Which of These Manufacturers Make the Best Reliable AEG for a Beginner?

[Dexter_271]

Which of these manufacturers make the best reliable aeg for a beginner? ASG, G&G, CYMA & Specna Arms?

 

Budget is around 200euros

[Asomodai]

It's not quite as simple as that, as many good brands make poor specific guns, but out of the lot I would say Cyma AK's (Models that begin with a CM04*) and G&G M4's. 

 

Specna gives you quite a lot for your money, but I don't think the consistency in manufacturing is on the same level as the two above. 

[DerDer]

With the exception of certain models (Scorpion EVO) most of ASG's offerings are rebranded models. So depends on which particular model you are looking at?  

[Adolf Hamster]

31 minutes ago, Asomodai said:

It's not quite as simple as that, as many good brands make poor specific guns.

 

absolutely this.

 

op: do you have a specific style of gun you're after/like? because that might help narrow down which manufacturer you were wanting to look at.

 

for example the cm045 would be an excellent starter gun, but not if you hate ak's.

[Skara]

All of them and none of them at the same time.

 

It's a shit answer, I know.

 

They're all equal in terms of what you get in the box: a gun that is for the most part in working order and that only requires a battery and some bbs.

 

Diving deeper into how each manufacturer does things, I found G&Gs to be lagging behind in terms of technological solutions, on the basic CM16 models the hop unit is the old style with three gears which is known for undwinding itself with use and it's not precise in adjustment, their gearboxes are not the strongest out there, they don't have QC spring guides (it's not mandatory but it's a nice touch should you ever get into teching) and the bushings they use are bad (brass). Also G&G barrels are abysmal, very low quality pressed tinfoil that gets scratched if you look at it funny.

Specnas (Core series) on the other hand sport 8mm steel bushings, QC spring guide, the absolutely fantastic ZCI rotary plastic hop unit and decent quality (for the price) 6.03 brass inner barrels. They also come at a slightly lower price point than G&Gs which opens up more room for upgrades should you decide to.

 

Cymas have made a huge leap in quality recently, I remember Cymas being rather bad when I started playing some 12 years ago, they would struggle to survive three skirmishes without breaking something. Now though, they punch well above their weight when you consider how little they cost. AKs in particular seem to be the n.1 alternative if you don't want to spend E&L/LCT money. I had a go with a Cyma M14 socom not long ago and honestly it didn't feel like a €150 gun at all.

 

ASG does mostly distribution (so rebrands) with one exception, the scorpion evo, which is the only gun they make in house (to all the Bren fanboys, it's made by King Arms).

 

What style of gun would you like to have?

[Speedbird_666]

1 hour ago, Dexter_271 said:

Which of these manufacturers make the best reliable aeg for a beginner? ASG, G&G, CYMA & Specna Arms?

 

Budget is around 200euros

 

ASG only manufactures one gun - the Scorpion Evo. Everything else is OEM'd by (in no particular order) Classic Army (most recent Armalite Series), Lonex (Proline LMTs and older Armalites), G&P (Other older LMTs), VFC (Spectre Series YHM M4), JG (G36s).....etc etc etc.  So there's no simple answer.

 

G&G Combat Machines were the go-to starter gun for many years. But they've now out-priced themselves and you get don't very much for your money.

 

CYMA - The VFC style metal AKs are excellent and relatively cheap (the CM.045 is great), their M4s are much better with the newer internals.

 

Specna - Each of their product lines has a different OEM manufacturer. The 'One' and 'Core' series offer decent, if unremarkable performance but good value. On paper the 'Edge' series should be a killer deal, but are plagued with QC issues.

 

*EDIT* @Skara posted literally the same thing as me at the same time, but in more detail. 🙂

[Shaydee]

OP made a very similar thread a few days ago and never replied, not an answer to if his budget was gun only, etc, etc.

[Adolf Hamster]

8 minutes ago, Shaydee said:

OP made a very similar thread a few days ago and never replied, not an answer to if his budget was gun only, etc, etc.

 

apparently i replied and all.

 

just goes to show what lockdown has done to me memory

[Shaydee]

47 minutes ago, Adolf Hamster said:

 

apparently i replied and all.

 

just goes to show what lockdown has done to me memory

Just shows how boring I am really mate 😄

[Druid799]

6 minutes ago, Shaydee said:

Just shows how boring I am really mate 😄

Didn’t reply ? Just shows he’s an ignorant fecker then ?

[Adolf Hamster]

2 minutes ago, Druid799 said:

Didn’t reply ? Just shows he’s an ignorant fecker then ?

 

hard to tell, maybe hoping that phrasing the question differently will get an easier/simpler answer?

 

his previous thread seems to indicates he wants an ar, although he didn't specify then or not wether or not his 200EUR budget is to cover just the gun, or to cover a complete starter package.

[Druid799]

1 minute ago, Adolf Hamster said:

 

hard to tell, maybe hoping that phrasing the question differently will get an easier/simpler answer?

 

his previous thread seems to indicates he wants an ar, although he didn't specify then or not wether or not his 200EUR budget is to cover just the gun, or to cover a complete starter package.

Fair point , in than case he’s not an ignorant fecker , no he’s a vague fecker ! 🤣🤣

[Adolf Hamster]

4 minutes ago, Druid799 said:

Fair point , in than case he’s not an ignorant fecker , no he’s a vague fecker ! 🤣🤣

 

i'll take your word for it, the subclassifications of feckery are not a subject in which i've done sufficient background research.

