Airsoft Action - January 2021

armoury
VFC MK18 MOD1 GBBR
Okay, this may surprise some of you that
know me personally and know of my love
for the OPFOR role when it comes to airsoft
games but, like many of you, there is a small part
of me that still revels in the “OPR8R” cool side of
things! Although now I’m a bit older I find that the
OPFOR role suits me better, there’s still a big old pile
of Multicam and AOR1 gear in my personal locker
for those moments that I feel the need to be all
righteous!
I also have a quiet love for Short Barrelled Rifles,
or SBRs and although I own a number of full-length
ARs, for skirmish days a CQB-length AR, most usually
my L119A1 or HK416 D10RS, is still a solid option to
run out with when I’m not practising with one of my
AKs. I’m a great believer in becoming familiar with the
intricacies of different “platforms” and rolling over
the use of AEGs means that none of my beauties are
taking undue strain over time. Because of this I have
AEGs that are 10-plus years old and thanks to regular
maintenance and professional servicing, are still
running “stock” with only hop-rubbers changed for a
little performance “nudge”.
However, there’s another side to my airsoft which
is “training”, a subject that we’re currently having a
good chat about in the Airsoft Action Contributors
group; in fact there will no doubt be an article on this
in the New Year as this topic has really opened up a
very interesting topic of debate!
What do I mean by “training” and is this directly
applicable to “Sunday Skirmish Games”? The answer
is both “yes” and “no”. As I usually shoot “real” on a
weekly basis, albeit “paper punching” at my local club
and also work as Editor on PMCI, the sister publication
to AA, I’m usually on a range somewhere quite
regularly, so my firearms safety and proficiency needs
to be on point at all times. Although 2020 has been
somewhat different, it’s not unusual for me during a
normal year to attend courses in the UK, in Eastern
Europe and in the USA. I also shoot with the PMCI
USA guys when I get chance, so I need to be able to
hold my own amongst them (okay, I like to “fly the
flag” a bit when I can too!).
In strict airsoft game terms I’m not that interested
in “team training”, although I know that many of
you enjoy this immensely, however, I am ALWAYS
interested in learning new skills that will make me
more effective. I’m always happy to learn a new
skill or drill that makes me more efficient in my
manipulation, or enhances my accuracy! As an “old
guy”, it’s training on my skills and drills that often
keeps me in the game when you young ‘uns are hareing
about… Whilst we are not training for any given
scenario as the “pros” do, or indeed as a part of some
kind of twisted “evil agenda training regime”, training
is completely valid to make you a better, safer, more
accurate and effective shooter. This to me matters as
much in airsoft as it does in “real steel”.
So why do I train mostly with a GBBR and not an
AEG, you may ask? It’s a personal thing really, as I
enjoy the operation of a full-travel-bolt gas AR or
AK and to me it gets as close to training with a real
firearm as is possible. As, at the last time of looking,
I am still a resident of Her Majesty’s fine land that
means that even as a club shooter I am restricted in
the firearm models that are available to me, so the
“gasser” becomes even more important.
I believe the salient thing here is replication
of operation; we’re never going to get the same
complete action as a real firearm even with the very
best “gasser” and certainly nothing approaching
muzzle signature and true felt recoil. There’s also no
real problem to deal with in respect of heat mitigation
during handling either. I look for how the “replica”
works and if it performs in close enough a manner
to real as to make training with it worthwhile. What
I look for is not a replica to play airsoft with per se
(more on this later!), but one that will let me run the
majority of my manipulation sequences so I don’t look
a complete and utter useless twat when I shoot with
my friends in the USA and Eastern Europe! If all I need
to deal with when I shoot “real” is mainly muzzle and
recoil management, then it’s a bonus.
VFC FOR THE WIN!
Again (as many of you will know), my personal choice
of “trainer” is the VFC SR-16. In truth, the VFC SR-16
GBB hasn’t been designed and made for the mass
market, it’s been designed and made for those that
truly want a platform that operates exactly like the
real thing but that fires safe and simple 6mm BBs,
“…THE VFC SR-16 GBB HASN’T BEEN DESIGNED AND MADE FOR THE MASS MARKET,
IT’S BEEN DESIGNED AND MADE FOR THOSE THAT TRULY WANT A PLATFORM THAT
OPERATES EXACTLY LIKE THE REAL THING BUT THAT FIRES SAFE AND SIMPLE 6MM
BBS, NOT LIVE 5.56!”
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