Words and pics: upp3rz_d0wn3rz (Devtsix Silver Team – SK04)
First, let me start by saying that I’m so glad The Reptile House Blog is back! When I first got into MilSim and airsoft a couple years ago, I remember how amazed I was when I first discovered the blog. I spent hours reading through all the articles and being inspired by the the many incredible impressions, reenactments, replica builds, and gear reviews. I remember thinking how awesome it would be if one day I could be featured in the blog. I can’t believe it’s come true! What an honor.
Like many in our community, Seraph from TF Green was one of the first CAG impressionists that really inspired me. The Reptile House did a number of features on the greatly missed Seraph and his team, TF Green, starting in summer 2013.
Here’s one of the pics from the original blog, which inspired so many people:
I’m also a die hard DEVGRU fan, and I’ve always loved DEVGRU HK416 builds. I’m part of Devtsix’s Silver Team, and alongside my Silver Team buddies I spent most of 2016 focusing on my impression kit. It’s based on DEVGRU’s Red Squadron during the 2011-2012 time period (around the time of the UBL raid). But in early 2017 I set a new goal of building BOTH a DEVGRU kit AND a CAG kit.
It was a lofty goal, but I really like being challenged, so I went to work! I’ve spent most of this year investing in my CAG impression, which is based on the current gear and weapons in use in 2017. There aren’t a lot of recent reference pictures of CAG in the wild, so I’ve based my kit on the pictures of CAG operators in Africa in 2016 and in Syria in 2017; both of which are depicted in my good friend tan_rifle’s recent article for the blog.
The centerpiece of my CAG kit is of course my CAG blaster, and I have to say I am very happy with how it’s turned out. I owe thanks to my friends for all the info, support, and guidance they’ve given me as I’ve tried to achieve a good degree of accuracy and realism.
The base gun for my CAG blaster is a Tokyo Marui Delta H&K 416 Recoil Shock, which was released by Tokyo Marui in March of this year. Internally, everything is completely stock. I love the NGRS platform and the gun shoots great. TM has really done its homework and it comes with quite a few external parts which make it a good base gun for building a modern CAG blaster. For example, it comes complete with a replica Geissele HK 10” SMR rev. B rail; but sadly the stock anodized color is more of a rose gold than a DDC color like the real rail, so I had to repaint the rail to get it to look a little closer to the real steel version.
As far as additional upgrades go, I’ve added a few key components. My optics setup is all real and includes a tan EOTech XPS2-0 holosight, a tan EOTech G33 magnifier, a gold Wilcox .410” set screw riser set, and a gold Wilcox flip-to-side mount for the G33. I removed the BUIS that came with the TM, mainly because I just don’t use iron sights – and the BUIS-free look fits with pics. I added a replica tan LA5 PEQ/laser, and a tan replica SureFire M600C, and a dual-pressure pad to operate them.
I also added a replica FDE SureFire SOCOM 556RC can and – of course – a multicam VTAC MK2 padded sling. One thing I really wish I could change on this gun is the grip. The TM comes with a Tango Down style motor grip, but I’m actually a big fan of Hogue grips and prefer to run Hogue on everything.
I really like this current setup, but I’m considering experimenting with different optics, so I might change things up further down the road. For now though, I’m quite pleased with this CAG blaster and I enjoy using it regularly!
Once again, I want to give a big thanks for being part of The Reptile House collective! Cheers Rich!
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