New seeking purchase advice/ recommendation

[Hman]

Hi, I am looking to buy a gun for my son who does the occasional Airsoft with his friends.

He would like

•  an electric rifle
  
• not too long
  
• with rails
  
• moddable
  
• possibly folding stock (not essential)
  

Budget is around the £200 mark, but i am willing to listen if the general thinking is £200 would only lead to disappointment. 

He had selected this https://www.justbbguns.co.uk/src-g36-gen-2-airsoft-gun/

however the little research i have done leads me to think SRC may not be the best brand and JustBBguns may not be the best place to buy from.

I will openly admit to knowing sodd all about Airsoft, so I have come here to seek advice from those in the know, please help me out.

thanks in advance for any advice or recommendations. 

 

[Rogerborg]

Hello and welcome.  It's pretty daunting to tip your toe into the airsoft retail market, given the huge choice available.  The wall-of-text below is the short version.

If your son likes the G36C, then it's a perfectly reasonable choice.  I really rate the built in sights, and while the classic stock isn't length adjustable, it does fold and the ergonomics work well for most people and situations.  The downside to the V3 gearbox (used in all airsoft G36 AEGs that I'm aware of) is that the trigger has a long pull, and they can be somewhat prone to locking up, especially if you try and shoot too quickly on semi. Not a huge issue, just something to bear in mind.

However, there's no need to spend that much on one for occasional use, and yes, any shop with "BB" in the title is best avoided unless you know what you're doing.

PatrolBase is a pretty reliable UK retailer, and the basic Jing Gong G36C does everything you'll need it to do:

https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/jing-gong-g608-g36c-railed-handle-w-folding-stock?pv=5357

Or with a length adjustable stock:

https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/jing-gong-jg-0538-sub-carbine-replica?pv=9780

They will paint it up for an extra £10, still well under the price of the SRC.  It doesn't have the side rails, but you can add those later if you want to fling bling at it.

It has a decent rotary hop unit, and comes with a usable battery - although if he sticks with airsoft and you buy more batteries, I'd urge switching to LiPo and an iMax B6 charger rather than sinking another penny into NiMh technology.  It's easy enough to upgrade later, but that's another topic.

The CYMA G36C is also a reasonable choice, and other retailers are available. The two big Polish ones can work out cheaper, especially if you start throwing extras into your cart.  But be aware of postage costs, stealth surcharges on PayPal, the delivery time, and you'll want to ask them to downgrade the power to under 350fps for UK use (they'll generally dial it down to about 330fps / 1J):

https://www.taiwangun.com/

https://gunfire.com/

And of course many other guns are available.  Any M4, AK or MP5 by by CYMA, Jing Gong, G&G or Specna Arms is likely to be cheap and usable.  Not that I'm recommending them, the G36C is a decent enough choice.

 

[Philby21]

I think TaiwanGun have dropped the PayPal surcharge these days but you do have to bear in mind that they won't two tone like the majority of UK retailers will and you have to request a downgrade to meet UK FPS limits (same with Gunfire).

The SRC G36 is not a bad gun but the Gen 3 is the better choice, I own one myself (now upgraded quite a bit), but it's quite a lot to lug around all day.  The JG seems to be more plastic so should be lighter.

One of the other usual choices for starter guns is the G&G CM16 Raider,  a great starter gun with an excellent reputation and an adjustable stock.  There are also other variants that are shorter (Firehawk) that might be more suitable.

Generally, if it's a reliable, reasonably good starter gun then JG for the G36 or MP5, G&G or Specna Arms for M4 and Cyma for G36 or AK.

Well done for picking up on the reputation of certain stores with BB in their name - not many new to the hobby come on here before buying from them!

 

[Hman]

Massive thank you to Rogerborg and Philby21 for your replies, they have helped  a lot.

Having read a bit more i realise i have left (pun intended) out a really important bit of information.

My son is left handed, and prefers to shoot left handed.

Also he has a decent 3d printer (Prusa I3 Mk3) and he's pretty good with it, so i imagine that could be useful for future modding etc.

 

[Philby21]

Now I see the reason for looking at the G36!  Although it is possible to mod an M4's fire selector to ambidextrous.

I'm right handed but have a tendency to shoot left and right due to an eye problem, plus it's helpful depending on where I'm shooting from.  I do occasionally catch the fire selector on my M4 but it's not a massive problem.

Is your £200 budget just for the gun?  This hobby can be a bit of a money pit as after the gun there's magazines, BBs, batteries, a charger (get a good one), eye protection (absolutely essential), gloves, decent footwear - and that's just the basics! ?

 

[Hman]

Now I see the reason for looking at the G36!  Although it is possible to mod an M4's fire selector to ambidextrous.

I'm right handed but have a tendency to shoot left and right due to an eye problem, plus it's helpful depending on where I'm shooting from.  I do occasionally catch the fire selector on my M4 but it's not a massive problem.

Is your £200 budget just for the gun?  This hobby can be a bit of a money pit as after the gun there's magazines, BBs, batteries, a charger (get a good one), eye protection (absolutely essential), gloves, decent footwear - and that's just the basics! ?

Click to shrink...

£200 is just for the gun.   We already have a Turnigy accucell 6 80W charger and li poly safe bags etc because we do RC stuff,  so ill just need the right lead/ connector to fit the new batteries.

 

[Iceni]

£200 is just for the gun.   We already have a Turnigy accucell 6 80W charger and li poly safe bags etc because we do RC stuff,  so ill just need the right lead/ connector to fit the new batteries.

Click to shrink...

Wire the gun to deans.

Deans in airsoft and RC are the same polarity.

Tamiya/Mini tamiya are backwards in airsoft.

If you use another type of connector then it's probably easier to make conversion leads for the guns, provided the batteries and connectors fit inside the gun stocks.

 

[Rogerborg]

TaiwanGun have dropped the PayPal surcharge these days but you do have to bear in mind that they won't two tone like the majority of UK retailers

Click to shrink...

Oh, that's disappointing.  They used to offer a paint service, but I can't see them doing so now.

GunFire will paint for a penny: https://gunfire.com/en/products/painting-service-servico-de-pintura-make-the-airsoft-gun-meet-your-local-law-requirements-1152211293.html

As well as downgrading: https://gunfire.com/en/products/aeg-replica-downgrade-1152197807.html

And yes, the G36 is great for lefties, being ambi for both fire selection and magazine release.