Advice for a Newbie

[JoeR500]

Hello people, this is my first post. I’m looking for some advice on getting into Airsoft, I’m in North Yorkshire so my nearest place is HQ Airsoft in Driffield, What kind of guns/kit will I need to start out? Face mask etc.. I’ve phoned them today but due to COVID they are not doing gun rental at the moment and that poses a problem as I’m told you have to play 3 games to be able to buy an RIF legally. Any advice would be appreciated!

[GAMBLE]

@JoeR500 👋

Welcome to the Forum!

Sadly due to the current situation certain fields may or not allow renting, it’s not going to be permanent, likely due to a number of reasons! 🤔
The best part is you can wear anything you want as well as choose your gear!
🔫😎👍

Funny enough decided to make a YouTube channel during lockdown, nothing fancy, but covering loosely on a few things for beginners! 🤔

Good luck getting started, when you get the chance, hopefully soon! 🤞👍

💷GAMBLE💷

[Rogerborg]

21 minutes ago, JoeR500 said:

What kind of guns/kit will I need to start out? Face mask etc..

Decent boots with ankle support.  Eye protection - polycarbonate safety glasses or goggles, or mesh, many options are available.  Pyramex i-Force dual pane glasses are a reasonable default, or an Dye i4/i5 full face mask, or most stuff by Bolle or Valken or... (and on and on).  You can add lower face mesh protection if you like, or just wrap a scarf round, or risk your teeth.  That's it, you don't need camo or tacticool gear.

 

You need a defence to buy a RIF, but you can buy a two-tone without issues (as long as you're 18+).  The site owner, marshals and players will keep you right about what to do with it.  Some site will arrange for you to purchase a RIF that's send to them and essentially loaned to you on game days until you get your UKARA defence, but not all, and then it's still going to be passed around which kind of obviates the point of not doing rentals.  However, since HQ Airsoft didn't mention this as an option, I suspect it'll be two-tone, or wait.

 

On a gun, pretty much any carbine/rifle sold by PatrolBase will do.  I'm not suggesting buying from them, just that the range they stock represents stuff that works, down to the cheapest £80 CYMA M4.  You don't need a pistol, and should avoid retailers with "BB" in the name unless you know exactly what you want from them and why.  Even if your gun comes with a basic nihm battery, you'll generally want to buy some 7.4V lipo batteries, a decent charger (IMAX B6 variant) and think about magazines - you can play with a single hi-cap, but many folk prefer to run multiple mid-caps.

 

Now, all that said, it's generally strongly recommended to rent first, but that doesn't seem to be an option at the moment, so you'll have to make a decision about whether to wait, or whether to dive in.

 

If you do, just don't go crazy, you can easily dump multiple hundreds of £££ only to find that it's not the experience you thought it would be.  Yes, you can flog stuff on, but two-tone is harder to shift and "barely used" doesn't mean "barely depreciated".

 

Tough call right now, but I would encourage you to try and find a way to play, it's ace.

[JoeR500]

Thank you for the replies and I’ll check out your channel Gamble. I’ll take all this on board. I’ve set a budget of £300-£400 for everything so I’m hoping that will cover all bases, I’ve been on patrolbase website and I definitely want to hold out for a full black rifle not two tone, I do have an Airsoft RIF that was given to me by a workmate, it’s some kind of M4 but I can’t find the exact gun on a website, I’m struggling to identify it to buy batteries etc.. I’ll try to attach pictures. Has anybody had any experience at HQ Driffield? Me and my younger brother are absolutely set on getting into Airsoft, we are late twenties and need a hobby that isn’t work related! Worst case scenario is it worth me using the rifle I have and my younger brother buying an second hand RIF? Or does it not work like that? 
 

again, all replies are appreciated. 

[Leonine]

Get the basic essentials for now and play a couple of games. I wouldn't recommend spending money on fancy stuff or expensive brands until you have played a few games and decided if you really like the game or not. It can cost abit of money.

- Mouth protection.

- Gloves.

- Airsoft Glasses/goggles.

- BBs.

- Battery for the gun if electric.

- Maybe a charger and gas if you have a gas gun.

- Gun sling.

- Walking boots.

- Good clothing.

That's all I can think of is what to invest in firstly.

