new to airsoft? Want to snipe?

Warning: this is going to be several paragraphs long, I will make a summary at the end just in case your to busy to read the whole thing right now(AKA your too lazy)its cool. However if you think the info in the sumary is useful check ou the rest of the page.

Alright guys lately there's been allot of conversation about just starting airsoft/sniping so I will add my airsoft experience and why I did what I did. This really is going to be an auto biography so if you read my introduction just skip part 1. Hopefully some of the newer people(or older)can use this as a learning experience. Ok now that that little summary is done I'm going to start this frekin thang!
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Part 1, My Beginning
I started competitive (my term for professional) airsoft in the summer of 2005. I was lucky enough to have an airsoft store 5 minutes down the road, which was conveniently run by one of my dads friends. I had been playing backyard stuff for a little over 1 1/2 years. In this time I played a little paintball, but it was getting way to expensive for a 12yr old. Just like every other new person in airsoft I wanted to sway the battlefield with a single shot, I wanted to be inserted behind enemy lines and cause the gates of H,ell the open, I wanted to be a modern John Wayne or the tactical Terminator, the guy who could sprint through a forest and not break a single twig, I wanted to be pop culture's[/b] term for SNIPER. I only had 6 more months till i could play with the big boys(13yr old age limit at local field). I was soon seen at the airsoft store every other weekend. I would stay for a good 30 minutes just asking questions about airsoft, what it felt like, any cool shots the guys took, and how they all started. I'm sure the guys dreaded Saturday's 12:00-close shift, mainly because of me. After my 6th trip to the store I was ready to purchase my first gun; I had $312 dollars saved up from that last two years. I walked into the store expecting to go out and buy a spring sniper rifle and came out with a TM M4. In no way do I regret not buying that spring sniper. Heres why, In the hour and a half it took me to make my decision [b]everyone from the store told me to get an AEG. mainly because I was young and they thought I had no Patience, I thought I had enough patience to do anything(I had pretty good patience for my age). I had not idea what it meant to truly sit perfectly still for hours on end. I'm going to suggest that everyone who wants to be a sniper try it out atlest 1 time if they want to do it. I also suggest that you try out being a rifleman before you break the piggy bank.
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Part 2, My First Game
I'm going to shorten this part because its not really as relevent as the above...

Well I was pumped and P*** scared to say the least. What if I just dropped $300+ on something that I wont like. You know all the usual newbie stuff. In our first mission I got to do some recon work with my dad and another Newbie. I loved it, we did get a can opened on us 3 minutes after we got into position, but I LOVED it. Basically the game went on I had a great time but I was pretty angry that I couldn't reach some of my targets. This left a big whole in my thirst for airsoft. Luckily we came with someone from the airsoft team that owns the store. In the last game I got to use his Tanaka M700(gas rifle that retailed in the $450's back in the day). They set me up in a big tower in the back of the field with another sniper(stock TM VSR10) and a guy by the name of pops(65yr old support gunner). Well I sat in the tower for 30 minutes with absolutely no action, then we see a red armband(enemy team). The other sniper lets me take the shot(he said he was out of range). It was roughly 180ft to the target, this was nothing for the M700. On my first sniper shot I got a heart shot... Clean cold kill in real life... PO'ed Ref in real life, thats right he was a ref(marshal for you UK boys). He was wearing two armbands and I didnt get to see the Black(our team)armband before I shot. Pops yelled out an apology then lectured him about his lack of visible neutrality.

The game ended two minutes later, I had spent 35 minutes in a tower with no kills; whereas I got 21 kills with my M4. After that day I just looked for things to get some more range out of my M4. Screw sniping it was severely boring .
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Part 3, DM/Recon days
Alright at this point I had spent $150 on barrel/hopups alone. At first I got a Systema m4 length barrel(365mm). It wasn't exactly up to my standards so I dropped 100 something on a KM custom cut Barrel(563mm) and a KM SOCOM mock suppressor(silencer). Now I was getting some good results, I could hit a man sized target at 220ft with .25 gram BB's. This is a big thing as far as accuracy goes. BB weight is often a big misconception. Everyone thinks the heavier it is the slower (true but its not that big a difference), more accurate(extremely true), and it goes a smaller distance(not true at all, most of the people who say this have limited experience with different BB's/weights). I find that .25g BB's work best with guns that shoot above the 350FPS mark(chronoing with .2's of coarse). If your above the 400FPS mark then look into .3 gram BB's, atleast look into .27's or .28's if you don't want the .3g bb's.

