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!