brands to avoid

[Jaylordofwaargh]

Never even considered a SRC anything as it is a poster brand for BBGUNZ4less...

It might be a source for externals, but that is what the boneyard is for...

 

[Asomodai]

I feel that SRC gets a bad rep for it's cheaper lines. However like many other brands it does have it's good and (admittedly mostly) bad products. 

The V3 Gen 3 SRC Gearbox is genuinely very solid, the stock SRC Magnatar motor is a very very good motor and I still snap them up these days. 

SRC were the first brand to make a genuine stamped steel MP5 AEG which is very good quality (Not to be confused with the cheaper models). 

The one thing I would accuse SRC of is complacency, they have fallen behind most of the competition when it comes to modern features on their entire range. 

 

[PopRocket123]

I've had an SRC M4 AND RPK. Both are utter shit. They're heavy, poor build quality and below average internals. My M4 melted it's trigger contacts before I even managed to take it to a game. 

We and all of its rebranded variants are... inconsistent. Vfc are nice externals but average at best internals. I only buy them second hand or boneyard. 

 

[Tackle]

Jeepers, so he was.  Fuck 'em then, running, and sideways: counterfeit eyepro is unforgivable.

https://team-black-sheep.com/2017/02/04/lancer-tactical-boss-arrested-at-shotshow/

That's fucked up, in a sport where our biggest risk is our eyesight, they're playing god with ours for the sake of a few quid (x?), no mention of conviction, but it's got to merit some jail time surely ? 

 

[Skara]

VFC, Ares, G&G.

First has great externals but the internals don't reflect the price tag;

Second is just a steaming pile of shit with proprietary everything, but their polymer bodies are sturdy;

G&G guns were good 15 years ago, the technology used is also 15 years old but prices have gone up dramatically.

Regarding gear, eeh, anything with "Airsoft" in the name/brand. Also some design choices make no sense to me (Viper products mostly), like making the spiritus knock-off chest rig too narrow so that it can't fit 3x stanag mags.

 

[Colin Allen]

I feel that SRC gets a bad rep for it's cheaper lines. However like many other brands it does have it's good and (admittedly mostly) bad products. 

The V3 Gen 3 SRC Gearbox is genuinely very solid, the stock SRC Magnatar motor is a very very good motor and I still snap them up these days. 

SRC were the first brand to make a genuine stamped steel MP5 AEG which is very good quality (Not to be confused with the cheaper models). 

The one thing I would accuse SRC of is complacency, they have fallen behind most of the competition when it comes to modern features on their entire range. 

My SRC MP5 is the stamped steel one.  The externals are great, but the internals were absolute and utter shite; they went in the bin.

 

[PopRocket123]

VFC, Ares, G&G.

First has great externals but the internals don't reflect the price tag;

Second is just a steaming pile of shit with proprietary everything, but their polymer bodies are sturdy;

G&G guns were good 15 years ago, the technology used is also 15 years old but prices have gone up dramatically.

Regarding gear, eeh, anything with "Airsoft" in the name/brand. Also some design choices make no sense to me (Viper products mostly), like making the spiritus knock-off chest rig too narrow so that it can't fit 3x stanag mags.

G&g are decent but they seem to be trying to push more into the premium price range for some reason with weird gimmicks. I totally forgot about Ares. I did work on my friend's honey badger. The suppressor was loctited on wonky, bending the shitty aluminium inner barrel, the bucking tore the first time he took it out and the motor had such weak magnets that it basically spun freely. The gears were ok at best and the piston was really cheap. The proprietary gearbox and FCU sucked and are notorious for cracking even in lower power builds. Secutor are literally just Ares marketed at twats and have all the same issues for a 20% price hike. I would personally never buy one, not even for cheap. 

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

Brands to avoid - absolutely swerve from Raven - mate bought one of their G18s, shat itself out of the box. Both mags pished gas out everywhere at first firing, at chrono on one of the warmest days of the year. Have heard other anecdotes from airsoft comrades who have also had similar experiences with Raven pistols - enough to put me off. Just as well as I was eyeing up one of their MEU 1911s for a while until my mate's experience.

SRC also pretty gash. Most SRC stuff I've come across is bbgunz4lesh "bundel" (sic) quality, i.e. risible shite fit for the bin.

LT are actually OK for the money, mine (M933) has been flawless over the past 2 years. Decent internals and hop. Remains a favorite of mine. That said, a VERY chequered past as noted previously including the utterly unforgivable eyepro situation, although I understand they are "under new management" and have put a lot of things right, apparently. Their AEGs seem to have a lot of decent features for the price point. Reddit users have a major beef with LT, although I suspect its because Reddit is full of hyper Yanks and teenagers who jump on bandwagons in an attempt to appear "knowledgeable", explode with rage at anyone who disagrees with them, plus they're all gear snobs. There again - others may have had a bad experience with LT. Who knows.

APS get a bad rap generally, the in-joke being that APS stands for "A Piece of Shit", there again my UAR has like my LT933 been pretty decent, aside from a minor air leak that required some minor fettling to resolve, something that happens with any brand really.

