are airsoft sniper spring guns worth it?

[HAMR]

As I've said in previous posts I've played milsim paintball for many years as a cqb player (9 inch barrel clearing buildings and bunkers) but now I'm wanting to try a more...calculated role plus maintaining and operating a spring rifle, as I understand it, to be simpler than say AEGs.

I have read the sniper article so I'm not asking this blindly, I realize I won't be able to make spectacular head shots or out shoot most rifles I'm just wondering if its worth even having.

[R.I.T.Z]

if you have the time patience and money sure

I tried, many times.
not my thing

rather run DMR with my 50.

[leth1337]

If you have the patience it's some of the most fun you can have if you do it right

[HAMR]

Alright so not pointless to own or field.

Anyone know any major advantages over AEG or in general?

[ThunderCactus]

Well, couple things:
First, bolt action springs rifle are the single most reliable airsoft guns ever made, particularly the marui VSR-10 once upgraded. Work great in winter or summer, never break down (again, after its been upgraded)

Second, if you're even remotely thinking about getting headshots, you'll never be a good shot. Airsoft or real world, there's more to shooting than just killing someone outright. Especially in airsoft, a shot anywhere is typically considered a kill. And in more complex medic'd games, it's always more tactically beneficial to disable a person and force out a medic than to kill them. Headshots are always an 'only option' shot.

Third, performance. Forget about fps. Forget about shooting 300ft. Although I've made as many as the next marksman, long range shots were always just for storytelling. Because of my local field topography and foliage, my bread and butter was in the 20-120ft range. The two greatest advantages of my VSR-10 was it's accuracy and incredible silence. People will laugh at you for doing speedball or CQB with a bolt action, but it proved to be a gross advantage, being able to shoot through tiny cracks with incredible precision. Able to hold down 3 people with AEG's behind a barricade only 40ft away because you can shoot through any crack in it, and at the same time having people sprint out of spawn in fear of getting shot from the other side of the 300ft long speedball field.

Your two major advantages are going to be accuracy and silence. Assume AEG's can shoot just as far, but not as accurately, or quietly.

Being a marksman or sniper can be tough, doing that while also helping your team is even harder. Remember it's not just about you out there, your kills count for nothing if your team loses!
That being said, some people can do it, and some people just can't, but it's definitely worth trying, and if you do it long enough, you can learn a lot of skills that apply to any gun.

[Shamusodoofus]

I think you're going to get very mixed replies for this question. As someone who started out with a spring airsoft sniper rifle I think I could provide some insight. Unless you go to a dedicated milsim game you're not going to be of too much use. I entered into airsoft with 6+ years of paintball and the few games I have played were all pretty evenly paced with scenario paintball games. To add to this, many fields have special restrictions for snipers which can make it a bit of a hassle if it's your only weapon.

To be honest, any decent spring rifle platform is going to cost you just about the same as a decent AEG. Stock for stock, they will both have similar effective range. If you're that dead set on a sniper role, I would buy an AEG and mod it to a DMR. The effective range for both a spring platform and an AEG platform is really going to depend on how much you're willing to spend. You can make an AEG outrange a spring rifle just as easily as you can do the reverse. I guarantee you will enjoy having the AEG more.

[Bellerophon]

Bolt action sniper rifles are NOT a good first choice of gun. It's a specialists tool for a specialized role. Its advantages only shine once you've already mastered camouflage, marksmanship, gun tech and teamwork.
Most stock bolt actions total shit, upgrading one to be competitive on the field takes a substantial amount of work and cash. The most important improvements are not just drop in upgrades: they are permanent modifications involving lots of cutting, drilling and sanding with huge potential for failure.
I'd recommend running an AEG for a year or two, get good at using it, and when you have the chance ask a friend or teammate if you can borrow their bolt action for a game. If you like it, start doing your research because this stuff takes a lot of work. I wrote a huge post on the subject of sniping in this thread, read it if you want to get a basic idea of what to expect.

[Hectic]

tm Vsr10 4-500$ (dont bother with a clone)
laylax piston 50-80$
laylax cylender 100-150$
cylender head 30-40$
spring 25-35$
trigger sears 30-50$
hop up chamber 75-100$
inner barrel 40-140$
barrel spacers 40-60$
scope 150-500$
build/tune time 5-50hours or more lol
one sweet kill in 8-24hrs to save the asses of your teammates priceless.

a stock rifle wont be verry effective on the field a well built and tuned one (regardless of fps) will be quite effective, be prepared to spend alot of time bounding crawling through the swamp observing the enemy and relaying the info back to your team, dont expect to "one shot one kill" your way through the whole opfor (tho it does happen from time to time, especially during skirmishes) if you enjoy that sort of thing and have 1000% bucks or so to build a rifle you should have fun, i started sniping less than a year after i started playin and i love it, tho some days its a pain. Runnin round in a ghillie when its 35° outside lookin for that one good kill only for the person to not call their hit can be a pain (i mean u still log the kill but it will have no effect on the game lol)

[Armyissue]

Originally Posted by Hectic

tm Vsr10 4-500$ (dont bother with a clone)
laylax piston 50-80$
laylax cylender 100-150$
cylender head 30-40$
spring 25-35$
trigger sears 30-50$
hop up chamber 75-100$
inner barrel 40-140$
barrel spacers 40-60$
scope 150-500$
build/tune time 5-50hours or more lol
one sweet kill in 8-24hrs to save the asses of your teammates priceless.

a stock rifle wont be verry effective on the field a well built and tuned one (regardless of fps) will be quite effective, be prepared to spend alot of time bounding crawling through the swamp observing the enemy and relaying the info back to your team, dont expect to "one shot one kill" your way through the whole opfor (tho it does happen from time to time, especially during skirmishes) if you enjoy that sort of thing and have 1000% bucks or so to build a rifle you should have fun, i started sniping less than a year after i started playin and i love it, tho some days its a pain. Runnin round in a ghillie when its 35° outside lookin for that one good kill only for the person to not call their hit can be a pain (i mean u still log the kill but it will have no effect on the game lol)

Thanks Hectic saved me from having to recite it all.

