Twist

Thanks again everyone for all the advice and recommendations, it's genuinely appreciated. Of course, if I could grab a GBBP, gas and possibly a spare mag for £60 (£70 at a hard push), that’d be awesome. I had a look on 18Airsoft and I do see some Double Dell pistols around £40, plus £10 - £15 for a spare mag, plus £10 for 300g gas, without shipping that's within budget but I've heard DD aren't great. I get that AEPs aren’t the top performers compared to gas pistols, but given where I’m at financially, I’m just after a cheap secondary that’s sturdier than a £25 spring pistol and doesn’t have ongoing costs (like gas). I’ve got a bit of birthday money (£60) left over, and I’m not in the most stable financial position right now, so the cheap AEP as a one-off cost seems like the best way to feed the airsoft addiction and still feed myself. A 300g green gas bottle costs around a tenner, which is half the cost of a day's airsofting. Granted, I’m not sure how many mag fills I’d get from a 300g bottle (guesstimate of 30, found here, though the experiment doesn't seem to have been fully completed), but for now, I'd rather spend my cash on actual gameplay rather than consumables. (I already have a metric assload of BBs, so that’s not a recurring cost currently.) Once I’m more financially stable, I do plan on getting a gas pistol, so having an AEP as a secondary would also come in handy for lending to friends if they don’t have gear or a secondary.

Is the E&C glock an AEP? Also that's a bit rich for my blood currently, most I can push the boat out is £70. Reason for wanting an AEP is cheaper overall running costs (Don't have to buy gas). Doesn't need to be a banger of a gun... no pun intended, I'd be happy to save the cash and just spitball the BBs out of a plastic straw, it's more to have a second life if weapon hit. would cheap out on a 20 quid spring pistol but I'm feeling like the durability on them would be lesser than a £60 AEP.

So I've never used pistol but have been considering getting one. I was thinking about getting an AEP and was hoping to spend around £60 (with a 10er tolerance either side) on it at most. Does anyone have any experience with the cheaper AEPs, I'm also open to suggestions as to which to go with. Thanks in advance.

Had my first blood drawn today by an enemy sniper, called my hit and after that game I found him and congratulated him on what was actually a fantastic headshot. Two games later the same guy worked his magic and domed me almost symmetrically with with the same grace and elegance as the first time but without the blood. All in all it was a good day, sorry yours (5 years ago) was a bad one.

Perfectly dark, thanks. 😆

Not the most user friendly place for it to be but at least I can save my eyes now and I don't have to make one, thanks.

I've looked around the site but found no option to go in to dark mode, is there a dark mode?

Did you hear the one about the magical tractor? It went down the road and turned in to a field...

"Are you having issues with the length of pull - the stock-to-trigger length? If so, you might want to look at PDW stocks." It's not stock to trigger, it's my non trigger hand that stabilises the front, I'm ambidextrous and when holding the M4 in either hand it was just too long to feel balanced/comfortable for a full day of play if that makes sense (I basically have the wingspan of a sparrow lol). I did consider MP5/other smaller AEGs like the Reaper and Jing Gong but for the price of the M4 and the ability to tinker on it later and learn how AEGs work seemed the more sound investment for my first AEG, more so now I know converting it to a stubby would be viable. (Also gives me an excus... I mean reason to buy another gun down the road... but don't tell the Mrs)

My thoughts on an M4 is that I can use it as my first gun for a while (unmodified) and then later when cash allows I can stubby it and acquire some knowledge in the process. I will probably/hopefully have another gun by then should the budget gods be kind and will avoid the scenario you describe... hopefully. It's not an improvement on performance I'm after, just a more form fitting (to my form) AEG that is comfy for me. A new M4 can be bought fairly cheap and there's a lot of info out there on modifying them already, also seems like an abundance of parts too. With the P90 in mind, I wonder is it possible to maybe 3d print the mag casing and then get the inner gubbins (or figure out which gubbins (springs and whatnot) are used) and DIY it.

Definitely length, weight isn't an issue so much (within reason), I've only got dinky wee arms you see, and the M4s I've used were just a little too big for my span, which takes it's toll after a day of play. "Or why not just go for a P90, if that's what tickles your fancy." That comes down to budget and the advice of the last few folk I spoke to regarding P90s, they basically said the cheaper ones are pretty rough and that mags don't always work as they should and are more expensive in general, so if I were to get one I should go for the more expensive ones (£400 ish ones). Not 100% on that advice though as I'm new to airsofting so haven't really sussed out brands and such yet.

I want to play mainly and would be using whatever I get for the next few of sessions I have coming up unmodified. I just wanted to more find out if I could modify an M4 type to be a stubby and if it would effect the gun significantly in a negative way, I feel that would be a fun project in the future and like I said, I like to tinker. The choice between the ar9 style and m4 style is mainly one of size and as I was seeing cheap M4s new my thinking was that I could go the M4 route now and later down the road make it more to my liking whilst bagging some knowledge. Not a box mag on a stubby m4, I meant a box mag on the Reaper as the 'highcap' for them is something like 200 rounds which is less than half the capacity of a high cap m4 mag. Though now that you say that I might just do it and after that a belt fed P90...

That's sort of the plan, something cheap (and hopefully somewhat small) that isn't too expensive. Modifying was something I would have considered to be a little further down the line but I'd happily go with a cheap M4 type and learn sooner rather than later. I was hoping to go new as that way I know, as a baseline, what to expect. A preowned might be modified in way I don't know about/understand, whereas buying cheap(ish) and new allows for a base of comparison in the future, if that makes sense.

Thanks. Looks don't matter all that much as it's my first AEG. Yeah the Reaper (for me) is the nicer looking out of the stubby/smg/small type guns (except for a P90 but that's one for later, I hope) but it's more the 46cm size that I like, that and it's cost. You're spot on with the magazine point and it's the main thing that puts me off the Reaper, most folk I know have tons of M4 mags, so hot swapping mid skirmish would be easier. I was looking for a 1200 round box/drum mag for it but I have no idea if the one I was looking at would fit. 'Looks' I can get on an M4 via customisation and will get some experience in modding without the fear of breaking something and it costing me too much as I would think the parts market of them is pretty big. I think what I'm suffering from is analysis paralysis 😆

The why: I like tinkering with things and it's the sort of thing that will enhance my knowledge base for future purchases without breaking the bank if I bugger something up. Thanks for having a look for me I'll have a gander myself.