MilSimWest Jump to Crimea AAR: Brutally Honest

Jump to Crimea, my first MilSimWest event. I was horribly excited to attend this event, I had been preparing for MONTHS prior.

Waking up at 2:00AM and walking outside with the cold windchill, I made my way to the car. I was to meet up with the "Epic Carpool", consisting of Erik Ostrom, fellow TFK member, Sean Lai, A great guy from the Rushing Russians, and Matthew Mellot, a great Military vet who has been playing locally since I have. It was a great ride, we shot the shit, had some great laughs, and I caught some flack for making the meetup confusing and complicated. But we all ended up in the same car, so success I guess!

Either way, after a "Quick" stop in Bellevue to pick up some Kit for Sean and another RR guy, we landed in Camp Relia at 1:45, just in time for registration. I got out and was immediately stressed ,I had prepping for this game for over three months, I had to take a deep breath and remember how ready I was. Registration was honestly pretty easy, stations were setup, just point A-B. Very Easy-Very Simple. I got about 150 .30s, which I wish I had known would be the last I saw of .30s the entire event.

We started prepping for our 'Jump' around 5:00, thought it is honestly hard to remember. We went over jumping procedure, and room clearing basics for when we were to take the MOUT town. Which I thought was awesome, to train for your specific job in the OP. Great idea from the Staff. The U-haul truck modded for a mock plane jump, was AWESOME. With mock static lines, a green-go light, and even complete with a crappy plane soundtrack! We even had an unnecessarily complicated line system, rubber banded to our arm, to break off when we jumped. But it was an awesome addition. All of 1st platoon piled in the back of this U-Haul and we drove off at around 9:00, it was dark already. The U-haul was so uncontrollably packed, some people had to stand, which made for people falling over on other people. After we finally got semi-situated, there was an awesome Christopher Walken impression to be had. "It seems I have to kill some...Russians.And I have a big..Ass.Gun." I laughed for the whole ride. About what seemed like ten minutes in, we stopped. After a thirty second pause, the door flung open, "There will be no jump tonight!"We all pilled out of the U-haul, with our static line connections, which were a waste of an hour honestly. The U-haul had got stuck after it swung wide in the mud, after bringing a pick-up to pull it out, our squad immediately started pulling security for our section.

The AO was AMAZING, the MOUT town was unbelievable. I really loved the place, fell for it instantly. Though the rules around it were really restricting, and a huge bummer, such as Pyro. Thank for for getting such a great AO!

It was slightly disappointing 1st did not get to jump, the part of the event that probably the most time and effort was poured into. But we got over that, and started advancing toward the MOUT town. But stopped short, at a small road where we could look down on the Town. We all packed on one side, and waited for the other platoons to jump. We literally waited for THREE hours, sadly, this would set the pace of most of the weekend for 1st platoon. We all laid there in the cold for three hours, I remember dozing off a little at one point. And eventually getting quite cold, for we all had left our Cold Weather gear in our Rucks. Finally, at around 1:00, we started moving into the town, We came from the west, where the Church and west wall was. This made it semi-easy to take. After about a 40 minute firefight, and a dead battle buddy. Rest in Peace Kevin #1. We made it to the West wall, granted, after me bleeding out in the middle of the road next to the wall. But we made it! Abe and I were the first ones to push in, and make it to the Church. I Balls-to-the-Walls cleared it, with no enemies it was quite easy. I yelled out it was clear, but over heard talk of a flank to the east. So I got prepared to fight from the easternmost door. The door burst open, and I opened fire, but it was overwhelming. I took two hits and flopped on the floor like a dead dog. Turns out, they were friendlies, deciding it was a good idea to enter gun's a blazing to a clear building. Brilliant. I was drug to the other end of the church and Medic'd. It was an awesome experience, even if I never really SAW an enemy. Just got blasted.

By this time it was around 3:00, and after a semi-short run on security for the North, we had to go get our Rucks. I and my Battle Buddy Kevin basically ran there, while the other slackers struggled to keep up. My ruck was heavy, but not as Massive or crazy heavy as some others I saw.

Either way, I made it into the church, put down my sleeping mat, cooked a meal, and crashed. No need for a sleeping bag. It was a quite night, with no troubles, though I was on duty for a 6:00am patrol. So two hours of sleep, I drug my body into gear and started walking. I honestly quite enjoyed it, a brisk morning walk with my Squad Leader. Who was a great guy.

Saturday was to be a really boring day. 1st Platoon was really neglected, with no real missions. Just running security ALL DAY. Which sucks. With the only fun being a Russian gun truck to go by every once in a while, but literally that is about 5 seconds of fun. Oh well, got to hang out with some awesome guys, in a pretty MilSim environment.

The only thing really consistent about the MilSimWest chain of command and communication was the lack thereof. I was really disappointed in the disorder and mis-communications that were constant. This is supposed to be the staple of Military Simulation, I've seen homegrown Tac-Sim events do this better. Kind of embarrassing honestly; And I'm sorry to say it MSW, but there were times Saturday I regretted spending all that time and money coming to your event. Please work on this, this is slightly player base, I get that. But you have to do something, or you will lose your reputation very quickly.

