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Post by madhatter on Feb 20, 2014 21:49:17 GMT -5
Welcome! Nice to see SOME activity in the north Illinois/Chicago area! I've seen some not so great reviews on the Matrix SMLE, and the fps seems fairly low for a rifle?
Curious what your experiences are though.....
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Post by madhatter on Feb 15, 2014 19:01:16 GMT -5
Hey Ersatzjack -
Yeah, at least ONE other player would be nice! I've started as mostly a collector anyway, so I don't so much mind just collecting really nice pieces of airsoft hardware. I also surf on over to your MOA forum once a week to see what sort of activity you guys have going on.
Any chance that 250/1 is going to be at any of your events this year? I'd love to attend an event with that lollipops , even if I was on the opposing team! Looks like you have a 222 underway as well, you guys will soon have quite the collection of nice vehicles.
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Post by madhatter on Feb 15, 2014 15:25:04 GMT -5
Guess I have some thinking to do in terms of what I want to do next? Would still like to find some local guys, but nice to know if I could find 3-4 guys here, we could probably carpool to Ann Arbor or WI and only be 3-4 hours away from some good groups.
Lots of Thompson's and MP-40s huh? Maybe with more Garrands and K98s coming out (really need a good airborne carbine for all those 101st players) , people will want to change it up a bit!
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Post by madhatter on Feb 15, 2014 11:04:26 GMT -5
Thanks for the info on the BARs! For the extra $100, I'll probably go with the Echo version over the Matrix.
Yeah, I saw some videos of the GBB Thompson's, and they look really nice! I like the effect the GBB guns have over the pure AEGs. My personal belief is it just gives a great boost in the realism (both in feel and sound).
Where about do you guys do events up in Detroit? The one good thing about Chicago is that is seems to be within reasonable driving distance to potentially your area, along with stuff that the Midwest Ostfront guys do up in WI/MN area. What sort of impressions do you guys have up in the Detroit area?
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Post by madhatter on Feb 14, 2014 21:17:24 GMT -5
I checked out both the Illinois Airsoft page, along with a Illinois WWII Airsoft Facebook page (man I hate Facebook). Both seem DOA in terms of WWII activity?
I just can't figure, how, in a city this big, there isn't more WWII Airsoft players? It's definitely got me scratching my head!
In terms of the Garrand, I'm actually waiting for the G&G to come out. Most reviews from Shot Show 2014 say the G&G was the better looking gun from an accuracy perspective. My next purchase is probably an Echo or Matrix BAR (need to figure out the difference). I heard the Echo may have historically accurate trades on it, while the Matrix doesn't? I also need to find out if there's a good Thompson out there. That should consume my time and money until spring/early summer and hopefully then the G&G is out.
Picking up a Viva Arms M1919 right now, have to figure out what work I want to have done on the internals. So that's my focus right now. Once I have that, my Marushin M1, the BAR, Thompson, and Garrand - my US collection will be more or less completed. I haven't ventured into collecting the handguns of WWII yet. I've got most of the German weapons (Shoei MG42, SRC MP-40, AGM STG-44, and Tanaka K98), along with a Russian PPSh, so my collection is coming along quite nicely at this point in time.
I've started looking at pistols, the Maruzin P38 GBB looks pretty sharp!
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Post by madhatter on Feb 13, 2014 20:02:09 GMT -5
Hello fellow midwestern airsoft enthusiasts -
I've been toying with the idea of starting this thread for the past couple of months.
I know there was some bad history and an incident in the area that may have had an impact on the number of players in the Chicago/suburban area. It seems in a city/area this size, we should have a lot more WWII airsoft players?
