single shots, full auto or three round bursts with the fourth position on the fire selector being “safety” but modern MP5s can have any number of variations upon this fire selector/safety system, depending on the requirements of the end user, from standard fully automatic versions, to police and civilian models limited to single shots only.

While the SAS brought the straight magazine MP5A2 to fame, there has since been over 100 variations of this prolific sub machine gun. Later notable variants have included the MP5SD and supressed versions (the SD stands for Schalldämpfer in German which means “sound suppressor”), the MK5K or “kurz” cut down compact variant (including a version able to be concealed in a suitcase), the 10mm MP5/10 favoured by some members of the British SAS and even a variant rechambered for .40 Smith and Wesson ammunition, the MP5/40.

A host of customisable options were available very early on for the MP5 series with units like GSG9 in Germany and the SAS in Britain constantly developing new hostage rescue tactics that would employ sight rail mounted torches, laser sights, mag clamps to hold rapidly reloadable spare magazines, stock and handgrip variants and custom trigger groups. An added bonus for many military formations using the MP5 was that the SMG shared some commonality of parts with any G3 rifles in their arsenals.

Regrettably, the MP5 seems to have fallen out of favour with airsofters in the current skirmishing climate. While excellent replicas of this stalwart SMG are available from a plethora of manufacturers, it’s no longer the popular choice it was a decade ago. One can only guess that this is due to its lack of high profile use in the media and its real world fall from favour with military special operations units. www.airsoft-action.online

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Survival SURVIVING A TERRORIST ATTACK

SURVIVING A

TERRORIST ATTACK WE HAVE SEEN THE SHOCKING IMAGES AND VIDEOS BUT WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU WERE CAUGHT UP IN A TERRORIST ATTACK? SURVIVAL EXPERT, PAUL YELLAND, OFFERS A VIEW ON HOW YOUR AIRSOFT SKILLS MIGHT HELP – BUT STARTS WITH SOME WORDS OF WARNING. AFTER HEARING A RECENT INTERVIEW with the Devon and Cornwall Police and Crime Commissioner where she discussed the issue of registered gun owners in rural areas taking up arms to defend themselves during a terrorist attack, I started to wonder what role a person with some knowledge in fieldcraft and tactics could realistically have during such an event.

Obviously, senior police officers were quick to step in and issue a strong warning to anyone thinking about arming themselves for self-protection during a terrorist attack and instead insisted the public should follow the official police advice of “Run, Hide, Tell”.

If it all did kick off in your area because of a Marauding Terrorist Firearms Attack (MTFA), kitting up and running around the streets with your AEG as if you are something out of a Tom Clancy video game is only going to end in one of two ways for you: 78

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a) Shot by the terrorists b) Shot by the police So let’s forget about the AEG in this attack scenario as it has little use but instead focus on the useful skills and attributes of an airsofter. By following the “Run, Hide, Tell” advice, we could actually stay safe whilst still helping other members of the public to escape, deal with casualties and to gather vital information about the attackers and relay it to the police.

As airsofters, we are probably slightly more aware of the terror threat and potential for a terrorist attack than your everyday Joe Bloggs. Over time, airsoft becomes more than just a hobby and starts to influence your thought processes and the knowledge of military equipment, tactics and weaponry gradually develops. Although simulated, some of the skirmish scenarios are extremely realistic and regular exposure to a

Survival SURVIVING A TERRORIST ATTACK

situation that requires a calm and level-headed approach with tactical application to prevent you and your team from being shot by an opponent, is going to equip you with some very important skills to help you stay safe during a terrorist attack.

Also, some of those skirmish events take place in disused buildings such as shopping centres – similar to the public places that terrorists could target.

However, there are some very big differences between airsoft and real life! The most obvious ones are that the terrorist will not be firing plastic bbs at you but instead high velocity rounds and any IED that is detonated will not contain airsoft safe pyrotechnics but deadly homemade explosives with added bolts and nails. The ballistic protection (or rather lack of it) that is provided by building features will soon become devastatingly obvious. The partition wall that would easily offer you protection against a hail of bbs will do nothing to stop real rounds.

