Best begginer aeg to buy?

[Max marriott]

Looking for a solid beginner aeg, I think the advice on guns is really dodgy and I want to be 100% confident when spend £130-£160 on a gun. Any advice on specific guns to buy? Reliable-strong-as much bang for my buck

 

[colinjallen]

You will get a variety of answers to this question.  I would still go with the traditional G&G Combat Machine Raider.  They are solid out of the box and easily upgradeable.

Start by sticking in a ZCI 6.02mm barrel and a yellow Maple Leaf Macaron rubber with AK2M4's red Omega nub for your first upgrade.  Maybe add a ZCI plastic rotary hop unit as well.

 

[Rogerborg]

Ahoy and welcome.

Have you airsofted before?  Do you have any particular requirements or desires about a platform?

Since you didn't say, I'd assume the default M4 and that you're OK with plastic polymer bodies.  In that budget, I'd say:

• CYMA for internal robustness but meh externals.  Whatever you like the look of, they're all much the same internally.
  
• G&G CM-16 for much the same reasons.
  
• Double Eagle M90X range (and nothing else Double Eagle) for a surprising amount of features at the same price.
  

The sad fact is that there's no 100% guarantee on airsoft guns. They're really expensive toys, and the moment you open the box, they're considered used-and-abused by 2nd owners and the retailer alike. Even the biggest UK retailers will cheerfully flog on returns as "new" guns.

However, if you're OK with having pieces of hard plastic shot at your face while wearing a few £££ of eye protection, I hope you're not completely risk averse.

 

[EDcase]

I'd say CYMA or JG will give you best bang for buck in your price range.

They're generally reliable and perform well enough out of the box so if you get one that doesn't seem right then talk to the retailer and possibly return it.

Don't forget to budget for good eye protection, boots, Li-Po battery and intelligent charger.

 

[Emergencychimps]

I think rogerborg has a good point. Have you played before? 

If you haven't, the best one is probably one that a site rents to you. Rent the first at least 3 times. Yes it will cost you a bit extra but I swear there are thousands of people who have thought airsoft was the dogs danglies on YouTube, maybe had an awesome first game, but by their 3rd/4th game have lost the hype and they've sunk a small fortune into the hobby and you never get back what you've paid when selling it. 

It's also a great way to get chatting to other players on site, airsofters love talking about their gear and guns, chat to them, ask to hold them, test shoot them etc. You'll get a better understanding of what you want, what's available and you'll at least get a bit chatty with the other players. 

If you haven't played before then you'll need to get a two tone, which if you get into the sport you'll probably be keen to replace, so you won't end up saving any cash. 

If you have played before and like m4s personally I'd suggest a g&g m4, anyone in your price range that you like the look of. They all basically do the same thing and the quality control of g&g seems good for the money, so then just getting one you like the look of is sensible, longer barrels aren't more accurate etc. The performance and functionality of them will all be the same/very similar.

Don't like m4s? well......I'd honestly recommend sucking that up and getting an m4. You can get some great cheap ones, Parts are easy to get, they're common so onsite techs aren't working on something weird and they should be good to go out of the box from a brand like g&g or specna. Accessories, kit (chest rigs, mag pouches) are common and cheap. Also, they can be lovely. 

If you really must have an AK or some other weird shaped one, by the time you can justify spending the money you'll be in a better place to understand what's good, what you're looking for etc. Just don't be one of those people who is like.....I've just bought this gnu , is it any good? 

 

[ak2m4]

I think the advice on guns is really dodgy and I want to be 100% confident when spend £130-£160 on a gun.

Click to shrink...

Even the most reliable AEG can develop faults early on, it's just the nature of the sport sadly.  It's probably why there's so many differing opinions.  No such thing as a sure thing in Airsoft sadly.

 

[Rogerborg]

Indeed, which is why I try to caveat my experiences with estimates of days played, BBs shot, or "for now."

"Buy cheap, buy twice" gets a Chad Yes from me, given that the alternative might be "Buy expensive, get worse internals, and have nothing left in your budget to fix it."