Rusmil

HFC Spas 12 Shotgun Review

Since I started airsoft, I’ve looked at shotguns and always thought they looked nice but were novelty items and as such, £130 to pay for them was a little steep. However, having now played for quite a while, it’s nice to see the increase in pistol and shotgun games being run around the country where players can play with the “novelty” items.

However, one shotgun that has tempted me time and time again is the Spas 12. Iconic in it’s own (some might say ugly) special way, I’ve always toyed with getting one and since the release of the cheap Chinese shotguns over the past 2 or 3 years, I’ve held out for a Chinese Spas 12 clone. Eventually my patience has paid off!

I stumbled upon a Chinese replica on Airsoft World this week and ordered it. however, it will require some work as it’s a two tone see through plastic one which isn’t ideal! However, for the princely sum of £25, I could get it and then spray paint it black and not be out of pocket to much if it turned out to be rubbish! (NOTE – I can spray it black to mkae it look like a RIF because I am UKARA registered – If you aren’t, do so is breaking the law! Please follow the rules laid down in the VCR act to keep our sport safe!)

It arrived today and I eagerly got it out the box and I wasn’t disappointed.

Alright, the colour scheme and see through plastic was a bit pants. but then I knew it when I ordered it. Possible the fact the box shows a black one means that a black one is imminent but after a few years waiting, I wasn’t going to let a see through shotgun put me off! Not when Krylon or other spray paint will solve that issue!

Impressions

For £25 this shotgun feels pretty solid. It’s a mag fed gun, unlike the TM Spas 12 which takes shells. Also this only fires 1 BB at a time, compared to the triple barrelled TM Spas 12 but when this is £100 cheaper than the TM, you don’t expect as much!

The cocking action feels fine but isn’t to tough like some of the other shotguns I’ve tried (my mates TM M3 is a real pig to cock – I think it’s because my arms are to short to sit on the slide and aim nicely). The magazine is a little fiddly to load, it took a few minutes to acquaint myself with it. The magazine is actually the gas parts – you unscrew the gas parts and remove them. You then twist the retaining cap on the base back to it’s original place, pull the BB follower down and lock it in place (by clicking the cap back round again. Fill the mag then place back in gun (at an angle so the BB’s don’t roll into the gun!) and then screw the cap back and then press the plunger in. Phew. Not something you’ll want to do under fire but the mag apparently can take up to 60 shots so you shouldn’t have to do it that often.

To load and fire is standard fair – cock it and off you go!

Power seems fine but obviously it need to be chronoed at a site. As far as I can see, like other shotguns, it doesn’t have a hop unit. However, this shouldn’t be to much of an issue. There doesn’t seem to be any sling points on the gun (except the tiny slot on the hand grip of the gun) so carrying it might be an issue.

However, overall this seems like a very nice fancy toy that will make an appearance every now and then. One of the reason’s I bought it is because it’ll top of my Half Life 2 rebel loadout nicely!

Links

Airsoft World

Spas 12 @ IMDFB (Internet Moveies Firearms Database)

I am about…

I’ve been quiet over the last few months due to an operation. Anyhow, I’m back on my feet again and everything seems to be working as it should.

Over the past few months whilst I’ve been recovering, I’ve not airsofted and haven’t really done anything in regards to my kit. I have however, ordered some new kit. Firstly I’ve ordered myself a new gearbox. For some reason my Kalash AK74S has stopped working. No idea why, just died on me whilst I was at a site. I ordered myself a nice new Cyma gearbox. Unfortunately, I’ll have to learn how to solder as the gearbox is wired up for a normal AK74/47 with a full stock (and thus stock mounted battery).  I was after  a TM gearbox as I like quality and reliability of the TM gearbox but the prices in the UK for a full gearbox are extortion! I could almost purchase a new gun for the cost of a replacement gearbox! Something I almost considered!

My second purchase was a new face mask. I’ll be doing a review of this soon but it will have to wait until I get a proper use out of it. As you can see, it’s a chinese replica of the STALKER mask I posted about here. Hopefully it will provide protection for my teeth in woodland games where I really don’t want to wear a full face mask.

