Recommendations - £600 Budget for AEG

[Kieronwf]

I wouldn't bother about recoil tbh.  I have used them, but stopped noticing the effect as soon as gameplay began.  

If I was spending £600 tomorrow and wanted reliability, performance and durability, I'd get a non-recoil, non-ETU G&G M4.  A decent barrel, rotary hop and rubber/nub swap is a ten minute job.  Plug and play Burst Wizard 4 mosfet and away you go.  A high torque motor is another five minute job, and difficult to fuck up, if you really want to go to town.

Rifs have come on so much that over £150 price and quality have less and less of a relationship.  I was amazed at how well my CYMA M14 shot out of the box.  It was less than £100  from TG a few years ago.   

All that said TMs are bloody lovely.

You have a lot of choice atm IF you can find something that you really like in stock.  

This is really my concern as i like the thought of it and its "Cool" but as you say will it make a single difference when i play. Does all this additional functionality add weight to the gun etc as would much rather a lighter gun as an example. But they do look really nice, and build quality will be good but is it worth the 2/300 extra for those features and TM name? 

As you say RIF's are so good now that £300 should buy you something really decent and ready to play which leaves room for some easy upgrades 

For this price anything is possible. I have a few higher end pews but I would recommend the ASG scorpion evo... or the NGRS (m4 beats out the aks and the scars imo).

100% Agree would never find me with a SCAR, i do like an AK though 

I'd suggest one of two avenues to approach this. 

The "out of the box" approach:
Get a TM NGRS. They fire great out of the box, recoil is present (though it's nothing to write home about. Get a GBBR if you want a bit more kick and impracticality) and it stops shooting when your mag is empty which is a nice little addition. Shove a 7.4v lipo in and run .25s or .28s in it and you'll love life. Maybe put a maple leaf hop rubber and omega nub in at a later date if you're feeling spicy

The "I'm going to tinker" approach:
Get a Cyma AK, m14 or mp5 (or whoever does a good m4 if you like AR15s, idk). Get a 60 or 70 degree maple leaf macaron rubber, an omega nub and a 6.03 prommy or a ZCI barrel. Spend the rest of the money on blackjack and hookers because that'll probably come to only around £200ish and the upgrades are easy to install. I never open AEG gearboxes (outside of stripping them entirely and shoving an HPA engine inside) because all the gears and stuff is techno-sorcery, but barrels and hops are incredibly easy to change out.

Yea there are a few common themes appearing which is really useful - Go TM or Buy Cheaper and upgrade! 

I think i do need to have a look at a few upgrades as like you say as splitting the receiver and swapping out some plug and Play parts is no drama but i don't want to get involved in any wiring or gearbox stuff 

I'd buy a reasonably well reviewed gun I liked the look of for around £300-£400, and as needed I would: put a zci hop, maple leaf bucking+nub, stabilise the barrel, reshim (yourself or a tech), deans the connector, and slap a warhead in that bad boy. Maybe a perun ab++ if I'm feeling spicy, though you don't really need it with the warhead unless you want burst fire. 

It means you can be a little bit platform neutral. 

Getting to the Well reviewed gun at £300-£400 was where i was trying to get to on here. What would you buy in this price range?

@Kieronwf there is absolutely nothing wrong with a bone stock M4 or 416 Recoil.

55M is not to be sniffed at.

What you are getting with a Recoil is;

- Recoil obv

- TM reliability

- The best AEG hop unit ever (M4/416/Scar)

- Firing stop on empty

- Great build quality

You will want to run it on 7.4 LiPo - simple

From there run it and see how you get on.

Easy external mods are;

Prommy 6.03 barrel - fps increase

Super Nub/Omega with 0.25 BBs

After that it gets silly but good.

My concerns are around the trigger response and the issues with the bolt locking back in single fire mode which i have seen happen in quite a few videos online. 

Its great having that recoil but if the system impacts the ability to play then that's where it will fall down for me but i think this can be overcome with a mod

 

 

[Davegolf]

Firing stop on empty makes a big difference IMO, firstly you don’t give away the fact you’ve run dry to everyone attacking you, secondly it’s so much more immersive when you change mag and hit the bolt release.

Personally I’m not a fan of electric ’recoil’ only because I like full stealth so the extra noise I don’t like.

Really a NGRS is the best OOTB.

Seriously no other AEG can shoot as straight and true from the box.

The hop unit and related parts are the best in the business, yes you can get other airsoft guns to perform the same but it takes A LOT of effort.

If you’re not buying an NGRS then I really don’t see you getting any better value past the £300 mark.

All you’re getting is box ticking with usually sub standard bells and whistles.

Sub £300 I would look at these as base guns, owing to great externals and build with easy upgrade;

E&L AK105/SU

ARCTURUS GR16

ASG Scorpion EVO

These have the quality to match the TM and with work have the same performance ceiling.

The Scorpion is a little over 300, but you get bolt-lock-on-empty and 3rd burst.

RE NGRS trigger lock up, this is a rarity and is caused by the user…

It happens because the trigger is not being fully depressed for the full cycle / spammed faster than the gun is capable of.

If you get an NGRS you hands down will love a Gate Titan or BTC Spectre in it, they are one of the best upgrades to any airsoft gun TBH.

