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How to pick a good airsoft gun for yourself.(and a secondary)

How to pick a good airsoft gun for yourself.(and a secondary)
I have seen many Instructable on Airsoft, but not one with any kind of help for those who don't know what weapon they want or where to get it. Airsoft guns are an important part of airsoft. So as much as I would like to make yet another 'Airsoft for Rookies' style instructable, I will refrain and instead help beginners in their choice(s) of weapon. My first instructable. Read on.
 
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Step 1Ask yourself some questions

Ask yourself some questions
You need to ask yourself some questions to know what weapon will be right for you.

How hardcore am I and are my friends?

If you like little pistols and mini cheap automatics, travel no farther than your local department store.
There is no shame in not liking to get hit very hard, not having much money, or just simply preferring those kinds of weapons. Of course, if you like vulcan miniguns and use vehicles and have games that last a weekend straight including camping, that's another story.

What am I using my gun for?
If you like to do target practice in your room, that's fine, and there are some good instructables for targets. If you are playing with your friends, there are several roles you can play.

Leader/Auxiliary You will want something automatic (battery, rapid fire) that can lay down the plastic but also shoot accurately-ish. Any assault rifle looking gun should work.

Sniper/Designated Marks(wo)man Obviously, something accurate is in order, and a gun that looks like a sniper rifle should do the trick (airsoft guns tend to look like their real counterparts in terms of functionality).

Support Gunner get something that can lay down a wall of plastic quickly. A support gunner uses lots of ammo and something called "Spray and Pray" tactics because you spray at your target like nuts and pray one or to will hit. Miniguns, a SAW style gun, or, in a pinch, anything with a decent rate of fire should work.

Remember, you can have more than one or none of these among your friends, as these are simply the basic roles requiring different guns.

How much dinero have I got to burn?
If you don't have much money lying around, you can still get a pretty decent weapon. (As long as you don't take up paintball!) My UMP was $110 and is very good. Decent weapons can be had for much less, however, so fear not. You won't be getting the same quality, guarantees, or functionality, but most who spend a lot on a new gun get only maybe 15% petter performance anyway. (If you are about to comment that your $1500 custom M4 is waaaay better than anyone else's and it's soooo worth it, maybe it is, but I dont want to hear it and neither do the newbies who just want to have fun with their friends without being intimidated.)

How many/ what capacity magazines do I want?
Magazines (or clips) are containers that hold your ammo and push it up into your gun. (Wal-Mart plastic-fantastic guns may not have these.) If you are a sniper, you are in no rush and will not use up much ammo, and will not need too much. (One or two low-capacity clips should suffice. Remember, bring extra BBs.) If you're a support gunner, your clips will be sizable but you will still want a few. For Leader/Auxiliary, you will want a few clips of high capacity (if you don't like reloading, like me.) Or you could lug around the extra plastic of many low capacity magazines.

What FPS range will I be playing at?
This is a big question. FPs is an acronym for
Feet
Per
Second.

There are many factors that would decide this question. First, how much do you want to wear? A sweatshirt should more than suffice for under 200FPS, but more than that and you may want to wear something extra. Also, don't worry too much about your sensitive areas. Almost always, the cloth/folds in your pants will do the trick. Some wear cups, but that is overkill since the projectiles have little momentum because they weigh in at around a fifth of a gram. Paintball is another story. For the ladies, a padded sports bra should suffice, but I lack the equipment to know this for certain, although I'm guessing that the projectile needs more weight to have enough momentum to hurt there more than any other part of the body. Feel free to correct me on this.
Also, at what range are you playing at? With an aresenal from a department store, 20 feet can be an accepted range, but with high FPS weapons, that same range should be a no-fire zone.

What do I want it to look like?
Personally i like neither of the common types of airsoft guns (AK family and M16/M16/AR-15 family), so I have Heckler & Koch MP5s and a UMP. Just a matter of personal choice.