Being over-confident in your ability can be dangerous and not taking your hits is not an option here. Trying to tackle a terrorist who is motivated by a twisted ideology and prepared to die for their belief is not the same as notching up a few knife kills at your local airsoft site. It really must have come down to the last resort in trying to preserve your own life before you consider tackling a terrorist, who I am certain will not go down without a serious fight.

After the recent terrorist attacks both within the UK and on the continent, I am pretty sure that a large number of airsoft enthusiasts would have thought long and hard about what they would do if ever they were ever caught up in an attack. Here is my take on it, based on the current UK police advice….

SITUATION AWARENESS

A terrorist attack will catch everybody off guard but even after one has started, some people still might not realise what is happening. Airsoft puts players into situations that simulate surprise – such as during an ambush. There is always going to be an element of fear and panic when an attack occurs but taking control and making an initial assessment of the threat will go a long way to keeping you safe. Any leadership skills

that you have developed through airsoft will be of great benefit now – especially when trying to help other very scared people to safety. What you could be witnessing might be horrific with the injuries inflicted on innocent people but try to stay focused and decide what is safest – to attempt an escape or stay and hide.

TACTICAL MOVEMENT

Although a real attack is a world away from the safety of a weekend skirmish, do not dismiss your knowledge of tactical movement. If an opportunity presents itself for you to safely escape from the area of an attack then take it. Blindly running around in a panic without any thought as to the direction that you head towards and how exposed you are, could make you an easy target for a gunman. Try to work out the direction from where the threat is coming from – and then run the other way using any local knowledge for choosing a suitable route.

This may seem an almost stupidly obvious thing to say but MTFA incidents are extremely fluid and the terrorists could spontaneously change their direction of attack, so you need to remain calm, stay alert and be prepared to change your plan

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Survival SURVIVING A TERRORIST ATTACK

as the situation develops. When moving, keep it fast and stay low. Move from cover to cover keeping the time that you are exposed in the open to an absolute minimum. When running across open ground, don’t run in a straight line but instead move in a zig zag pattern to present a harder target for the terrorist to try and shoot. Move very carefully past windows trying to stay as low as you can, ideally below the height of the window sill. You will find that any kind of tactical movement that you have learned through airsoft, such as the “leopard crawl” can be used in these circumstances.

the police. Any information will be useful but don’t put yourself at risk by trying to gather it.

When the armed police arrive, their job will be to deal with the immediate threat so don’t get in the way. If you are challenged by an armed police officer, remain calm and raise your hands so that they can see that you are unarmed. Follow their instructions and don’t make any sudden movements.

Just because airsoft is a hobby, it does not mean that the skills we use on the skirmish field are non-transferable across into real life situations. Sure, we are not going to be storming a terrorist held building but we do have enough skill and knowledge to get ourselves out from one alive.

There are two different types of cover – “from view” and “from fire”. It is important to remember that hiding behind a door may well give you cover from view but the door will offer you no protection against gun fire. Cover from fire is provided by features like block external walls, steel girders and earth embankments. How long a piece of cover holds up to direct gun fire depends on the material but a block or brick wall might only take one or two rounds before it starts to break down, so start to look for you next piece of cover to move behind as soon as possible. Also, bullets will travel straight through car panels so if your only option is to use a vehicle as cover then hide behind the engine block to give you more protection.

CONCEALMENT

If you can’t escape, you will need to hide from the attacker.

Turn off mobile phones and don’t talk. Observe the rules of concealment that are used on the skirmish field such as shape, shine, shadow, silhouette, noise and movement. Choose your hiding place well and always keep assessing possible routes of escape. Try to avoid areas where you could become cornered by the terrorist. If hiding inside a room, lock the door, barricade yourself in and turn off the lights. Stay away from the door and try to find hard cover to hide behind.

CALL FOR HELP

This is where your knowledge of kit and weapons will become useful. When it is safe to do so, dial 999 and ask for the police. Tell the operator as much information as possible such as the type of attack and the number of terrorists involved.

