Old(ish) bloke - Newbie player with son tagging along! Or posssibly the other way around!

[ricksanchez73]

Afternoon All 😁

 

Complete noob here and trying to get my head around every thing  and resisitng the urge to splurge!

 

But starter AEG rifles. Delta Armoury Charlie/Bravo or Lancer Tactical been looking at LT-15 GEN2 M4 ALPHA (with the smaller spare mag in the stock) or Nuprol or something else 🫣. I would like to stay under the £200 mark as I have to buy 2 (14 yo sons also got the bug!) 

 

Or is it a case of that all those in that price range of similiar quality build etc and jsut buy one I like the look of and enjoy thae games ?

 

And I know the same question probably gets asked twice a week and again every weekend so apologies in advance....have read through quite a few other posts bit not found much recent stuff

[EDcase]

Welcome ✋

 

Good starter guns can be had from CYMA and SpecnaArms for around £150.

Most guns around that price are decent enough to start with but I would stay away from Nuprol stuff in general.

 

Yeah, there are loads of posts about first starter guns and kit in general.

Keep some budget for decent boots with ankle support and eye protection.  ( would suggest to look at posts about the best eye-pro)

 

You'll get the hang of things soon enough 😉

 

Don't worry about age since you can play at your own pace.  (I know players in 60s and 70s that play)

But don't expect to stick with your son 😄

 

 

Edited February 20 by EDcase

[ButcherBill]

The usual advice is to wait until you've played 3 games renting equipment, once you have your UKARA buy a RIF of your chosing without having to buy a two tone pew. This'll also give you a chance to see if you enjoy the hobby before you remortgage your life away.

 

https://ukara.org.uk/

 

Player registration is free, to become a registered airsoft player you are required to take part in three games at the same UKARA registered game site over a minimum of two months, e.g. the third game being 56 days or more after the first.

You must be over 18 years of age, live within the UK and able to provide identification such as Passport, Drivers License or Bank Statement.

Edited February 20 by ButcherBill

[Galvatron]

Welcome! You have nothing to apologise for. We were all there once.

 

As ButcherBill said, I would personally recommend either renting guns at a site first (or buying used) then buying RIFs after getting your UKARA number.

 

As tempting as it is to buy your own guns first, you'd have to buy two-tone until you have UKARA or a suitable defence. Selling them on can be quite difficult unless you're willing to take a significant loss.

 

I'm not aware of any airsoft site whose insurance doesn't stipulate full-face protection for under-18s so you'd need to look for a mask for your lad. In addition to EDcase's suggestion to look for posts about the best eyepro, your safest bet is to look at dedicated airsoft/paintball retailers. I wouldn't trust AliExpress/Temu (I'd also be very cautious with eBay and Amazon unless they specialise in airsoft gear) for eyepro as there are lots of resellers lacking much in the way or moral qualms who either 

1. peddle fake goods that aren't safety rated while their legitimate counterparts are.
2. sell off the shelf googles and slap "airsoft" in the description to make a quick quid

EN166B (full seal around the eyes) for goggles or ANSI Z87 for glasses are the safety standards you should look out for. Bloc's product specs give a good example https://www.bloctactical.com/bolt

[Rogerborg]

Ahoy @ricksanchez73and welcome.

 

What they all said.  Have you played at least once, with rental gear?  It's a heck of a lot cheaper than trying to flip on the "airsoft regrets starter set" bundles that tend to be cluttering up the Classifieds.

 

I'd echo the advice to prioritise eye/face protection, and footwear, instead of guns.  For full-face, I use a Valken MI-7 mask with a "thermal", i.e. dual pane lens. This really helps with fogging issues.  You'll also have to budget for batteries and a charger, and I wouldn't cheap out on a Nuprol burn-your-house-down one.  SkyRC chargers offer a lot more features and assurance that you're not cooking your batteries.

 

If you're dead set on buying sooner rather than later, the Specna Arms FLEX and CORE guns with the HAL fire control system offer phenomenal features for the price. They have plastic receivers, which isn't necessarily any worse than cheap pot metal ones, but it may be a consideration for you.  I'd recommend looking for guns that are wired for Deans ("T" connectors) rather than mini-Tamiya, unless you're minded to solder on new connectors yourself.

 

https://www.patrolbase.co.uk/airsoft-m4-ar15-m16-variant-assault-rifles?*brand=302

 

But you won't go far wrong with anything from the current range of Specna Arms, Jing Gong, CYMA, Lancer Tactical, Double Eagle, or pretty much anything sold by reputable dealers like Patrol Base.  Aesthetics do count, your guns will spend more time being stared at than shooting, so don't hesitate to go with the heart over the head.

