Looking to Skirmish

[Ansome Jack]

Howdy, first time skirmisher, long time airsofter here.

I have no experience when it comes to skirmishing, but have had airsoft guns since before the ban on selling RiF's in shops.

I am looking for advice for a suitable rifle to begin with before I get my UKARA and spend lots of money on a RiF.

My criteria for said gun is as follows:

Realistic weight ( doesn't have to be all metal)

Reasonable amount of options for upgrades

Is not an M4, M16 or any other variant

Can be suited to either mid-range combat or cqb (with the right upgrades)

Costs around £150-200, without the cost of two-tone painting, battery and charger.

So far my options include:

SRC G36C transparent or two-tone

SRC AK Spetznaz Beta two-tone

That's all I can think of off of the top of my head. I know there are a lot more out there, especially on BBguns4less, but the site seems.... unprofessional if you know what I mean. Can't even spell 'warranty' right

Current arsenal: Colt double eagle, micro uzi and swiss arms sig 552 spring rifle.

If anyone could tell me where to get new magazines for the Sig it would be greatly appreciated as I broke mine trying to cram too many BB's in

 

[Zak Da Mack]

First of all, welcome to the forums

Second of all, my friend has got an SRC and it's a very good starter gun in my opinion. If you're looking for a good site for my stuff to find, try www.airsoftworld.net or www.zerooneairsoft.com for good two-tone guns.

 

[Ian_Gere]

Your best bet is to find a skirmish site near to you which is UKARA registered and rent a gun. See how you like skirmishing. To get UKARA registered yourself you only need to skirmish 3 times in not less than 2 months and not more than 1 year, so it's not much of an imposition to rent. Use the times you rent to speak to people who have their own guns and find out about them. Most of us are only too happy to show our guns off, so you should have no problem in shouldering and operating the fire select/mag release, and people may well allow you to take their guns out of the safe zone to fire, possibly even have a go skirmishing them for a bit. See what feels best for you.

I've got an SRC Gen III G36KV - it's a pretty good gun - just swap the hop rubber for something stickier, a 50 deg. one is my suggestion. My reasons for buying it are because I wanted a 'Western' gun that I could accessorise to suit me without having to spank my wallet until it bled. The control layout is pretty good for me and the sling mount positioning is fine for a 3-point sling, which I prefer. The carry handle integral sight is pretty high up from the receiver, which means that a red dot on top of it is right in my eyeline without having to actually bend my neck, so much as just lean to the side, which helps my posture as I have a bad back. The 'V' variant adjustable folding stock is better for me, because I have long arms, and the option to fold it means tight corners are not an issue. However the best thing about a folding stock is that it suits how I prefer to fire on my off, left, side. Also the gun had to be able to take a foregrip, rather than just a horizontal handguard, because I get wrist-gyp. I didn't choose the C variant because I play much more woodland than CQB and, although barrel length does not necessarily equate to more power and better accuracy, it's a good start. I decided that the 'E' & 'MG' variants would be too long for the occasional CQB scenario though - basically it's an all purpose assault rifle.

So you see, there are a lot of considerations, perhaps more for me than you because I'm a physical wreck, but if you get something because it looks cool and some aspect of it always bugs you, you'll soon need another gun... For eg, I have an ICS AKS-74U (like Beta Spetsnaz) which I bought because it looks cool and the deal was too good to miss, but the stock is too short, it has horizontal wooden handguards, and the sling mounts are no good for a 3-point... which all piss me off a bit everytime I use it. That said, it is a bomb proof AEG and I really like the controls (although I have replaced the fire selector lever with an LCT one lol - it's even better) and sights, so I'm not planning on getting rid of it. In fact, if you want a 74U, that's the one I'd recommend, so long as you bear in mind that it is underpowered for woodland, so needs either a stronger spring, tight bore barrel, or both.

