Several AEG's of choice, which one you recommend?

[MooseHead92]

Hello ladies and gents, I've been doing homework to find a good NATO-spec Airsoft rifle. I got a few in mind, but I'm looking for more detailed and professional advice about them, as well as any suggestions for a realistic, reliable option that is < $500.

Here are my choices:

1) G&P M4 SENTRY - my personal top choice here, love the looks and the ROF-FPS madness.
2) G&P SR15 CQB
3) Classic Army M15A4 CQB Compact SEAL - love the looks, anyone know the ROF on this one? What about materials quality? With an extended inner barrel and a mock Frogman suppressor this would look scary to the point where I'd half-crap my pants every time I look at it.
4) UMAREX H&K G36CV (ARES-made) - the quick-change spring system sounds awesome, and you can even replace that ugly stock with the original skeleton one.

I was about to put the Snow Wolf Pulse Rifle here, but my Batman-sense told me there'd be a storm coming my way if I did that. So... no cheesy Aliens references.

I'm torn between the CA Compact Seal (with a longer, tightbore inner barrel and a CQB suppressor on it) for an all-round rifle, and the G&P Sentry... the ROF+FPS of the Sentry, as well as its size and inner barrel length, make it to me an all-round rifle also (I can't afford an outdoor AND a CQB rifle so I'll compromise for the sake of necessary frugality). So, AirsoftCanadians, what do YOU think? Help me out here, please.

Moosehead, over and out.

[L473ncy]

G&P - meh.... I own one and it's good (and after a couple upgrades it's awesome) but not something I'd recommend for beginner players unless you're willing to spend another ~$60 right off the bat to replace the shitty gears and shim it properly (this is parts + labour for a gundoc to do it, or like $30 if you do it yourself). People have had their G&P gears strip within the first 100 rounds straight out of the box brand new. For a company that can make such great externals you'd think their gears would be up to snuff too.

CA is also pretty meh IMO unless it's the new CA "X-series" and that's probably the gun I'd recommend as being straight out of the box gameable (either that or VFC).

The Umarex actually isn't terrible BUT there is a caveat of if specific proprietary parts break you may be SOL WRT replacement OEM parts since it's hard to get a hold of them (although I have heard they're trying to improve on that but haven't heard anything else regarding better customer service and spare parts ready to ship to an end user/distributor).

[ratnest]

well first off if you are 18 or older you should get age verified.

that being said both g&p and classic army are good guns.
the g&ps comes with a midcap so that's a plus.

m4 platforms have the advantage of smaller and easier to find mags that also work in a few other types of guns. if you want to use any of those guns for cqb, you will need to down grade them.

[JerryMcGoulBerry]

Not a huge fan of G&P. take that 500$ and buy a nice JG that you think looks nice, put some upgrades into it, and spend the rest on other things you will need, trust me, the gun is a small part of the cost of airsoft. And the ARES quick spring change is pretty cool. You can get an M4, put this in it (not from this site, couldnt find many other links)
http://www.evike.com/product_info.php?products_id=33763
You'll have spare parts in your stock gearbox, and if the poprietary parts break, just pop the other gearbox. Don't be afraid to buy from well known chinese clones, they usually make pretty solid guns.

[L473ncy]

Why upgrade when you can buy off the shelf?

I like modding my stuff (started with the "pencil trick" on the old T-birds then crossflashing and stuff) but sometimes you want something that just works, especially for newbies and people who may not have very much mechanical aptitude and don't want to go in over their heads.

[JerryMcGoulBerry]

I should have worded that diffrently. Shimming and re greasing it is what i should have said. Anything that will make your gun more reliable is an upgrade in my books. And I would also recomend getting a gundoc to do it. If he's going to open the gun to make it shoot indoor speeds, he may aswell do these things.

[MooseHead92]

Originally Posted by JerryMcGoulBerry

Not a huge fan of G&P. take that 500$ and buy a nice JG that you think looks nice, put some upgrades into it, and spend the rest on other things you will need, trust me, the gun is a small part of the cost of airsoft.

