CraftySnipers blog
Blog entries nuff said
For the last few months, I have been able to document the development and building of Lincolnshire Airsoft Clubs first ever CQB site. This is a first for me, it's been a journey to watch this site grow from a fully working farm to an actual working airsoft site. How many people can say that they were there at an airsoft sites creation? Some of us have had the pleasure of being at the first ever event of a brand new site but I have been able to sit back and watch the creation from the ground up. LAC doing CQB, you must be mad I have been a member of LAC for over 5 years. I was there when LAC had a huge woodland site and what seemed like an even bigger quarry site, I have attended lots and lots of events at the smaller Combat Zone site as well. LAC has run some huge and very realistic events in there past of which I have had the pleasure to be a part of. Likewise, they have also run some smaller and fun based events too over the years, Zombie events bring back lots of fun memories. At none of these events have LAC ever tried to run a small CQB based site. They have had an event at the Gaol where LAC took over the site and staffed the special event. Now they are trying to make a name for themselves in the CQB sector. So how far have they come? Glad you asked that question. I have visited the site many times over the past few months. I have been able to have free roam over the site and actually see what is happening and what they want to do to the site. At no time have they tried to usher me away from certain parts of the site and only show me the bits that they want to show off. I have had the chance to speak to a few of the staff and the club boss himself on just what they have in mind for the site. I have always come away with the thoughts that these guys and girls have an end game, an actual plan on how they will achieve this. Even though this is something that they have never actually tried they seem to be doing what needs to be done to create this site. It has no doubt cost them a lot in money, time and effort but I can tell that real effort is going into the creation of this site. There are people in the LAC staff group that have special abilities, there are builders, electricians and other people who have knowledge of a trade. All these people are singing by the same song, their mission is simple, to get this site open to all you airsofters. What stage are they at now?
They have a few buildings/sheds converted to airsoft battle areas, they are working out killing zones, they are working out where dead players go to. They have also put a lot of thought into the safe zone and the car park. There has been a test day which I was allowed to video the matches. After watching the players duke it out on a site they have never actually airsofted at before they all came back laughing and smiling. They also noticed where issues were, these issues would only show themselves whilst an actual airsoft match was going on. After every match, there was a mini-debrief over what worked and what did not work. With all these ideas coming from the main players at the site I have no doubt that this site will be successful. Another great driving reason why this site will work is the actual owner. I have met him a few times and he does not seem like the kind of guy who is only after the money. Where ever he can help he has, he has opened up other parts of his property to LAC and has always been nothing but helpful. He listens to all the ideas and has come up with a few ideas of his own, even though a few months ago he probably never heard of airsoft. I have very little doubt after witnessing the drive and passion from Lincolnshire Airsoft Club staff and personal that this site will become one amazing CQB site. CraftySniper
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I had the pleasure of meeting some great new young players this weekend. I was able to attend Lincolnshire Airsoft Clubs under 18 event. This event was as the title suggests an event for the under 18's. There were a few young players there to take advantage of the being able to use a full airsoft site all on there own. Obviously, there was LAC staff on hand to create some amazing matches for these young players. I am always surprised that in airsoft there are not as many events for the younger players. Now I know that any aged player can join a normal event with all the adults but it would be a bit daunting for these youngsters to join a team of adults that have probably been playing for years. In this event we had young players who had only a few events under there belts, there also were players that were on there first ever event. There were a few adult players here too, these were simply here to make up the numbers and to give the youngsters somebody to work with during the matches. The adults would show the young players how to attack and defend. They were also there to make sure that no harm came to these young players other than being shot lol. I was there as a photographer, but I also had my kit with me just in case. I was using my Tokyo Marui SCAR H Recoil rifle but I never really thought that I'd get a match. I went out with the teams, to say they were eager would be an understatement, these players were itching to get out there and shoot each other. When the first few matches were being played I was walking around the teams taking photos. It's amazing what you see as a photographer. I noticed that even though the weather was not at it's best the players were still having fun and getting on with the job of taking structures and defending them. They were running all over the match areas all eager to get the job done. It was at this point that I was introduced to a young player who was on his first ever match. Now obviously I can not name this young player but he was amazing to watch. He just kept on running, kept on shooting and kept on taking objectives. He never stopped smiling and even though it was his first time with an airsoft rifle he was completely at home. He picked up the rules and showed simply put the finest sportsmanship I have seen. This is not to say that other players were cheating far from it but remember this was a player on his first ever event. After this match, unfortunately, the weather turned from a slight drizzle to a heavy shower. Even though the temps went down slightly the action didn't stop. The youngsters were still just as excited to get out there and shoot each other. The club started to swap the adults around and I had my chance to show what the SCAR could do. Now with me involved in a few matches, I had the chance to see just how good these young players truly were. In between me trying to run shoot and manoeuvre I was very impressed with just how these young players moved and fired. On the whole, their shots were accurate and quite painful lol. Their sportsmanship was without equal. Every confirmed kill shot form my SCAR was continued with a HIT HIT HIT and a flag. This event was not about me or any of the adults who played, it was all about the youngsters. They were simply amazing. I would welcome the chance to play alongside these players anytime.
