If I'm still jonesing for a fix after OP Vigilant Resolve I might pop by for a few hours!  If I do, I'll be tan!

Are you talking about the one at Fear Farm?  We've been kicking around the idea to do another Zombie game down there early in the season, because even the game staff had fun that night!  Right now we're waiting for the haunt season to be over down there; then we have to see how long it will take for them to cut the corn down and remove fragile props from the field, and then we will be able to start hosting games again.  The only problem is that nobody knows exactly how long it will take to cut the corn and get the field all ready.

I bought my first airsoft rifle (a CYMA Thompson M1) when I was 17... Some quick math tells me that was 4 years ago, although it feels like ages!  So here's the breakdown:

Time playing: 4 years
First gun: CYMA Thompson/Kart M14 EBR
Total spent: Not sure, but definitely $2000+

Kept my first rifle for quite some time until my then girlfriend got interested in airsoft.  She played periodically using my gear for about a year, and I decided she needed a gun, so my oldest and dearest battle buddy should be hers.  It's now kinda broken (she tripped over it and snapped the outer barrel off) but I'm hoping she'll be out on the field soon enough again.

My first real field rifle was the M14 I mentioned earlier... As a noodle armed 17 year old, that was a bit too heavy for me, but a few years of working as a sales associate/stock boy, on top of a few years at an auto shop now has me carrying a 249 as my favorite!

When it comes to gun acquisition, I have a motto: TRADE UP!  I've bought some pretty expensive guns, particularly since I ran nothing but GBBR's for around a year and a half (maybe 2 years, I forget), but so far, nothing has beat my 249 in terms of reliability.  Got that thing in a box of awesomeness, and it's pretty much switched every part except the gear box and feed tray cover!  Most of the guns that I have now that top $300 I've traded for, usually rare stuff that I happened to get a long time ago and decided I wanted something newer.

As for the FPS debate, I like to hover around the 350 mark for field guns.  My 249 runs just under 300, and I could probably easily get it higher, but it already sounds like a death metal drummer doing a gravity blast (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2Z7eksx4ck), I figure why make it hail harder?  My only to exceptions so far are the AK I run (~380) and the SVD I just got, which levels out at just about 520.  I use my AK primarily for long field engagements in places like SASCO.  With the proper hopup settings and whatnot, my other guns reach out exactly as far as I want them to.  The only exception I've seen is an unknown brand 416 I borrowed from one of my friends once... That thing barely reached out 50ft!  I think it chronoed in at 150 that day, and it was a miserable gun lol.  One of the best games I've ever played, but I couldn't hit anything!

EDIT: I usually abide by the golden rule: Shoot as hard as I want to be shot!  That said, a good portion of the time when I want to get in some good cardio training, and weather permits I will wear some old body armor I acquired a long time ago.  Getting hit in the Kevlar a little harder certainly doesn't bother me, cuz I hear it better.  It's just when those shots start to wander towards my limbs that I'm glad that some people are nice when it comes to FPS limits and go a little lower lol.

Looks like this forum is filling up with machinist pretty fast!  If I ever get around to making any decent pieces out of steel, I'll make sure hit you up for the bluing!  I'd definitely like to see some pictures of your work too.

The results from the first field test are rather inconclusive, as the field we went to had much too much thick foliage to get my girlfriend out of the minimum engagement distance.  I can say however that maneuvering with the rifle, although it is quite large, is relatively easy.  Once I get it out to a field where I can really see out some distance I'll update with some range reports!

This will be an ongoing review for the WE AceVD, from the day it arrived at my door to the day I sell it or it breaks in some spectacular fashion that cannot be fixed.  I hate typing AceVD though, so for the rest of the review, it shall be known by it's proper name, the SVD, or the Dragunov.  Also, sorry if the images are too large, I know how to resize them in HTML, but not BBcode, so if anybody has any tips on making them smaller (while allowing them to be opened to full size) I'd be happy to implement that.