And the ARES quick spring change is pretty cool. You can get an M4, put this in it (not from this site, couldn't find many other links)
http://www.evike.com/product_info.php?products_id=33763

Since it's winter and I'm only going to get a more relaxed schedule in March or so, I might only take my gun to a few indoors matches and practice with it. So at least for the immediate future, I have no worries about the gearbox crapping out on me during a firefight. I wonder if that gearbox in the link takes regular M4 Version2 mech parts? If so, I'd love to upgrade it with a CNC machined steel&aluminum set. Indestructible gears + quick spring replacement? Hell yes.

Originally Posted by JerryMcGoulBerry

You'll have spare parts in your stock gearbox, and if the proprietary parts break, just pop the other gearbox. Don't be afraid to buy from well known Chinese clones, they usually make pretty solid guns.

I'm still trying to decide. Might go with the CA Compact SEAL then drop some aftermarket parts in it. Even if I buy the Sentry, first thing I'll do is still open the gearbox to take a look.

Also, what tappet plates can you recommend as an aftermarket replacement? I heard of those things breaking if they're regular plastic or crappy polycarb. Other than that, I already have research on turning any V2 mechbox on an M4 into a CNC-machined beast full of metal.

[lurkingknight]

I haven't heard of anyone complaining about ares proprietary parts availability lately, I think it might be solved at this point, but then again, some of their more oddball parts might still be hard to get. The g36 is reasonably easy to get parts for, it's probably their best seller. The only things that are different in that gun are the hopup unit, the trigger and the gearbox shell itself, which is a modified v3 for the recoil and quick change spring.

One thing I've read beyond g&p's shitty gears is that there's no really decent 8mm bearings on the market and that includes the bearings that come in g&ps. A lot of hardcore techs like 7mm over 8mm gearbox configurations, but I doubt as a normal guy you'll notice much difference between the 2.

I've never really seen a tappet break. Even when filed away in tons of places to make them slide better or feed ultra high rates of fire. There's very little resistance on it, as the only thing it's attached to is the nozzle, and that's floating. If a tappet breaks, it's probably because it's a poor fit or was installed improperly.



also... TAS stocks the standard g36c... why don't you get that for 20$ less that comes with a skeleton stock and use 10$ more to buy a vertical grip... instead of spending 20$ more and then having to replace the stock for another 40$ and having a stock that you can't get rid of.

[5kull]

If you want an Airsoft that you can take out of the box, clean the inner barrel, install a battery and use all summer without any problems, I would choose either Classic Army or VFC.

In second place you could go for King Arms, KWA, ICS, G&P.

This is a generalization, you can buy a VFC or CA and get a bad one and you can buy one of the others and get a good one, but overall, you have better odds of getting a very good airsoft from CA and VFC.

Take care, 5kull

[FirestormX]

I can't recommend a gun, but as for having an indoor vs outdoor gun, there's quite a few people that will run shorter guns (like an MP5, or a P90) outdoors.
If your primary concern for indoor/outdoor is the FPS, then it can be changed by swapping a $10/$15 spring.

If you're also concerned about the length of the gun, you can buy a longer gun, like a regular length M4, and then buy a $200 pistol and a handful of mags (if you get age verified, you'll get access to the classifieds, and you'll find quite a few good pistol+mag deals in there) for the tight areas.

If you're in it to win it, a tight little P90 that'll go around any corner in a CQB environment is really nice, but alternating from primary to secondary is just so much fun. =P

Anyway, just something to keep in mind. There's definitely guns you'll only want to use outdoors (eg an M14), and guns that you probably won't enjoy outdoors (eg an MP5k), but running an M4 or G36c is good for both indoor and outdoor.

[Mandalore]

I wouldn't recommend getting a G&P unless you plan on upgrading it yourself right away, or if you can find a gun doc. Brought mine out to it's first game and now it's on my workbench needing internal work done.

