I want to begin this guide by thanking the airsoft community for its support over the years. I’ve been doing this for quite a while, and over the past few years, I’ve been trying to do my part to help our sport grow and flourish. Everyone has been very supportive, and have helped me become fairly well-known. This guide is dedicated to airsoft snipers everywhere. Thanks for your support and camaraderie.







Snipers have lately become very popular, with the role having been glorified in many movies and games. It is one of the most popular starting roles for beginning airsofters. I'd venture to say that more than half of all airsofters wanted to be a sniper at some point, and almost everyone has bought (or considered buying) a bolt-action rifle at some point. That being said, there are not that many people who really stick with the role. In this guide, I will explore the role, the equipment, and the mystique of the sniper. So, let's assume that you still want to be a sniper, recognizing that most airsofters do not stick with the role. We should first clarify the role, so you know what you're getting yourself into.



The definition of a sniper has been the subject of much debate (and very little consensus), so I'm going to attempt to give you the broadest definition of a sniper that still captures that entirety of the role. So, what is a sniper?

A sniper is an elite soldier who delivers precise, aimed fired upon specific targets, and is also a master of camouflage and stealth, utilized for intelligence gathering, recon, and assassination or destruction of strategic or tactical targets.

A sniper differs from a marksman, commonly called a DM (designated marksman) in airsoft, in two fundamental ways. First, a DM is capable of playing a standard rifleman/assault role, while a sniper typically uses equipment that prevents them from being efficient in the close quarters combat common in airsoft. Second, a sniper must be capable of delivering precise aimed long range fire, and a DM, in the interests of safety (and rules of ballistics), cannot function in this capacity. I'll discuss the role in more detail later, but for now, I want to leave the definition as it stands.

A sniper is not restricted to any single type of role or tactic, contrary to popular belief. If you want to be an effective sniper, you should start by recognizing that you must be able to adapt your role and tactics to whatever situation you might encounter. This, then, is the first rule of sniping: "Be Adaptive." I like to remember it as the BA rule (bolt-action, anyone?). Of course, we should also remind ourselves of the history of sniping, as that's how sniper doctrine gets developed.



The term “sniper” derives from a bird called the snipe. The snipe was a very elusive bird that was hard to hunt. Bagging one required very precise shooting and stealthy movement, and the British hunters in India that hunted the bird became experts in a number of the skills that are now commonly considered sniper skills. Sniper, then, literally means “hunter of the snipe.” The role itself has been around for as long as projectile weapons have existed. Archers sniped enemy leaders in medieval battles, and snipers were used in many wars, including the American Revolutionary War. In fact, a British sniper had the chance to shoot an American officer, but chose not to because he did not want to shoot the man in the back. As it turned out, the officer was General George Washington, and that sniper's bullet, had it been fired, could have radically changed the course of history.

Snipers were also extensively used during WWII, with Finnish, Polish, and Russian snipers racking up the highest kills in history (sorry Carlos, you're at least 400 short of the "record," not that you'd care). A pair of these snipers (Major Koenig and Vassily Zaitsev) have been immortalized in the excellent movie, Enemy At The Gates.

Despite this long and glorious history, snipers were still not recognized or appreciated until midway through the Vietnam War, and most commanders had no idea how to use a sniper effectively. The first sniper school was started by then-Captain Land and the legendary Carlos Hathcock, who wrote the book on sniper doctrine and stealth techniques. Hathcock is America's most famous sniper (although, contrary to common belief, he is not the leader in kills for America or even for America during the Vietnam War). Hathcock's exploits are truly heroic, ranging from eliminating an enemy platoon with only his spotter as support, to crawling for days across a field to eliminate an enemy general deep in hostile territory. You can read about Hathcock in the book Marine Sniper.

Sniper doctrine remained unchanged until Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom, when Gunnery Sergeant Jack Coughlin pioneered the Mobile Sniper Strike Team (MSST) concept, which uses snipers as fast-moving strike elements, capable of breaking a defense or stalling an advance by rapidly moving around the battlefield and eliminating leadership and logistic elements. You can read about Coughlin in the book Shooter. Both of these styles are useful, with Hathcock's style being more suited to jungle and woodland combat, and MSST being suited for the fast-moving urban combat common in modern war. An airsoft sniper should be capable of acting in either capacity.

(Thanks to mhiagb hiruio--that was hard to spell--for the help with the history).

Some interesting books to read include:

Marine Sniper
Shooter
Crosshairs on the Kill Zone
Point of Impact
Black Light
Time To Hunt



As ought to be obvious, airsoft sniping is fundamentally different from real sniping. One of the key differences, of course, is in the ranges involved. A real steel sniper rifle can fire out past 1000 yards. An airsoft sniper rifle, in contrast, is lucky to hit out to 350 feet. Enemy assaulters can close that distance and get within firing range within a matter of seconds. This range is determined almost entirely by the ballistic properties of the ammunition. Even the most heavily upgraded rifle, using the heaviest ammunition, cannot hit reliably past 300-350 feet, or 450 feet max, due to the poor terminal ballistic properties of the light sphere.

The other key difference lies in scope and time frame. Airsoft is a fast moving game with virtually no strategic element, and conflicts typically last for a matter of hours, rather than days or months. Airsoft snipers do not typically have access to air support or artillery, and skirmishes take place on relatively small areas without non-combatants (with some exceptions). In many ways, airsoft sniping is a completely different animal. But let's set that aside, and return to getting started. If you want to be an airsoft sniper, you're going to need some equipment.









I have compiled an extensive list of rifles that are available, and will add to this list as more rifles get released. Without further ado, the rifle guide!

Table of Contents
--------------------------------------
Why not an AEG?
Spring section
Budget rifles
Super 9
UTG M324/DE M50
Well Warrior 1/UTG Mk96/BE L96
HFC USR-11 M700
AGM MP001 M700
Kart M40
JG BAR-10 M700
WELL MB-02 M700
AGM MP002 L96
WELL MB03 M700
High-end section
TM VSR-10 series
Maruzen APS-2 series
CA M24 SOCOM
SVD Dragunov
Specialty/Rare rifles
M82A1
WA2000
Gas section
HFC USR-11 GV
KJW M700 Series
Tanaka M700 Series
Tanaka L96
WELL G-22
G&G L96
--------------------------

I'll begin by giving the most comprehensive accounting of the various sniper rifle options out there, and compare their pros and cons. Comparisons will be grouped by price range--budget versus high-end, and by power--spring versus gas. I will briefly discuss why I think that sniper rifles should not be electric, and why I think that the proper domain of AEG's is as DMR's, not as SWS's.

Why not an AEG?

This topic is rather controversial, since the option of full-auto certainly seems attractive for a sniper in trouble. But I will always come down on the side of a bolt-action rifle for a number of different reasons.

1. Realism. In real steel, nothing can beat the inherent accuracy of a bolt-action rifle. While in airsoft, AEG's can come close, a bolt-action is still slightly more consistent and accurate, and if you're interested in realism, most sniper rifles ARE bolt-action.

2. Stealth. An AEG is a lot harder to silence, since you have to deal with the characteristic gearbox whining noise, as well as the muzzle noise. Stealth is very important to a sniper, so I prefer to stick with a quieter bolt-action rifle, with less mechanical parts to make noise.

3. Simplicity. A spring-powered bolt-action is much simpler, and easier to fix in the field when something goes wrong. This circumstance isn't very likely, but it's a much simpler gun, which also means there's less that CAN go wrong.

4. The Skill Factor. If you have the capacity for full-auto or rapid semi-auto, you'll be inclined to use it. That means you won't conserve ammunition, and you're more likely to get yourself into situations that require you to fend off large numbers of enemies with full-auto. Basically, those snipers that I've seen using AEG's tend to get themselves into trouble a lot more often. If you have limited ammunition, and low ROF, you're required to be a lot more cautious, and to rely on your skill, fieldcraft, and tactics, rather than your gun. And that, I think, is as it should be.

There are plenty more reasons supporting either side of the debate. But I come down on the side of bolt-action rifles, so I will not include an AEG section in this guide. If you must get one, at least get one that's supposed to be a rifle (e.g. Hurricane kit M82A1, TM PSG-1, SVD if you can build one properly, M21 (M14 based), or SR-25).

Spring Section:

Spring powered bolt-action rifles are my weapon of choice for sniping. They are always reliable, regardless of the temperature (unlike gas rifles), and are simple and easy to fix or upgrade. Although spring rifles require more upper body strength to cock, they're the most popular type of rifle for a sniper, who relies on fieldcraft, skill, and tactics, rather than ROF and sheer numbers. There are several excellent options available for those wanting a spring sniper rifle (along with some not-so-excellent options).

Budget Rifles

There are several options out there for affordable spring sniper rifles. I will provide a brief mini-review on each rifle, and then compare them at the end, with my recommendations, depending on what you're looking for.

1. The Super 9/Tac 9, in all of its incarnations.



The Super 9 is probably the first rifle that beginner players encounter, since it's cheap, readily available on lower end retail sites and on eBay, which is virtually useless for getting airsoft guns, aside from a few select sellers like evike and ehobbyasia. The Super 9 is supposed to be one of the most powerful stock spring sniper rifles in the budget category, typically listed as shooting over 450 fps. Something to note--those fps measurements are with .12g bb's, which no experienced airsofter uses except in mines and grenades.

The Super 9 also has some interesting features. It doesn't have the usual type of magazine, but rather a stick magazine which holds something like 25 rounds, and a rotary magazine, which holds a small number of shells (6, I think), in which you insert the bb's. This feature is very cool if you like realism, since it will eject an empty shell when you cycle the action. The Super 9 also comes with a bunch of extras, such as iron sights, scope mount, scope, bipod, and sling. However, I do not recommend the Super 9 for anything, even backyard wars, for a number of different reasons.

The Super 9 and the other UHC sniper rifle series are universally known by the moniker "Craptastic 9," or some variation thereof, due to their relatively horrible performance. It is completely unreliable past 80 feet, which means even a low-end MPEG can outrange it in terms of effective distance (some people have had better experiences, but on average, they have a minimal effective range), and are virtually unupgradeable. That means no tightbore without heavy modification, no cylinder upgrades, no hopup upgrades, nothing.

The magazine system is also irritating, because the stick magazine is unrealistic and harder to load than other sniper rifle magazines, and the shells are easy to lose. More, the gun is very toy-like. The build quality is okay, but not great--mostly middle quality plastic, which doesn't have the greatest feel, and the bolt is designed poorly, so the bolt-pull is much stiffer than it should be.

All in all, the Super 9 in its various incarnations is suitable only for backyard skirmishes, and even then, there are better guns to get.

http://springer.airsoftretreat.com/articles/super9.htm
http://springer.airsoftretreat.com/reviews/super-9.htm

I should add that the Super X-9 is significantly better than the Super 9 or Super 9 Pro, and is capable of reasonably good performance (unlike the others, it is accurate past 100 feet, and can take upgrades, like spring and spring guide, and tightbore). However, even upgraded, it's still not capable of the longer range shots that most of the other rifles can make, especially because the hopup is so poor, and it is still very poorly constructed. While it can be a fairly decent rifle (unlike the others, which were basically trash) with enough work, it's still not much good in a larger skirmish. Thanks to Tippman2000 for reminding me that they actually did it almost right on their most recent version.

2. The UTG M324 Master Sniper/ DE M50.

<a href="http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4971022" target="_blank"><img src="http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/7023232677.jpg" alt="Click to enlarge."></a>

The M324 is commonly called a VSR-10 clone, although it is actually more similar to an APS-2. However, it isn't actually a clone of either, having it's own internals. The M324 shoots about 350 fps stock with .2g bb's, and has a number of nice features.

The M324 comes in 3 colors--black, olive drab, and desert tan. The stock is nice and textured, with very little flex, although the look is somewhat spoiled by the various screw holes. The barrel and receiver are held into the stock by three screws of different sizes. Many people that break their guns do so by screwing the wrong screw into the wrong hole. The gun is not upgradeable with high-end aftermarket parts, but there are custom cylinders that allow power upgrades, various performance enhancing modifications, and a dbcustom 6.01mm tightbore available. Also in the plus column is the cheap and easy Leapers (UTG) customer service, which makes it very easy to replace broken parts of all kinds.

The M324 comes with scope mount, bipod, sling, extra magazine, and front accessory rail, which are all very nice touches. The sling is a very nice nylon sling, and is one of the better knockoff slings. In addition, the gun has a silent cylinder--it's about 80% quieter than most other spring sniper rifles, and with the addition of a foam-filled suppressor, is virtually silent. This feature is, for me, the biggest draw of the M324 aside from the Leapers customer service, since it allows for much more efficiency while sniping.

It does have some problems in stock form. First, the compression of the stock cylinder is very poor (although much better on the v.3's, which shoot about 400 fps stock), and requires a teflon tape modification to achieve its full potential. The cylinder is sealed, and cannot take upgrades, and the stock inner barrel is both aluminum (and hence lower quality than the brass barrels that come with most other guns), and enormous--a gaping 6.14 mm. This means that the M324 is not great in stock form. It is still capable of decent performance out to 100 feet, but is not effective past that. However, once upgraded with dbcustom tightbore and the teflon modification, it will shoot about 450 fps (perhaps closer to 470 fps with the v.3's), and will be effective out to about 180 feet.

