If It Ain't Broke...FOLLOWUP

A buddy of mine posed a question about this previous post, wondering if it was about him, since he asked me to do some work on a couple of fuckered up gear boxes.  This post did not apply to you. But it is based on a real event. Bear with me a little bit, and you'll see why.

A man bought a new airsoft gun, and hadn't put more than 100 rounds through it and decided he wanted some upgrades. It was taken to another gunsmith, who talked him into a bunch of upgrades, that in my opinion weren't needed. The parts never worked together and after a couple of months, the gun was returned to the man, disassembled, and looking like a mechanical puzzle. At this point, the gun was brought to me, with two different stories and a lot of extra parts and ripped wiring.

Easy, breezy, I thought. Man, was I wrong. Anything that could go wrong, did go wrong, Old Murphy was having a field day with the generous application of his law. I don't normally believe in curses or anything else this crazy, but I honestly believe this gun needed to be exorcised by a priest. Eventually, through a whole shitload of work that would have been unnecessary had he not wanted unneeded upgrades. The gun now works perfectly, but it was not without a lot of cussing and popping of Tylenol.

I refuse to work on that accursed piece ever. I don't care if I see it or it's owner again.

Not the gun in question, but this one was a pain in the ass due to no fault of it's owner.

Why I Love Airsoft

Back in the day (yes, I'm old enough to say it and not mean last year), the late '80s and early '90s to be exact, I was a paintball player. But it wasn't the game as it is known to be today. It was far more mil-sim. Tactical. Fun. I don't find speedball to be fun. But that's just me.

I eventually found airsoft and it was perfect for me, and I hadn't even played my first game yet. The guns, the gear, everything was perfect for me. But that first game, man, I was hooked forever. It's been a few years now and I have no regrets. Just like when I was a kid with my brothers and we had the bb gun battles. Safety was unheard of then, and I'm really surprised no one was seriously injured. But now, run around in the woods, have bb gun battles and do so safely. What more could one ask for.

So what else do I love about airsoft?

1. The people. They are the greatest. Some of the most honorable and fun people I've ever had the privilege of knowing. Many are some of the funniest people I know. And they play for the love of the game, not to stroke their ego or act superior to someone else.
2. Nature. Yep, if you take the time, you get to be outside, get some sun, or rain. Sometimes catch a little wildlife, and hopefully appreciate the up-close view of nature that we sometimes forget about.
3. Exercise. Yep, I'm a fat guy, so exercise, good.
4. Really sweet airsoft replicas. So badass they are nearly indistinguishable from real steel.
5. Equality. On the field, and in the staging areas, everyone is equals. We are all brothers and sisters. Regardless of our backgrounds, jobs, race, education, socioeconomic level, religion or sexual orientation, we are equal. We are all there for the same reasons, primarily to have fun and hang out with others that love what we do.
6. You can shoot people and not go to jail. This is one of my personal favorites. 
7. Did I mention the people? They're great. They are some of the most helpful and compassionate people I know.

These are just some of my own personal reasons. You may have more of your own. Feel free to add them. It's a game, meant to be fun, and who you are having fun with is a big component. So harken back to your youth, shoot your brother in the ass, and know that it's being done safely.

The Wisconsin Asshats - Operation Plague 2010. Voted best Zombie Killer Loadout.

If It Ain't Broke...

I know that you know how to finish the title, but if not, it goes like this: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Rarely is this more true than in airsoft. For the most part, an airsoft gun is pretty finely tuned. Alll the internal parts are made to mesh together and work in harmony.

Many newer players fall under the spell of higher FPS and they want to increase the FPS with a spring change before they ever fire their first round through their new acquisition. Now there isn't anything inherently wrong with this, but once that gearbox is opened, any warranty is voided. In addition, once any part is changed internally, you run the risk of other parts not being compatible, increasing expense and frustration.

Personally, I would take an increase in accuracy and an increase in rate of fire over an increase in FPS. Accuracy for obvious reasons, no matter how fast the bbs are traveling, if they don't hit the target, it don't mean shit. ROF is pretty obvious too. More rounds equate to higher chances of hitting your target. ROF coupled with accuracy = WIN!

Some problems with the FPS allure:

• Heavier ammo needs to be used to stabilize the flight characteristics. Heavier ammo costs more and is slightly more difficult to obtain than .20 or .25 ammo.
• The most common way of increasing FPS is with a spring change. In most airsoft guns, you need to open the gearbox to do this, thereby voiding any warranty.
• Stronger springs will decrease the life of your internals and play hell with a gearbox. If the gearbox itself gets cracked, your repair prices begin to skyrocket.
• Your motor may not have the juice to pull your spring. Can you afford to have to buy a $100 motor, just to pull that $13 spring? If so, hats off to you. If not, well, you know.