Try to give an accurate location of the attack and the direction that the terrorists are headed towards. Try to identify the types of weapon that are being used and give a description of clothing and any items of equipment that the terrorists are carrying – including possible suicide vests. Be alert for an IED threat and relay any concerns back to the police. Also give details on the number of casualties involved. Try to be as calm and clear as possible when passing across the information to

Image: West Midlands Police (UK) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

COVER

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ARMOURY DESERT EAGLE

WHERE EAGLES DARE THERE ARE PISTOLS AND THERE ARE PISTOLS …AND THEN THERE IS THE DESERT EAGLE, AN AWESOME WEAPON IN BOTH REAL STEEL AND AIRSOFT, AS FRENCHIE EXPLAINS.

IT IS UNFORTUNATE THAT as I sit to write this piece, news broke of an aspiring YouTuber who managed to shoot and kill her partner with one of these but it is a mark of the enduring popularity, the notoriety of this gun that it continues to find itself being featured in movies and games long after its introduction. Its history is a mixture of “America and Israel” although, in its conception and execution it is an “All American”. This month I am going to revisit one of my favourite pistols; the Desert Eagle.

The original pistol was designed by Bernard C. White of Magnum Research and Arnolds Streinbergs of Riga Arms Institute, who filed a patent for a gas-operated pistol. Just like gas-operated rifles, “the Eagle” taps gas from just before the muzzle and uses that to operate the action, rather than the locked blowback employed by most .45 or 9mm handguns.

The breech is locked by a four-lug rotating bolt (which looks very like the bolt in the M16 rifle) and the end result is a pistol that is capable of handling very large cartridges, certainly by handgun standards. The Desert Eagle of legend is chambered for the 0.50 Action Express (AE) round, which allowed a semiauto pistol to compete with large magnum revolvers. Quite why you would want to compete is open to question but that’s what they did.

Having designed the pistol, Magnum Research contracted manufacture to Israeli Military Industries (IMI) who revised the design and manufactured the gun.

The Desert Eagle is a behemoth, as any of you who have handled a real one will know. It weighs nearly 4½lbs (damned near 2 kg) and nothing about it is small. Despite the involvement of IMI (who later became Israeli Weapon Industries, IWI, before reverting to IMI) there is nothing military about this gun. It is far too large to be a practical sidearm and also I suspect far too expensive to issue, retailing at around

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ARMOURY DESERT EAGLE

$2,000 each. Ostensibly, it is a hunting sidearm and whilst there are those who do hunt with handguns, I cannot help but feel that the vast majority of owners have one just because it is so damned epic in pretty much every sense!

Any discussion of the Desert Eagle in airsoft starts and, to an extent, ends with the Tokyo Marui Desert Eagle Hard Kick version. There are other Eagles out there but for my money I cannot see why you would look further than Marui’s offering.

The Eagle was one of the pistols that marked the renaissance of Marui as a pistol manufacturer. Before this they made an odd assortment of wimpy blowbacks and fixed-slide models, really there was nothing to get excited about. They did do a Desert “OSTENSIBLY, IT IS A HUNTING SIDEARM AND WHILST THERE ARE Eagle but it had bizarre markings (Dezert THOSE WHO DO HUNT WITH HANDGUNS, I CANNOT HELP BUT FEEL anyone?) and its performance was a THAT THE VAST MAJORITY OF OWNERS HAVE ONE JUST BECAUSE IT million miles removed from the real thing.

Then came the Hard Kick. The “term hard” SO DAMNED EPIC IN PRETTY MUCH EVERY SENSE!” kick is accurate, at least in airsoft terms.

