Pushing My Air Nozzel Is Stiff Airsoft

Beginners Guide to Buying your First Airsoft Gun

Past u/Houseofcards32

This guide literally has everything you lot need when it comes to ownership your start airsoft gun. If you have 15-20 minutes to read it, I highly recommend reading. This guide was created on the 1st of 2020, so this information is upwards to date, and sources will be cited. I have been playing airsoft since 2010, then I personally have fabricated plenty of mistakes along the way. Read this guide and you will not make the same mistakes I did.

Tabular array of contents:

Best Blindside for your cadet Starting AEG's
Things to consider
Choosing a Weapons Platform
Different Types of Airsoft guns
Brand Overview
Practice YOUR Inquiry
Agreement the Nuts
You get what you lot pay for
Do Non purchase a sniper as your start gun
Buying your gun
Buying used airsoft guns
Using Paypal
Conclusion

Best Blindside for your buck starting AEG's

Classic Army Skirmish Line- $169 (M4 platform)

ICS M4A1-$150 (M4 platform)

CYMA Full Metallic AK47- 150$ (AK platform)

The guns listed in a higher place are some of the best contenders when information technology comes to beginner airsoft AEG'south. These have been tested by thousands of people across the globe, and are all reliable and will last you a lifetime, if you maintain them properly. There are a massive corporeality of Classic Army beginner rifles bachelor, in all sorts of configurations and lengths. If you lot're looking for something different than the one pictured to a higher place, check out these here. The one I accept pictured in a higher place though is the well-nigh popular, as it has its own mosfet, the Classic Army ECS. It allows you to alter between firing modes, and have things like three round burst, and even five circular burst. The ICS pictured is the 2d biggest recommendation I give to new players. The ICS sportline serial is robust, and is also used by many. The 150$ dollar toll tag is dandy for virtually, every bit its cheaper than the CA, but offers no mosfet. Lastly we accept an AK from CYMA, who is regarded as the all-time company to brand beginner-intermediate AK'due south. This CYMA pictured currently has the highest amount of reviews on Evike, equally it has also been used by many. You want to start pocket-size when buying your beginning gun, because if y'all purchase a long or heavy gun and y'all are scrawny, you volition regret it most immediately. The last notation in this part is to not buy a sniper rifle as your first airsoft gun. Read the section regarding snipers, I will explicate there.

Things to Consider

As y'all keep to read through this guide, I volition remind you lot of the golden three rules when information technology comes to starting airsoft:

Do Non purchase a sniper as your first airsoft gun.
Enquiry your airsoft gun
What you pay for is what y'all will get.

Choosing a Weapons Platform

Before even thinking nigh which specific airsoft gun you want to buy, you need to figure out which blazon of gun y'all want to get. Yous want to get one that fits your manner best. If yous accept a local shop in your area, go there and get a feel for the weapons platform you lot are wanting to get. M4'southward and AK's have the about upgrade/replacement parts available, and that is why they are recommended the nearly. Do note that a stock gun is going to be outperformed by people who have upgraded their rifles to their maximum adequacy. I would not permit this discourage yous, every bit y'all are going to have fun either way. If yous like airsoft and desire to continue playing, and so I would worry about upgrading. Every bit mentioned before, do NOT become a sniper rifle as your first airsoft gun.

Different Types of Airsoft Guns

In that location are 5 dissimilar major types of how your airsoft gun fires bb's. I will requite a overglorified overview of each type, only I HIGHLY recommend starting with an AEG.

Automatic Electric Gun -AEG for short, this uses an electric motor to drive a piston, which is then compressed by a spring, which compresses air to burn down the gun. This is plain overglorified and is much more complicated than this, merely 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 can frequently be rewarding whist playing with them. These are powered by either green gas, or propane, and these power the slide or commodities which fires the bb, and then cycles another circular in the chamber. They part identical to their real steel counterpart, only do come with some slight drawbacks. These exercise not work in cold weather (ordinarily below fifty degrees) and need to be cleaned often to prevent jamming. Some GBB's use co2, just co2 normally wears the gun downwards more depending on the specific model.