Im going to address this problem in its own paragraph, because it deserves it. Resupply of Water and Ammo. It sucked. Sorry MSW staff, but honestly if you devoted any effort at all it would've been better. I had to basically sneak in and steal a couple bottles because I did not want to die. There was NO water to be had, and when it did show up Saturday morning. It was in huge 15 gallon tubs, which are impossible to pour into any kind of bladder. Just a minor grievance, but that was the only water we received all weekend. The required 2L of water is a joke, and will last you one night. As for Munitions, resupply was non-existent. Even when we needed it, and it seems like .30s are equal to gold. Because they must have only had like a dozen little baggies. Because I didn't get a whiff of any all weekend. It was ridiculous. MSW, I believe the .25s were EF, and they kinda sucked. I know thats not what you want to hear because of the sponsorship. But less shitty .25s, more heavy BB's; my weapon was almost reduced combat ineffective due to crazy over-hop. I didn't go through very many rounds, but when I have to share my .30s with buddies because they cant use .25s, it's pretty screwed up. Especially when you ask what weight we wanted, I can guarantee most of us said .30s. Stop suckling on Evike's Tit and get some actually good BBs that we can use. I love the idea of controlling resupply, but only when the resupply makes sense.

After sitting waiting for something to happen Saturday; Spoiler, nothing did. Saturday night finally came around, the rate of gun trucks increased, and there was a pretty damn good attack in the afternoon as well. In which it was hot enough to need to take off the combat shirt and run shirtless, with the JPC on. My nipples regret this decision, as cool as it was. But I felt right out of Vietnam. Pretty fun.

Saturday night was a good time, lots of hurry up and wait. I ran security for a while again, up until about 4:00 I believe, but it is a huge blur. I got to Operate with my good buddy Khang Nguyen, which was a blessing. And eventually was forced to go to bed after I fell asleep on the wall. Though I would've been perfectly fine falling asleep here. I fell on my mat in full kit and slept for an hour, only to be awoken by a stressed individual claiming we were being invaded. I drug myself from my slumber, for some reason out of kit, to the fight. With one magazine, it was awesome! I remember being unbelievable groggy and my vision being incredibly blurred. I finally got some action I was looking for. I took out some Russians and eventually crashed for another hour.

 I woke up in another shitstorm. With Russians on top of us. Being Sunday morning, everybody had pyro they wanted to set off before the event was over. So it was a crazy collage of explosions of all flavors. One of my favorite Airsoft moments of all time happened that morning, with a Russian Deuce and a 1/2 rolling down the road at a VERY slow speed, I found myself in the perfect position to apply the proper amount of force in the form of a Pea grenade given to me by Ben. After quickly reading the instructions and priming the thing, I throw it with the most accuracy I could. It must've been pure luck, because it rolled right under the deuce, which was still rolling, to the far side, killing all the Rooskies on the far side. I really like Pea grenades.

This firefight was insanity, and the amount of pyro was insane, I was being blown up constantly, causing me to need to drink 4 liters of water just in the form of medic'ing. This part of the day made the entire event worth going to, and is apparently a staple firefight in MSW history. It was a blast.

The later part of sunday was a serious struggle, lacking in Water, Ammo, and Moral.
Overall, it was a good event apart from Saturday. Will I be back? Probably, but I am will be expecting some improvements.

Kit vs. Skill

I, and most of Task Force Kilo was out at Spokane Airsoft's 'Trigger Extravaganza', and I learned a lot.
One of the things that I have learned over my two and a half years playing this sport/hobby is the Kit/Skill debate that is ever present in the community.

Remember that first airsoft game you showed up to? I certainly remember the m4 magazines in the ABU pockets, the crappy DBOYS m4, and the 8.4v battery, and having a blast. But what was the next thing you did after you went to that game? Buy a Crossdraw vest, Why? Because you saw all the experienced players using MOLLE vests and all the fancy camouflage.

You may have not been as humble, "This is just like battlefield, dude, I TOTALLY got this." And you may have gotten a cold glass of reality in that first game where you didn't do too well. But I am sure you had a ton of fun anyway, and strived to become as good as the experienced players you played with and got shot by.

This is when the debate starts; Im sure you saw them on that first day, the people with 600 dollars worth of gear on, or the gun that looks like its from "COD". You said to yourself, "I want to be on THAT guys team", but why? You figured that equipment made him a better player, made him more effective on the field.

A dozen Airsoft games later you may have started to notice the real skill of the players, but not before you bought that cross draw and multi cam BDU's because it was what everyone else was wearing.

But did that make you a 'better' player? Did it make you more effective? Sure, it made reloads easier, and arguably harder to see than the ABU's you were wearing, but how you play really hasn't changed. You have added pounds of gear that doesn't make you play any better.

Its where that skill needs to come into play, skill doesn't weigh anything, skill doesn't slow you down, or make it more difficult to fit through doorways. But you cant buy skill, you can buy kit. You can spend 800 bucks on that CPC or that ridiculously upgraded AEG, but one of the great things about Airsoft is that ability to apply skill is more important than your ability to spend money.

Knowing what to do in a situation and doing it not only makes you an asset player, makes you a leader in the game. Makes you an asset to your team.

I like to challenge myself once in a while, instead of grabbing that AEG I will go for the 30 dollar tri-shot. That really makes you apply skills rather than the ease of use of an AEG. Makes you have to think through your movements and tactics, rather than trying to make up for a lack of that in a hail of bb's.

