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airsoft gun recommendations?

HalberdBlueHalberdBlue Registered User regular
edited December 2008 in Help / Advice Forum
Some of my friends have been trying to get me to play airsoft with them for ages and I thought I'd give it a shot. They're gonna take me to a huge airsoft store tomorrow. I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations for a reliable cheap spring-loaded gun? They all use spring-loaded guns as well. I've played paintball a few times but I am absolutely clueless when it comes to airsoft.

HalberdBlue on

Posts

  • muninnmuninn Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    For spring loaded guns, I would go (as with most things) with a Tokyo Marui brand. Althought their springers might be tough to find stateside, they are most reliable and robust of the bunch.
    If you cant find that, go with the major brands such as KSC, Marushin, Maruzen. Stay away from anything from Crossman, Echo-1 (not sure if they actually make springers), or anything made out of clear plastic.

    Now for a very important disclaimer: do not be a dumbass about airsoft. Play only on an insured field (ie.: paintball field) and with owners permission. Make sure that your local laws do not have any restrictions on airsoft (some towns ban them, most colleges as well), and treat them as real guns: safety first, transport it in a locked case in the trunk of your car, NEVER have it out in public. Otherwise you can get shot, and ruin the sport for everyone else.

    muninn on
  • SpamSpam Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    Just out of curiousity, why are you limiting yourself to Spring guns when there are very high quality electric ones available for excellent prices now? For about $60-$70 USD you could get a CYMA Glock18c pistol which is both semi & full auto and about as reliable as you'll get for a airsoft pistol. Or the Jing Gong/Echo1 G36c is an amazing gun as well which you can pick up for under $100 - ideal as a starter gun.

    If you have to limit yourself to spring guns, I would avoid spring pistols as it really gets annoying having to manually cock them and aside from decent brands like Marui, they are pretty poor power and reliability wise. I would say go for a spring shotgun like the Double Eagle/UTG M47B or M56B Super 90 - the latter is more fun - it holds the bbs in faux shells and fires 3 shots at a time.

    Check out www.arniesairsoft.co.uk if you want more info on whats available.

    Spam on
  • HalberdBlueHalberdBlue Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    I'm limiting myself to spring guns because that is what everyone else I know uses and I'm poor.

    HalberdBlue on
  • XaquinXaquin Right behind you!Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    muninn wrote: »
    For spring loaded guns, I would go (as with most things) with a Tokyo Marui brand. Althought their springers might be tough to find stateside, they are most reliable and robust of the bunch.
    If you cant find that, go with the major brands such as KSC, Marushin, Maruzen. Stay away from anything from Crossman, Echo-1 (not sure if they actually make springers), or anything made out of clear plastic.

    Now for a very important disclaimer: do not be a dumbass about airsoft. Play only on an insured field (ie.: paintball field) and with owners permission. Make sure that your local laws do not have any restrictions on airsoft (some towns ban them, most colleges as well), and treat them as real guns: safety first, transport it in a locked case in the trunk of your car, NEVER have it out in public. Otherwise you can get shot, and ruin the sport for everyone else.

    I pretty much just wanted to mention that brand.

    Xaquin on
  • truck-a-saurastruck-a-sauras Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    I'm limiting myself to spring guns because that is what everyone else I know uses and I'm poor.

    everyone in the group using the same style guns is a good idea as it levels the playing field. It sucks when someone shows up with superior equipment and dominates to the point where everyone else isn't having fun.

    Springers are a good starting point. If your group really loves playing then increase the equipment level from there.

    and it can't be stressed enough that you follow the law and treat it as a real gun. Too many incidents have happened with idiot kids getting shot by being irresponsible little twats. Sorry for that, but I was in the sporting goods store recently and some thug-life kid and his older cousin were in the airsoft section talking about removing the orange tips from the guns and going to scare their friends and cause havok in general.

    I realize that is worst case, but taking anything for granted is a bad thing with airsoft. Think you can just go into the woods and play....never. There is always someone who will see guys in the woods with guns, call the cops, and hopefully they won't shoot.

    truck-a-sauras on
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  • shadydentistshadydentist Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    A couple of my friends were filming a movie and decided to use airsofts as stand-ins. This story ends with cops coming out of the trees with guns drawn. So, while not maliciously reprehensible, it was still foolish on their part.

    So yea, be really really careful with those.

    shadydentist on
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  • HalberdBlueHalberdBlue Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    I found out the store I'm going to has a website, so here is what I'll have available:

    http://www.airsoftatlanta.com/rifle.htm

    http://www.airsoftatlanta.com/spring.htm

    I'd like to spend under $50. I know I probably can't get a lot of quality for that much, but that's around the amount of money everyone else's guns costed.

    I use a pistol for paintball, so if any of those pistols are at least semi-worthwhile I'd like to go with a pistol. I can't really say why, just that I have more fun using a pistol.

    HalberdBlue on
  • BalgairBalgair Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    The aforementioned brands are worthy options.

    As far as the wanting a pistol thing goes-- yes, it's cooler to play around with your would-be sidearm. Yes, Jack Bauer would approve. But the bottom line is, in the $50 and below price range, no pistol is going to be very effective. It's a matter of functionality. Pistols have substantially smaller springs. Smaller springs = less force behind the bb = You need to get up close and personal to be able to hit anything. Not to mention, any gun under $50 bucks probably won't have a legit hop-up system...and might possibly have a plastic barrel. Basically, accuracy will be horrible. My advice? If you're firm on your budget, get the biggest rifle you can find, and make sure it's from a reputable brand. You want to be well over 250 FPS to not suck. Also, it's usually advisable to subtract about 15-20 FPS from anything advertised online. Retailers are liars. Read reviews before purchasing, and not the ones on the retails sites. They're plagued with fake reviews made by employees. www.arniesairsoft.co.uk if you want learn your stuff.

    PS: You'll be wanting to upgrade very soon. Such is the curse of airsoft.

    Balgair on
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  • LoafgoatLoafgoat Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    I have been out of the loop in airsoft for about three years now but back when i played the uhc mp5 was the <$50 spring gun to have. But it looks like there are qute a few new options now.

    Loafgoat on
  • SpamSpam Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    Sub $50, Spring only, from Airsoft Atlanta....


    I would get this bad boy!

    new_shotgun_jpg.jpg

    7th one down on http://www.airsoftatlanta.com/rifle.htm - M58 Shotgun, $30

    Spam on
  • muninnmuninn Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    Spam wrote: »
    Sub $50, Spring only, from Airsoft Atlanta....


    I would get this bad boy!

    new_shotgun_jpg.jpg

    7th one down on http://www.airsoftatlanta.com/rifle.htm - M58 Shotgun, $30

    No offense, but you obviously dont know what you are talking about.

    As to the effectiveness of spring handguns in airsoft, the OP mentioned that his friends often play with them, so he should be well aware of their range and accuracy.

    muninn on
  • SpamSpam Registered User regular
    edited December 2008
    muninn wrote: »
    No offense, but you obviously dont know what you are talking about.

    And why do you say that then?

    Spam on
This discussion has been closed.