Playing with expensive kit...

[gavinkempsell]

I consider myself more of a collector but will be joining a few games close to me shortly & not gonna lie... I'm a bit concerned about using some of my collection in game due to the £££ they cost me to buy (mainly wallhangers), I have a few I'll be happy using in game & I know there will be many on here that play using far more valuable RIF's than I own but I'd be devastated if one I prize was to break. I'm well aware they're made to be used, I'm just struggling to justify using a £600+ instead of a £150 one.

 

Am I worried for no reason?

[Emergencychimps]

Depends on the RIF in question, some are expensive because they're rare, some because they are good. 

 

I always see that these rifs, kit etc are there to be enjoyed and if you aren't getting the maximum amount of enjoyment out of them.....why bother? To some that will be keeping them as a collectors piece and to others fielding them. If they are just wall hangers.....do they need to work or just look pretty? 

[Nick G]

It's something only you can answer. If you are going to worry to the extent that it spoils your day then leave the expensive toys at home and run something cheeper.

 

For myself I run my GBBR l119s pretty much every game day now and those probably owe me close to 4 figurs each  and I don't worry about them. If they do happen to get damaged I built them so I'll fix them.

[Cannonfodder]

To be honest  massive breakages don't happen too often. However if you're worried about more minor damage, then certainly leave those rifs at home as skirmishing with them will result in minor scratches etc.

 

Although having a gun to use in game rather than using one you want to keep box fresh sounds like a good excuse for a shopping spree

[Rogerborg]

1 hour ago, gavinkempsell said:

I'm just struggling to justify using a £600+ instead of a £150 one

 

You know I have a memepic for that, right?

 

If you have a £150 one, I'd play with that, at least until you're confident with the sites and hazards.

[Jez_Armstrong]

The guns going to be in your hands all day so it's all down to how you play 

 

If you're slow and quiet and pick your shots and time to attack there's no reason you can't use something you think is rare or a wall hanger because you'll be concuous about it 

 

If you kick doors in, jump in puddles, run and slide everywhere use your cheap gun 

 

 

[Adolf Hamster]

4 hours ago, Jez_Armstrong said:

The guns going to be in your hands all day so it's all down to how you play 

 

If you're slow and quiet and pick your shots and time to attack there's no reason you can't use something you think is rare or a wall hanger because you'll be concuous about it 

 

If you kick doors in, jump in puddles, run and slide everywhere use your cheap gun 

 

 

 

Whilst this is entirely true, and there's a lot you can do by being a careful custodian there are some points to consider;

 

-there's the ever present risk of tripping etc, and theres never a guarantee you wont land on it in just the right way to break something.

 

-even just the normal course of shooting you can get broken or worn out parts, for run of the mill stuff you just replace what breaks but if the gun has uncommon proprietary parts go they can be a pain to source.

 

-babying a gun can detract from the gameplay experience, as you'll be too distracted to play the way you really want to if you're forever being careful not to scrape it against barricades or drop it in the dirt.

 

-there remains the risk of it being pinched if left unattended, although that said i've only ever heard of guns going walkies anecdotally.

 

If the gun has rarity value, with it being difficult to repair/replace parts if they break (internal or external) then it's maybe better to leave it at home, not like a cheaper more common gat is gonna be massively worse at the fundamental task of bb lobbing.

 

End of the day a pew that you aren't afraid of picking up some battlescars is the one you want to be taking to the field, where you draw the line on the cost/rarity graph is something that's entirely personal.

[THE CHIEF]

Personal choice. I'm looking at an LCT rpd. I would be devastated if I spent over £1000 on a gun and it never got played with. But that's because I WANT to play with it. Basically it comes down to how pissed off would you be if you damaged it. And can you get parts if you do.

[Cr0-Magnon]

I'm £700 into my Novritsch SSR4 and it's still not working 🤔

I live in hope that I'll get to beat it to death over a period of many years, rather than just against a tree on my next skirmish.

 

People run around with £1500+ NGRS. As you say though, everyone is different. I think wine is to be drunk, WWF figures bashed against eachother and Airsoft guns to be shot in the spirit of the game. 

 

....of course I understand some are irreplaceable but that's different to "expensive".

[Impulse]

I have a mix of both. Some of my guns are totally just wall-hangers (Tanaka m700 in a real Remington 700 wooden stock) that I won't use in game because replacing it would be impossible. However, I frequently run rifle setups that cost me many hundreds of pounds  (today I had my m700 which all in is about £400 or so, and my MWS which is about £800 not including the magazines), but if things break on them the parts are available for me to fix them so it's fine, even if they can be difficult to source at points.

[BigStew]

If it's rare/ hard to get parts I wouldn't field it, but also I couldn't justify to my self a £600 gun that I didn't use.

[Tackle]

@gavinkempsell, as has been pointed out, there's lots of variables to consider, which in turn vary further depending on the player in question.

Why not share what you've got, & what you think your playing style will be, & we'll tell what's worth fielding & what should be worshipped at home lol. 

[Iceni]

I'm into my G3 over £1K with the scope and everything else that runs with it. The most I've done to really protect it is make a polycarbonate scope protector. There's absolutely no point buying the gun you really want, just to look at it.

I mean a smartwatch is knocking on the door of £1K, so too are phones. You wouldn't stop yourself from having either just because you might damage it. Yes you might insure it. But it's not going to live in a case on a wall for it's life is it.

Is a £150 gun comparable to something more expensive. That depends on you. My other favourite gun the Aug A1 was £80 when I got it. What I can tell you about both the G3 and the AUG is there both guns I wanted, and wanted to play with.

If I got a gun with the intention of it staying pristine then that isn't a gun to play with. There are always cheaper options.

