Complete newbie looking for guns

[Oxide]

Here is my situation. Me and a few of my friends (we'll be about 6 people) want to get started with airsoft. We have a place (a private section of forest), so that's not really an issue, although it will require the use of biodegradable ammunition, but from what I've seen, it won't be a problem either.

The thing is, all of us are completely new to airsoft and don't know what kind of weapon to buy and where to buy it. Also, this is only for use between friends and we won't be making extensive/competition use of it; with this in mind, we don't want to be spending too much on a high quality gun. I heard I could find something reasonable around the 100$ range, although I think everyone would be willing to go up to 150$ if it was really necessary.

We are looking for assault rifles for tactical gameplay in a woodland setting. Another thing I was unsure of was the powering mechanism. It seems that my best choices would be either battery or propane. My concerns regarding each of those were: "Will the battery last my whole afternoon?" and "Will propane increase the price of my weapon considerably?".

Considering all this, what would you suggest I consider as a weapon? What powering method should I use? What price range will I be able to get? Is there anything else I should know or any tip you have?

One last thing is where can I buy airsoft weapons? All the links I have found on this are either dead links or lead only to equipment. Google has also led me almost exclusively to retailers not settled in Canada... any help?

Thank you for even taking the time to read this, any tip would be greatly appreciated.

[kalnaren]

There is no such thing as "competition grade" guns. There is only complete crap, lesser crap, not as crappy, and good.

For a decent gun, you're looking at $350 MINIMUM, and that doesn't count the price of batteries, magazines, a good charger, eye protection, and any tactical gear you may want. The commonly accepted amount to get into airsoft in Canada is about $1,000. It can, however, be done for less. $500-$600 is your absolutle minumum. Less than that and you're starting to make some serious compromises in equipment quality that's going to cost you more money in the long run.

A lot of n00bs like to say "I don't want to spend that much, I just want to play casual.." Learn from those of us who have been playing for a while. Once you add up all the money you spent on shit that keeps breaking, you'll wish you'd done the initial higher investment from the beginning.

Another common argument is "I don't want to spend a lot of money on a gun incase I don't like it and want to sell it later." That's actually a false argument. Higher quality airsoft guns, like TM, CA, metal ICS, etc. will resell for 90% of their purchase price if in good condition. With cheaper guns, good luck getting even a 75% return.

Also, don't play in a forest if it's public land. That's a stupid idea.

Most airsoft guns are battery powered. You can get gas ones, but they're expensive (think around the $2,000 range) and require a lot of maintenance. They're also very hard to find. As for will the battery last, that really depends on your play style. I can make a 1500mah mini last all day, whereas some people will suck a 3000mah large dry in an afternoon.

For n00bs getting into the game, I'd suggest either a JG gun (runs around the $350 range), or if you want awesomeness, a Classic Army (runs around the $600 range in full metal glory). Many people will suggest the new G&G or ICS halfbreeds with the clear lower reciever. Personally, I think these guns are way overpriced, considering for the same money you can get a full black and sometimes metal AEG of comparable or better quality.

The best place to get AEGs in Canada is in the classifieds on this forum. In order to gain access you must meet with an Age Verifacation representative and show them ID proving you are 18 years old or older. If you're under 18, good luck. The ASC community does not support the aquistion of airsoft guns by those under 18, and you will not recieve help in getting one.

[surebet]

Triple that amount, bear freakin' minimum, to be able to field anything worthy.

You might get deals in the classifieds.

[canadian guy]

Your best bet is to try and find an AEG - Electric will last quite a while on one battery pack.

Get age verified and check the for sale section.

[aznpos531]

Here are a series of links to threads on this site that you will find helpful:
1
2
3
4
5
6

[L473ncy]

Filling in your profile and contacting an AV rep will be a good step towards your goal.

Other than that you're kind of SOL.

Also $100-150 is laughable. You know how much my gun was? I had my gundoc valuate it and he said somewhere in the $600-800 range.

Some of my teammates run with $1500+ guns (PTW's).

[NoGear]

unless you guys want m3 shot guns then go with crossman. getting an aeg thats strong with that money is a pipe dream

[Rotting]

If you're only willing to spend abotu $150 on weapons, go to canadian tire or wal-mart. Most weapons that are field worthy, and by field worthy I mean 280FPS with 0.20g BBs, clearsoft, and pretty much 75% plastic, still run you about $250.

Sometimes there are local shops with guns that aren't horrible. Example: I got my Cybergun SiG552 from a somewhat local store (I travelled about 2 hours). Performs sub-par. Required some minor upgrades to get it to my idea of "on-par performance".

Since you said you want to play in a forest (Right off the bat, unless you OWN that land, don't play in there. All it takes is one guy to walk by, sees someone in the bush with a replica firearm, and you have swat teams surrounding the bush) you're probably going to need something a little more powerful than Wal-Mart guns. Reason: You won't even cut through the leaves. Literally. Your BBs will just bounce off probably, or at best, lose trajectory. Unfortunately, Airsoft isn't the hobby/sport in which you can be tight with a budget.

What I've spent so far in about 6 months...

SiG552: about $335.00
Mags: about $80.00
Two Inner Barrels: about $80
Metal Hop-Up: about $35.00
New battery: about $40.00
Surplus Woodland BDU: Like $40.00
Drop-Leg Panels+Pouches x2: about $80.00
Hat: Uh, $10.00
Balaclava+Gloves: About $45.00

So $745.00, roughly, give or take $10.00. I just placed an order for a vest, that was roughly $53.00, and I'm also purchasing 4 more mags+oil, and that's another $70 or so. After that, about $250 worth of internal upgrades still needs to be made to get the gun to my idea of "fully operational". All that is raked in at $1,118.00. and I still plan to get a headset for communications.

