Introduction: My Guide to Backyard Airsoft

About: get off my lawn ya damn trolls!, or profile or whatever, though welcome if your not a troll........ damn trolls.........

Welcome to my first instrucable, as the title says, its about airsoft (wow amazing!).
This is how to start your airsofting hobby and what guns to buy ect.
Really, it's a list of guns that you can buy, this probably has more guns than any of the other instructables like it. 



PLEASE NOTE: this is based around the UK so all the guns are two tone VCRA complient guns.
also, I'm not exactly an expert on this or anything, it's just about the backyard variety  with the cheap guns reviewed. I also take no responsibility for the pictures and thank the sites I got them from.

Step 1: Getting Started

 Ok, so most of you probably know this but I'm still gonna put it here.
Airsoft is a game played by a group of people with high powered bb guns, whose aim is to eliminate their enemy by hitting them with a bb, the only problem with this is that that person who got hit, has to call HIT! and walk out of the area of play, so if you have mr. cheaty pants as your enemy and he doesn't call hit , then you don't know that he was hit or not. Really airsoft is honour based, so if you think you got shot, go out. because playing with cheaters is not fun.

People say you'll need a lot of equipment to play airsoft, and this is why most people are put off. In reality all you need is a few friends, a gun and a few extra magazines for it, and goggles. Maybe a bag to carry around your stuff too.(If your playing a long game, you might want a bottle of water and a few chocolate bars as well.)

All you need to wear is really just some casual clothing that you can afford to get a bit dirty, and mabye some kneepads if you want. you will also need a holster for you sidearm and a pouch of some sort for your extra mags.

Step 2: Your Role

 Ask yourself this, what am I best at?
If your good at running really fast for ages, you should become a scout, if you are great at aiming, you should become a sniper ect.
Try to buy a gun that suits your role, for example, a sniper needs a camouflaged sniper rifle, and a support gunner needs a machine gun to lay down a wall of plastic.

Also think of what system you like best, spring for one cock per shot, and gas or electric for automatic firing.

If your constantly changing role, just buy an assault rifle.

Step 3: Pistols

 Ok lets get this started, first of all you'll need a gun.

Sidearms: best to buy one of these first. You'll probably need one. (unless you have more mags and your gun doesn't jam ever.).

beretta m92- Probably a good one to start with, you can get a 190 fps full metal spring one for about £17. The AEP (auto electric pistol) ones are around £20-£30 and are plastic,  as for  gas I havent a clue.

glock 17/18/21- A popular gun, spring ones are very cheap and plastic (that said, the cyma ones are brilliant.) £5-£15. The AEP ones are £20 (ABS plastic) to £60 (metal)

desert eagle- generally not too good for a beginner due to it's stupidly large size, spring is about £5 (wont last a 4 weeks) -£20 (decent ABS plastic). AEP tend to be £25 (ABS) -£60 (metal)

colt pocket- a small pistol that makes a good backup, spring is £8-£20, gas is £20-£50

walther ppk- medium sized, generally good all rounder, spring is £1-£60, AEP £25-£200

pistol uzi- good for those who want a bit more ammo, though harder to cock than a conventional pistol. spring is £5-£20, AEP is £20-£300

usp- another overlooked all rounder, usually comes with a suppressor. spring is £20-£30, AEG £30-£400, gas £100-£500

Revolvers- best not to buy, low ammo cap, hard to reload ect. Although they are very scary looking and realistic (loads with shells with a bb in each) best for more experienced players as they can set you back £20-£100.

Mini series- reduced sized guns, can't be taken too seriously, but make no mistake they are just as good as having an smg. AEP £20-£30

Step 4: Main Weapons (assault Rifles)

 These are really all round work horses.

assault rifles: Best to get one of these if your going to have a battle.

m16- One of the more popular guns, quite large though a good all rounder.
spring ones are dirt cheap, I don't recommend buying one, get a sniper instead!
AEG (auto electric guns) about £30(ABS)-£2500(metal super guns).
GBB you dont really get gas rifles.

m4- Almost the same as the m16 exept shorter, costs about £5-£10 less than it.

g36c- Another good all rounder that most begginers buy,  it can turn into an smg by means of  a folding stock it is a good gun, spring is £20-£40, AEG also costs £30-£300

AUG- A good gun with a bullpup design(magazine and receiver behind trigger) giving it a longer barrel making it good as a sniper. I have never seen a spring one but it would be quite good and cost about £20-£40 maybe. the AEG is £50-£400

SCAR- a gun that can turn from rifle to smg, good all round and cost a LOT £70-£400 (don't buy the spring ones because they are cheap like the spring m16.)

ak47-Quite good and is also well known although it's only good if it's the more expensive ones.
Spring £30, AEG £40-£300

FAMAS- makes a good sniper gun, another bullpup, not too big or small although the plastic around the mag is prone to breaking for the spring version. spring £30-£70, AEG is £100-£700

Step 5: Main Weapons (CQB) Close Quarters Battle

 All the smgs for using indoors, in woods ect.