Electric Blow Back- These are basically AEG's that imitate a bolt going back and forth on a existent steel firearm. This adds another complex layer to AEG's and often break later a few uses. The EBB function normally puts a lot of stress on the gearbox, and tin can often pb to a croaky gearbox. The only reliable EBB at this current time is Tokyo Marui'southward Recoil shock line. These are usually 500-600$ and require a lot of upgrades to perform well. Bolt has recently released a new EBB line that is apparently good, but time volition tell if this line is a better alternative to Tokyo Marui.

Spring Powered- These are single shot/pump/pull everytime you lot desire to shoot. These are usually sniper rifles or spring powered shotguns, considering they mimic their existent steel counterparts. The firepower of leap airsoft guns is extremely express when going upwardly against AEG'south, GBB'due south, and HPA users.

HPA- or High Pressure level Air, is an extremely pop culling to AEG's. These permit you to modify the FPS/ROF relatively easily for different regulators. The massive downside to these is the external air tank y'all take to carry, as well as that HPA often costs a lot more than AEG'due south.

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 non brand good products. You should use this equally a reference point to give yourself an idea of where to get and later practise individual research on whichever airsoft gun you choose. This list will include companies that brand and produce AEG'due south.

ASG- Makes mostly intermediate to higher end AEG's. Very few beginner rifles to look at, and most of the internals on their beginner lineup is outdated.

Echo one- Mostly outdated and better options are out in that location. Internals are pretty outdated in today's airsoft globe.

Elite Force- Owned by Umerex, produces very good intermediate to higher end rifles. Their beginner lineup is about half dozen years and I would avert this brand for beginners.

EMG- Uses APS/G&P/ARES every bit the oem for most of their rifles, produces meh rifles. Non recommended for beginners.

KWA- I of the oldest brands that is nonetheless producing solid beginner rifles that tin contend with newer companies today. Has solid high terminate guns as well. Only con is that someparts internally are proprietary and cannot be upgraded.

Yard&Yard- The Combat Machine lineup in one case was the all-time line of airsoft guns offered to beginners, simply these are 7-viii years old and even their G2 lineup is non as good equally other brands. Makes meh intermediate to high finish guns, with their G2 mosfet being a horrible selection.

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

Classic Army - Ane of the best beginner lineups equally of 2020. Has a lot of choices to cull from, and also makes solid choices for high stop guns. They try and compete with the VFC avalon serial.

Vegaforcecompany- VFC makes the Avalon series, which as of this moment is the all-time higher end AEG on the market. They also oem the Elite strength mp5, which has the avalon gearbox inside. They practise not make beginner guns.

King Arms- Pretty decent, they exercise not produce a lot of rifles anymore, only they are partnered with EMG.

Lancer Tactical- One of the worst brands in airsoft, sporting bad internals, and a visitor that falsified safety ratings on their goggles. Users have reporting zip but bad things virtually this brand, and rifles frequently break in the span of one-two 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 grooming gear for airsoft. They also make high end AEG'south that have slowly gotten better, as they have partnered with KWA, One thousand&P, etc.

JG- Entry level visitor that produces "decent" AK'due south, avoid their M4's like the plague. Externals are normally non that great, merely makes for a expert learning gun if yous're learning how to tech.

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

Crossman- A brand that y'all should avoid completely, does non produce anything good.

ICS- Makes solid beginner rifles and intermediate- high cease rifles. Internals are very proficient on beginner rifles, externals are decent likewise.

Tokyo Marui- Used to be the most popular brand in airsoft, often referred equally the pioneers of airsoft, articles unremarkably tend to copy ™ designs at a much lower quality. All of Tokyo Marui's guns are made out of plastic and have very depression fps laws due to Nihon.

APS- Produces nothing good, has the worst QC(quality control) in all of airsoft other than Lancer Tactical. Their internals are utter garbage but their externals are quite unique.

Umbrella Arsenal- The most expensive brand in airsoft, specializes in loftier terminate gun builds. Known for their OCAW line and their Krytac line.

