Help for a beginner!

[jameswilby5]

Hi everyone,

My names James and I'm new to the forum. I have had a airsoft gun for a few months and have been mainly practising shooting targets ect. However I have also been on two half day sessions which I thoroughly enjoyed and would like to do a lot more often.

My current weapon is:

http://www.justbbguns.co.uk/product/66/BB-...S/267/M805A-PRO

I know it's not very good but I think it was good for initial learning. I did not rent a gun when I went as I wanted to use mine but how do you think this stacks up against the ones you can rent. I plan on using this as a secondary and I already have three mags for it.

My main aim is to get myself a decent airsoft rifle that will last me until I decide if I wish to pursue the game and get more serious. My budget is around £300 but I am open to suggestions of weapons that are a little more expensive. I am disappointed that I have to purchase a two toned weapon as I am only 16 but many online retailers allow you to pay a little bit extra and they will paint it. Would it be okay if I covered the gun in camo whilst using it in a skirmish to make it a little less obvious? As for the gun I am thinking something like a M4. I want a gun with a good range and accuracy. However I am unsure on what fps gun I should buy. Some sites have a maximum of 330fps which seems a little low to me. Should I buy one that falls in this guideline or try and find a more professionally aimed site that will allow me to get a better gun? Overall what do you guys recommend?

On that note can anyone recommend any good sites in the Epsom (Surrey) area?

Also where does everyone buy there gear from I'm struggling to find a good website?

Thanks very much in advanced for any help,

James

 

[Ditch]

Hello, try to ignore JBBG as he claims 'pro' guns on things such as pump action mp5's so he aims more towards the younger audience.. well thier parents as they shouldn't be purchasing them in the first place.

Try the two tone guns on www.wolfarmouries.co.uk, good quality makes, TM compatible in most if not all makes, a range of m4's to choose from. Best of luck.

 

[TheFull9]

Good gear for starting out:

http://www.flecktarn.co.uk/

http://www.military1st.co.uk/

And of course ebay for good deals on issue kit, can't really go wrong with that stuff.

As for weapons, I'm afraid you can't legally purchase anything at all if you're 16, the law requires you to be 18 whether it's 2-tone or not.

 

[jameswilby5]

Thanks for the quick responses,

@ditch I realise JBBG is not very good but at the time it seemed like a good idea at the time. I don't think its a bad gun but certainly not the pro quality he claims it to be. Thanks for the link I will have to look through and see what I can find.

@ Thanks for the links. I understand that I am not allowed to purchase weapons but I am allowed to use them so I would get one of my parents to buy them. I'm not one of these kids who is buying the weapons to cause havoc in their local park and intend only on using it at a site or in my garden shooting targets.

 

[Ditch]

http://www.wolfarmouries.co.uk/airsoft/bb/...age=transparent

Also, take a look at the other stuff too for £15 they'll paint any solid gun a legal two tone so theres even more choice.

 

[jameswilby5]

Thanks Ditch I just saw that. I don't mind paying the £15. Is there anything illegal about putting camo on the gun whilst using it at a skirmishing site? If I'm the only one with a brightly coloured weapon it would look a bit stupid.

 

[bigshep]

Have a look in the retailers section there are lots of Uk retailers listed there.

Action hobbies and zero one both sell 2 tones, they are good sellers as well. Wolf tends to be a bit overpriced. Have a look at the combat machine series of M4 starter guns, for around £120 you can get a nice starter gun. Nothing wrong with covering a gun in camo tape or scrim netting while at the game, however it should be removed when leaving the site and the gun covered in some way, ie gun bag.

FPS does not equal range, a well set up hop unit equals range, all the fps does is mean it gets there slightly quicker (fractions of a second here)

Army surplus shops are your friend for clothing and boots, ebay or flecktarn for combat gear like assault vests.

 

[Klayer04]

There are plenty of good skirmishable guns (Chinese clones) for under £150 at sites such as actionhobbies.co.uk and airsoftworld.co.uk as said previously, both who do two-tone.

In my experience the extra price brings

1-better quality finishes/aesthetics,

2-real trades/decals(such as Colt/Armalite/HK

3-and longevity and consistency of the weapon (Less chance of a High powered or loose Batch)

1- and 2- As you will be buying 2-tone surely this is not an immediate concern. Get into the sport and have some fun. Scrim net it up for your 1st 3 games then try your hand at a personal camo/spray job once UKARA'd. Or if you dont fancy that then just rent or use your JBBG rifle a few more times then get the licence to buy whatever you want. Personally i wouldnt worry too much about getting the gucci near perfect replica of a leet rifle until you get well into airsoft.

3-Once again if you're new this could either A be a fad, thus you wont be needing it for the rest of your life (My CYMA Ak is still kicking out .2's just shy of 370fps and i got it over 3 years ago and its seen alot of action. Or B, the god of airsoft will smile upon you and you will most likely buy several guns over the course of your hobby, which gives you plenty of time to buy the high end gucci stuff. If its a bad batch send it back and the shop replaces it, no drama.

