Newbish question: Ammo Capacity Restrictions?

[AsterothX]

I haven't spotted it anywhere, but do folks play with realistic ammo capacities (ie 15-30 rounds for an ak-47/AR-15) or do most games go with 100+ hi-cap mags?

[VanillaGuerrilla]

Most players I know use mid-caps (60-130 rounds). The ammo goes quickly in large games, and mid-caps require no winding.

[Altered_Soul]

Some people play with a realistic amount of ammunition per magazine, but most airsofters, even serious milsim types like myself, realize that BBs are not bullets in any capacity.  Although airsoft guns are becoming more fine tuned, they are far from being highly accurate machines, and therefore relatively more BBs are spent to do the same thing (theoretically) a bullet could pull off out of the same weapon.  So scaling the proportion of BBs is usually acceptable.  Most people run (not consiously by mathwise, just because of the capacities of the manufactured magazines mind you) about a 4 to 1 BB to Bullet ratio (TM).  That means, most people run magazines that hold about 90-120 BBs.  MP5s typically have 90-120, 5.56 mags typically hold about 120-140, and of course of other guns anything in between.  

Hicap mags are in big use too, but they are more unrealistic techincally speaking.  If you take the ratio of a standard hicap at 450 rounds (m4 etc), it would be about 100 rounds in real steel.  In real steel, 100 rounds is put into a box/c/drum mag, whereas hicaps are shaped like typical mags.  So many people avoid them for that reason, and the fact that hicaps utilize a winding pressure system, and make more noise, so a lot like a straight feed system which also coincedentally matches a reasonably realistic ratio.  

Airsoft Drum mags are just crazy lol.  I don't think there are any 1000 round M4 drum magazines out there.  But then again it also gives the look of a support gunner, not to mention fun as hell to go rambo with it...

Hope that makes sense.

[-MAD- SARGE]

Let's define this so people don't loose sight of capacities.  

Low capacity mags = 30 rounds or less

Standard mags = 50 - 70 rounds (some types can be slightly higher in count)

Mid capacity mags = 100 - 150 rounds

High capacity = 200 plus

Now that we are on the same page we can discuss.

Mag capacities are for each person to decide but High cap magazines are definitely frowned upon by the majority if the weapon is not a support weapon like a 240, 249, RPK ect.  

For the rest of the mag capacities out there I can't say what most people use. I would guess most use Mid caps or Standards.  All I know for sure is that most of the members on our team use either Standards or Low capacity mags.

I myself use Standards for a few reasons.  Like mentioned above bb's do not equal real rounds, so it generally takes a few more bbs due to shooting through brush or for the fact that it usually takes 2 or 3 rounds on a person for them to register they are hit.  Not that they are wanting to cheat or anything like that, just due to the fact that heavy gear can make it hard to impossible to feel the impact and you are relying on sound.  In the event you are running around you're crunching on rocks, twigs etc. making noise that can cover up a single or even a few bb hits at the end of their travel with very low energy.  2-3 rounds striking your gear with good energy makes a very distinct sound making it easy for the player to register that they have been shot.  The other reason to me is very important, reloading.  We got to reload out there.  I feel 2 bbs to one round works good for me in the field.  If we do CQB then I would use a low cap due to the fact that ranges are so close a single bb is very easy to register and you are either going to hit your target or not.  This adds a bit of realism for me instead of only having to reload once in a long while or just being a bb hose.

[azsarge]

I'm with -MAD-SARGE.

Let's just assume for the sake of conversation that I'm running an AEG that uses magazines, like an M4.  

In a perfect world, that AEG would be as accurate as the shooter, and it would only take a few well-aimed shots to hit the target.  But, it's not perfect and variances such as imperfect BBs, improperly adjusted HopUp, and even dirt in the barrel will cause different trajectories.  Add to that the fact that airsoft BBs are affected more by the wind, foliage, and other variables than bullets and you have the answer to your question.

Basically, it takes MORE BBs to hit the target.

I like TM Standards for the M4 (68 rds), not only for the reliability, but for the BB count.  

Now, I typically run my CA249, with over 1K rounds in the drum, and I use it like a support weapon.  With airsoft machine guns, I find a 5 : 1 ratio (BBs fired : dudes hit) to be perfectly acceptable, hence my magazine capacity.

All "realism" aspects aside, there are severe drawbacks to High Cap mags.  For one, when you're out I can hear the spring unwind.  Typically, guys that run winding hicaps have the muscle memory to "wind" rather than reload when they start involuntarily dry-firing.  Those are extra seconds for my bros to give you the chicken pox.

