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There's something distinctly brilliant about emptying one of the 50 round mags in 2.5 seconds when it's a pistol though; very few other GBBs produce that much kick and they're fairly unique for it. TM frames do crack at the front screw post after about 3000 rounds, but the Guarder ones (aprox. £30) are re-enforced with brass and are the first upgrade one should buy for them. The TM ones are built solidly elsewhere and the tolerances are good, but I'd never touch the WE and KWA ones (which is what many people form their opinions from). They're cheap and nasty - far too much money goes into the material cost of a metal slide, and the internals are made of complete pot metal. And that sexy ported barrel:

Worth a look on the Zeroin forums, as the likelihood is this will be affecting us all in the coming years. In summary: read chapter two of this: http://www.lawcom.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/cp224_firearms.pdf Zeroin link: http://forums.zeroin.co.uk/showthread.php?261556-Law-Commission-%96-Firearms-Law-A-Scoping-Consultation-Paper

Owned two TM G18cs and a G17. 18 all the way.

Yup. Frankly all the mid-level BBs one would use in an AEG are by-and-large the same. Some people swear by G&G, some Blasters, some Excel, some BB King, some Guarder, some Madbull. The fact of the matter is they're all basically identical and most people will just recommend you what they happen to have been using for the past few years simply out of ease (usually because they're stocked by their favourite retailer or site). When you get above .30, that's when you need to start caring about brands because cost comes into it a lot and there are crappy ones out there. Just stick to the big brands and it'll all be fine for .25s.

As a slight aside: Wasn't one of the big pros of the Krytac that they have a quick-switch spring out of the box? If so, this should never be a problem for anyone.

I think the point being made above is exactly that: Something that looks like a real pistol will only serve to agitate the situation further.

Aye. It's just a bit of plastic, Kevin. There are plenty of brands out there that are decent, and Blasters are fine. There's certainly no benefit from matching the brand of the BBs to the brand of the gun.

This is a question for Google - no one in the UK runs these for the reason that you've just given in your OP, but the consensus seems to be that they're alright. HPA owners don't seem to rave about them, and that's where consistency really reveals itself, but for AEGs and your standard GBBs they get good reviews. Then again, I find some of the American airsofting community to be so cripplingly susceptible to advertising that their recommendations tend to be all over the place. May I ask what it really matters if they're not readily available here anyway, or is this just curiosity?

Price is good. Not the best, but their range is fantastic. Shipping prices are reasonable too - they're done by weight and done properly (not like some other sites like eHobby).

WGC shipping has always been a bit hit and miss for me. Sometimes they dispatch the next couple of days; sometimes it takes a week, but it tends to get here within 10 days after that.

This is the right answer. Don't risk it if it was new - you might just have had a lemon.

Yeh, avoid those like the plague if you want them for anything other than a springer shotgun or pistol - they shatter and gum up internals. They're also no way near large enough to show a mark on what you're hitting.

And ShooterCB gear and many others; but that's just my point - there are loads, heh.

Mr B has given you a brilliant place to start, but I'd recommend diving into these (and other similar) forums for the next few days before you lay out your cash. Any decision you make now is either going to be a. Solely influenced by someone's personal recommendation or b. Misinformed. Try to do your research over the next couple of days if you can!

I've used those two shops extensively and can tell you they're not cheaper than DHGate of Aliexpress, but obviously the quality of product is sometimes much higher. Just depends really, but we're addressing the OP here, and he's clearly stated he's on a budget. They are good sites to have a look at, but so are WGC, Scopeanddlaser, eHobby, Crw, Seal Airsoft, Tokyo Model, Redwolf, UNCompany, DENTrinity etc. - they're all excellent, but none are as cheap as those mentioned above.

Battered paint looks brilliant on that imo. Just needs a really screwed up POSP.

Yeh, but we're talking wholesalers here not general retailers. Those are good suggestions, but for budget AliExpress and DHGate are never beaten. If we're looking at HK shops then the list is fairly extensive. I've never had issues with any except one small returns problem with Scopeandlaser, but that's not the subject of this thread, heh.

Yup. I got my laser cut on eBay and then just threw an o-ring in to offset it from the objective a little. I managed to unscrew the retention ring inside too so it doesn't interfere with the scope covers at all - works an absolute charm.

Aye, AliExpress and DHGate are great for stuff from China.

Looks nice. Maybe a perspex sacrificial insert for the scope and remove that flip up one? They can be had for about two for £3 from eBay in whatever size you desire.

My advice would be to get both separately (i.e. get a torch on a pressure switch and an RVG or something), but we're very much in the realms of personal preference here.

I think the EPMs are super ugly - the Hex ones look pretty cool, but that's probably because they have a real steel counterpart. The EPM just looks like an E-Mag or P-Mag ripoff (which I suppose it kind of is really); I'm not a huge fan of the big base plate or the tacky fake bullet window. I know you can remove the baseplate and put a ranger one on there, and that the window shows when the mag is full but still.

I'm bad at reading and I should feel bad. Let us know how those Hexmags go; I was going to grab some myself but went for the EPMs instead.

http://airsoft.tiger111hk.com/p25271/1/product_info.html Chronos are about £35-50; this is about £100. They are pretty nifty though. If the PEQ-esque attachment wasn't so ugly I might consider one.

That looks great for 77 dollarydoos.