Overall, this gun is great for backyard wars (probably the best budget sniper rifle for that purpose, due to the silent bolt), and is capable of competing with stock AEG's in the sniper role, or middle-range sniper rifles. Although it lacks the range of an upgraded high-end or some of the other more powerful budget rifles, the silent bolt, coupled with a suppressor, means that you can take shots from much closer in without giving away your position. In my opinion, that feature makes the M324 a force not easily dismissed, and all in all, an effective and affordable spring sniper rifle.

http://www.airsoftretreat.com/reviews/show...=104&cat=39
http://echo1og.american-forum.net/Site-Dis...TG-M324-t11.htm

3. The UTG Mk. 96/WELL Warrior 1 L96A1/BE L96A1.

<a href="http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4971021" target="_blank"><img src="http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/7023232577.jpg" alt="Click to enlarge."></a>

These guns are all actually different guns, but I'm grouping them together due to their similar price, and the fact that their internals are essentially the same, with a few differences that I will cover here.

These clone L96A1 guns are the most powerful stock spring sniper rifles on the market, with the exception of the various SVD models. They shoot about 460 fps with .2's stock, and are also upgradeable (or downgradeable), since the cylinder can be opened. The various models differ in terms of build quality and extras. The UTG Mk96 comes with a bunch of extras, like all UTG guns, such as bipod, scope mount, sling, extra magazine, etcetera. The BE L96 has almost entirely plastic construction, including inner body construction, while the WELL Warrior 1 has metal construction for many of the parts, meaning it is more durable.

The major thing that should be mentioned about this gun is that the trigger box is made out of plastic (true for both the BE and the UTG/WELL). IMO, that was a very stupid thing to couple with a 500 fps spring, but these guns are probably not terribly reliable in stock form. Fortunately, the spring is very easy to cock, with a bolt-pull light enough that some have called the spring magical. That's a good sign that the construction is pretty solid. The gun performs reasonably well in stock form, with an effective range of about 150 feet, but the high fps exacerbates inaccuracy problems at longer range.

Fortunately, this gun is upgradeable. I do not suggest leaving this gun in stock form, but rather to replace the stock trigger with an APS-2 trigger assembly or an APS-2 L96 zero trigger assembly. The hopup and inner barrel should also be replaced, and eventually you may want to replace parts in the cylinder as well. Since the gun is fully upgradeable with aftermarket parts, it's a great platform for building a fully upgraded sniper rifle, but probably shouldn't be left in stock form. I would suggest this rifle as an option for those wanting an upgraded sniper rifle, capable of competing with the best rifles, but would probably not rely on it in its stock form. The UTG and WELL versions are also probably better deals, as they have stronger internals than the BE version.

4. The USR-11.

<a href="http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4971023" target="_blank"><img src="http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/7023232647.jpg" alt="Click to enlarge."></a>

The USR-11 is a fairly venerable VSR-10 clone. And that's right, it is a full clone of the VSR-10, compatible with all of the aftermarket parts. It's got a solid build, and is quite durable, although not as durable as an actual VSR-10. The cylinder can be opened and upgraded by drilling out some pins, and that will increase the FPS from a fairly low stock fps to a more respectable 350+ fps. It can be upgraded with teflon mod and tightbore to approach 430 fps with .2's, without any internal upgrades.

Basically, the USR-11 is the option for those who want an upgraded VSR-10, but don't want to pay as much for the starting platform. It can take all the aftermarket upgrades, comes with iron sights, but no scope mount, and also has a gas cylinder available, although there is very little information on the gas version. All in all, the USR-11 is always a good choice if you want to upgrade, but not the best choice if you want a competitive rifle in stock form.

Helpful thread: http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/index.php?topic=12470.0

5. The AGM MP001 Sharp Shooter (sometimes called the JG MP001).

<a href="http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4971028" target="_blank"><img src="http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/3/7023242260.jpg" alt="Click to enlarge."></a>

The MP001 is one of the most recent clone rifles out of China. Visually identical to the VSR-10, it is nevertheless not a true clone, and is not upgradeable with most VSR aftermarket parts. It takes VSR-10 trigger parts, and has an APS2 compatible cylinder. The only barrel upgrades it can take are dbcustom, EdGI, or madbull tightbores. However, it makes up for the lack of standard upgradeability with truly superb performance with a small amount of easy modification, and its ability to take a number of replacement parts from other guns with slight modification.

The MP001 comes in three colors--faux wood, olive drab, and matte black. The stock is well-made, and has some of the best fake wood available, which was a surprise. Almost all of the rest of the gun is metal. It shoots 400 fps stock, but with teflon mod, tightbore, and a few other performance-enhancing modifications, can get up to 470 fps on average, and 491 fps if you do a really good job.

Stock performance is very good, but not spectacular, with a 170-190 foot effective range, but post modification, this gun is easily capable of 250+ foot shots, which makes it competitive with all but the very best rifles. It does have a very wide inner barrel, at least 6.1mm, but it is made out of brass, and is surprisingly accurate. It is also the cheapest rifle on the market, so if you're willing to take a little time learning about the internals of your gun and working on it (you'll have to spend no more than 5 dollars on upgrade parts), you'll have a very competitive rifle. There is a ton of information available on this rifle on ASR (I'll get links up in a while), and I know this gun inside and out, so if anything goes wrong, I can almost always give you a quick and easy fix. All in all, I recommend this rifle for almost any type of player--beginner or expert, backyard war or full skirmish.

One important note: I recommend you get the wood version. The people that have purchased the black pre-assembled version (usually from www.airsoftgi.com), have reported having performance issues. If you want a gun that's more likely to work, stick to the wood versions.

http://www.airsoftretreat.com/reviews/show...=114&cat=77

6. Kart M40.



There is very little information available so far on this gun, so I will update as I learn more. Internals seem to be loosely based on the VSR-10, but not an actual clone. It doesn't have magazine compatibility, and finish is rather poor. It is probably not upgradeable, but may still be comparable in performance to the MP001 with modifications.

http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/index.php?topic=29767.0

7. JG BAR-10.



The Jing Gong (Golden Bow) BAR-10 is the latest bolt-action sniper rifle (BASR) out of China. It is a full VSR-10 clone, and is definitely the all-around best budget rifle available. The cylinder is openable, and does not require pins to be drilled out, and it has the best finish of any of the budget rifles. The stock is durable ABS plastic with a rubbery finish that's absurdly comfortable to hold, it's a bit heavier than the MP001 or USR-11, and is well balanced. It also has a slightly different bolt-handle that's a bit more comfortable and sturdy-feeling than the VSR-10 handle, and (aside from the safety switch) is made from strong, durable materials. The only issue is that the magazine release is liable to pop out when you remove the barrel assembly from the stock, so you should put some tape over the release button before you take it out to prevent it from popping out. Be sure not to lose the spring.

Stock performance is superb, matched only by the AtoZ and KA SVD's and the UTG L96A1, all of which have 450+ fps stock springs and tightbore barrels. This gun shoots about 390 fps stock, but with 5 minutes of work and a little electrical tape, it can be modified to shoot over 500 fps stock (shorten the airbrake and electrical tape the cylinder head nozzle). With it's superior performance and the fact that it has better finish than any other budget rifle (and comparable finish to high-end rifles), this gun is clearly the best budget spring sniper rifle you can buy. It comes in two forms, the non-scoped version with iron sights, and the scoped version, with a scope mount and JG scope (some reports indicate a Tasco, others suggest it's a JG scope that isn't great. Pricing runs in between 90 and 160 shipped. It is also a JG gun, so QC is likely to be very good.

http://groups.google.com/group/asgar/web/s...s--new-releases

8. MB02



The second sniper rifle by WELL is a GSPEC look-alike. The trigger mech is compatible (although not adjustable, most likely), and the cylinder is sealed on early versions, but screws off on later versions. The cylinder and hopup are also VSR-10 compatible. The finish is fairly good, and the fake wood looks very good. They are advertised as chronoing at 400 fps. Magazine feeding is reported to be shaky, but decent, and accuracy and power are fairly good. Pricing is close to the MP001, making this another reasonably good budget alternative, although it's probably not the best choice for a serious sniper. The internals are compatible with the VSR, and it fits the GSPEC silencer as well. This gun is a good budget option for an upgrade platform, although the quality of the metal and finish isn't great. If you want to upgrade, you should replace just about everything.

9. AGM MP002 L96.



The AGM L96 is AGM's second foray into the spring sniper rifle market. It's basically the MP001 with a longer cylinder in an L96 AW stock, much like the AICS. It's very cheap, costing typically 80-100 dollars, and chronos in at around 440 fps with .2g bb's. The trigger mech is a VSR-10 clone, and fits VSR-10 aftermarket sears. The cylinder is an APS-2 Type 96 clone, and is longer than the MP001 cylinder. The hopup and barrel are identical to the MP001 In other words, the hopup isn't upgradeable, and it only fits dbcustom, EdGI, or modified Madbull barrels. Stock accuracy isn't very good, as it has a wide inner barrel. The finish is pretty good, but not as good as the WELL MB01. Heft is very good, as it has weights glued into the stock. The major advantage to this rifle is that it's cheap, has very good stock power for a very light bolt-pull, and is a solid gun if you install a tightbore. The U-hop is a major drawback, as is the APS-10/96 style upgradeability (VSR-10 trigger/APS96 cylinder). It's a good budget rifle, and would make a good starter sniper rifle, but I would recommend the WELL over this gun for budget owners seeking a more competitive gun. However, it can be easily modded by cutting down the middle of the U-hop arm to make a v-hop, and that effectively doubles it's range, making it a very effective rifle.

http://groups.google.com/group/asgar/web/s...s--new-releases

10. WELL MB03.



This rifle is also a VSR-10 clone, and has excellent performance. Build quality is not as good as with the BAR-10, but the magazine catch is much better designed, and the barrel is much longer (455mm). The receiver is a bit smaller than on the BAR-10, so you'll have to do a bit of mod work to get some upgrade parts to fit. It's pretty much the same as the MB02, but with a longer barrel.

Booligan and I have both reviewed this gun. Links will be posted eventually.

This concludes the budget spring sniper rifle section.

This post has been edited by The Crimson Falcon: Apr 8 2008, 10:03 AM

If you want upgradeability, reliability, and a great upgrading platform for building the ultimate SWS, chances are that you will go with a high-end rifle. There are a number of excellent choices available. I haven't gone too much in depth on these guns because there is a ton of information available, and each of these guns is a good choice. You can't go wrong, no matter what you pick, so it really comes down to preference in looks and feel. Here are some of the more popular guns. Review links from the "Looking for a Sniper Rifle Review" sticky on ASR.

1. Tokyo Marui VSR-10 line.



The VSR-10 includes three different models: The Pro-Sniper--the first variation, which may be distinguished externally by its iron sights and longer barrel than the GSPEC, and lack of weights like the Real Shock; the Real-Shock, which is essentially like the Pro-Sniper except with weights to provide more authentic recoil (and the model that the USR-11 is based off of); and the GSPEC, the most recent and updated model, which has a shorter barrel, no iron sights, but comes with scope mount and silencer. At any rate, they all take the same upgrade parts, so I'll group them together here.

The VSR-10 is one of the most popular rifles for building an upgraded SWS. It is based loosely off of the Remington M700, but doesn't actually completely resemble any real steel rifle. The VSR-10 shoots 275 fps with .2's stock, so in today's day and age, it really must be upgraded for most play in the US. There are a multitude of places to buy upgrade parts from, and they are all usually readily available. Build construction is very good, although the VSR-10 tends to be a bit lighter than other high-end models (the GSPEC weighs about 2kg), which gives it a bit of a toylike feel. Price range runs around 160-200 USD, with GSPEC's usually being more expensive.

The major draws to the VSR-10 series are their reliability, the ready availability of aftermarket parts, the hopup (which is one of the best on the market), and, in the case of the GSPEC, the functional suppressor, which makes the GSPEC one of the quietest rifles on the market. The VSR-10 also tends to be the cheapest alternative for a high-end rifle, which has made it also one of the most popular. All in all, the upgraded VSR-10 is a formidable airsoft SWS, and is always a good choice.

PS:
http://snowman.ascuk.net/vsr10.htm
http://64.124.25.51/vsr10.htm

GSPEC:
http://www.airsoftcommunity.co.uk/forums/I...25705&st=20
http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/topic...?TOPIC_ID=47852

2. The Maruzen APS-2.



The APS-2 has 5 versions--the Original Version, Sniper Version, EX, Type 96, and the rarer MkII Sporter version. Again, the internals are essentially the same, although the L96 has it's own upgrade parts. These guns are heavier than the VSR-10 series, usually around 2.9kg, and shoot about 285 fps stock. Price range runs about 240-350, with the OV and SV being the cheapest, and the EX being the most expensive (aside from maybe the Sporter.

The APS-2 is one of the most popular rifles to fully trick out, and is usually the base for custom retail rifles. It is very reliable, has very solid build, and also has a multitude of aftermarket parts available--probably more than any other rifle. Although it typically is more expensive than the VSR-10 series, it's also one of the best options available for an upgradeable sniper rifle. If you're thinking about getting one of these, go for it. You won't be disappointed.

