Customer Spotlight

We like to take some time and meet get to know our customers a little better. We want to shed some more light on their business – Who are the people behind the companies? How did they get involved in this mad industry?This week we caught up with store manager Lewis Money from Socom Tactical. His shop is bases in Fleet, Hampshire and will be 10 years old next year. We managed to grab ten minutes from his busy day to find out what goes on in the engine room of HMS Socom and what their plans are for the future.So what got you into Airsoft?It was initially my brother, I found an M4 in the house when I was 15 which was his and learnt about it from him, saved up that year and bought myself a JG G36 and booked me and a friend in for a game straight away. After that, I was hooked and got a part time job ASAP so I could buy myself everything I wanted.Who is the better player at your shop?It's difficult as Ed and I like being team players and as a squad 4 or 5 of us work great together and communicate, but Scott is very sneaky and can easily take out a whole team on his own by sneaking aroundWhat is your favourite thing about airsoft?The freedom to basically dress up and do any loadout you want from any era, fictional or real life. I have a wardrobe full of clothes and at least 2 RIFs to run with each one, the hard part is picking which one!What would you like to see change/improve in airsoft?Community Facebook groups; Unfortunately, I've left a load of them due to toxicity in them and stick more to the 'owners group' ones or just browse on Reddit every now and then where people give more constructive and positive feedback. In short, I would like to see the community attitudes improved, but its the internet so not much chance of that happening.What made you decide to open your Shop?The shop was opened by my boss in 2009 who was tired of larger companies with bad customer service, lack of parts and accessory options. He started mainly with accessories instead of RIFs and was the go-to place for niche and alternative accessories not really seen in the UK.Is this your first location or have you moved shops?This is our first location, but are currently looking for larger premises in the local area as we have hugely outgrown this shopWhat are the popular brands at your store?Our most popular brands are Oper8 Tactical for the vast amount of handy accessories they produce and for RIFs, probably Arthurian Airsoft which flies off the shelf to both new and regular players. Another popular brand is Rocket/SHS as we have a lot of local techs in the area What’s hot at the moment?At the moment, the AAP-01 pistols have been going fairly quickly as well as Emerson Gear clothing, I think a lot of people are updating their gear ready for when sites open.Is there anything that has just come onto the market that you think it's going to be HOT?Not at the moment, I haven't seen many new products pop up that have a wow factor, but I imagine if ASG or Cybergun release another licenced pistol then they'll be popular as every gun has its own following, I still think the hype of the AAP-01 will carry on this year though.Is there anything that has come onto the market that's made you think “what the!?”Yes, the SRC Maverick. As a lover of FN Herstal guns, the Maverick looks like a cheap knock off of a cheap knock off and just reminds me of a toy I had when I was younger.What are the plans for you in the future?Firstly move to new premises with space for a range and even host pistol shooting nights (when we can) to bring the social side of airsoft into the shop and then look at a 2nd retail store in a different part of the country.If people want to know more, how can people find you?You can find us on Facebook and Instagram as Socom Tactical Airsoft or when the lockdown is over and we can reopen, you can find our shop in Fleet, Hampshire - www.socomtactical.net

We like to take some time and meet get to know our customers a little better. We want to shed some more light on their business - Who are the people behind the companies? How did they get involved in this mad industry? We caught up with Matt Thorne from Thornex Tactical to find out a bit more about his family run, online, tactical clothing and equipment store. So what got you into Airsoft?I discovered a woodland site whilst out walking many years ago . When I got home I researched it and found out about the sport. I ended up wasting my money on a springer g3a3  until I was guided in the right direction from friends at my work and attended my first game at Urban Assault in Peterborough. The rest is history .Who is the better player at your shop?As we are a family business and I'm the only one who plays airsoft I guess I am!What is your favourite thing about airsoft?The best thing for me is the way the sport has evolved over the last 18 years I've been playing . The community and popularity of the sport has allowed it to grow and cater for a wide range of tastes and preferences. Whether  you are into hardcore milsim , reenactment or general skirmishes at your local site, its accessible for everyone caters for most tastes.What would you like to see change/improve in airsoft?I would like to see the continued rise of the  profile of the sport in the public domain. More people that get into it, the more sites that can open and it helps the hardworking people in this industry.What made you decide to open your Shop?Having been an airsofter for many years we wanted  to put our passion into good use. Our idea is to make quality clothing