"Take Apart" Firepower Plastic Airsoft Pistol Spring

Beginners Guide to Buying your Offset Airsoft Gun

Past u/Houseofcards32

This guide literally has everything you demand when it comes to buying your first airsoft gun. If yous have 15-20 minutes to read it, I highly recommend reading. This guide was created on the 1st of 2020, and then this information is up to date, and sources volition exist cited. I accept been playing airsoft since 2010, so I personally have made plenty of mistakes along the way. Read this guide and you volition not make the same mistakes I did.

Table of contents:

Best Bang for your buck Starting AEG's
Things to consider
Choosing a Weapons Platform
Different Types of Airsoft guns
Brand Overview
Practice YOUR Inquiry
Understanding the Basics
You lot become what you pay for
Do Not purchase a sniper as your first gun
Buying your gun
Buying used airsoft guns
Using Paypal
Decision

Best Bang for your buck starting AEG's

Archetype Ground forces Skirmish Line- $169 (M4 platform)

ICS M4A1-$150 (M4 platform)

CYMA Full Metal AK47- 150$ (AK platform)

The guns listed higher up are some of the best contenders when it comes to beginner airsoft AEG's. These have been tested past thousands of people across the world, and are all reliable and volition last you lot a lifetime, if yous maintain them properly. There are a massive amount of Classic Army beginner rifles available, in all sorts of configurations and lengths. If you lot're looking for something different than the one pictured above, check out these here. The one I have pictured in a higher place though is the most popular, equally it has its own mosfet, the Archetype Army ECS. It allows you to modify betwixt firing modes, and have things like 3 circular flare-up, and even 5 round flare-up. The ICS pictured is the 2nd biggest recommendation I requite to new players. The ICS sportline serial is robust, and is also used by many. The 150$ dollar price tag is great for most, as its cheaper than the CA, but offers no mosfet. Lastly we have an AK from CYMA, who is regarded every bit the best company to brand beginner-intermediate AK'southward. This CYMA pictured currently has the highest amount of reviews on Evike, as it has also been used past many. You want to start small when ownership your start gun, because if you buy a long or heavy gun and you are scrawny, y'all volition regret information technology about immediately. The last note in this function is to non buy a sniper rifle as your first airsoft gun. Read the section regarding snipers, I will explain in that location.

Things to Consider

As you continue to read through this guide, I will remind you of the golden three rules when it comes to starting airsoft:

Practice NOT buy a sniper as your first airsoft gun.
Inquiry your airsoft gun
What you pay for is what y'all will get.

Choosing a Weapons Platform

Before even thinking almost which specific airsoft gun y'all want to buy, you need to figure out which type of gun you lot want to get. You want to go one that fits your manner best. If you have a local store in your area, become there and get a feel for the weapons platform you are wanting to go. M4's and AK's have the virtually upgrade/replacement parts available, and that is why they are recommended the most. Exercise note that a stock gun is going to be outperformed by people who accept upgraded their rifles to their maximum capability. I would non let this discourage yous, as yous are going to accept fun either way. If you like airsoft and want to continue playing, so I would worry about upgrading. As mentioned earlier, exercise Not get a sniper rifle equally your starting time airsoft gun.

Dissimilar Types of Airsoft Guns

There are v dissimilar major types of how your airsoft gun fires bb'southward. I will give a overglorified overview of each type, but I HIGHLY recommend starting with an AEG.

Automatic Electric Gun -AEG for short, this uses an electric motor to bulldoze a piston, which is so compressed by a leap, which compresses air to burn down the gun. This is obviously overglorified and is much more complicated than this, but AEG's are powered by NiMh or LiPo batteries. I highly recommend NiMh batteries to beginners.

Gas Blowback-GBB for short, these are realistic airsoft guns that tin can often be rewarding whist playing with them. These are powered past either light-green gas, or propane, and these power the slide or bolt which fires the bb, and then cycles another round in the bedchamber. They part identical to their real steel analogue, but exercise come with some slight drawbacks. These practise non work in cold weather (ordinarily below 50 degrees) and need to be cleaned oft to prevent jamming. Some GBB'southward use co2, but co2 normally wears the gun down more depending on the specific model.

Electrical Blow Back- These are basically AEG's that imitate a commodities going back and forth on a real steel firearm. This adds some other complex layer to AEG's and often break later on a few uses. The EBB office normally puts a lot of stress on the gearbox, and can ofttimes lead to a cracked gearbox. The but reliable EBB at this electric current time is Tokyo Marui's Recoil shock line. These are normally 500-600$ and require a lot of upgrades to perform well. Bolt has recently released a new EBB line that is obviously skilful, but time volition tell if this line is a amend alternative to Tokyo Marui.

