Best Airsoft Sniper rifle?
 

I'm buying an Airsoft Sniper rifle once I get my Age Verification on this site. Im looking for the best Airsoft sniper I can buy in Canada that..

-Shoots consistently very close to 500fps ( so Its legal and can be played on any field )
-Accurate
-Powerful
-Well built ( not flimsy and cheap and wont break )
-Not to big/long
-Not to heavy

Also willing to throw upgrades in it to make it very reliable. If you could please reply with the name of a sniper and the names of the upgrade parts that would make it an all in all great Airsoft sniper rifle. And also looking for a good scope. Please, no asshole reply's.

Thankyou
Camlax

Price range?

vsr/l96. Easiest to upgrade. Budget around 300 for rifle and 300+ to make it reliable... Than more to make it accurate.. Sometimes you get lucky and get one that works out of the box but that hardly ever lasts.

500 FPS can not be "used at any field" field limits are 400 FPS, and then some fields allow "certified" snipers to shoot 450 and 500 FPS guns

your criteria is ridiculous anyways, you want a sniper rifle buy dont want it long, want it solid but not heavy

I have to agree. That's kind of like saying you're looking for a woman, but want her to have a dick. One sort of precludes the other.

Anyway, a sniper rifle is a horrid choice for a first gun and you're not likely to be allowed to play anywhere with a sniper rifle without experience and / or certification.

AT $2500+ you could afford to get a TM VSR-10 with pretty much all the bells and whistles (all Laylax and PDI parts, zero trigger etc.).

Then there's the L96 but that will take a lot of money to get into acceptable shape for being a sniper as well.

There's also the CA M24 which also needs upgrades to get it to "sniper rifle quality".

Basically you can get a sniper rifle with a lot of money, dedication, and time. Remember you only have slightly higher accuracy and range and a lower ROF so you have to be sneaky and skilled.

That's part of the issue. So many noobs want a sniper rifle as their first gun and think it's going to make them instant ninjas. Without the 'context', they have no idea what it takes to actually be an airsoft sniper in the first place.

Also curious. Would this be your first gun dude?

I'd seriously 'NOT' reccomend getting a sniper rifle as your first, not only is it a massive money dump, it's also slow and quite boring if you don't know how to shoot the damn thing. I made the mistake of buying a CA m24 as my first gun and i'll be honest, i struggled a lot learning how they work, how airsoft guns shoot all together, and dumped so much money into it that I could've baught a few good AEG's.

All in all, Stock AEG's and Stock Sniper rifles, no matter the brand (However whether its a clone or not does matter) they will shoot essentially the same. All in distance, accuracy and power. They may lable the box with (OMFG 400+FPS!) but its generally bullshit.

I made a comic years back regarding this kind of thing, it needs serious revision though.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...f/Sniperp1.png
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...f/Sniperp2.png

Hope it helps.

Overall, my message is if you're looking to get into airsoft, don't buy a sniper rifle. Spend your money on a quality AEG, get familiarized with it, how it shoots, how it works, and THEN work your way onto a sniper rifle platform. This advice will be repeated by a 'lot' of people on this site, even experienced snipers. There is a reason for this.

---

And to answer your original post.

The best sniper rifle you can buy are stock namebrand guns. If a gun is presented to you 'Pre-upgraded', its probably chinese clone trash that shouldnt even be bothered with. The best ones are ones that are made to take upgrades (Any of the TM brand (not clone) VSR-10s. Any Maruzen 'APS' platform (Such as the APS-2 or the L96, NOT the TSD/WELLS clone shit.) And a few Tanaka gas models, if you can even get your hands on them.

Just dont cheap out. You're not saving money in any way.

By this comment:

...I would assume that outside of the possibility of Cdn Tire / Wallyworld clearsoft, this would be his first.

And thanks for posting the comics. I still get a chuckle at them every time they're posted.

wow wow why would you chose such an example now

Crunchy, I almost spill my coffee here at the departure lounge, why the hell would you pick that as an example you are almost as bad as BARF!

it always gets me how everyone thinks sniping is some magic that occurs whenever someone picks up a gun with a telescopic sight, if only they knew what really goes into sniping, they wouldn't even give it the time of day.

*shrugs*

better to be stuck in the action if you ask me.

My work here is done. :p

[Colossal Post]
Consider it will cost you +$1k before you get something reliable and consistent.

As thenooblord said, your criteria is ridiculous.

Powerful and consistent are two terms that only mix well if you have ALOT of money on your hands, and why would want a gun shooting close to 500fps? Many fields don't allow 500fps guns, the ones that do usually have a MED to about 150ft+ for these types of guns.

