To Snipe or Not to Snipe

[Troutzor]

Hi All,

I am posting this here because I am considering all options.

Its been some time since I was in the sniper game. I used to run a UTG gen. 3 master sniper back almost ten years ago. I never really learned how to do much with it tinkering wise, so it never shot more than 150 feet or so. It needed the usual replacement parts, spring guide, piston head and such. I took care of it, but never turned it into a monster, needless to say its long gone now.

All that said, this past weekend I had a few incredible distance kills with my DMR platform M16 SPR.  Now I find myself looking up POV airsoft sniper kill compilations on YouTube and I'm hungry for a sniper rifle. I'm looking to pull the old ghillie suit out of storage and go crawling through the bushes again.

So, what I'm looking for from the community is load out suggestions.  Things to keep in mind:

• Budget isn't a factor at this point, lets hear it all!
• I prefer guns that are prototypical, meaning they look and handle like the real thing (i.e. magazine well is where its supposed to be and magazines are the right size and shape.).
• Upgrade options are huge, I want to pimp this thing out.
• I'm open to gas or spring powered, all options are on the table, but I'm not really looking to make another AEG DMR at this point.

 
 
What in your experience has worked best? What have you seen that has blown you away?
 

[Khost778]

Novritsch uses a TM VSR 10 with huge success. Hes probably the biggest airsofter I know of, and is definitely the best sniper. Be sells upgrade kits for these on his site to upgrade it. There are clones too, but some cant be upgrades as much as the original. If you want to go for the original look, check out the SRS A1 Silverback. You said price want a factor, so this is probably one of the most expensive stock snipers you can find. Heres a link:
http://www.redwolfairsoft.com/redwolf/airsoft/Sniper_Rifles_Silverback_Silverback_SRS_A1_26_inches_Long_Barrel_Ver_Licensed_by_Desert_Tech.htm
I don't know about upgrades for it, but at least it stands out. I mention it because I want it so bad, but its $520. I believe TM vsr 10s go for half that and are known to be highly upgradable.

[luke213]

Well you've got a decision to make, the VSR10 based guns have their weird mag location. But they are the easiest to upgrade and keep running and by far the most aftermarket options. I haven't heard good things about most of the guns with the proper mag location, from what I understand most of them are still passing the BB's up a tube to the normal VSR like location which can cause feed issues.

Myself if I were in your shoes and wanted to upgrade and was buying new I'd buy a JG VSR10 g-spec likely. Then replace virtually everything in there with PDI for the spring, Action Army for hopup and most of the other parts. And I'd Rhop the barrel stock likely polished but maybe tight bore. That will get you going pretty well and cheaper than the TM.

It should be noted I like TM guns allot, my TM VSR10 G-spec has been excellent but it's old. If you had an old one with the non-crimped cylinder and money was an issue I'd recommend going the route I did. Which was using allot of stock parts replacing a few key components and so far it's been running well for 8,000 or so rounds.

Also keep in mind despite having longer range it's still not quite as good as the video's make it out to be;) Yes it's fun, but it's also a patience game, and can be frustrating. After all my work on my gun my biggest problem is wind, because the projectile is so light even running .43g BB's, wind effects the trajectory allot. Reading the wind, and either correcting with windage or tilting the rifle to allow the hopup to counter the wind is the toughest "skill" to learn. Also since the wind is seldom stable at least here, I seldom get a first shot hit. The first shot for me nearly always tells me the wind. Especially between me and the target where there might be a open area etc, so the first shot reads the wind the second shot is correcting and hitting. If you do it fast enough it's not too bad. But I will say lately I've been running my CA M16A2 which shoots almost as hot as my bolt gun or very close, it's very nice to be able to do the same two shot technique but with less delay between the shots and allows me to stay in the scope between the shots.

Luke

[Troutzor]

Thanks for the feedback.

External quality is a huge factor for me as well. I've owned so many lower grade clone AEGs(and a clone VSR10 at one point), when I stepped up to my first high end AEG I vowed to never go back.

I know in recent years companies like JG have stepped up their game in terms of QC and external build quality, but I'm reluctant to purchase from them because I've been burned before. I've seen a lot of new build designs from Well, that are very appealing to the eye, but again I'm not sure of actual quality. For example the VSR10 Extreme Series.
http://www.evike.com/products/50565/
Some of these appear to be hybrids between the TM VSR10 series and L96 series, so that seems like a gamble in terms of upgrade parts. I do like the location and the style of the magazine though. Well also has a number of new TM L96 clones too. Again, worried about the build quality.

I've never owned an TM so I'm not sure what to expect in terms of their external build quality and feel. I'd assume they're high quality in most of these categories. I wouldn't want to shell out more money for one if externally It'd be on par, with say Well, JG or Cyma, and I'd just be overhauling the internals anyways.

Any positive experiences with the gas systems out there? KJW? APS?

Thoughts?

[luke213]

Well I'm pretty happy with the TM vsr10 and I haven't handled the JG. However from guys who have owned both generally the JG is very close in quality as far as the parts you'll keep after upgrading.

