Sniper rifles, Gas, Electric or Spring?

Raggedy_man

Raggedy_man

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After a fantastic day yesterday at Finmere where there were quite a few Bush Wookies lurking with various sniper rifles it got me thinking, What is the best system and how much does it cost to get a decent rifle?

I know various people will have different opinions but I want to draw from the collective wisdom of the Forum.

Many thanks to all in advance.

 
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Spring; trigger response and consistency.

Electric - never going to be absolutely perfect trigger response (though you can get quite close if you spend enough). Also they're not as quiet most of the time (if this concerns you).

Gas - not consistent enough. Cooldown and variable weather is going to screw you over. The solution to this is rigging your mags for HPA but that's a whole different ballgame. There is a Czech(?) company that makes a drop-in bolt, but I cannot for the life of me remember their name or the URL. *Edit Link for this has been posted below by Shizbazki*

TM VSRs are widely regarded as being pretty much the best springer sniper rifle out of the box. However, the absolute best ones require patience and cash to get right. Expect to spend around £450 for absolutely everything. PDI and Laylax/Prometheus/First (their name changes spending on the day of the week) make the best sniper rifle bits. My opinion on sniper rifles is to go big or go home on the budget if you really want to compete, but I know a lot of people don't share that opinion so take it as you will.

Try X-Fire.org for PDI as some of their stuff just isn't stocked anywhere else. Laylax Zero Triggers and the like are easy to get in the UK.

What you're going to want:

  • New cylinder
  • New spring(s)
  • New nozzle
  • New guide rod
  • New hop up unit
  • New trigger unit
  • Barrel spacers
  • New barrel (go for 6.05 or wider)
  • Aftermarket cocking handle/charging handle/cocking lever (even the TM ones break)
  • A decent scope (an absolute must - doesn't need to magnify a ludicrous amount but it does need to be clear. Visionking make very good rifle scopes that can be had off DHGate for very good prices)
  • Decent-ish scope rings, but don't spend more than £25 unless you want the aesthetics, frankly
And finally your hop. I'd recommend a flat hop with R-Hop of some description to get maximum lift as you'll be wanting to use at least .30s (preferably as high as the mid .40 range).

There are some good threads already on here about a lot of this:

http://www.airsoft-forums.co.uk/index.php/topic/24745-upgrading-a-marui-vsr-10/

http://www.airsoft-forums.co.uk/index.php/topic/18557-help-on-sniper-rifles/

That was from a couple of minutes searching. If you can, I'd really recommend spending a good few minutes as literally every question about sniper rifles has already been answered on this forum (let alone other, dedicated sniping forums like http://www.airsoftsniperforum.com/)

 
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I second Proffink on the TM VSR-10 range of Springer sniper Rifles.

I bought one second hand on a forum and it had some upgrades done it but not alot.

The previous owner had already upgraded the cylinder, piston, Spring (to an M150 i think) spring guide, cylinder head, installed a zero trigger mech and a hop up arm, it shot ok-ish around 465FPS and fairly straight though shots would veer to the right often. I furthered this by zeroing the scope using a laser bore sight as the scope was well off whack, i shimmed the hop up arm to keep it still, bought a new barrel and barrel spacers so not it shooting straight but still around 465FPS, my field limit is 500FPS.

That said you must be prepared to know that Spring Rifles can be very difficult to cock back as your right arm will have to fight that spring in order to fully pull back the bolt (about 3 inches worth of bolt) and frankly after a whole mag of trying to shoot quickly your arm will ache.

That said if you find the bolt pull too much hassle like i did as its really heavy, there is a website called http://www.Mancraft.pl obviously based in Poland, there they sell a system called the SDiK which is essentially a refit of the piston to a gas cylinder, you can buy all the accessories from them too including regulator (HPA tank compatible) and a CO2 bulb adaptor. The whole system takes less that 30 minutes to switch from spring to CO2, i managed to stow the regulator and CO2 adaptor in a cheek rest for my VSR-10 and pipe the tubing through the stock so it looks very clean. All in all expect to pay around £150 for the SDiK, regulator, piping, CO2 adapter as well as some spares and delivery.

Bolt pull can be done with one or two fingers now and only has to go back an inch, as it is regulated i can set it up for an FPS of 497 consistent shot to shot (some times even 3 or 4 shots in a row), one CO2 bulb lasts about 100 shots, i also have the ability to adapt it to HPA which i probably will when i start polarizing.

 
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Thanks for the replies folks, Looks like lots of reading is ahead of me!

I was looking at a Dragunov Spring action Rifle as I think they are very handsome guns indeed but I may get a 2nd hand one which has had work done on it.

Thanks!

 
The springers don't look nice at all. Plasticy SVDs are terrible and cycling it is depressing.

 
Blast, I shall have to "Choose wisely" as they say.

 
Aye. TM L96 AWS or VSR-10 (Gpsec will mean you don't need to add a rail) are the most readily upgradable and best performers. The VSR-10 will perform slightly better, but I included the L96 because hey you might want something that looks nice.

Honestly, just go for the VSR if you're serious about sniping. It's not a bad looking gun either, but it is fairly overused.

 
Thanks Prof, I just wanted to be a little different and stand out from the crowd...... Probably the wrong type of mindset for a sniper ;)

 
Shizbazki said:
Bolt pull can be done with one or two fingers now and only has to go back an inch, as it is regulated i can set it up for an FPS of 497 consistent shot to shot (some times even 3 or 4 shots in a row), one CO2 bulb lasts about 100 shots, i also have the ability to adapt it to HPA which i probably will when i start polarizing.
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What effect does this have on rate of fire (including target reacquisition if necessary) ?

 
proffrink said:
Aye. TM L96 AWS or VSR-10 (Gpsec will mean you don't need to add a rail) are the most readily upgradable and best performers. The VSR-10 will perform slightly better, but I included the L96 because hey you might want something that looks nice.

Honestly, just go for the VSR if you're serious about sniping. It's not a bad looking gun either, but it is fairly overused.
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There isn't that many upgrades for the TM L96AWS, and no HPA kit for it either, if you want the l96 look at a well mb01 series they have far more upgrades available

 
sp00n said:
There isn't that many upgrades for the TM L96AWS, and no HPA kit for it either, if you want the l96 look at a well mb01 series they have far more upgrades available
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Mancraft has a HPA/CO2 conversion kit for the same price as the VSR-10 kit, in fact their "How to install" video is done on an L96

 
sp00n said:
There isn't that many upgrades for the TM L96AWS, and no HPA kit for it either, if you want the l96 look at a well mb01 series they have far more upgrades available
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Aye, you're right. I'd not bother then - barrel is too short.

 
I'm not saying they're not functional, just that I die a little inside when I see one that hasn't got wood. Would you recommend it over a VSR?

 
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I'm open to all ideas but wood kit sounds nice. What make to get is the main question.

 
proffrink said:
I'm not saying they're not functional, just that I die a little inside when I see one that hasn't got wood. Would you recommend it over a VSR?
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If I had the money to replace the plastic furniture, I'd do it in a hearbeat.. Same with purchasing a POSP scope that is actually decent.

I would if you like the amount of upgrades out there to choose from, but I like the magazine in the correct place and the use of AEG buckings, barrels and springs in the SVD.

 
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In regards to the mancraft drop in kit, I can vouch for them :)

Did a review of one on here and zeroin.

 
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