It's a personal preference, but I think you'll find that Hi Caps are mostly used by newer guys that don't have a 2nd Line Harness yet.  

For most games, I don't know of any rules against it, but I've been away for awhile.

[Altered_Soul]

I carry around ten G36 midcaps into any given situation (less if a shorter duration game, but never more), a couple of speed loaders, plus one hicap for those exceedingly long matches.  That one hicap is for emergencies only, and since running this rig, I have had to use only once, and at that point my team had pretty much been wiped.  

I found that other than everything that has been said, midcaps also add that excitement of reloading, and controls my shot output to almost "Battle of Bunker Hill" proportions.  The few times I have gone all mags down, it is quite exciting to have all those empties in your dump pouch or laying in a pile in front of you lol.  Wouldn't be so cool in real life, but in airsoft its quite fun.  

In CQB I have found that I am even less inclined to fire unless covering or I have a definite shot, as reloading is a lot more deadly and obvious in that setting.  High caps are suicide for their noise, whether the rattling or the unwinding.

[Ares]

i use 100-130 rds per magazine. I feel that is the most realistic capacity. for one important reason...

We're not using real bullets, and are not engaging at the same ranges that real steel can reach to. BB's can be blown off course by wind, and people can outrun them. To compensate for these inadequacies i use around 100 rounds in each magazine.

Hi caps are annoying and noobish. Invest in a set of good mags, like G&P or even MAG. It will make the game SO much more fun.

[deathbydanish]

There are also some considerations you need to make for national ops. Lion Claws didn't really have any restrictions like that, but Balkan Hammer did. I say if you practice with low/mid caps and get good at it, then you can probably be prepared for just about any situation.

I went into LC carrying like 10,000 rounds of ammo on my person (SAW gunner) and guess what, I barely used 3,000 through the first day of fighting. I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't go in with a BB hose mentality, otherwise you get stupid looking guns with 2000 round box mags, like an MP5 with a box mag. That had to be some of the stupidest/funniest shit I saw in a while.

[AsterothX]

Thanks for the feedback all.  I have to admit a personal dislike for the Hi-cap that came with my M4 AEG, the feeding is just too unpredictable, and there's something about winding the magazine that detracts from the experience.  Excellent points about the issues with equivalency ratio of BBs to Real rounds.  

Confirms my inclination to go with standard mags for my next purchase.  Thanks again.

[morugatu]

Meh, I use hi-caps as I don't like hauling around tons of mags or having to worry about speed loaders.  I also like em' because they're easier to strip down and clean out which for my team is a huge plus as we end up with so much dust in our equipment that we've had 6.08mm barrels jam up and broken airnozzles if our equipment isn't cleaned.  I also do not like spring loaded mags as the springs seem to wear out faster than the gears in springs in hicaps.  But then again, that's just the way we play.  Personally I've never had any problems with hicaps rattling, but the plastic ones do put out quite a racket.  No hicap though can match the rattling of a speedloader in my opinion.  Those things are so noisy it drives me crazy carrying just one around.

Although we do use hi-caps, we use semi-auto almost exlusively and frown on 'spraying and praying' styles as it wastes bbs and puts more stress on the gearbox.

[Whiskey11]

I personally have 3 hicaps, 2 for my Thompson which is my "ahh what the heck" gun that I either loan out to people or fall back on if something wrong happens to one of my other guns.  The last hicap is the one for my CA SPR, right now its my only magazine for my M16 since I sold my ICS with all of my MAG mags.  I plan on ditching the hicap in favor of 8-12 CA 130round Midcaps.  Before people freak out I'm also going to be buying 4 of the pistol magazine styled speed loaders and filling those 8-12 mags with just one speed loader, not toping them off.  So in reality i'm only getting about 90 rounds per magazine.  

Then again I could just be crazy

With my CA M14 I only have 5 68 round standards but then again with a gun that shoots 530fps I only need those 5 68 rounders inthe course of a game ^_^

[Raith]

You can't go wrong with standard or midcap magazines.  I myself use standard magazines, but I'm thinking about complementing them with some midcaps here pretty soon.

[VanillaGuerrilla]

Oh yeah...forgot to mention the mid-caps do wear down a bit over time. No big deal though. You just have to stretch the springs. It's a fairly easy process, but can be tedious if you have a bunch of the suckers.

[TheStenGun]

I love my Marui mags, they feed so much nicer than the GP midcaps I had. I recently got some used MAG midcaps and they are awesome, really nice wide mag with a tight solid fit in my magwell, they feed really well. Hicaps are just so.... lame, the only reason I would ever use them is for purely economic reasons; buy standards when you can afford them.