Even on 144a gas you are left in no doubt that you’ve pulled the trigger on this gun. That is due in large to be “snappy” with a quick slide cycle and a notably sharp part to the sheer mass of the slide reciprocating and with recoil impulse (such as it is). The Eagle is totally different. The green gas it gets even more fun. It is true that KWC make a length of the slide travel means that the recoil on these is much version of the eagle which is CO2 powered and the thing is longer, it’s a “ker-chunk” rather than a “bip”. You can stand fantastic but it is basically a copy of the Marui. there and watch the muscles on your forearm react to the force Like most Marui guns their Eagle is predominantly made of that action - please don’t get me wrong, this is nothing like from ABS plastic but underneath lurks a series of pressed the real thing but in our world of replica guns the Eagle does steel reinforcing plates which impart a great deal of strength a fine job of being as different to other handguns as the real to the design. This is one of the reasons that you can run thing is. these things on green gas all day long, especially here in the Marui make the Desert Eagle with the original six inch barrel relatively cool UK. I cannot think of anyone I know who has in both black and chrome. If you must have a chrome handgun owned one of these that didn’t use green gas and I cannot I cannot think of a better one to own, although I just cannot think of ever seeing one that has broken as a result. This get on with them, so it’s black for me. They also do a ten-inch robustness is obviously helped by the sheer size of the thing barreled version which is simply massive! Personally this is a - just like the real thing every component is oversized. This degree of huge too far, I can cope with the “normal” one but adds weight and bulk but really does make it tough. I’m not the long barrel almost takes it into the realm of long-arm. advocating hurling one of these against concrete or dropping As you would expect of any gun that has been around bricks on it but they can cope with most airsoft-related as long as this one has there are a load of trauma. And it is big. I don’t have particularly big hands, so upgrades available, from hop rubbers and this thing is a handful for me although ironically I find it quite tightbores to a full metal kit - which has the comfortable - probably more comfortable in the hand than distinction of being the only upgrade that a Glock - odd but there you go. It’s also reasonably heavy, completely defeated me! Given the inherent weighing in at just over a kilo. strength of this pistol it’s arguable whether it Controls are simple: push-button magazine release, slide really needs that additional solidity but if that release and slide-mounted safety. Despite its use of gas kind of thing floats your boat, you can do it. operation, the Eagle is a fundamentally simple gun, being Since it is exclusively a civilian sidearm the single action only and lacking modern refinements such Eagle really doesn’t fit into military loadouts as a de-cocker. Why you would want to carry a real one of at all well. If you are unbothered by complete these loaded and ready to go with just a trigger pull is utterly accuracy I see no reason that you couldn’t beyond me - and presumably beyond its designers… incorporate one of these into your kit, there As a useable airsoft gun, however, the Eagle as an awful are players I have known for whom two of lot to recommend it. Running green gas it will generate a these was their loadout - and yes - they were muzzle velocity around 300 fps consistently and is blessed both chrome. with an excellent rotary hop unit. It is therefore an easy gun The Eagle is a singularly effective and to set up with say 0.28g ammo and on a good day it will reliable airsoft pistol which may put some give average AEGs a run for their money in terms of range. players off because of its size and its lack of You can get holsters for them, if I recall correctly ASG market military history. I’m a big fan of John Moses a range which are surprisingly inexpensive but effective. You Browning and his 1911s but even I would will always be aware that you have this thing strapped to happily make space for one of these. Like your waist, if only because of your trouser’s tendency to head shotguns in airsoft, they may not be the most ground-wards. It’s no quick-draw queen either, it’s far too big effective option in terms of performance but but it is accurate and that, coupled with its weight, make for if you fancy something that makes you feel a pretty stable platform for aimed shots. The sheer visceral mega every time you get behind it, you need joy of shooting one of these is largely unrivalled in airsoft. one of these in your armoury.

If you compare this to a decent 1911 or Glock they tend Get one and release your inner Eagle! www.airsoft-action.online

IS

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Support your local airsoft company!

Buy Airsoft Action from any of these shops or sites - and get your copy before it goes on sale on the High Street!

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Tel: 07511554740 www.aberairsoft.co.uk

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Stoulton, WR7 4QW Tel: 07764 587410 www.airsoftskirmish.co.uk

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ALPHA ELITE GAMING

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AMBUSH ADVENTURES – CHOBHAM Chobham, Surrey, GU24 8SL Tel: 01252 315225 www.ambushadventures.co.uk

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BADLANDS AIRSOFT

Rowlands Castle, Hamps PO9 6DP Tel: 07534 465589 www.badlandsairsoft.co.uk

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Shafton, Barnsley, S72 8RE Tel: 07779 236166 www.barnsleypaintball.co.uk