Whether you want to debate it or not, Airsoft is an Arms race, getting that new gun, putting in that new bucking. Always competing for the equipment used, when the best tool is the thing that fills that FAST helmet. Knowing the basics of firearms training and knowing how to apply real world tactics to Airsoft makes or breaks a team.

Finding what works for you is the most important thing, whats the most comfortable piece of gear, what  makes you feel the coolest using it. Lets face it, us airsofters are masters of self delusion, especially from the beginning, but we can see it into the seasoned players of the game. "Gotta get that polar star, that'll make me unstoppable."

There are so many layers to this internal debate in airsoft, because:
Magazine pouches are made to do one thing, HOLD MAGAZINES, Plate carriers were made to CARRY PLATES! HSGI's hold magazines, they do it well, but so does the BFG or even a lower quality Pantac pouch.

Your gear should never hold you back, it should allow you to harness your skills to the highest ability possible.

I try and use what works, and not buy into the all the KIT=Better player bias, but it can be hard to get away as it is deeply engrained in our mindsets. 

Singing praise of the JPC

I had my fill of bulky, heavy plate carriers; I had drug my Conderp Defender to Pegasus, and while not bad, it was not an optimal piece of equipment. Heavy, bulky, and HUGE were major issues, and with the 90 degree weather it was really, REALLY hot. Also, Conderp.

I have been through my fair share of different plate carriers: First Choice Armour, Matrix CIRAS, Condor Defender, TMC 6094..Probably a few I missed, but they all, (Arguable not the 6094) are extremely bulky and unwieldy indoors.

The bulk is arguably better for warmth, and it has the ability to carry quite a bit more than a super low profile chest rig or plate carrier with the added benefit of having the capability to carry a plate.

That is where the JPC comes in, designed by CRYE industries, it is the latest technology in plate carriers. The Crye was designed to provide the lowest profile possible in a plate carrier platform.
But the beauty of the JPC is the cummerbund, and the weight. The medium is a crazy 1.3Lbs, and it has the side carrying capacity of a cummerbund. Its really a modern marvel in the tactical gear markert. Arguable only bested by again, Crye, with their 'Airlite' model.

Only problem is the Crye is 250 dollars, and you have a hard time finding one in stock. As you guys know, I am not the high roller of our airsoft community, I am as budget minded as the noob. But one who does not want to look like a noob anymore.

So, the Flyye was the obvious choice. At 73 dollars, with the Flyye name, it was a steal.

I have been really impressed with the flyye, i've fielded it twice and can sense it is a keeper. (At least, for a while) Only problem I have encountered is the bungee cord magazine retentions breaking, but that can be easily remedied with mil-spec cord.

Its lightweightness and low profile makes it a dream to field, while in my current configuration being able to hold 5 M4 magazines + one in the gun, IFAK, Knife, and Admin pouch.

I will follow this up after a few more games to really try and get my opinion on the JPC design and my current setup, so stay tuned!

RIP Mikhail Kalashnikov

A matter much more important than the Christmas season has just came up, Mikhail Kalashnikov has died at the age of 94.
Mikhail Kalashnikov developed the modern 'Assault' rifle' for the 20th century.
The Ak47, firing its 7.62x39 cartridge, is still debated to be the best rifle even to today. 60 years since the dawn of its existence.

His only american counterpart is John Moses browning, and in my humble opinion.
John M. Browning < Mikhail Kalashnikov
People still have the 'Ak vs Ar' debate, and the AK was developed almost 40 years before the AR. Engineering at its best, when your product is still relevant 70 years after its birth, you have created a masterpiece.
If you want to read more about the Kalashnikov, scroll down to "The AK74".

Mikhail's first try at firearms design. A Sub Machine gun, (1941) was not adopted.

Ah, the Christmas season

The Christmas season, or 'The Holidays' for the easily offended Communists, is an interesting time to be an Airsofter. Its either you don't know what to get your friends and family who happens to airsoft, or you are worried you are going to get that crossman LPEG.
Either way its a frustrating, but also rewarding time for airsofters, as you get to give the gift of gear. ALLAH POTAT.
Some great gift ideas for the advanced airsofter in your life would be a gift card to their favorite airsoft store. You cannot go wrong, they know what they want/'need', but you dont. Its not lazy, it is smart.
Because getting something you don't need or even want is not fun. You have no idea what to do with it, and you feel bad selling it on Ebay or trading it.

If you still feel gift cards are lazy, even though I think they are the best option, you cannot go wrong with optics (Non magnified, Dot type) ,ammunition for their real firearms they may or may not own. A great gift is a box of ammo with a promise of a trip to the range.(Or other shooting location) Or even rail accessories, you are hard pressed to go wrong with anything magpul.

Another thing, take advantage of the Black Friday and Early christmas deals! Black friday is by far the best time to score a deal on some airsoft gear, but be careful, do your homework. A lot of guns that are priced low are there for a reason. They suck.

Buy early! Being lazy could cost you 47.50 in one day air shipping, or a crappy present. Give yourself at least two weeks of time till the big day.

Airsofters are finicky people, this makes gift buying really difficult. If they dont like it, they probably wont keep it. Dont be surprised or offended if they trade or sell it to buy another piece of gear.

