So you want to buy your first gun ?

[slick63]

There seems to be a lot of 'first gun' threads popping up so I wrote this malarkey which hopefully will help new players. (mods feel free to delete/correct in any way).


Ok so you`re new to airsoft and you`re itching to go out and buy a gun, but there are some obstacles in the way first.
Back in 2007 the government brought in the Violent Crime Reduction Bill, which affects airsofters in the following way.....

Airsoft guns are split into two types according to the law....
RIF`s which look like a real gun and have a real gun colour ie:black
IF`s which look like a real gun but have just over 50% of the gun in a bright colour ie:dayglo green. These are often referred to as 2 tone guns.
If you are under 18 you cannot buy any airsoft gun whatsoever. You can however be 'gifted (birthday present)' a gun by your parents/family members. This can be either a RIF or an IF depending on what they themselves can purchase.
Anyone over 18 can purchase an IF.
To purchase a RIF, the buyer must obviously be over 18 years old and have an airsoft skirmishing defence.
This means that they have to prove that they are genuine airsofters.
There are several ways of doing this but the most convenient for newcomers to the hobby is the UKARA scheme (there are other schemes which work in a similar way, the most important part for you is that they are recognised by retailers)
This means that you attend an airsoft site for at least three game days in more than 2 months (so once a month for 3 months would be an example ).
For these 3 times you will need to hire a site gun or borrow one from a friend in order to take part in the skirmish.
When you first attend, you pick up a site form which the staff will sign as evidence of your defence.
Once you have 3 signatures you give the form to the site staff who will issue you a site membership number, this is also your UKARA number.
The staff will then pass your details on to UKARA for their database.
When you want to purchase a gun from a retailer, you simply quote your site membership number, the retailer should be able to check with UKARA that you are a genuine airsofter, and sell you the gun.

What gun to buy ?....

The general concensus is that a first gun should be an AEG.
The definition of an AEG is an 'automatic electric gun'.
These work so that when you pull the trigger, electrical power is passed from a battery to a motor, through a series of small gears, which move a piston back and forwards propelling BB`s fed from a magazine, down the barrel.
The reason that you should get an AEG is that they are general purpose. They can be used in woodland, buildings, and have the ability to shoot semi auto or full auto.
They also tend to be extremely reliable when compared to other types such as gas operated guns which are affected by temperature differences ie: gas guns don`t like cold weather.
A sniper rifle is probably not a good idea for newcomers, whilst it may seem attractive to sit in a bush just waiting for a target, you may find yourself waiting quite some time and get mightily bored. You can perform a similar task with an AEG and when the action gets fast and furious you will not find yourself outgunned as you would with just a sniper rifle.

Types of AEG ?

These are probably the four most common types of rifle built in an AEG format: M4/M16, AK47, G36, and MP5.
There are many others but these are the most common, and availablity of spare parts are easy to come by.
Most out of the box AEG`s perform to a similar standard, there will be basic differences regarding rate of fire, range etc. but these are often negligible
Remember that these are not real guns. For instance a real MP5 firing 9mm would be effective out to about 50m, an assault rifle such as an M4 firing 5.56 would be effective out to 300m and beyond.
In the ******* ***** all out of the box AEGs perform similarly to a range of say 30m because they all work from very similar gearboxes, batteries and ammo formats. A rifle does not have a major advantage over a submachine gun in airsoft, in terms of performance.
When looking at a gun purchase, pick one that you yourself like the look of. Have a search for reviews to see if there are any downsides to a particular manufacturers gun model, ask during game days to look at other players guns and maybe get to try them out. You can get answers by asking on forums such as this but the best method is to get your ass in the grass at game days and touch some metal and plastic. You want the thing to last as long as possible so consider build quality, reliability, and parts compatibility with other models.

Extras ?

Once you`ve made your choice of gun you will need to consider purchasing extras to go with it.
Some guns come with a battery and charger (if they are chinese they can have a habit of catching fire when charging, so bear this in mind. A lot of people chuck chinese batteries and chargers in the bin as soon as they get them).

The batteries you need will depend on what gun you have bought. The most common types of battery are 8.4 volt nimh, in either a large, mini or stick format.
Your gun will take one of these formats or possibly another type so double check which one will fit.
The MAH rating of a battery will depend on how long it will last in a days gaming. There is an theory that for every BB shot, one MAH will be used up. So the higher the MAH, the more use you will get from it before it needs recharging.
Unfortunately the MAH of a battery will be determined by its format. Large batteries can have very high MAH ratings and these should last you a lot longer than one days gaming. The mini and stick types by comparison tend to top out at 1600 MAH, so you may need to either carry a spare battery or be prepared to recharge it during the site lunch break.

Choosing a charger for your batteries is a very important decision. The ones which come with a gun can take hours to recharge a battery, some chargers require you to move switches to determine the number of cells or charge rate needed, which isn`t ideal for a beginner.
Something like a Pro Peak 2500 is ideal, simply connect your battery then press a button to decide fast or slow charge.

There are generally 4 main types of magazines, locap, midcap, hicap and box. The ones to purchase when starting out are hicap mags mainly due to the fact that you will only need 1 or 2 to start with. Depending on which model gun you have they will carry between 200 and 600 BBs. You load them through a small door in the top of the mag and then wind the gear which is in the base to load the magazine. When in use they will require you to wind the magazine every now and then to keep the BBs feeding to the gun.

Eye protection should be to at least EN166 safety standard (experts correct me please if incorrect). Always be wary of glasses which come with guns, especially chinese ones. Choose a style which you are comfortable with, ask for recommendations from other players. There is no need to spend a fortune though, a decent set of specs can cost as little as a tenner.
Some sites will specify that players under a certain age will need to wear full face masks when playing, most sites will provide these free of charge if necessary.