Spring Powered- These are unmarried shot/pump/pull everytime you want to shoot. These are normally sniper rifles or spring powered shotguns, because they mimic their real steel counterparts. The firepower of leap airsoft guns is extremely limited when going up against AEG's, GBB'due south, and HPA users.

HPA- or High Pressure Air, is an extremely popular alternative to AEG's. These allow you to change the FPS/ROF relatively easily for dissimilar regulators. The massive downside to these is the external air tank you accept to carry, every bit well as that HPA oftentimes costs a lot more than than AEG's.

Brand Overview

Hither is a list of brands and their general qualities. Due annotation that not all of these brands are recommended due to the simple fact that they do not make good products. You lot should utilise this as a reference indicate to give yourself an idea of where to go and afterwards practice individual inquiry on whichever airsoft gun y'all choose. This list volition include companies that brand and produce AEG's.

ASG- Makes mostly intermediate to higher finish AEG'due south. Very few beginner rifles to await at, and near of the internals on their beginner lineup is outdated.

Echo 1- Mostly outdated and better options are out there. Internals are pretty outdated in today'due south airsoft world.

Elite Force- Owned by Umerex, produces very expert intermediate to college end rifles. Their beginner lineup is about 6 years and I would avoid this make for beginners.

EMG- Uses APS/G&P/ARES every bit the oem for nearly of their rifles, produces meh rifles. Not recommended for beginners.

KWA- 1 of the oldest brands that is however producing solid beginner rifles that can contend with newer companies today. Has solid loftier end guns as well. Only con is that someparts internally are proprietary and cannot be upgraded.

G&Thou- The Combat Machine lineup one time was the best line of airsoft guns offered to beginners, but these are 7-eight years erstwhile and even their G2 lineup is non as practiced as other brands. Makes meh intermediate to high end guns, with their G2 mosfet being a horrible choice.

Krytac- Solid internals, but also kind of proprietary in their trident lineup and slightly outdated. Makers of the newer Vector, which is likewise had its fair share of issues equally well.

Archetype Army - One of the all-time beginner lineups as of 2020. Has a lot of choices to cull from, and also makes solid choices for high end guns. They endeavor and compete with the VFC avalon series.

Vegaforcecompany- VFC makes the Avalon serial, which as of this moment is the best higher terminate AEG on the market place. They also oem the Aristocracy forcefulness mp5, which has the avalon gearbox inside. They do not make beginner guns.

King Arms- Pretty decent, they practice non produce a lot of rifles anymore, simply they are partnered with EMG.

Lancer Tactical- One of the worst brands in airsoft, sporting bad internals, and a company that falsified rubber ratings on their goggles. Users have reporting nothing but bad things most this brand, and rifles often suspension in the span of 1-2 months.

Tippmann- Produces solid beginner rifles, has not really made annihilation "new" for a few years. Their Commando lineup is the most popular.

PTS- The subdivision of Magpul that produces a lot of training gear for airsoft. They too brand high end AEG's that have slowly gotten meliorate, as they have partnered with KWA, Thousand&P, etc.

JG- Entry level company that produces "decent" AK'south, avoid their M4's like the plague. Externals are unremarkably non that slap-up, but makes for a good learning gun if you're learning how to tech.

CYMA- Produces some of the all-time entry level AK's available. Externals and internals are pretty good, although their m4's are not very good.

Crossman- A brand that you lot should avoid completely, does not produce anything good.

ICS- Makes solid beginner rifles and intermediate- high finish rifles. Internals are very skillful on beginner rifles, externals are decent as well.

Tokyo Marui- Used to be the about popular brand in airsoft, often referred every bit the pioneers of airsoft, manufactures normally tend to copy ™ designs at a much lower quality. All of Tokyo Marui'south guns are made out of plastic and have very low fps laws due to Japan.

APS- Produces null expert, has the worst QC(quality control) in all of airsoft other than Lancer Tactical. Their internals are utter garbage simply their externals are quite unique.

Umbrella Armory- The most expensive make in airsoft, specializes in loftier end gun builds. Known for their OCAW line and their Krytac line.

