Initial Review of SS Airsoft

While buying leather conditioner for the car at Advanced Auto here in lovely Buford, GA I decided I would just run over to the new Airsoft Shop/Indoor CQB Facility located just off of Hwy 20. To my delight I noticed that the place was in fact open and there were people there. This is just an initial review of the place with more to come (pictures, playing experience, etc.)

First Impressions:
The shop is located just of the highway and is very easy to get too with plenty of parking. Upon walking in the store the first thing I notice is that everything in there is brand new. From the glass cases to the paneling to hang up on the wall it was in pristine condition. It was also very clean and neatly organized. I was greeted immediately by one of the owners, Kenny, and after a little talk about who I was and what I was doing (namely this review) I was then directed to continue the conversation with the other owner, Steve. To say they were nice and polite would be an understatement. I was given full attention for nearly 45mins. Safe to say customer service like what we are used to on the north side when airsoft is considered is not going to be found here. Grade- A+

Shop:
The shop seemed to be a decent size with a variety of gun manufacturers being sold there. Some of the brands include: ICS, CA, UTG and G&G. Talk of bringing Echo 1 into the store was discussed and was said to be coming soon. They had a pretty good bit of externals in stock and quite a bit of GBB as well. Everything was nice and clean and looked to be in good shape. Prices seemed very reasonable for not only guns and equipment but also bb's. There was no 400% increase in bb pricing with a rule to use store bb's. Grade- B The only reason for getting a B is partly because they just, unofficially, opened and the lack of variety. With time I am quite sure that will get fixed.

Field:
I got to walk the field with Steve and first impressions of that are quite good. All guns are required to have barrel plugs and full face masks are required (Hey it's public CQB get over it). The dead box was an actual enormous military tent and looked pretty much gnarly when it comes to kill boxes. No white-net square here. Plenty of space so you are not stepping on everyone's toes trying to reload. Upon entering in the field the first thing to note is the height of the bunkers, 10ft I believe. Next is the variety of bunkers used, from full scale partial buildings to tires, to wooden crates this place has almost everything. The quality of the bunkers is also great. Everything was held together with screws and no expense was spared in the design. All the bunkers were painted to be as realistic as possible and they did a great job if I do say so. While a little on the small side at 13000 sq. ft. SS Airsoft has taken what they've got and done some great things with it. I was told that 3 refs are on the field at a time one in a tower and the other two on the field. I was told many different types of game play are used everyday and props are always involved. Grade: A- just because of size

Staff:
Oh where to start on the staff... In my talks with Steve I got the impression, and was told many times by him, he is about the sport which one can respect. Not only did he just say that, but also proved it by showing his appreciation to his customers by knocking off 20% to a guy and his son on an optics mount. Steve also stressed that he likes give-a-ways, (I'm sure this airsofter likes them more than he does though). He talked about promotions where he would post on facebook, "Next 5 people in the door get a free bag of bb's," or "If we have a last man standing game, the last man standing would get a free shotgun." Not only did I get the feeling that he thought it was a good idea I got the sense he actually does it. It was very obvious that he was there for the customer and the sport not the $20 field fee. They also said there was a tech on sight, but I did not get a chance to meet him/her or see their work. I was told that SS Airsoft was wanting to get together with other fields and stores and really help this sport grow. Grade- A+ Just a couple of great guys

Overall:
Honestly I thought this place was going to be another GE, but I was presently surprised that it was not. I honestly cannot say enough about how the customer was treated just walking in. There was not a 30 min wait to purchase and item, there were no telephone games, and Steve and Kenny seemed eager to help. I also cannot say enough about the quality of the bunkers and structures on the field. Steve who probably weighs as much as I do demonstrated that when he comes up to a bunker he likes to have the bunker stop him instead of slowing down, and this bunker stopped him. It was solid. I was told that every gun is chrono tested and a log is kept. Safety seemed to be important to them, as it should be, and it looked like things ran smoothly. They had good quality bb's for sale and great quality guns. Only thing I wish would be different is the variety in the store, which I'm sure is coming soon, and a bigger area for play. Over all grade: A-


Overview:
1 hr play- $10
all day play- $20
Located just off of Hwy 20 in Buford
Gun Rentals (ALL RENTALS ARE CA!)
Full masks required
400 fps Max
Semi Only inside of bunkers (this may not be true for "Team Night" or "Adult Night")
MED- 10ft (Encouraged not required)
Rubber knife kills good, even thrown knives.
SSA's facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000640285640&ref=ts

sounds sweeeet. i love CA. ICS is cool too. i wana go play there sometime.