I hope that other clubs out there also have these events aimed towards the younger players. After all its these young players that will take the sport into the future years. These are the next generation. CraftySniper I think we can all say that we are in the sport of airsoft to have fun, that has always been the first rule of the sport. However, incidents can and will happen where arguments happen. Players will have issues with other players, kill shots can offend some people in some circumstances. I have been quite lucky in my time in airsoft. I can count on one hand and have fingers spare where I have offended someone with something that I have done in the sport. In a sport where adrenaline is flowing, caffeine drinks are abundant there is always the chance that something small or large could flare up and cause an argument between players. I run a sniper based loadout, I have created a system that works for me, it allows me to use a sniper rifle and a secondary that fits the role of a sniper. My main rifle is the Silverback SRS and my secondary is the Tokyo Marui MK23. Both of these weapons have been upgraded over time and they are now able to lift heavy weight ammo. In the SRS I use .48 gram ammo and in the MK23 I use .43 gram ammo. Now obviously there is a good reason for using heavy weight ammo in the sniper but why have I chosen to use such a heavyweight in a pistol? For anyone that doesn't know the MK23 is quite simply put the best secondary for a sniper. It is a very accurate and very quiet non-blowback pistol. It has been around for years and in my eyes has never been beaten. There are companies that have released many upgrades for the pistol and they have only made it a better choice for some people. My MK23 has had a few of these upgrades applied and they have allowed it to send a .43 gram bb out to around 60m. Where most pistols can only manage 30m and are very loud the MK23 is near silent and has twice the range and a lot more accuracy. In my role as an airsoft sniper, the MK23 is the only choice for the sniper. You can reach out and touch someone out at a range where they thought they were safe, you can also take a shot and not give away your position to any other potential threats. Like I said earlier I use heavyweight ammo in my MK23, they give me the best results, but this is all fine and well when your next victim is out at 40m plus, what happens when they come up close? You could carry another normal pistol, maybe a Glock 17. But this would be loud and is another weapon system to carry into the battlefield. I had an experience where I was hidden away in a bush, I had just heard a weapon being fired from behind my position. I had to crouch down and either let the threat pass or take him out. The person made that choice for me by pressing my position, trouble is he never knew I was there. He was also fully focussed in on attacking my other teammates. I set my trap and lay in wait. I had a worry that this person would stumble into the same bush as me so I had a large amount of terrain to watch with just a pistol. I knew after he had just fired his primary that I would be going up against a gas blowback rifle. The person didn't walk into the same bush as me he instead moved very quickly in front of me, I quickly readjusted my pistol and took aim. There was a slim chance that he would have seen me and opened fire, he didn't and as he moved from my left to my right I put a spread of shots out at him, I assumed that because I was swinging my pistol towards him that my first and second shots would miss, I only had a split second to take him down. I fired a further two shots, target down. Then came the fun and games as the player realised what had happened and was not best pleased that I had shot him from around 10m to 15m with a group of .43's. He then suggested that my pistol should have a MED (minimum engagement distance) just like my sniper rifle.
Now I can not recall any airsoft site making MK23 users that run heavyweight ammo use a MED. Oh and because I was crouched down all of the shots that hit him hit in his stomach area, no face shots here. So here I am after having a couple of arguments with this player, I did leave the event early but this was my choice. I hold nothing against the club I was playing at. With time to replay the incident in my mind, I probably think that the player was shocked to realise a sniper was laid waiting for an ambush. I am not in this sport to cause issues with anyone or any club, so I shall march on waiting for the next event. Do I stop using the MK23? Nah not gonna happen. You might have been here in the early days when I created this website. I had to stop this site because of work and life getting in the way. Well, I am back. But what is different? Well, for one thing, I have had the chance to concentrate on just one thing in airsoft. I have been working really hard on my brand new sniper rifle, the Silverback SRS. Having had the chance to sit back and concentrate on this rifle and the sniper role has grounded me in a good way. I now have been able to concentrate on a kit that actually works for me. No, it's not a copy of an actual kit/uniform that is used by an armed force but it is the one that CraftySniper uses. I have also had the chance to make new friends both airsofters and actual companies. Now I know that I am not exactly a professional airsoft sniper but I do have a plan to grow my name in the field of sniping. I would not have restarted this website if it wasn't for Lincolnshire Airsoft Club and for a special few who have pinned me down and knocked some sense into me regarding all the ideas I was having before on this site. So it's still the same then? Well no it isn't, yes I still will base this site on my experiences in airsoft but now I won't be jumping from idea to idea. Now I have a basic requirement for this page. Yes, I have a plan for the future, yes I will be bringing in new features. If this works well I may transfer this page from a free page to an actual proper .com website but that's all in the future. As for this page, you will see things changing, things being deleted and things being added. These things have to happen for me to change and grow this page. I hope you will join me on this journey. If it wasn't for you lovely people I would not be here typing this right now. CraftySniper Photo credit to Zoidwolf
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AuthorHello, my name is CraftySniper and this is my Blog section. I have been doing airsoft for 5 years and its one of the best sports I have ever played. Archives
May 2019
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