SV:
http://www.airsoftcore.com/reviews-54.html
http://www.airsoftplayers.com/aps2/aps2_1.asp
http://www.floridaairsoft.com/reviews/aps2sv/
L96A1:
http://www.airsoftcommunity.co.uk/forums/index.php?
showtopic=19093&pid=243245&st=0#entry243245 - post #3
http://www.floridaairsoft.com/reviews/type96/
Mk2 Sporter:
www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/reviewpost/showproduct.php/product/80

3. The Classic Army M24 SOCOM.



The CA M24 is also a very popular rifle, although they aren't as common as the previous two rifles. It is based off of the M24 SWS, and is finished VERY well. It's one of the most solidly built rifles, weighing in at 3.6kg, and shoots 280 fps stock. There are two versions, the military, which has a fluted barrel, and the civilian, which doesn't. It comes with swing swivel mounts and integrated scope mounts, and of course the signature adjustable stock. The CA M24 also is a fairly pricy rifle, usually costing around 300 USD.

I do want to mention that the CA M24 has a reputation for being a bit finicky, mostly because the hopup requires a good amount of adjustment to work properly, and because the hopup also is easy to knock, so that you have to keep adjusting it. You can solve this problem primarily by replacing the adjustment pin, which is the smallest piece in the gun, with a small piece of wire, and by also replacing the pin. You can also dial it in to a specific range, and then use some clear nail polish to keep the hopup fixed.

It also has a very stiff trigger pull when you put in high-power upgrades, so you'll definitely want a zero trigger system to cut down on the stiffness of the trigger pull. However, you can also sand and lube the sears, and that does a lot to cut down on the heavy weight trigger pull.

There are still a good amount of upgrade parts available for the CA M24, although it is harder to find upgrade parts than it is for the previously mentioned rifles. This rifle is a great project gun, because it does take some work, but once you get it up and running, it's easily one of the best SWS platforms, and is one of the best feeling and looking rifles on the market, IMO. If you want realism, the CA M24 doesn't feel like a toy at all--it's a great replica of a great rifle.

http://www.airsoftretreat.com/m24.asp
http://www.planetairsoft.net/review-m24.htm

4. The SVD Dragunov (Atoz/KA/KM)



For those of you looking for Soviet weaponry, look no farther. The legendary SVD has been reproduced in full metal/wood, with excellent out-of-the-box performance. The KA usually has faux wood instead of real wood, although some models do come in full wood (although that may have been because of owner modification). The internals are great, with solid full-metal goodness. The SVD is the most powerful stock rifle on the market, shooting almost 500 fps stock, and also has the enviable addition of a stock tightbore, which means NO upgradeability necessary. It is listed as taking AEG upgrade springs, which do fit, but don't really give power upgrades, unless you use a spacer, since the AEG springs are too short. Shortyusa does apparently have an upgrade spring available, however.

It does, however, weigh less than the M24, weighing in at only 2.7kg. Another problem is that the gun is HUGE, with 590mm inner barrel, and is just beastly long. This means that it's not really terribly useable in skirmishes because it's a real pain to camouflage. In my experience, it sticks out like a sore thumb. Still, I can't fault its performance. The hopup is excellent, and it shoots very well. Also, it's one of the best sounding rifles on the market, with a really intimidating metallic Ka-CHUNK noise when you cock it. It's a good buy, but not the most skirmishable gun. It does cost around 500 dollars, with the cheapest one being at www.gunnerairsoft.com (about 420 shipped), but it's one of very few options available if you want an SVD. The TM and JG SVD conversions look terrible, the G&P is hard to find, and the PDI is even harder. Although this gun lacks semi-auto like the others, since it's manual spring cocking, it's still one of the best options for those wanting an SVD. Basically, you should only get this gun if you really must have an SVD.

http://www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/reviewpost/.../cat/all/page/1
http://www.unconventional-airsoft.com/info...ion/atozsvd.php

There are a number of other good options available, but I don't have any experience with them, and they aren't as popular, so I haven't included information about them. I'll update this post with the best posts about the other rifles, however.

This concludes the spring rifle section.

Specialty/rare rifles

1. The M82A1.



If you want an anti-vehicle rifle, and you have the spare cash, you can shell out about 1200 USD for an M82A1. This rifle shoots 8mm plastic ammunition, which is the largest airsoft bb, and fires at a reasonable 400 fps on average. Not much to say about this rifle, since I don't have much experience with it, except to say that it's really cool, and if you have the expendable income to get one, you'll be envied everywhere you go.

The are a couple different M82's in production, including the Smokey's Gunworks spring-powered version, and a VFC gas-powered version. Here some information about the Smokey Barrett M82A1, compliments of Falcon_Maximus from Arnies:

The Smokey Barrett M82A1 is a Full Metal Gun that is no longer produced. It is a Spring Rifle (so no semi-auto like the real steel version, unfortunately) which uses 8mm BB's that are fed in Brass .50 BMG Shells (the Shells are automaticaly ejected after the Shot). It has a stock power of 1.04 Joules (about 400 fps) but can be upgraded with APS-2 Springs up to SPR380 (but you need a spacer though).

The Gun is acually 9 cm longer than the real steel model (which seems to be because of the barrel). It produces a recoil that is comparable to a .30 caliber semi-automatic rifle, which is a very cool feature. The hopup is adjustable. It is handmade in Japan, and costs about $2740 at WGC and weighs 7.1 kg.

2. The WA2000.

Yes, that's right, Geneth and Asahi have both made replicas of the WA2000, made famous as Weber's rifle in Rainbow Six. It's a gorgeous weapon, made from full metal and wood, and weighing in at a hefty 5.2kg. It shoots at about 285 fps, has a 25 round capacity, and is basically one of the most gorgeous looking rifles out there. It's hard to find, and typically sells for about 1500 USD. If you get one, I'll hate you forever (just kidding), since it's such a rare gun to see on the field. I do really want one, so I thought I'd mention it. But you won't find much information about it.

Here's a brief description of the Asahi WA2000, which is one of the most rare airsoft guns ever, also compliments of Falcon_Maximus:

It is modeled after the famous German Walther WA2000 Precision shooters rifle (so it's something like the father of the PSG-1). The rifle went out of production in the 1980's because it was too expensive and nobody bought one, although it was the most accurate rifle ever produced! It was released in 1993 and came in 2 versions, standard and deluxe.

Only 250 Asahis WA2000 were produced, making it an extremely rare, and difficult to find gun. 125 of them were the Standard Version, and 125 of them were the Deluxe Version which came with a silencer and a fluted barrel.

It uses an "electro-pneumatic gearbox" and features an effective range of about nearly 100 yards. Some users have claimed headshots at 80-90 yards with upgraded versions! It shoots 410fps with 0.43g BB's (that would be 600fps with 0.2g BB's!) The gun uses a external Gas-Tank as most Classic guns do!

It is no longer being built (the productions stopped YEARS ago!) and if you want to get one, talk to SniperX at www.classicairsoft.net is the best way to go. Cost runs about $2500, making this one of the most expensive airsoft sniper rifles.

Link to the Geneth version:

http://www.redwolfairsoft.com/redwolf/airs...il?prodID=10961

Gas section

This section is in progress, but if you have information about this that you'd like to have included, I'll edit in the best response. Thanks!

1. HFC USR-11 gas version.

Very little is known about the gas version of the HFC USR-11. It costs about the same as the spring version, averaging around 120-130 before shipping. This rifle is essentially the same as the spring version, but it has a gas bolt. That means that it looks the same as a VSR-10 Pro-Sniper, although the build quality isn't quite as good, and it is still compatible with VSR-10 upgrade parts, such as barrel, hopup, and magazines, although you obviously can't replace the cylinder and trigger assembly with VSR-10 parts. Well, you could, but then it would just be a normal USR-11.

The rifle shoots somewhere around 400-450 fps with .2's in stock form, and is reasonably accurate, with an effective range of probably about 160+ feet. Gas is stored in the bolt, not in the magazines, so you can use whatever spring magazines you want. You fill the bolt the same way you would fill a pistol magazine. The gun is reportedly quite accurate, and is the cheapest gas sniper rifle option. Owners have reported a few issues, including poor stock finish, poor standard barrel, tight fitting magazine well, and poor standard magazine, but overall, it seems to offer good bang for a very cheap price (for an airsoft gas rifle).

http://www.airsoftcommunity.co.uk/reviews/...duct/43/cat/all

2. KJW M700 Series.

There are a couple versions of the KJW M700, the regular version and the takedown version. Cost generally runs about 200 USD, and it's reportedly a very good rifle. The takedown version is reported to have gas leak issues, so it's not recommended, but the M700 series, which are clones of the Tanaka M700, are hard-hitters, shooting around 450 fps with green gas.

3. Tanaka M700. (Mini-review by Joker8Baller, with additions from The Crimson Falcon)

Tanaka is probably the biggest heavy-weight when it comes to gas guns. They're well known for their reliability, build quality, and performance, although they're also pricier than their HFC and KJW alternatives. The Tanaka M700 typically costs at least 300 dollars, with an average of around 350 shipped.

The M700 line includes several variants:

M700 Police Model
M700 Police Model Camoflague Version
M700 Takedown Version
M700 Light Tactical Rifle
M40A1
M40A1 Woodland camouflage version
M40A1 fake wood stock
M24 SWS
M24 SWS Fluted Barrel
AICS Green/ Black/ Tan

It performs nicely, with a varying FPS from the low 400's to the high 500's, and even to the low 600's on a nice warm day in California. The Tanaka M700 currently comes in 2 main versions. Pre-ban, and banned. The banned versions come with a flow restrictor limiting the FPS the bb is shot at, because of a new Japanese law. However, this version comes with a fixed PCS valve, as the pre-ban do not.

Tanaka has an "export" version, where no flow restrictor shall be put on, and the PCS bolt shall also be added on.

It shoots about 250 feet accurately with .34bb's, with the PCS almost fully open, but about 1/5th closed. Max tested range is about 300 feet, perhaps a tad more. Performs well, with an easy adjustable hop-up that is located just in front of the built-in scope mount.

Build quality is great. It's on par with the CA M24 spring rifle, and kills every AEG I've handled. It's got a nice heavy weight to it, and it feels like a rock.

The main problem right now is the lack of a replacement hop-up, and the null manufacturing of the Best gun kit... Many people have had trouble after a while with the hop-up, and no such replacement exists. Hopefully the new export versions will have replacement hop-ups, but for now, upgradeability is limited. This is probably one of the only drawbacks to an otherwise superior gun.

4. Tanaka has also released an L96. I do not have any information on it at this time.

5. Also out is the WELL G-22, which is basically an APS96 with gas bolt in a custom stock. G-22 comes from the German designation for the AWM, not from the Walther G-22 as is commonly said.

6. G&G is due to release a gas L96 as well. More information will be added as it becomes available.

7. Star has released the AW 338. It's apparently very good looking, but performance leaves a bit to be desired. Here's a thread about it:

http://www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/forums/inde...howtopic=117676

The BAR-10 and UTG Mk96 (WELL MB01/TSD SD96) are the most popular rifles these days, since they are relatively cheap, have solid performance out of the box, and can be fully upgraded with VSR-10 and APS96 parts respectively, making them cheaper upgrade platforms than the originals. I personally prefer the BAR-10 with it's far superior V-hop, and consider it the best budget sniper rifle on the market to date. Well, now that you've picked your rifle, let's consider some of the other aspects of being a sniper.



While technically a sniper is a marksman who is capable of delivering long-range precision aimed shots at strategic and tactical targets, good field craft is more important than the gun, in my opinion. Here’s what I’ve found useful in staying hidden and taking the shot.

First, camouflage. In order to avoid detection, you need to observe the rules of camouflage: shape, sound, smell, silhouette, shadow, and movement, to name the key ones. The human eye and brain can pick out the human shape and silhouette, even if it is well hidden, amazingly well. Sound is also a great way to alert an enemy that you're coming, as are artificial smells. Also, painted shadows are never as dark as real shadows. Finally, movement draws the eye, and makes it much easier to detect you. So, how can we avoid these tell-tales?

Shape, silhouette, and shadow can all be remedied with a good ghillie. The ghillie is made of many many strips of burlap on a netting cover, which shrouds the human form, making it appear to be a small hill, bush or something else. When in the field, a ghillie should be modified by attaching local vegetation to help you blend in. A ghillie should be fireproofed, since they are otherwise very flammable and dangerous. Avoid color patterns when making a ghillie, since patterns will draw the eye and make you stand out.

You should also stay close to cover, such as hills, trees, bushes, or high grass. That will cut down on your detectability profile.

To avoid detection via smell, avoid artificial smells caused by scented deodorant, soaps, or shampoos, silicone gun lube spray, or bug spray when out in the field. If you smell unnatural, you increase the odds that you will be detected. Unscented deodorant is good, however, since BO is a big telltale.

Sound tell-tales can be avoided in a number of different ways. First, if enemies are nearby, avoid movement. Movement is the number one source of stray sounds. If you have to move, there are two different ways to walk that will cut down on sounds. One, you can walk by placing the ball of your foot on ground that does not leave a trace (hard packed dirt, stones, etc), and avoiding sticks, etc. You slowly lower your heel to avoid crunching on gravel or small stones as much as possible. Step on hard packed surfaces as much as possible to avoid leaving a trace that an enemy can track. In addition, try to move when the ambient noise increases, such as when the wind is blowing. You also may find it effective to walk placing your heel first, and moving your toes slowly to sweep aside obstructions like twigs and gravel as quietly as possible. Try to avoid leaving a trace as much as possible. Finally, strap down all loose equipment so your gear doesn’t clank or rattle or make other stray noises that could draw enemy attention.

