Airsoft Arms and Equipment: New Toys

Airsoft and I haven't fallen out, but suffice to say skirmishing has been placed on the back burner for a little time lately while I immerse myself in one or two other shooting related hobbies that are totally new to me

I've also reached the stage with airsoft where I've decided to pare down the amount of guns and gear I've stockpiled over the years, partly because I need some cash to inject into the above mentioned new interests, partly because I need to free up some space in Dad's Den, and partly because I simply don't love it enough to want to keep it any longer

Leaving aside my WW2 German replica uniforms, which I don't intend ridding myself of anytime soon, I've decided to concentrate on two 'modern' looks, namely German Flecktarn [woodland pattern] and the ubiquitous [at least in airsoft skirmishing circles] multi-cam teamed with Warrior webbing and other accessories from quality manufacturers like Blackhawk, IMI and Magpul

Consequently, I now have a number of black, plastic bin liners up in the loft, stuffed with clothing, bits of webbing and other sundry items waiting until I can find the time to upload it onto ebay or take it along to the next Arms Fair

It's a similar story with guns. I've decided to jettison all my Chinese clones and limit myself to guns I really, really love, made by companies in HK, Taiwan and Japan. Which brings me on to the real reason for this post, one of the new guns I've just bought to replace the half dozen China types I parted company with recently

So, here it is. The King Arms Thompson M1A1 [military version]. It's an iconic WW2 gun and I've wanted one for quite a while. It comes with a single 60 round magazine so when I bought it I also purchased a box set of 5 King Arms mid cap magazines holding 110 rounds each

Whenever I play a WW2 game I always portray a German soldier, so this will be a 'captured' weapon, hence the addition of the MP40 leather strap which is a perfect fit and a darn sight easier to put on than the webbing sling designed for the gun

The 'wooden' furniture is actually made of plastic but, if you can live with the fairly obvious mold lines when up close, it looks pretty respectable from a distance. You can get real wood kits for it and I'll more than likely do that at some point

The magazines [made of ABS] are absolutely solid when engaged in the receiver. We're talking zero wobble!

Five 110 round magazines, in addition to the 60 round low cap mag packaged with the gun, and pictured below, will give you the 600 rounds you're permitted to take on to the field at any one time in a lot of WW2 themed games

There's plenty of room in the battery compartment which is very easily accessible by means of a swivel plate at the rear of the stock, but.....

.....it's worth mentioning that the battery connector is a large Tamiya connector rather than a small one. At the moment I'm using the adapter lead that came with my battery charger and a lipo battery. I don't actually have any batteries with large connectors on them! Out of the box, the gun shoots at over 400 FPS with .20 gram BBs so I will need to get the spring changed. When I do, I will get a Deans connector spliced onto the battery lead at the same time!

All in all it's a cracking little gun with good range, a respectable rate of fire and decent build quality, and I picked it up brand new for a penny shy of £100. Can't grumble!