Rifle history
The SVD was adopted in 1963 as the USSR's sniper rifle of choice, although the way it is utilized is closer to the Western DMR role.  Although related to the Kalashnikov series of rifles it's method of operation is very different, including the use of a short stroke piston system and a different trigger system that is incapable of fully automatic fire.  Many countries make or use the SVD including Iraq and China.  Many other countries produce rifles that look very similar, but are internally more like the Kalashnikov rifles, like the Romanian PSL. (source)

[th]Real SVD[/th]    [th]WE SVD[/th]
Length:1225mm (48 inches) Weight: 4.31 kg w/ PSO-1, empty mag Caliber: 7.62x54r Magazine capacity: 20 Max Range: ~600 yards	Length: 1212mm (47 3/4 inches) Weight:TBD Caliber: 6mm Magazine capacity: 20 Max range: TBD

First impressions

As usual it arrived in a giant brown Evike box via UPS.  I'll spare you the details, but it was well packed by Evike in my opinion, so it survived shipping here okay.  Upon removing all the pertinent contents from the original box, this is what I was left with:



The rifle itself, the PSO-1 scope offered by Evike, and a single spare magazine.  The packing from WE was... Kinda shaky I think.  I've ordered several of their products in the past, and I don't think they've ever come in a plastic bag, ziptied to a piece of cardboard, but that's what happened here.  Still, it survived the trip from Taiwan to Cali, and then Cali to my doorstep, so I figure there's a good reason.



Although it had to be shipped with a bright red plastic flash hider (lifted off of the WE G36K oddly enough), it also came packaged with the original beautiful black metal SVD muzzle break.  My first attempts to remove the G36 flash hider were shaky at best.  I finally came to the conclusion that it had a liberal dose of loc-tight on it, and would have to be boiled off.  Not a hard task, just rather interesting to watch.  Finally, with a pot of hot water and a few strong twists, the orange monstrosity came off, revealing a thread adapter!  The threads are actually inside the barrel, so most aftermarket muzzle breaks will not work without an adapter.  The thread adapter is loc-tight'ed in too, so after a few more minutes over the stove and some more wrenching, I was able to install the SVD muzzle break.  Another great thing to note, although kind of useless to airsoft, is that the front sight comes equipped with a bayonet lug underneath!

Now that I had dealt with the front end, I figured it was time to take a whack at the scope.  Some have said in reviews that the airsoft PSO-1 has a bit too tight of a fit.  Some reviewers even went as far as to say that you might have to lightly tap it with a hammer to get it on!  I had no trouble getting the scope on, although once it's on, it doesn't exactly like to come off.  This is good though in my opinion, as this means it's a pretty tight fit.  There is no wobble or instability between the rifle and the scope, and that means that as long as the scope holds zero, it should be pretty accurate.  Plus, nothing goes better with the SVD than that reticle!



The first thing that struck me once I got the rifle all together was the sheer size of the thing!  I'm used to handling my 249, and from time to time an AK or AR, but the SVD just feels so long!  Here's a good comparison between it and a G&G RK-47.



Next, I took a quick inspection of the internals.  Things look pretty solid in there.  I'm not sure how much WE's tendency to use pot metal on stressed parts will come into play at this point, but everything except the bolt catch looks pretty solid.   There's a plastic block in the back that is used to absorb the force of the bolt slamming rearward, which WE was also nice enough to send a spare for.



Looking back a few days when I was putting in the order, I was slightly excited because I am learning about gunsmithing and machining, and I thought this might be an excellent opportunity to try out some of the skills that I've read so much about.  A part of me was sorely disappointed when I pulled the trigger for the first time, as I would not be trying those skills on this rifle.  The trigger pull is very light.  The way the trigger is built, it's a little hard to tell when it's about to break, and there's a tiny amount of over travel, but if you practice a few trigger resets, it becomes very easy to feel out.  I'd say it's just a little lighter than my (real) Lee Enfield No.4, but with the same sort of feel to it.

So, that's all I've got for now!  Stay tuned, as my lovely GF and I are going out on Sunday for a field test!
Also, one last glamour shot!

http://www.collectorairsoft.com/long_arms.html

Should give you all you need to know.

Been wondering about this website for a very long time now... Are they legit?

I love the idea, particularly since you've included a link to their profile, which would make it easy to contact them if I wanted to get some work done!