Practice YOUR RESEARCH

Before buying a model, do proper enquiry on the brand and gun you are buying. I observe that this site has a massive database when information technology comes to airsoft gun reviews. Only employ your fingers and type in the gun and the brand yous are looking for, and you will become enough of reviews. Just annotation that if you look up a YouTube review, most of them are sponsored and the company paid to say good things about the gun they received. There are a few good ones, but most of them are either kids who zippo about the gun they bought, or a paid shill that says nothing merely proficient things most the product they got. Both of these 2 often exaggerate how the gun performs, because i is paid to sell them, and 2 knows very little about airsoft internals. Therefore if you make a decision to buy an airsoft gun based on a YT video, y'all have made an irrational decision. Instead of watching a YT video on a gun, do proper research using the site I provided above. By not doing research, you will stop upwards with a shit gun that will not last more than 1000 rounds. The marketplace is littered with garbage guns, and if you lot don't do proper research, you will end upwards with 1. As quoted past u/thetboneguy, y'all will exist shooting yourself in the human foot if you do not research your gun. Having a good gun is better than having a broken gun at an effect, I hope you.

Understanding the Nuts

A fairly common mistake that new players make is disruptive the FPS(Feet Per 2d) of a gun with how good information technology is. If you lot live in an area with a field, most fields do not let guns shooting over 420 fps with a .2, where as indoor arenas normally don't allow anything higher than 330 fps on a .2. By choosing an airsoft gun over the limit, yous are limiting where you tin play in your land/state. Just considering information technology has loftier FPS does not mean information technology shoots further than a gun that shoots 350. Due to bb'south being then calorie-free, hopup is used to give information technology backspin to keep it in the air longer. To simplify, the use of this hopup, the speed of a bb no longer affects the distance. In Japan, they accept a -i Joule limit, hence why all Tokyo Marui guns shoot less than 300 fps.

Yous should sympathize basic airsoft gun matientience. If your gun breaks and needs a new office, it's amend that you do non accept to send it to a shop to get information technology stock-still. I will give an example. If you strip a piston, it is about a 25$ function. If you do not know or understand how to change it yourself, you have to send it into a store where they will unremarkably charge a 15-20 fee merely to get it on their workbench. So a 20$ set up now costs you double that, and if yous knew how to fix it, you lot would have but saved 20$. Airsoft Forum and r/airsoft are two places that I would recommend you lot start. This thread on airsoft forum is most 9 years one-time now, but still contains very useful information on how to have autonomously a gearbox. Use the search bar on both sites to find what you are looking for.

Y'all get What y'all Pay For

If you lot have non discovered this in real life, if you pay naught for a production, it is more than than likely shit. Airsoft is no different. If you are not willing to spend a minimum of 150$ for an AEG, charger, BB's etc, than airsoft is probably not the right hobby for you. I often recommend renting or borrowing an airsoft gun earlier you lot buy, so you can actually see if you enjoy airsoft. If y'all are stupid enough to spend 50$ on a Walmart LPAEG, congradulations for not listening and you lot just wasted yout money. At present that you are out fifty$, you tin't open information technology up and set information technology considering they are not made to opened upward. You are probably thinking to yourself that those 500$ Tokyo Marui guns are expensive, merely they be for a reason. People are willing to pay a high price for a reliable gun, what makes you think you will find a 50$ one at Walmart? If you are not willing to buy, similar I said, rent or borrow.

At that place are instances where airsoft guns have a high price tag have very poor functioning, examples of this would be APS, Lancer Tactical, EMG, etc. These are fairly common in today's airsoft market as companies QC seems to have gone off a cliff. The externals may be nice, merely the internals are utter shit.

Do Not buy a Sniper as your first Airsoft gun

If you are simply getting into airsoft, delight allow me to explain why getting a sniper rifle as a beginner is a dumb and stupid idea. Before you telephone call me a novritsch hater, read on and find why.

With your budget, you will Non exist able to get into airsoft sniping. You may look online and see bolt activeness snipers within your budget, but non realize that stock sniper rifles are utter garbage and even some GBB's can outrange a stock sniper. Yous may watch Novritsch and Silo have adept activity in their videos, simply do you ever wonder why their videos are and so short? Yous exercise the math. You lot are wanting to exist like them, simply you don't seem to realize that sniping is not a inexpensive virute. Airsoft snipers are Built non bought. You tin can afford a 120$ JG Bar10, simply tin yous afford putting 600-700$ worth of upgrades in information technology to make information technology perform like an actual sniper? Yeah I didn't think so. You lot have to build an airsoft sniper for it to perform well plenty to qualify as a good sniper. Novsitsch sells a rebranded Modify M24, but you tin build a sniper far better than his for cheaper.