Movement tell-tales are obviously avoided by not moving. If you have to move, you should preferably move in a sniper or infantry crawl, with your weapon cradled in your elbows, and use your toes and elbows to propel you. If you need to move more quickly, move in a low crouch. You should never run or walk upright unless you are absolutely sure there is no one near, and you need to move that fast. Move in short intervals from cover to cover, and pause often to check for enemies. Also, when moving, avoid moving anything except for your legs. Swinging your arms naturally adds unneeded and unwanted extra movement that can draw attention. If crawling through tall grass, move with the wind if possible to mask your movement. Do not carry your rifle when moving in your hands, it is long, and tends to move in a way that draws attention. Pistols are ideal weapons to have out when moving. When in firing position, keep movements slow and careful. Cocking the weapon should be done slowly and smoothly, to cut down on unnecessary movement. A "sniper" who cocks their gun really fast and fires a lot, like in the video of the Super 9 demo at shortyusa is really easy to spot and eliminate.

Here's a bit more about camouflage.

Some more things that I have found useful indicators of enemies, or that can reveal a sniper's position are shine and disturbance of wildlife.

The shine element is one of the major reasons you should not only paint your rifle, but also wrap it. The reflection off of a rifle bolt assembly or the lens of a scope are easily seen from over a mile away. Buckles or metal sling loops, or any number of reflective surfaces can create shine, and give away your position. A good burlap wrap is essential for a rifle. Some snipers choose to create a ghillie wrap for their rifle. These can be made in much the same way that a ghillie suit or poncho is made (netting with burlap strips). You should also get a cover that goes over the lens of the scope. You should be able to see through the cover, but still eliminate reflection. For example, a piece of loosely knit cloth works quite well if it is a discreet color (bright pink would probably be a bad choice). All metal gear should be sprayed with a matte-black, brown, green, or other environment appropriate color. However, bear in mind that some paints give off an obvious scent for quite a while that can give away your presence. Your rifle wrap should also mask the shape of your gun and scope. Perfect circles, like those on a scope, are quite rare in a natural environment, and are a sure giveaway. Similarly, the shape of a rifle is pretty unmistakable--for this reason, it is not sufficient to merely paint your rifle.

Disturbance of wildlife can also be a tell-tale. For example, if a flock of birds flies up out of a field for no discernable reason, there is probably a sniper moving through the field. You should avoid animals as much as possible, although animals are generally hard to spot since they typically have better field craft than an airsofter. While you are unlikely to encounter much wildlife in most airsoft games, birds are a good indicator of an enemy presence. For example, if you know an area really well, and you know there are typically lots of birdsong in an area, and the area is silent, you can be sure someone is in that area, or has recently passed through.

You should also (and this is common sense) avoid skylining, or silhouetting yourself on a hill, for example. Even if you have disguised your shape, an object appearing and disappearing from the crest of a hill is pretty obvious. Avoid brushing against grass or tree branches, or other objects that will move and telegraph your presence. A good rule of thumb is to always assume you are under observation.

Another important factor in field craft is to know your surroundings. If you know in advance where you will be playing, and you aren’t already familiar with it, you should, whenever possible, scout the field and determine good ambush and firing points, and plot escape routes, and establish likely routes of enemy travel. Good intel about an area can win you matches more effectively than a good weapon. You can also use Google Earth to set up a map; print it out in a fixed size and draw gridlines, and you'll be able to effectively coordinate with your squad as well.

Finally, another useful trick that you can use in airsofting is to set up a decoy near your position. A cleverly placed pile of leaves and a stick, for example, can be set up to look like a poorly disguised sniper. You can often discover the position of an enemy who you would not otherwise have seen by watching them fire at your decoy. While I don't suggest trucking in a mannequin, putting a decoy up in a position that looks like a good snipe point near the enemy base, and keeping an eye on the spot can aid you in eliminating enemies, or in extracting successfully.

As many snipers have noted, patience is critical. However, don't forget to be observant of your close surroundings also while you are waiting for that shot. I have to admit, I've been taken out several times because I was paying too much attention to a target downrange, and missed the approach of an enemy patrol or sniper.

One more thing, a good pair of rubber soled shoes with smooth soles are useful, since they don't leave behind any distinguishing marks. I also have found it useful to strap a piece of leather on the bottom of shoes, rough side out, since that eliminates any tracks pretty well, and makes it tougher to find your hiding spot.

Second, tactics. The role of a sniper is not to put a bunch of plastic in the air at once. Often, you may be most useful if you don't take the shot, but instead radio in the location of an enemy unit. The Marines call them Scout Snipers for a reason; snipers are excellent scouts. Because you don't have the rate of fire of an AEG or a number of opponents, stealth is your best weapon. Know when to take the shot, and be aware of your surroundings. Don't fire if there are enemy patrols in the vicinity. Your position is your best asset; do not compromise it if you don't absolutely have to.

Third, spotters are pretty key. Upon detection, the spotter should lay down cover fire to cover the retreat of the sniper. The sniper finds cover, and uses aimed shots to cover the retreat of the spotter. Proceed to leapfrog in this fashion until you are safe or have eliminated the enemies. Spotters should have a ghillie also. I prefer my spotter to have a DMR AEG, so that they can also hit at decent ranges, but have the ROF to effectively pin down an attacking group. Remember, full auto is NOT effective cover fire; you have limited ammo, and so does your spotter. I recommend using precisely placed shots to keep people's heads down.

Fourth, tracking. Avoid leaving a trail as far as possible. Good ways to avoid detection are to move backwards for a time to leave a false trail, or walk in a stream for a while to limit your trail. Note that walking in the stream must be done carefully, because wet rocks that should not be wet, or overturned rocks, and any number of things can reveal passage through a body of water. You can also move in a circle, and then backtrack to a predetermined ambush point that overlooks the circular path to deal with any followers. While not too many airsofters know how to track, if you've compromised your position, the opposition will typically have a good general idea about where you shot from. You should never stay in a single spot for more than a few shots when playing recon or target elimination roles. Always plan out at least 2 escape routes where you can move out under cover, and keep an eye on spots where you can take the opposition out from the flank as they close on your original hide.

Finally, when moving with the rest of the team, you should keep your ghillie hidden. An enemy sniper will shoot for snipers before any other target, because snipers pose the greatest tactical threat. You want to keep any sniper specific gear hidden, and blend in as much as possible. Additionally, a ghillie in a rucksack is a great way to stabilize your shots.

Of course, many snipers rely on their ghillies to stay hidden, so it's important to know how to build a ghillie suit.



I want to begin by remarking that you should NOT, under any circumstances, buy a store bought ghillie suit. You need to make your own to fit your environment, and your ghillie will constantly change over the months and years as you change it around to become better. You are never done working on your ghillie.

There are a number of different methods to making a ghillie suit. Here's a good thread on Arnies:

http://www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/forums/inde...howtopic=102004

And a few other guides:

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Ghillie-Suit
http://www.geocities.com/stalker217/ghillie/

Personally, I prefer to make a ghillie out of a jute thread kit. Those are available on eBay for around 40 to 50 USD. Make sure to get a custom kit, so you can pick your own colors. Avoid using blacks and lots of dark colors; the ghillie suit will naturally create it's own shadows, rendering black unnecessary. You may want to make a ghillie that only covers your back, or you might do a full poncho. I personally prefer a balance; my ghillies cover my entire back and my torso, but leave my legs free (something like a stalker poncho). In any case, assuming you got the kit, you can follow the easy instructions. Tie 4-5 threads on to each square of your netting, and avoid large patches of the same color. It works best, however, to have each clump be made out of the same color, rather than mixing it, in my experience.

But, just the jute thread suit isn't perfect. I also recommend you get some strips of burlap, die them various colors and attach them across the suit. You can also get fake leaves and such at a fabric or hobby store and attach those. When you're out in the field, supplement this by adding in native vegetation, especially around the head area.

Building a ghillie suit, for a sniper, is something like a Jedi building a lightsaber; it's a rite of passage. It will teach you patience, and help you understand how to stay hidden. It requires a lot of time, but is rewarding, and will pay off in the end. My ghillie suit has saved my figurative life more times than I can count, and allows you to go places that the other team would not suspect as being able to hide a sniper.



There are really only a few accessories that snipers like to use. First, bipods. Bipods look cool, and can definitely be useful, but many snipers prefer to use field expedient rests (rocks, logs, etc), and avoid having something that can get caught on branches and such. Popular bipods include the Harris bipod, Rockmount bipod, and some other kinds.

You want to avoid barrel-clamp bipods at all costs, as they can damage your barrel, and generally suck. You should also avoid UTG bipods, as they are much too high, and are utterly useless. Try to get an adjustable bipod. Depending on the gun, you'll need to get specific types of bipods (RIS or swing swivel are the norms), and you may need adaptors.

The cheapest Harris-style bipod is the SRC one (around 25 USD), but it requires adaptors to mount on most guns. There are a number of other, more expensive bipods. They can cost as much as 100 USD shipped.

Rockmount bipods can be found at Walmart and other sporting goods stores, and are generally good options. You can also get a cheapo bipod that works great and mounts to most guns (http://pointact.com/prod_MP101_bipod_590_19.html).

The other main accessory is the sling. Get a good quality sling that doesn't rely on cheap metal clips. Leather slings are always nice. The sling serves two purposes; one, it allows you to carry the gun (or use a sidearm without dropping your rifle), and two, it serves as a shooting aid for kneeling, sitting, or standing shooting positions.

Avoid lights and lasers on your sniper rifle; while you might think they're cool, they will get you killed.

A good optic is also an important accessory. I personally prefer variable power scopes (the M3 being my favorite, with it's 3.5-10x zoom and 30mm tube). I'll discuss this in the upgrade guide.



As far as sidearms go, you have three choices, AEG, AEP, or gas pistol.



Many people like carrying AEG's as sidearms. I suggest you avoid getting a large gun; the MP5K is the biggest one you should carry. Even then, it's added bulk and weight, and requires you to carry large magazines. Yes, you get good firepower, but you may find that it's not worth it, especially if you're playing an MSST role.

The Galaxy MP5K is probably the most popular AEG sidearm, and can be found at a variety of different places.



AEP's are my personal preference, because they pack a lot of firepower into a small package, and many allow you to carry a lot of ammo because the magazines are small. There are a number of good choices.

1. MP7. The WELL and TM MP7's are very popular choices, and can be easily carried in a holster for an electric drill. These are the largest of the AEP sidearms that you should consider.

2. CYMA CM030 G18C, TM G18C, TM USP, DE M81 USP, and DE M84 M9. These are my personal favorites. They shoot about 200 fps, and the CYMA and DE pistols cost less than 50 dollars. Magazines are tiny, but carry 30 rounds, and they can fire full-auto. Although they shoot less than 200 fps, they still have an effective range of 70-100 feet, which is plenty good for a sidearm. They can take the TM LAM, which has an included larger battery to power the gun, and most can also take TM upgrade parts.

3. TM MAC-10. I have no information on this gun so far, but it's TM, so it's probably good.



As far as gas blowback guns go, there are a lot of great choices. GBB's are popular because they're hard hitting, and very realistic. HFC is probably the best "cheap" brand, although BELL is also making some cheap cloned pistols. WE is also quite reliable along with KJW. The best brands are KWA/KSC and Western Arms. You can find out more on any forum in the gas section.

For non-blowback guns, there are really only a few good choices. The Y&P Mk23 is probably the best budget NBB sidearm. The TM Mk23 is one of the all-around best gas pistols, and the KJW Mk1 is a hard hitting alternative that can shoot as high as 400 fps.

This post has been edited by The Crimson Falcon: Apr 8 2008, 12:15 AM

There's an upper limit to performance because of the nature of the projectile, and increasing the power doesn't really do much once you get above a 150 spring, except for allow you to use heavier bb's. That's good, BUT, there aren't any bb's heavier than .3 that are comparable in quality to the best quality of the light bb's, so accuracy isn't going to be all that much better. Mostly the advantage to higher FPS is in penetrating brush. Still, if you hit an obstacle in between (such as a twig), it's going to deflect no matter how fast the bb is going, or break and pepper your target with little bb shards, which is annoying.

As a general rule, I prefer to rely on M150's rather than using M170's or M190's (or 210's like some people have). I do this for 3 main reasons:

1. Durability--M190's and heavier eat through trigger parts, even zero triggers, like there's no tomorrow. If you pop in a 550+ fps spring, expect to have to buy new pistons and triggers fairly regularly. Eventually, you'll also break your cylinder and you will have to replace that, even if you get a nice teflon one, because of the stiffer bolt pull. Expect the bolt handle to go also. The short answer is that M150's are much more cost effective, since they don't destroy your parts nearly as fast.

2. Rate of fire; face facts, you simply cannot cock a heavy spring as fast, which means your ROF will get slowed down a lot, which means no follow up shots are possible. M150's are generally light enough to permit a second shot; it's a rare person who can do that reliably with an M170, because it's strong enough that it will slow you down AND throw off your aim.

3. Stealth; M170's and above are louder, and more, because they're harder to cock, you will have great difficulties cocking them without adjusting how you hold your rifle. That means that when you're trying to remain hidden, you're going to have a chore if you need to reload your rifle.

