What's good to start

[2RIR]

Hi, as I am a newb to this I need a bit of advice. My son and I love airsoft and done it many times but rented all the gear. Looking on the net there's lots of weapons to choose from but what is the best all round? I'm looking for good accurate guns that are good to go straight out of the box, then later I can learn about upgrading, etc. Obviously sales reps are gonna say this and that are best to sell but I'm looking for advice from what players have found. Cheers, looking forward to hearing from you.

 

[Cyberlawyer]

The perennial question. Ask 10 Airsofters this question and you will get 11 answers and none of them will be wrong. I will start of by saying that there has never been a better choice of well priced Airsoft guns of all shapes and styles at every price point.

First as to the style of gun, get whatever you like the look of. In Airsoft there is much less performance difference between a submachine gun, a carbine or a full battle rifle than in real life. The only real constraint is weight and length, a gun that is too big and heavy can be unwieldy in some environments. AR15 style rifles are popular for good reason as they are so modular and can be built into almost anything and parts are readily available, only downside is everyone has one. Other platforms range in terms of options and parts support from generally very good (Marui clone AK’s, MP5s etc.) to very bad (any VFC GBBR).

There are generally three routes to entry:
 

(1) buy a cheep gun with a view that you are going to replace it pretty quickly. These are usually polymer bodied AR15 clones. I won’t recommend this approach as the mid priced guns are now so affordable that this is a false economy.

(2) Buy a mid priced gun and then upgrade bits as you go. This is the approach most people take and for good reason. Something like a Specna Edge series rifle can be had for as little as £169.00 (although there are loads to choose from). These will usually be metal bodied AR style rifles (with a smattering of AKs and MP5s). From a mechanical perspective they be Marui clones and will perform well out of the box and unless you choose something really ‘out there’ will have good after market parts support. These will be very serviceable guns on day one and with a wealth of upgrades can be tweaked and upgraded to your hearts content.

(3) Buy your ‘forever gun’ on day one. In this bracket I’ll put any of the high end AEGs (Marui NGRS is the obvious candidate) and any GBBR. The aim here is to save money in the long run by buying the gun you really want at the start and skipping all the intermediate steps. This only really works if you have a very clear idea of what you want on day one and can resist ‘upgrade feaver’ and only change stuff when it breaks. There are a few problems with this approach. (1) The initial outlay is high, (2) Your ideal gun may well evolve as your experience increases (3) gun tinkering is as much a part of the hobby as skirmishing (4) no one really has a forever gun and most people end up with a couple. However if you are sure you are committed to the hobby and have a very clear idea what you want this can make sense.

For what it’s worth when I came back to the hobby after a very long gap I went  with option 3, got a Marui NGRS and was very happy, until I decided I needed the realism of a GBBR, so bought a Marui MWS.

 

[Adolf Hamster]

very good summation right there.

a lot of it is going to be down to how you play and what you like, this is a hobby so picking something because you like it is as valid a reason as any other.

part of the issue, and why option 3 isn't the greatest idea if money is tight is that as cyberlawer says what you want from your gun will change over time as you fall into the playstyle that you enjoy.

for example my playstyle relies very heavily on range outdoors, and i love tinkering with my guns to acheive this. someone who plays much more stealthily than me might be happy exchanging volume of fire for some more range (ie snipers), or range for silence (sentient landmines/bushlurkers). of course this is going to be completely different to the requirements of someone who plays exclusively CQB who won't give a damn about range but wants the most responsive trigger he can get.

the problem is that you won't immediately know what your style is, hence why the most common recommendations move along the lines of option 2 with a (insert generic m4 derivative here) because it's the platform with the most flexibility to be tinkered into whatever role you find yourself enjoying.

that said, m4's are everywhere and whilst i won't deny it's popular for good reason (good ergonomics, modular construction and the aftermarket base to let you build whatever you want), it's kind of the VW golf of rifles, good but kinda boring. and you may well find yourself preferring a different platform, like i love my russian guns now even though when i started i went with option 3 and bought a g&g f2000 which i still love but never gets fielded these days.

in terms of performance the question is what you consider to be good enough, because looping round to cyberlawyers opening statement- you ask 10 people you'll get 11 answers and none of them are wrong. and having the best gun doesn't protect you from getting pinged from the bushes by a kid with a rental ak.

 

[EDcase]

If looking at M4 style, I'd recommend the 'Specna Arms Edge' series.  Very good value/performance out of the box.

While Cyberlawyer has done a good overview, I would not spend a lot of money on your first gun as it will probably not be your last.  Its almost impossible to know exactly what you'll want straight away.  As you get more experience playing and seeing other weapons available you will likely want to try a different style.  Remember, as said by Cyberlawyer, that airsoft is very different to real weapons because a small gun can shoot just as well as a larger one. 

 

[Cromulon1994]

The perennial question. Ask 10 Airsofters this question and you will get 11 answers and none of them will be wrong. I will start of by saying that there has never been a better choice of well priced Airsoft guns of all shapes and styles at every price point.