Consistency is the most important factor when sniping.
Consistency and accuracy are the same term here.

Range is nothing; effective range is everything, it's the range where your accuracy is effective (you can hit things, have decent groupings etc.)
Because what's the point of having a huge range, but not being able to hit worth shit?

Your effective range will not increase as your fps increases, as, to put it bluntly, your consistency decreases as your fps increases.

Again, you don't have to put alot of money into a rifle if you want alot of range and fps, but you need a deep pocket if you want consistency, and in the world of airsoft sniping, you need consistency, more than range, more than fps.

In other words...
Higher fps: Pros: ... More range
Cons: Poorer consistency, accuracy and effective range

Lower fps: Pros: More consistency, accuracy and effective range
Cons: Less overall range

I'm trying to keep it relatively simple, and not go into details that much, to keep this on one page.

As for upgrades, you will need a lot of them...
Let's say you were working up from a stock VSR... for example
New trigger ($150-$250)
New piston ($25-$50)
New spring ($25-$50)
Tightbore + outer barrel assembly (+-$400)
New bucking ($10)
New spring guide ($20-$40)

This is a very rough MINIMUM of a start to getting your platform reliable and consistent... Other things you could throw in after...
Much longer aeg tightbore (+600mm) ($125-$200)
Aero Hopup chamber ($40-$80)
Bore-up kit ($200)

Without even adding in the money for mags, a decent scope, accessories etc...

Just to give you a rough idea of what it takes to get a rifle up and running consistently enough for you to actually "snipe" with it.

I'm not even going to go into playing the actual sniper role, as you can find enough info about that on these forums...
-Or maybe I should...

For one, it's alot more physically stressful than most would think...
And being a sniper has a hell of alot more to do with stealth, concealment and discipline than long range shooting.

Plus, don't get a sniper if this is your first gun, for reasons stated... above.

Also... keep in mind that if you show up at a field with a sniper rifle, and no certification or experience, they're most likely not going to allow you to use it.
Partially because of the MED (minimum engagement distance) needed for a sniper rifle, you need a certain amount of experience in order to operate a sniper rifle, and play the role of the sniper safely.
The sniper clinics are great for further education and expansion on this... Find more info on the forums about them. If you are a certified sniper, then fields will most likely trust you a bit more with sniper safety... but when it comes down to it, experience is the dominant factor, that's why you shouldn't be starting up sniping if you're inexperienced.

[/Colossal Post]

Strelok man, those comics are awesome! MORE!!!!

Noobs want to be snipers because theyve never played and never been shot. Theyre afraid of what it feels like so they decide to play the role of someone least likely to be shot.

In the movies, the sniper is always hidden from the badguys so hey never gets shot at, they think airsoft is like this so they opt for this role in airsoft.

Alot of them also think it's kool to look through scopes and see those nfty crosshairs like in movies as well, this also adds to it.

So you want to be a sniper and want to see what it takes to start? Check this video out for what you may need.
YouTube- Tanaka M700 AICS upgrade parts 2(in detail)

Anyways.. the bar-10 is a good clone, some say if you are replacing all the parts, you should go bar rather than vsr, as the bar supposedly has a better shell/body, but the vsr has better stock parts and also a working "silencer"

There is no such thing as good clone stock parts :D

Gas is the worst system for a sniper rifle, it's only advantage is that it's quiet, and you can get your spring rifle to be almost as quiet anyway.
Imagine having all the problems of the WE M16 GBBR, in your sniper rifle, but amplified due to the fact your trying to be really accurate.
It just gets REALLY inconsistent with temperature changes...
Spring rifles are the most consistent platforms out there, and I don't think anyone would argue with that

Stolen from Thundercactus

My post is not meant for saying gas or spring is better or worst. It's meant to let the OP know what it MAY take for a good and reliable sniper rifle. Having a good sniper rifle can get very expensive and not recommended for a first gun.

Yea, I'm just putting some info out there... good point you have there.

Cool cool, thanks guys for all the reply's. Youve opened my eyes a little more about sniping,and no this wouldnt be my first gun. I bought an G&G HK 416 a while back and played with it for a while then stopped playing airsoft for a bit and came back into it interested in Sniping. Now for another question, all you experienced snipers out there that have thrown $1000+ into there guns, with all those upgrades and the gun it self , wouldnt it make it unusable because on how powerful the gun would be after all that? Thats something I dont understand , and another , what do you guys mean "certification" , you have to be certified to use a sniper rifle?