But small, buy quality. Your gift does not have to be the newest and coolest gun, a small piece of gear made by a well renowned company will suit better if not the same. If you notice they are missing a glove, or just need a new pair of gloves for example, I would suggest buying a 23 dollar pair of Mechanix gloves.They will last for ever, and special forces members have been known to use them as well. A new sling, boots, eye protection, or even a pouch made by companies like Blue force gear, Crye, Oakley, will make an Airsofter VERY happy. They will use a piece of gear they like for a long time. When a product is built to last, and they like it, you have given a great gift.

Those are all my tips and tricks for surviving the holiday season with an Airsofter.

Them Feels. (Missing my GBBR)

If you read my "About me" Page on here, you would know I owned an upgraded WA GBBR recently.
I've always envied the GBBR users at our local fields, even while seeing their downsides. Cooldown, limited magazine capacity, COST. But I still yearned for one.
About three months ago, that feeling overtook me. I posted my baby, my VFC M16, on Airsoft Craigslist,'looking to trade for GBBR'. Took about three weeks, and many lame offers. Some offers were to good to be true also.  But when a guy offered an upgraded Western Arms GBBR, I took it.

When it arrived, the intense similarity to my REAL Ar15 astounded me. And the first time I shot it, I was hooked. He had put in a CNC aluminum bolt carrier, IA bolt (Nozzle), and NPAS,200% buffer spring and an steel lower parts kit.

The first time I shot it, WOW. Felt very foreign, as I was so accustomed to using an AEG. It felt..Awesome. The trigger response was literally instantaneous, and chrisp. And you could fire it on semi-auto faster than you could blazing away on full auto. The full auto was slow, at best, but it really allowed you to use it, and make those shots COUNT!

Magazines, were..EXPENSIVE, but the realism of having to dump close to empty magazines out of safety and reusing when all your other magazines were out was, Realistic. G&P Pmags hold around 35-40 rounds, giving INSANE realism, I had two.

The plastic lower and upper receiver that came on the WA, were disappointing at best. Plasticy, almost toy like, a metal replacement would cost around 200 bucks! LOLNOPE. I had broken the trigger guard, but had 'fixed' with super glue, and the upper receiver threads were. Stripping.

I loved it anyway. But I guess I loved Airsofting in the winter more, because as winter approached, I knew I wouldn't be able to use it. :(

So, I packaged it up, and shipped it off for an Ares TAVOR (Read below)
To be honest, I will probably be picking up another GBBR at some point. Beginning of summer 2014??...Maybe. Likely.

The AK74

The venerable AK47, Developed by Mikhail Kalashnikov in 1947, it has become the worlds most popular service rifle. The long stroke gas piston design makes an incredibly reliable, and tough firearm. The rifle being able to fire even while minor dust and debris that would stop a weapon using a gas impingement system in its tracks.  Accurate enough, though not capable to deliver MOA standards set by the AR, it is a rifle capable of modern firefight engagements. The round fired by the AK47 is that of the 7.62x39, this round, in Kalashnikov's own words, is "The best service cartridge for modern war". Its large, 30 caliber, 128 grain bullet that moves at an impressive 2500 feet per second. This makes the Ak47 arguable difficult to control on fully automatic, but is still useable in rapid firing.

In the 70's, as the Russians watched the Americans switch from our well-renowned M1 Garands to the new M16. The M16 firing the 5.56 round,puny by 7.62x39 standards. The 5.56 flings a 55g, 22 caliber bullet at 3,000 feet per second. (Read more the 5.56 BELOW) The russians were intrigued by our switch from our even larger than 7.62x39, 30-06 round. They saw we had found that the smaller cartridge had led to a soldier's ability to carry more ammunition, and discharge a full magazine with greater speeds.

And the Ak74 was born! Kalashnikov did not want to switch to a smaller caliber for the AK, but he was influenced by the russian government. The round they created was the 5.45x39, its a very similar cartridge to the 5.56 NATO.

AK's in airsoft mean the russian crowd, they have developed more of a subculture rather than a group. The 'Russian Crowd' are in a whole, quite picky on the gear and their choice of weapons. For them, it seems, its AK or nothing at all. It may be the Russian philosophy that leads them to cling to the AK. Basic, Effective, No BS.

Unless you have a death wish, don't bring the AK into 'modern' times, unless it is with the approval of Kalashnikov himself. (Cite the KREBS AK)
http://www.evike.com/products/35760/ If you use this monstrocity, there without a doubt, will be your family, gathered around the table, writing your obituary.

I recently picked up a quite old echo1 AK74, the price was right, and I needed a backup gun. I was especially excited when I magnet tested the receiver and they tested positive for steel. This means, in my limited knowledge, that this is a DBOYS made from old VFC molds.

Im excited to get out and try the new AK. I haven't played in about 4 weeks, and it feels like a lifetime!

Task Force Kilo

Task Force Kilo, the team which I currently reside, Is something else. It stands apart from every other team, and our list of applicants proves that. We have people applying all the time, with new players sitting in for our training days pretty regularly.

Yesterday was a TFK training day, and it was awesome. I had brought a friend from school airsofting for the first time. I set him up in my 6094, cammies, and my recently worked on Ares Tavor. (Which is shooting AWESOME By the way!) I wish I had been set like that to play a game when I started. I would've been hooked from the start!

I set my friend free to mingle with the local airsofters while I played the UN photographer. I wore Khang's Blue U.N Helmet with an orange safety vest and a camera. I was told it was the most accurate UN loadout to date!