Other Hobbies

My other new hobby has also occupied my time and funds. I’ve recently started cycling again (though I’ve had to stop during the operation recovery period) as I bought a bike to commute to work. Thankfully, I think it was the best purchase I’ve made in the last 12 months! I bought a Carrera Hybrid bike from Halfords. However, I’ve not just stopped at commuting. I always liked cycling as a kid and used to cycle to college. This all stopped when I moved to Leeds for uni. However, it finally became a complete pain to spend 30/40 minutes walking to work everyday when I can do it on a bike in 10 minutes! So after the purchase I started cycling recreationally again, especially in the nice weather we’ve had.

Anyhow, one thing has led to another and now I’m a fully lycra clad cycling fan and have clocked up over 1000Km since I bought the bike (on Easter Sunday) and that’s not including my daily 6Km commutes! However bike gear isn’t cheap so it’s been eating into my airsofting funds!

I’m also moving house (in to a shared house with a mate) which has also taken up funds as obviously a deposit needs to be paid and first months rent overlaps with current house etc etc.

Unfortunately all of this has led to some unwanted kit and I’ve parted with my M23 Pioneer chest rig. Since I’ve had the SMERSH it’s not seen any use and for lightweight games, I’ve been using my sci-fi themed kit (which I have re-bought!). I also want to part with my Flora, however no one seems interested.

Computer Games

After my favourable of APB, I’ve only played it once since then and wasn’t as impressed with it. However I think this was because my team mate I ended up playing with seem more intent with letting his baby play and mess with the controls whilst he was playing (the kid kept coming over the VOIP channel and then he was told off by the parent for interfering).

I’ve picked up Battlefield Bad Company 2 again and been thoroughly enjoying it again. I see that BIG-Ranger has collected all of his award pins (congrats!) and I’m lacking seriously behind in terms of everything lol. I’ve been enjoying using the M136 rocket launcher as a kind of javelin – Firing it up into the air before having it land on a hapless victim.

So yeah, I’m still about, just struggling to post on here currently!

UKAPU

The UKAPU are an organisation set up to represent the UK Airsoft Players.

We already have UKARA but UKARA is a retailers association and we don’t really have a group to represent the players so this is where the UKAPU come in. The group is run by airsofters, for airsofters.

I signed myself up (£5 for a year) as I think a group to represent us players is something that we need in the UK. If we eve have to defend our sport from something like the VCR bill again, having a solid player base and union to represent us can only be a good thing. It will cement the fact that we are a sport or at least show people in power how many people do airsoft.

Anyhow, I urge you to check out the website and make your own mind up. Click the banner above to go there or use the address – http://www.ukapu.org.uk/

Tags: UKAPU

Chinese Repro SMERSH Webbing

However unlike other Chinese clone products, it’s no cheaper than the original!!

It’s available from Airsoft Buddy in the US but I really recommend you just buy the real deal as I paid about the same for my set of SMERSH.

Tags: Russia, smersh

Airsoft Arms Fair

I saw the news today that there is an airsoft arms fair being held not far from me in Coventry on 22nd May.

See the website for more details (Click the banner).

It look interesting and I think I’ll be attending for a look and see what it’s like. Might also be able to pickup some cheap kit (fingers crossed!).

Thats Life…

Well Fearful Silence and me don’t seem to get on… I’m beginning to think I’m a little bit cursed when it comes to this site! The first time I tried to go, it snowed. Second time, this happened. Anyhow, yesterday I came up to Leeds to meet a mate and today we were supposed to goto Fearful Silence.

Anyhow, we arrive on site and pay our green fees and then I put the battery in my AK74S and pull the trigger.Dead, nothing, nada, zip. Nothing from my gun. Something has gone wrong with the internals, the electrics I imagine as nothing worked. Was a pain. Very annoyingly I’d not brought my spare AK so game over and unfortunately all hire guns were out and I was forced to go home. Luckily (and to the eternal credit of the site), I was allowed my money back and headed home.

So another day at Fearful Silence scuppered!