Finding how the battery connects either Deans or Tamiya would be wise and finding how big the battery slot is by dismantle where the battery goes. 

P.S 11.1v LiPos are best if you can fit one.

[Dusix]

Hi. Your rifle looks like this https://www.airsoftworld.net/king-arms-sig-sauer-556-shorty-airsoft-rifle-aeg-with-blowback.html

I would advise to check fps ( do chrono check) before going for play, by gun description it's too hot for use in UK. 

[Rogerborg]

11 hours ago, JoeR500 said:

I do have an Airsoft RIF that was given to me by a workmate

 

Given?  Wow.

 

Yup, that's a good call by Dusix, it does look like that Kings Arms.  And yes, you will want to check how hot that's shooting, as the usual UK limit is 350fps on a 0.2g BB.  380fps puts it over 1.3J and technically speaking means it's not an airsoft gun, it's a Section 5 prohibited firearm, so hopefully it's already been tamed a bit.

[JoeR500]

Thanks dusix. Rogerborg, it was given to me last year and has been sat in the shed ever since, I’m going to take it to urban Airsoft on Saturday and have it chrono tested, section 5 firearm!? I hope they don’t take it from me if it is over 350fps! Is it easy to tone them down? 

[Rogerborg]

Don't worry about it, nobody at an airsoft site is going to care (you're doing the right thing by getting it tested), I just mention it as a technicality.  The UK legal limits for airsoft guns are 1.3J (about 375fps on 0.2g) for anything capable of full auto fire, and 2.5J for semi / bolt action.  That's one reason that you'll generally see a 350fps / 1.13J site limit for AEGs, to keep them comfortably under the 1.3J legal limit.

 

Above that, they (again, technically speaking) become classed as firearms, just as air-guns are, and there's a blanket prohibition on fully automatic firearms in the UK.  It's not really a concern for AEG users: if anyone is going to come a cropper it'll be HPA users who can produce much higher energies and are limited in rpm by how fast the mag can feed.

 

Power is generally reduced by changing the spring, but just changing the hop rubber (same barrel, same hop unit) can effect the air seal and energy, and you could in extremis just poke a pinhole in the hop rubber to create a small air leak and get the power down.  A solution will present itself if the gun is too hot, but if it came from someone who's been playing with it then it's likely already been dealt with.

[JoeR500]

@Rogerborg had the gun chrono’d yesterday, 250-255fps which is gooood. Brother bought a Nuprol sofmod M4 in two tone to get him going. Picked up a few bits and bobs, batteries etc. Just looking at getting some pyramex glasses but not sure on the face protection, mesh stuff looks uncomfortable tbh but cheap enough. Is a helmet a must have? Or will a beanie hat do the job? One thing though, when I charged my batteries last night the balance charger was making a real high pitched noise and only took half an hour to charge Lipo, is that normal? Cheers fellers.

[ScottyLad]

8 minutes ago, JoeR500 said:

@Rogerborg had the gun chrono’d yesterday, 250-255fps which is gooood. Brother bought a Nuprol sofmod M4 in two tone to get him going. Picked up a few bits and bobs, batteries etc. Just looking at getting some pyramex glasses but not sure on the face protection, mesh stuff looks uncomfortable tbh but cheap enough. Is a helmet a must have? Or will a beanie hat do the job? One thing though, when I charged my batteries last night the balance charger was making a real high pitched noise and only took half an hour to charge Lipo, is that normal? Cheers fellers.

A helmet is nice for CQB to protect your head from doorways etc, but as long as you're careful a beanie will do just fine. In terms of face protection you could get a mesh mask that is a nylon padded material on cheeks (allows a good cheek weld) but still has the mesh on the teeth area (for good protection)

[Splodge]

9 hours ago, JoeR500 said:

@Rogerborg had the gun chrono’d yesterday, 250-255fps which is gooood. Brother bought a Nuprol sofmod M4 in two tone to get him going. Picked up a few bits and bobs, batteries etc. Just looking at getting some pyramex glasses but not sure on the face protection, mesh stuff looks uncomfortable tbh but cheap enough. Is a helmet a must have? Or will a beanie hat do the job? One thing though, when I charged my batteries last night the balance charger was making a real high pitched noise and only took half an hour to charge Lipo, is that normal? Cheers fellers.