BATTLETEC AIRSOFT

La Couture, Guernsey, GY1 2 Tel: 07781 104068 www.battletec.co.uk

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SITE DIRECTORY FIND SOMEWHERE TO BE THIS WEEKEND…

BLUESTREAK AIRSOFT

Westcott Venture Park, Westcott, Aylesbury, HP18 0XB Tel: 01296 658600 www.bluestreak-airsoft.co.uk

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Bolton Wood Quarry, Bolton Hall Road Bradford, West Yorkshire BD2 1BQ Tel: 07891 469492 www.cerberusairsoft.co.uk

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Off Badger Lane, Hipperholme, Halifax, West Yorkshire HX3 8PL Tel: 07891 469492 www.cerberusairsoft.co.uk

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Kelvedon Hatch, Essex, CM14 5 Tel: 01438 368177 www.thefightschool.demon.co.uk

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Houston, Renfrewshire, PA6 7BP Tel: 07853 195290 www.dow-airsoft.co.uk

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FIRST & ONLY: KHE SANH

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North Lincolnshire, DN21 www.humberairsoft.co.uk Tel: 07792 680297

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Penn Bottom, Bucks, HP10 Tel: 07907 788970 www.gassairsoft.co.uk

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Piddington, Oxfordshire, OX25 1 Tel: 07907 788970 www.gassairsoft.co.uk

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Bravo One Birmingham, 93–99 Holloway Head, B1 1QP Tel: 0121 643 2477 info@grangelivegaming.com www.grangelivegaming.com

FIRST & ONLY: THE ACADEMY

Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV32 6QF Tel: 0161 727 8863

FIRST & ONLY: THE ASYLUM Kidderminster, DY10 3PT Tel: 0161 727 8863

FIRST & ONLY: THE OUTPOST

GREENZONE COMBAT Co. Armagh, BT60 1NE Tel: 07772 919974 www.greenzonecombat.com

GUN HO AIRSOFT

Guisborough, TS7 0PG Tel: 07525 435696 www.gunhoairsoft.co.uk

Kidderminster, DY11 5SA Tel: 0161 727 8863

GUNMAN AIRSOFT – CAMBRIDGE

Bridgnorth, Shropshire, WV16 5LS Tel: 0161 727 8863

Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP28 Tel: 07854 277264 www.gunmanairsoft.co.uk

GROUND ZERO WOODLAND

GUNMAN AIRSOFT – MIDLANDS

FIRST & ONLY: SLEEPY HOLLOW

Ringwood, Hampshire, BH24 2DF www.groundzerowoodland.com

The Grange, Frogmore Grange, Balsall Common, Coventry CV7 7FP Tel: 01676 532 384 info@suspensionofdisbelief.co.uk www.giairsoft.co.uk/Skirmish-days

FREE FIRE ZONE

Farcet, Peterborough, PE7 3DH Tel: 01733 247171 www.freefirezone.co.uk

GUNMAN AIRSOFT– NORWICH Norwich, Norfolk, NR10 Tel: 07854 277264 www.gunmanairsoft.co.uk

FRV AIRSOFT

Annacloy, Downpatrick, BT30 8JJ Tel: 07730 586926 www.frvairsoft.com

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ISLAND RECON AIRSOFT COMBAT

Near Shorwell, Isle of Wight, PO30 Tel: 07964 751047 www.islandrecon.co.uk

LAND WARRIOR AIRSOFT Gorebridge, Midlothian, EH23 4LG Tel: 0131 654 2452 www.airsoftedinburgh.co.uk

LAC SITE 1

Gainsborough, North Lincs, DN21 4JH Tel: 07775 877057 www.lincolnshireairsoftclub.co.uk

LAC SITE 2

Gainsborough, North Lincs, DN21 4JH Tel: 07775 877057 www.lincolnshireairsoftclub.co.uk

LAC SITE 3

Saxillby, LN1 2JW Tel: 07775 877057 www.lincolnshireairsoftclub.co.uk

LAC SITE 5

HILTON PARK AIRSOFT Wolverhampton, WV10 7HU Tel: 08000 354490 www.paintballuk.com

