The Quick Airsoft FAQ

The Quick Airsoft FAQ: (credit to maasf.org)
What am bestest gun?

Opinions differ in this area, most people would likely differ to the most reliable makers, Tokyo Marui, Classic Army, ICS, and VFC. Each company has its own fortay (types of AEG's/GBB's it produces), pricing element in the US, and strengths/weaknesses. You will often notice Classic Army fanboys arguing with ICS fanboys over which maker is better. Honestly they all have their strengths. Most of the time if your curious about a weapon find reviews done by airsoft players themselves. When I say find, don't go and make a topic asking for someone to find it for you, go look for yourself, chances are 1000 people have already asked the question you were about to ask, and they looked silly for doing so. Why not avoid looking silly and go find it yourself . (good place to start would be www.arniesairsoft.co.uk)

The Chinese Market
For the past 4 years the airsoft market has undergone an extreme change, even this FAQ becomes regularly outdated with the continued onset of some of the best replicas I have ever played with. Chinese manufacturers like CYMA and JG now make guns that suit any players budget, and the scary part is how well they do it. The fallout from this however is the change in the classic manufacturers already mentioned above, Classic Army for instance has undergone a quality control change for the worse trying to compete with Chinese prices, I will try and update this with more facts and less interpretation, but go out and read the reviews on CYMA and JG guns, they may just be the fix for your budget problems.

Company Performance/Price Manufactures MAINTENANCE (Cost of Repair)
Tokyo Marui - Reliable/Expensive - Majority of Types - Cheap
Classic Army - Below Average/Average - Majority of Types - Expensive
ICS - Reliable/Expensive - Most Types - Average
G&G - Below Average/Expensive - Most Types - Expensive
VFC - Below Average/Overpriced - Specialized - Expensive
CYMA - Reliable/Cheap - AK/HK Variants - Cheap
JG - Average/Cheap - Majority of Types - Cheap
A&K - Average/Cheap - Armalite/Support Variants - Cheap
SRC - Average/Cheap - Majority of Types - Average
JLS - Below Average/Cheap - Specialized - Expensive
Kart - Below Average/Cheap - M14's - Average
AGM - Average/Cheap - Armalites/M14s - Cheap

What about Echo-1?

I chose not to list Echo-1 for about the same reason I didn't list TSD, Echo-1 in reality is not a manufacturer, only a re-brander, all their M4-AK Variants are JG guns, M14s are Kart, and m249s are A&K.


Will this mag fit my gun?

Honestly I don't know my friend, if the site isn't telling you, you most likely aren't reading enough of its description, or the site is purposefully leaving details out and you should be looking elsewhere. Remember, they are trying to sell you something, and if they aren't a reputable dealer, then they will most likely butter up some of the details to make every airsoft newbie think they sell guns that shoot lazer beams. So please, when viewing Evike for instance, take each THIS IS THE BEST THING IN AIRSOFT description with a grain of salt. If you want honest to god descriptions, go to www.redwolfairsoft.com. If thats too expensive, go to www.gunnerairsoft.com. If you want continental US stores then www.airsoftgi.com, or www.airsoftextreme.com. And if none of that satisfies your Magazine woes, try a WTB (want to buy) entree in the market section, either here, or at www.arniesairsoft.co.uk

What am age limit on ur field lol?

Well now thats a question I haven't had to care about in awhile, but for your little sakes, ill try and see if I can make a factual graph sometime soon of the fields. But for now, consider it like this, most fields really don't care how old you are, they mostly care whether your going to go and do something stupid on their property. Basically you need to be a mature person. "But I am I swear!" Thats wonderful, all you need then is a guardian or person/s who is over the age of 18 who will either sign off on a form/waiver upon field entree, or in the case of fields like Dartmouth, the coordinator for the day should at least have a quick word with your guardian, basically establish that you'll be safe (I say this in the case of your age being 13-15). In the latter case it only makes sense that we have a dialogue with your guardian, I mean why wouldn't they want to talk to us? We could be kidnappers for all they know. Something you should also bear in mind is before you ask what the age limit is on a field, confirm the location of said field, some are quite a ways out, and sometimes in other states, which is something you should probably talk to your driver about, before you begin to even start the process of being allowed on the field / confirming your being there. Google maps is your friend in this case.