Ive heard alot of good stuff about the G&G 'Combat Machine' rifles too.

I did my time with a green gun when i started. Its character building

 

[jameswilby5]

Thanks bigshep I really like the layout of zero one even though it doesn't give you many specifications.

I have been searching on all the sites posted here and this is what I've found:

http://www.zerooneairsoft.com/product_info...roducts_id=5764

Roughly £100 over budget but does look good. The addition of the scope is a nice bonus that I would have added anyway. However the magazine is only 120 rounds. Is this too small? Also it fires at 360fps is this too much going back to my original post?

http://www.zerooneairsoft.com/product_info...roducts_id=6100

http://www.zerooneairsoft.com/product_info...roducts_id=2050

http://www.zerooneairsoft.com/product_info...roducts_id=5374

Another over budget weapon but does look nice. Comes with a small mag but a much larger 470 round one is available.

What do you all think about the choices? Have I missed any obvious choices and can I get better for the money?

Thanks,

James

Sorry Klayer04 I was writing another reply when yours came through. You say your gun is 370fps do you have any problems getting into skirmish sites? The only ones I can find allow up to 330fps. Thanks for the links I will check them out. However I will not be able to get a UKARA liscence as I am under 18.

 

[bigshep]

For your first gun I would say that none of your selections are appropriate, sorry. They are pretty expensive and would be a travesty to two tone tbh.

You like M4's with rails/ris that you can customise, and you want it around 330fps. 370 is high for most sites, but some in the Uk allow it, but if they are not near you then keep within your site limits.

I would suggest the following, which allows you money for extras like mags and batteries and still enough cash in your £200 for some surplus kit.

http://www.zerooneairsoft.com/product_info...roducts_id=6076

http://www.zerooneairsoft.com/product_info...roducts_id=5774

same thing from action hobbies

http://www.actionhobbies.co.uk/G-G-CM16-Ra...n_A1030U.aspx?0

are around 330fps and will bed down a bit to around 320 when you put a few mags through it.

Battery is around £15, charger is £15, mags are £15 and then you have some cash for kit.

 

[Ditch]

For your first gun I would say that none of your selections are appropriate, sorry. They are pretty expensive and would be a travesty to two tone tbh.
You like M4's with rails/ris that you can customise, and you want it around 330fps. 370 is high for most sites, but some in the Uk allow it, but if they are not near you then keep within your site limits.

I would suggest the following, which allows you money for extras like mags and batteries and still enough cash in your £200 for some surplus kit.

http://www.zerooneairsoft.com/product_info...roducts_id=6076

http://www.zerooneairsoft.com/product_info...roducts_id=5774

same thing from action hobbies

http://www.actionhobbies.co.uk/G-G-CM16-Ra...n_A1030U.aspx?0

are around 330fps and will bed down a bit to around 320 when you put a few mags through it.

Battery is around £15, charger is £15, mags are £15 and then you have some cash for kit.

Bang on the money, I'm only a beginner myself coming from (just like you) the land of JBBG's, which is why I realised for just about twice the price, you can buy something that will far oulast anything that site has to offer. But you don't need much more than that to begin. If you buy a gun that is TM compatible, theres a whole world of upgrades/spares/replacements available and you could technically keep the gun rinning forever.

 

[Airsoft-Ed]

If I were you, I'd personally just stick with the shoddy JBBG rifle until you've had your 3 games and get UKARA registered and then get something in its real colours. I would rather die than own a two tone gun, character building stuff or not lol.

Your site's hire guns are probably better than your own rifle at a guess. My site use ICS M4s as their hire guns and I've owned/sold/swapped 8 guns over the last year or so and so far only 1 has been better than them and the hire guns have all have about 1 million rounds (no joke) through them.

So I'd recommend an ICS rifle once you're UKARA'd up. The ICS L85 even has adjustable fps - 300 to 400. From CQB to DMR, it's beautiful.

 

[TPI]

Ed did you miss this in the OP "two toned weapon as I am only 16 but many online retailers allow you to pay a little bit extra and they will paint it. Would it be okay if I covered the gun..."

 

[jameswilby5]

Thanks for the replies everyone. At the moment I want to spend all the money on a very good assault rifle which will last me until I'm 18 and can get my UKARA. I definitely want to get something better than the rental weapons or it wouldn't really be worth spending any money at all.

@Airsoft-Ed what sort of ICS M4's do they use? I'm guessing some of the cheaper ones that are around £150 although they are still quite good for a rental.

I think I have decided on a gun that is under 330fps but want something with good accuracy and range. What sort of range should a good weapon be able to fire.

 

[Klayer04]

I definitely want to get something better than the rental weapons or it wouldn't really be worth spending any money at all.

