Every Platform in My UK Airsoft Collection — The Full Tour

I’m writing this from my flat in London at the start of a very full week. Tonight I’m playing at Incursion in Epsom — underground tunnels, pitch black. Tomorrow I’m up in Wolverhampton at HC2, playing with Yeager Precision and a couple of members of the channel. Saturday is Blackstone CQB with Orange Spartan, and Sunday I’m at the National Airsoft Festival in Bournemouth.

Before any of that, I wanted to do something I’ve been meaning to do for a while: walk through every platform I keep in the UK. This collection is about two years in the making, and all of it stays here in a lock-up. That’s the whole point — I can fly in with a day bag, grab my kit, and go straight to a game. The long-term plan is one of everything over here.

Five platforms on the table. Axios Customs built four of them. Get used to that name.

The Philosophy: Redundancy Through Shared Magazines

Gas blowback is my first choice, but anyone who runs gas knows the deal. You can do all the prep and all the maintenance, and something still goes wrong on the day. I never wanted to be stuck unable to play, so the entire UK loadout is built around one rule: everything gas runs the same magazines. Guns Modify Evo mags — my favourites — work across every gas platform I own here. If a nozzle goes mid-game, the loaded mags just move straight into the next platform.

1. Guns Modify HK416A5 — The Backup That Could Be a Primary

I picked this up in October 2025 as the dedicated backup, after running — and loving — my Guns Modify Mark 18 with a URGI rail back home. Axios Customs did the internals: a Maxx hop chamber, a Quantum bucking, a Unicorn inner barrel, a Guns Modify adjustable trigger box with a flat trigger, and a BavTac Z-plate. It’s an MWS system, so it runs the Evo mags, and the fully licensed markings on the bolt are a nice touch.

The externals are my doing. A Magpul CTR stock replaced the wobbly factory HK stock. A Magpul K2+ grip in FDE tan. An 83 Tactical riser with a Holosun HS510C on top. A Magpul QD mount so I can run my sling between two points, a PTS Picatinny foregrip, my usual Votatu M6LG light/laser combo, and the Auramist tracer on the front — fresh out of the box, not yet game-tested.

Fair warning from the video: my on-camera demo vented a whole mag because I hadn’t gassed it properly. First shots since last year. Fill your mags before you show off.

2. Salvo Precision MCX Rattler — Last Year’s Workhorse

This is the older-school Rattler with the Virtus handguard, and it was my go-to for almost the entire last trip. Axios did the internals — Maxx hop chamber, Unicorn barrel, upgraded bucking, and an NPAS nozzle so I can adjust power — and West Lays did the Cerakote, sprayed through a net for that pattern, with the old channel logo on the side. They even added full SIG trades, which the base model doesn’t ship with. It’s MWS-based, so again: same mags.

Right now it’s wearing the big suppressor from my MCX Surge, which normally comes in an FDE gold but has been painted to match. It adds real length to a very short build, and I’m genuinely unsure how I feel about it for CQB — let me know what you think. Also on it: the Votatu M6LG, a UUQ micro red dot on a one-inch riser, a K2+ grip, a QD mount, and a little foregrip I found on Amazon that grew on me. With Incursion being dark tunnels, this one is a serious candidate for tonight.

3. Salvo Precision MCX Surge — The New One

This year’s addition, and it’s stunning. I asked West Lays to match the Rattler’s paint and they nailed it without the other platform in front of them — this one carries the new channel logo. It has M4A1 carbine trades because the upper is designed to drop onto an AR15/M4 lower, and the rail is far chunkier in person than the pictures suggest.

The headline is the optic: a Holosun DRS-TH. Thermal and night vision, and honestly worth about what the entire platform cost after upgrades. In a pitch-black tunnel system, that’s close to an unfair advantage, and I plan to test it tonight. Alongside it: an Eshooter Flare Smoky smoke tracer under a Mantis cover, a Votatu IR light/laser combo for the dark, and a grip I 3D-printed myself. Internals follow the same Axios recipe — Maxx hop unit, Quantum bucking, barrel swap, NPAS nozzle — and they threw in a spare nozzle. My one gripe is the old-school trigger guard, which leaves a gap that digs into my finger when I carry it. A replacement is on the list. There’s a full unboxing and test video of this one on the channel if you want the deep dive.

4. Tokyo Marui NGRS MP5 SD6 — The Insurance Policy

Last October looked cold, and cold is hard on gas, so I bought an AEG backup. I don’t normally run AEGs, but this thing won me over. It’s a recoil shock, so there’s a proper subtle kick. It fires at a CQB-friendly FPS, it’s very quiet, it has a three-round burst mode, and it stops on empty — which means you get to do the HK slap with the cocking lever, and everyone loves an HK slap. It takes little 7.4 LiPos.

It’s nearly stock: I’ve added a Picatinny rail with an M-LOK section and an Olight for dark indoor sites. The suppressor hides a 14mm counter-clockwise thread, and I confirmed on camera that the Flare Smoky BT Compact tracer fits inside it — pull a couple of foam baffles and fill it with liquid first. Tonight it’s either my backup or a loaner for my friend Max, whose M14 fires around 450 FPS and has no business at a CQB field.

5. 6mmProShop Staccato C2 — The Only Secondary

One secondary, and it’s a tried-and-true favourite from my US games. The Staccato C2 is a 2011 Hi-Capa pattern platform, and this thing is an absolute beast — super snappy, really nice action. Axios did the internals (inner barrel, hop bucking) with West Lays on the slide paint, and there’s a Magnus hop chamber install lined up, possibly at NAF on Sunday. It runs a TLR-1 HL light and a Viridian RFX 35 optic on a mounting plate, and it’ll carry a tracer tonight as my backup.

The Build Pipeline

A word on Axios Customs, because four of these five exist because of them. I didn’t buy parts and post them over. I told them what I wanted, sent the money, and they ordered everything, did the build, coordinated the West Lays paint, and shipped it to me within about ten days. If you want something similar, they’re contactable by Instagram DM — link is in the video description.

What’s Next

The last three months have been hot and dry here, so gas performance shouldn’t be the worry it was last October — but that’s exactly what the MP5 is for. Watch the full tour video for the firing demos, and drop any questions about the builds in the comments. I’ll see you at a site this week.

Watch the video: Every Platform In My UK Airsoft Collection — The Full Tour