Smgs:

mp5-the ultimate QCB machine, small compact and with a folding stock, you can use it with one hand, stats are on par with the ak47. spring ones are hard to come by and not worth the money £10-£20. AEG is £30-£150.
GBB is £100-£400.

mp5k- more like a pistol than the mp5, slightly cheaper with no stock and a shorter barrel. AEG is £70-300, similar price with gas.

p90- looks very futuristic, tiny gun can be used with one hand but is very accurate with its bullpup design. doesn't come in spring, AEG is £20(no accessories)-£30(accsessories)-£300(metal sniper)

uzi-not very accurate and hard to find a cheap one that takes mags but still a great gun. spring £10 and AEG £20-£40.

mp7-hard to find but well worth the search, very small so you can use with one hand and has a folding foregrip that is so cool looking, some models also have a adjustable stock. spring one is epic poundland crap £1-£10 amazing. AEG is very hard to find but is £20-£300. GBB is £100-£300.

ump45-not exactly an smg, same size, but more on par with an assault rifle in power and range, good looking and has a folding stock, but tends to cost a lot. AEG is £100-£300, GBB is also £100-£300

Step 6: Other Weapons

 These are weapons that are in categories of their own.

Sniper rifles: these are quite useful actually.

sm6-it looks cool and is quite portable, comes with a scope, silencer and has a bipod built into the foregrip.it only really comes in spring and is £10-£25

xm8/sm8-a well known rifle that looks like it came from halo. spring is £20-£30. AEG is £50-£300

g36k-A sniper version of the g36, very accurate. spring goes for £30-£50, AEG is £70-£300

Shotguns: in the world of airsoft these are more like sniper rifles unless they are tri shot.

m47- comes in the A2 B2 C2 and D2 versions all are slightly different (eg. the B2 is a pistol grip shotgun)

spas 12- most take shells rather than mags. spring £30-£300

mossberg- rock solid, a good starter gun. spring £20-£70

Grenade launchers: nobody really uses these apart from veterans, basically they are just a gigantic shotgun on the bottom of your gun.£20-£500

The minigun: Just no, you'll be the first to get shot and their bloody heavy. AEG £3000

Support gun: Usually on par with assault rifles, but higher rate of fire and weight. AEG £100-£700

Step 7: Gear

 all the other clothing.

Goggles- well duh, you don't want to lose an eye do you? £1-£50

mask-if your using powerful guns you'll need this. £5-£30

tactical vest-helps you carry stuff and stops bbs hurting that much. £10-£120

rifle sling / lanyard- most guns already come with these useful for carrying your gun,£3-£50

scopes- some are hard to set up, but well worth the money to a sniper. £3-£3000

torches- can help at night, £1-£900

lasers- not particularly useful unless set up right. £12-£400

grenades-expensive but useful (apart from cheap non-reusable ones)  £15-£100

Step 8: Game Types

 In airsoft, there's not just one game, but loads, here are some of them:

CQB- This usually takes place in a building ( or buildings) where the players are quite close together and move around a lot.

RP(roleplay)- The players are put in a scenario (eg. they have to rescue a hostage, they have to protect a vip ect.)  with certain rules.

LSW(large scale war)- Not many people play this, this is played on a very large field with vehicles bunkers, supply rooms ect.

and there's the normal skirmish which more often than not, takes place in a forest area.

Step 9: Tips

 So really this is just those special "surprises" you can give to your enemy and extra tips.

Tactical rolls- forwards rolls ect. not advised, you'll probably hurt yourself and get very muddy, also there is a chance you will break your gun.

Ninja strikes- take quite some skill,  but are very effective when pulled off correctly, you hang upside down from a tree, then when an enemy is close, you drop down with your sidearm and surprise attack them. Although this is considered camping and is kind of stupid.

most people say not to be afraid of being shot, but really at actually helps, because fear increases your reaction speed, which means you can doge faster.(In my opinion, but it really doesn't matter too much.)

dressing like a terrorist or something also can buy you a few seconds to shoot, the enemy is freaked out and stunned for a few seconds, giving you the chance to attack.

tracer rounds also have the same effect at night because the enemy don,t know what you are firing at them, also they can tell you your ammo (1 tracer for every 5 rounds) and help your aiming because you can see where the bullet is going


Step 10: Ammo

Guns take multiple weights of bb, the main ones are:

0.12 gram - good for cheap guns.

0.20 gram - the average round for guns with an fps of 300-350.

0.25 gram - usually for sniper rifles.

0.30 gram and higher - for very powerful guns.

Step 11: Closing Notes

Well that's it for my guide, happy human hunting!
I'm going to add some more stuff later like maybe  my own pics ect.
Also I'm going to add more content later after I buy some more guns.  
thanks for 50+ views :D