I'm at a point where I'm weighing how much more heavily I want to get into the immersion of WWII airsofting. While I'll always continue to collect WWII airsoft guns, I find myself wanting to get out and play with a few of my weapons (my new Marushin M1 is not helping this at all). I've been looking at impressions for the past couple of months, but don't want to pull the trigger on anything if there isn’t going to be a good opportunity to utilize it. I know a lot of people would say, get it and start showing up to events – but I’m the kind of guy that, when doing things, goes all in. I’d rather not spend that sort of money on a good impression to then have to start showing up to events at random. I thought I’d test the waters here a bit, see if I can find a couple like-minded individuals, who have similar views to my own (it’s OK if you don’t).
What I’d like to do is create a small US Infantry unit. I’m not looking to do paratroops, rangers, or anything as my personal opinion is there’s a lot of them out there. I think we need more infantry. I also want to play with people whose main goal is the experience, camaraderie, and immersion. I’d like to strive for historical accuracy, both in our impressions and how we play. I don’t want to be a bunch of guys running around with Thompsons with hi-cap mags. I’d like to play with realistic load outs, and realistic weapons. With that in mind, and to give this the greatest shot of success, I was thinking of doing the 29 Reconnaissance Troop, part of the 29th Infantry Division. I think a recon troop or cavalry troop is the best way to jump into things, mainly because: • They operated in small units (4 man scout sections were very common) • The types of skirmishes in many historical airsoft events are historically accurate for this sort of small unit • Recon troops were notorious for their ability to “acquire” items that weren’t necessarily common issue, so there’s a lot of room to work within
These tenets would allow a small group to be more or less equipped in many different ways, and truly capture the immersion aspect of the hobby. The big question is, can I find three other people of like mind in the Chicago area?
I’m looking to get started and maybe try to attend 2-3 airsoft events a year (more spring/summer/fall - I freeze enough in the winter without going to any events). I figure we are somewhat centrally located in northern Illinois, so going up to the Ostfront Airsoft events are a good possibility, also maybe some of the events up in Michigan (those two areas seem to have more historical airsoft activity). I know there are many kids in the hobby, which is great, but being 37 years old, I’m looking for guys who are 18 and up. Not trying to offend anyone with this, if you're a kid and reading this, trust me, you'll understand when you're 37!
This may seem like a lot of wants, but I thought I’d throw it out there and see if there’s anyone in the area with like minds. If not, it’s OK, I’m very happy being an avid collector of WWII airsoft firearms!
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Post by madhatter on May 8, 2011 21:14:38 GMT -5
That's pretty much what I did, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something on this one.
Thanks.
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Post by madhatter on May 7, 2011 12:15:47 GMT -5
I searched around last year to finally find an SRC MP40, and finally got out to shoot it a bit today. Normally I'd set a gun to semi-auto and fire one shot to release the spring, is there any spring release method for these guns? I'm concerned that the spring is in some range of compression and not fully released?
Seems mine always ends up in a half way position and don't want to store it that way?
Hopefully I'm just not overlooking something, I'm relatively new to airsoft.
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Post by madhatter on Nov 25, 2010 12:20:03 GMT -5
I found a good close up of how the spring should be set, but when I set it that way it still won't cock smooth? Here's the pic for reference if anyone wants to see what I'm referring to: www.arniesairsoft.co.uk/articles/shoei_interview/PHOTO029.JPGI may take you up on that offer, do you have any pics of what your mag looks like? How much would you want to do the work? It seems that's really the only way to go as I can't see the standard Shoei mags working very well at all based on the design?
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Post by madhatter on Nov 24, 2010 21:58:51 GMT -5
I found some grease that will work, and also upon further inspection realized a bit more what the problem is.
There is a rail on the top cover that flips up to load the ammunition clip, and there's a little tension spring in there - but if I put it so there is tension on the rail, it makes cocking it impossible. If I leave it with no tension (then what's it supposed to do I ask myself) it cocks just fine? Off to see if I can find a picture of someone's gun and see how the small coil spring is setup.....
Anyone have one and can help?
