Hey guys
This is my first post here but I'm sure some of you will recognize me from other forums like Arnies & ASB.
Somewhere between a year and a half and 2 years ago I just kinda lost interest in practical shooting and stopped frequenting the various airsoft practical shooting forums. But I recently decided to get back into practical shooting again so I went ahead and got a good belt kit together, a Madbull timer and plate setup, and went back to the forums to check in and see what postal matches were being held on AAPS and ASB.
Much to my surprise I found AAPS had shut down just a month earlier and most of the tuners and shooters on ASB have vanished. As far as I could tell it seemed the online english speaking airsoft practical shooting community had just vanished off the face of the earth in my absence.
I did some searching around, found IAPS who seems to only hold postal matches once a year, and eventually found my way here to Traders. I see a lot of familiar faces around here some stickied topics for postal match regulations but no postal matches being run.
So I'm wondering, is there any online english speaking airsoft shooting community that regularly holds postal matches anymore? Or has airsoft practical shooting just died out in north america these days? It seems to be as popular as ever in the asian airsoft scene, but I'm having a heck of a time finding any online matches with a community that speaks english to participate in.
Any advice would be much appreciated!
What's up Jin.
I remember you getting into airsoft practical shooting. You dropped out at the wrong time.
Most of the postal matches run between here are AAPS were run for the past year while you've been playing with your shottys and whatnot.
AAPS closed down just a month ago. We ran postal matches once a month for just over a year. But still not enough continuous participation.
People would start up and shoot for a month or two then disappear. I think the main problem is people not having the space and money for target systems to shoot postal matches.
Airsoft practical shooting is still growing in the US. It's running super strong in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, etc.
The way it is growing in the US is through dedicated people and airsoft shops holding matches and selling more guns and gear directed towards practical shooting competition.
This is mainly due to real steel USPSA and IPSC shooters getting into airsoft as method of practice.
I still shoot, still make YouTube videos (I can't remember if you ever saw them or not), of airsoft practical shooting.
BAM Airsoft and Rocket2011 are both real steel shooters that have become heavy into airsoft for training - check them out on youtube.
If anyone here is still interested in postal matches, I think we could start running them again.
I would like to use just basic drills, 5 targets or less, and people can post their times and discuss ways to improve.
I plan on getting a WE M4 to practice with (since cost of 5.56 ammo is just to expensive for training).
So I'd like to incorporate some rifle shooting - 2 gun style.
BTW. Jin - have you found these non-engrish speaking communities shooting postal matches? If so, where?
AAPS died, but there's some local groups popping up here and there as well as new shops catering specifically to practical shooting. I pretty much am in the same boat as you cause I finished my gun for AAPS and what do you know, the forums closed.
Gotta say though, I like how you got all your equipment AND THEN checked the forums for postal matches. You are a true airsoft enthusiast!
The4th:
2 gun would be awesome. and the WE would be great especially the CO2 version.
Thanks for filling me in guys!
I certainly did drop out at the wrong time, seemed like about the time I stopped was when airsoft practical shooting was at the height of it's popularity in recent years. Although in some ways it looks like there's a lot more practical shooting gear around at the airsoft stores now than there was a year or two ago. Those targets from BAM Airsoft look great and are really reasonably priced too. Looks like Evike is now sponsoring or holding (not sure which) practical shooting matches too. And while I've never been a huge fan of Evike it's great to see one of the bigger US airsoft retailers introducing people to this activity.
And yeah the4th, I have seen quite a few of your Youtube videos. You are one fast cat
I know you'd smoke me every time, but if you think there are a decent number of people still around who'd like to participate in postal matches I'd sure do anything I could to help you get them up and running again. I really like the 2 gun idea too, although for rifles I'm limited to AEG. But hey, having a rifle division for AEG users might not be a bad idea at all. Don't see why GBB rifles couldn't compete as well. They do have some recoil to them which is a bit if a disadvantage compared to the AEG users, but a GBBR can also have a lot snappier trigger response and cycling time than an AEG so maybe it all balances out.
I do recall seeing some Japanese boards running postal matches not long ago, and maybe 1 in the Philippines as well. Unfortunately I have no memory of what those boards were, but I do vaguely recall in my recent search for communities still running postal matches that I came across some non-english speaking ones.
On a side note...
lazyshark Wrote:Gotta say though, I like how you got all your equipment AND THEN checked the forums for postal matches. You are a true airsoft enthusiast!
lol! Thanks man. To be totally honest though I don't have all my kit in hand at the moment. I've got the Madbull timer & popper system and BHI duty belt, but my pistol and spare mags (WA M92 variant) and holster and mag pouch (Blade-Tech Pro Series IDPA Combo Pak) are all in the mail on their way to me and haven't arrived yet.
I'll be hoping this kit works out better than my last try at practical shooting. Using a CR Speed inner & outer belt setup with a 6" SVI on a ghost holster and 3 spare mags in CR Speed pouches was absolutely murder on my hips and I never could get that rig to be comfortable. Tried everything I could think of to improve the comfort and I still never could stand to wear it for more than a few minutes at a time lol
The discomfort of the belt rig combined with all the troubles I was having with my WA SCW3 SVI were the 2 reasons I stopped shooting for a while. So hopefully this new setup turns out to be a bit more comfortable. If not I might have to give one of those Wilderness belts a try and see if that helps.
CR Speed(cloned in my case) works alright for me, especially since I run an open gun you are kinda stuck with speed rig....