Yes, Depending on where you live, folks run sniper courses, which after completed, allow you to use more powerful FPS's.

And FPS means nothing. My Fully upgraded APS-2 runs at around 400 FPS, while others like 500 FPS. It depends if you want consistency, or range. Its all personal preference.

And you can do all your upgrades, then get a few springs ( PDI ) and fine tune to what you want exactly. This way, the upgrades don't factor into any sort of FPS boost that your not aware of.

When we put a lot of high quality parts into our rifles, it's not to increase the fps or the "power" of it to the point you can't game with it, the parts are to make the gun reliable, consistent, accurate and to increase the effective range.

You don't... need a certification to use a sniper rifle, but with a certification, it proves that you have been certified to be able to handle the weapon safely.
I know for alot of fields you need certification to be able to run a sniper rifle.

For example: If you showed up to a game with a 500fps rifle, and no certification that shows you can handle it safely, you most likely won't be allowed to use it. Sometimes the field will test you on your knowledge of estimating distance... because you need to know you MED well in order to use a rifle safely.

The point of the sniper courses is safety, so if you're new to the world of airsoft sniping, these courses are highly recommended.

Here is a question(a bit off topic):

How long are the parts usually good for?

For AEG, I heard that after a few ten thousand rounds, it's a good time to change the hop up rubber and bucking. After 2-3 hop up replacement, it's good to change the inner barrel... Between the first and 2nd hop up change, check the internal like piston and combustion portion of the internal...

So what about bolt actions? How long/often do you check for/replace parts? Also maintenance would be after every game(clean inner barrel) instead of every other game or so?

Mine been running 400fps for over a year (is where Steven got his info), and I use 0.36g BBs (that come out around 300fps). For years I ran at 500fps and had all kinds of unpredictable shots past 150ft.

Best part about running at 400fps? I can shoot guys closer, yet still outrange upgraded AEGs when needed. :)

At one point I set my rifle up to shoot around 340fps w/0.20g, and while tweaking the hop up, saw my 0.30g BBs were literally floating straight out to ~300ft very easily.

Honestly, I just replace anything as it's breaking...
But obviously you don't have to change out parts as fast as an aeg, but it really depends what kind of parts you've upgraded from.

I'm running all laylax internals for my cylinder/trigger and I will definitely not be replacing any of that for a couple of years...
Using a sorbo pad/cylinder head dampeners really does a great job of reducing the wear and tear on your piston.

As for the hopup, I've went through 2 already, I usually replace my hopup... guesstimating every 12000 rounds or so.

And my stock barrel lasted me about 18 months... it sucked from the start, but kept bending and getting filled with crap, because for a while I was using madbull bb's.

I've been running my PDI 6.01 554mm tightbore for a couple of months, with bioval bb's and haven't noticed any wear on the barrel, the only thing that comes out when I clean it is a tiny bit of lube that found it's way in from my cylinder head, that's why I take more care now in cleaning my cylinder head regularly, and not over lubing the cylinder.


Bolt Actions are fairly simple when it comes to maintenance.
Every few games I strip the gun and clean the barrel, clean the hopup bucking, check cylinder compression, clean off excess grease from cylinder head. I take careful heed that no lube from the outside of the cylinder makes it's way into my hopup. I'll also use an air compressor and blow all the dirt out of my mags, usually there's crap dirt in there.

I'm in Stalker's boat, my VSR is upgraded to tits inside, and 400fps is just fine for me.
Why would you want a sniper rifle that shoots 500fps?

On the topic of maintenance, I've gone through 4000 rounds on my VSR, only thing I've changed were the O-rings in the cylinder and piston head
For AEG's, depends on your parts really.....
I've had a stock G&P go through around 300,000 rounds, had a bent barrel, needed a new piston head and new hop rubber. Other than that it was fine.
Good hop rubbers can last 100,000 rounds, bad ones can not.
I slapped a guarder clear rubber in my 360fps M249 because I had nothing else, after 20,000 rounds that thing was GONE, had to re-adjust my hop halfway through game but there was a fair chunk worn out of it by the end of the day lol

I have a 100% stock clone franken L96 VSR 10 thing that i dont even know what brand it is, its got VSR 10 internals in an L96 body, but anyways, its getting <12" groupings at 170 feet or more, and thats completely stock, somewhere between 400 and 450 fps

maybe some sort of mutant superclone

First off I will say I do not know anything about airsoft snipers. I will also say I don't play xbox or video games that would make me want to become a "sniper". haha

Lately I have been thinking about getting back into airsoft, I own a TM M4A1, but was also eyeing up bolt action snipers (maybe just for plinking cans... who knows...)