So, what do I recommend?

Well, obviously if you're trying to keep your budget low, you should consider getting a JG or WELL rifle instead of the TM, Maruzen, or CA version, assuming that the guns are fully compatible. You can see about buying the TM suppressor from someone, since the JG GSPEC one is just a mock one. That keeps initial costs lower by quite a bit, unless you find a real deal.



APS2:

CA M24 takes APS2 parts
AGM MP001 takes APS2 cylinder parts
AGM MP002 takes APS96 cylinder parts
WELL MB01 (TSD L96/UTG Mk96) takes APS96 upgrade parts (some may require minimal modification)
BE L96 takes APS96 upgrade parts

VSR-10:

JG BAR-10 (Regular and GSPEC) takes all VSR-10 upgrade parts.
WELL MB02 and MB03 take most VSR-10 parts, but the receiver is smaller, so cylinder parts don't fit well. May require modification to work properly.
HFC USR-11 takes all VSR-10 upgrade parts.
AGM MP001 and MP002 both take VSR-10 trigger parts with some modification required.

Upgrade parts for other guns are not readily accessible.

As for upgrades, here's what I recommend:



First, make sure to get a nice optic. I like the one-piece scope ring mounts like the Accushot, but the scope is the most important part. Get one that will hold it's zero even if it gets bumped around a lot. Optics designed for a real rifle are great. I also recommend a variable power scope, although the minimum zoom should not be greater than 4x. I personally prefer the M3, which has a 30mm tube for better optics, but has a 40mm objective which is easier to camo. The zoom is 3.5-10x, which is pretty much perfect, and it has a mil-dot reticle, which is very handy for taking long range shots. Many people like 50mm objective lenses because they have better light-gathering, and hence better optics, but they're very large, and can be hard to camouflage.

If you want some good scopes for a good price, try www.matchstickglobal.com. They've got some nice ones. www.ehobbyasia.com also has pretty good deals as well. I personally avoid sporting goods stores, as I can get better scopes for cheaper at the above places. If you're rich, you may want to get a real steel scope as well.

Good airsoft scope brands include: Tasco, Barska, Leapers, G&P, Action, and the ACM (China made) scopes. I personally don't like NC Star, but many people swear by them. In any case, they're usually the worst of the cheaper scopes.

Good middle-range real-steel scope brands include: Bushnell, Millett, Simmons, Burris, Redfield, and Nikon.

Premier quality scopes (typically more expensive than your gun will be) are made by the following manufacturers: Trijicon, Leupold, Zeiss, and Unertl.

There are several other good scope makers, but those are most of the big ones that you will be able to find relatively easily.

Next, you're going to want accuracy upgrades.



1. 6.01mm tightbore bull barrel with ported end. EdGI barrels are probably the best, because they're thicker, or PDI because they're steel and have the tightest tolerances. Both are pricy (85-150 USD). You can also get a DBC barrel, which are much more cost effective (60 USD) (although they're so cost effective that they might be going out of business, so get it while you can). The tightbore also has the benefit of increasing your FPS.

The GSPEC, JG GSPEC, and MB02 use a 303mm tightbore. If you're going to use a longer one, don't bother getting the GSPEC; it's a waste of money, especially as you're going to be replacing lots of parts.

The VSR-10 PS, RS, and HFC USR-11 use 430mm barrels.

The JG BAR-10 has a 435mm barrel.

The WELL MB03 has a 460mm barrel.

2. Nineball or Firefly hard bucking (30 USD). The nineball is more reliable in terms of consistency, because it's an airseal bucking. The firefly has an H-nub, so it keeps the bb more stable. I personally prefer the nineball to the firefly for overall consistency, but I don't have strong feelings one way or the other. The nineball IS cheaper and easier to find.

3. Several barrel spacers to reduce vibration and wobble.

Some people swear by the air seal chamber; I personally think that the stock TM hopup chamber is plenty good. You should teflon mod the hopup to guarantee the seal.

Those are the main accuracy upgrades.



A tightbore barrel is one of the most essential upgrades for any rifle, and it's especially important for sniper rifles, as accuracy is critical to our success in our role. I'm writing this guide for VSR-10 barrels, as the VSR is the most accurate sniper rifle on the market, and will be best able to make good use of a high quality tightbore. For the purposes of this guide, I will be using an upgraded BAR-10 for all testing, and will conduct the test under controlled conditions. Without further ado, the guide!





Build Material: Brass.
Length: 435mm.
Thickness: Bull barrel thickness.
Break-in Period? No.
Accuracy at 150 feet: Approximately 1.5" on average, .75" on best grouping.
Tolerances: Very high quality. Rank 1 out of 5. +/1 .0012
Crowning? Yes, very good quality job.
Affordability: Low. Average cost is 40+52 shipping (USD), so this barrel is more expensive than most of the other alternatives, excepting the PDI.
Brief Synopsis: The EdGI barrel is designed specifically for the JG BAR-10, although it will fit in the VSR-10 as well. You can get EdGI barrels by emailing him at eicban<DON'T POST EMAIL ADDRESSES>smg.sanmiguel.com.ph. Cost runs around 35-40, and shipping is 52 via FedEX from the Philippines. EdGI barrels are unique because they are bull barrels; that is, they are thicker than any other aftermarket barrel on the market. They also include a number of features. EdGI barrels are among the best barrels you can buy for the VSR, in part because they're thicker, and hence suffer less from vibrations. EdGI also offers ported barrels, which are even more accurate. The crowning on the barrel is very nice, and the interior is well-polished, and does not require a break-in period.



Build Material: Brass.
Length: 430mm.
Thickness: Slightly more than standard thickness.
Break-in Period? Yes (1000 rounds)
Accuracy at 150 feet: Approximately 2.7" on average, 1.3" on best grouping.
Tolerances: Very high quality. Rank 2 out of 5. +/- 0.0015
Crowning? No, it's straight cut.
Affordability: Medium. Average cost is 60 USD shipped, so this barrel is the most affordable high-quality 6.01mm barrel.
Brief Synopsis: The DBCustom barrels are unique in that they are universally cut, and can fit most AEG's, the VSR and it's full clones, the AGM MP001, and the UTG M324/DE M50. They are very good quality, and are the most affordable of the 6.01mm barrels. The owners are very knowledgeable and friendly, and they have among the very best customer service of any company that I have ever dealt with. The one fault I find with their barrels is that they aren't polished, and have minor imperfections in the barrel that throw off accuracy until they've been broken in. Accuracy is still superb, and these are probably the best option for an airsofter who has a budget, but wants the best possible performance for the money. In terms of sheer value per dollar, it's hard to beat a DBC barrel, and the universal cut makes them very nice. The VSR barrel will NOT fit the Tanaka M700/M40/M24, sadly, so I'll be buying another from them soon.



Build Material: Steel.
Length: 555mm.
Thickness: Slightly more than standard thickness.
Break-in Period? No.
Accuracy at 150 feet: Approximately 1.6" on average, 1.1" on best grouping.
Tolerances: Highest quality, laser cut steel. Rank 1 out of 5.
Crowning? Yes.
Affordability: Very low. Average cost is 155 USD shipped, so this barrel is the most expensive tightbore barrel.
Brief Synopsis: PDI barrels are the most expensive barrels, and are very high quality. They are laser-cut cold tempered steel, with the best tolerances of any barrel, but do not have any other special features like DBC or EdGI barrels. If you have the money, and you want the absolute best quality barrel that will not scratch easily, and will preserve its groupings, go PDI. They're quite expensive, but very reliable.



Build Material: Steel.
Length: 303mm (GSPEC) or 430mm (RS/PS).
Thickness: Standard thickness.
Break-in Period? No.
Accuracy at 150 feet: Approximately 4.0" on average, 3.1" on best grouping.
Tolerances: Highest quality, laser cut steel. Rank 4 out of 5.
Crowning? Yes.
Affordability: Medium to high. Average cost is 45 USD shipped, so this barrel is one of the cheaper tightbore barrels.
Brief Synopsis: Laylax barrels are good choices for those on a budget, but who want decent accuracy. They're not the best, but the steel construction won't scratch, and they are nicely crowned.



Build Material: ?
Length: 430mm
Thickness: Standard thickness.
Break-in Period? No.
Accuracy at 150 feet: ?
Tolerances: ?
Crowning? ?
Affordability: High. Average cost is 35 USD shipped, so this barrel is the cheapest tightbore barrel.
Brief Synopsis: ?



Build Material: Steel.
Length: varies.
Thickness: Standard thickness.
Break-in Period? No.
Accuracy at 150 feet: Approximately 1.5" on average, 1" on best grouping.
Tolerances: Highest quality. Rank 1 out of 5.
Crowning? Yes.
Affordability: Medium. Average cost is 75 USD shipped.
Brief Synopsis: Tanio Koba Twist barrels are the barrels for those who have to stay under 1J. They will not work with guns that fire over 360 fps. They have a twisted groove, something like rifling, in the barrel which creates a rotating air cushion around the bb. This keeps the bb stable, and preserves its momentum, allowing staggeringly good range and accuracy out of a low FPS gun. Advantages include faster ROF, lighter bolt pull, and no need for upgrade parts.




For a high FPS setup, you're going to also want a good number of durability upgrades. The ultimate would include the following:

Necessary upgrades:

1. Spring of your choice (I prefer M150--500-550 fps)--20 USD. Be sure to get a sniper rifle spring; they're thinner than AEG springs.

2. Teflon or palsonite cylinder for durability and lighter bolt pull--100-200 USD. It's best to get a cylinder that has at least 4 pins in the rear; that prevents the cylinder from breaking as quickly because there are more points to take the stress. The Laylax teflon cylinder is my personal preference for a GSPEC or standard length VSR. There are upgraded cylinders available for the APS2 (UTG L96/TSD L96/WELL MB01, AGM MP001, AGM MP001, CA M24 are all compatible with APS2 parts).

3. Laylax bearing metal spring guide (durability, keeps the spring from putting too much stress on the guide and cylinder) (35 USD). There are a number of APS2 spring guides as well. Bearing ones are preferable, but most of the APS2 ones are just metal guides.

4. Laylax Zero trigger or PDI V-trigger (100-200 USD) This comes with a high pressure piston, incidentally. You may also want to weld or glue on some extra strips of high grade metal along the box for strengthening, although if you take my recommendation and use an M150, you won't need to.

5. Laylax silent dampener PRO cylinder head with tapered nozzle (65 USD). This quiets the gun down, is more durable, and guarantees perfect seal with the hopup because of the nozzle design. Really really nice upgrade part. Don't forget to teflon tape the threading for better seal. Remember, if you got the Palsonite cylinder, you'll need a BORE-UP cylinder head and boreup receiver and bore-up piston. Bore-up is not helpful for a GSPEC length gun (or for a stock VSR--it's only for guns that have absurdly long barrels).

I also highly recommend you get the upgrade bolt handle. That runs around 60 USD as well.

Recommended places to look: www.wgcshop.com (you can special order through Airsoft Advantage to save on shipping), www.trinityairsoft.com, www.poweredgeusa.com, www.dentrinity.com, and www.airsoftextreme.com. Barrels are available at www.deescustoms.com, by PMing EdGI on ASR, or on the above sites.





For external parts, you may want to get a new stock, fluted barrels, new receivers, etc. I highly recommend the Laylax real mount scope mount; it looks MUCH better than the usual scope mount. The Smokey's variable buttplate is a nice aesthetic upgrade as well. Fluted barrels look nice, but I don't particularly think they're necessary. I don't think that longer barrels are a worthy investment, as they sacrifice a lot of maneuverability in the field, are harder to camouflage, and do not net you enough accuracy to be worth it. You may also want to buy or make a cheekrest. There's a nice one that can hold fake bullets at www.ehobbyasia.com. You can also make your own with some leather and foam, or you can cut up a PDA case. That works quite well also.

You may also want a bipod; Harris bipods are very popular. The SRC is the cheapest alternative. Rockmount bipods are also popular. Bipods may take some getting used to, since they can get caught on things. If you're planning on carrying a ruck, use that instead of a bipod. Do NOT get a barrel mount, or any sort of UTG/Leapers bipod. Those are all garbage, and are much too high for a sniper rifle. They're okay for a machine gun, but not for someone who wants to lie prone and fire. Plus they look stupid.

Aesthetically and practically, you may also want a ghillie wrap. You should make your own out of a combination of burlap and jute thread and die. Cover the scope and the barrel, but leave the rear of the rifle clear, so nothing gets in the way of the action.

Avoid lights and lasers; they give away your position and interfere with shots.



Finally, ammunition. I recommend that you use at least .28g ammunition, and probably avoid heavier ammo. Recommended ammo types:

.28g: TSD or Airsoft Elite (AE).
.29g: Maruzen Super Grand Masters (SGM).
.3g: TM (out of production), or KSC.

You can experiment with heavier, but those brands have the highest quality, and will be very reliable. Do not use lighter than .28g in a sniper rifle.



The Ultimate MP001 Modifications Thread: http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/index.php?topic=23301.0
The Ultimate BAR-10 Modifications Thread: http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/index.php?topic=35488.0

The following modifications can be done on any spring sniper rifle that can be opened (cylinder), and on some that can't.

