A liberating experience

Long story short we have friends in Osaka, so when you ask for help you shall receive.

Now i already lucked up and hit airsoft within minutes off the airport train, but this piece of advice set me up for a special moment in Osaka airsoft scene which very well may have evaded me

My mate sent me this pin

Toy Gun Shop Liberator

06-6643-9156

https://maps.app.goo.gl/2skEiNJoNnzzawzy7?g_st=il

It was up on the 4th floor, issue being the lift is locked until the shop is open, which can be either 11-12 midday. 

I dislike getting into elevators where buttons dont work or disabled as you dont want to get stuck.

I killed some time and gave it one last shot (pardon the pun) and buttons lit up so i got to scope.

Liberator was packed with muskets for such a small store, its like come with a bundle of yen!

My question was different however, as per previous post...

Where i can i hire a fire stick and let loose on some targets?

Next second i have this card in my hand...GAME ON!

It's been a long time pt 2

 This post was supposed to be in my next trip to Japan in 2020 but then covid struck the world, and anyone that survived still lost two years of holiday opportunities, so extremely blessed in 2022 to have tickets booked to fly out mid November of 2022, being two weeks from now. 

I know hardcore will battle me on this, but i have been watching from the sidelines and i think I was lucky enough to review some very good airsoft models which are still relevant in 2022.

I did end up getting a Umarex MP45 when i was in Hong Kong (Just before riots and China reclaiming) alas i did not post it up, this was also a beast of a rig. Not sure if it will cross my path again in the future.

So this post is mainly to prime the pump for my upcoming stay and to carry on the flame of a casual airsoft punters capers, for those who may get some useful info out of it.

As a foreigner, i have always had to surrender or give away my rigs before leaving country which has also had me thinking of rental/2nd hand options moving forward and funny enough i found something today which fits this thought

https://used.first-jp.net/item-list/

I don't see purchasing second hand as an issue, but what i'm really keen to run through is a sale on the way out so stay tuned as will investigate this and post up for those that follow.

Signing off for now, its great to still be alive to carry on a decade plus love of airsoft even though its probably moved on to 3d printed objects, these are still legal fun in the country's that offer them.

It's been a long time

It's been a long time between posts. In that time have been back to Japan but was not on an Airsoft mission. Also went to Bali and then Thailand, and then my mind springs into action. Hang on...isn't there Airsoft in Thailand????

Well yes there is but somewhat different compared to Japan.

Japan policing is more accepting of Airsoft, whereas Thailand has the tourist police, which are very concerned with Tourist misuse of Airsoft. Also numerous weapon related tourist incidents don't help this situation as it provides justification to respond in kind.

The Thai laws are not in line with police actions meaning that it is known in Thailand that Airsoft shops can be raided without warning/warrant by police and stock gets 'confiscated' meaning the risk of running retail airsoft is too high in certain cases, and goes along way to explaining why stores that are still open are tucked away just enough to be safe from unwanted attention.

This definitely was the case in Pattaya, where I went on a long walk for a store that all had shut down some time ago.

On the way to the Airport, we went through Bangkok which is definitely has Airsoft options, and knowing of the First Airsoft from my Japan visits, seemed to be logical first stop to check out the Thai First Airsoft shop.

We showed the map to our taxi driver, and being just off the main arterial road to the airport, most taxi drivers would be able to identify the location.

There is a service station a small ways up where your taxi driver can wait for you, our driver did the old break down trick so he waited just up from the entrance

The solution? Put your shop inside a military base where police have no jurisdiction!

To gain entrance you need to approach the Military Police guards and advise you are here to visit the Airsoft shop and they will let you in. Nice guys considering they can kick your ass hands down :)

1st Palace Guard Division, First Airsoft Division!

Once inside make right for the store, once again note the discreet store front, it seems the trend for Thailand Airsoft retail.

Once inside its business as usual and diverse array of brands and models for sale.

 

No airsoft shop is complete without an Umarex HK UMP45, will be looking to review one next trip. 

 

 

Next to the store, they have a giant Airsoft field which was not in action when we were there, but impressive real estate for a professional Airsoft match

Tokyo Marui - MAC 10 - Review

Tokyo Marui - MAC 10 Navy Seals Edition

Cost 21,000Yen

While shopping for cold steel at Echigoya there was one gun in particular that I couldnt pass up, the khaki coloured box, filled with accessories & extended magazine, a strangly reminicent package compared to my MAC11 purchase during my Hong Kong stay in 2005.

This is a very clever marriage of plastic and metal parts and holds its head high as the precursor to MAC11 offerings and has a very interesting history, which saw the Military Armament Corporation go out of business when the surpressor became illegal to manufacture as it was the key pivot of the firearm in regards to balance, control and silencing, there were initally alot of compliants surrounding control of the firearm due to the marriage of .45 ammo and a rapid rate of fire.

As for the Tokyo Marui offering its a must have classic and ironically shares the same internal motor model as the MP7 and Glock 18C, and as I went KSC Glock 18C, and YK went KSC MP7, it made perfect sense to add it to the Japan armoury trust, we now truly had a good spread of current market Airsoft offerings, not to mention the fun to be had at the range.

This gun is chunky and has real presence, and was the model which spawned many copies, re designs and cailbre changes thank god they didn't bring it out in .50 cal or the shooters head would have been blown off before they got a chance to take anyone out of circulation!

The magazine as I recall was 82 rounds with a platic flip up loading hole and a steel cog winder on the bottom of the mag for winding up, became a tad bit menotinous as you cant friction load it on clothes or range mats as they put winder guards on either side, I can see this gun was meant for outdoor airosft battles just by that alone, really the only fault I can give this banger.