My gun broke!

Don't worry! Theres plenty of people in the area who can help you, but be careful who you take advice from. Generally speaking, the first step is start by researching (this means searching) for anyone else who might have had the same problem, and hopefully find the solution from someone who responded to them (make sure to find cases where the person who had the problem in fact succeeded from the advice rendered). If that fails feel free to ask here, but try to get advice from experienced players who know the ins and outs of their guns, mostly people who are 18+ (im not trying to discriminate, but from the advice ive seen sometimes id seriously consider it). Remember also, stock weapons are the least likely to break down, the longer you go with a gun without upgrading it, the lesser your chance of it becoming an expensive piece of junk. In any case MAASF now has an airsmith section where you can directly ask MAASF approved airsmiths questions.

Will this battery fit?

Yes, No, maybe with modification. Generally speaking, there are pretty set standards on battery sizes, Large types working with full stock guns, mini types working with carbine types, and stick types for paratrooper types. Now if that made no sense to you, then ill try and make it more basic. Battery sizes for Nicd and Nimh types are determined mainly by your Voltage, that is the more batteries you have in a chain the higher the voltage will be. For instance a 8.4v battery is 7 cells, 9.6v is 8 cells, 10.8v 9 cells, and so on. The difference in minis from large types is that cell sizes are smaller, making them easier to fit in the foregrip of an mp5, m4a1, or a g36c for instance. This of course means they'll have reduced mah (how long the batteries remain charged), but that is to be expected, remember if it fits your gun specifically, then your gun was designed to use it. Most of the time, the seller of your particular weapon will make note of what batteries fit your gun, you can then use this as a measuring tool to any other type you may run across. Basically consider that commonly guns that are wired to the rear of the weapon generally use large types, ones that are wired to the front use mini types. The case where some of this becomes harder to judge is when your looking to up your voltage, commonly if your using a large type battery you mostly will be able to fit up to a 10.8v (M15A2 Full Stock), this differs with the MP5, which only with modification can fit a 9.6v. The most notable area where this comes up is with nunchucks and M15 carbines, most of time its hit and miss, or just really stuffing it into the foregrip, but if its built with mini type cells, you should be ok. To sum it up, theres a lot of choices out there, most airsoft stores carry built batteries that are made to specifically fit each gun, but for the concerned shopper on a budget your best bet is to seek either online help (searching) or your best bet is to try other peoples batteries at the field (with permission of course).

How long do I charge my battery?

Two words, smart charger. Spend the extra 10.00-20.00, its better than having to calculate charge times, discharge times, and then having a room incinerated when you forget that you even plugged it in at all. It does all the work, some even are made specifically to deal with NiCad, IE able to read how charged the cells are, and thusly discharge and then charge them. In my opinion, if your new to the hobby, stick to Nimh, charge whenever you want, no matter how charged they are without worrying about killing their memory. Now if what I just said made no sense, then I’ll explain it simply, the two main types of batteries used in airsoft are Nicad and Nimh. The difference between them mainly has to do with cell memory, in that Nicads when they are plugged into a charger consider whatever level they are at, to be in fact empty. That means, if you plugged in a fully charged Nicad to a charger, the battery from there on out would consider itself to be empty, even when charged. Thus your battery will be dead within the week and unable to charge to its fullest, which is why they must be discharged before charging. Nimh on the other hand has no memory and can simply be recharged from whatever point you left off at. So please, smart chargers people.

I want to spend exactly $12.52 on my airsoft gun, I got the extra .02 from my moms dryer!

Ok, so you want to play airsoft, thats great, but bare in mind, this is not the price is right, you can't go around naming prices and budgets unless you have a wad of cash to throw around, or a budget that includes $200 increments. Thats right, guns that don't break cost $150.00+, granted a high price doesn't ensure reliability, thats why you shop around and read reviews, but suffice to say when your shopping for airsoft guns, your not just shopping for a gun, but for magazines, bbs, holsters, webbing and mag pouches, scopes, and most importantly MAINTENANCE. If you buy a gun because it was $50 cheaper, but then it breaks, guess how much it costs to repair it? And again? and again? Very soon you'll have payed triple the amount you would have payed had you just saved for the better gun. So please, consider every factor when you decide to buy a gun. And if you can't afford a gun, then welcome to the world of rentals.