I got some AWESOME photos from the game and training, link:This Album Here

After a couple games, we started training. It went awesome, and I eventually ended up yelling at Rob my favorite quote from 'Full Metal Jacket', "I WILL GOUGE OUT YOUR EYEBALLS AND SKULL*UCK YOU!" Everybody was surprised at my channeled aggression, i'm a pretty calm, collected person, but Khang told me to get angry. So I did.

We did vehicle stoppages and personal searches exclusively, though we also hit on some basics like formations and bounding. "Would you like some goat milk?" The two new people to the team, Matt and Steven, went through training with us. They did pretty good for a first time, but communication and techniques need to be worked in. At one point we were running a drill and Matt was hit, but I think he called for medic once. So we left him behind. We had bounded probably 300 feet from him before I even took notice he was gone. "Where the hells Matt?!" "Think he got lost?"

Other than that, they did great. Better than I had expected, and we are lucky to have them on the team. We are getting to the point where we are running as a fluid team, even at this stage I think we are FAR ahead of any other local team. And I am ready to start throwing bb's again next weekend!

Operation Narcoleptic Reindeer AAR/ Ares Tavor AAR

Okay, a lot happened last Saturday. I will start by saying it was an awesome day, and totally worth the 15 dollar entrance fee and the drive up.If you did not know, this was a Milsim event, meaning it attempts to closely reenact scenarios, fictitious or not.

The scenario for this Operation was that there was to be a democratic election in Iraq, while the locals voted, a group of Iraqi Insurgents vowed to disrupt the election.

I, and my team, Task Force Kilo, signed up for the US forces. The US forces were to not let the elections be disturbed.

I rode with Rob, Sabin, and my friend, Parker; we left at 7:30, but after getting a little lost we did not make it until ten minutes after the arrival time was supposed to be. Thankfully, the flow of the morning was slow, and we were not NOTICEABLY late.

Still, everyone was scrambling to get all their gear ready in the shortened time we had. After that, chrono, I brought the Tavor as my only weapon of the day. This is where things turn crazy. As you can read down below this post, I pretty much jinxed myself by talking about my lack of a backup gun. I got up to chrono, with a loaded magazine and charged battery, and it went 'Click' 'Click'. That feeling of pure irritation where you just want to done with these silly BB guns was upon me. I ran back, and slapped in my backup 8.4v and ran back to chrono. I decided I'd better take some test shots instead up just having complete faith in the gun.

After a couple of shots on semi, I walked into the chrono shack. I get up to the chrono, 'Get it figured out kid' 'Yes Sir!'. *Click, *Click.

SON OF A MOTHER DUCK.

The reason it shot outside and then quit still perplexes me, I don't think I ever will understand. I am now in the market for a backup gun.

When things go bad for me, its like domino's. Things just continue to happen until I go crazy. Like some sort of sick joke. Thankfully, my Friend Khang, Check out his blog here: Kilo21.blogspot.com, let me borrow his KWA MP7.

If you haven't seen it, it is DECKED out! I was super nervous, because of my streak of bad luck, but I took it anyway. Otherwise, I would just have to yell "PEW PEW!" And hope someone took the safety kill. Of course, Khang had R-hopped it.

There is one weapon on the US team that is really noteworthy, mostly because I had never seen one before and it was ridiculous. It was a Polarstar'd M82, I don't know what base he used, probably the Snow Wolf, but It was AWESOME to look at. And if there was every a person to carry it, it was that guy. He was a beast.

We started by clearing the Town, the lightweight and compactness of the MP7 made me feel like I wasn't carrying anything at all. And it made for a great room clearing element. Although firing the MP7 was awesome, though I didn't do often, because I only had the two magazines Khang had let me borrow, I began to hate the ergonomics of this micro-submachine gun more and more. The grip is long and thin, and the tiny little vertical grip is a joke. Also the stock is almost as bad as the KWA Mac11's stock. Which is also a joke. (I realize its the same on the real M11,and it is more of a brace)

We set up a perimeter around the town, and we were still getting our bearings on how to deal with the Civi's coming into vote. We treated them as hostile, and I think over did it. We were really the only somewhat organized team we were 1-1. Both 2-1 and 2-2 was a joke, they did not know what they were doing, and neither did we. There is a time and place kiddies.

Before lunch, we were told we had to evacuate some voters from the other side of the field back into the town to vote. We made the 1/4 mile to the house in which they were at, and slowly made our way back. Knowing the Iraqi Insurgents had something planned. I had been put on security for locals coming back, and did my best to keep a close, but safe distance.

We were 300 feet from the town when all hell broke loose. They wiped out more than half of our team. As soon as I hear gunfire I turn and tell the locals to back up and get down. We were at the rear, thank god, and avoided the firefight. But I saw an Iraqi insurgent run up from the side and was about to eliminate the rest of our squad. I walk up to him, gun drawn, at his 9 O' Clock, I was super surprised he did not see me. I say in a voice just loud enough for him to hear me "Safety kill", he seemed super disappointed.

I get back with the locals, and they congratulate me. Apparently that guy is known for being very sneaky, so sneaky in fact that was the first time he had ever been safety killed.

It seemed as if the rest of my guys had secured the rest of the road to the Town, so I tell they locals we need to go. They walked. I walked behind they watching as much as I could. But I failed to look back, this turned fatal when I heard gun fire and jumped in front of the local I was told to protect. I get sprayed head to toe, but thank God none of the insurgents were. And they made it okay.