and tactical equipment more accessible to the UK market . We are currently developing ideas to expand our business and bring new products to the market (watch this space!).What are the popular brands at your store?Emerson Gear is our best selling brand as their clothing is fantastic value for money and they make a great range of gear. Notch hats are really popular in the warmer months too.What’s hot at the moment?Anything Multicam Tropic, it's been our most popular colour this year and personally one of our favourites.Do you have any plans to bring new items into your store?Being a relatively new business we are looking to build our range and add new items. We are regularly reviewing new products to bring in but if someone wants a particular item they can drop us a message and we will always try and source it.Is there anything that has come onto the market that's made you think “what the!?”Yes but I know better than to broadcast it on social media 🤣What are the plans for you in the future?We are currently developing our own products which we hope to bring to market within the next year. Whilst we are keeping these close to our chest we are really excited about them and believe it will offer airsofters something a little different - Very exciting!If people want to know more, how can people find you?Follow us on Facebook or Instagram,  just search for Thornex Tactical.  Alternatively on our website www.thornextacitcal.co.uk

In our customer spotlight series we like to take some time and meet with one of our customers to shed some more light on their business - Who are they? Why do they do what they do? and How? We met with Elliot, Chris, Lindsey and Eloise (left to right) from 308 Sniper Airsoft to find out a bit more about this airsoft family and what makes their Kent based business tick. So what got you into Airsoft?We started with Military clothing and doing events every weekend from Chatham dockyards to War and Peace. Because of this we had a lot of customers asking for airsoft products after we started noticing demand. We seamlessly had a visit from a well known rep and there it started we purchased our first order direct and boom the rest is history.  Who is the better player at your shop?Elliot without a doubt, he has played since he was 9 he is now 13 and can hold his own at most places he plays, he can often be seen in the killhouse playing in his crocsWhat is your favourite thing about airsoft?The Community and the players, which is why we opened the airsoft café to have that airsoft community in the heart of our business.What would you like to see change/improve in airsoft?Where do I start? As with any sport I guess the biggest change we would love to see is an end to haters. Unfortunately, every Facebook page and site has one... that one keyboard warrior that spoils someone's day. Apart from that Lins would love to see more female players in the sport and on the field.What made you decide to open your Shop?To support our family, Elliot was in and out of hospital as a baby so impossible for Lins to get a 9-5 so we opened the shop to expand and give us a base to support the shows and events.Is this your first location or have you moved shops?This is our third location now. We have moved up the high street starting with a 800 sqft shop moving to a larger 1500 sqft shop and now the latest shop/site is just over 8500 sqft 4000 sqft of killhouse and 3500 sqft of café and airsoft shopWhat are the popular brands at your store?Too many to name, that's the good thing about airsoft! Loads of choice but we stock all the main brands Arthurian Airsoft, JG, TM, Valken, Emerson, Viper, Kombat, CYMA, G&G, FBS and many more!  What’s hot at the moment?Me! joking aside its been a funny year and sales have changed massively due to the lack of play so upgrades have been strong. The pistol of the moment seems to be the Mk2 ruger (a great sniper side arm). Grenade launchers of all types have sold well this year, for rifle the Arthurian Airsoft Crimson has been a popular choice, BB's the Valken Infinity are the top sellers. The top selling mags at the moment have to be the PTS EPM Ones mag - people are going mad for them, but with 250 rounds in a mid cap… who can blame them!Is there anything that has just come onto the market that you think it's going to be HOT?Me again lol! No I think there are lots of new products in the pipeline. Valken's new AEG's look like a great step up, G&G look like they have some more great stuff coming. But with no Shot Show or IWA this year is difficult to get a feel for what is coming this year!Is there anything that has come onto the market that's made you think “what the!?”Many, but you know one mans rubbish is another mans treasure so it goes to show how diverse airsoft is and how many people is caters for.What are the plans for you in the future?Well just to hopefully continue the growth and build on the indoor site we have. Once lockdown finishes we have loads of new features to the killhouse to show off and attacksense have made loads of updates to the shooting range. We have extended the Café menu so the future for the local community will be good. We will continue to look for new brands and products to stock and will continue to build and grow!If people want to know more, how can people find you?They can find us at www.308sniper.co.uk email us at admin@308sniper.co.uk call us on 01634 921278 or visit (click and collect only until restrictions finish) at 308sniper, Rear of Featherstone House, 369-377 High Street, Rochester, Kent, ME1 1DA.