Spanby, Lincs, NG34 0AT Tel: 07971 560249 facebook.com/HomelandTacticalAirsoft

MILITARY OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

Wrightington, WN6 9PL Tel: 01942 514724 www.militaryoutdooradventure.co.uk

MILSIM UK

Checkley, Staffordshire, ST10 4NS Tel: 07523 916607 www.milsimuk.co.uk

NCIS AIRSOFT

Edinburgh, EH14 4 nick@ncis-airsoft.co.uk www.ncis-airsoft.co.uk

NOMAD AIRSOFT

Fenwick, Ayrshire, KA3 6AY Tel: 07904 998250 www.nomadairsoft.com

NORTHERN ALLIANCE AIRSOFT

Thirsk, North Yorkshire, YO7 3LQ Tel: 01845 565465 www.northernallianceairsoft.co.uk

NORTHFLEET CQB

Northfleet, Kent, DA11 9AA Tel: 07968 448475 www.elitebattlezone.co.uk

LINDSEY AIRSOFT

NSC AIRSOFT

Manby, Lincolnshire, LN11 8HE Tel: 07955 487983 www.lindsey-airsoft.co.uk

Matlock, Derbyshire, DE4 5FW Tel: 07974 507166 www.matlockcombatgames.com

MAW HOMELAND TACTICAL AIRSOFT

Abbey Cwm-hir, Midwales, LD1 6PG Tel: 07497 480243 www.facebook.com/Midwales-airsoft

Kirton Rd, North Lincs, DN16 www.lincolnshireairsoftclub.co.uk

MATLOCK COMBAT GAMES

FULL METAL AIRSOFT

Cilyrychen Quarry, Llandybie, Ammanford, Camarthenshire, SA18 3JG Tel: 01269 850404 www.fullmetalairsoft.co.uk

Wilden Park Road, Staplehurst, Kent TN12 0HP Tel: 01622 831788 / 07876 263290 www.invictabattlefield.co.uk

Cornwall, EX23 9JL Tel: 01288 331748 www.airsoftsouthwest.co.uk

Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, LE14 Tel: 07793 404346 1midaw@gmail.com

Hetton, Sunderland, DH5 0 Tel: 07983 333521 www.nscairsoft.co.uk

NTAC

Durham, DL4 2ER Tel: 01642 281220 www.ntac.co.uk

OBAN AIRSOFT – ILL ARGYLL Argyll and Bute, PA37 1 Tel: 07967 710185 www.argyllsurplus.com

SITE DIRECTORY FIND SOMEWHERE TO BE THIS WEEKEND…

OP-TACTICAL UK – TEAN-OPS

RIFT AIRSOFT COM’S SITE 3

SUSSEX AIRSOFT

OVER THE TOP AIRSOFT CLUB

RIFT AIRSOFT (COTTENHAM)

S.W.A.T. AIRSOFT

Tean, Staffordshire, ST10 4JT Tel: 07964 990831 www.op-tac.co.uk

Anglesey, LL71 www.ottairsoft.co.uk Tel: 07731 744471

PATHFINDER GROUP AIRSOFT MILITARY SIMULATION Former RAF Camp Sopley/Merryfield Park, Hants, BH23 Tel: 02380 899369

PHOENIX AIRSOFT

Welbeck Airsoft, Academy, Budby Road, Notts NG20 9JX Tel: 07956 587213/01623 812483 www.phoenix-airsoft.co.uk

PLATOON 1HQ

Rochester, Kent, ME1 1 HQ Tel: 01634 829063 www.ptt-1hq.co.uk

PLAYERS OF WAR

High Bonnybridge, FK1 3AD Tel: 07767 203979 www.playersofwar.co.uk

PREDATOR COMBAT GAMES Ballynahinch, BT24 8NF Tel: 02897565651 / 07825169631 www.predatorcombat.com

RAVEN’S NEST

Suffolk, IP8 4 Tel: 01473 831563 www.ravensairsoft.co.uk

RAW WAR AIRSOFT CUMBRIA Wigton, Cumbria CA7 3SZ Tel: 01900 85645 www.airsoftcumbria.co.uk