The sighting on the original was never a selling point for this model, and the Tokyo Marui has copied everthing down to a decent level including this, more of a fire from hip style firearm and the sound does sound supressed, the fire rate being the slowest out of our cache for obvious reasons it hard to beat the gas pumpers with high flow valves and high cycle of the MP5AC!

The 7.2V battery which powers the unit hides behind a fully removable front plate & barell and was a alot easier to fit and close than other battery models I experienced while in Japan and the charge was easy to use and the battery life was more than enough for a daily shoot/recharge situation. A very interesting feature is that the threaded barrel tip can be unscrewed to reveal a standard barrel thread to attach a standard gauge silencer to go full black-ops and this is a nice bonus as I could use my MP5 silencer which gave the gun a totally different look, very cool indeed.

Results:

Design 9/10 - Quite close to the original, not too heavy thanks to the use of platic where metal is not required. A tried and true classic that has come back from the grave, you know I wont rest till the Stallone Cobra Edition Jatimatic & Tek 9 models have been given the same treatment, big hint to Tokyo Marui & KSC!

Accuracy 6.5/10 - Not a strong point of this particular model in the orginal or the copy, perfect for skirmish though!

Feel 9/10 - A nice package in and out of the box, very sturdy feeling and design copy is spot on besides the obvious swap for plasic in certain places. This will be right at home in the scub, or on the deck shootin out the enemy base targets, pass the pepper spray!

Fun 9.5/10 - A classic firearm has been given a decent treatment by one of the biggest airsoft manufacturers in the world, all I say is keep em coming, a real head turner at the range due to the fact that most people look over this model unles they grew up playing operation thunderbolt ;)

Hong Kong Visit 2005

I pulled this pic out of the archives from my last trip to Hong Kong with Abez & Stakka, Its something that is always fun when travelling to stumble across a hobby store or Airosoft specialty store, and find something appealing.

I remember seeing the gas blowback models and thinking that was alot of effort at the time, and after pulling the hobby shop to bits near Stanley market we came up with an all in one package of Mac 11, laser sight, red dot target, silencer & protective eyewear. Unfortunately unable to remember what brand this little beauty was, not bad for a starter and a good way to annoy your mates sharing a hotel room with you!

Pellet Foot

pel·let   /ˈpɛlɪt/ Show Spelled[pel-it]


–noun

1.a small, rounded or spherical body, as of food or medicine.

2.a small wad or ball of wax, paper, etc., for throwing, shooting, or the like.

3.one of a charge of small shot, as for a shotgun.

4.a bullet.

5.a ball, usually of stone, formerly used as a missile.

6.Also called cast. Ornithology. a small, roundish mass of matter regurgitated by certain predatory birds, consisting of the indigestible remains, as the fur, feathers, and bones, of the prey.

7.(in Romanesque architecture) a hemispherical or disklike carved ornament.

8.Heraldry. ogress2.

–verb (used with object)

9.to form into pellets; pelletize.

10.to hit with pellets.

foot   /fʊt/ Show Spelled [foot] Show IPA noun,pluralfeet for 1–4, 8–11, 16, 19, 21; foots for 20; verb


–noun

1.(in vertebrates) the terminal part of the leg, below the ankle joint, on which the body stands and moves.
 

 
 
This was by pure coincidence that after a shoot we noticed YK's shoes had become victim the above ailment, it was from that point on dubbed 'pellet foot'.
 
It was not until later that evening when dining at the local curry restaurant did we realise that this was a condition that has claimed many a persons life and it a very dangerous element of the Airsoft sport.
 
Now you've been bought up to speed, stay alert, be aware, you could be next!.....
 
 

KSC - HK MP7 - Review (By Kwoksan)

KSC - HK MP7 - Review (By Kwoksan)

Cost 23,000Yen

As HD had sought my advice to add the MP5AC HC to his weapons cache the calling was upon me to upgrade mine also.  Knowing that HK MP series was a solid bet, it was time to make a decision between Tokyo Marui electric version or the KSC gas blow back version.

A few things influenced my decision to go KSC, one of which is the scale is exactly 1:1 whereas the Tokyo Marui appeared to be slightly smaller, also the kick of a gas blow back was gonna be hard to beat especially in a model like this.

As soon as this came out of the box, it was smiles all over and testing was in session at the Intercontinental Highroller suite slightly modded for some target shoot action! The weight feels right and more importantly this gun is one of the most balanced sub machine guns out there period. Team this up with good egonomics and excellent sighting/targetting abilities and you have one helluva gun in your hands.

This gun sports ambidextrous safety/fire rate selector & mag release which is mighty handy for adding to that balanced feel and is a common feature to most HK models, so you can fire fire right and left strafe to whatever suits your style.

The sights are flip up on this model which lends to simple yet different configs depending on the shooting situation when flipped up the gun has a real search & destroy feel backed by deadly accuracy. Fold up front hand stock, and adjustable rear shoulder rest, also sports picanniny rails for future modifications!

Results:

Design 9/10 - The only thing that let this down is the mag/feed design which is a little harder than usual to fill and like some airsoft guns seems to get stuck on the first round of fire, asides from this its all rock & roll


Accuracy 10/10 - There is no other way to describe the accuracy and groupings of this fine piece of machinery other than 'laser guided'.


Feel 10/10 - Once you open the box, you know its on and poppin! From the pictures you can see it fits like a glove and the ergonomics guide you into a comfotable aim & fire position unlike anything I've ever experienced before


Fun 9.5/10 - Right up there with the Glock 18C (Also made by KSC) the only reason for not getting str8 10's is the loading of the mag being a little more akward than the Glock and the first firing bb sticking issue, which it shares with the Glock, so my take is the spring lock may need a redesign when filling to the brim, which most people will do as a full mag is a fun mag.