A large chunk of the game was watching the town, and shooting the insurgents that shot our way.
But then when we were told to make it to the house again, they had created a strong hold. And we lost a lot of men bull rushing it.

In the mist of it, I made it into a trench with the last few survivors of the first 'wave'. We coordinated my rush to the house and tossing my thunder b in. As I was running, it seemed I lost control of my throwing arm. I chucked it. It COMPLETELY misses the window, and lands on the roof.
Darn. Now I am sitting in front of this window with a guy shooting out of it who doesn't know Im there. I figured I could make my way around and safety kill them from behind them inside. But in the midst of figuring my plan out. I feel a sharp pain up and down my back, the guy in the window had seen me. And apparently neglected to call safety kill. Cool.

Now, I was dead. I sat there for about 4 minutes and decided I should probably get my grenade off the roof and get back to my team. Thankfully, this must be a common occurrence, because there was a latter VERY conveniently placed next to the roof. I climb up there and see my grenade, Its looks like a birthday ballon. I duck, and look back up. I don't think its going to blow. I knock it down very carefully. And stare at it. And stare. STARE.

Now I get to play Bomb technician. Awesome. I creep up on it as if I was stalking an animal, and jump at it and unscrew it quickly. Stressfull. Without thinking I screw it back in and throw it in my dump pouch and regroup at my CCP. 

As it got dark, we moved the game back into the town, with some stressful wave esc. battle rushes from the Insurgents, and the locals blowing things up. It was stressful. 

The game quickly wound down, I was late to get back, but Rob, the 'director' of these games, insisted I stay for the final words.Im glad I did, because Khang and I were both awarded SA Club memberships for 2014 for being leaders on the field. I was very thankful, and its just another excuse to go to more SA games! 

Overall, It was a great day. Started out extremely stressful with guns refusing to function, pouches failing, and a floppy, unadjusted vest, but ended on a high note, being recognized by the local SA admins! TFK Kicked some Ass all day, and that training definitely paid off. 

Also, Remember that thunder b I screwed back together and threw in my dump pouch? Yeah, neither did I. As I am unpacking my stuff out of the car, It falls out, It latterly has vein like stress marks. I had time enough just to throw it away from the car. It exploded as soon as it hit the ground. If it had explode as we were driving, I dont even want to think what would've happened. Thank God that didn't happen. 

A Brief History Of The 5.56 NATO Round

The 5.56 NATO round has been in service since the late 1960's, and was developed with the M16.
During the Korean war, we realized the 30/06 cartridge was an adequate man stopper, but the heavy recoil made it hard for our troops to shoot their M1 Garands as fast as they could effectively. Lots of times in the Korean war, our troops would have to empty and reload their Garands as fast as they could just to hold their ground.

This lead to the development a smaller caliber rifle that would be much easier to control on semi and fully automatic. This contract opportunity was seized by Armalite, with the development of the early M16.
This new M16 was issued in large numbers to our conflict in the Vietnam war, but did not receive good reviews at all from the troops. This is due not to design flaws of the rifle itself, but of the round.

The round that was issued for the Vietnam war used a brick type powder, this lead to extreme fouling in the M16's and lead to costly jams on the field. Our troops were not even issued cleaning kits at the time, so soldiers would be seen wiping the fouling out of the chamber with their socks. The different powder choice led to a slightly increased velocity, but the costs were obviously great.

The 5.56 cartridge's most common weight bullet is 55 grains, this little lightweight bullet moves at approximately 3000 FPS. This light little bullet REQUIRES that extremely high velocity to retain its deadly capabilities.

Another use for a lower caliber rifle cartridge is the revelation that killing a enemy soldier causes a lot less confusion then wounding one. When you hit something with the 30/06 round, it died. The point of the 5.56 is to have it keep the individual alive long enough to cause confusing against the enemy, but still have them die.

Shortly after, the Russians saw we changed to the 5.56 NATO round, and developed its own version. The Ak74. The Ak74 uses a similar 5.45 round, and has similar characteristics. The Kalashnikov's did not want to build a lower caliber version of the AK, for they believed the 7.62x39 caliber cartridge was superior for all modern battlefield conflicts. But they did it anyway.

The M16 was designed with around a 22 inch barrel, as such, the round. So, the 5.56 round is designed to burn all of its powder and optimal velocity in that 22 inch barrel. The civilian market has adopted a 16" Barrel as it is as short as the ATF will let us have it. Though the 22 inch barrel is the most optimal barrel length for this round.

The civilian market picked up the AR15 around the 80's, with it eventually becoming the most common Modern Sporting Rifle. Remington developed the .223 round from their popular .222. Dimensionally, the .223 is exactly the same as the 5.56, but the 5.56 is loaded to a higher pressure. This is why it is not recommended that you shoot 5.56 in a .223 chamber, but I have never experienced a problem doing this.

The 5.56 is now the most common caliber for a sporting and hunting rifles, and is still growing. Its great for Varmit hunting, and is used in our Military applications exclusively still in the form of M4 carbines.

Preparation for Op. Narcoleptic Reindeer

Operation Narcoleptic Reindeer crept up on me, and with one day to go, I figure I may want to start preparing.