We like to take some time and meet our customers to shed some more light on their business - Who they? What do? This month we met with Dave Taylor from Daves Custom Airsoft to find out a bit more about him and what makes his business tick. So what got you into Airsoft?My mums friends kids played airsoft at X-Site in High Wycombe back in about 2000 when it was a paintball site, we rented some space on some weekends and played airsoft, I had a cheap springer rifle with the mag on the side that I got from Airsoft World, it was a bag of rubbish and I didn’t really like the first game, but, I saved up for a TM AK47 which I got from Airsoft Armoury and loved playing after I got that. Who is the better player at your shop?We are yet to go playing together as a DCA team, however, as the boss naturally I would be the best player sat at the back directing people. Of course we would have to take our HK11 & MG3 with us, so, maybe we would have a small firepower advantage. What is your favourite thing about airsoft?In a world where it is easy to sit about on your phone and play computer games, airsoft gets you out, it gets you active and it is a good way to meet people, all the nonsense people talk online can get silly, but, I have never really met anyone at a site who was not super friendly. Most of all of course I love the guns, if we could own these sort of real guns in the UK I would, but, airsoft is the next best thing and beats shooting at paper all day. What would you like to see change/improve in airsoft?I would like to see manufacturers consult with retailers and tech shops more to produce higher quality RIFs using the correct quality materials. I would also like to see a far better supply of spare parts, with TM as a great example of a company that does not care about customers outside of Japan and does not have sufficient spare parts. Primarily at the minute I would like to see a manufacturing shift from China and Asia over to the U.K and Europe and I would like to see us produce our own airsoft replicas. I think that giving funds to China at the current time will come back to bite us in later years and that we should be investing in our own U.K made items as a priority, this of course means the end user will have to be prepared to spend more. What made you decide to open your Shop?I worked full time in Defence for a number of years and although I loved that industry I also did not appreciate working for other people, we attended the British Shooting show in 2014 and we made strong sales over a weekend, I handed my notice in on the Monday and have not looked back since. (Well, perhaps over COVID there have been times I wish I worked for someone else). Is this your first location or have you moved shops?Our location in Dippenhall is our first location with a decent showroom, before that we were round the corner in Crondall in a very small space, our new location allows us to have storage for stock, room for machine tools, paint room for Cerakote, a small range and a showroom area so we are pretty spoilt. What are the popular brands at your store?By chance we found we became known for TM, although, given TMs lack of parts and the fact that the products have been devalued by retailers in the UK selling too cheaply we have decided to move away from TM for the time being, we still work on them, we just don’t want to spend all our money on it. Instead we are stocking a strong range of high quality China soft guns which we gut out the internals with our High Spec packages, as well as guns from great brands such as VFC / Umarex, PTS, Arcturus, KWA etc. Naturally, a popular brand can be made or broken with one decent or one bad gun so this is always changing. It is definitely worth noting that the quality of lower end guns from brands such as CYMA has increased massively over the last few years. What’s hot at the moment?At the minute we are doing a lot of Cerakote work, primarily on rifles but also some pistols and other non airsoft items, we have a particular customer in France who likes to order LMGs with multi-coloured Cerakote patterns and the spin off from that being that other customers see them and want the same which is great. In terms of replicas that are hot at the minute I would say the PTS Centurion CM4 and the MCX are our most popular RIFs. Is there anything that has just come onto the market that you think it's going to be HOT?We heard tale of an SKS and a Lee Enfield SMLE that works so we are very excited about those two. We like guns that are different and if it has wood, even better. Is there anything that has come onto the market that's made you think “what the!?”The LCT LK-33 (HK33) got us very excited as we have done a lot of work with LCT G3s, but, Mid Caps are near impossible to find for them and did not come out until months after the gun. Why would you make an incredibly realistic stamped steel AEG and then only sell high caps for it? Mad times. What are the plans for you in the future?Being a bit of an old school patriot I want to do my bit for the country and the sport, we are dead set on producing an entirely UK made RIF and this is a vision we are chasing. Overall though of course we want to continue to expand our stock holding, keep customising RIFs at a good strong rate and producing some incredible guns such as our latest MG3 KWS. If people want to know more, how can people find you?For a good flavour of our company it is best to check us out on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, of course you can also visit our web shop at www.davescustomairsoft.co.uk or after COVID drop into our store at GU105DW, if you google us, the google robots will provide directions.