Accuracy can be achieved with an inner barrel swap. This is an easy change most of the time and often times you can do it yourself. Just remember, the tighter the bore of the barrel, the more important it is to keep it clean. Just remember that inner barrels are not rifled like real steel barrels, so you can only do so much about accuracy. A tight barrel, tuned with the proper FPS and ammo weight combination can increase your chances of hitting your target.

Rate of fire can be increased most easily by using a battery with a higher discharge rate. A 9.6 or 10.8 can give you a much greater ROF than a stock 8.4. Lipos are a whole other subject I will more deeply address another time. Suffice it to say, they will beat the shit out of your gearbox internals, but ROF can be ridiculous.

In summation, enjoy your stock gun for a while, chances are it will do you good if you bought a high quality airsoft gun. Only then, after you learn the characteristics of your particular piece, should you look for upgrades. But if you don't know what you're doing, leave it the fuck alone. There's nothing like putting together and tuning a jigsaw puzzle that used to be a decent gun.

Parents, Kids and Safety

I thoroughly enjoy when young prospective airsofters come into the store and look and oogle the selection of 6mm spitters on the wall. They are the future of the sport, whether us that are long in the tooth want to admit it or not.

There is an interesting contrast between genders when the youngster is looking for his or her first airsoft gun. The mothers, while focused on the safety and cost to benefit ratios, allows the child to choose their own airsoft gun. The fathers tend to choose for the youngster, picking what he likes as opposed to what the child likes. When the kid is allowed to choose, the new airsoft gun does not get returned for not being liked. The gun that the father picks out many times gets returned and possibly exchanged, with the new airsofter being accompanied by the mother.

Another interesting contrast is the approach to safety by the parents. Mothers tend to be very focused on the safety aspects, injuries, force of impact, risk and how to play safely and avoid adverse outcomes. Fathers tend to ignore these aspects, one even stating that he knows all about guns and that he can teach his kid, arrogantly not realizing that some safety aspects are different between airsoft guns and real steel.

These are just a few observations and are in no way meant to disparage any gender, just putting out what I see on a continuous basis. With this in mind I have a few suggestions when easing the young'uns into the sport.

• Allow the child to choose the style of gun, with guidance and suggestions from the store staff.
• Make sure that adequate eye and face protection is provided for the child. If you want to be cheap with the gun, that's fine. Don't be cheap with your child's vision or teeth. That's just being a selfish dick.
• Ask plenty of questions of the salesperson. They will tell you everything you want to know, including local laws.
• Lastly, remember that an airsoft gun is not a toy. Even though sporting goods stores and big box stores market them as such, don't look at them in this way. There could be dire consequences. Treat them as you would a real firearm. Your child's health and safety depend upon it.
• Read the damn manual that comes with your new purchase. It will tell you all the basics of operation of the new airsoft gun. You would be surprised at what new questions can be answered just by reading.
• Treat any airsoft gun gently. It may feel heavy and badass, but they can be somewhat delicate. 

If we want the future of the sport to grow and grow safely, we should remember that it's about the kids, not the parents, but the parents have the responsibility to guide the child and help them become responsible and safe airsofters. Better yet, parents should become truly involved and play airsoft with the child. You will be surprised at how much fun it really is.

Bubba (left) and El Phantasamo at Operation Vigilance 5.

Support Your Local Stores

I love the deals that are sometimes offered by online retailers. Order $100 worth of items that we need and we get free ground shipping. Woohoo! I'll get my stuff in a week or so. And the prices are pretty good too. That'll satisfy the cheapskate in me. But when the new item arrives, it's unpacked and lo and behold, it is definitely not what was advertised. What to do? Call the online retailer or email them, but they say too bad, you're stuck with the lemon/falsely advertised item. Bastards.

But there's a local store, that carries at least the basics. Sure, they may cost a little more, but they're not able to buy in the mass quantities some of the online retailers can. There is the convenience, of getting it now, and not having to wait a week or so for it to arrive. You can satisfy that impulse shopping tendency. You get to see and feel the item to be purchased. And you get to talk to a real person. Usually a person that loves airsoft as much as you do.

Other hobbies have suffered because of lack of support for their local brick and mortar store, leaving the only option to be the online game of roulette. "Will what I just bought be a piece of shit?" Maybe. It is the same for airsoft. By purchasing locally, you are helping the local economy. That money will, for the most part stay local. Also, by supporting your local retailers, you have a place to meet, to discuss ideas and get your airsoft porn fix.

It's not only about dollars and cents. There are some intangible benefits to purchasing locally and supporting your local retailer, including but not limited to improving the sense of community within the local airsoft scene.

Just my thoughts for this fine, wet, morning.

Support your local Asshat!