Heres the way I look[ed] at BB weight. I'm shooting in the low 390's, when I use .25 gram BB's my gun chronos in the 370's range. most people on the field are shooting 300-350FPS anyways so I can still out shoot them(in most cases). Also remember that FPS is not everything. I was using a gun that shot 280FPS for 9months. I kept up with the guys shooting 30-400 by relying on my skills not my gun.

I ended up playing with a bunch of guys that later made the team SPEAR(for you AO guys). I basically learned most of the field tactics I use from two of the guys I played with most often(brothers who were part of a recon element in the US Army, with 13years of service they knew alot to say the least). By running with these guys I learned stuff that I would of never learned if I was a Sniper. I also learned about the Honer part of airsoft from those guys. I also learned where to step and where not to step, how to use peripheral vision, and of coarse everything needed to be known about correct radio communication. All of this would have been impossible had I started sniping from the start. Yes I would develop some skills in all the mentioned areas but nothing near what I developed running with the normal infantry(airsoft infantry of coarse). Being a DM was one of the best airsoft things that happened to me. I was feared more then the support gunner next to me just because I got to CHOOSE who I shot. Even if the enemy team didnt know it was me they sure knew it was a DM or a sniper that just took out their squad support gunner. I would highly recommend this role to players who maybe want to try out sniping in the future. It basically prepares you for what you need to know as a sniper. I got to do everything I thought snipers did(and do), most of my missions included early recon, point or 2 in line, long shots, and most of the time it was target Identification for me. You get alot of trigger time in between the other stuff too. Part of being a DM is acting like a normal rifleman. If you do decide to be a DM try to find someone who knows how to use you correctly(IE. recon and target identification). If they don't get it at first explain to them that you do more than just long shots. DMing is NOT the step under sniper, in fact its a completely different role. When your a DM you have to watch out for the 10-30 guys at your back as well as remain on task.
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Part 4, Modern sticks
I recently had the drive to start sniping, and by sniping I mean sitting in one or two places for a couple hours, not being a
Pop Culture sniper. First off I think everyone knows that you need patience to be a sniper. One thing that always gets me is people say they have patience, then go out and BUY a ghillie! I think it is almost mandatory to make your own ghillie if you want to be a sniper. Yes its going to take awhile but you will earn alot of respect from fellow snipers if you go with the DIY route. If you do decide to go with a store bought ghillie please do something to make it your own, try cutting some of the jute out and replacing it with foliage. Every piece of you sniper loadout needs to be tuned to your specific needs. An example of this: In most VSR rifles(clones included) you can adjust your trigger using a 1/8th allen key. You adjust for the length of pull and the force that it takes to pull(mines set at a very light 1.5lbs). Another example is, I only had a Molle vest and a paintball rig(the belt kind that wraps around you waste, it held 4pods and a larger tank in the back) to work with for my sniper loadout. Basically I just added Molle webbing to the sides(I cut off the Podd holders and cut them up to make the webbing). Snipers need to be totally self sufficient(real life and airsoft), so you need to know how to do alot of useless stuff(that is actually not useless). I ordered para cord(Army climbing cord, its only $7 for 100ft of the stuff) just in case I need to haul myself up a large hill to cut traveling time a little(Can Ohioins say Springfield field ). For some of you paracord is totally useless(Draven has a bunch of flat/rolling hills at most of his sites, so he wouldn't need paracord to climb the "little mountains" that you find here in Ohio). You need to know the ins and outs of your gun; you most likely wont hurt your gun by taking it apart(unless you do it incorrectly), just try to take it apart slowly the first few times until you get it down. If your bored on certain days(take today as an example, I wouldn't be typing this if I had something to do), go into your room(or another part of the house) and sit in a shooting position(with your gun), for 10mins. After awile you gain muscle in the needed areas so you can shoot without using alot of energy.