[Mik3F]

Welcome to the site and the money pit of Airsoft

 

A starter bundle is not a bad idea, but as others have said it will have to be two toned, not all that bad if you wrap it incamo tape etc

 

I got a Nuprol starter bundle and have no issues at all with it, firing 298fps on .25's

 

But what ever you do, good eye and face protection is a must

[Reef]

Welcome!

 

I’m just over a year into your story. My daughter now plays sometimes as well as my son and I, so I’m at x3 on all costs.

Step one, get the UKARA defence, as for rifle, get what you like the look of. Guarantee you will have at least 3 or 4 within a year 🤣

The Specna Arms are good value and I can testify to them being good starter weapons.

 

[ricksanchez73]

Thnaks for the advice all - much appreciated!! Decisions were made on friday eveing- cash was parted with and we played a full day at our local skirmish site Saturday! Both son and I happy with purchases made!

 

I went with a Nuprol Delta Recon with long barrel with 2 high cap mags, son chose a JG MP5 with rectraclebe stock that came with 1 x high cap mag and we got him a spare and once we had a few niggles sorted both preformed very well! Had a great day and got some hits in (took quite a few though to be fair) 🤣

[Mik3F]

Are they your guns or renters?

 

Glad you had a good day?

[ricksanchez73]

2 hours ago, Mik3F said:

Are they your guns or renters?

 

Glad you had a good day?

Hi, they are ours 😁 👍

[Mik3F]

Curious how you managed to get non 2 toned guns so soon, unless they are used ones

[Tackle]

15 minutes ago, Mik3F said:

Curious how you managed to get non 2 toned guns so soon, unless they are used ones

There's always someone who'll sell rifs with little or no proof of a defence. 

Thing is though, they've played airsoft with them, the pics prove that, so I guess there's probably no issue, after the fact, as the yanks say ?🤔

[Mik3F]

Im not bothered, just curious thats all

 

if its an online reailer I want to go shopping there

[Anonymoose]

It's easy enough to buy RIFs without UKARA. I bought most of mine before i had it.

 

[Mik3F]

Im shopping in the wrong places then 🤣

[ricksanchez73]

Retailer and site = same owners, they were happy that we had played at their site already (renter's) and booked to play again this weekend just gone! As long as they are happy they have covered themselves as the ukara is only a defense for the retailer then we were happy to spend money with them and support a local business rather than buying on-line 👍 every ones happy and we have nice pew pews 🤣🥰

[Rogerborg]

Excellent result, perfectly reasonable by them, and you'll get support that way too.

 

Good to see an MP5 out there rather than more M4 based PCCs, although he's dressed it up to look like an M4.  

[ricksanchez73]

2 hours ago, Rogerborg said:

Excellent result, perfectly reasonable by them, and you'll get support that way too.

 

Good to see an MP5 out there rather than more M4 based PCCs, although he's dressed it up to look like an M4.  

To be fair he was looking at an M4 but as soon as he saw the MP5 in the shop he was hooked 🫣😁 loadout wise we pretty much went with just a basic setup to run around the woods in 🤣 and what was cheap on Vinted 🤷‍♂️🤨🤣

[Rogerborg]

All looks good. One thing though, can he get a sight picture with that mask on?  I have to run optics and risers when I'm full-facing.

[Mik3F]

6 hours ago, ricksanchez73 said:

To be fair he was looking at an M4 but as soon as he saw the MP5 in the shop he was hooked 🫣😁 loadout wise we pretty much went with just a basic setup to run around the woods in 🤣 and what was cheap on Vinted 🤷‍♂️🤨🤣

 

Nothig wrong with cheap stuff from Vinted, can save a packet and grab some bargains

[Cannonfodder]

Welcome.

6 hours ago, ricksanchez73 said:

To be fair he was looking at an M4 but as soon as he saw the MP5 in the shop he was hooked 🫣😁 loadout wise we pretty much went with just a basic setup to run around the woods in 🤣 and what was cheap on Vinted 🤷‍♂️🤨🤣

The boy has taste (not that I'm a complete fanboy for german guns, especially H&K)

 

 

[ricksanchez73]

On 25/02/2025 at 14:16, Rogerborg said:

All looks good. One thing though, can he get a sight picture with that mask on?  I have to run optics and risers when I'm full-facing.

He said he was ok, but definitely looking at a riser for when we go down the optics route 👍

[Mik3F]

100% need a riser with a full face mask for any optics

Edited February 26 by Mik3F