RED1AIRSOFT

Chislehurst, Bromley BR7 6SD Tel: 07956 522691/01727846069 www.red1airsoft.co.uk

RED1AIRSOFT CQB

Red1 CQB. Kings Langley, WD4 8RN Tel: 07956 522691/01727846069 www.red1airsoft.co.uk

Chipping Warden, OX17 1LZ Tel: 07751 586781 www.riftairsoft.com

Cambridge, CB24 8RL Tel: 07751 586781 www.riftairsoft.com

SECTION 8 AIRSOFT

Shotts, North Lanarkshire, ML7 5AB Tel: 07974 026517 www.s8airsoft.com

SG1 COMBAT GAMES Co. Londonderry, BT45 8NA Tel: 07713 273102 www.sg1combatgames.co.uk

SKIRMISH AIRSOFT BILLERICAY

Billericay, Essex, CM11 2TX Tel: 01277 657777 www.airsoft-billericay.co.uk

SKIRMISH EXETER Exeter, Devon, EX4 5 Tel: 01548 580025 www.airsoftexeter.co.uk

SOUTHDOWN AIRSOFT

Petworth, West Sussex, GU28 0LR Tel: 07766 770830 www.southdownairsoft.com

SPEC OPS AIRSOFT – BLOXWORTH

Wareham, Dorset, BH20 7EU Tel: 07984 656947 www.specopsairsoft.co.uk

SPEC OPS AIRSOFT– THE ROCK Portland, Dorset, DT5 2EG Tel: 07984 656947 www.specopsairsoft.co.uk

STIRLING AIRSOFT

Slinfold, RH12 Tel: 020 8150 9284 www.sussexairsoft.co.uk

Boathouse lane, South Wirral, Cheshire, CH64 3TB www.swatairsoft.eu Tel: 07703 177756

TA EVENTS

Hemel Hemstead, Herts, HP2 7QB Tel: 07894 059794 www.ta-events.co.uk

TACTICAL WALES AIRSOFT Reynoldston, Swansea SA3 1AS Tel: 01792 473336 www.tacticalwales.co.uk

TACTICAL WARFARE AIRSOFT Warlingham, Surrey, CR6 9PL Tel: 020 8665 1299 www.tacticalwarfare.co.uk

TECH BRIGADE

Newgate Street, Hertfordshire.

SG13 8NH Tel: 07841 713356 www.techbrigade.org

TASK FORCE SKIRMISH Cowbridge, S Glamorgan, CF71 Tel: 02920 593900 www.taskforcepaintball.co.uk

Lundholm Road, Stevenston, Ayrshire, KA20 3LN www.thewargamescentre.com wargamescentre@gmail.com

THUNDER PARK AIRSOFT

Luxulyan, Bodmin, Cornwall, PL305FA Tel: 07751808055 www.thunderparkpaintball.co.uk Food & drinks available on site.

TORRENT WARFARE

Co Tyrone, BT71 4DY Tel: 07922 377131 Facebook: search ‘Torrent Warfare’

TROJAN AIRSOFT

Macclesfield, SK10 4SZ Tel: 07428 024874 www.trojan-airsoft.com

TROJAN AIRSOFT – OLYMPUS CQB

Weir Mill, Viaduct Street, Chestergate, Stockport, Cheshire, SK5 7JP Tel: 07428 024874 www.trojan-airsoft.com

UCAP AIRSOFT

Portsmouth, Hants, PO17 6AR Tel: 07590 818881 www.ucap.co.uk

UCAP GREEN OPS

Linch, West Sussex, GU30 7 Tel: 07590 818881 www.ucap.co.uk

THE BUNKER

Aberystwyth www.aberairsoft.co.uk Tel: 07841 462806

THE DEPOT

Glasgow, G45 9SB Tel: 0161 727 8863 www.thedepotglasgow.com

UCAP SANDPIT

Bean, Kent, DA2 8 Tel: 07590 818881 www.ucap.co.uk

ULTIMATE WARGAMES – FAWKHAM Fawkham, Kent, DA3 8NY Tel: 01268 796130 www.ultimatewargames.co.uk