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Post by madhatter on Nov 23, 2010 21:01:43 GMT -5
Two questions for you guys. The cocking handle action on my MG42 seems to be really tough and upon inspection, it looks like a lot of the grease on the bottom has been wiped away and I need to re-grease it to smooth the metal on metal action to make cocking easier. Any recommendations on the type of grease to use on this?
Second, I haven't been able to fire it yet, but the magazines don't seem like they'd work all that well, what has your experience been with them?
I was debating trying to find some extra magazines for it, but I also have an assault drum (need to get a feed plate still) and was planning on ripping apart an AK auto winding mag and sticking the guts into the assault drum. Anyone done this and have any advice or how to's to get this done?
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Post by madhatter on Nov 16, 2010 20:21:21 GMT -5
Hey guys,
Appreciate all the responses. Kalbs, your gun articles are awesome, great unbiased reviews. I'm going to read all of them just for the pure enjoyment of well done reviews.
BOBAH - yes, I saw that group. Seems like a good group of guys who also do standard Wehrmacht impressions which is nice.
This is really a great site, hopefully the WWII airsoft community will continue to grow!
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Post by madhatter on Nov 16, 2010 20:05:37 GMT -5
I'm in the market for a good charger that will pretty much handle anything, and a good chrono. I don't know a whole lot about chargers or chronos, so thought I would ask, what should I look for in making a purchase?
Any recommendations or reviews you might be able to point me to would help as well.
Thanks.
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Post by madhatter on Nov 14, 2010 12:04:15 GMT -5
Hello, thought I'd start by introducing myself and asking a few questions since I didn't come up with much through the search function? First, I'm brand new to Airsoft, but I've always loved studying WWII military history. I'm 34 and I live in the Chicago area, and hope to start getting an impression together for a run of the mill Heer soldier. But first, I decided it'd be fun to buy myself some new toys and play around with them. I'm working on a small collection of the German weapons right now, so I bought myself three guns to start with, an SRC MP40, an AGM MP44, and a Tanaka K98. My AGM was the first to show up, and I was quite surprised by a few things, mainly the detail and overall heft of the gun. First question - the bolt on this was pretty loose and moved around a lot, but since this isn't a blowback or has a working bolt, I found a way to just lock it in place as it was sliding around due to a weak spring. I don't think it will cause any issues, but figured I'd ask the experts? This is my learning gun as it's readily available so I'm sure I'll be disassembling this entire thing multiple times, ripping the gear box apart and generally modifying this as an opportunity to learn about how all the guts really work. Second question, how to I get the inner barrel apart from the hop up unit (does it just screw into the hop up)? I'd like to replace the inner barrel and hop up on this gun, so I can start to learn how to work on it and other guns and I'm a firm believer in the best way to learn is getting your hands dirty and doing it! Third question, does anyone have any recommendations for barrels and hop ups for this gun? I've been looking around at the online retailers, and haven't found a preferred one at this point so I'm pretty open to any thoughts? I see a lot of people talk about compatibility between various guns, but like I said, I'm new so still learning and thought some of you have probably done these mods and could provide some recommendations? Upon disassembling the gun I had to rip the orange barrel tip off (it had been jammed on so hard it actually split along the side. I want to replace this with a correct looking tip, and saw some recommendations on this one, but I'd like to know is it reverse threaded as it doesn't say anything about that? I don't want to have to rethread anything. auroraind.net/detail.aspx?ID=88Lastly, are there any good step by step weathering guides for this gun that anyone has found? I've seen lots of great pics searching around the forum, but no real step by step as I'd like to try my hand at weathering the metal and stock but don't have any experience in doing this. I tried to search for answers for most of the questions, but the search doesn't present things in the easiest format, so I apologize if these are easily answered somewhere else - but if anyone can point me anywhere, I'd greatly appreciate it. Now I'm just waiting for my Tanaka and SRC to arrive. I probably won't mess with those as they'd be a bit harder to replace if I really mess something up! I'm sure I'll have more questions, hopefully you guys are willing to help a newcomer to the group out a bit! Thanks.
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