Gas Sniper Rifles?

[jareyes]

Hey guys,

Lately, I've been looking with great curiosity at some bolt action rifles and I had noticed in the classifieds there were a few gas bolt action rifles.

Now, I've only looked briefly on youtube at the performance of a gas sniper rifle, but is there/are there any particular benefits to having a gas-based sniper platform? I would assume that perhaps it shoots harder than its springer counterpart (if it has one) but does the user feel any sort of blowback or recoil? If so, it doesn't really look like it.

And while we're at it, what particular downsides are there to having a gas-based sniper rifle apart from having a spring sniper rifle aside from having to refill the gas every so often?

Thanks in advance for the input guys.

[Styrak]

Downsides are that velocities change as temperature goes up and down. Also, it won't be nearly as consistent as a spring.

[Skruface]

Gas sniper rifles require no upper body strength to cock the bolt. A high-tensioned spring is often quite difficult to cock; you almost certainly lose your sight picture as you have to really work to cock the bolt. With a gas sniper rifle (like my Tanaka M700 AICS) you don't even have to move the rifle to re-cock the bolt - keep your eyes looking through the scope and flick your wrist.

Most spring sniper rifles are neither particularly accurate or consistent right out of the box without a couple of hundred dollar in tuning and modifications (tightbore, Zero Trigger or sear set). The same can be said for *quality* gas sniper rifles. Add a few parts and they can become very consistent.

There's a great thread here about Illusion's experiments with upgrading his gas-powered Tanaka:
http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthr...00+AICS&page=9

[AngelusNex]

Originally Posted by Skruface

Gas sniper rifles require no upper body strength to cock the bolt. A high-tensioned spring is often quite difficult to cock; you almost certainly lose your sight picture as you have to really work to cock the bolt. With a gas sniper rifle (like my Tanaka M700 AICS) you don't even have to move the rifle to re-cock the bolt - keep your eyes looking through the scope and flick your wrist.

I have 0 issues keeping my vsr on target, through the scope while cocking the spring (aside from about 1-2 feet wobble at 100 feet through the scope) And If somebody isn't strong enough to work the bolt on a spring sniper rifle then they NEED to hit a gym.

[Con Murder]

Originally Posted by Sepulcrum

If somebody isn't strong enough to work the bolt on a spring sniper rifle then they NEED to hit a gym.

Truth

[Amos]

Originally Posted by Skruface

Gas sniper rifles require no upper body strength to cock the bolt. A high-tensioned spring is often quite difficult to cock; you almost certainly lose your sight picture as you have to really work to cock the bolt. With a gas sniper rifle (like my Tanaka M700 AICS) you don't even have to move the rifle to re-cock the bolt - keep your eyes looking through the scope and flick your wrist.

Most spring sniper rifles are neither particularly accurate or consistent right out of the box without a couple of hundred dollar in tuning and modifications (tightbore, Zero Trigger or sear set). The same can be said for *quality* gas sniper rifles. Add a few parts and they can become very consistent.

There's a great thread here about Illusion's experiments with upgrading his gas-powered Tanaka:
http://www.airsoftcanada.com/showthr...00+AICS&page=9

I actually find gas bolts harder to work than spring bolts... With spring bolts it's the same push and pull every time.. but with gas bolts there's all sorts of variable pushes and pulls depending at what part of the bolt you're at...

Atleast it's that way with Mr. Jon's Star AWM

[TokyoSeven]

I found that with a spring bolt that there was a little bit of resistance to get used to initially on the pull back but not enough to be an issue or anything. However with my M700 it was the same pull and cock every time.

[Amos]

Originally Posted by TokyoSeven

I found that with a spring bolt that there was a little bit of resistance to get used to initially on the pull back but not enough to be an issue or anything. However with my M700 it was the same pull and cock every time.

Hrm, It must've just been the strange Star AWM thing that I was playing with.

I still haven't played with a M700... But there's no way I'm giving up my VSR-10 or the crazy consistency of spring!

[HalfHeaded]

aright quick question.. as some of you may already know i have aquired a l96 (dont ask it was sort of a accident) but know that i have it i know i cant use it untill have gained the confidense of the community (its a hot gun so) but im pretty sure that i will like the sniper role once i have been playing for a while. And no im not like the average 14 year old kid "im going to become invisible in a ghillie suit and snipe everybody up" but no i make many ghillies suits and one of my passions is to be concealed and stalk something. So once i get there what do you think gas or spring?

[Styrak]

Spring.

[HalfHeaded]

thanks

[Outcast569]

Whether or not any one agrees with me Ill say this. Youtube is not the best place for quality reviews or information usually.

Personally I would have to side with Amos here and say go with the spring, after getting my G-spec and a friend of mine getting his M700 and going to the range I can say with out a doubt that the spring is more consistant. As far as Im concerned any thing else wrong with the gun can be delt with so long as it shoot the same every time. Im not knocking the gas guns but with what little I have seen the springs tend to do better in the long run.

[HalfHeaded]

Originally Posted by Outcast569

Whether or not any one agrees with me Ill say this. Youtube is not the best place for quality reviews or information usually.

Personally I would have to side with Amos here and say go with the spring, after getting my G-spec and a friend of mine getting his M700 and going to the range I can say with out a doubt that the spring is more consistant. As far as Im concerned any thing else wrong with the gun can be delt with so long as it shoot the same every time. Im not knocking the gas guns but with what little I have seen the springs tend to do better in the long run.

i heard of some kind of upgrade you can get for a ares/star aw 338 which controlls the gas flow and makes the fps much more consistant.

[TokyoSeven]

Originally Posted by Amos

Hrm, It must've just been the strange Star AWM thing that I was playing with.

I still haven't played with a M700... But there's no way I'm giving up my VSR-10 or the crazy consistency of spring!

I could not agree with you more the consistency between my M700 and Cushaks APS2 were worlds apart. Spring > Gas for consistency any day.

[tunabreath]

Externally regulated gas is comparable to spring, and you still get the nice zero resistance bolt operation, extremely crisp and light trigger, and fully adjustable velocity
I'm running my Tanaka M40 from a 12g CO2 cartridge in a Palmers reg tapped to a long (29rd) mag.

As well as other benefits like an armed indicator (firing pin is visibly cocked), visual inspection of bolt and chamber (can see if you're empty before you close the bolt again), can feed single rounds through the open bolt (good for random tests, other single shot things, or odd shaped/experimental rounds), can decock with a round in the chamber (although you can't recock without double feeding), and it's VERY easy to make the rifle either really loud or really quiet depending on what you do at the muzzle end. Much more than a spring rifle at any rate.

You can also half cycle the bolt and still function (only need to move the bolt far back enough to chamber another round, not all the way back to catch a sear). This in conjunction with the zero resistance bolt operation makes a gas boltie have maybe 3 shots for every 2 from a springer. That's not that important while sniping, but it's there if the SHTF and is always good for a bit of fun.

That said, Tanaka and the KJW clone's hopup system isn't the best, but that's why I have the VSR hopup chamber conversion kit in mine. That plus a firefly rubber and it's shooting quite nicely.


Now I'm seriously wondering, why haven't airsoft sniper rifles gone the way of competition air rifles and moved towards PCP systems yet?


*I'm also biased against springers because it's much harder to cock a springer as a lefty, since you're pulling towards your chest with no hand to control the muzzle rather than to your braced shoulder with your reaction hand out front. Gas is easiest either way.