1. Spring spacer. Basically, all you have to do is take some 20 gauge wire and wrap it around the base of the spring guide to hold out the spring and create more tension and hence more FPS. This mod is also called a spring tensioner. Duct tape works pretty well in a pinch as well. Requires an openable cylinder.




2. Teflon hopup mod. Alright, you're going to want to put one wrap of teflon tape around the end of the barrel. I'll use the MP001 as an example. Here's a picture of the taped inner barrel:



For the M324 and MP001, put the hopup bucking adaptor back on not including the rubber bucking--here's the three parts separated:



We're going to put a single layer of tape over the plastic part, taping it onto the inner barrel:



If you don't have an MP001 or M324, skip to this step. Put the hopup rubber back on, and teflon tape the outside where it connects to the plastic part or to the barrel. Here's a picture:



This will protect the seal. Be careful not to use too much teflon tape, or you won't be able to close up the hopup properly. Teflon tape is also called PFTE tape.

3. Teflon taping the cylinder head threading. It's pretty simple. Wrap 1-2 layers of teflon tape around the cylinder head threading to maintain cylinder compression and seal. Here's what we're talking about:



4. Teflon modding the cylinder head nozzle. This mod has been much touted, but it doesn't last terribly long. Various people have proposed using nail polish and such, but those materials lack the seal of teflon tape with the rubber buckings. So, I've come up with a slightly more permanent method of using teflon tape. You'll need some Elmer's glue, some teflon tape, and a paper towel or shop towel.



Put some Elmers glue on the nozzle, and smear it evenly on the nozzle.



Then put on the teflon tape over the tape. You're basically sticking it down. Once the glue cures, it's going to keep the tape on there pretty well.

http://www.putfile.com/pic/7746478

Next, you're going to want to put on some more glue:



Take the paper towel and hold it firmly around the nozzle, and twist it to apply a light but even coat of glue. You could use nail polish also. This will create a light protective layer. Leave it overnight to cure, and you'll be good to go! This mod increases seal between the cylinder and hopup and increases FPS.

More mods to come later.

Finally, you want to keep your rifle performing in best fashion. You'll want to be sure that you regularly maintain it.

This post has been edited by The Crimson Falcon: Apr 8 2008, 12:17 AM

After watching a lot of people break their guns due to improper maintenance, I've been meaning to write a good maintenance guide for a while. I finally broke down and wrote one after an ASF member wrote one with bad tips on barrel cleaning. I'm going to start with a takedown guide for the line of M700 clones, using the BAR-10 as an example.



Okay, time to open her up. You're going to need a small Phillips screwdriver and a 2.5 metric Torx wrench.

First, we are going to remove the two Torx screws that hold the stock and barrel assembly together. Here's a shot of the screws:



And here's a shot of the pieces separated:



Now that we have the two pieces apart, we need to use the Phillips screwdriver to remove the screw on the bottom of the barrel assembly, so we can separate the bolt assembly and the barrel. After you get that screwed off, the barrel itself is screwed in. Here's the barrel removed:



And a picture of the bolt assembly:



And a closeup of the trigger mech:



Alrighty, now we're going to turn to the barrel. First we need to remove the magazine guide (the big metal piece on the bottom. That will require removal of two Phillips screws. Here's what needs to come off:



Once that's screwed off, we need to remove the hopup adjustment lever, again using the Phillips screwdriver. It's a nice shiny silver color, so it's hard to miss. Here's the adjustment lever:



Once that's screwed off, we can pull out the hopup and inner barrel, which is a nice brass. That should slide out quite nicely, although in mine, I had to sand down a burr on the inside of the outer barrel. Here's the inner barrel and hopup removed:



Now it's time to turn our attention to the hopup. If you're wanting to swap out inner barrels, you'll need to disassemble the hopup, so pay close attention, and DON'T LOSE ANYTHING. You'll notice that the hopup unit is a good bit larger than the hopup in the MP001 and M324. I'm still waiting on comparisons to the VSR-10, but, as we'll see, it's a nice hopup. Here's a closeup of the hopup:



We'll need to remove 4 Phillips screws, two in the metal part, and two on the black plastic part that goes around the barrel. Then we can carefully pull the hopup open. Be sure to note how everything is put together. Here's the hopup opened up:



The first thing that I want to note is that the BAR-10 has a V-hop. It's the only ACM sniper rifle on the market to have one that I know of, so I'm definitely very happy about that, since V-hops are more accurate. Here's a picture of the side of the hopup lever:



Next pull out the inner barrel. The first thing that I noticed is that it is styled like the VSR-10, and doesn't have a hopup bucking--just the rubber. That means no stupid plastic pieces to break. Hooray! I pulled off the bucking and took a look, and compared it to a VSR-10 tightbore inner barrel. Lo and behold, they're exactly the same. Here's the comparison picture (brass is BAR-10 barrel, steel is VSR-10 barrel):





Many players think that it's enough just to spray a bunch of lube in the barrel and push some cloth or paper towels through. Worse, some of them will spray it in the barrel without removing it. Both are insufficient.

The correct way to do it is the following.

1. Get together your equipment. You'll need some soft cloth, or a shop towel. You want to avoid scratchy paper towels, as those can damage your barrel. You'll need some scissors to cut cleaning patches, and some silicone lube or teflon lube. Either works quite well. Finally, you'll need your barrel cleaning rod. You'll notice that it has a knob at one end for clearing jams. The other end looks something like a needle.



2. Next, you need to cut the shop towel into strips, for making cleaning patches. They should be the same width as that hole in the end of the barrel clearing rod.



3. Insert the patch into the hole, like threading a needle, and then spin it around the shaft of the rod to make a round shape.



4. Next, put some lube on the patch, all around it.



5. Take the patch, and insert it in the barrel. Push it down, while twirling the rod. Repeat this several times. Then pull it out. You'll notice that the patch is going to be very dirty. This cleaning job was done on a brand-new DBC barrel with 100 rounds fired through it (washed bb's). Here's the result:



6. Okay, so you're thinking, thank goodness I got all that crap out, it was really dirty. Now I'm done. Right? No, wrong. Go back to step 3 with a fresh patch, and do it again. Keep repeating until the patch comes out clean. I went through 7 patches on this job. Take a close look at how much crud was still in the barrel:



There's still actually dirt on the last patch, but you get the idea. Just swabbing it once is insufficient.

7. By now, you've got lots of lube in the barrel. You want to clean that up, and leave a microthin layer of lube coating the surfaces of the barrel to reduce friction. So, put one more patch on your rod, but leave it DRY. Then insert it and twirl it around, as you lower it, which will leave a smooth coating on the inside of your barrel. NOW, and only now, are you done with your barrel.

Why did you clean the barrel? Dirt, grease, and debris build up in your barrel. This can cause jams, or can cause your barrel to get scratched, and the grease changes the friction, and can cause inconsistencies. A well-cleaned barrel will shoot MUCH straighter than a dirty one. I clean my guns before and after each match to guarantee performance. You don't want crap sitting inside your barrel for a long time either, so you should clean it at least once a month, regardless of whether you've played with it or not, unless you use a barrel cover to keep dust and stuff out of the gun.



Many players do not clean their hopup buckings. This is a big mistake. Dirt, grease, and debris from bb's builds up on the bucking with every shot, and degrades performance. Most stock buckings come covered in grease, which is why there's a break-in period. The grease will stick to the bb's as you fire them through, and eventually will be worn down enough that it won't cause fliers any more. A greasy bucking is the number one cause of inconsistency. A clean bucking, even with a wide barrel, is going to be much more accurate. So, you can clean off the bucking.

How do you do this? Take your bucking and a soft cloth that won't tear if it gets wet. Get a bowl of warm, soapy water, and drop your bucking in. Take the cloth and clean out the inside thoroughly, and wash all of the outer surfaces as well. Then, rinse it in colder clean water. Set the bucking on a piece of shop towel and let it airdry. The soap and warm water removes the grease more effectively, while the cold seals up the spaces in the rubber, preventing them from getting finger grease or other grease in them. It helps to wear gloves, although that's not necessary. Now your bucking is clean, and you can reinstall it in the barrel and hopup.

Okay, so how about the cylinder now?

This post has been edited by The Crimson Falcon: Apr 8 2008, 12:18 AM

1. We're now going to turn our attention to the cylinder. Unscrew the trigger mech from the cylinder, and slide it out. Wipe down the outside carefully, and apply lube to the outside. Avoid using your finger to apply lube, as finger grease will degrade your cylinder. Use a shop towel to hold the cylinder and to apply lube. I like to use teflon lube on the outside of the cylinder. Coat it lightly.

Here's some pics of the cylinder:




So, lets open it up. The easiest way is wrap some electrical tape around the nozzle, stick an Allen wrench in that hole, and use a wrench or a pair of pliers to start turning it. That brass end cap comes right off, and then you can open it up. If you need a guide, check out this thread: http://www.airsoftforum.com/board/VSR-Cylinder-Pin-Removal-t39751.html. Here's what you see inside:




These parts are called the piston (cylindrical piece with rubber o-ring at the end), spring (I hope you can figure out which is the spring), and the spring guide (the long rod with a disc at the end).

2. Wipe the piston, spring, and spring guide clean, and relube them with silicone lube or white lithium grease. I prefer silicone lube, as it is less likely to get into your hopup bucking. Teflon lube works well also.

3. Put some teflon tape on the threading of the cylinder head--just one or two wraps. This will improve seal.

4. After you close it up, wipe off the cylinder carefully, paying special attention to the nozzle. Do not install it into your hopup and barrel unit until you've dry fired it a few times so that you're not spraying lube all over your freshly cleaned hopup bucking with each shot.

5. Finally, clean and lube your trigger mech. Take all of the moving parts, wipe them clean, and then carefully apply a thin coating of white lithium grease.



The next step is to deal with the trigger mech. First things first. We need to unscrew the little screw that holds on the safety switch and spring there with our Phillips head screwdriver. Here's what you need to do:





Next we're going to unscrew the four screws that hold the trigger mech together. Notice that the front screw is smaller. The other three are the same size, so make sure that the small one goes in the front. The others don't matter.



Before I open it up, I'm going to flip it over and point out the safety sear. When you cock this gun, this piece gets pushed down, and allows the cylinder to slide. If this piece isn't here, however, it will slam-fire, so make sure not to lose it or the little spring that pushes it up:



Next we're going to open this up, and I'll point out all of the parts for you Newbies out there. First we've got the spring guide stopper. That's the L-shaped piece. You probably had to use a hammer and screwdriver to gently tap this piece to get the trigger mech out. I'll eventually replace this with a PDI spring guide stopper, but it's still good quality on the BAR-10, and this piece almost never breaks anyways:



This piece is the safety sear and it's spring. It will probably stay in the gun when you open it up, assuming you do so carefully, so don't touch it. It can be slightly challenging to get back in, but make sure you note how it fits in, in case it does come out. It doesn't typically break, so I'll leave this piece stock:



Here's the trigger picture:



Now the heart and soul of the trigger mech: the trigger and piston sears. Don't lose the spring that fits into that round hole on the bottom:



Notice the pin in the middle, and take special note of the small spring that's there. Be very careful to note how it fits in. It will fit in on the left side of the trigger sear, if you have it facing away from you (the stock side facing away from you) and should face upwards, like a V. In the MP001, this spring is bent over on one side; you want the bent part running across the top of the piston sear. Anyway, let's disassemble it by pushing out the pin in the middle, and take a closer look. I'll point out the place where the spring fits in, and then disassemble it:

Okay, that spring is a pain to figure out how to get it back on, so let me point out where the ends of the spring fit. One end presses against a little ledge inside the trigger sear:



And the other end presses against a little ledge on the piston sear:



Here's a shot of the spring resting where it will go on the piston sear. Remember, because of that pin, you'll have to put the piston sear partially into the trigger sear first from the bottom, and then put the spring in from the top, with the bottom of the V facing DOWN. Here's that placement though:



Before you start reassembly, take all of these pieces and cover them carefully in a very thin layer of white lithium grease, or liberally with teflon or silicone lube. I recommend the white lithium grease, personally. Vaseline actually works pretty well too.

Now go ahead and slip it in there, and make sure that you do it all in the correct order. Piston sear goes in the bottom, then the spring goes in the top. You may need to use a screwdriver to force it into the right position. You next insert the pin carefully, so it goes through the hole in the spring and in the holes in the sears. Next, we reassemble it all. We'll pop the sears in first, making sure to have that spring facing down, so it pushes the sears up:



Next we'll get the trigger back in. It's easiest if you glue that remaining spring to the trigger, as so:



And here's what it should look like when you reassemble. If those axles fell out, you will need to reinsert them--one goes in the trigger sear, the other in the trigger:



6. Wash your hands, reassemble, and wipe the externals clean. Reinstall it into the gun. You've now successfully cleaned and relubed your gun.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you may have noticed, this process is fairly lengthy, but it guarantees the life of your spring sniper rifle, and will help keep it firing accurately for much longer. It also protects your parts.



The next thing to keep in mind is how often you should do this. The barrel should be cleaned before and after every game and at least once a month otherwise. The cylinder should be relubed every 3-6 weeks inside and out. The trigger mech should be relubed and cleaned once every 2-6 months. You also may want to have spare screws for your gun on hand in case one strips. A good maintenance schedule is also key to preserving your gun and it's accuracy as well.



