Rogerborg

It's easy, all you need is the Action Army type 96 hop chamber, which means you'll need a ZCI, XT or Crazy Jet AEG barrel and Macaron or MR bucking, unless you decide to stick with a GBB barrel in which case you need the Maple Leaf Hotshot bucking, then of course you'll need to do a TDC mod, add barrel spacers, upgrade the spring, which means you'll need to upgrade to an alloy piston and spring guide, which means you'll need a 90 degree trigger unit then you'll realise that you've spent more than the cost of a Silverback TAC-41 Sport to get worse performance and longevity. There are some actual suggestions in there among the "don't do it" conclusion, if you want to start with the cheap stuff like DIY barrel spacers made out of masking or electrical tape, and a bucking like an Maple Leaf Autobot if you're sticking with the stock GBB style barrel and hop chamber. You can also do a DIY TDC hop for the price of a grub screw. However, once you start spending, the costs can ramp up quickly, and it's a labour of love. I sunk a load of time into my MB-03 before giving up chasing one sub-optimal or failing part after another, and just going Silverback.

Get the hops dialled in right and...

Ahoy @ricksanchez73and welcome. What they all said. Have you played at least once, with rental gear? It's a heck of a lot cheaper than trying to flip on the "airsoft regrets starter set" bundles that tend to be cluttering up the Classifieds. I'd echo the advice to prioritise eye/face protection, and footwear, instead of guns. For full-face, I use a Valken MI-7 mask with a "thermal", i.e. dual pane lens. This really helps with fogging issues. You'll also have to budget for batteries and a charger, and I wouldn't cheap out on a Nuprol burn-your-house-down one. SkyRC chargers offer a lot more features and assurance that you're not cooking your batteries. If you're dead set on buying sooner rather than later, the Specna Arms FLEX and CORE guns with the HAL fire control system offer phenomenal features for the price. They have plastic receivers, which isn't necessarily any worse than cheap pot metal ones, but it may be a consideration for you. I'd recommend looking for guns that are wired for Deans ("T" connectors) rather than mini-Tamiya, unless you're minded to solder on new connectors yourself. https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/airsoft-m4-ar15-m16-variant-assault-rifles?*brand=302 But you won't go far wrong with anything from the current range of Specna Arms, Jing Gong, CYMA, Lancer Tactical, Double Eagle, or pretty much anything sold by reputable dealers like Patrol Base. Aesthetics do count, your guns will spend more time being stared at than shooting, so don't hesitate to go with the heart over the head.

Ahoy and welcome. Sure, and I really with they wouldn't, but it's entirely on them. It's never been an offence to obtain or attempt to obtain a RIF. It's a fascinating ontological question: is the person that you might be in 8 weeks and 3 games more trustworthy to you than the person you are today? 🤔

Hmm. Did you resolve the hop issues with your TM? I'm asking to try and determine whether (and how much) you really want to be tinkering. Most modern M4s are pretty decent, and rotary hops and well-featured fire control systems are becoming common. The only "upgrades" I'd suggest are a Maple Leaf hop rubber and nub, clean the barrel, and run the heaviest BBs that your budget and hop unit can stand - not 0.2g! Are there any must-haves for you that would help to narrow it down? Metal receiver, fire control system, rotary hop, quick-change spring? Are you sure you want to give up the NGRS blowback?

Oh, sorry, yes, I blanked on that. If you've bought an AEG spring, and it's the same diameter as the stock spring, sling it in and you should be good. Longer springs can reduce twanginess. Do you have the link to the eBay listing?

Agreed, this will be fine: https://www.ak2m4.co.uk/internal-parts/springs/xt-aeg-spring-m100 It looks like you've got a 150mm barrel, so while you can probably get up to 1.1J, you might need to go a little hotter to get there. Do you have a chronograph? If so, you could try an M105 or even M110, then cut a coil or two, or just heat-and-squish them, in order to fine tune it down. If not, an XT M100 should be fine, you're always better coming out a little under than over.

Yup. Specna Arms CORE HAL gets you a well featured fire control system, rotary hop and QC spring and an aluminium handguard, starting at just £130. I'd suggest analysing the reasons why you'd need or want to spend more than that, e.g. to get a pot-metal receiver, or a stainless barrel, or spinnier motor (both of which are simple swaps). You can drag a gun through the SHS parts catalogue, but the extra performance you'll get over a modern stock gun starts to tail off pretty rapidly.