Yeah you guys can be the ones to drive for once.

i heart steve... with the rest of the staff

Man I wish that you would have told me you came up Haji, I live literally 4 minutes from this place.

Man!! i thought you lived around peachtree city!

no way homes we need to get together and play there

Heres my follow up on Nic's review including gameplay.

This place is hard to find. I drove 5 miles past it.... Its off the main road behind a bunch of stuff. You really have to know where it is. Not really a problem but keep it in mind.

Once I go there, I walked in side and looked around. The store is very similar to Airsoft Atlanta but not completely stocked. I asked about the place and rules and what not. The woman behind the counter asked how old I was and I said 17, then realized I needed a waiver. They were very understanding and let me play after my mom faxed them one. After walking through a door from the store you walk into a room with window access to watch the games happening and vending machines. You walk through another door to the briefing room and armory. They chrono your guns there, sign you in, issue rental gear, and do safety briefings. After a briefing you go into a tent which is where you load up and get ready to go. After you load up and the game is about to start you go from the tent to the field itself and the games begin.

On safety, SSairsoft is probably the safest place you will ever play. First you go through a very detail safety briefing which I found boring as I am a responsible player and have been playing for a while. It was mainly for new players but seemed pretty important to them. After games you must take mags out, clear your weapon, put on a barrel sleeve, put on the safety, and remove your finger from the trigger to be allowed back into the tent to reload. If not on the field or the tent and transporting weapons the same rules apply. No gear is allowed in the briefing/armory area, only in the tent and on the field. Another note, you have to have a barrel sleeve. If you dont you, they will make you buy one. Also regarding safety full face pro is required. A few people had iron faces so paintball masks aren't necessarily required. I would recommend as much protection as possible as I took some pretty nasty hits. Cheating was also a huge issue. They stressed calling hits and not "overshooting" people and blind firing.

On the field, its small, really small. You may think this is a bad thing the first game you play. But once you get used to it it makes for some excellent games. Its very well decorated and the bunkers are pretty elaborate. There are two large structures in the middle. Two jails represent the spawns generally on each side. There are also two other buildings in opposite corners. Smaller bunkers are also spread out everywhere. The field includes a smoke machine for making things interesting and the lights were turned off to make a dark game as well. You can easily shoot across the entire field. There are some open spaces allowing for nice runs across the field paintball style.

On games, the variety is great. We played some TDMs to get warmed up, bomb type games including blowing up the other teams spawn (sabotage style), Oddball halo style, "Brothers Keeper" which was a game of 3 teams where you had to shoot and then tag other team players to get them onto your team (this game was very interesting), lights out games, pistols/shotguns games, a wave defense game 8 v 20, and a game called "Money Bags". The TDMs where one hit kills and pretty fun to get warmed up not a lot of action. The bomb games where also pretty fun but also one hit kills no respawns. Brothers Keeper was awesome, my best game and my favorite. My team of the best 5 guys spawned in the middle base surrounded by the other two teams. We engaged half of team 1 and half of team 3 while the the other halves engaged each other. We surpressed team three and I cleared the bunker they were in and tagged two of them. By this time the halves of teams 1 and 3 who were fighting had joined together. I swung behind them after clearing the bunker. Two kids were facing the wrong way as I came behind them engaging some last kid. I took them out and tagged them. I rounded the corner and oh my god the mother load. At least 10 team 1 and 3 kids were sitting there. I pegged three people and just tagged the rest without even getting shot at and then shot and tagged the last two for the win. It was a really epic game. Oddball was also alot of fun. We played 4 v 12. The team of 12 took the oddball early but towards the end of the 15 minutes we pushed the right side and trapped two kids with the oddball in a bunker in the right corner. Two guys held of the rest of the team and the other guy covered me. I ran to the bunker and killed the two kids inside, took the oddball and ran it back to spawn. The nigth game was a bomb based game but was truly a one hit TDM. The field was very cool in the dark with the smoke running. A lot of fun in all games.