"When you're on the trigger of a sniper rifle, you're not going to wonder what it's like to be /THOU SHALT NOT USE MY NAME IN VAIN/; /THOU SHALT NOT USE MY NAME IN VAIN/'s going to wonder what it's like to be you."--WWII Sniper School instructor



The purpose of this guide is to provide a detailed description of the role of an airsoft sniper, and to dispel illusions that many new (and experienced) players have about the role. Sniping isn't the glamorous role that many people think that it is, because they've watched too many movies, nor is it an easy role where people just camp and wait for targets to wander by. Snipers are among the most experienced and hardest working players on the field, and are not to be confused with the many Newbies running around with bolt-action sniper rifles (BASR's) and store-bought ghillies. So what exactly is the airsoft sniper?



Snipers in airsoft can have a huge psychological impact on the opposition in both actual warfare and in airsoft. There's something about seeing your teammates get eliminated by an unseen assailant who is picking them off with precise, deliberate fire, that can be profoundly unnerving. Unlike other players, the sniper has the ability to pick and choose who gets eliminated. The skilled airsoft sniper will not necessarily engage every enemy that they see; they will often stalk and take specific targets for an overall tactical or strategic goal, or play many other roles. In airsoft, the sniper typically plays one of three roles:

1. Reconnaissance.
2. Target Elimination.
3. Squad Fire Support.

I want to go through and outline these roles and discuss the skills and tactics that help the airsoft sniper accomplish their goals. I will also discuss deployment of snipers as part of sniper teams. We'll start with recon.



One of the most effective ways to deploy a sniper in airsoft is as a recon or scout element. A skilled sniper or sniper team is a valuable and effective tool for the team commander, and is often used to great effect in providing the squad with accurate intelligence. It is surprisingly rare in most airsoft games for a sniper to play an effective recon role, largely because of the misunderstanding of the sniper role. Most airsoft "snipers" that I have seen view their role purely in terms of target elimination, and operate almost entirely on their own, rather than part of the team. The most effective snipers, in my opinion, view their radios as being as important as their rifles. Although your rifle is your "life," the radio can be far more effective at eliminating the enemy. So, let's look at the different ways a sniper can be used in the scout/recon role.



This particular role can be engaged in at the same time as other sniper roles, and takes two forms, active and passive. In order to effectively accomplish this task, a sniper needs two tools; a map or grid of the area, and a radio. A pen, compass, and watch are also useful tools for the Scout/Sniper. On small fields, maps are not as helpful, but they can be very useful in larger skirmishes. I suggest using Google Earth or something similar to obtain a closeup printout of the area. You can then mark it off into grid squares (mark letters on one side, and numbers on the other). The commander and the sniper should both have a map. This allows the sniper to call in the location of the enemy with very precise referents when they make contact. You should include the following information when you call in an identification of an enemy position:

1. Location of the enemy force
2. Size of the enemy force
3. Movement direction and speed
4. Armament
5. Other important information

For instance, a call-in might sound like this:

Sniper: Hunter 1 to Alpha Lead, come in. Over.
Team Commander: Hunter 1, this is Alpha Lead, we read you. Over.
Sniper: Alpha Lead, I have enemy contact on Grid G4, Patrol formation, 4 tangos, moving at a walk, and traveling N by NW. They are armed with AEG's, and one springer rifle. Over.

A sniper should call in all enemy contact when tasked to recon, unless noise constraints prevent them from calling in contact immediately. Active identification of positions means the sniper is moving covertly around the map actively searching for enemy positions. Passive means the sniper has another task, but is calling in enemy positions upon making contact with the enemy (but not necessarily hard contact). If the sniper cannot call in positions immediately, or is under radio silence, they should mark down the locations on their map or logbook, and call it in later.



Much like in the previous role, the sniper should also stay alert for points that have strategic or tactical value. For instance, a spot might be ideal for an ambush, or might have good cover, or might be a suitable location for a forward base. A good airsoft sniper will know how to read the terrain to identify these types of locations. The sniper should mark or call in these locations. It is extremely useful for a squad to know good points to set or expect ambushes, for instance. You should include location, type of point, and landmarks to identify the point.



The above two tasks can help an airsoft sniper perform one of their most useful tasks: assault coordination. A sniper can use the aforementioned information to coordinate an assault or ambush. This may come in a number of different forms. First, you can help coordinate ambushes (or help your team avoid ambushes). This requires you to shadow the enemy force and guide your team into an ambushing or flanking position. You will typically stay in an observer position during the assault and provide precise target information, although your team may decide to use you for assault support as well. Second, you may help guide your team around the enemy forces, which may prove useful in capture the flag games, or if your team is heavily outnumbered. Knowing enemy locations and potential ambush points is often critical to the survival of your team in these types of situations.

A sniper or sniper team used effectively in an airsoft battle can turn the tide with good information. Stay alert for intel that can help your team. Recon is one of the easiest ways for a sniper to be useful to their team in airsoft, although it requires that the sniper not be trigger happy. When playing recon, it is best for the sniper to avoid firing their weapon at all. If you simply must fire, be sure to have a complete picture of the situation. There's nothing worse than firing at a lone enemy, only to find out that he wasn't actually alone. A recon element is, naturally, most effective when the enemy has no idea that he or she is there. If you give away your position, it is hard to predict how the enemy will respond and move, and that can lose you the game. But sometimes you need to take a more active role, or come into hard contact with the enemy. At this point, the sniper moves into their second role.

"The average rounds expended per kill with the M16 in Vietnam was 50,000. Snipers averaged 1.3 rounds. The cost difference was $2300 v. 27 cents."--A sign outside the USMC Sniper School.



One of the main (and, in airsoft, most glamorous) roles of a sniper is in directly eliminating the opposition. A sniper is particularly effective at this task because they are capable of delivering precise aimed fire at their targets, and making their shots count. This characteristic of sniping is part of what makes a good airsoft sniper one of the most feared players on the field. I want to go over the main types of targets that a sniper typically engages, and the associated tactics that help an airsoft sniper accomplish this task. There are three types of targets that a sniper typically engages:





Targets of opportunity are the most common type of targets engaged by the average airsoft sniper. In this particular account of a sniper's role, the sniper goes out in search of any enemy to engage, rather than hunting a specific target. A sniper may employ one of three tactics to help them eliminate targets of opportunity.

First, a sniper may choose to lie in wait for enemies to pass by. This particular tactic is often called "camping," and is generally very safe, but not the most effective tactic for getting kills, since most airsoft games tend to be fairly fast paced. Many airsofters also view this tactic as cheating or unfair. It is fairly easy to do, and requires two main skills--camouflage and the ability to pick a good spot. Camouflaging is heavily discussed in other guides in the Sniper Manual, so I will focus on what kinds of spots to pick.

A good ambush/camping point requires at the very least a clear line of sight for a reasonable distance so that you can take advantage of the extra range of a bolt-action sniper rifle. Other important features include location, in terms of probability of enemy contact (PEC), cover, elevation, and exfiltration routes. For instance, a good ambush point would be one that overlooks a game trail in a heavily forested area, or another area with a lot of brush or other vegetation (such as a riparian zone). Elevated areas open up a wider range of shots, and permit longer range shots. Cover, such as fallen logs, rocks, bushes, etc, can also be important if the enemy returns fire, or is trying to discover your location. Finally, you should have at least two routes to exfiltrate the spot, preferably under cover or otherwise hidden from enemy view. It is critical to keep your location hidden. Okay, so what happens when you make contact with the enemy?

You want to be very sure before you open fire that you have a good idea where other enemies are. You don't want to open fire if a patrol happens to be nearby. Avoid taking more than 5 shots before relocating. You probably won't be able to hit too many more guys after the first shot or two, and they'll be actively looking for you. Retreat discreetly, and move to a different position, and try to take them under fire again, preferably from the flank if possible. At this point, we move into the second method: stalking.

In a stalk, you want to be aware of the position of your intended target, and try to take them from the side or behind, while being cautious to avoid other enemies that may be around. As always, plan out routes of escape, and find the best cover you can. Often times, you may need to rely heavily on your camouflage.

Finally, you can use your radio and coordinate an assault to eliminate the targets of opportunity. It's not glamorous, but it's effective, and safe for you.



This sort of role is typically only used in scenario games. In this sort of game, you are directed to infiltrate enemy territory and eliminate a specific target, usually for points towards the win, or something similar. The target may be a VIP, a “commander,” or sometimes an object, among other things. This sort of task requires the sniper to infiltrate enemy territory by stealth, and relies on the traditional skills of a sniper. You should all be familiar with this sort of task, as it’s common in most sniper movies and games and such, so I won’t discuss it much. As in laying an ambush, plan out your extraction route, and be sure you have a plan to deal with the inevitable enemy response to your shot.



Enemy snipers, if they're good, pose a serious threat to your team, so you may be called upon to hunt down another sniper. Chances are they are just as good as you, so you'll have to use a variety of tactics and tricks to win a sniper duel. Where possible, rely on coordinating assaults and cover fire to aid you in your battle, but remember that the other sniper may well do the same thing. As a counter sniper, if you stay hidden, you have the advantage that the other sniper probably doesn't know that you're hunting them. That will prove to be key.

One thing that you should remember is that your position is everything. When countersniping (or when being hunted by another sniper), if you give away your position, you will probably end up getting shot sooner rather than later. The ability to read the terrain is absolutely essential to countersniping. If you have a good read for where youwould be to ambush your team, you can have a pretty good idea of where the opposition’s sniper might be. Where possible, try to get elevation on the other sniper as well. I once held off a coordinated assault for over an hour because I held the high ground. In fact, if you’re under attack by a squad, see if you can make it to a steep hill. They’ll have to slow down to advance up the hill, there won’t be as much cover typically on a hill for them, and you’ll be able to outrange them. It’s pretty much like shooting fish in a barrel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O39t7jmZgW4).

Also, when hunting another sniper (or when being hunted by one), set up decoys. A stick sticking out of a bush looks a lot like a sniper in a ghillie, and can draw the shot that will give away their position. Avoid firing more than a few shots from any location, as the more you fire, the more likely your opponent will be able to figure out where you are.

The ultimate goal here, of course, is to figure out where your opponent is. Once you do that, it becomes a stalking game, and if they don’t know where you are, you’re probably going to win it. Okay, so let’s talk about the final role of a sniper.



Squad fire support basically utilizes the sniper in a DM role. When playing this sort of role, you stick with your squad and engage the enemy from farther ranges with precision aimed fire. When choosing targets, aim for people that look like they’re giving orders (hit the leadership first), enemy snipers or DM’s (the scopes are usually a dead giveaway), people that look particularly experienced, and anyone showing initiative. Focus fire on the flanks of the opposition to prevent them from flanking you. You want to get them to cluster together so you can eliminate them more effectively.

The squad fire support role also requires the use of the sniper in the MSST role. That is, you move rapidly around the battlefield, hitting cadre (leadership) and the most experienced players where possible. The key to this strategy is speed. You want to roll in, take out as many key targets as possible, and roll out again before you get bogged down. You never want to be in a position where you’re pinned down or trading shots. By the time they start shooting back, you should be somewhere else entirely. This type of tactic is typically very effective in airsoft, and breeds a lot of confusion among the enemies.

Although you’re moving quickly, you still need to plan ahead. Keep to cover, and protect your position where possible. In this sort of role, you don’t want to be wearing a ghillie suit, since it will only slow you down. You also don’t want to stand out. Instead of using the surroundings as cover, you use your fellow teammates as cover, as it were, by having the same general appearance as them. You want to look like just another player, but because you’re engaging with precise fire, you serve as a force multiplier for your side. Essentially, you’re using anonymity as camouflage.

The final way you may be used in fire support is during assaults, especially on bases and during urban combat. You want to find a location with some cover, but with as clear fields of fire as possible, preferably with elevation, where you can put as much of the target site under fire as possible. Then, when your team assaults the place, you can support them by eliminating threats as they appear, or otherwise warning your team. A sniper, obviously, is useless in CQC, but you can still oftentimes support your team with precise fire from various points around the skirmish site. In this role, moving around is less important, since your enemies will have more immediate threats than you. In this role, you provide cover fire and intel, and serve entirely a support function.



Random links:

http://groups.google.com/group/asgar
http://airsoftsniper.darc.net
www.snipercentral.com
www.snipersparadise.com
www.snipercountry.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airsoft
http://www.renegaderecon.com/article_details.php?id=54
http://www.airsoftretreat.com/manual/index.php
www.mechbox.com
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/lib...policy/army/fm/
http://www.airsoftsniper.co.uk/
http://www.airsoft-news.eu

The Best Threads:

The Ultimate MP001 Modifications Thread: http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/index.php?topic=23301.0
The Ultimate BAR-10 Modifications Thread: http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/index.php?topic=35488.0
UTG M324 Teflon Mod Guide: http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/index.php?topic=13771.0
Shortdog's Shooting Guide: http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/index.php?topic=2750.0
Snowwolf's Sniper Guide: http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/index.php?topic=26400.0
Blackjack's Sniper Guide: http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/index.php?topic=368.0
The Complete VSR-10 Thread: http://www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/forums/inde...showtopic=87259
The Complete Tanaka Thread: http://www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/forums/inde...showtopic=92415
The Complete Ghillie Thread: http://www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/forums/inde...howtopic=102004
The Complete APS-2/Type 96 Thread: http://www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/forums/inde...showtopic=87298
The Definitive KJW M700 Thread: http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/index.php?topic=6958.0
KJW M700 Threads from ASR v.2: http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/index.php?topic=4775.0
Dusk's Upgrade Guide: http://www.airsoftretreat.com/oldforums/to...9;s,vsr,upgrade
The L96 Guide: http://www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/forums/inde...showtopic=98702
VSR-10 Pin Removal guide: http://www.airsoftforum.com/board/VSR-Cylinder-Pin-Removal-t39751.html



This post will be dedicated to answering the multitude of questions that may arise when/if your gun breaks. I ask the other experts to help me answer the questions.

