Another newbie... haha!

[Portela_999]

Hello everyone!

I hope you are doing well! I am finally decided to start this new hobby after many years wondering... 

Where do I start? Do I buy a gun straight away or do I play first? Also, is there any teams or regular airsoft plays in/around London I could join?

Is there small competitions and things like that?

Not sure yet if I should buy an aeg Pistol or Rifle and what would be the ''minimum'' required for the first ''battle''...

Thanks in advance!

 

[Rogerborg]

Ahoy and welcome.

No need to over-think it. Find a site near to you, and book a rental package. If you enjoy it and reckon that you'll stick with it, then you think about purchasing options. Renting isn't as expensive as it looks though. A rental package is typically £20 more than a walk on, but you'll get through £10 or so worth of BBs anyway, so it's really only £10 a day to rent a gun and support for it without investing anything yourself.  Waiting the 8 weeks / 3 games before getting a site membership / UKARA number will give you time to cadge a go on some guns and figure out what you want to buy.

There's no need to go as a team or with anyone else. There will be a brief for rentals covering the basics, and airsofters tend to be a friendly bunch. You'll easily enough get talking to folk on site. Just ask someone about their guns and gear and see if you can get them to shut up.  

 

[Colin Allen]

Welcome to the money pit!

Rent a gun and kit first to get a feel for the hobby and make sure you want to invest in it.  Make sure you have good boots that give ankle support and wear clothing that you don't mind getting wet and filthy.

Where in London are you based?

 

[concretesnail]

Welcome, I'd suggest finding a site in the area of the country that you can get to and look for a hire option. Get a taste for the game rather than youtube and then see where you are after a few days with hired rifs.

 

[Galvatron]

As others said, rental is very much recommended to start until you get a UKARA number. You might be tempted to buy from the start but without a UKARA number or other defence to buy a realistic looking airsoft gun, your options will be limited to a two-tone gun and that will very likely resell for much less than a RIF. If you try airsoft and decide it's not for you - the chances are that you'd sink less money on rentals than you would lose trying to resell a two-tone gun.

Depending on the site, a lot of players only use a rifle and don't use a sidearm (pistol or SMG) unless it's required e.g. snipers and dedicated marksmen are often recommended to have a sidearm to take on opponents within the minimum engagement distance for sniper rifles/DMRs.

I'd recommend buy decent boots with good ankle support. They won't necessarily prevent you from suffering foot/ankle/lower leg injury but they can lessen the injury if it happens. Good eye protection is also non-negotiable for obvious reasons. That's not to say you need to spend silly money on it from the start as there are plenty of low-cost options suitable for airsoft from the likes of Bolle for example.

Lots of sites have their own or a retailer partner shop so you can have a feel of the guns there and find if there's a particular platform you can see yourself investing in heavily. That's not to say you can't peruse around at a bricks and mortar airsoft retailer!

As for locations in/around London, you can check the website below for options.

https://playairsoft.uk/locations/greater-london

As Rogerborg said, don't worry about going on your tod. You'll find no shortage of people to talk to in most games. Plenty of regulars are in the same boat.

 

[GenuineGerman]

Welcome and prepare to be constantly skint ?

 

[Madhouse]

Welcome!

As everyone's said, rent first. By the time your UKARA's sorted you'll know whether it's for you or not and will have probably had a go on some other people toys so will also have a much better idea of what you want. You'll lose plenty of money if you buy a two-tone and then decide you don't like being shot at, or buying an M4 and then realising you'd rather an AK.

Research stuff and ask questions, there's plenty of knowledgeable folk about and we really don't mind passing that on - use the search function first though as sometimes we're a grumpy bunch and you may find the first answer is along those lines with a link to the relevant thread.

Decide on your budget too, it's very easy to become very poor in this game because we're all essentially the airsoft equivalent of magpies trying to hoard pews, n+1 and all that. Mags, batteries, chargers, gas, scopes, grip, sling, chest rig, boots, eyepro, facepro etc etc all cost money and there's no point blowing your wad on a pew if you can't use it for a few months because you can't afford mags - unless that's your plan of course. Me, I'm not that patient!

If you really think you're in it for the long haul and want to scratch that itch and buy stuff than I'd recommend getting non-shooty things that'll help as a rental - you may not like the rental PPE so eye & face protection would be sensible, as would a pair of boots and gloves. 

 

[Portela_999]

Welcome to the money pit!

Rent a gun and kit first to get a feel for the hobby and make sure you want to invest in it.  Make sure you have good boots that give ankle support and wear clothing that you don't mind getting wet and filthy.

Where in London are you based?

i am in West Drayton (close to heathrow)

are you in london as well?

.

.

,

.

Amazing tips, guys! Thank you! 
 

is that one in cobham, surrey still open? Ive messaged them but no reply so far…

anything in particular that I should look for when buying my first pistol/rifle?

 

[GenuineGerman]

i am in West Drayton (close to heathrow)

are you in london as well?

.

.

,

.

Amazing tips, guys! Thank you! 
 

is that one in cobham, surrey still open? Ive messaged them but no reply so far…

anything in particular that I should look for when buying my first pistol/rifle?

I would suggest just going out and buying the most expensive rifle you can afford ?Haha.

But being serious let contextualise that.  Never be prepared to spend more than you are willing to lose, consider you may not enjoy Airsoft and choose not to carry on. If you have spent a load of cash on rifs and other things you won’t get the money back. 