The players, some kids some legit. I know IC guys aren't the biggest fans of Blackwater from GE, but I got to play with their team captain a lot. He was a really cool guy and was a legit player. I also player with a few guys looking to join Blackwater, one of which who was Airborne. They were all talented players as well. There was a 10 year veteran of Special Forces who was very solid. There were however mainly little kids. Some annoying, some completely insane, some cry babys. When I cleared the bunker to retrieve the oddball, I took three shots on semi, one hit one kid in the head, the other two hit the kid holding the oddball. The kid I shot in the head complained to the refs about what SSairsoft calls "overshooting" which was shooting someone more than necessary and he even called me out during the rules briefing. You were either a legit CQB player or a little kid...there was no in between. All the older guys were cool, called their hits, and were legit.

The staff, there were about 400000000 staff members. They had a few people working the counter 4-5, 2-3 people in the armory, 3-4 refs it seemed, and other people all over walking around. Not a bad thing but it was weird seeing so many employees. They were all nice and helpful. The refs were good and explained the rules well. The refs try and get everyone all motivated before the games and make you yell things. It was kind weird but the little kids loved it.

Anyways if I have anything more Ill add it. I really enjoyed the game and it was great. Were gonna have to go up there for sure.

Well I just put in my time this after noon/evening at SS and I can say I completely agree with Retherford. This place is just as good with their game play as I have seen on their business side. First thing and this will be a big sigh of relief for you IC guys Full Seals and Iron face is allowed. I logged only about 3 hours there due to a battery dying (err) but the game types were varied and there were fierce play all around. Umbrella and Fubar were both there but I don't believe in full force, and I believe all of of BOPE was there. So we had some good competition all around.

The playing area seemed to be pretty evenly set up with 3 major shooting lanes but more than enough angles to take people out. There are two main jails often used for bases and then two inner bases with an alley between them. Bunkers, crates, tire stacks strategically set up and this airsofter even got quite a few power slides in.
Inside the bases there were a couple windows which seemed to be a blessing as well as a curse because the one in the base was at just as much a disadvantage than the one outside the window, but for those long shots at the noobs camping behind the spawn the windows worked nicely I definitely suggest getting a good flashlight though for those lights out games. Grade: A-

Safety was number one priority. Nothing more to say here. Grade: A

I still can't say enough about the staff. Not only were the refs great, but Steve (one of the owners) took time to sit down between games and talk to the players about what could be done to better the field and even had some good discounts. Grade: A

In talking with Steve he mentioned that he's wanting team night on Tuesdays, but he's not getting support. Eventually he wants to organize league type play with several different aspects. Some of the things he was talking about is teaming up with an outdoor field to test a teams outdoor play, testing skills with a (I'm assuming) semi-auto/BA rifle, and pistol skills. Sounds like they've got a lot in store for the future.

For those of you who have never been up this way. SSA is behind an Applebee's, Advance Auto, and Wachovia


unfortunately my camera battery was not charged when I got there so no pictures, sorry fellas.

Other things you may need:

Neck protection
Hand protection
Knee pads (sliding and kneeling on concrete and bbs is kinda annoying after a while)
Learning how to shoot with your weak hand if you cant already.

I went to this place today and it wasn't too bad. lots of younger kids. very nice field. the staff seemed ok. one thing i noted was that they are VERY STRICT ON SAFETY. The game types were pretty fun. my favorite was the capture the flag game. I didn't have too many problems with people calling their hits. This seemed like a place for the casual airsofter. if you haven't been there already i suggest that you go check it out, glenn and i didn't think it was too bad. i had fun there

ya it was pretty fun, I would give it a 7 out of 10, because the refs really didn't do anything they just walked around and started conversation with the players, i didn't see them call a single person out.

Can you wear an iron face and flakjacks or does it have to be a pb mask when you play there?

Ghost wrote:Can you wear an iron face and flackjaks

yep