Aftermath m4s... good way to start..??

[smchev]

My younger brother and I decidd to get into playing airsoft, and are looking for guns and gear.. the gear we have more or less decided on, but since I am the one finacially responsible of arming and equiping us im doing quite a bit of homewok making my decisions...

I ran accross company of very reasonably priced AEGs which on paper look promising, i am interested in the Aftermath Knight and Kirenex M4s.

My question is should I spend some money on 2 of these for starters or am i better off going on the field with a bag of bbs and throwing handfulls at people..?

[Styrak]

No, that rifle is a good way to throw away money.

[VooDooPeteK]

Figure out what your budget is and then look around from there.

I also noticed you are local so why not come out to one of the DMZ games and check out some of the guns at the field and if you are over 18 you could get AVed at the same time

There is a game tomorrow from 3pm till dark

[smchev]

Hmm, and why is that. The Kirenex m4 with the S-system looks badass, and is supposed to have metal guts, as well be fully compatable with any top notch AEG parts. From the reviews ive read on the net the most reoccuring concern with people is that its heavy... Sure its not a classic army by a long shot but for under 200 bucks can it be that bad?

Dont mean to argue but what are some challanges I should expect if i decide to buy these, is there any core problems some uprgades wont prevent?

[scurvythepirate]

Its simple you buy quality you buy once.

[smchev]

Originally Posted by VooDooPeteK

Figure out what your budget is and then look around from there.

I also noticed you are local so why not come out to one of the DMZ games and check out some of the guns at the field and if you are over 18 you could get AVed at the same time

There is a game tomorrow from 3pm till dark

We where at DMZ 2 weeks ago, that was our first look into it, but as i said i have to buy 2 peopl's worth of guns and gear so price is the biggest factor right now.

[scurvythepirate]

Airsoft isnt for people who cant afford it, if you are on a budget though, you could always rent from another player.

[VooDooPeteK]

Originally Posted by scurvythepirate

Airsoft isnt for people who cant afford it, if you are on a budget though, you could always rent from another player.

depends on what your intentions are

we have guys and girls that come play with karkens, aftermaths, clear springers and have fun.

Sometimes its who you play with not what you play with that makes for a good time.

Plus if you can't rent a gun (our local field doesn't rent guns and I have yet to see a player there rent a gun) do you really want to spend huge cash on a gun when you are just getting into the sport and not sure if you will really like it?

Yes the aftermath guns are not the best but they will get you on the field playing and giving you an idea what its like. Then save some cash up and get something better for yourself and then you have a loaner gun to get your friends into it.

[ACCL]

hey im also new here but not new to the sport so im here to offer my 2 cents. My brother used to have one of those M4's and i have to say they are not bad. And that is an honest opinion. He had it for about a year and then he traded it to a friend of ours for an AK47. So yes i think it is a good way to start off. Only thing i may suggest is get a 9.6Volt battery cuz the stock 8.4volt makes the gun sort of slow. Hope this helps.

[L473ncy]

Next time you go to an airsoft game ask if there will be an AV rep present beforehand or something. That way you don't need to run around on your own time (and the AV reps time since they're only volunteers) to get it done.

Sounds like you're 18 and your brother is younger? If so then no worries, as long as the gun is your property (ie. kept under your lock and key in storage) and he is supervised at all times with it then you'll be fine.

That said I believe the Kraken and Broxa are the "best" out of the Aftermath line. They're by no means the greatest and I would strongly suggest saving up around $300 each ($600) and getting something of better quality that you know will work. Hell you could even see if you could get a deal since you're buying for 2 people (maybe they're $400 each but if you buy two you could get them for $750 shipped or something).

AV definitely opens up a lot of possibility and you might even be able to snag a deal so maybe you'll want to rent the next time you go and then buy once your AV goes through. (PS: When you buy used, make sure that the person is reputable and you get good descriptions of the item, a lot of people have been getting burned because of things not being mentioned or something is wrong) Also buying locally and being able to see it first hand and test fire it is highly recommended.

[dutch13]

Well I have a couple of the Knights CQBs that I've been tearing apart and rebuilding solely for the rail, stock, and handgrip. My bro, who is a gun tech, tore apart the gearbox and found that all gears inside are all cyma. The motor wasn't too bad, nor the other internals for a new player. But the externals of the gun are pretty decent. The battery replacement in the crane stock is pretty quick.

