Lateralus Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 Hi there. In the past couple of days, I've been reading up on Airsoft and it seems really interesting. I'm only 16, and I understand that to be a registered UKARA member, and so own your own gun, you need to be at least 18. All the same, I figured I'd ask some questions about the sport. How different to paintball is airsoft? I've got myself my own paintball set up, and, having seen what is on offer for airsofting, I feel that it was a waste of money- of the two, airsoft seems more tactical (thumbs up for me) and all guns seem to be replicas, unlike paintball where people run around with what I call 'Power Ranger guns.' How much does it cost to do airsoft? As mentioned, I'm starting to regret taking up paintball and one of the reasons is the costs- local sites charge at least £35 for a day, and I end up churning out even more cash for ammo, but from what I've seen airsoft is relatively cheaper and ammo costs less too. Gun maintenance- how often is it done? I saw a notice on a website explaining that tampering with your gun can be detrimental to it's performance, which sounds a lot unlike paintball, where you're almost constantly taking it apart and cleaning the internals. And how IS an airsoft gun maintained? Will post if any other questions come to mind, cheers in advance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AF-UK Founding Member Deva Posted May 8, 2009 AF-UK Founding Member Share Posted May 8, 2009 Hi, Firstly you can still play Airsoft even though you are not 18. It is often pretty cheap to go for a day and rent a gun and get lots of ammo. Probably around the £30 - £40 range depending on where you go. However if you were to get yourself all kitted up it would more likely cost around £20 to go for the day. Yes, Airsoft is quite a lot different from Paintball. Although Airsoft was originally based off of Paintball the general idea was to slow things down a bit, create bigger areas to fight in, and make the whole thing more realistic. 6,000 BB's will cost you around a tenner from the normal shops, (although can be found for less) and your average good Chinese clone gun will cost you around £100 - £150 including a few extra mags. Clearly, a lot cheaper than Paintball since you would have to pay £500 + for the good competition guns. Maintaining your gun is far more complex than that of a Paintball marker, hence why you will have read about the possibility of making the performance decrease. If you are comfortable with gearboxes and such, then there should be no problem in keeping the correct amount of grease in there or making any upgrades or replacements if anything were to go. Think that's about it BTW, what Paintball marker do you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lateralus Posted May 8, 2009 Author Share Posted May 8, 2009 Hi, Firstly you can still play Airsoft even though you are not 18. It is often pretty cheap to go for a day and rent a gun and get lots of ammo. Probably around the £30 - £40 range depending on where you go. However if you were to get yourself all kitted up it would more likely cost around £20 to go for the day. I live in Reading, South East England, and so far I haven't been able to find many close sites- London and Bristol are the only ones I've found sites at at the moment, and I'd probably end up spending more money on travel than the actual day! 6,000 BB's will cost you around a tenner from the normal shops, (although can be found for less) and your average good Chinese clone gun will cost you around £100 - £150 including a few extra mags. Clearly, a lot cheaper than Paintball since you would have to pay £500 + for the good competition guns. Sorry, what's a Chinese clone gun? I've seen a lot of categories of airsoft guns, and apparently AEG (can't remember what it stands for) are generally recommended for beginners. Maintaining your gun is far more complex than that of a Paintball marker, hence why you will have read about the possibility of making the performance decrease. If you are comfortable with gearboxes and such, then there should be no problem in keeping the correct amount of grease in there or making any upgrades or replacements if anything were to go. I don't have a problem tinkering with the guns, and it can actually be pretty fun, it's just a case of equipment- are allen keys and screwdrivers all that are needed to take apart airsoft guns and tweak the interiors? BTW, what Paintball marker do you have? BT Delta (MP5 replica) I just wanted to get something more realistic and instantly recognisable rather than the speedball markers that are out there. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AF-UK Founding Member Deva Posted May 8, 2009 AF-UK Founding Member Share Posted May 8, 2009 Have a look at http://airsoftmap.co.uk/ to find local sites. When I say chinese clone gun I am referring to an AEG. There are lots of makes, however the quality of the clones is very close and they are half the price. Allen keys and screwdrivers is all you need, and a good memory of where everything went Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lateralus Posted May 18, 2009 Author Share Posted May 18, 2009 Have a look at http://airsoftmap.co.uk/ to find local sites. When I say chinese clone gun I am referring to an AEG. There are lots of makes, however the quality of the clones is very close and they are half the price. Allen keys and screwdrivers is all you need, and a good memory of where everything went Thanks mate. I've been looking around for gear and I've found an online store called 'Tactical Airsoft UK LTD,' seems good and stocks a lot of equipment. If you could just take a second to check out the links, I'd like to know if you have any feedback about the gear I've got my eyes on at the moment. Rifle Look for JG AK47 Tactical w/ full stock http://www.tacticalairsoftshop.co.uk/Html/AEG.html Eye protection I know I said I had my own paintball goggles, but they stop me from aiming down the barrel of my Delta, wouldn't want the clunky things to block an airsoft rifle! Look for Viper Tactical Goggles- not sure on clear or tinted yet http://www.tacticalairsoftshop.co.uk/Html/...20Clothing.html Magazine Look for JG AK47 magazine http://www.tacticalairsoftshop.co.uk/Html/Magazines.html And that's them! Any feedback any of you have on them would be greatly appreciated, as I'm considering getting them when I move on to buying my own gear. Also, I have a question- if my brother, who is 19, becomes a UKARA member, is it legal for him to buy Airsoft equipment and give it to people? (AKA, me) Considering doing that to save on two years of waiting but I'm not sure if it'll work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lateralus Posted May 31, 2009 Author Share Posted May 31, 2009 bump Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AF-UK Founding Member Deva Posted May 31, 2009 AF-UK Founding Member Share Posted May 31, 2009 Yup, all looks good I don't see a problem with what you suggested - just don't going doing anything stupid with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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