All sites that I play at require that. Well "require" it as much as they "enforce" MED. As above, it's a cretinous rule that's guaranteed to result in more arguments. "He shot me while I was retreating!" / "He was out but didn't go back to respawn!" / "He shot me while I was still within 20m!" (shouted both ways) About what I'd expect from a site that's still thinking and talking in terms of 0.2g rather than Joules, and which only limits DMRs to "single shot", not "2 second delay" / "1 in the air". Not that those are ever respected anyway, but they're essentially saying "trigger spam at 1.8J, it's cool."

Er... yes. Yes, that's my point. That if you buy a "just tried in garden once" used gun, it could have had 30 rounds through it, or 30,000. It might work without trouble for another 30,000, or fail after 30. Not a problem for those of us who accrue more than we use, rotate through them, and/or tinker. But for someone looking get a first gun, my assumption is that they'd want to maximise the chances of it lasting long enough to break it themselves while uPgRaDiNg it.

If you're paying 60-70% of new for an unmeddled with example, go for it. That's a rational risk. Paying a premium for someone else's time to put in parts that may or may not work together (or even be present as promised), that's a bit different. At 40+ per year, how many have been used for more than (or even as much as) a day's play? 🤔

Counterpoint: I currently run 0.32g in a 1.8J gun because while 0.4g+ would go further for the same muzzle energy, I don't believe I'd get significantly more hits within that extra range due to the shot-to-shot inconsistency in my fully-semi-auto electric gun. Conversely I do run 0.43g in my 2.3J boltie because it's more consistent at the extremes of its range and the BB is the limiting factor. Of course, it's all subjective, situational, and subject to the if-you're-grinning-you're-winning rule: there's no right or wrong answer.

He sure does put a high value on his time, but I'd consider it an anti-recommendation that a gun has been through his hands. The thread basically ended with @Adolf Hamster's post. If you have to ask, then don't buy 2nd hand. It's a big risk, and you're not exactly getting bargains there, given that fire control systems are now becoming the default on new guns at less than those prices.

Ahoy and welco- wait, what, in pink? It's not a P90! That's a fair whack to pay for what I assume is a first gun, but it does claim a decent spec. Have you had a chance to try it out yet?

True. I have been on the incoming side of an AA-12, set to 6 shot and trigger spammed. It's a visually impressive experience, but less ouchier than a typical HPA wankergun that's "not" Joule-creeping to the moon.

Don't you dare bring context into our ignorant rants. 😠 On topic, I run everything on 11.1V now, if I can physically fit one. If you're into buying 3-figure toys that are guaranteed to hang on a wall for almost all of the time, why fret over the possibility that one component might fail? Especially when you can replace anything, or bypass it with 20p of wire and solder.

I've never played at a site that blanket-bans multi-shot shotguns. I've never heard of a site that banket-bans multi-shot shotguns. Not even gas or AA-12s (in semi-mode). Maybe CQB sites should, but here we are.

If you got caught doing that.

Nice eclectic collection of guns, rather than the usual 6 x M4 variants. I'm guessing... motorcycles and... uh... My Little Ponies?

Probably easier to get some real ones from Sweden.

Mm. It is a bit of a quandary when you've only got one chance to make a hit, and you know there's a fair chance that a plate-carrier hit "won't be felt". The morality of shot placement aside, it's a good argument for setting the tone for a site by being scrupulous about calling your own hits, loudly and cheerfully. "Nice shot!" is my go-to, and anything else is said under my breath.

This one. (Although I scooped it listed on eBay for half that)

Solid choices. It's really up to how much you want to spend. 5x Specna brand mags will set you back £36 in either mid-cap or high cap. If you're out together, you might find that 5x mids + the 2 highs that came with the guns are all that you'll need for typical games, as you can share if one of you goes ham. You might need some extras, or to bring a speedloader out with you. On that, if you do go with mid-caps, an Odin crank speedloader clone like this (not a recommendation, just an example) makes loading them a lot quicker and more pleasant.

Yup, MP5K and boltie or DMR is my combo of choice when I'm not LARPING. I bin the long gun off half the time and go ham with the SMG. There's no right or wrong way to play pretend soldiers.

Ahoy, and welcome. What they all said: by default, mid caps, with a backup hi-cap (which you probably got with the gun) is generally a good shout for most AEGs. It does depends on the gun, and play style / site though. Are you running anything peculiar? Low caps are pretty much pointless, because you can just partially load a mid-cap if you want to run real capacity for a milsim or to play in hard mode.