The 350 fps sniper?

[dogtoy]

I have always been curious about air soft sniper roles , specifically using a spring gun ,..but have always stayed away from it mainly because after lots lots of reading it seems no matter what gun you get your dumping another 500 bux or so into it , to bring it up to a fps & accuracy to be even slightly useful ,..& most seem to say its boring & frustrating ,..Now I'm older & would have no problem laying in the forest for a few hours looking through binoculars & reporting movements to a team,..& taking the occasional shot at an enemy lmg or something ..as opposed to constantly running around all day ..but I would not want to spend upwards of 1500 bux just to get the rifle to do that , So i essentially forget about it , but read up on the sniper threads & videos ,..but every once in a while I come across a video or thread , where someone is using a close to stock gun , with maybe only accuracy upgrades & reporting doing well with it ,..Is that even possible ? I read of 500fps+ money pits ,..& yet some are actually successfully playing with 350+ plus fps successfully ?
I would like to hear from those that are satisfied playing with a lower fps sniper rifle & how they do it ,..is it because of field size , or dense cover ? I am not very fluent in french ,..but this vid seems to show a 350fps bolt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-F42BVI-77s

[Drakker]

The advantage of a low power sniper rifle is that it is very easy to make it silent. If you want to do that, you can pretty much start off with a stock Tokyo Marui (not a clone!) VSR10 and change the spring for a slightly stronger one, use a piston with an air brake (or add an air brake to the stock one if it doesn't have one), add a sorbo pad and put in a good hop-up rubber. You might want to change the barrel, but lately the stock barrels in Marui VSR series have been pretty damn good and it might not be a good use of your money if you want to do it on the cheap.

You'll get pretty decent accuracy up to 200 feet. Not a long range marvel, but it will do the job up close and be silent enough that you'll be able to shoot and remain undetected at 100 feet, sometimes even closer when the weather permits it (rainy days are great for this).

[Hectic]

Yep, the low velocity bolt action has its uses. A lot of fields are far too dense to get clear shots out beyond 200 feet. In those fields a bolt action that shoots under 400fps is great as you will be able to shoot just like everyone else and be super quiet about it.
A stock TM VSR10 285fps can shoot just as far and accurately as a 400fps aeg.
Once you start upgrading (not velocity but hop ups and barrels n such) the aeg can surpass for range but consistency and near silence can always help to win the day.

In closing the right kind of player can own with a low velocity bolt action. As long as your sneaking and stalking skills are good.

[ThunderCactus]

My vsr10 only ended up costing $850 after upgrades and it shot on par with any other $800-$1600 rifle.
On the cheap, your just need to upgrade the barrel and hop rubber (for range and acccuracy), the spring to 380-420fps, and the trigger sears to handle the spring.
The stock cylinder is fine as long as it gives you consistent fps.

I ran my rifle at 380fps for a LONG time, it still shot 260ft but most importantly i could still engage people within 50ft. On the fields i was playing, the typical engagement range was generally 20-100ft

You dont NEED to spent 500 in upgrades to make it shoot great, upgrading the cylinder is mostly for reliability and sometimes doesnt increase consistency at all. And upgrading the trigger is just about reliability (stock sears tend to break), but mostly its about trigger feel.

[dogtoy]

very interesting ,..that was going to be another question ,..with so many purely going for super high fps I wonder how many times they found themselves in a situation where the enemy got so close they could not take shots for safety ..although the longer range can be done

[Drakker]

I run my sniper rifle at 400 fps now. Had it at 450fps for a while, but found that I never even attempted shots over 150 feet. We play in dense wood land here and we rarely have a straight line of sight farther than 100 feet, except in trails, but these are not where you want to be if you are trying to stay hidden. I usually carry an MP9 or an MP5K along with my rifle, so close range engagement is rarely a problem for me.

[ThunderCactus]

Originally Posted by dogtoy

very interesting ,..that was going to be another question ,..with so many purely going for super high fps I wonder how many times they found themselves in a situation where the enemy got so close they could not take shots for safety ..although the longer range can be done

Muzzle energy factors into range, but it's a bit more complicated than just fps = range:
Higher muzzle energy allows you to run heavy BBs, which increase your maximum potential range and accuracy.
Ultimately, your maximum potential range is controlled by the weight of your BBs, not the hopup or muzzle energy.

So now that you're at 470fps, and you're running .36s, now you need a hopup capable of lifting those BBs properly in order to get 300-350ft range.