[Dogsbody100]

Seems odd to keep starting up threads and then ghosting them, most people on here will at least have the decency to reply after some activity with a simple ‘thanks’ - courtesy no?

 

Maybe he’s shy 🤔

 

I must admit though that reading this my ideas of what my first rifle is going to be have been slightly rearranged, I was another cm16 fan but it sounds like they’re not so hot these days? 
 

 

[Adolf Hamster]

5 minutes ago, Dogsbody100 said:

I must admit though that reading this my ideas of what my first rifle is going to be have been slightly rearranged, I was another cm16 fan but it sounds like they’re not so hot these days? 

 

kinda depends, things change over time after all.

 

heard pretty good things about the cyma platinum range for nice starter m4's although i don't exactly pay too much attention to the state of ar's these days.

[Speedbird_666]

12 minutes ago, Dogsbody100 said:

I was another cm16 fan but it sounds like they’re not so hot these days? 

 

 

 

G&G captured the low-end market for some time, no doubt about it. But then they started jacking up their prices (even announcing a worldwide 10% price hike on their website).

 

Problem is, the other manufacturers have caught up and often undercut G&G in terms of cost for comparable features, or exceed G&G's feature set for comparable cost.

 

A basic CM16 (no rails, standard plastic hand guard front end) will set you back £125. A Specna CORE can be had for cheaper (£110-£120), with a much better feature set (a choice of rails/lengths, Quick change spring, tightbore barrel, rotary HOP).

 

There is now no compelling reason to buy a G&G Raider (£140) because for a few quid more you can buy significantly better guns.

 

Other and new manufacturers are also entering the game (e.g. Evolution and Saigo Defense) saturating the sub-£150 market even further.

 

Yet G&G are still churning out the same old stuff, hoping their name alone is a worthy selling point.

[Skara]

4 minutes ago, Speedbird_666 said:

Yet G&G are still churning out the same old stuff, hoping their name alone is a worthy selling point.

THIS.

By buying a G&G you're paying for the brand, not the item.

 

Also they've gone apeshit crazy with their proprietary magazine pricing...

[Dogsbody100]

Wow, pays to ask around! 
 

Im not a tech or anything close to one so wouldn’t mind a tasty rif that has out the box performance without any tweaking.

 

I thought that was the cm16. However I can well see the worth in spending an extra tenner and looking at other brands if it will yield way better specs. 

[Adolf Hamster]

3 minutes ago, Dogsbody100 said:

Im not a tech or anything close to one so wouldn’t mind a tasty rif that has out the box performance without any tweaking.

 

teching is something i do advocate learning, even nominally high end guns aren't always perfect out of the box and the ability to fix stuff yourself always proves to be a boon when say buying secondhand.

 

nobody starts out good, best (indeed probably only) way to learn the ways of the tinkerer is to constantly fuck up until you get it right

[EDcase]

9 minutes ago, Dogsbody100 said:

Wow, pays to ask around! 
 

Im not a tech or anything close to one so wouldn’t mind a tasty rif that has out the box performance without any tweaking.

 

I thought that was the cm16. However I can well see the worth in spending an extra tenner and looking at other brands if it will yield way better specs. 

Also look at JG.  They've upped their game in the last few years.

[Adolf Hamster]

1 minute ago, EDcase said:

Also look at JG.  They've upped their game in the last few years.

 

still can't get around how a jg gearbox is smoother running than an lct......

[EDcase]

4 hours ago, Speedbird_666 said:

...On paper the 'Edge' series should be a killer deal, but are plagued with QC issues...

Duno what you based that on.

There have been a couple of lemons reported here but you can't immediately classify that as a plague.

It would be interesting to do a survey actually.

[Adolf Hamster]

11 minutes ago, EDcase said:

Duno what you based that on.

There have been a couple of lemons reported here but you can't immediately classify that as a plague.

It would be interesting to do a survey actually.

 

i think a lot of it is based on the reports from the likes of negative airsoft.

 

tbh my sum total experience with specna is seeing one of their very early models in the local brick and mortar and was quite impressed at the exterior quality, but afaik that's not the problem so much as the internals being a bit more sketchy.

 

of course as with all brands you have your monday morning guns, your middle of the week guns and your 5-minutes to closing on friday guns.

 

for example as much as the humble cyma ak is espoused as the immortal gat with it's legendary reliability proven by the number of beaten to crap rental gats that still somehow shoot, i've also seen them strip pistons within half an hour of coming out the box.....

[Speedbird_666]

14 minutes ago, EDcase said:

Duno what you based that on.

 

Well, the one down my shed for starters.

 

It's been well known that the Edge series has had some serious QC issues. Even their Brand Ambassadors have said so.

 

There are quite few videos on Youtube - both Negative Airsoft and Bigbird Airsoft have covered it.

 

Just because you got a 'good' one.....🙄

[EDcase]

I do wonder if it was a bad batch.  I still think there are many more good ones out there that people just don't shout about.

Now I'm just gloating 😁

 

Negative seems to be quite unlucky.  He got two Hi-Power MK3's and they were both DOA 😔

 

 

The lesson from all this is, DON'T throw away the box immediately 😆