Bare bones basic AEG'due south will outperform a stock sniper rifle, and they as well have similar x20 more mag capacity than your sniper. Sniping requires a lot of patience and it might be high reward, but you lot are going to be sitting in the same position exposed to fully-automatic fire as you chose to be a sniper. Being a sniper is not often action packed, regardless of Novrtrisch'southward clickbaiting bullshit videos. The sniper rifle you Desire like mentioned earlier is actually a custom tuned gun that requires a lot of work and time. Sounds extreme,but well-nigh airsoft snipers congenital their rifles and they perform as 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 take fun.

Ownership Your Gun

Now that you take decided on what gun yous want to purchase, it is time for you to find a website to purchase information technology from(if you lot are non ownership local). Evike and Airsoft Gi are the two biggest retailers in the US. Both of them are pretty reliable suppliers with a really large selection. Make certain to wait around their websites when you are buying, both of them normally have skillful deals going on. Pricing always varies from supplier to supplier, merely virtually prices are pretty consistent. Do remember that if yous are ownership online, you will more than than likely accept to pay for shipping. Evike offers a coupon code that whatever order over 99$ gets free ground (one/1/2020). Evike's website UI is a LOT ameliorate than GI's, merely pushes their own brands like Matrix and APS pretty hard, and they have also been known to accidentally mail service wrong inventory online. GI is a bit more than consistent but they are often more expensive and have brands that they have deals with (Lancer, and CA)

Buying Used Airsoft Guns

I accept been ownership/selling/trading airsoft guns for the past 5 years then I know this section very well. I HEAVILY recommend that you lot Exercise NOT purchase your first airsoft gun used. At that place are some pretty proficient deals out there is you lot know what you lot are doing. As a whole, buying used can frequently exist a risky gamble. As a beginner, you are more probable to not know the background of the gun. That is putting you lot into an uninformed decision where there is no warranty or company to ship it back to. Not to mention that you tin tin get a broken gun that the seller can either non tell you a part is broken or just flat out lie to you. If you are buying from a private party (non a company), everything is sold as is, and there are no purchase backs, trades etc.

You should never pay more than than 80% of the confront value of a gun or gear, and for some guns, 80% is pushing it fifty-fifty if it has not been used. The 2nd a gun walks out a retail shop, it normally loses anywhere from twenty-25% of its value. Do think that the seller is selling the gun for a reason. Maybe they are selling information technology because they need cash, perchance they are selling information technology because it is "a ticking time flop" of repairs. Either way, you need to research information technology as if information technology is a new gun. Ask how many rounds it has been through, any external issues, any internal issues? Tasteful modifications such as internal upgrades raise the price of a used gun.

Using Paypal

Another section I am heavily knowledgeable in. If you are buying something from someone online, Always Employ PAYPAL Appurtenances AND SERVICES! Using sites like Venmo, or Cashapp offer no protection against scammers. Some other major scam is that someone will send you a check for a gun, and as soon as you cash it, the check will bounce and y'all are out a gun When using Paypal, make sure to utilise goods and services as mentioned above. By using G&S, you lot are covered by Paypal if something happens (seller does non ship the item, seller sends the wrong item, etc). DO Non USE FRIENDS AND FAMILY! Why? Because if you send it through friends and family, you will not be protected if the seller scams you. Sellers that scam users often tell you to send it through f&f considering Paypal does not accept a fee for using it. Practice not autumn wary of this scam.

While buying used, Certificate everything. Should something get wrong, whether it be the seller's fault or your fault, it is always amend to play it safe. If you accept to open up a Paypal example or ane is opened against you, you lot volition accept all the data regarding the sale (screenshots, text letters, PM's etc). Similar mentioned earlier, if you can play your cards right, yous can score some KILLER deals. I own an Umbrella Armory OCAW, that retails for $2000, and I managed to become it for $950 Beak. Overall I practise not recommend buying used, as buying new is safer for new players.

Conclusion

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