Just starting out

[Eeyore]

Hi, just joined the forum. I have read your intro to airsoft for newbs thread, and decided to get some advice. I have played paintball for over ten years and have recently decided to try something else. In the noobs guide it suggest staying away from M4 style guns. I am very comfortable with this style as I use to carry one ( well c8 actually) for work. Is there an Aeg assault rifle that is solid, can be ugraded and can receive a good battery and HI cap. mag that you could suggest. I figure I can invest about $700 dollars initially. I already own tons of cammies and tac vest from paintball. So the $700 would just be for the gun and accessories. Also can I use my paintball masks in airsoft. Thanks for the help in advance. I would consider it a favor if you could put links along with the names to help.

[Brit ter]

Get age verified then you can shop for one on the sales threads!

[pusangani]

it really suggests staying away from M4 style guns? that's prolly the most popular style gun in airsoft, maybe you should read that again, they actually suggest that noobs stay away from sniper rifles

[Rock 'N' Roll Outlaw]

Yeah M4's would seem like an easy candidate for a first gun due to its availability, accessories, and ease of work on internals.

[Eeyore]

OK so maybe I read it wrongly, any suggestions then?

[Brit ter]

I suggest , get something that you feel your going to be happy with alot of guys will say get this and that and a few months down the road its up for sale . you can reserch some of the different gun reviews and take it from there !

[pusangani]

Originally Posted by notom66866

OK so maybe I read it wrongly, any suggestions then?

yeh, if you're comfortable using an M series gun then start looking into getting age verified and then access the aeg section here on ASC and find yourself a nice one.

[Kuro_Neko]

I had many of the same questions as you have with much the same budget when I started.

I did extensive research and settled on the Tactical Carbine version of the Classic Army M15A4. I think it's the best of all possible Armalite versions. You have the shortened M4 carbine barrel, which makes you less likely to smack your barrel off something when turning quickly, combined with the full stock which houses a large battery. Small batteries don't have near the run time of a large battery, not to mention that the reinforced slip ring (the ring that keeps the fore-grip on) is really stong. While this is mostly a good thing and a big step up over CA's previous M15 versions, it makes changing small batteries in the field very difficult if not impossible.

CA's M15A4 series in general is a big step up over their previous versions and as far as stock armalites go they're probably the best. All metal where the real steel version is, the plastic parts where the real steal version is plastic are made of good quality. Classic Army has a deal with Armalite so you get all the proper markings. Plus that deal also goes to show the quality of the manufacture, Armalite wouldn't put their name on a shoddy product.

Internally the gearbox is reinforced metal and all the gears are metal as well. It fires hotter stock then Tokyo Marui's as well, firing at 300-320 fps where your average TM only fires 280-300 fps.

All in all this is a great starter gun if you can afford it. Because it's all metal you don't have to worry nearly as much about breaking it and you won't get any of the wobble that is infamous in stock TM M4/M16's. Unfortunately affording it is the biggest problem, they're not cheap. For reference I got my CA M15A4 from the classifieds, upgraded with a bunch of Systema internals to fire 390fps, for $600 shipped.

One of the perks of going with an M16/M4 variant is that mags are dead easy to come by and dirt cheap. You can get Star brand mags for like $5 a mag or less, plastic yeah but sturdy none the less (Star is also the only brand that makes realcaps too). Metal mags will run you a fair bit more, $15 to $30 a mag. There's no real reason to go with metal over plastic for mags except looks/realism. Though of course if you're going to go hicap then you might as well get metal ones. As to Brands, TM and CA make good mags. I've heard pretty good stuff about MAG brand mags as well. King Arms not so much, especially for M4/M16 mags. Star is always a good affordable fallback too.

Hope this helps you. If you have any other questions I'd be happy to pass on my (admittedly limited) experience. Feel free to PM me.