If you have the money, I would say go with VFC. Amazing externals, and the internals will hold their own otb.

[MooseHead92]

Originally Posted by Mandalore

I wouldn't recommend getting a G&P unless you plan on upgrading it yourself right away, or if you can find a gun doc. Brought mine out to it's first game and now it's on my workbench needing internal work done.

If you have the money, I would say go with VFC. Amazing externals, and the internals will hold their own otb.

I'm planning on dropping in a Matrix CNC machined mechbox kit into my M4 as soon as I get it. I guess stock gearbox performance is subjective - I've heard some say they'll last, and some say they're pretty much doomed even when BNIB. Unfortunately, maybe you landed a dud! a few folks complained that the stock M120 motor in the sentry requires significant trigger pull to fire in semi-auto because it lacks the torque needed for the spring.

Let's say I get the Sentry... What should I put in first? Mechbox CNC parts, or a hi-torque motor for crisp trigger pulls?

Also, what's your thoughts on the CA Compact SEAL? I could grab it for $70 less than the G&P, which would allow me to upgrade its box and come out at the same price as the Sentry. But then again I'm not too familiar with the brand ratings.

In essence, I'll practice a lot with the AEG I'll get over the winter, and go to a few matches after I set enough money aside to also get equipment. But the AEG must be as realistic as it can get, and preferably full-metal/good ABS. I am a sucker for realism

[L473ncy]

Matrix parts are shit. If you're going to get an FTK (Full Tune-up Kit) Guarder, Modify, and HurricanE get my votes. If you want parts a la carte then SHS and Lonex will never fail you. The user "Stealth" runs Airsoftstore.ca. Good guy from what I hear and quite well respected, also has a bunch of SHS, Lonex, and is now carrying "Core" stuff from what I understand.

Also don't upgrade just for the sake of upgrading. Preventative maintenance is one thing but upgrading for the sake of upgrading is another. Take mine (and other senior members) words of advice; "Upgrade the player not the gun". Work on your own skills first and don't use an upgraded gun as a crutch. Cause I've been shot with a $15 Canadian tire special before by a sneaky as fuck guy.

However, first two upgrades I'd recommend after you've had a bit of time to play around with the gun in stock form are Hop up bucking and inner barrel.

[nstahl.19]

I own a G&P M4 and I wouldn't recommend one if you want one that's ready to go right out of the box. It shot horribly inaccurate, the hop up unit was terrible and the gears kept slipping, and there was some small external issues. Also it had, like many G&Ps, a clockwise threaded barrel so I had to get a barrel extension thread convertor to fit my flash hiders and suppressers.
After a bunch of upgrades the gun is great, just like any other with the right upgrades. I like G&P because they make pretty nice looking guns and are easy to work on and have no problem finding parts.
There are a lot of guns and retailers out there, I'd keep looking for the right one and right price. It seems you like that CA though.

[MooseHead92]

Originally Posted by L473ncy

Matrix parts are shit. If you're going to get an FTK (Full Tune-up Kit) Guarder, Modify, and HurricanE get my votes. If you want parts a la carte then SHS and Lonex will never fail you. The user "Stealth" runs Airsoftstore.ca. Good guy from what I hear and quite well respected, also has a bunch of SHS, Lonex, and is now carrying "Core" stuff from what I understand.

Alright, thanks for letting me know before I arsebanged myself and decided to order it down the line that Matrix part must have been a brainfart... After reading your post I realized that Evike actually carries a shit-ton more Guarder and Modify kits... which goes to say a lot when you need to stock, like, 10+ different kits!

Originally Posted by L473ncy

However, first two upgrades I'd recommend after you've had a bit of time to play around with the gun in stock form are Hop up bucking and inner barrel.

This winter I'll be training with the CA/G&P and seeing how it performs. Come spring, and then I'll probably mount a tightbore+hopup upgrade kit. Thanks for your input L473ncy