What type of gun and why?

[Richardhb]

Hello all.

I'm new to Airsoft, so doing as much research as possible. I've read the excellent help articles on this site, thanks. But have a question or two please?

What's the best spring, electric, or gas for a gun?

What do most people use, and what is the benefits with them all?

I also see most don't recommend a sniper rifle for starters, and I can see why. But what if your a little older and cannot move around as quick as some of the youngsters? Is it a better option for an older person?

I've found a club near my home ar Bourne (Lincs) do I get an application form from them, or do they just have to sign one to get the insurance cover required after the first 3 trips?

Thanks all for your patience.

 

[Tariq]

UKARA should be sorted with your local site. Best speak to them when you turn up about getting it.

AEG (electric) are best first guns. Gas guns need much more maintenance and break more.

Springs are just cheap guns, unless you're talking snipers.

Rifles seem to be the popular choice. But go find a shop and have a hold of a few guns. Also rent a few guns when playing and see how you like them.

If you're the "older" chap, a heavy machine gun might not be too great. Also small guns that have short ranges might be not great either, as it means having to move around more XD

M4s, G36s, AKs are the popular guns. Although if you can think of a gun you've seen from a film, game etc that you like, might be able to find an airsoft version.

 

[mark2191]

hi mate welcome to the forum, most people tend to go for electric for rifles, and gas for pistols, personally i would not start off on sniper rifles, but if you are slightly older than others and cant get around as quick then try and borrow one of your clubs snipers and see how you get on when you go to your local site you need to do 3 games in no less than 2 months before you can get your ukara number, if you pay to be a member of that club they will normally help you with the form you have to fill in, you can do it yourself but they have to 'stamp it confirming you have done your 3 games, in regards to the insurance your green fee for your site will cover that.

 

[lemon191]

id say the main reason people wont recomend snipers is because they are to restrictive on your game play (engagement distances, and obviously you will be out gunned very easily by aegs) but they can also cost alot more for a good gun setup. which can be a put off for people on their first outings but its to late after you have already paid out for the rifle.

 

[bigshep]

As a nigh on 40 year old fat bloke (brutally honest with myself here), being young and fast does not constitute a good player. More often enough I find the hares coming back to respawn once I drag my tortoise backside up to the front lines. The only consideration I find is that I do need to consider my cover more than the youngsters, as there are only a few things that will hide me!

For a starter get an electric assault rifle of some sort. What you get is upto your likes and budget, with guns costing £120 being just as good as guns costing £800. (Difference in range is down to a decent internal set up with your hop unit)

When you play at your site, you will normally get membership after 3 games. They will then register you on the UKARA database as a member of their site and you get to buy bang sticks. If they are not UKARA members, but have insurance then you qualify as an airsoft skirmisher and can then buy RIF's, but its a bit more of a hassle proving to the retailers you are ok.

 

[Darkstar]

I would go with what almost everyone has said here, go with an AEG, you can get decent ones for a fairly low price (G&G combat machines are fantastic, plus very light). And like bigshep said airsoft isn't about speed, while I can outrun most of our players when I need to (very lightweight setup) I tend to play a lot slower and more cautiously in most matches, it's all well and good sprinting around, till you run into an entrenched group and get obliterated :L.

Also I wouldn't bother with a pistol until you've been playing for a while or begin using a DMR/sniper setup. They're nice to have but end up being just another drain on the bank if you don't need one. You can get two-tones as well, and while they look god-awful it is a nice excuse to indulge in a little custom paintwork once you're registered .

 

[G-Force]

As the others pretty much summed it up really, play three 3 times, get UKARA and buy a gun. Don't worry too much about being older, I know plenty of older guys who use AEG's and are a lot better than the youngsters.