I will say the vsr10 as a platform though doesn't scream realism. I'd actually say that about virtually all TM guns I've owned over the years. They are a great compromise between functional reliability and realism. You seldom find a TM gun that won't just straight up run out of the box and if you don't ruin it with poor upgrades it will stay running a long time;) But if your plan is to upgrade the JG I think makes the most sense.

Really there is realism and then there is making things more difficult than necessary. I guess if it were me I'd decide what's most important. Reliability for me is the most important thing followed closely by consistency. I want a gun that generally I can ignore and it's just going to work with minor failures over the years and I tend to build to keep that goal. So usually I'm not on the bleeding edge of things because I want to keep them running long term with the least amount of time and money invested after the initial build. I know guys that manage to overhaul entire guns on what seems like a monthly basis constantly looking for this or that. I find that tiring and expensive so I tend to build something functional then use it allot on the field and enjoy it. But that said it's two types of players. The ones who enjoy tuning and the ones that enjoy playing. I can see myself falling into both categories if I had the time but I don't. So I enjoy playing more.

And I'll say compared to my AEG's my vsr10 has been easy honestly. Not sure if it's the lower overall round count or the build. But generally I dig the simplicity of a spring sniper rifle generally it just works.

Take care
Luke

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

[Troutzor]

Those are some great points.

My problem is that I probably gravitate towards form over function all too often. I've overhauled multiple King Arms AEGs just because I love the external build quality.  I guess I'm just weird about it. I mean, I'm reluctant to upgrade to a PolarStar because I don't want an airline. I guess that's more of a "me" problem, eh?

[Puma1]

The FN Herstal A5m is what I'm currently working with.  The internals are absolute crap (Stock hop up isn't HORRIBLE) and will pretty much need to be replaced almost right away.  The piston, trigger sear, etc are all plastic and mine broke after 58 shots in my backyard.  I expected this to happen though, as many of the reviews on it say it's basically a wall hanger in stock form.

I picked one up because I liked how it looked and someone on the Airsoft Sniper FB page said it was 100% TM compatible.  So far I've only done about 5 minutes of sanding on a zero trigger to make it fit, everything else (Z-trig piston, New Inner Barrel, new Nozzle) have been absolute drop ins.

The external quality is actually pretty good for the price as well.  It's definitely better than the WELL series and seems to have a slightly better finish than the JG bar10 series.  All in all I'd recommend them as a base if you're interested in the M40 Sniper rifle look.

http://www.evike.com/products/49978/

[Troutzor]

^Puma1: A man after my own heart, looking at the load out in your signature--of glorious King Arms guns....

...Anyways, I have seen the FN A5M on the evike before, its good to have some feedback on the externals. Might be a great body to build into, especially if the internals are garbage.

Still real curious about the Well MB44XX series of guns. Those are pretty tacticool. Plus if they are actually, like, 80% VSR10 compatible, that could be a lot of fun. Again not sure of the actual build quality on those.  (I think wmy last Well was an MP7 AEP and everything metal externally on it eventually broke off, it was pretty junky, 5+ years ago.)

Example: http://www.evike.com/products/48511/

So anyone seen one of those in person?

As always, thanks for the feedback.

[Puma1]

I actually was able to handle a mb4405a (http://www.evike.com/products/55893/) and I'd have to say the external quality was only decent.  This is a newer WELL model which, with limited research, seems to have been made around the same time as the MB4411 type.   Compared to the A5m it was a bit more plasticky.

The mag placement lets me know right away that this gun most likely won't be compatible with a lot of parts due to its mag placement.  VSR systems typically have the magazine flush with the receiver and it's located a bit further up on the gun.  If I had to guess, I'd say that you'd be looking at some decent amount of modifications to even get it close to the 80% compatible mark you listed.

I hope I've helped a bit.

 Also, mods, sorry for the borderline necro.

[Snarf]

Adding onto your borderline necropost: a while ago I did some research into the Well MB44XX series, and for the most part they are all TM compatible. Not with the VSR system though; the internals are actually cloned from the TM MK96 series with the realistic mag placement. I almost went down the BASR path, but then decided to stick with my finishing my AEG projects first.

[Puma1]

Good call.  Thanks for pointing that out.

Even knowing this it's been my experience with ~ 5 Well VSR's and 1 Sr22 that the poor tolerances often lead to some issues later down the road when upgrading begins.  The Mb07 took a new hop up and trigger unit fine but it didn't work with cylinder parts because it was about 1mm too narrow. Then after spending 80$ for a new cylinder, the stock bolt handle didn't fit, etc. 

Even if you can find all of the right parts I'd still (take this with a grain of slat as i have no experience with the recent models) be concerned that something won't fit right.  However, should someone choose to go down this route I'd be genuinely interested to see if the newer WELL products are actually compatible with all aftermarket parts.

Thanks again for correcting me.  I should have done a bit more research before posting.

[kjones734]

If you are open to doing some custom fabrication. You will get the best consistancy and accuracy from hpa. You could do some minor modifacations to a vsr and put in a p* jack or a wolverine engine inside it. If you went this route you would eliminate 95% of maintence too. You could also eliminate the external air tank and hide it inside the stock since you will require only a small amount of air.

[Snarf]

The Mancraft SDiK is another option for BASR + HPA kits.