New to airsoft

[Sgt.Peppers]

Ok don't know what a good gun is or anything. I have lots o experience in paintball and some some ppl "airsofting" <dont know if thats a word. I was interested and bought a crappy $30 pistol from crap tire and looked on the internet only to stumble upon this site. I want info on what "mid-range" gun to get, why and any good info on airsoft in general.

[testtube]

First of all get age verrified

[MestHead]

Also, they do need to know where you live so they can find a you a rep close by to get you age verified. Hopefully you don't live up my butt.

[Spawn28]

Just read the FAQ's and use the search at the top of the page all or most of your Questions will be answered


seems like everyday theres someone asking the same questions hmm maybey there should be a disclaimer header for this site stating NEWB's READ THE FAQ's

[surebet]

Mid-ranged is a common misconception people have when they played paintball. In my paintball days, you could classify just about anything into three categories:
Low-end tier - Brass Eagle plastic guns and the like, sub 100$
Mid-end tier - Spyders and clones, M98s, impulses, basic cockers and mags, etc. Usual range was from 100$ to say 500$.
High-end tier - Matrixes, Angels, timmies, custom gun... All the cool tournament ready gun above the 500$ mark.

The usual player started out with a mid-end Spyder or m98. For the price you paid for it, it fared quite decently. It still hold a quite favorable opinion of my old Spyder TL, even after I've gone through some quite high end guns.

This is particularly relevant nowadays, since there are quite nice guns emerging in the mid end price range, offering high end performance with few drawbacks, such as the Proto Matrix Rail. For 400$, that gun almost single handedly convince me to start playing again.

That in mind, airsoft get a bit more funky about the mid-tier range. In our case, the tiers look more like this:
Low-end - Canadian Tire shite
Mid-end - JG, Echo1, other acceptable TM clones
High-end - TM, CA, ICS, etc

The problem is, while JG guns offer a good quality and performance to price ratio in Asia and America, by the time they get to Canada they disproportionately increase in price versus other high end brand. For your average TM or CA gun, expect to pay about twice the listed Hong Kong price. JG comes out to about three times the price. Therefore, for just 100$ to 200$ more, you get to trade up from a spyder to an Angel.

Not only that, but the mid end stuff is relatively more complicated to obtain in Canada, since retailers won't usually stock them or stock them at an inflated price (375$ for a JG G36c, WTF?), so it doesn't make economical sense to go for these, especially considering you might have to upgrade a couple of internals to get them to par with high end guns. So not only do you get stiffed financially, you also have to open the mech-box.

So the best way to get into airsoft without paying to much is to get age verified and browse the classified. For anywhere between 500$ and 800$ you'll be able to assemble a playable setup. Not only that, it is also the only reputable place to find mid-tier guns in stock at all times, since our two retailers don't usually bother with them. Before you ask about buyairsoft.ca, don't, they've been raided and seized, it's a dead site now.

Browse the FAQs and get age verified. Fill out out your profile properly, since I checked, and no, you're not in my butt at the moment. It is relevant, because it helps us direct you to local resources.

Attend a game if you can before buying, so you'll be able to see and touch the guns before hand and decided if this is what you want.

Good luck!

EDIT: wall of text strikes you for 21 damage!

[Sgt.Peppers]

k... but... i'm not 18... whats the deal with you having to be 18? paintball is open to anyone who can hold a gun

btw. surebet that was a sweet post I actually understood it except for the airsoft gun names. just letters and numbers to me

[DarkAngel]

In canada, the Legal age is 18 for any airsoft gun, as well as CO2 and Clearsoft.
Its best if you wait till your 18.

[HellRanger]

Many reasons, for one have you noticed the realism ofo what we use?

Originally Posted by Sgt.Peppers

k... but... i'm not 18... whats the deal with you having to be 18? paintball is open to anyone who can hold a gun

btw. surebet that was a sweet post I actually understood it except for the airsoft gun names. just letters and numbers to me

[Flying Squirrel]

In a nut shell its for 'maturity' and 'responsibility' reasons

[surebet]

General rule of thumb is 18+. There is however a slight possibility of playing if you are younger, but it depends on your age, organizers and usually parental involvement. If your parents are willing to get involved in the hobby beyond simply loaning you their credit card it might work. However, the gun must remain in their custody, locked away from you when not in use under their supervision to be fully compliant with Ontario law, IIRC.

Also of note, many cities have bylaws prohibiting the discharge of airguns within city limits, and it's generally a very bad idea to have them exposed anywhere there's even the slightest chance of having witnesses. Cops don't appreciate receiving calls of someone armed with an assault rifle frolicking around.

Check with your local organizers and teams, but be prepared to be turned down. Discuss the hobby with your parents, arrange to assist a game or event with them.

By simple curiosity, how old are you?

For reference, these companies are considered "high-end":
TM - Tokyo Marui
CA - Classic Army
ICS - ICS
G&G - G&G
G&P - G&P
Star
Systema (uber high-end, go drool over some pictures!)

[surebet]

Originally Posted by Flying Squirrel

In a nut shell its for 'maturity' and 'responsibility' reasons

First and foremost, it's from a legal standpoint, since depending on where you are you may be prohibited from buying, using or possessing an airgun as a minor. It also gets even more unpleasant when you factor in the grey zone airsoft is in legally.

It's also about civil responsibility, since minors legally cannot give legal consent.

And yeah, it helps weed out the idiots, even if it's true you don't because instantaneously mature and level headed on your 18th birthday.

At any rate, the game organizers have the final word.

[Ronan]

G&G is high end?

[Sp0r3]

Originally Posted by surebet

For reference, these companies are considered "high-end":
TM - Tokyo Marui
CA - Classic Army
ICS - ICS
G&G - G&G
G&P - G&P
Star
Systema (uber high-end, go drool over some pictures!)

I never thought of TM, ICS, etc are high end airsoft brands...
In my mind, the ranking system goes this way...

Low End
(Most Chinese Clones)

Mainstream
TM
ICS
CA
...

High End
SystemA

[TokyoSeven]

I like to think of TM as mid level. Decent all around if left as stock guns.

[surebet]

Originally Posted by Ronan

G&G is high end?

Originally Posted by Sp0r3

I never thought of TM, ICS, etc are high end airsoft brands...
In my mind, the ranking system goes this way...

Low End
(Most Chinese Clones)

Mainstream
TM
ICS
CA
...

High End
SystemA

The tiers were based on performance groups similar to paintball to try and illustrate that the quality and performance to price curb of airsoft was not the same as with paintball, especially in Canada.

Let's put aside what's available on the Canadian market for a second, and imagine what it would be like with an Americanized airsoft market.

If we're talking about stock guns, Systema aside, TM, CA et al do in fact represent "high-end" airsoft.

I only divided the tiers the way I did so it made sense from a paintball point of view. Don't forget that for 300$, you can get obtain a complete paintball setup that will perform acceptably.

Over the years on ASC, one of the things that I realized is that many people come here with paintball experience and expect to be able to find a similar spread in airsoft. The above explanation usually demonstrates quite well why this isn't the case.