Hi,
Thanks for the advice on my gun and manufacturer choice. I'm currently eyeing up a g&g cm16 mod 0, from what I see on youtube/review sites it's a good solid choice for a beginner.
Once my UKARA membership comes through then I would think about upgrading, but there's no rush as the g&g seems like it would last me through my beginner phase well enough.
As sitting duck said, It's always handy to have a back up as iv'e experienced breakdowns many times on the paintball field and it's not nice when you have to sit out a few hours trying to get your shooter working again