If you get bored easily think of something you can do in your head. I'm learning to rap with my spare time. If you don't like rap music make rock songs or plan you next move or memorize the map so you don't need to pull it out.

map skills are extremely important, unfortunately some people get it and others don't. I was fortunate enough to get it. I'm still working out some of my measurement kinks but Getting a Topographical map helps alot(the one that you see with the random circles everywhere). In the last game I played in(private game)I had two maps, one with grids and one with Topography marks. That way if I was on top of a hill and guessed I was in grid C7 and C7 was a basin I knew something was wrong.
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Part 5, Summary
Basically what I'm telling you is Being a dedicated sniper is not the only way to pull off some sweet long shots as well as recon missions etc etc. In fact most CO's don't use snipers as well as a XO(force commander, AKA SGT. or LT.) can use their DM's. I highly suggest new people to the game perform the role of a DM or a rifleman before they attempt to be snipers, who knows you might like being a rifleman or DM more then sniping. I'm building a DMR for those little urges that I know I will get in the Future. Airsoft is all about fun I guarantee you will have more fun as a Rifleman or a DM if your new to airsoft. If you want to get special assignments try hanging out with some vets and volunteering for stuff. You will be surprised at the number of CO's who just ask anyone to do something for them(in most semi or non milsim games atleast). Google your local area forum or website that has events posted for your state/region(ie. for me I would search 'Ohio airsoft', and look airsoftohio.com is the first link). If you do please don't stop posting here though .




Ok I'm about done, rember airsoft is all about fun. If you think you can do the sniper thing try DMing first. don't be afraid to talk to people either, if you don't how are you going to get plugged into the airsoft world?

If anyone wants to add posts similar to mine go ahead, I made this thread with the idea of helping newer people. i you want to share your story feel free, just make sure its appropriate and grammatically correct.

ahhhh done!

sticks

Amazing story.10/5 stars! I really do mean that...

I felt like I was bragging to much, pretty soon I;m going to edit it to make it more un story like and hopefully incorporate some stats.

sticks

GREAT ESSAY. . I enjoyed reading it somehow maybe because it dealt with sniping.

Nice.

I agree with getting an AEG first to get to know how the game is played and how it all goes. Then try playing a few game days using semi auto only. It puts you at a disadvantage in an open firefight so you have to be more stealthy and clever which are good skills for sniping.

If you really enjoyed it, take up the DM role and watch other snipers to obtain as many skills from them as possible.

If you really enjoyed that, then it might be an idea to take up the sniper role.

Jim

Quote :

I felt like I was bragging to much

Your not bragging at all. I hope you make some more stories involving you sniping!

ALL HAIL STICKS and I mean that. great story, really enjoyed the read.

Thanks for hitting on the influence of BB weight, a topic that is so misunderstood in AirSoft.

It is so true that an new player should start with an AEG, everybody wants to be the Sniper, and so few actually do the job well.

Why would you think you were bragging ? Shared experiances benifts everybody.

Trust sticks on the BB weights if your sniping .25 BBs curve like crazy.
Oh and if someone dose decide on sniper role read as much of this as you can helps alot!
http://www.airsoftforum.com/board/Tcf-s-Complete-Guide-t106772.html

And thats why I always reccomend getting a AEG when you are just starting out...lolz
NICE sticks...sticky it

Bah you guys are too nice . If anyone has a story about why they did what they did please post! I know some of you guys started with AEG's and some started with Sniper Rifles, I want to hear the whole perspective.

inferno350z wrote:

Trust sticks on the BB weights if your sniping .25 BBs curve like crazy.
Oh and if someone dose decide on sniper role read as much of this as you can helps alot!
http://www.airsoftforum.com/board/Tcf-s-Complete-Guide-t106772.html

Yeh at my last game I was consistently switching roles between DM and Sniper. I only got 3 kills with the VSR. However they were all at 200+ft, and my VSR chronoed at 383 so thats not that bad at all. I'm looking into those G&G bio .28's. If anyone has a site with heavier bio BB's that would be cool to know. I don't really need anything more than .3G I'm just worried the .28's are going to be just under what I need.

sticks

well just to add to the fun i started as a AEG noob player but i was smart had a JG m733 and it shoots fast but not accut so i was having to get withen 50ft to be in kill range then i got my JG BAR-10 and i was great with it. i was being more of a pop culture sniper but it was a big map so i get around the center an watch and if a saw anyone (with the jg scope it was realy easy to) o shoot and most of the time i get the kill 4/5 and they nerver know ware i was but with my m 733 i they know exacly ware i was. also you can use a sniper like a shot gun cock it 5 time and the bbs will go 100ft in my gun buy they spray which does work well
also i was aproking a 180 degree fort but i could not flank him without him seeing it was in a corner but i could see his head so i got the kill but with my m733 i could never had done that so if you want to be a pop culture sniper and more like a real one you can have both just you to be smart and silent

Very long sentence Jman but I get at what you are saying.

Jman that was confusing but i think i get what your saying.

ya i was tried and falling asleep and had to leave in the morning so i posted then

Jman you MULTI-COCK your rifle?!?!