£25 extra each game day means after 5 games a rifle costing £125 will start saving you more money than renting.

what sort of ICS M4's do they use

ICS is a brand who make M4's. Between variants of models M4, M16, armalite , demarco w/e there is generally little performance difference unless and update or next gen line is brought out (likely for all models).

Get your dad/uncle/older brother involved! Male bonding, you dont feel as bad for sciving a lift off him, He can become UKARA'd, you can work together, the sport grows.

 

[Airsoft-Ed]

@Airsoft-Ed what sort of ICS M4's do they use? I'm guessing some of the cheaper ones that are around £150 although they are still quite good for a rental.

They use the solid stock full metal version, I think it sells for around £250-300 in most places. I haven't a clue how they could afford them as hire guns either but they're bloody amazing lol. Well, well worth saving up for whilst you get your UKARA sorted out.

Edit:

Ed did you miss this in the OP "two toned weapon as I am only 16 but many online retailers allow you to pay a little bit extra and they will paint it. Would it be okay if I covered the gun..."

Sorry, sorry, sorry...

When I first read this through I was just thinking, "So?"

I only just realised that "being 16" translates to "I can't have a RIF" if you yourself are under 16, sorry about that. Obviously I'm aware of the laws and everything, I just forget about it when everyone's talking about what the best thing to do regarding guns is, as I've never bought a two tone gun before.

If you have to get something two toned I'd say get something cheap, but something that will last you until you're 18. I think a CYMA AK, a G&G plastic bodied gun, doesn't matter what it is, G&G are amazing, or an ICS sports-line M4 will all do the job amazingly well for significantly less than £200.

If you shop around you ought to be able to get all the bare essential kit for under £220 including your gun.

I personally didn't bother with surplus military gear, just get some hiking gear, light trousers with an elastic waist that are a dark colour, a black long sleeve shirt, £30 Viper combat vest and you're set. I'm still wearing the same stuff as when I started, still not bothered about camo or anything that much, I don't think it's needed at airsoft ranges.

 

[jameswilby5]

Thanks everyone. Didn't realise the rental weapons were so good maybe I'll rent one next time I go. I'm still unsure why I would buy a cheap £200 weapon if the ones you can rent are better than that?

Also what magazine size is good to have. Is 470 rounds enough? I have seen 2300 round mags for assault rifles but that seems a bit extravagant.

Quick update. I have ben searching through different website and really like the Tokyo Marui Pro Line M4 rifles. I have narrowed it down to two:

http://www.zerooneairsoft.com/product_info...roducts_id=5374

http://www.zerooneairsoft.com/product_info...roducts_id=4833

Am I right in saying this has a longer barrel length which will give better accuracy? This and a few 430 round mags should do me well for two years.

What do you all think about these two and which would you go for? I know it's more than I wanted to spend but I think I will get good use out of it. As for the fact it will be two toned I am not that worried as I will cover it in camo tape and probably keep it on constantly as it will only be used at sites and my garden where nobody will know.

 

[Ditch]

Quick update. I have ben searching through different website and really like the Tokyo Marui Pro Line M4 rifles. I have narrowed it down to two:
http://www.zerooneairsoft.com/product_info...roducts_id=5374

http://www.zerooneairsoft.com/product_info...roducts_id=4833

Am I right in saying this has a longer barrel length which will give better accuracy? This and a few 430 round mags should do me well for two years.

What do you all think about these two and which would you go for? I know it's more than I wanted to spend but I think I will get good use out of it. As for the fact it will be two toned I am not that worried as I will cover it in camo tape and probably keep it on constantly as it will only be used at sites and my garden where nobody will know.

I honestly think you are looking to spend too much mate. the CA sportline series is under £200 and perfectly good on perfonmance and upgrade possibillities. More money doesnt always mean more gun/more quality. For what you need a CA or SRC m4 with a couple of hi-caps (they come with one in the box) and a possible red dot on a riser and you're laughing.

 

[TheFull9]

I've not heard much good about the CA sportlines myself, I'm sure the odd decent one comes out but I've read a lot of horror stories r.e. gearbox internals made of spit and rubber bands. A gen 2 or 3 SRC would certainly be the better choice to my mind, and the ICS sportlines are almost identical internally to their more expensive cousins: i.e. high quality stuff.

Given that Z1 have a rep with a wide range of highly experienced airsofters for being a bunch of cunts, I wouldn't ever recommend anyone gives them money. The one time I tried to order with them it was a pain in the arse and there's dozens of stories about horrifically poor customer service/weapons 'upgrades' over on arnies. Action hobbies on the other hand ave been nothing but excellent the many times I've purchased from them, the guy who runs the place is also top notch.

 

[TPI]

Bah too the actionhobbie`s part bunch of xpletive`s if you asked me that bleeding baboon that wen`t around raiding people`s car`s could have done better... although Z1 are not great i prefer them they seem to know what their doing atleast half the darn time

Onto the CA Sportline`s if actionhobbie`s were a make of Armalite sportline`s i`d pick them and i have owned 5 sportline`s!