Q: My gun (especially for the VSR and it's clones) is slam-firing.
A: This can have a number of different causes.

First, make sure your spring guide stopper is seated properly, with the nub of the spring guide fitted to the indentation in the spring guide stopper. If not, it may force the piston up and off of the piston sear.

Second, check the springs. If the piston sear spring has slipped or broken or worn down, it will no longer push the piston sear up with sufficient force to engage the piston. Similarly, if the trigger spring has slipped or broken or worn down, it will not be able to properly engage the piston, and the gun will slam-fire.

Third, make sure the sears and piston are in good condition, and not worn down or broken. If you see damage, replace the part.

If these do not help you fix the problem, send me a PM.

Q: My gun is firing erratically.
A: This problem is almost certainly due to a hopup issue. First, make sure that the hopup bucking has been thoroughly cleaned, and is not greasy. A greasy bucking will ruin your accuracy. Also clean the barrel. Make sure the hopup bucking and the rest of the hopup are aligned and installed correctly. Be sure that you're using heavy enough ammo. If you're not using at least .28's, that's certainly contributing to the problem. If you don't have a tightbore installed, that's something else you should take care of. Wide inner barrels will not be very accurate. If none of these steps fix your problem, it's probably shooter error, either because you're slapping the trigger, anticipating the shot and jerking, shooting unstabilized, not using proper breath control or body position, not paying attention to the wind, or some other issue.

Q: Can you explain what all I need to clean in the hopup, and should I lube it after cleaning it?
A: This isn't exactly a common question, but it does ask me to address an issue I didn't explain in great detail in the maintenance guide. This is more or less common sense once you think about it really carefully, but it's not something you commonly think through in that kind of detail.

Short answer, you want to clean and wipe down everything, but do NOT spray more lube on afterwards. That will ruin your cleaning job. Here's why. The hopup rubber works by creating friction against the bb, causing it to spin up. Grease works to REDUCE friction. That's obviously at counter-purposes to the proper functioning of the hopup. More, if the grease is even slightly irregular, it will cause irregularities in the friction applied to the bb, thus causing it to spin unpredictably.

The rest of the hopup doesn't really need to be lubed, and all it does is degrade your teflon job on the hopup bucking (assuming you redo it each time you maintain the rifle, which I recommend) and make it easier for the barrel to wobble around, which is also bad. So you clean it all out.

Now, if you're REALLY thinking about it, you'll point out that the other main reason for silicone spray is to protect your rubber parts, and you don't want your bucking degrading. However, if you've cleaned your cylinder correctly, using a minimal amount of silicone lube (pure), every time you fire a shot, some is going to spray out the nozzle into the hopup. Of course, you don't want this to be a lot, as that will ruin your cleaning job. But if you've been suitably minimalist, it will evenly coat the bb AND massage it in by the mechanical working of the gun, thus keeping it flexible where it needs it most. Of course, it will probably still be too much over time, and you'll need to clean the bucking again, but that should fit in the course of your regular maintenance schedule.

Q: What gun should I buy?
A: Read through the Buyer's guide earlier in this article.

Q: How can I upgrade my gun?
A: Read through the Upgrade and Modifications guide in this article.

Q: My gun has a stiff bolt-return (usually post-upgrade). How can I fix this?
A: Here's a little diagram to help explain what's going on:



When you install a stiffer spring, you may find yourself with a stiffer bolt return. This is most likely due to the spring guide stopper not meshing correctly with the spring guide, causing it to force the spring guide against the spring and piston. When the piston is cocked, the upwards pressure from the piston presses the piston against the cylinder, and creates extra friction, thus causing that stiff bolt return. When you fire the gun, of course, that upwards pressure vanishes, and so the piston is able to move normally.

You can fix this problem by doing two things--1, you need to lube the inside of the cylinder with silicone oil or teflon lube. You also should lube the OUTSIDE with teflon lube or petroleum jelly, or something similar. Next, you need to shim the spring guide stopper. Either you need to remove some at the top with a file, or else you need to shave a bit from the bottom L, or else you need to add a bit at the top so that it doesn't go in as far. This should address the stiff bolt-return. It may just require lubing.

Q: My gun has lost at least 100 fps. What's going on?
A: More than likely, you haven't been maintaining your gun regularly. Your O-ring/piston cup has shrunk, and lost seal. Compression of the spring will not cause this drastic of a FPS loss unless you've left it cocked for months. Soak the o-ring or piston cup in kerosene or silicone oil overnight, and that should address your problem.

Q: How do I do the compression test?
A: Disassemble the gun partly until you have the receiver and cylinder separated from the outer barrel and stock. You want to be able to access the nozzle, but still be able to cock it. Cock the gun, press your finger tightly over the nozzle to create a perfect seal, and fire. The piston should move forward slightly, and then stop until you release your finger. If it moves forward slowly (or quickly), or if you hear a leak of air, you have a compression issue. You need to either expand the O-ring, as described above, or else put teflon (PFTE) tape on the cylinder head threading.

More to come.

This post has been edited by The Crimson Falcon: Apr 8 2008, 12:25 PM

One more addition--disassembly guide to the MB01 and MB05 (UTG L96 and the WELL G22):

The first step is to use an Allen wrench to loosen the set screw that holds the outer barrel to the receiver.



This will allow you to unscrew the barrel from the receiver, as so:



Okay, so we’ll start by getting to the hopup. You’re going to need to use a Phillips screwdriver to unscrew the metal part that helps the magazine feed.



Then it should just pull off nicely.



Removing the barrel can be pretty tricky. You can either remove the muzzle cap (which appears to be glued on), or else just shake the barrel until you get it out. This will allow you to access the hopup unit.



You’ll notice a couple foam barrel spacers, which are really stupid. I recommend wrapping some duct tape around the barrel to the diameter of the foam spacers, which will hold them in position and reduce barrel vibration as well. You can then slide down the brass ring if you want to inspect the hopup. It’s a modified v-hop with the nubs in the middle of the arm, and the prongs are a bit too close together for optimum performance (about .2mm), but it’s still a decent enough hopup. Here’s a shot of the arm:



The barrel is made out of mid-quality brass, is not crowned, but fortunately is a tightbore, with an inner diameter of 6.04mm. It is identical to the MB01 barrel, which means it will take DBC 6.01mm Warrior 1 barrels. Still, the stock barrel, when properly cleaned and polished, works quite well.

Okay, so lets turn to the receiver and bolt. To access the cylinder, you’re going to have to remove the trigger mech. You need to unscrew two Phillips screws, one on each side of the trigger mech, which made out of plastic, sadly.



Next you need to remove the spring guide stopper, by pulling down on that curved piece:



This will allow you to remove the trigger mech. The trigger mech is held together by 3 Phillips screws with a nut on the other side, and the safety can be removed by unscrewing two more screws.



The design is actually pretty similar to the design of a PSS10 zero trigger, as you can see. Okay, so now we can get at the cylinder.



The cylinder head is threaded and made out of brass, and can be opened. An easy way to open it is to put in an Allen wrench to provide extra torque:



Once you get that removed, you can take a closer look at the internals. The piston has a nice o-ring, and has a rubber silent dampener on it as well. The piston and o-ring are both made out of durable nylon fiber.



As usual, if you want to get some increase in power, you can add a spring spacer. The cheapest and easiest way to do it is to toss on a strip of duct tape, making sure that it will still fit inside the piston.



You can also get an upgraded spring guide. A member of ASR, 9Battousai, makes some nice quality parts, and sent me one with a built-in spacer. It didn’t quite work properly because the bottom disc was too thick, but he plans on amending that problem, and in any case, I should be able to get it to work by sanding it down a bit.



One tip for reassembling it. It’s a real pain to get it back together with a spacer on there, so put a screwdriver through the nozzle of the cylinder head, and push the piston down (you won’t hurt it) so it won’t push the cylinder head off when you’re trying to screw it on. It’s still hard, but doable that way. You definitely will want to wipe off the copious amounts of grease that cover everything, and replace it with pure silicone oil or teflon lube. The spring will pump out about 450 fps with .2’s stock, and 470-500 with a spacer. Teflon taping the cylinder head threads doesn’t seem to be effective, although the other two forms of the teflon mod work fine. Remember to use some Elmer’s glue to coat the teflon tape (and to stick it on initially), and it will last much longer.

This post has been edited by The Crimson Falcon: Apr 8 2008, 10:03 AM

Wow, thats all I can say, wow. Pin please? This is definitely one of the greatest threads I have ever seen. Thank you so much, this will help ALOT with everything. Three cheers for TCF, the airsoft-sniper-g0d.

I think this is the most massive compilation of sniper and sniper rifle information I have ever seen. I mean do we really even have to ask for this to be pinned. When I get the time I'll make an attempt to read the whole thing. Thanks for the highly detailed and helpful guide TCF.

You're welcome. I hope to be able to keep updating my posts, although I think there's a time-based thing that prevents that, since I hope to update the FAQ and the Buyer's guide, as more guns come out. This has been out for a while, but I didn't port it to ASF for a while since the pic limit is a pain. I suppose I should mention that this is a 56K killer in the subtitle though, eh?

lol...

yaa
nice post!
WE SALUTE YOU

I'd like some help figuring out what to add to the FAQ/Troubleshooting section. Hint hint snipershot, I know you get a lot of questions too... I know the answers, I just need to know what common questions there are. Questions about ammo and such are included in the main body of the guide.

Oh my garsh. Wow a long as time post , this is definatly getting pinned best guide I've ever seen

This post has been edited by jdawg0492: Apr 8 2008, 09:10 PM

Yes, very good. You get 24 hrs to edit your post, after that it's gone. If you would like me to edit in things for you when ever you want, just contact me with the info, and where to put it. Nice guide, This will definitely get pinned.

Hey crimson falcon, do u have any good videos of u sniping?

An I have a question about my bar-10. I took it apart and cleaned it and added a km head barrel and when I put it back together I have to press extremely hard and mean extremely hard to get the magazine to lock in. Any suggestions on what I did wrong?

Speedy, you may just need to file down the end of the mag catch a bit. That's a pretty common problem. When you press the button, the catch should retract all the way into the stock. If it doesn't, make it so it does.

In my hop-up in my UTG M324 Gen.3 , it came broken from the factory. When I turn the hop-up all of the way up, the bb's curve down really badly. Could someone take some pictures on how a correct hop-up looks like so I could see what is wrong with mine??


Thanks,
-m4

Lets try not to clutter this amazing topic with questions.

I don't vote pin. This deserves to be in the library.

Absolutely amazing TCF, you continue to impress me.

this DEFINATELY needs to be pinned I say that it is THE BEST sniper guide on ASF and has all of the data compiled from anywhere, I don't know if you guys are gonna pin it but I am bookmarking it on my pc

I'm glad you finally brought it over here TCF. I read it on another sight.

M4, your bucking is probably greasy. Have you cleaned it yet? Try cleaning it carefully and washing your bb's, and tell me what happens.

I also have some more content; gotta see if I can edit it in.

-edit- Nope. Aimfor1337, please edit this into the FAQ:

Q: What does the M-XX0 designation mean?
A: The designation stands for Meters/sec. Hence, an M120 shoots at 120 fps with .2g bb's. The following chart should help you figure out what springs produce what fps.

Spring FPS
M80 262.47
M90 295.28
M100 328.08
M110 360.89
M120 393.70
M130 426.51
M140 459.32
M150 492.13
M160 524.93
M170 557.74
M190 623.36
M210 688.98

This post has been edited by The Crimson Falcon: Apr 15 2008, 10:00 PM

That is a great spring rate guide and should be seen!

One of the few threads I am bumping due to the uprising of bar-10 question threads...

What spring is in the UTG m324 Gen 3?

most likely between a 110 and 20

Does this refer to Laylax springs, PDI springs or both? cause im looking into getting a 140 PDI if its the same as a 140 laylax(which I don't think they make)

Wow! This is the most complete guide I've ever seen on anything!

And this:


is the best analogy I've read in a while.

Awesome job, but you may want to change that to 120 Mps, not fps.

Thank you so much. This is so helpfull. It answerd all my questions.

This is awesome it has helped me alot and answered all my questions.

Way to rank post.

Anyways, this thread deserves to get bumped since many people are asking the same questions over and over again.

This post has been edited by Cynical Stat: Jun 9 2008, 08:49 PM

O

This post has been edited by snipershot: Jun 9 2008, 11:03 PM

that is absolutely amazing great guide!

Thanks. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about anything in the guide, or if you want to debate sniper tactics or something. This is all just based on experience.

Excellent guide. I now know how to disasemble and fully clean my Mk96. Thanks so much.

Wow thats the best sniping guide ive ever seen lol

and exactly why isnt this pinned?