I have been I was watching videos of the TM vsr-10 CLONE and it seems pretty good. You can buy them off canadian sites for ~$200 which is a hell of alot cheaper than a TM vsr-10.

Would these TM clones beable to take similar upgrades like the TM vsr-10?

Sorry if this is a stupid question...

Thanks!

It's all about tolerances. These clones are cheaper for 2 reasons. Cheaper material, looser tolerances.

Some companies cannot afford tighter tolerances as it means bigger production costs.

Clones uses loose tolerances and next to no quality control. This means that your VSR10 clone may be 3/1000th of an inch off somewhere and it will mean that a high quality part like Laylax (With good tolerances/QA) will not fit. These parts were made with Marui's tolerances in mind. If you don't have the same tolerances, it won't work.

A clone springer will never be as good as a TM one.

And this is especially true for springers! When you can only make one shot, there's next to no time for adjusting for your poor accuracy. With an properly tuned AEG, you can deliver massive volume of fire to compensate for accuracy. You'll just waste precious BBs with a clone springer.

The clones will take the same upgrade parts, except you may have to fiddle with the a bit to actually make them fit. And be prepared to put alot of money into it fairly quickly, as the parts are complete crap.

The things that'll go first is the piston, then the sears, then the barrel. The brass barrel in that gun likes to bend alot when it rapidly changes temperature (eg. bringing it outside)

Plus the spring is a complete POS, and the cylinder will crack in a few hundred rounds, right where the cylinder head screws in. The bucking is just some... rubber... the stock is fairly solid, just remember to take that extra 5lbs of cement counter weight out of the butt. The outer barrel and receiver are... okay, I guess, most of the silencer adapters don't fit. The trigger is just a pile of steaming donkey shit, it couldn't be any worse, honestly. And finally, the spring guide is just thin plastic that will snap very easily.

From a bad personal experience, boy, was that a bad trip.
Don't get a clone if the parts are just dribbling in for it, it's an okay base if your putting alot of money into it right away, other than that, find yourself a real TM one.

Hope that helps...

Thanks LastSpartan and Eldin for taking the time to respond! :)
I understand what you guys are saying and I guess the saying is true if you want quality be prepared to spend the extra dollars! hahaha

I guess i'm better off just saving the money and either fine tuning my TM M4 or eventually get a high quality sniper OR get a better bass guitar... haha

Thanks again guys for the insight!

Cheers!

A quality sniper rifle with upgrades will vastly out do any AEG with upgrades, as long as quality heavy ammo is used and the shooter learns how to use it well. Mind you, my mildly MP5 shooting 0.28g Bastards would get rounds out to 200ft easily (was ~360fps w/0.20g) but still, my M24 shooting 400fps can get 0.36g out to 300ft if I compensate for elevation (aim a foot or two above the head to get a chest shot).

If only, if only, if only people knew what sniping really is. Sniping isn't about killing, it's about recon...and that means humping a lot of ground; then you get to the spot, you relay the information to your team, you see a target of opportunity, so you take the shot, but you miss. Then what? the more shots you take the higher the chance they'll find and flank you. Look, AEG for a first gun, and if you actually go hunting/get military training then you may want to consider bolt action...but always, and I mean ALWAYS have an AEG as your secondary. Stock or not, am AEG will perform a lot better than a pistol, with more bbs, more FPS, and more RPS. Also, when a target is within the MED, you have to have something that can get him, and a pistol isn't reliable enough to use for that purpose

What precisely is your airsoft experience level?

It's generally considered poor form to reply to a thread after its logical conclusion and offer advice with no actual experience to back it up when the OP has already been nicely assisted by those people well known within the community for their experience.

In short, play more airsoft before you become a subject matter expert; we're all full up with them here.

Cheers,
Grant

i am a noob airsofter , don't go for sniper rifle as your first gun. if it is just for one of your collection then it's fine. but if you're using it for war games then don't. why ? because you're never shot before ( in war games ) , you'll not knowing what to do in the field. ( correct me if i'm wrong )

if you're into war games, you should take a mentor to guide you :)

i'm currently build a wannabe sniper rifle , based on WE HK416 GBBR. long barrel , install a sniper scope on it , upgrading internal for some power/fps etc... but just for fun , no war games. just want to experience the felt of hardkick recoil while i'm in a sniper position.

*: sorry for my bad english people , i'm still learning it