First as to the style of gun, get whatever you like the look of. In Airsoft there is much less performance difference between a submachine gun, a carbine or a full battle rifle than in real life. The only real constraint is weight and length, a gun that is too big and heavy can be unwieldy in some environments. AR15 style rifles are popular for good reason as they are so modular and can be built into almost anything and parts are readily available, only downside is everyone has one. Other platforms range in terms of options and parts support from generally very good (Marui clone AK’s, MP5s etc.) to very bad (any VFC GBBR).

There are generally three routes to entry:
 

(1) buy a cheep gun with a view that you are going to replace it pretty quickly. These are usually polymer bodied AR15 clones. I won’t recommend this approach as the mid priced guns are now so affordable that this is a false economy.

(2) Buy a mid priced gun and then upgrade bits as you go. This is the approach most people take and for good reason. Something like a Specna Edge series rifle can be had for as little as £169.00 (although there are loads to choose from). These will usually be metal bodied AR style rifles (with a smattering of AKs and MP5s). From a mechanical perspective they be Marui clones and will perform well out of the box and unless you choose something really ‘out there’ will have good after market parts support. These will be very serviceable guns on day one and with a wealth of upgrades can be tweaked and upgraded to your hearts content.

(3) Buy your ‘forever gun’ on day one. In this bracket I’ll put any of the high end AEGs (Marui NGRS is the obvious candidate) and any GBBR. The aim here is to save money in the long run by buying the gun you really want at the start and skipping all the intermediate steps. This only really works if you have a very clear idea of what you want on day one and can resist ‘upgrade feaver’ and only change stuff when it breaks. There are a few problems with this approach. (1) The initial outlay is high, (2) Your ideal gun may well evolve as your experience increases (3) gun tinkering is as much a part of the hobby as skirmishing (4) no one really has a forever gun and most people end up with a couple. However if you are sure you are committed to the hobby and have a very clear idea what you want this can make sense.

For what it’s worth when I came back to the hobby after a very long gap I went  with option 3, got a Marui NGRS and was very happy, until I decided I needed the realism of a GBBR, so bought a Marui MWS.

Click to shrink...

This needs to be made an auto answer to this question, or a sticky post in new players section imo

 

[CrackCommandoUnit1972]

I can vouch for the Specna Arms Egde series, they are cheap and work well out of the box as long as you feed them deccent bbs. My son has one, SA CO4, and it can more than hold it's own on the field.

If you really get into the sport you WILL end up buying more guns (then lying to the mrs about how much they cost). Even if it is just a spare incase your main weapon develops a fault that can't be easily sorted out on the field.

 

[Dentonboy]

Go to Fire Support.

Look at their Tokyo Marui sale - around 12-14 at last count were <£230 and get yourself a quality RiF with the knowledge that if you look after it and don't do any daft upgrades on it, it will last an age and be pretty consistent too.

That is what I did 14 years ago anyway.

 

[2RIR]

Thanks, all good advice you all know your stuff and all taken in time to go shopping and crack commando your right I've already told a white lie or two but what the missus doesn't know doesn't hurt her lol

 

[FreeFrag.UK]

Just to add to the conversation with some pointers with some general pieces of advice.

I tend to advise people to work out a budget which takes into consideration any extras you may require such as magazines, batteries, magazine pouches and any other accessories/necessities that maybe required.

Once you've worked out how much you have to spend then I tend to suggest drafting a list of "needs" vs "wants". As an example if you play a lot of CQB then you're probably going to add "PDW/Carbine Length" as a need whereas you may decide that you would quite like a folding stock but that this feature isn't a deal breaker so it may get lumped in the "want" column. Also you may have limitations on firing modes which can be used (semi in CQB for example) which would also enter into it as a "need".

From there I then tend to suggest that people identify any platforms which they like or can't stand. You may decide that you love "AR's/M4's" but that you can't stand "G36's".

The above information helps to narrow things down significantly as there is such a huge range of guns and equipment now available in airsoft covering a significant array of budgets. Inevitably the budget is your biggest factor but some manufacturers excel at particular platforms. Out of the more "budget" focused manufacturers Specna tend to be the go to for M4's and G36's whereas the range of metal AK's from CYMA (I can't recall which specific model designations) tend to be viewed as excellent budget model AK's. As you move through into the more mid-range budgets recommendations tend to include G&G and ICS as your two major manufacturers. Finally your high tier manufacturers/products tend to be the Tokyo Marui NGRS line when it comes to AEG's and GHK for your GBBR's.

Inevitably you have outliers too. LCT tend to be considered the go to for any guns of Russian origin although their G3 is reportedly excellent and they have more promising upcoming guns on the horizon. E&L are their fiercest competition when it comes to representing the AK platform. If you like SMG's then the Scorpion Evo is more or less considered the best option on the market.

I don't know how much help the above is but hopefully there's something workable in there.