I'd advise you to forget your Sig springer's mags. If you can't fix it yourself, bin it. It's no use for skirmishing whatsoever and, if it's a RIF, you can't easily sell it. If you're drawn to AK's, have a look at CYMA's range - you literally cannot buy a better AK for the money and what you get will have better range and accuracy than many other more expensive guns. That's not a blanket CYMA recommendation though - their M14's have a good rep too, but I've never heard anybody raving about their MP5's, for eg... I'd say that the Gen III SRC is worth the extra money over the Gen II, but Jing Gong (JG) G36C's have a good rep too, or, if you prefer short assault rifles, you could get a plastic bodied ICS Sig 552 for £209 - dunno about the weight, although I've held a plastic ICS AK74 and wasn't impressed - you could always add some lead shot inside it though.

 

[Deva]

Welcome to the forums

 

[Ansome Jack]

In the end I think I'll stick with Ian Gere's advice and check some out at my local UKARA site when I'm there in the summer.

But whilst I'm waiting for that I wouldn't mind fiinding out about the types of brands out there, what to stay away from, reliability, realism, price etc.

I am familiar with SRC and I take it they are a mid range manufacturer.

I know about Tokyo Marui all too well as their reputation preceedes them in the airsoft world.

Cybergun is the company I currently have weapons by, not the best in the world, but not bad for someone starting out.

Does anyone know anything about these companies: AEG (Asia Electric Guns), WE, KSC, CYMA and G&G. If there are any other brands worth noting, please let me know

 

[jcheeseright]

for a starter gun that fits all your criteria: G&G combat machine MP5

google it for a review, for £130 they're absolutely unbelievable.

 

[Ansome Jack]

Thanks for that, I've been checking them out since someone mentioned how good they were in another thread.

Seen one on ZeroOne for £120 so it will be something to consider over an assault rifle. Just too much choice to choose from really!

 

[Pointman PUG]

HI jack (borderlands 2 ?),

welcome to the forums buddy...i too give g and g guns a double thumbs up!

I own the gr15 raider and its a beast of an m4.

I have done 4 full day skirmishes and it hasent missed a beat...even in freezing cold and pissing rain it just keeps on going as long as you feed it bb's and batteries! I read a copy of airsoft international (great source of info) and the mp5 has the same gearbox as my rifle so it's gonna be reliable as hell!

hope you find a decent gun soon mate

 

[DX115FALCON]

My criteria for said gun is as follows:

Realistic weight ( doesn't have to be all metal)

Reasonable amount of options for upgrades

Is not an M4, M16 or any other variant

Can be suited to either mid-range combat or cqb (with the right upgrades)

Costs around £150-200, without the cost of two-tone painting, battery and charger.

So far my options include:

SRC G36C transparent or two-tone

SRC AK Spetznaz Beta two-tone

Get yourself one of the G&G Combat Machine Raiders. they are the best budget guns on the market (in my opinion anyway). It could be considered an M4 variant, but I personally think otherwise, mainly due to the completely skeletal look of the rifle. They do take standard M4 mags, which are quite easy to find and are relatively cheap. You can get one from Airsoft World for ~£150 (including two toning) here. If you are not a fan of the long barrelled version, G&G make a stubby version as well which performs at the same high standards, but has a significantly shorter barrel (this variant is much better for if you play airsoft inside or in a CQB environment)

If you really don't want anything that even resembles an M4, take a look at another Combat Machine variant: the PM5A4. This one is a replica of the H&K MP5A4 and is one of the most reliable airsoft SMGs on the market for under £200. It has a unique feature of incorporating G&G's Top Tech pneumatic blowback system into the weapon (IE: you pull the trigger, the chamber cover racks back and provides a tiny bit of kickback). This worries some people because they think that the blowback is powered by the battery, but it just uses the compression of the hammer hitting the BB to force the slide back, using no extra power. The best part about this gun is that it is only £150 with two-toning. Also, because it is an MP5 variant, the mags are quite easy to find and cost very little.

You can read more about this SMG and pick one up here if you are interested