This is my Kalash and I’m now beginning to think that these Chinese guns aren’t worth the money. It’s somewhat annoying and I now have to find someone to fix the gun (unless I try and fix it myself). I’ve been toying with getting a Sig 552 and I might grab myself a TM Sig.

Tags: Airsoft, AK74, broken, fail, fearful silence, guns

Grange Farm – 21st March 2010

Well it appears spring is upon us finally as yesterday was the first sunny days airsoft this year. Temperatures crept up and made it very warm running around as I was still wearing many layers expecting it to be cold.

All that can be really summed up from yesterdays game was that water is essential. At Grange Farm, carrying drink for during a game isn’t to much of a big deal because the games are usually short 30minute to an hour affairs but drinking during the breaks is very much needed. I forgot to take water yesterday and regretted it by having to purchase drinks all day.

The games yesterday were a good mix of attack and defend type games. The scorpion made an appearance and made a few kills which was great fun as always. The AK74SU came out and was used as the AK74S is still not shooting above 220fps. Need to find a gun smith to fix it as I’m useless with gearboxes and don’t want to break it more than it already is!

Tags: Airsoft, AK74, drink, grange farm, scorpion

Face Protection

When it comes to the eyes in airsoft, there should be no compromise. However, there are other features that should be taken care of but are often left out – teeth. When I first started airsofting, I used to wear shooting glasses for everything. As I’ve grown older, I’ve moved to goggles to fully protect my eyes and the same is happening with my teeth – maybe it’s because I’m now responsible for paying for my teeth care but I think I’d just prefer to not have the hassle of having them repaired!

Sensei Full Face Mask

I’ve always messed about with full face masks and never got on with them. Well I never got on with the Sensei masks like the one pictures on the left. These seemed to make breathing a bit difficult, made it hard to aim down the sights of the gun you were using and obstructed views. The mesh is very good as it doesn’t steam up but can be a pain in low light conditions and in very sunny conditions (where the light can reflect off the mesh and makes it blinding!).

I also find that these masks seemed to get very “clammy” and damp inside as the breath condensed on the sides of the mask and then either dripped out of the bottom of the mask or stuck to your face as the masks themselves are very close to the face. This made wearing them uncomfortable for longer periods of time (such as all day!). Soon after I moved onto the shooting glasses (once I turned 18, I moved to glasses as most sites have a full face mask policy for under 18′s)

However, since then, I’ve played a fair amount of CQB games and I’ve generally gone for a full mask at these games due to the close nature of contact. I did try one of the lower mask neoprene things but found them steamed my shooting glasses up and generally were uncomfortable.

Full Face Mask

I’ve moved onto a different style of full face now, a more paintball style mask. This is far better than the Sensei mask above as it allows for more air movement internally so it doesn’t feel as damp or clammy. It also allows enough air to ventilate round so there’s no difficulty breathing.

However as you might have gathered, it’s a lot bulkier and thus again it  prevents aiming down the weapon sights (of a normal AK anyhow…) As such it is a CQB/urban eye protection only.

Last game I attended however, I took a shot to the mouth and spent the rest of the game bleeding and having to sit out trying to get the taste of blood out my mouth. The neoprene face masks and shemaghs (that some people use) are uncomfortable and get damp. And vaguely importantly for me, the Russians don’t use them and would ruin my impression. However I’ve become a bit  disillusioned with my Russian gear – not that I dislike it (I love it – far better than most of the Western rubbish!) but I’ve realised I’ll never be a hardcore impressionist with my airsoft gear so therefore I’ve made some choice recently to replicate the Russian forces as closely as I possibly can whilst still keeping myself safe (in respect to eye wear), comfortable (in terms of webbing/footwear/face masks) and keeping it fun and cheap (I like replicating Russian forces but I won’t spend hundreds of pounds on kit to get it perfectly right).

In my mind, if I turn up and look reasonably similar to a member of the Russian forces, I’ll be happy. For example, there’s a guy at Grange Farm who turns up in DPM, a Ushanka and AK and obviously fancies himself as a bit of a Russian. I’d never be able to do that.