Once you have pondered these questions for awhile, go to the next step.
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476 comments
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Nov 4, 2008. 8:30 AMadmin says:
Hey, this is a great instructable and is very informative. Just one thing is missing... pictures! It really helps a lot when trying to follow directions so you should consider taking some photographs. Once you do that and leave me a message when you have so that we can publish your work. Thanks! Thanks for the cool instructable and we hope to publish this soon!
Apr 15, 2012. 3:19 PMnickpkcin says:
I have a full metal GBB WE M1911 desert warrior, and it's a complete beast. The nice thing about gas m1911s is that they sell carbine conversion kits for them, so if you love it, it can be easily converted into a rifle
Apr 11, 2012. 11:28 AMairsofter28 says:
im just geting in to it and i need a fast fireing gun but i'm broke wat sould i do??????
Apr 11, 2012. 11:31 AMairsofter28 says:
im looking at the ump
Apr 1, 2012. 12:43 PMcuzz I can says:
I am planing on getting a A&K M60 Suggestions? and yes I am advanced and don't minded paying 360 bucks.
Apr 1, 2012. 4:57 PMcuzz I can says:
I know but the airsoft field I play on isn't very big and our original suppressing fire person quit and I was assigned his position. I used to be the rusher and I had a 15lb M4. lets just say this: my field doesn't have that much cover but in some small areas you could put five people in and they wouldn't even find each other
Jan 14, 2012. 6:25 PMbook54321 says:
Is a pulse R70 and a colt 1911 a good combonation
Feb 7, 2012. 5:59 PMbook54321 says:
the pulse was free so im gana stike with it as for the 1911 it was 10$ at wallmart but iv fought som wars sinc then the 1911 is beter then the pulse
Jan 28, 2012. 8:20 AMdr. richtofen says:
I have an umarex beretta 90-two springer 200-260 fps, plastic (abs) outside and metal inner barrel. Is that any good?
Jan 28, 2012. 11:35 AMdr. richtofen says:
Yes. I don't realy do airsofting (I live in the netherlands, and it's still illegal there. I have 3 guns though : double eagle spring mp40. asg spring m14 socom and the 90-two) So I do only target shooting, and they're good for that. I just wanted to know from an expert if they're good. Thanks
Jan 29, 2012. 2:03 AMdr. richtofen says:
Yeah, they're pretty good. I always use .20's for target shooting. Mostly of the time they're hanging on my wall though. But I hope it gets legal soon
Jan 7, 2012. 8:14 PMXxFSUxJAKExX says:
I am looking for a really good quality High Power Sniper Rifle that is really accurate... willing to pay some good money but i better be getting my money's worth... If any1 can help me or give me a lead on anything i would really appreciate it. Thanks
Jan 11, 2012. 7:41 PMportalking says:
If money isn't a problem i would suggest something like the Ares M200 (intervention) sniper. It is really pricey but it is both spring and gas.
here is the link.
http://www.airsoftgi.com/product_info.php?products_id=5410
Jan 28, 2012. 8:15 AMdr. richtofen says:
Lol, for the price of that airsoft gun, you can get like 4 real ak-47 in some places. Or like 15 mosing nagants (in some place they're like 80 dollars)
Jan 28, 2012. 3:53 PMportalking says:
Ya it is a really ridiculous price.
Jan 29, 2012. 2:01 AMdr. richtofen says:
Yes, true
Jan 7, 2012. 6:02 AMSteeleWorks says:
for people new to airsoft, if your a support gunner then you dont need a $300 saw, get a cheaper aeg and kit it out with a large magazine and maybe even some internal upgrades
Jan 1, 2012. 12:28 AMepictyler97 says:
hey what do you think about the tokyo mauri mp5, im thinking about buying one for $100 i just dont know if its worth the price though
Nov 2, 2011. 6:57 PMBoogieWipes says:
Do you think a kraken AEG aftermath ak47 is good 250$ 412fps
Nov 4, 2011. 8:08 AMBoogieWipes says:
OK, the ak-47 is at big five, but were do you get the CYMA .28 AK?
P.s. the ak-47 at big 5 is full metal.
Nov 4, 2011. 2:06 PMBoogieWipes says:
Big five is sporting goods store. i'll look into this gun. iv'e heard good things about airsoft GI, but, are you sure you recommend this?
Sep 20, 2011. 7:45 AMjrg3ni0us says:
I found great guns at www.mrairsoft.com
Sep 10, 2011. 11:54 AMtim127 says:
http://www.airsoftmegastore.com/ is good too
Aug 29, 2011. 2:29 PMchrizw123 says:
I just got a springer pump action shotgun for only €25. It's pretty powerful for its price at about 370 fps and considering theres no airsoft players where i live, its good enough for target shooting, the only bad thing is that its not really a shotgun unless you pump it multible times
Jan 1, 2009. 11:15 AMRyuuKasai says:
Well written and informative. I agree with everything but one point... speed loaders. If you've had a lot of luck with them, I envy you your knack. 99% of the time, when I attempt to use one I just end up spraying bb's all over the place, and being caught short without ammo. My strategy was just to carry a bunch of clips on me. What kind of games do you play? I did mostly military simulations, so I'm curious about the other types of games.
Aug 30, 2011. 1:35 PMmilsim_viper says:
What kinds of milsims because thats what i play. but not like at your backyard all out events on bases.
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