Kuro_Neko

[Crunchmeister]

I think why some may recommend staying away from M16 family of guns is because of the V2 gearbox. Of all the gearbox designs, it's the weakest neat the cylinder head, where the shell absorbs most of the impact from the piston. While it's true that they usually won't last as long as other gearbox models, a good gun with a reinforced gearbox shouldn't give you any trouble for a long time as long as you don't equip it with an über-spring and maintain reasonable velocities.

Personally, I think if you're used to real steel Armalites, then they're also excellent guns. As already mentioned, they're easy to work on, they have tons of accessories readily available (from cheap to ridiculously expensive - whatever suits your budget), and mags are readily available.

I will also echo what Kuro_Neko said and recommend a Classic Army M15A4 of some flavour or another. That way, you'll be starting off with an all metal gun with a high quality metal body, a reinforced gearbox, and reinforced gears. The external plastic parts are some oif the best you can get in a stock airsoft gun, being fibre-reinforced nylon instead of the weaker ABS plastic used by most other manufacturers. Stock they shoot at pretty modest velocities, but that's not a bad thing when you're starting out. And adding a new spring to up that velocity is pretty simple.

Also, something that wasn't mentioned - get yourself a good battery and charger. Get yourself a good quality high capacity. www.cheapbatterypacks.com is a good place to shop for quality batteries at a reasonable price. If your gun comes with one of those wall wart chargers, promptly toss that shit in the garbage, as it will kill your battery.
Get yourself a good smart charger. It will properly charge your battery and keep it in top condition. If you get a Ni-Cad battery, either get a discharger or make sure your charger has a discharging function. Ni-MH batteries don't need to be discharged before charging, so if you go that route, you don't need a discharger.

And as already mentioned, make arrangements to meet with an age verifier. Once you have your AV status, you can then have access to the classified and retailer sections of ASC, where you'll find ample new and used (sometimes well upgraded guns) that will easily fit within your budget.

[Erennert]

Depending if you want to spend all your money on just your gun stock, some good choices are, like Kuro and Crunch said, CA and TM. If you want a less expensive gun and use the rest for other things, JG's are also getting very good with their new guns and are great if you don't want to spend $500+

You might also want to consider your size. Say, if your 5"8ish you don't want to get a huge gun like a full stock M16, you might want to look into smaller guns like M4's, MP5's, smaller AK versions or else you will probably find it's too big to handle.

Also, look into where you'll be playing, the FPS limit for your field.

Hope that helps.

Welcome to ASC.

[Eeyore]

Thanks guys. I think the biggest problem I'm gonna have is to get age verified. Even at a ripe old age of 29 I still dont own a car. So I'm gonna have to convince an age verifier to meet me somewhere. So any answer to my question about the mask? I play paintball. Will a paintball mask take the higher velocity of airsoft? I have severaly good paintball masks and if I can save $100 by not having to buy a new mask I will.

[The Saint]

PB goggles will do fine, especially since we often play at PB fields and that's all they'll permit us to wear.

Do us a favour and fill in your location, please.

[Erennert]

Originally Posted by m102404

2. You get what you pay for. "shite to low end" 200-350..."mid to good" $350-550..."solid" $450-550-700+

I disagree, guns such as JG, most around $300 can easily compete with TM... it's not the gun, it's the player.

[Eeyore]

There we go location added. I agree with Erennert about it being "the player not the gun." But i don't wan't a gun that will detract from my performance. For example when I started playing paintball one ball per second was a fantastic rof, but now less than 30 means you're going to get bunkered on a regular basis. What I really want is consistency out of my equipment. I realize mil-sim sports arn't cheap which is why I'm prepared to spend about $700. Oh ya and about size. I'm 5'8 but have used an c7/c8 for years besides the lenght and weight issues there are the problems with batteries. Can you fit a large battery into a retractable m4 style stock?

[Erennert]

I dont think you can fit a "large battery", but there are options like a crane stock, or even an external battery bag/pouche

Usually M4's have the batteries in the front handgrip.