 

Like @ScottyLad said, I can definitely recommend getting a mesh mask with soft sides like this one - (https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/nuprol-mask-6-tactical-half-face-mask?pv=9905) over something with full steel sides - (https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/viper-tactical-cross-steel-mesh-half-face-mask?pv=2019). Not only will it let you get closer to your rile (Aiming down the sights) but IMO they're much more comfortable. 

[Rogerborg]

22 hours ago, JoeR500 said:

@Rogerborg had the gun chrono’d yesterday, 250-255fps which is gooood.

 

On 0.2g?  That's quite low.  Fine for CQB, you'll struggle in woodland.

 

 

22 hours ago, JoeR500 said:

Brother bought a Nuprol sofmod M4

 

Oh.  Well, it's done now, but in general we advise staying away from Nuprol for anything other than gas and maybe BBs. They rebrand the cheapest stuff they can find.

 

 

22 hours ago, JoeR500 said:

not sure on the face protection, mesh stuff looks uncomfortable tbh but cheap enough.

 

+1 to half-fabric masks, they really do help getting your head down to the sights, although some folk struggle even with that.  You'll have to try and see though.

 

 

22 hours ago, JoeR500 said:

Is a helmet a must have? Or will a beanie hat do the job?

 

You don't need anything, although most folk wear a hat of some sort.  I go with a cap for shade.  Ventilated might be an idea, it can get sweaty.

 

 

22 hours ago, JoeR500 said:

One thing though, when I charged my batteries last night the balance charger was making a real high pitched noise and only took half an hour to charge Lipo, is that normal? Cheers fellers.

 

Depends on how much charge was in it, they ship partially charged.

 

Cheap chargers are a false economy.  If that's a Nuprol too, then the correct place for it is in the bin before it burns your house down.  And that's not a joke or hyperbole, these things really do blow up as far too many customers have found.

 

I've very happy with my SkyRC IMAX B6 clone charger.  Not cheap, but it gives a lot of information and options.

 

Sorry to be the bearer of not-so-good news.

 

 

[Cr0-Magnon]

4 hours ago, Rogerborg said:

Cheap chargers are a false economy.  If that's a Nuprol too, then the correct place for it is in the bin before it burns your house down.  And that's not a joke or hyperbole, these things really do blow up as far too many customers have found.

 

I agree regarding cheap chargers (I got through three @ £15 - £20 each) until I bought a smart charger. A Nuprol one nonetheless! The "NUPROL SM4 80W SMART CHARGER"

 

I'm not sure they still make them but I love mine. I never leave a charging battery unsupervised and unplug it while not in use - which I'm sure you'll agree is recommended regardless of which brand you're using.

[JoeR500]

Well thanks for the bad news 😂 I meant 350-355 FPS. charger can go in the bin if that’s the case, waste of £21. His M4 was £190 but the guy at urban said it was a decent starter weapon, I guess we will have to see how it goes. I’ve gone with half mesh/fabric mask, pyramex I-force glasses and beanie hat. Not going to bother with the tactical stuff yet.

 

thanks for the advice. 

[ScottyLad]

8 minutes ago, JoeR500 said:

Well thanks for the bad news 😂 I meant 350-355 FPS. charger can go in the bin if that’s the case, waste of £21. His M4 was £190 but the guy at urban said it was a decent starter weapon, I guess we will have to see how it goes. I’ve gone with half mesh/fabric mask, pyramex I-force glasses and beanie hat. Not going to bother with the tactical stuff yet.

 

thanks for the advice. 

You might have already been told, but for chargers/batteries try and stay away from airsoft shops/sites as they tend to up the prices for relatively poor quality stuff.

[Tackle]

For a good U.K. supplier of batteries and chargers, try componentshop.com , great guys, good source of advice & prices are some of the best in the country.

 

[Shamal]

I'll back Tackle up on that. Component shop. Great guys and they dont want to get you off phone within 30seconds.buy all my batts from them

Regards

[JoeR500]

Cheers for all the advice fellas. we played our first game Sunday at HQ Driffield. Excellent day and booked on for the next game in two weeks. Other players were all spot on, got lost a few times & ar kid fell over a tree stump on full sprint and landed barrel first into a doorway but other than that is was mint 😂

Scouting the internet for new kit now!