I will be running my Ares Tavor this weekend, and I have confidence in its reliability, which is allways a good thing. I've been to many a game where I'm not sure whether my gun is going to run well all day, without a backup. Its super stressful, and if something does go wrong, super irritating.
 I plan to charge my batteries morning of, since last week I charged them night before, and they seemed to have lost most of its charge. Leading to springer like full auto. Luckily, the Tavor has an adequate battery compartment, and I can house a 9.6v nunchuck easily.

I've been planning a backup gun for a while, something super reliable. I'm almost thinking an AK for the V3 gearbox; though as most team members know, interchangeability of magazines between members is almost essential.

Thankfully, I am running with my team, Task Force Kilo, so we may be able to help each other out should something go wrong.

I will be running my current rig, which is a TMC 6094. I like it a lot and it probably in my kit for a while to come.

My Real Steel Experiance

Ah, Real Steel. By far my most knowledgeable subject relating to Airsoft. I've loved firearms since I pulled my first trigger, (About 6 years). I knew firearms kept me safe since I realized there are bad people that may want to cause damage to the things I love. I am a STRONG supporter of Gun Rights, as I know a LOT of airsofters are. But for me it's personal.

I pride myself in knowing a LOT about all sorts of things about the firearms industry, arguably too much. I find myself wanting a firearm just to have it, as I think we all do once in a while.

I seem to an exquisite rifle shot, begin able to lower my heart rate and squeeze the trigger with much control. I also love shooting high caliber rifles, being able to feel the intense recoil is a thing of beauty I think. And to see a half dollar sized hole in a target 200 yards away is an awesome feeling.

Handgun shooting is where my abilities are not such as impressive; I can make shots, but not with the speed and precision some of my friends can. Though shooting rifles are always fun, the huge difference in shooting a handgun from a rifle is an almost adrenaline pumping experience after you've shot nothing but Rifles and Shotguns since. I was raised shooting large caliber pistols, so I am not very caliber shy. Haha. 

Though it was just last summer I shot my first black rifle; I pulled the trigger, the Marmot flew 5 feet in the air, ripping it in half, and I turned and said "I gotta get one of these." 

Its a sickness really, building black rifles. The AR15 goes together like Lego's, and even if I didn't have any experience in gunsmithing in the past, I'm sure it would've been no big deal. 

The only problems with building an AR was, A: My financial situation, I ain't a rich kid, And B: The time at which I choose to build. 

It had been only a month since the horrendous shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, and politicians were already cooking up new anti-common sense laws causing gun owners of all types to go into frenzy.  

Things like this had happened before, post elections, post legislation passing. But NOTHING to this degree, people HAD to have whatever they could get there hands on. 

There was NO 5.56 ammo, and forget finding parts. I was told by my buddy parts where cheap, and you could build an AR15 for 500 dollars if you chose the cheapest parts. I was super excited. 

To be honest, I didn't even notice the frenzy happening until I strolled into Wall mart to pick up some .22lr for a range day and was laughed at. No .22lr? What? 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VkFaijhNHU

Here's one of our range days. 

It was certainly stressful for a noobie AR builder to come into the WORST time possible to begin an AR15 build. I had no idea of the 'typical' market price for parts, so I only payed what I thought was reasonable. Thank GOD for ARpartsfinder.com, without it, I doubt I would've been able to even start my AR building. 

When something would pop up, you could literally watch the '# in stock' go down in real time. It was frustrating, especially when you are working for the parts, and cant be on the computer 24/7 waiting for parts to come in. I slowly pieced together an upper, getting a stripped upper first, then the rail, then the barrel. I chose a Milspec 5.56 chambered 1/7 twist barrel, and for now it seems to ROCK. 

I was super excited to start the lower, waiting to see how my rifle would look assembled. Saturday evening, I'm mindlessly refreshing Arpartsfinder when an ATI OMNI complete lower receiver for 130 dollars. I immediately snapped out of my reverie like state and got out the card. 135 dollars later, I had a lower coming my way to my local FFL. I was super excited to get it in. 

I bought it from Palmetto State Armory, and first off, they never sent a tracking number. So I'm waiting like a loyal dog waiting for his owner to return. Three weeks later, I decided to drop by my Local FLL and see if they know whats up. The guy behind the counter then goes "Oh, Kazanis right?" To be honest, I was frightened as his tone was as if something terrible had happened.  He then reached under a counter and as if by doing a magic trick my lower appeared. I flew through the 4473, and 10 minutes later, I had my lower. 

I assembled it, It was beautiful. To me anyway, for all the frustration that I went through for it to be finally over! 

Ill admit it now, that there was not the prettiest AR at the ball. 

I had it assembled, and I throwing it around, as one tends to do; when I slung it over my shoulder, I set it down at one point, and then picked it up by the sling. *SNAP*

My ATI polymer lower had broken into two pieces right at the buffer tower. I was very angry at this. Obviously.

So, back to Palmetto State Armory. Sent them a, what must've been a very angry sounding email, they replied 'We do not Warranty Polymer lowers'. LOL WHAT. So, I then send ATI a chance. I shot them an email. They seemed to be very nice, promising a quick replacement after I shipped the old lower back. I was relieved, but still angry at them for allowing such a crappy product arrive at my door. 

