Quoted from "CobaltRose"

Yeah it's the used one, but the funny thing is that after I set it down to go get dinner, it was working fine. Fuckin' thing's gotta be demented or some shit.

You could try cleaning the contacts out with some denatured alcohol on a cotton swab. If the optic was sitting for a while in a humid environment they could have gotten fouled, especially if the battery wasn't installed for a length of time.

Used to do that at the surplus store with the demo optics. Some salesmen were really bad at leaving sights on after showing them and we were going through batteries like mad, so we started putting them in the case without batteries and using one battery between them all.
If a sight sat in the case for a long time without being demoed, sometimes it'd be a little fiddly from dust getting in there or what not, so we'd denature it and it'd be back to 100%.

Quoted from "iota-09"

Quoted from "DeathOfTheDodo"

Where do you get TM guns from? I've been trying to hunt down the FiveseveN for ages.

Tokyo Marui FM 5-7 (Five-seven) - Buy airsoft Gas Blow Back Pistols online from RedWolf Airsoft

don't know if they ship to canada though.

fyi for anyone looking at a 5-7

do NOT get the CO2 Marushin 5-7. You might see it stamped under the Cybergun brand for trades, but any CO2 powered 5-7 is Marushin

They're garbage. The slide lock is made out of pathetically cheap pot metal - I fired about 8 magazines in my backyard and it's broken already.
The recoil spring has a terrible seat/spring guide, can frequently get crooked and lock the slide from actuating properly
And the hop up feed lip is made out of an incredibly cheap plastic - mine deformed already and won't feed properly

good luck with warranty with them being overseas, not even most stores are willing to deal with it.

Biggest waste of money I ever spent. Only good thing I got out of that pos pistol was that I wanted a 5-7 and should buy the TM overseas (was my first overseas gun purchase, redwolf made it easier than I feared)

Ok, so I'm back in my "totally gonna do it" mentality as far as airsoft goes. I've been here before, gotten as far as buying guns, then was always really upset with the quality/design and ended up selling/returning the gun and walking away, hands in pockets, muttering to myself.

Best I had so far was a WE-Tech PDW GBB, and I liked the gun's function and performance but I didn't like the magazines or build quality. One mag got chipped falling off my bed onto carpet, and they were really heavy. I figured I'd inevitably drop one on concrete when playing and break it, even if I made a point to pull out by hand and place in a dump pouch, so I didn't like the idea of having to be really mindful of the mags. The gun was much better, but the fit/finish wasn't up to par. I'm not saying it was bad, just didn't meet my expectations considering the cost.


I'm pretty sold on the Tippmann M4, and it can take standard AEG magazines. I'm not into the hi-caps or anything, even if a magazine has a capacity of, like, 80 I'd probably only load it to 30 because realism. Being loaded to 30, I'll be doing speed reloads where the magazine will fall on the ground from weapon height or even be tossed a short distance in the process, possibly being lost.
That in mind, who makes a good quality, reliable, but affordable magazine?
I want something that will resist breaking from being dropped or maybe even being stepped on, but cheap enough to go "oh well" if and when it gets broken or lost.



I also want a good sidearm. Has to be a 1911, has to be GBB (prefer CO2 but gas will do), has to be high quality. A friend of mine had a decent 1911, don't remember the brand, but the magazine started falling apart after a while. I know he paid around $100 for it, I wouldn't mind paying more for a higher quality piece.
Not as worried about dropping pistol mags, as being a sidearm I anticipate only really using it in a last ditch scenario. Out of ammo, caught in a reload, primary jammed, I'm kind of screwed anyway sort of situations.

Can someone steer me in the right direction here? There are so many similar sounding brands like KWA, KJW, KWC, etc, I can't make heads or tails out of it.

Quoted from "Watcher-45"

Can someone steer me in the right direction here?

Get a TM if you can, otherwise shoot for a KJW.

WE is okay, but I'd prefer KJW because they're TM clones.

Also, single-stack style green gas mags don't hold enough gas for the BBs they hold, I always run mine with realcap to make up for it.

EDIT:

KJW can also use C02 or GG, and I'd recommend C02 since you get more gas/mag that way even though I disapprove of the wasteful C02 cans.

Quoted from "DeathOfTheDodo"

Quoted from "Watcher-45"

Can someone steer me in the right direction here?

Get a TM if you can, otherwise shoot for a KJW.

WE is okay, but I'd prefer KJW because they're TM clones.

Also, single-stack style green gas mags don't hold enough gas for the BBs they hold, I always run mine with realcap to make up for it.

EDIT:

KJW can also use C02 or GG, and I'd recommend C02 since you get more gas/mag that way even though I disapprove of the wasteful C02 cans.

Yeah. I've got some 50+ odd 12 grams from my paintball days sitting in a can, but I still don't like the idea of needing a 12gram per mag, especially if one 12 gram will do several magazines. If you load up 5 magazines, you spend 5 12 grams, and if one 12 gram will shoot, say, 3 mags, that's 15 mags worth of gas spent even if you don't shoot a single shot. At least with gas mags if you load up 5 mags you only use 5 mags worth of gas...

But I could see getting at least one CO2 mag to burn down my 12gram supply...


What about KWA? Seems like they are more in line with KJW in price point.

Quoted from "Watcher-45"

Can someone steer me in the right direction here? There are so many similar sounding brands like KWA, KJW, KWC, etc, I can't make heads or tails out of it.