THE DESERTERS AIRSOFT

Coventry, CV3 6NX Tel: 07831 429407 www.stirlingairsoft.com

Redford, DD11 Tel: 07751 878175 www.thedeserters.co.uk

STORMFORCE AIRSOFT

THE EX SITE

Rugeley, Staffordshire, WS15 4LD Tel: 07515 937633 www.stormforcepaintball.co.uk

THE WARGAMES CENTRE

Mold, CH7 4 Tel:07840 001975 www.theexsitewales.co.uk

ULTIMATE WARGAMES – LIMPSFIELD Oxted, Surrey, RH8 0RH www.ultimatewargames.co.uk

URBAN6AIRSOFT – ZONE 13 Stone, Staffordshire ST15 0QN Tel: 07432 291729 www.urban6airsoft.com

www.airsoft-action.online

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URBAN6AIRSOFT– THE BLOCK Wood Street, Burton-Upon-Trent, Staffordshire, DE14 3AB www.urban6airsoft.com

URBAN ASSAULT

Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, PE26 1 Tel: 01733 247171 www.urbanassault.org.uk

VIKING AIRSOFT

Welwyn, Hertfordshire, AL6 0UN www.vikingairsoft.co.uk

WARMINSTER AIRSOFT Warminster, BA12 7RZ www.warminsterairsoft.co.uk

PRACTICAL PISTOL DIRECTORY AIPSC

The Grange, Frog Lane, Balsall Common, West Midlands, CV7 7FP Tel: 01676 532384 www.aipsc.co.uk Facebook: A.I.P.S.C info@suspensionofdisbelief.co.uk.

Every Monday night 7pm– 9pm (except bank holidays). £5 or £10 with pistol and shooting rig hire. UKPSA-qualified coaches. UKPSA-qualified Range Officers.

COBRA ONE ZERO AIRSOFT Unit 9 Imperial Buisness Centre Mortimer Road, Hereford, HR4 9SP www.cobraonezero.co.uk Facebook: cobra one zero Airsoft

WATFORD PRACTICAL PISTOL CLUB WatfordPPC@gmail.com

DOUBLE TAP PSC XSITE AIRSOFT OUTPOST Dunstable, LU6 2EE Tel: 01494 881430 www.xsiteairsoft.co.uk

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StrikeForce CQB, Morelands Trading Estate, Bristol Road, Gloucester GL1 5RZ Facebook: www.facebook.com/ Double-Tap-Practical-Shooting-Club979585958732937/?ref=hl doubletappsc@gmail.com

EBSC

MOD-approved gun club PP, IDPA, IPAS, IPSC, 3GUN UKPSA Coaches UKPSA-qualified Range Officers Equipment hire available www.ebsc.co.uk ebpracticalpistol@gmail.com 07752 713 970

HALO MILL

The Penthouse, Colne Valley Business Park, Manchester Road, Linthwaite, Huddersfield HD7 5QG Tel: 01484 840554 www.halomill.com

NORTHERN PRACTICAL PISTOL CLUB (NPPC)

Tanner Street, Burnley, Lancashire BB11 1NA Tel: 07816 992417 www.northernpracticalpistol.co.uk 4 indoor ranges

XSITE PRACTICAL SHOOTING

Fryers Farm Lane, High Wycombe, Bucks HP14 3NP Tel: 01494 881430

SOUTH WEST PRACTICAL SHOOTERS (SWPS)

Action Air IPSC Club Based at The Tunnel Target Sports Centre near Charmouth The Tunnel, Axminster Road, Charmouth, Dorset DT6 6BY Contact: SWPSClub@Outlook.com

WETHERSFIELD AIRSOFT TARGET SHOOTING CLUB (WAT SIC)

Wethersfield Village Hall, Braintree Rd (B1053), Wethersfield, Braintree CM7 4EB. https://www.facebook.com/WATSiC/ Open Thursday & Friday evenings.

Set-up from 6:30pm.

Club shooting commences by 7:30pm.

Pack-up starts at 9:30pm if you can stay to help.

Contact via FB or 07939557029.

Indoors.

Club offers Action Air plus 2 & 3 Gun training and events.

All these products are hyperlinked, simply tap any image for more information.

All these products are hyperlinked, simply tap any image for more information.