Where Is Airsoft Going?

Airsoft is a game of honor and integrity, two values that are rapidly disappearing in real life interactions in this modern world. In the airsoft world, this has never really been an issue. Sure, there are always some that don't call their hits, blind fire and other such things. Occasionally they are unintentional incidents. But more and more often of late, they are deliberate acts by those I will classify as douchebags. There is another class of douchebag that I will address later on in this post and that is the Thieving Douchebag.

This past weekend there were some incidents at one of our favorite play fields. Each will be addressed.

1. Not calling hits - Ok, this one was last weekend, but I've seen the video, know the shooter (and his accurate airsoft replica) and you took at least 100 rounds and never called it. This uber-douche needs to be banned from all fields and treated worse than a leper. Assholes like you take the enjoyment out of the game. You deserve to have a mudhole stomped into your ass. Go play COD with a bot...you know you do.
2. Hot Guns - Most of our local fields have a fps limit of 400fps, excepting sniper class airsoft replicas. When you deliberately cheat the chrono and brag afterwards about having a 470 FPS gun, you're a menace and a safety threat. My solution is an automatic banning, and putting the word out by any means necessary that you're a fucking shitbag and deserve to be dragged by your testicles through the parking lot. For this I don't only blame players, but some retailers/manufacturers. They need to quit pandering to the dumb-asses who think fps is everything by selling guns that exceed safety limits and enter the realm of insurance liability. If you're not mature enough to play by established rules and safety precautions, keep your ass in mama's basement.
3. Thieving Douchebags - It takes a lot of balls to walk into someone's tent, or behind the counter at your local airsoft establishment and steal someones gear or guns. Yeah, some douchenozzle went behind the counter at our local field, while checking out some KWA pistols that were for sale and left with one. Unfortunately it wasn't noticed until later. A friend has had his wedding ring stolen from his tent during a larger event. And these are just two of the numerous incidents I'm aware of. Personally I'm pretty paranoid about the security of my airsoft stuff. The shit isn't cheap and I'm not independently wealthy. But those of you that are thieving little bastards are the worst. You deserve to be monkey stomped. Repeatedly. Playing airsoft is fun. Replacing one's equipment, not so much. 
4. Neighborhood Shooters - I know you want to play, but if you live in a residential, area and you're shooting up the neighborhood you deserve to have your stuff confiscated and perhaps having your wannabe badass in jail for the weekend. I'm not talking about shooting a target safely in your backyard, I'm talking about the dicks that shoot up houses, cars, etc. in a neighborhood. These actions are the ones that most negatively impact public perception of our sport. Fucking cut it out. Airsoft is already under attack in other states by those that are ignorant about what we are and do. Don't give them ammunition to use against us you little fucktards.

These are all things that negatively effect peoples' enjoyment of the sport, and public perception of us individually and collectively. I personally avoid these people like the plague, but they seem to be popping up more and more often. It is only through vigilance by those of us who love our sport that we can improve things in the sport and present an honorable and safe activity. It is up to all of us to make sure that we don't look or act like paintballers (not all, but enough that many of us airsofters use to be 'ballers and left for the more honorable pursuit.)

Operation Vigilance VI

It's almost time for Operation Vigilance VI, to be held at Apocalypse Paintball in Poynette, Wisconsin on September 3 & 4, 2011. It is one of my favorite events to attend each year, and the Wisconsin Asshats will be there in force playing for the Freedom Fighters.

Like I said before, it's one of my favorite events to attend. The only thing that I wish was different was that it wasn't held on Labor Day weekend. Sure, attendance may be better on this weekend, but my wife sure gets pissed about it, taking place during our family camping weekend, and I'm away trading plastic with others and not doing the family thing. But it is what it is. I'll still attend, and I'll bitch about the date as long as it's on that weekend, but I won't miss it, and neither should you.

This event flat out kicks ass. And it's for charity. Don't be a chairsofter, register, play and GET SOME!

Welcome

Welcome to Bubba's little contribution to verbage and senselessness on the internet in regards to the greatest sport in the world, AIRSOFT. There will be no filtering of my thoughts and at times you'll probably think I need to be heavily medicated. But hopefully you will enjoy the things I have to say.

Outside of my family, airsoft is my life. I live to play. I play to live. It's part therapeutic, some exercise and it's damn fun. Where else can you shoot someone and not go to jail. BONUS!

In real life, I'm a father, husband, web designer, airsoft retail consultant and airsmith for our only local brick and mortar store. It's a lot of hats to wear, but totally worth it. Bear with me and hopefully you'll be entertained and informed and perhaps learn a little about what makes Bubba tick.

Bubba, on right, at Operation Pheonix, Fort Riley, KS, 2011.
On the left is squadmate Shawn Miller of Augusta, KS.