I've been really impressed with my Elite Force/KWC 1911 Tactical. Takes CO2, fairly efficient (earlier last spring I was able to get four mags out of one cartridge at ~50°F) and it kicks hard. Only complaints I have with it are the cheap paint and the magazines -- sharp follower, loading CO2 cartridges is annoying since you load them from the side and not the bottom like other CO2-powered pistols, and low capacity (15 rounds vs. 21 on my WE M&P 9 and 20 on the WE Hi-Capa that I sold a few months ago, but they make 27-rd extended mags for it now). For $120 the two-tone Tactical version wasn't too bad on price, but they sell a period-correct 1911a1 for $100. You can also probably find a Red Jacket model (same as the Tactical model except full black and no threads on the outer barrel) on clearance, if you don't mind being associated with a pedophile.

TL;DR would recommend KWC 1911.

Quoted from "Watcher-45"

KWA

A tier below KJW.

The externals are worse IMO and I wouldn't recommend them.

Quoted from "CobaltRose"

Quoted from "Watcher-45"

Can someone steer me in the right direction here? There are so many similar sounding brands like KWA, KJW, KWC, etc, I can't make heads or tails out of it.

I've been really impressed with my Elite Force/KWC 1911 Tactical. Takes CO2, fairly efficient (earlier last spring I was able to get four mags out of one cartridge at ~50°F) and it kicks hard. Only complaints I have with it are the...
...and low capacity (15 rounds vs. 21 on my WE M&P 9 and 20 on the WE Hi-Capa that I sold a few months ago, but they make 27-rd extended mags for it now).

I honestly never understood the infatuation with hi-cap magazines. In my opinion, airsoft is chosen over paintball for one thing: realism.

If you want to run around shooting at each other paintball and airsoft are both great options. Paintball has focus on simple gameplay like TDM or capture the flag, people can have guns that shoot blistering rates of fire and have capacities such that basically everyone running around the field has a 5 pound LMG. Emphasis on nothing but the game, really, all guns are basically evenly matched.

Airsoft has the look, the feel, the variety of armament, the ability to do reenactments, and the sense of realism. Why else use a replica M4? Why else have it be magazine fed? Why else have a plate carrier with spare mags and dump pouches and such? Why have any of that if your M4 can hold 200 rounds and is "reloaded" by a wind-up wheel? Just play paintball, have a purple gun that shoots 20 rounds per second, holds 200 rounds, and is reloaded via a plastic tube that holds 150 that you just upend into a reservoir.

If you want a hi capacity airsoft gun that you can hold the trigger down for 5 minutes straight and release a laser-beam like stream of plastic, get an M249. Don't use an M4...

So when I see a 27 round magazine as a selling point on a 1911 that mimics a standard Colt rail-gun single-stack, I can't help but cough a little. If you want a 27 round magazine in your handgun, you should get a Glock with an extended mag. My 1911 .45 in real life has a standard 8 round mag with 10 round extended magazines available. 15 round mags are available but are ridiculous and generally of low quality and poor reliability.
My 9mm has standard 17 round mags, but doesn't have the accuracy or trigger of the 1911 and that's the main tradeoff. As should it be in airsoft. You get a weapon for it's strengths and deal with it's weaknesses. A carbine will be more handy in general situations, but incapable of sustained fire. An LMG will be the opposite. And handguns typically are used as backups, and don't come standard with near AR capacity magazines...


Rant over, but that's my one major gripe with airsoft on a whole.

Quoted from "Watcher-45"

Quoted from "CobaltRose"

Quoted from "Watcher-45"

Can someone steer me in the right direction here? There are so many similar sounding brands like KWA, KJW, KWC, etc, I can't make heads or tails out of it.

I've been really impressed with my Elite Force/KWC 1911 Tactical. Takes CO2, fairly efficient (earlier last spring I was able to get four mags out of one cartridge at ~50°F) and it kicks hard. Only complaints I have with it are the...
...and low capacity (15 rounds vs. 21 on my WE M&P 9 and 20 on the WE Hi-Capa that I sold a few months ago, but they make 27-rd extended mags for it now).

I honestly never understood the infatuation with hi-cap magazines. In my opinion, airsoft is chosen over paintball for one thing: realism.

If you want to run around shooting at each other paintball and airsoft are both great options. Paintball has focus on simple gameplay like TDM or capture the flag, people can have guns that shoot blistering rates of fire and have capacities such that basically everyone running around the field has a 5 pound LMG. Emphasis on nothing but the game, really, all guns are basically evenly matched.

Airsoft has the look, the feel, the variety of armament, the ability to do reenactments, and the sense of realism. Why else use a replica M4? Why else have it be magazine fed? Why else have a plate carrier with spare mags and dump pouches and such? Why have any of that if your M4 can hold 200 rounds and is "reloaded" by a wind-up wheel? Just play paintball, have a purple gun that shoots 20 rounds per second, holds 200 rounds, and is reloaded via a plastic tube that holds 150 that you just upend into a reservoir.

If you want a hi capacity airsoft gun that you can hold the trigger down for 5 minutes straight and release a laser-beam like stream of plastic, get an M249. Don't use an M4...

So when I see a 27 round magazine as a selling point on a 1911 that mimics a standard Colt rail-gun single-stack, I can't help but cough a little. If you want a 27 round magazine in your handgun, you should get a Glock with an extended mag. My 1911 .45 in real life has a standard 8 round mag with 10 round extended magazines available. 15 round mags are available but are ridiculous and generally of low quality and poor reliability.
My 9mm has standard 17 round mags, but doesn't have the accuracy or trigger of the 1911 and that's the main tradeoff. As should it be in airsoft. You get a weapon for it's strengths and deal with it's weaknesses. A carbine will be more handy in general situations, but incapable of sustained fire. An LMG will be the opposite. And handguns typically are used as backups, and don't come standard with near AR capacity magazines...


Rant over, but that's my one major gripe with airsoft on a whole.

Agreed. I only run Midcaps over Realcaps out of necessity.

I've tried to convince my group to ban Hi-caps, but too many kids who just want to play paintball with nicer looking guns...

Hence the M32 to deal with said children.