Practice YOUR Research

Earlier buying a model, practice proper research on the brand and gun you lot are buying. I find that this site has a massive database when it comes to airsoft gun reviews. Just utilise your fingers and type in the gun and the brand you are looking for, and you lot volition get enough of reviews. Just note that if you lot look up a YouTube review, near of them are sponsored and the company paid to say good things about the gun they received. There are a few skillful ones, but most of them are either kids who cypher most the gun they bought, or a paid shill that says nil but good things about the product they got. Both of these two often exaggerate how the gun performs, because 1 is paid to sell them, and 2 knows very lilliputian about airsoft internals. Therefore if y'all make a decision to buy an airsoft gun based on a YT video, you have made an irrational decision. Instead of watching a YT video on a gun, do proper inquiry using the site I provided in a higher place. By not doing research, you volition end upwards with a shit gun that volition non last more than than 1000 rounds. The market is littered with garbage guns, and if y'all don't do proper research, you volition finish up with i. Every bit quoted past u/thetboneguy, you volition be shooting yourself in the foot if y'all do not research your gun. Having a good gun is better than having a broken gun at an event, I promise you.

Agreement the Nuts

A adequately common fault that new players make is disruptive the FPS(Feet Per 2nd) of a gun with how good it is. If you live in an area with a field, most fields do not allow guns shooting over 420 fps with a .two, where as indoor arenas normally don't allow annihilation college than 330 fps on a .ii. By choosing an airsoft gun over the limit, you are limiting where yous can play in your country/state. Just because it has high FPS does not hateful information technology shoots farther than a gun that shoots 350. Due to bb'southward being so calorie-free, hopup is used to give it backspin to keep information technology in the air longer. To simplify, the utilize of this hopup, the speed of a bb no longer affects the distance. In Nihon, they have a -one Joule limit, hence why all Tokyo Marui guns shoot less than 300 fps.

You should understand basic airsoft gun matientience. If your gun breaks and needs a new part, information technology'south improve that y'all practice non have to transport it to a shop to go it fixed. I will give an case. If you strip a piston, information technology is well-nigh a 25$ function. If you do not know or understand how to modify it yourself, you lot take to ship it into a shop where they will normally accuse a 15-20 fee but to get it on their workbench. And so a 20$ ready now costs yous double that, and if you lot knew how to fix information technology, you would have only saved xx$. Airsoft Forum and r/airsoft are two places that I would recommend yous start. This thread on airsoft forum is almost 9 years old now, but still contains very useful information on how to have apart a gearbox. Use the search bar on both sites to detect what you are looking for.

You get What yous Pay For

If you have non discovered this in existent life, if you pay nothing for a product, it is more than probable shit. Airsoft is no unlike. If you are non willing to spend a minimum of 150$ for an AEG, charger, BB'southward etc, than airsoft is probably non the right hobby for you. I often recommend renting or borrowing an airsoft gun before you buy, then y'all can actually see if y'all enjoy airsoft. If you lot are stupid enough to spend l$ on a Walmart LPAEG, congradulations for non listening and you lot just wasted yout money. At present that you are out 50$, you tin't open up information technology up and set information technology because they are not made to opened upwards. You lot are probably thinking to yourself that those 500$ Tokyo Marui guns are expensive, but they exist for a reason. People are willing to pay a loftier price for a reliable gun, what makes yous think yous volition notice a 50$ one at Walmart? If you are not willing to buy, like I said, rent or borrow.

In that location are instances where airsoft guns have a high cost tag have very poor performance, examples of this would be APS, Lancer Tactical, EMG, etc. These are fairly common in today'southward airsoft market as companies QC seems to have gone off a cliff. The externals may exist overnice, but the internals are utter shit.

Practise NOT purchase a Sniper every bit your first Airsoft gun

If you are merely getting into airsoft, please allow me to explicate why getting a sniper rifle as a beginner is a impaired and stupid idea. Before you call me a novritsch hater, read on and discover why.

With your upkeep, you will NOT be able to get into airsoft sniping. You lot may wait online and see commodities activity snipers within your budget, merely not realize that stock sniper rifles are utter garbage and even some GBB'due south tin can outrange a stock sniper. You may watch Novritsch and Silo accept practiced activity in their videos, but do you lot e'er wonder why their videos are so brusk? You do the math. You are wanting to be like them, simply you don't seem to realize that sniping is not a cheap virute. Airsoft snipers are Built not bought. You tin beget a 120$ JG Bar10, but tin can you afford putting 600-700$ worth of upgrades in it to get in perform like an bodily sniper? Yeah I didn't think so. You have to build an airsoft sniper for it to perform well enough to qualify as a good sniper. Novsitsch sells a rebranded Change M24, but you can build a sniper far better than his for cheaper.

