The Perfect Springer?

[Hangtight]

So, if the mythical 'Perfect Springer' existed, what features would it have? Barrel length and diameter? Piston diameter and cylinder ratio? Long gun or bull pup? Replica or unique to airsoft?

I'll start the ball rolling with:

Straight pull bolt, short stroke with a 25mm diameter piston for a 3:1 cylinder ratio that can be tuned with spacers behind the piston head to alter the stroke.

Quick change spring,

Easy access to hop/barrel for quick and simple fiddling/tuning.

Light.

Short M4 mags for a 130+ round capacity.

What else would you like to See?

 

[PT247]

HPA with tank in the stock under the barrel, bullpup rifle unique to airsoft with a 10mm bolt pull for cocking, Action Army style hop-up but with protected cap so you can adjust it in the field from above rather than the mag recess.

Similar to this below but with a larger tank for the air and a 50 round (minimum) magazine

 

[Hangtight]

Not quite a Springer, but I'm happy to welcome anything and everything! Plus, we seem to think along the same lines. Shall we just go with ' The Perfect Airsoft Sniper'?

 

[PT247]

soz, I assumed you were on about BASRs

 

[Hangtight]

I've been fiddling with a design for a spring Sniper that deals with the short comings of what's on the market, but the more I think about it a HPA self contained bolt action rifle makes more sense. 2000psi air rifle cylinder, step down reg and then a Palmer or Mancraft into a variable volume gas bolt with the shortest throw you can engineer. If you can get 80 unregulated shots out of a PCP at 12ftlb, at airsoft outputs that tank is going to last all day! I may have to break out the CAD...

Spring is a lot cheaper though!

 

[proffrink]

Bulky and ugly though; only 50% of airsoft is functionality - the other half is looks for most people!

Really I'd say the best BASRs out there right now are CO2 SDiKs or Bolts with - in my case/opinion - a nice wooden stock (nothing garish though). Around 80-90 (SDiK) or 130+ (Bolt) shots per bulb. Consistent shooter (+/- 2ft/s is attainable for either). Light and short (SDiK) or very light and extremely short (Bolt) action cycle. Mancraft MARS or the Palmers reg - though it's too early to say, the MARS should be the better option if it delivers on the multi-stage expansion chamber design Mancraft have been talking about.

A lot of snipers never need to change bulb during a game (assuming standard woodland setups of around 3-4 games per day), and most would value the weight-savings of having a self-contained unit that doesn't have a large vessel inside.

I'm not sure there's much more that can be done to 'perfect' BASRs that're already out there unless your criteria for the perfect one is something that can keep shooting all day without an in-field refill? But that's not really a problem in airsoft at all thanks to CO2 and small HPA rigs.

 

[PT247]

I've been fiddling with a design for a spring Sniper that deals with the short comings of what's on the market, but the more I think about it a HPA self contained bolt action rifle makes more sense. 2000psi air rifle cylinder, step down reg and then a Palmer or Mancraft into a variable volume gas bolt with the shortest throw you can engineer. If you can get 80 unregulated shots out of a PCP at 12ftlb, at airsoft outputs that tank is going to last all day! I may have to break out the CAD...

Spring is a lot cheaper though!

80???? blimey, you must shoot a hell of a lot better than I do or only play milsims!

I tend to get through all 5 of my 30 round VSR mags in a game normally, so 4-5 times that for a day!

I actually toyed with the idea of rigging a P90 hi-cap to my VSR which would be dead simple to do.

 

[proffrink]

Well you've gone and blown my argument out of the water now

I suppose I'm talking about the ghillied-up chaps who poo into clingfilm and spend an hour waiting for a shot.

What if one just had the setup described previously and then an internal junction with a 4mm QD so an optional external Mancraft pistol lanyard can be plugged in to a 13ci/3000 (or bigger) when it's a - shall we say - more liberal trigger user? 3D-printed VSR hi-crap 200rd magazine for when not hiding in a bush; 30rd standard ones for when you are. Best of both worlds I hope.

 

[Hangtight]

That's 80+ from a 2000psi 200cc foreend bottle in a full power air rifle. I'm getting 150 from a 900psi 12g CO2 bulb with a volume adjusted Mancraft SDIK. Hence the reasoning that the air bottle will last bloody ages! And seeing as the air costs nothing more than the calories it took to pump the bottle up I don't feel bad about dumping the residual pressure to make it safe. Can't stand wasting CO2 when I've had to pay for it!

 

[Samurai]

And that's why there won't be a general "perfect rifle". My perfect rifle is much different than the above because my playstyle and requirements are different. We can agree on some aspects, like TDC is good but that's about it.