I would say not to spend more than 150-200 on a rifle initially. Yes it won’t be the all singing and dancing rif but you will have something that works out the box, get a couple of extra mags, batteries and charger. Don’t forget eye pro and I would strongly recommend mouth protection. 
 

£300 should get you all you need to start with. As you can see many here have got all the kit, real steel plate carriers, helmets, rif with all the added extras but then they have been doing this for years and probably have partners that don’t ask too many questions ?

All I’m saying it don’t drop a f**k ton of dosh straight away. Spend wisely and once you have decided you want to do this and enjoy it. 

 

 

[Madhouse]

probably have partners that don’t ask too many questions ?

This .... that and a friend in Goods In at work that also plays. Blew his mind when I got a pew delivered to work, he'd assumed it had to be sent to your UKARA address  

 

[Rogerborg]

anything in particular that I should look for when buying my first pistol/rifle?

Don't, at least not until you've played at least once and the adrenaline and aches have worn off.

Long guns, we'd generally recommend an electric carbine under £200. There are loads of viable choices in just about every platform, so it's really a case of narrowing it down to whatever platform you like the look and feel of and then thinking about brands and models.

For pistols, green gas blowbacks are the default choice for maximising fun. Unless you're playing CQB or at quirky sites, you'll rarely use a pistol, so on the few times you do draw it you'll want something that delivers the most smiles per cycles.  Toyko Marui are the default choice for good reasons, they're Japanese made and do a great job in most platforms.  Again though, decide whether you want Glock, Hi-Capa or something else first, then we can (and oh, we will) discuss brands and models.

The classifieds are usually full of "regret purchase packages" with something like a Bulldog M4 and a Raven Hi-Capa, which indicates the sort of thing to avoid.  It can be an expensive mistake to go all-in off the first adrenaline rush.

Buying your own eye protection is a good shout since rental facepro can be random.  You might get given something decent like a paintball-rated Valken, or you might get a horrible cheap mesh mask, so having your own will be handy.  I like the Pyramex i-Force (rebrandings are available) as they're dual pane and less prone to fogging up than some single panes, but again there's a huuuuge choice and sometimes you can only find out what doesn't work for you the hard way.

 

[EDcase]

I can recommend Skirmish Wycombe in High Wycombe. Not too far from you.

Just to ram it home even more...

Rent for your first 3 games (at the same site) Then you can get UKARA registered and look to buy the toys.

- First get good boots with ankle support.

Either army surplus or more modern comfy ones.

- Secondly get good eye protection. (full face or separate lower mask is recommended to protect the teeth)

Aim to spend around £40 or so for good eyepro and some anti-fog wipes. (Someone chime in with the best)

- Don't bother with a pistol until later.  They are fun but add extra hassle to loadouts, need more preparation and not that important for woodland games.

 

[Cannonfodder]

Welcome. As others have posted, it's best to rent for your first 3 games till you get your site membership.

I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned it, but gloves are a good idea too as hits to the knuckles bloody hurt 

 

[Reef]

Just done this journey myself.

My son and I played four games as rental before buying any rifles. This was to make sure it’s something we wanted to do and also get the UKARA defence so we didn’t have to buy two tone.

For protective stuff I’ve got full face covering (goggles, face shield) hat, gloves and knee pads. Face covering and hat is a good idea because as a new player you will get hit… a lot!

We play woodland so rifles were a no brainier. Spent about £170 each on rifles + scope, strap, spare mags, BB’s, battery charger, carry bag, This is taking into account you already having the proper clothing and boots.

 

[Colin Allen]

i am in West Drayton (close to heathrow)

are you in london as well?

.

.

,

.

Amazing tips, guys! Thank you! 
 

is that one in cobham, surrey still open? Ive messaged them but no reply so far…

anything in particular that I should look for when buying my first pistol/rifle?

I am right over the other side of London, almost in Kent.

Ambush Airsoft in Cobham is still open.

Before buying your first rifle, play your three games at the same site in not less than 56 days and get your UKARA registration, so that you don't have to buy a two toned gun.  Try to get your hands on as many guns as you can to see what suits you and what you like; as others have said, most airsofters are more than happy to bore you to death with information about their guns.

If you want to make a safe first purchase, the Specna and Double Eagle M4 style guns are decent.

 

[Dan Robinson]

Welcome. 

I'd second Skirmish High Wycombe as a good place to attend. 

They have an  excellent safe zone, decent pew pew shop on site and they do good food.  Including a  breakfast if you desire. 

There is also Reforger near Watford,  but the facilities are very basic and the food van there is awful,  so take your own lunch. 

Remember too, you don't have to spend a fortune on expensive guns, individually.   But you will need a few for backups and different hand types. 

 

[Cannonfodder]

I played at Ambush near Cobham semi regularly last year but stopped as the hit taking started to get a bit of a piss take. Having to put long bursts into people before they call the hit quickly goes from frustrating to bloody annoying, especially when the marshals do bugger all when it's reported

Try to get your hands on as many guns as you can to see what suits you and what you like

This. I've always liked the G3 but when I got one I found it totally unsuitable for my playing style as I like to go sneaking through bushes and a long gun like that just gets in the way

 

[Hatchet]

You've also got UCAP GreenOps within an hour of you that is pretty easy to get to and well run.

 

[gavinkempsell]

I've always liked the G3 but when I got one I found it totally unsuitable for my playing style as I like to go sneaking through bushes and a long gun like that just gets in the way

SO? It's a G3, man up

 

[Cannonfodder]

SO? It's a G3, man up

I'm thinking I'll go for a MC51