 

[THE FNG]

HFC.

Surprised its not been mentioned yet.

They might not be on a lot of airsofters radar as they aren't regularly stocked by big name retailers.

HOWEVER, they are stocked by justbbguns who brand them as the gap between garden plinkers and entry level airsoft guns. I distinctly remember jambwow doing a review of a HFC pistol (either a mauser or a beretta) and he was saying that it was amazing and bestest gnu etc.

They are absolutely dog shit. 

 

[MrTea]

But then again, there's WAS too

What's wrong with WAS? I've seen almost zero complaints over quality and I can't fault my PC so far.

 

[DerDer]

Ares.

Every few years I pick up one of their snowflake guns e.g. VZ-58 or TAR21. End up selling it on at a hefty loss or the thing semi permanently in bits waiting for a teching session.The proprietary aspects are a real pain. Will credit them for trying original things but wouldn't be in a rush to get another one.

 

[BigAl]

The HFC guns are not all shit, there desert eagle. glock and MAC11 / T77's are soild guns.

 

[Ebeneezer Goode]

I think the problem with HFC is that many of their products are low-end (BBGnuz websites' fodder) and therefore many regard the brand as keech.

Haven't had any experience with Ares, however in my opinion they are overpriced for what they are - just my view.

 

[Lozart]

What's wrong with WAS? I've seen almost zero complaints over quality and I can't fault my PC so far.

Nothing really. They're not very original with their designs (some of them are just different enough to avoid being sued) but it's perfectly reasonable kit for the money.

 

[alxndrhll]

What's wrong with WAS? I've seen almost zero complaints over quality and I can't fault my PC so far.

From what I understand it's largely down to things they say being vague/intelligently enough to give the impression it's produced in the UK, when in reality (at least as I understand it from leaked documentation) a decent portion is produced in China. Albeit with decent quality materials, assuming those claims are to be believed. As @Lozart has said their claims regarding development and R&D in general certainly don't help their case, given the majority is just clones of high end kit sometimes with the odd tweak... sometimes just a straight up copy.

I've never owned any so I can't speak for it. Is it better than Viper? I imagine so. Is it anywhere close to something like C2R? I imagine not. Does it have a place on this list? I also imagine not.

 

[Tackle]

From what I understand it's largely down to things they say being vague/intelligently enough to give the impression it's produced in the UK, when in reality (at least as I understand it from leaked documentation) a decent portion is produced in China. Albeit with decent quality materials, assuming those claims are to be believed. As @Lozart has said their claims regarding development and R&D in general certainly don't help their case, given the majority is just clones of high end kit sometimes with the odd tweak... sometimes just a straight up copy.

I've never owned any so I can't speak for it. Is it better than Viper? I imagine so. Is it anywhere close to something like C2R? I imagine not. Does it have a place on this list? I also imagine not.

Warrior kit is a class above current viper kit, lol maybe several classes, but to be fair on both brands warrior stuff is heavy duty quality materials, & it shows in its general physical weight, whereas current viper has improved massively compared to its early kit. 

In all fairness, given the amount of time it's worn, the lighter mags etc it carries, & the physical abuse it takes (or lack of), brands like viper & 8fields are ample for 99% of Airsofters, a £30 rig would probably last a couple of years of play no problem. 

 

[Tactical Pith Helmet]

Given how much 36  Pattern webbing is around in sound nick, poor load carrying should be a thing of the past!

I bought a Belgian BAR set of webbing last week. Still 100% useable if old fashioned.  Even Indian repro WWI kit is stronger than cheap airsoft gear.  Not that 'operator' to show up with a stripper kit rig though.  

 

[Speedbird_666]

I've never owned any so I can't speak for it. Is it better than Viper? I imagine so. Is it anywhere close to something like C2R? I imagine not. Does it have a place on this list? I also imagine not.

All the WAS kit I owned was excellent quality. Indeed a lot of WAS kit is used by active service units in various countries and has seen numerous deployments over the years - so it's 'combat proven'.

But as @Tackle mentioned - for general BBwarz/LARPsoft the likes of Viper is perfectly adequate. I'm quite happy with Aliexpress clones of kit at the moment, the quality is generally 'good enough'. 

Brands I avoid? Generally Ares, VFC and Specna.

 

[Lozart]

Indeed a lot of WAS kit is used by active service units in various countries and has seen numerous deployments over the years - so it's 'combat proven'.

You can see quite a bit of it in recent footage on the news. The Ruskies had a bit of a penchant for WAS...

 

[Rogerborg]

Specna

That's a tricky one, as if you luck out and get one from a decent production run at the right OEM, they can be fine, and have reasonable features for the price.  But the fact that they change OEMs, QC, and their product lines more than a typical airsofter washes their socks does put a huge question mark over them.  I'd say they're still worth a punt at the low end, but they can forget any aspirations of going up-market while they're pulling bait-and-switches.