So just because someone is shooting 600fps, doesn't necessarily mean they're getting more than 260ft of accurate range.
And just because you're shooting 400fps, doesn't mean you can't be accurate at 300ft.

So don't worry about the actual fps, so much as the BB weight and barrel group.

[Enthusiast]

@Drakker

You are right about the 150 feet pratical limit. Many snipers claim to shoot higher distance but they tend overestimate range.

I did some test with a rangefinder and 150 feet is way longer that I expected from eye estimation.

[Drakker]

The 150 feet limit is due to the environment I usually play in. I've done a couple of 200+ feet shots. I haven't measured the exact range my VSR10 shoots, I know I can reliably hit a birch tree at 205 feet when there is absolutely no wind, and the BB flies past that tree for a little while, so lucky shots at 250 feet are definitely possible, but I'd much rather get within 150 feet, even 100 feet if possible and get a guaranteed hit instead.

[ThunderCactus]

I know both my ptw and VSR-10 are/were getting real good accuracy out at 260ft
I've also seen some guns shooting past 300ft.
I've also MADE a 350ft shot with my ptw before, but I had about 75ft of elevation lol

[Enthusiast]

@ThunderCactus
Did you ever use a laser rangerfinder (not in a game) to confirm that your shot are done at 250 foots ?

[ThunderCactus]

It was a measured distance

[naminator]

Honestly, if you want a good rifle you will still be in or around 1000$. 300-500$ for the gun itself, plus another 500$ or so to make it great. I have a semi auto rifle, the KC02 which is a clone of the Tanio Kobia 10/22.

Currently I have an Orga Magnus, VSR 3d printed chamber, Hogue stock, several magazines (because I haven't HPA tapped mags, don't have a rig and I am still bedding in the hopup) and an upgraded light weight piston. Last game I had it out, in an hour I held down a hill top (basically solo) racked up 12 or more kills and still had ammo to spare.

The gun all said an done cost me around 900$, way more if you include the time spent modding, tuning, testing ect. It is a labour of love. Currently my gun is for sale, because honestly I want my gun course and to buy a remington 870.

I would go for a Tanaka M24/KJW M700 with a Tanaka Long Mag HPA tapped, Edgi Barrel, Spartan kit and an upgrade rubber. A couple other internals would make it deadly. Then it comes down to GOOD glass and lots of time spent fine tuning things. Then can have a quiet, gas rifle, without the need for a spring system.

[ThunderCactus]

If you have the money, you COULD go HPA, but the only benefits it really has is a 5yr old girl can cock it. And you have to change the line on each mag.
In terms of pure performance, there's no difference what so ever in the range or accuracy between HPA and spring
In terms of being quiet, the HPA rifle is quieter to the person shooting it, but my VSR didn't even have an air brake in the beginning and you still couldn't hear it shoot from 15ft away

If we're talking minimum build price for best performance, you're not going to see very much difference in terms of accuracy by saving $500 on parts.
Most expensive upgrade is going to be the gun (obviously), then barrel, at around $85 for the laylax 6.03
The trigger just needs sears to be reliable at higher 350-400fps, that's like $45, unless you want the $75 PDI sears, then just spend the extra $90 on the V-trigger
Hop rubber, either $20 for the firefly, or $45-$60 for an Rhop
The stock VSR chamber is honestly FINE
And then the cylinder set just needs to compress consistently, which usually means a re-greasing and maybe a new O-ring at the very worst
Then throw a $50 mil-dot scope on it

When people start throwing junk at you like PDI barrel spacers, reinforced 700fps capable PDI pistons, $150 custom build hop chambers, and crap like that, you don't need it. You just don't.
There is literally zero performance difference between a stock cylinder that shoots 380 +/-2fps and a $300 PDI cylinder that shoots 380 +/-2fps
The stock barrel spacer just needs a teflon wrap to make it a bit tighter and that's as secure as the expensive PDI spacer.
Stock G-spec comes with an airbrake piston, so it'll be dead silent anyway.
The other stuff, like the V-trigger and PDI piston, either just enhances reliability, or changes the handling.

So there you go. Get a stock rifle for $300 or so, spend $200 on upgrades, and you should get some pretty impressive accuracy at the 250-280ft mark. Shot performance isn't nearly as hard to achieve as people make it seem; even on AEG's you usually just have to ensure it gets consistent and good compression, then change the barrel group. Everything else is just reliability or trigger response.

[dogtoy]

I did go & measure out 150 feet in an open field & it is does seem longer than I estimated , I was standing there looking back going ,.."this is pretty far for a non rifled 6mm ball to go "