Is it worth it?.... don't know, what is it worth to you Personally?
How much do you value the respect and gratitude of your team mates?

[Cliffradical]

If you've played stock-class paintball (speed or woods), you pretty much know what to expect. If you've run stock-class gear in a standard or scenario game, then you'll adapt quickly.

That being said, a CCI Phantom costs 1/4 what a VSR-10 does, and everything everybody else said.

Try running an AEG, but with the precise, calculated mindset you described. Nothing says you have to clomp around with the gaggle of riflemen on your team and be another brick in the wall of bbs moving downrange.

I, for example really like being close-up sneaky wetwork guy who avoids getting involved in what the rest of my team is doing. My game is based around harassment and searching for ambitious enemy flanking maneuvers, then pinning them, fucking off, and telling somebody about it.
My MP5SD6 is built to be as quiet as possible (sorbo pad, no leaks, etc), and it can vomit bbs like anybody else's, but because of the way I play, I still only get one shot before things start to go very badly.

You've got tons of options for playstyle with an AEG, but going for a spring sniper nails you down to one very specific mode.

[HAMR]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

I want to see the field, change my suit to better fit in with my surroundings, get orders from my team lead to scout ahead for an attack, crawl trough brush while I hear combat in the distance, get to the area after 20min of crawling and report how many OPFOR are in the area so my team can plan accordingly, and hearing later the attack was successful feeling good that I played my part well.

So I'm not in the business of high kills and running guns blazing anymore (not saying I got high kills before just that's not my goal lol), but to be a part of a well coordinated team as thier sniper.

It may also help my case if everyone knew I'm 25.

Where's a good place to shop for airsoft sniper spring guns?

[HAMR]

Originally Posted by Cliffradical

If you've played stock-class paintball (speed or woods), you pretty much know what to expect. If you've run stock-class gear in a standard or scenario game, then you'll adapt quickly.

That being said, a CCI Phantom costs 1/4 what a VSR-10 does, and everything everybody else said.

Try running an AEG, but with the precise, calculated mindset you described. Nothing says you have to clomp around with the gaggle of riflemen on your team and be another brick in the wall of bbs moving downrange.

I, for example really like being close-up sneaky wetwork guy who avoids getting involved in what the rest of my team is doing. My game is based around harassment and searching for ambitious enemy flanking maneuvers, then pinning them, fucking off, and telling somebody about it.
My MP5SD6 is built to be as quiet as possible (sorbo pad, no leaks, etc), and it can vomit bbs like anybody else's, but because of the way I play, I still only get one shot before things start to go very badly.

You've got tons of options for playstyle with an AEG, but going for a spring sniper nails you down to one very specific mode.

Yea that's true

[HAMR]

Originally Posted by Cliffradical

If you've played stock-class paintball (speed or woods), you pretty much know what to expect. If you've run stock-class gear in a standard or scenario game, then you'll adapt quickly.

That being said, a CCI Phantom costs 1/4 what a VSR-10 does, and everything everybody else said.

Try running an AEG, but with the precise, calculated mindset you described. Nothing says you have to clomp around with the gaggle of riflemen on your team and be another brick in the wall of bbs moving downrange.

I, for example really like being close-up sneaky wetwork guy who avoids getting involved in what the rest of my team is doing. My game is based around harassment and searching for ambitious enemy flanking maneuvers, then pinning them, fucking off, and telling somebody about it.
My MP5SD6 is built to be as quiet as possible (sorbo pad, no leaks, etc), and it can vomit bbs like anybody else's, but because of the way I play, I still only get one shot before things start to go very badly.

You've got tons of options for playstyle with an AEG, but going for a spring sniper nails you down to one very specific mode.

Yea that's true, springs are attractive as far as silence, feel, and reliability.

[ThunderCactus]

Originally Posted by Bellerophon

The most important improvements are not just drop in upgrades: they are permanent modifications involving lots of cutting, drilling and sanding with huge potential for failure.

Originally Posted by Hectic

build/tune time 5-50hours or more lol

Dunno what you guys are talking about, I built my VSR-10 in under 2 hours, no permanent mods, no tweaking after, performed amazing. The only extra step I took was filling the stock with expansion foam to cut the noise down.
Stay away from angel custom their stuff is complete garbage, laylax makes a great barrel but I very much prefer the PDI internals. And I used a good old fashioned firefly hop rubber. It's possible to Rhop the VSR barrels, and preferred since the AEG hop rubbers are crap for sealing compared to the VSR rubbers.
Only reason I built an air brake for my own VSR-10 was because it started getting loud due to air leaks, but never lost any accuracy.

[leth1337]

Originally Posted by HAMR

I want to see the field, change my suit to better fit in with my surroundings, get orders from my team lead to scout ahead for an attack, crawl trough brush while I hear combat in the distance, get to the area after 20min of crawling and report how many OPFOR are in the area so my team can plan accordingly, and hearing later the attack was successful feeling good that I played my part well.

see bolded: depending on the game type/length (ie. 8-30h milsim games) it can take you MUCH MUCH longer and sometimes thats what you want.

there was one milsim i attended last year where i skull dragged about 200' over an hour and 45 min or so. the spikes of adrenaline as the enemy walks past is one thing i'll never get tired of!