What exactly is a DMR in Airsoft? What sort of role does it fulfil? Why should I buy one?

Many questions, and the first one cropped up in the team chat today so I thought I’d expand on it a bit. The DMR in Airsoft is an interesting complex, and deep down we all want one, although there are few seen in the field. On a personal note, I hate them (I’ll explain why) but I am trying to convince myself to buy one. So, let’s take it from the top.

The DMR

In the real world, a Designated Marksman’s Rifle sits somewhere between an assault rifle and a sniper rifle. Usually a scoped, accurate, higher powered rifle than the average infantry weapon. It gives a squad a weapon that functions a bit like a sniper weapon when they need a bit more range to take out more challenging targets. They’re usually longer barreled weapons, often based on the assault rifle platforms but with more accurate, larger calibre ammunition.

Undoubtedly, DMR’s are the coolest looking guns on the field, and that’s why I want one. Big, heavy battle rifle platforms with sizeable accessories. Examples include the SR-25, Dragunov SVD, HK417, M14, G3 and G28 if you’re after some ideas for Airsoft builds. It’s a great addition to your gun wall, and these big beastly builds always get attention in the safe zone.

In Airsoft however, what actually qualifies as a DMR varies from site to site. I know some places demand that the replica is indeed a replica of a real world DMR, some insist it’s a longer weapon, some places ban them altogether to avoid confusion because many players think that simply boosting the power of their assault rifle is sufficient. The gameplay problems arise because the DMR is permitted to be higher power than an assault rifle, but requiring additional rules.

MED is the Minimum Engagement Distance, usually 20-30m depending on the site, put in place to stop people taking high powered hits up close. Which is right. The FPS in the diagram will vary from site to site as well, so please check in advance. Usually, the DMR must be locked to semi auto fire only, and this must be mechanically locked rather than electronic programming which can of course be undone during a game. I know some sites that insists on only one bb in the air at a time; you must wait for your first shot to hit before sending a follow up shot.

The Role

These rules are designed to push the DMR into longer-range engagements only, using slower semi automatic fire a bit like a sniper, but usually based within a squad of players. A designated marksman, to take out more difficult targets. There are those moments where someone will say “I’m just not quite getting the range to hit…” and that’s where the DMR comes in, to hopefully eliminate the problem in the same way as its real life counterpart. In close quarters, the Designated Marksman will have to sit back and either cover open areas, or just watch their squad go in and do all the door kicking, cqb stuff. It’s a great role if you’re assembling a balanced team, rather than just having everyone run around like headless chickens with SMG’s.

Bipods are a common accessory, allowing the Designated Marksman to take up a static position, and it’s sometimes worth a partial ghillie to help conceal that. It’s ideal for using in a recon role, giving you a play style where you’re taking up a concealed position and radioing in enemy positions and movements, although much like the sniper it doesn’t have much defensive capability if you get suddenly rushed up close. It will be a more accurate and stable shooting platform than an assault rifle, but lacking that eye-of-the-needle precision or absolute range of a good bolt action sniper rifle that is permitted nearly 100fps more power.

It’s a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none kind of weapon. It doesn’t have the rate of fire or the ability to shoot inside 20m (or whatever MED is), meaning it struggles with firefights. It isn’t going to do the heavy work of an assault rifle, and the extra length makes it unsuited to more urban environments and vehicle based play. It can’t do the sniper role as well as a bolt action and dedicated sniper can, so it isn’t best suited to that either. It just sits in the middle, taking the odd mid-range pot shot at opportune targets.

The technical side of building one means that if you’re converting an assault rifle platform, you’ll be looking to reinforce absolutely everything to take the strain of a stronger spring, before removing that full auto option. Your local site should tell you how they want that done, as above they do vary in their interpretations. If you’re going to see a weapon die at skirmish, more often than not it’s a poorly attempted DMR conversion.

Why I hate them…

It’s not the gun I hate, I love the way they look and I want an SR-25. It’s the way players use them to bend the rules. I’ll use my local site as an example, Dirty Dog.

The Village, a close-quarters arena. Imagine 200 players packed into this space. It’s fast-paced, and chaotic, and restricted to semi-automatic fire only. At many sites I’ve been to, I see players who use a DMR build basically as an excuse to whack more power into their assault rifle, then call it a DMR, but use it to launch heavier ammo (0.48 sniper ammo) inside MED in CQB areas that are single shot anyway. Some of the more technically minded players are able to install super sensitive binary triggers that allow them to spam fire faster than many weapons’ full auto switch, firing on the pull and the return of the trigger. Now, imagine combining all this and believe me it goes on in a lot of places. Some idiots running around effectively full-autoing players in the face at very close range using sniper ammo. It’s the very worst of Airsoft, but listening in person to some “techs” it’s almost bragging rights that they’re breaking all the rules and hoping nobody notices. At busier sites, it’s impossible to tell who shot what in the middle of all the action and if they’re using little M4 CQB/PDW looking weapons it escapes suspicion.

I’ve been on the receiving end many times and it’s unnecessary. I do applaud Stirling Airsoft for not allowing them, until there’s a better way to monitor them or ensure they’re used properly.

If it is used properly, I don’t think the weapon particularly has any advantages as a platform but it does look good and adds extra immersion to your game. It’s an interesting role to play if you want to play it, and I’d be interested to hear of any experiences from players who really do take it on.