By no means am I trying to tell you "spend more or you suck", there are people who play airsoft just to shoot each other. Hell, me and my brother do a newbie-day style game every so often, and we just hand out the Wal-Mart M4s, and they play in whatever they're comfortable with, which is usually just jeans and a sweater that'll give them some kind of camoflague.

Honestly if you're just looking to shoot each other for fun every now and then, though, I might recommend paintball (unless you did that and hated it) just since it's a more casual sport. You can rent guns at fields, don't have to even wear appropriate gear, and you don't spend nearly as much. Especially since there's not a lot of real "Airsoft Fields". That and paintball games can be very last minute.


Although nothing feels quite like shooting your buddies with a gun that looks like a real gun.

[pusangani]

how old are you and your friends?

[deep in the bush]

Please fill out the profile to stop flames.

Thank you

100 will get you a few mags.


save the coin and get AV'd while waiting. It will save you lots of grief...the more you spend the better quality you will recieve.

But first fill out the profile. It helps us help you.

miigwetch

Originally Posted by Oxide

Here is my situation. Me and a few of my friends (we'll be about 6 people) want to get started with airsoft. We have a place (a private section of forest), so that's not really an issue, although it will require the use of biodegradable ammunition, but from what I've seen, it won't be a problem either.

The thing is, all of us are completely new to airsoft and don't know what kind of weapon to buy and where to buy it. Also, this is only for use between friends and we won't be making extensive/competition use of it; with this in mind, we don't want to be spending too much on a high quality gun. I heard I could find something reasonable around the 100$ range, although I think everyone would be willing to go up to 150$ if it was really necessary.

We are looking for assault rifles for tactical gameplay in a woodland setting. Another thing I was unsure of was the powering mechanism. It seems that my best choices would be either battery or propane. My concerns regarding each of those were: "Will the battery last my whole afternoon?" and "Will propane increase the price of my weapon considerably?".

Considering all this, what would you suggest I consider as a weapon? What powering method should I use? What price range will I be able to get? Is there anything else I should know or any tip you have?

One last thing is where can I buy airsoft weapons? All the links I have found on this are either dead links or lead only to equipment. Google has also led me almost exclusively to retailers not settled in Canada... any help?

Thank you for even taking the time to read this, any tip would be greatly appreciated.

[jordan7831]

Ive been on the sidelines of airsoft for quite sometime (joined up back in 04), and only recently have I been able to get "into" the sport due to my lack of legal age.

But from my lengthy time in the sidelines, I've learned that this is nowhere near an "affordable" sport. Why do you think there are always people trying to bum rides to games, or why there are always 100 people on the site at any givin moment (even at 3am) No it's not because we have no money or too much spare time, wait thats exactly it.

Shit went off on a tangent, anyways as a fellow noob I highly recommend you guys go out to a game and trying this out before dropping down any hard cash.

But of course you are more than welcome to drop cash down on a nice load out. I'm willing to buy some gear if you guys decide to bail out of here faster than the US government bails out shitty companys.

[Kuro_Neko]

You could manage Aftermath stuff (Broxa mp5 or Kraken AK47) for about $180, that's bargain-basement but they're usable. Anything less then that isn't worth the money. What Kalnaren said is pretty much accurate other then that.

For "tactical gameplay in a woodland setting", you're going to need decent eye protection ($20 minimum), camo ($50 minimum usually, though if you keep an eye on the local surplus store you can sometimes get it cheaper), a vest or chest rig to carry mags ($40 minimum), mags ($40 minimum for a good loadout), some good ammo ($10 per 2000 rounds) and a decent charger so you don't fry your battery is a very good idea as well ($40 minimum).

So an absolute bare-bones kit for what you seem to want to do is going to run you about $400 per person. And to get some of those minimum prices I quoted you're going to have to hunt around for awhile for good deals, average prices for everything but the gun, ammo and charger are usually more like twice the minimum I listed.

As to power source, pretty much all airsoft rifles are battery powered, there are gas powered ones but they cost considerably more. As to what type of gun, I would recommend either an mp5, an ak47 or a m16/m4 due to avaliablity of replacement parts, upgrades and accessories.

As to where to find these guns. The best place is here on ASC, provided you're 18 years of age or older. If not then you're pretty much out of luck, there are a couple of websites that will sell you clear guns, even Aftermath stuff but the prices are going to be seriously inflated.

[Oxide]

I'm going to clarify this right away because a few of you mentioned it: my friend does own the land, that is what I meant by private.
While I assure you me and my friends are all at least 18 years of age, (no need to further stress this point) I don't think the classified ads would fit my needs, considering the easiest path would be 6 identical weapons for me and all my friends. If I do decide to go down this path, then I'll bother getting my age checked.
I understand finding a good but cheap weapon is impossible, but all I want is for it to be functional for what I'm going to do, and that it doesn't die on my first afternoon.

I have been on the Canadian Tire and Wal-Mart websites, and only a few guns seemed even half-decent.
What do you think of this gun (considering my needs)?
Pulse R76 Airsoft Rifle 190 CAN

Also, what would be minimal fps for woodland setting?

[Kuro_Neko]

For that price you're better off going with Aftermath.

[Oxide]

I finally seem to have found a Canadian retailer with actual stock.
www.shootsoft.ca
Did anyone ever do business with them? Are they reliable?