Every month we like to take some time and meet with one of our customers to shed some more light on their business. This month we met with Jenni and Kirk from Airsoft Anonymous to find out a bit more about them and what makes them and their business tick. So what got you guys into Airsoft? Airsoft is a great stress relief.  Kirk got into airsoft while Jenni was going through cancer treatment so it was a nice escape from day to day life.  Now Jenni is in recovery she’s getting the chance to play and is already hooked. Who is the better player? Kirk has more experience so is definitely the better player but Jenni definitely holds her own. What is your favourite thing about airsoft? GUNS.  GUNS ARE COOL.  Shooting people is fun.  Aside from that the social aspect and friends we’ve made are priceless. What would you like to see change/improve in airsoft? More player integrity, for the sport to lose the stigma surrounding it and for it to grow, become more mainstream. What made you decide to open Airsoft Anonymous? Kirk has worked as a tech for a while now so it was a natural progression.  Jenni has a lot of experience in running businesses and has a strong background in sales, marketing, web development.  We both needed a new challenge and we wanted to be our own bosses.  Basingstoke has a number of airsoft players and didn’t have an airsoft shop so there was an obvious gap in the market. Is this your first location or have you moved shops? This is our first location, we love it.  It’s dog-friendly so we can bring our puppy to work with us, it was one of the deciding factors for us.  We’re surrounded by so many other businesses so the centre has a decent footfall.  We have We Buy Any Car next door so anyone who doesn’t pass credit checks to purchase an expensive gun has got the option of selling their car next door!  One door down is an awesome tattoo shop, guns and tattoos just work.  We plan to do some events together next year as the centre is quieter on weekends with the majority of businesses here opening Monday-Friday. What are the popular brands at Airsoft Anonymous? TM’s are always popular, great out of the box, outstanding when upgraded.  LayLax upgrade parts are obviously popular too.  G&G and Delta Armory are selling well as solid, reliable guns straight out of the box.  We’re seeing an influx of new players, partly due to first-person shooting games so these are the brands we recommend.  Steel Alive, Wiley X and GSCI are all selling well. What’s hot at the moment? Target systems are being introduced at a lot of sites and shops.  We offer Steel Alive which is produced in Poland and is starting to gain traction here in the UK.  It’s such a robust system which can be used with airsoft guns and even real steel!  It’s used for training by the military and police forces with various training scenarios.   The game modes are a lot of fun, with 2 player games and global leader boards.  We have players coming in regularly to book the range, we call it the airsoft arcade!  Night vision from GSCI in Canada is a new brand for us but is proving popular as their products are military-grade and ITAR free so can be exported.  Night vision, on the whole, is expensive but you get what you pay for.  Serious airsoft players want to take gameplay to the next level and night vision/thermal imaging is becoming more popular with milsim players. Is there anything that has just come onto the market that you think it's going to be HOT? The hotly anticipated TM MK46 has created a lot of excitement.  Despite the price tag people are placing pre-orders.  There are a number of bloggers and review sites wanting to be the first to get their hands on these to review. Is there anything that has come onto the market that's made you think “what the!?”  Some of the hybrid builds often leave the community puzzled and create great debates on social media but why not be different?  We all have different tastes.  We enjoy pushing technology to new levels and are often in awe of how people are always striving to push technologies to new levels and what they achieve. What are the plans for Airsoft Anonymous in the future? We’re constantly expanding the ranges and products we offer and eventually we’re going to need bigger premises.  We’ve got a number of other plans that we’re keeping under our hats for the moment.  We’re bouncing around some crazy ideas with our partners over at War Chimp so watch this space!  If people want to know more, how can people find you guys? There’s our website with instant chat function which is popular, airsoft players like instant answers to their questions and with the chat app phones, we can offer the responsiveness that they’re after even out of business hours.  Our email is info@airsoftanonymous.co.uk 01256 406641, through Facebook, Instagram and obviously dropping into the shop!