However this semi rant has been leading me towards when I’m considering to do about my teeth. I’ve toyed with things such as gum shields and they prevent communication which makes them pretty pointless. So when someone pointed this website out to me, I was massively impressed and I’ve sent them an email to enquire further.

STALKER Mesh Mask

Meshmasks.eu are making what can be described as mesh masks that replicate the neoprene masks. They seem to be low profile and breathable which is what I’m after.

They’re made in Russia and sent from Holland and I’m trying to find out how long it would take to get one made and sent to the UK. The pictured mask is a STALKER mask and is the one I’d be after. It costs €29 with €17 postage (TNT track and trace). A shame the postage costs so much but they need to know they arrive I guess so it’s money that’s probably worth it.

When they get back to me, I’ll serious consider getting myself one as I feel the cost of it will justify itself in preventing dental injury.

Part of my PhD research is looking at cost benefit analysis and it seems hard not to do CBA to almost everything I purchase now! Therefore a £41 face mask seems worth preventing a £100+ dental operation in the future and still be able to airsoft in safety, comfort and with fewer inconveniences than other face masks offer.

Tags: eye protection, face masks, protection, shot, teeth

New Airsoft Site – Stealth Tactical Airsoft

It appears a new site has sprung up in Leicestershire.

Stealth Tactical Airsoft is in Lutterworth, just south of Leicester so it might be worth a visit from Rusmil to see what it’s like.  The website seems to be lacking pictures at the minute but when it gets them I’ll be sure to check them out and see what it’s like.

Tags: Airsoft, new, site, stealth tactical

Taking Stock and Grange Farm After Action Report

As regular readers may remember, I got my Kalash AK74S upgraded over the Christmas period with a MOSFET and deans connectors. I got to use it in anger in the last week at the Grange Farm game in January.

I thought this would be an ideal time to give a few words on it and a quick after action report on the game.

Gun Performance

When I got the gun back I was happy with it however I got a bit concerned when I got it chronoed at the start of the day – it was still shooting ~220fps even though I had a new spring put in. This means that the old spring probably wasn’t the issue and I may have an air leak somewhere, either in the gearbox or in the hop unit. Odd as the hop seemed to be working fine.  Otherwise the gun performance was good.

The deans connectors increased the RoF. In fact, the site owner asked me what the gun was as he said it sounds like a beast and was very nice looking (due to the real steel furniture). The deans connectors improve the rate of fire by providing a large surface area and better efficiency for current transfer. Anyhow, I was happy with that and all my charging cables seemed to be fine for it.

The MOSFET is a nice addition. I didn’t realise the difference it made until I compared my 74S with my 74SU. It actually made an impressive difference. And since I bought mine, RSOV have started selling a MOSFET for the AK here. for the price, it’s a very good addition.  For those that don’t know, it essentially makes the trigger connection electronic rather than mechanical. It speeds up trigger responsiveness which is always a good option.

Game

The game itself was good – unfortunately no pictures as my camera wasn’t present. Getting to the site was interesting due to the large quantities of snow that managed to fall overnight – there must have been an inch of snow which made driving a little interesting! However once the M1 was reached, it wasn’t to bad and we eventually made it there.

Game was slow to get started as we waited for people to arrive due to the snow but we played a good few games during the day – the snow made it very wet and cold through the entire day. The snow melted about lunchtime but it hadn’t warmed up at all.

Games were quick and punchy thanks to the cold – however one game seemed to drag for a bit and we seemed to be taking the brunt of the enemy attack and seemed to be failing. And then just like that, it suddenly changed and the battle swung in our favour completely – I’ve no idea what happened but one minute we were losing, the next, we’d won!

Anyhow, it was a good day all round, if a bit chilly. The benefit of the Partizan I have is that it’s designed as an over suit (at least it seems like it), so I happily stayed warm by wearing some “civvie” clothes underneath to keep warm. And during the summer, I can wear just that to keep cool! I think I’ll be purchasing another set in the KLMK pattern to replace the KLMK suit I sold on.

Anyhow, another big thank you to Grange farm for another great days airsoft!

Tags: Airsoft, AK74S, grange farm, kalash, MOSFET