Blank bones basic AEG's volition outperform a stock sniper rifle, and they also have like x20 more magazine capacity than your sniper. Sniping requires a lot of patience and it might be high advantage, simply you are going to exist sitting in the same position exposed to fully-automatic burn down as you chose to be a sniper. Being a sniper is not often activeness packed, regardless of Novrtrisch's clickbaiting bullshit videos. The sniper rifle you Want like mentioned earlier is actually a custom tuned gun that requires a lot of work and fourth dimension. Sounds extreme,only most airsoft snipers built their rifles and they perform equally a sniper should. Instead of wanting to exist the next Nov, I want you go to ASGI or Evike, and purchase a beginner rifle and become out and have fun.

Buying Your Gun

Now that you have decided on what gun you want to buy, information technology is time for you to find a website to buy it from(if you are non buying local). Evike and Airsoft Gi are the two biggest retailers in the U.s.. Both of them are pretty reliable suppliers with a actually big option. Make certain to look around their websites when you are buying, both of them normally take good deals going on. Pricing always varies from supplier to supplier, but most prices are pretty consistent. Exercise remember that if you are buying online, y'all will more than probable have to pay for shipping. Evike offers a coupon code that any guild over 99$ gets free basis (ane/1/2020). Evike's website UI is a LOT improve than GI'southward, but pushes their own brands like Matrix and APS pretty hard, and they have also been known to accidentally post wrong inventory online. GI is a flake more consistent only they are often more expensive and have brands that they have deals with (Lancer, and CA)

Ownership Used Airsoft Guns

I have been buying/selling/trading airsoft guns for the past 5 years so I know this section very well. I HEAVILY recommend that you Exercise Non purchase your first airsoft gun used. There are some pretty proficient deals out there is you know what you lot are doing. As a whole, buying used can oft be a risky gamble. As a beginner, you are more than than likely to not know the background of the gun. That is putting you into an uninformed decision where there is no warranty or company to send it back to. Non to mention that you tin can go a broken gun that the seller tin can either not tell you a part is broken or merely flat out lie to y'all. If you are buying from a individual party (non a visitor), everything is sold as is, and there are no buy backs, trades etc.

You should never pay more than 80% of the face value of a gun or gear, and for some guns, lxxx% is pushing it fifty-fifty if it has non been used. The second a gun walks out a retail store, it unremarkably loses anywhere from 20-25% of its value. Practise remember that the seller is selling the gun for a reason. Perhaps they are selling it because they need cash, maybe they are selling it because information technology is "a ticking time bomb" of repairs. Either style, you need to enquiry information technology as if it is a new gun. Inquire how many rounds information technology has been through, any external issues, any internal issues? Tasteful modifications such as internal upgrades enhance the price of a used gun.

Using Paypal

Another section I am heavily knowledgeable in. If you are buying something from someone online, Ever USE PAYPAL GOODS AND SERVICES! Using sites like Venmo, or Cashapp offer no protection against scammers. Another major scam is that someone will send y'all a cheque for a gun, and as soon as you greenbacks information technology, the check will bounciness and y'all are out a gun When using Paypal, brand certain to use goods and services as mentioned in a higher place. By using Chiliad&S, you are covered by Paypal if something happens (seller does not send the item, seller sends the wrong item, etc). Practice NOT USE FRIENDS AND FAMILY! Why? Because if you send it through friends and family, you lot will not be protected if the seller scams yous. Sellers that scam users ofttimes tell you to send information technology through f&f because Paypal does not take a fee for using information technology. Practice not fall wary of this scam.

While ownership used, Document everything. Should something go wrong, whether it be the seller's error or your error, it is always meliorate to play it safe. If you accept to open a Paypal instance or i is opened against you, you will accept all the data regarding the sale (screenshots, text messages, PM'southward etc). Similar mentioned before, if yous tin play your cards correct, you tin score some KILLER deals. I own an Umbrella Armory OCAW, that retails for $2000, and I managed to go information technology for $950 Neb. Overall I do not recommend ownership used, as buying new is safer for new players.

Determination

All of this information that is on this thread is information and experience I accept had in my airsofting career. Nosotros play airsoft to have fun, that is the chief reason we play. Do not settle for something that is not reliable, unless you desire to have a cleaved gun at your first game. Please PM me if y'all take any other questions, I am a respected fellow member of the community and am more willing to help you.