[Drakker]

Originally Posted by smchev

Hmm, and why is that. The Kirenex m4 with the S-system looks badass, and is supposed to have metal guts, as well be fully compatable with any top notch AEG parts.

Low end products often boast all metal internals. The thing is, there are different qualities of metal alloys. Most often, in these low end product, they use shitty alloys (often called "pot metal") that aren't very durable. So in the end, the all metal internals might break and you have to replace a lot of the parts and that will run you as much as the base price of the gun.

If you buy an Aftermath product, expect to have to spend a lot of time fixing it, and that is gonna cost you a lot of money. You just might be lucky and get a very good one that is gonna last you a while, but that is often not the case with low end products.

Once you get AVed, you can get much better guns for about 50-100$ more. With better quality internals and much much much better externals.

If money really is an issue, the Crossman S34P shotgun is often for sale at 70-90$ at Canadian Tire. With a good coat of paint it looks good, extra shells are cheap, and its very good for indoor play. This will give you a taste of the sport for cheap, and if you decide you like it, you can buy better guns later when you have more money put aside.

Good guns retain a lot of resale value while cheap guns are hard to sell back and will often sell for a tiny fraction of their retail value. There's a reason why a lot of people here will tell you to buy a high end gun. They are that much better, and the value/quality per dollar is WAY higher than cheap guns. Also, being tougher, they won't break as often as cheap guns, which will save you a lot of headaches later on.

Also, VoodooPetek got it right: "Sometimes its who you play with not what you play with that makes for a good time." Its good people that make Airsoft fun, not Airsoft guns that make good people. While this might seem contrary to what I just said, the way I see it, you don't need to have the best gun to be a good player. I've seen a lot of people running only pistols in CQB, being severely out-gunned, and we still had a lot of fun. If you plan to get a taste of Airsoft during the winter, a good quality pistol might fit better in your budget, and its more than good enough to play indoor (provided the place is heated if you use a gas gun).

Though, from having played often with pistol-only and shotguns, the shotgun is often more versatile since it has a much better effective range. Or get a pistol with a few mags AND a shotgun, then, as a team, you can be effective at long range with the shotgun, and still retain quick-fire ability in close range with the pistol. This way, when you buy a better gun, you already have your sidearm... this way you will not have wasted a lot of money on cheap AEGs that you are not gonna use anymore once you get a good gun.

Sorry... I like rambling. It wasn't that bad, was it? :)

[L473ncy]

I got a good example for Drakkers post:

Would you buy a plastic floor hockey stick to play recreational ice hockey? No. That plastic floor hockey stick can be compared to the crappy $20 POS "softair"/crapsoft.

OK So we've established you shouldn't bring a floor hockey stick to a recreational ice hockey league. Now obviously you're not a professional ice hockey player since you're playing in a rec league, and since you don't have too much money you're not going to buy the same kind of sticks that the pros use that might cost $100+ each.

So what do you do? Well..... you have the option of buying a used $20 stick from a local consignment store. That's perfect, not the best out there, and not the worst POS that will break after a single slapshot or hard pass.

The point is you can buy cheap but you also need to consider how cheap you should go. $5 for a POS stick that you can't slapshot with, $20 for a decent used entry level stick that will make the league games more fun (than not having a stick to play with) or $100+ for a professional grade composite stick with all the bells and whistles. At the same time it's not about what stick you have either, it's more about who you're playing with in that league that makes it fun (ie. hardcore "play to win" types of guys or "laid back friday night for fun league" guys). Actually you know what, starting out airsoft can pretty much be directly compared to starting out hockey. You can worry about a stick but you also have to worry about skates that offer good support (boots), helmet and jock strap (PB mask/eye pro), etc.

PS: Drakker, how did you get that Geomorpologist user title? I wanna hear the story.

[AngelusNex]

ONLY aftermath product worth buying is the kraken and even it's a gamble. Higher lemon rate than any other decent aeg.

If you want an M4 but dont wanna pay too much go G&G or SRC clear lower receiver model, their as cheap as decent M4s get.

[Drakker]

Originally Posted by L473ncy

PS: Drakker, how did you get that Geomorpologist user title? I wanna hear the story.

It has to do with a long monologue on my part... on how I was gonna go in the Appalachian mountains, dig up clay, sand, gravel and if I was lucky maybe a few sea shell fossils or even parts of an ancient glacier that had been buried some 10 000 years ago. Then try to figure out what happened and why the terrain is the way it is today. I almost made geomorphology sound fun. Almost. ;)