Sorry that this post has been a little late, but the holidays do get quite hectic. With all of the different places that sell airsoft gear, there are almost too many deals to be had to take advantage of all of them.
That being said, this Work Bench is going to be about some things I bought for some incredible deals this season.
- Ehobbyasia Beta Project Blow Out
As I speculate in the near future, the Beta Project/Magpul PTS ACR is going to go the way of the dodo bird. With the real Magpul cuttings its ties to its Hong Kong sub-brand, it was only a matter of time before this affected all of the products in their line. Why do I think this happened? Well coupled with trying to pick up royalties with other real steel companies like Rainer Arms and BattleComp, I have found that people in gas gun community really don't like clone products. We would rather have the real deal for a few dollars more. This makes PTS look like it isn't earning its share.
As a result, I have a feeling that with the soon to be released KWA Masada/ACR, it will be the end of the Beta Project ACR. So much so, that Ehobbyasia was dropping the price of the conversion kit from $250 all the way to $90. I managed to snag one in tan to use as spare parts for my ACR. That gun will become more of a wall hanger as time goes on though. Anger Gun never released the steel bolt for the ACR, so the aluminum alloy one is not going to last forever. In fact, after putting 1,500 more rounds through it, the bolt catch is finding difficulty in holding the bolt back. Coupled with the lack of future development for the Beta Project, the eventual bolt not catching issue will become permanent. Unfortunate, but other companies are starting to release GBB replicas of the ACR. WE released the MSK in late September, and KWA will be hopefully be giving out some more details on their GBB Masada/ACR at the upcoming SHOT Show at the end of January.
- Optics Planet Sales
A really good place to get some gear, especially real gun optics, is the aptly named Opticplanet.com. For my VLTOR M4, I am still planning on using a micro red dot sight as my sighting choice. I have a small replica of the Insight SU-261/PVS Mini Red Dot Sight, but it turns off under the recoil of some of my guns when I tested it. So I checked Optics Planet, after doing some research, and found a Burris FastFire II with a side protector mount for 25% off. The final total was $225, and yes it does cost as much as a budget AEG for some people, but the obvious durability is well worth the price. After testing it on a few rifles, I found the dot to be extremely crisp and it obviously does turn off with the recoil of a GBBR. The thing is built to handle getting beat up on the slide of a handgun after all.
- MSK, the best ACR?
Yes, I preordered a WE-Tech MSK before they were released in September. I have it in my hands and have been using it in a few games to do a future review. Why I have waited as long as I have to do so is one simple thing, KWA's release of the ACR. I would like to do a 3-way comparison between the KWA, WE, and Beta Project, but that would really depend on the release of the KWA model. If it isn't going to be for another couple of months, I think it would be worth the wait. Any longer and it will have to wait.
Those are pretty much the biggest deals I got. There are going to be quite a few things coming in the next few months. Here is a brief overview of the works in progress:
- Evolution of a Glock: Changing from Full Sized 17 to Long Slide 34
- LMG of GBB: Converting a WE SCAR-L to the FN HAMR IAR
- Call of Duty Project #2: Black Ops Commando
- Call of Duty Project #3: Remington R5 RGP Two Tone
That is what is upcoming in the project. Stay tuned for some good projects!