My Don't use the Lord's name in vain. I would never even CONSIDER doing that! Couldn't bear the thought of damaging Sheila!

Jim

I can't even imagine what multi-cocking would do to the spring, the barrel and the fps...

*shiver*

I've done it a few times with me gun (by accident) and his dosent seem to damage the gun. I porbblay just got luck.(Deffiently not saying i approve or reccomend this though)

I would say doing it a few times on accident is ok... just don't cock your gun several times on purpose because THAT will mess up your gun.

sticks.13 wrote:

I was soon seen at the airsoft store every other weekend. I would stay for a good 30 minutes just asking questions about airsoft, what it felt like, any cool shots the guys took, and how they all started. I'm sure the guys dreaded Saturday's 12:00-close shift, mainly because of me. After my 6th trip to the store I was ready to purchase my first gun; I had $312 dollars saved up from that last two years. I walked into the store expecting to go out and buy a spring sniper rifle and came out with a TM M4. In no way do I regret not buying that spring sniper. Heres why, In the hour and a half it took me to make my decision everyone from the store told me to get an AEG.
sticks

WOW....This is exactly the way it all started for me. Over the summer of 06, 07, and 08, I would wake up at 8, go out to breakfast with my dad, then he would drop me off at Uncle Sams (My locale shop) and just let me stay trhere ALL day while I sucked the life out of the workers. I soon became friends with a guy that worked there named Eric. And If I were buying a gun, I would be in there shooting it and chatting about it for atleast 4 hours (literally) prior purchase. In my time there, I must have fixed atleast 20 guns with Eric, and broken over Forty. But even in the rare situations when it was actually my fault that one of my guns broke, he still always hooked me up with a new piece, or even an actual brand new gun free of charge. Before too long, everytime I came in it would be the following:

"Hey wts up Eric"
"Not much man they got me workin the lengthly hours again"
"So watcha got for me today?"
"Dude we just got this sick gun in you gotta try iy out"

Then all day we would be in the storage room or out back, outside of the store test-firing all the new guns and gadgets they get in. I mean this would go on for HOURS. Every Saturday, Sunday, and the just random days of the week. But ALWAYS Saturday and Sunday, right after breakfast. I don't get in there as much anymore, now I get in there like once every two months......But now it turns out I know a girl at my skool who is going to work their, its a family business sorta (Her Aunt and Uncle are the managers, and all her sisters work there) and shes getting me a job there real soon. Sorta like a dream come true really But unfortunately I don't think Eric works there anymore, he joined the National Guard.

Wow, that was longer than I intended. eh.

I love airsoft , and thinking about becoming a part time smith . One of the ways I got started out as a sniper was because my family owns a shop that one day I am thinking of conveting into a hobby store , and we got in a new shipment of stuff and with it came a sniper rifle airsoft gun , Chinnese junk , but never the less I loved it , well by the time my first war came around , the gun had broke , which turned out to be a blessing becuase had that not have happened I prolly would have never gotten the M-16 , and gotten the L-96 , and would prolly stilll be using it today . Scary huh , anyway thats my start hope it helps somebody else .

Sticks,

Leave the G&G BIO BB´S alone, avoid them like they have the FLU !!!

These BB´s in my opinion are the worst BB´s on the Market, I would use the yellow Kiddie BB´s before I loaded a magazine with those from G&G.

Here is the reason why,

First the QC is terrible, these things go everywhere and anywhere they want, not where you want.

Second, They are a Sugar based BB, if I remember correctly, it is a hard pressed glucose, you can take a hand full of them, toss them in a cup, pour in some warm water, and watch these things disolve before your eyes.

Third, if you play in even a remotly humid climate, they start to break down inside your magazine, so what do you end up with, a Magazine full of this white pasty gunk, it takes forever to clean ( I threw the magazine away ), a HOP-UP, Hop-Up rubber and a barrel that need some MAJOR TLC, to get it working right again.

G&G may have improved their QC since last year on these things ( I doubt it ), but I only have to smach my thumb once with a hammer to learn not to make the same mistake twice

Hope this helps

If you double cock I'm sure it doezs way less damage then five times. That has to be one of the worst things you could do to it.

I've now got a store to go to too! It's called Airsoft51 but it's not exactly the biggest store. Here's a link to it http://airsoft51.com/. Tell me what you all think about the store. The only drawback is that it's a 20 min. drive from my house.

Were way off topic but ok...
I have a store i can get to www.airsoftatlanta.com
what sux is that it is on the other side of town