Edited May 7, 2023 by Iceni

[C-Diddy]

Not much more to add to the above. I will add that, like others, I've poured a fair amount of cash into my two main RIFs, and I don't mind them picking up a few battle scars. A gun that's worn in is far better looking to me than something box-fresh.

 

Sounds like you'd be better off keeping your wall hangers at home though. Even if you're super careful with them, just one skirmish will Inevitably cause a few marks. Just shoulder the gun against your face-pro can scratch it, let alone taking a weapon hit.

 

 

[Rogerborg]

6 hours ago, THE CHIEF said:

I would be devastated if I spent over £1000 on a gun and it never got played with.

 

[gavinkempsell]

15 hours ago, Jez_Armstrong said:

The guns going to be in your hands all day so it's all down to how you play 

 

If you're slow and quiet and pick your shots and time to attack there's no reason you can't use something you think is rare or a wall hanger because you'll be concuous about it 

 

If you kick doors in, jump in puddles, run and slide everywhere use your cheap gun 

 

 

As a fat 55yr old I doubt much kicking of doors will be happening... or running... or jumping

[Rogerborg]

5 minutes ago, gavinkempsell said:

As a fat 55yr old

 

Salma Hayek is 56, your argument is invalid.  You just need the right outfit.

 

[gavinkempsell]

1 hour ago, Iceni said:

I'm into my G3 over £1K with the scope and everything else that runs with it. The most I've done to really protect it is make a polycarbonate scope protector. There's absolutely no point buying the gun you really want, just to look at it.

I mean a smartwatch is knocking on the door of £1K, so too are phones. You wouldn't stop yourself from having either just because you might damage it. Yes you might insure it. But it's not going to live in a case on a wall for it's life is it.

Is a £150 gun comparable to something more expensive. That depends on you. My other favourite gun the Aug A1 was £80 when I got it. What I can tell you about both the G3 and the AUG is there both guns I wanted, and wanted to play with.

If I got a gun with the intention of it staying pristine then that isn't a gun to play with. There are always cheaper options.

Great point, I'll use a couple of my 2 tones for the first few games  to get a read on my gameplay style & once more confident bring out the 'favourites'.

2 hours ago, Tackle said:

@gavinkempsell, as has been pointed out, there's lots of variables to consider, which in turn vary further depending on the player in question.

Why not share what you've got, & what you think your playing style will be, & we'll tell what's worth fielding & what should be worshipped at home lol. 

Too many if I'm honest, started as a replica L1A1 to match the uniformed maniquin I kitted out in 58 pattern webbing & uniform I wore in the TA & snowballed from there, currently I have 5 snipers, 9 WW11 era, 11 bullpups, 7 SMG's, 2 PDW's, 19 rifles & 9 pistols.

 

Happy to use a G36C or SCAR-L for gaming but I have an L85A3, L86 LSW, a Tavor, FN2000, AUG G2 & a FAMAS I'd hate to damage.

18 are replica's or props & about another dozen are cheap springers or bought as faulty (wallhangers).

 

I don't expect to be an energetic player but who know's... I might do myself more damage than my RIF's.

Edited May 7, 2023 by gavinkempsell

[gavinkempsell]

16 minutes ago, Rogerborg said:

 

Salma Hayek is 56, your argument is invalid.  You just need the right outfit.

 

To be fair tho, she's not a fat balding 55yr old.

Thanks for the feed back folks, didn't need much arm twisting but I'm feeling better about using the kit I have.

[concretesnail]

You shouldnuse what your comfortable having fun with. Worrying all the time isn't going to be any fun at all.

I've purchased plenty of things that have great value mint/sealed than used but I still use them. Its much more enjoyable to use them than look at them, for me at least. 

[Cannonfodder]

One thing I've just thought of. What are the gnus  made of? For example the steel body of my E&L AK will take far more of a beating than the plastic body of my MP5K, so despite being significantly more expensive it's less likely to take significant damage so I'll feel more confident taking a fall (for example) with the AK

[rj1986]

The other week i slipped sideways on some wet leaves onto concrete.

 

Instinctively I took the fall with my shoulder due to

 

a) many many years of playing rugby, I knew my shoulder could take the fall

 

b) i had my shiny new mk46, and i would rather break my shoulder than that

[gavinkempsell]

9 hours ago, Cannonfodder said:

One thing I've just thought of. What are the gnus  made of? For example the steel body of my E&L AK will take far more of a beating than the plastic body of my MP5K, so despite being significantly more expensive it's less likely to take significant damage so I'll feel more confident taking a fall (for example) with the AK

Most are polymer or a combination of polymer & metal.

[TheFull9]

To me it's that combination of availability and budget.  There are a lot of airsoft guns that exist (especially 90s stuff) that look real cool and are valuable to collectors, but they're made of shit plastic and you'd never ever find an original replacement part no matter how much money you have because they've been out of production for many years.  As I think about it, the number of airsoft guns that are out of production vs currently available is probably huge actually.  Obviously a discontinued version of a plastic G&G AR is probably not something anyone will cry over if broken so there are levels and that's a personal choice, I wouldn't let anyone else dictate that for you.

 

If something is fixable/replaceable but you can't really afford to fix or replace it, then that's the other consideration and only you know your budget so again, not something for others to dictate.

[Leo Greer]

Personally, I tend to run around with about $350 worth of rif, all internal work included, but sometimes I pull something different out and it goes to 1K+. Either way, even $350 is a lot of money... but that money is all spent to enhance the experience when I run, sprint, jump over a barrier, trip on that stick, throw my rif three meters and it lands in the mud, pick the rif back up, and proceed to slay half a dozen rentals.

 

Figure out what makes the experience for you, and what kind of money it's worth and let that dictate your choices. 🙂