Also just noticed the AK12 is available from E&L now ?

 

[Fatboy40]

This is really my concern as i like the thought of it and its "Cool" but as you say will it make a single difference when i play.

People here now and again post the most relevant comment / meme, that what we're running around with is just a toy, and really that £600 toy won't do much at all that the £300 one won't, and it certainly won't turn a novice into John Wick ?

I'd be buying a "good" rifle and spending the remaining £300 on giving myself a competitive over everyone else. For example on my AEG I've just moved from 0.25g to 0.28g along with a good inner barrel supporting an ML MR bucking, that extra 8 to 10 meters of accuracy can hold off others quite easily, when running it I put onto it my DMR's flip to side 3x magnifier and can spot approaches and pick people off. You say some of your time is in woodland, so maybe spend some of the money on great camouflage? (I desperately wish I had the money for one of these... https://sc-ghillie.pl/en/shop/produkt/nextgen-viper-hood-long-sleeve/ )

 

[Druid799]

First and for most welcome back ! 2nd who ever is telling you you ‘must’ upgrade a TM recoil is talking out of their arse plain and simple . Only thing you ‘need’ to do is get a deans connector on it(only reason I say deans is it’s the standard connector up-grade most use)instead of the Neolithic Tamiya that’s on it . I 100% believe you don’t need to change a thing in them to be more effective , it’s you that needs the changes not the gun . if your bimbling around the field totally oblivious to your surroundings as 75% of players seem to be then I don’t care how far you guns shoots it won’t help you ‘up your game’ , get your field craft sorted and I guarantee you’ll be racking up the kills . Plus for the negative effect on the longevity of the guns life and the increase in range I just don’t think it’s worth it , I don’t care who’s worked on it the minute you start ‘up-grading’ you’ve just put a best before date on your gun and started a countdown timer for it to implode . If you frequent the tech sections of any online airsoft group you’ll see it’s full of players asking problems with their ‘upgraded’ TM recoil AND frequently their the same players who you’d seen telling every man and his dog about his new laser blaster that’ll take the wings of a fly at 65mtres not a few wks ago . TM’s are made to VERY precise tolerances aimed at the Japanese market and once you start replacing bits you’ve messed up that balance and you’ve just boarded the train to ‘dead gunsville’ wether you like it or not .

And when I get told I’m wrong ? I just get out my my 12-13yr old stock TM Socom and my 10-11yr old AK74su and ask them to show me their upgraded ones of that age ? 

 

[Jedi_Master]

I an owner and fan of TM, so with your budget I would recommend that you get a TM recoil.   I bought one for my first gun, had the Deans mod for LiPo battery, and left it stock.  Great out of the box with no messing around to "upgrade".  I was happy with that choice, and I see no reason to get a cheap gun if you do not have to.

 

[Ripper]

I’d personally recommend the G&G Advanced RK74 if you’re a fan of modernised AK’s, my friend let me use his for a day’s game and although it’s a little heavy (since it’s full steel) it’s an amazing AEG that’s more accurate than most snipers. Happy hunting! 

 

[Lozart]

Spending 600 pounds on a gun is totally pointless in my opinion

Was hoping for some gun recommendations not financial advise ??

@Krisz take the hint dude.

 

[BigStew]

budget recommendation:

CYMA M14 this is a clone of the TM version and shoots fantastic out the box, can still be got for £150ish and you get shorter barrel version which will do CQB and out doors,

Pretty much any CYMA metal body AK.

Mid budget: 

they are old now but Tokyo Marui P90 RD using MAG 170rd mid caps are a great platform for cqb and can hold their own in wood lands. you could also get a 5-7 as a side arm.

Tokyo Marui AUG something different. has  take down function so you could swap out receivers/ barrels for different configurations. has progressive trigger or selector switch for semi/auto fire.

Top end:

Tokyo Marui Scar L Recoil is one of the cheaper of the recoil but has all of the functionality of the newer models. 

for shits and giggles tokyo Marui AA-12 with a drum mag. Full auto, triple barrel shotgun with recoil. whats not to love? 

 

[Tackle]

Welcome back, you don't say whether you already have any guns ?, either from your previous time playing or more recently ?. 

The reason I ask is imho I don't think anybody should have just one gun, as if it fails on a gameday, as is possible in ANY price range, then your day is potentially fooked, never mind the loss in green fees & the near extortionate costs of driving currently to distant sites. 

With such a generous budget, I'd consider two aegs, what you buy may be influenced by your current mag situation, or alternatively two very different platform styles, whatever floats your boat or suits the types of venues you frequent  ? 

 

[EDcase]

Yeah, with that budget I'd go with a variety of play styles.  Maybe an MP5 for sneaky-sneaky and a DMR for longer range stand-off for example.

 

[Krisz]

@Krisz take the hint dude.

"Dude", after 350 pounds mark you are not gonna getting any better performance or internals if we strictly talk about stock AEG's. People shouldn't be this thick in the age of internet but I don't care it"s not my money. I just tried to help. ?

 

[Kieronwf]

Thanks everyone for all your help on this one ?

Will let you know what I go with.

 

[Davegolf]

No worries, we all love to voice our ‘opinions’ ?