About a month later, I am not a happy camper. I keep calling, complaining what a long time I had been waiting. Finally, they say they had shipped the new lower to my FLL, with 25 bucks enclosed for the transfer fee. Which I, on my limited budget, was grateful for. It was obvious, that was an older, non-reinforced model. The thickness of the material around the sight tower had tripled, leaving a MUCH more structurally sound piece. ATI is now neutral to me, they allowed that lower to ship without noting that it may be an older, or even a prototype model. The only excuse I can come up with is that they were trying to capitalize on the panic that was happening in the gun market they put everything they had to get lowers out there as fast as they could. 

Another investment later, optics (In this case a Nikon Buckmaster 3-9). And It was done. Optics really make an AR externally shine. With them they really a thing of beauty. 

The AR15 design has to be one of the most smooth shooting rifles around. The buffer system makes a seemly muffled recoil, and with the use of an appropriate muzzle device, VERY little muzzle flip is observed.

 Before I knew it, my AR was putting dime sized groups at 100 yards in my hands. And It was killing anything it was pitted against. It was awesome. 

I will admit it, I am a trigger snob. I hate bad triggers, they make the shooting experience more of a chore than a hobby. The ATI's stock trigger was CRAP. And on my shoestring budget, at first I thought there was not much I could do about it. But a little googling later, I learned all about DIY gunsmith mods to improve the trigger on the AR15. I love doing mods like that, especially when they have large results. 

I clipped the trigger spring, and greased the trigger contacts, and before I knew it, I had a respectable trigger. 

I am like to say I'm an aspiring gunsmith, but an AR is cake compared to other firearm models. 

I plan to start a 1911 build soon, even with reading all about how it is incredibly difficult. 

I'm not a big game hunter, I don't disapprove of the idea of big game hunting at all, but in this stage in my life right now, I'm much more into the Varmint hunting. The idea of just shoot and scoot is favorable to me right now, instead of: WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT, *BANG* Next week is just tending to that kill. 

Anyway, I'm already starting a new AR15 build, but that's another post. Haha. I've already written myself into another page I think.. 

The Israeli Tar21

The Israeli Tar 21 is really a thing of beauty, if bullpups are your thing. It gives a new meaning to the term 'Full Stock', the bullpup design positions the your firing hand in front of the magazine; Making an extremely small, and balanced battle rifle.

The Israelites have been fighting for their freedom for a long time, since the beginning of their existence really. They have gone through the IWI Uzi, the IWI Galil, and now, The Tar-21. I trust their judgment wholeheartedly. The real one being chambered in the 5.56 nato round, and using standard STANAG type magazines, it is a popular civilian owned weapon as well.

One of the main selling points of the Tavor is the extremely short profile for having a standard 16, or 18 inch barrels. Giving the 5.56 cartridge an optimal velocity. The overall length with the 18 inch barrel is just over 26 inches. Which, thankfully, is the minimal NFA length.

When you pick up the Tar, you breathe a sigh of relief, a LARGE majority of the weight is centered right at your shoulder, behind your firing hand. It makes the weight much more manageable, especially for CQB encounters.

The IWI TAVOR really does give the term 'full stock' a new meaning, but you really come to enjoy the look and feel of the TAR21. The IWI TAVOR is not a very popular gun on the airsoft market, if you are lucky enough to own the TAVOR, then you will definitely stand out amongst the epidemic of AR platformed guns. If you have used nothing but an AR and then switch to the Tar, you may be a little out of your element,but it is a breath of fresh air when you feel the weight and speed at which you can fling the gun around.

Another huge selling point is the ambidextrous controls, the magazine release and bolt release can easily be actuated with both hands. On the real firearm, you can change the bolt moving the brass ejection port to the other side, to provide true ambidexterity. The charging handle and fire selector is non ambidextrous being only located on the left side of the weapon. (Though, you can see the position of the fire selector, and actually actuate inconveniently on the right side of the weapon.)

You can easily transition the gun from right to left shoulder, so easy in fact I find myself doing it instinctively. This is awesome for CQB as to expose as little of your body as you can while engaging from a corner. Real firearm wise, you probably wouldn't be doing that, but I guess in some circumstances you could.

My only grief with the Tar's design is the fact that the magazine release is non isolated, and is a large catch that you may accidently actuate if you are changing your firing hand. This has happened in a game and is quite embarrassing, your magazine falling out in a firefight is also not an optimal thing to happen.

Overall, the Ares Tavor is a beautiful representation of the real IWI Tar21, and its external quality is hard to believe you are holding a replica. The internal performance is adequate, getting range that usually comes out of a modified hop up unit. The quick change spring feature makes it a great all around weapon, having a long enough barrel for field play, but at the same time having a small enough profile that you will be it an advantage to a full size M4. It shoots around 400FPS out of the box, but with one screw and a new spring you can lower it to any FPS you want.
Overall I would give the Ares Tavor a 9/10, with the distinct advantages you would find on the real IWI in the airsoft world. It is a thing of beauty really.

Intro

Just one crazy Airsofter!

Hey! My name is Drew, and I live in Eastern WA, And Im 'Just one crazy Airsofter!'

There is a ton of different airsoft communities that pop up around here, adding to the list everyday!

Airsoft has absolutely exploded around here, with lots of newcomers to the games every week! I play to have a good time, as do most of the players here. Which makes for a great community, one that is ever expanding and adapting! This is a blog to display that community, and one where you can get an opinion from..

Just one crazy Airsofter!