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Newbie FAQ UPDATED 6/12/03

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M.S.-ARC:
ORIGINAL THREAD:  http://miairsoft.proboards.com/thread/edit/7295

This entire article is credited to Chieh Allen Lee a.k.a. DumboRAT.  He asked that IF I made an adjustments, either wording or content that I adjust the font.  If I end up doing so, anything I change will be in red.
_____________________________________

All,
I’ve been involved in airsoft for about four years now, and even after having placed close to 9000 posts on the AirsoftZone Forums, some 3000 on the AirsoftPlayers Forums, 4000+ on the sadly hacked and destroyed (but now reborn) www.AirsoftOhio.com Forums and 1000+ on Arnie’s UK hobbyist Forums, I see every day that the SAME questions pop up again and again. You know, it’s the same:
“Which AEG is best?”
“Which GBB should I get?”
“Do I need a BlackHawk tac-vest to play my first game?”
The list goes on….
And with this set of newbie questions, comes the same remarks from most of the “veterans” on the various Forums and d-boards – “Do a search, the answer is already there.” Then, inevitably, the newbie will complain that they either already did the search, or are just in need of a simple, quick reply – whereby the veterans will then call the newbie lazy and ignorant…. Thereafter, predictably, a flame war ensues.
This is exactly what I wish to avoid.
I hope that this post will serve as a decent starting point for newbies seeking basic information regarding AEGs and GBBs, some basic gear and accessories info, and even basic reads about BBs and batteries. While I most definitely DO NOT know everything, and make NO such claims of being all-knowing, I am writing this FAQ with the best intentions in mind – that my very limited experience may help answer the questions of a newbie player.
What I have posted here is all from my own personal experience as an active skirmish player and collector, as well as knowledge passed on to me in a direct, first-person manner from TRUSTED, well-respected members of the local, regional, and even national/international on-line airsoft communities.
The information contained here, as far as I know, is completely true. If anyone feels that I may have been mistaken or have posted false information, please feel free to post replies in this thread and also to contact me privately at:
CXL77@po.cwru.edu
Finally, remember, this is just a beginner’s FAQ. There is much here that I did not cover, and what I have covered will, to the trained eye of the experienced player have many holes when more advanced considerations are taken into account. You, as the newbie, can trust that this guide will get you started on the right path, but remember that it is only a guide, and YOU must take it upon yourself to seek advanced knowledge as your own experience in any of the divisions/sections covered below increases.
Again, I sincerely hope that this reading will help you, the newbie player, transition in a smooth manner into the wonderful hobby of airsoft.
Allen
aka DumboRAT
========== Newbie FAQ ============
Contents:
Foreword – Why EVERYONE should SEARCH THE FORUMS
Section I – AEGs
- General info., TM, CA, ICS/AE, Academy/Y&P
- TM AEGs
a. Motor type
b. Battery considerations
c. Range/accuracy issues
d. Upgrade concerns
e. Durability, reliability, and maintenance
Section II – GBBs
- General considerations, durability and reliability
- The Hop issue
- So many choices, which one do I choose?
a. A. I want a cheap GBB, what’s out thereI want a cheap GBB, what’s out there?
b. Some generalizations
c. That question that always pop up: KSC and KWA, what’s the deal?
- Knowledge base
a. Gas type
b. How to fill your GBB magazines
c. Additional knowledge – mag maintenance, fill adaptors, and GBB cyclic function
d. More knowledge – GBB general maintenance
- Remembering that the retailers don’t always have your best interests in-mind
Section III – Mock suppressors (“silencers”)
- AEG sound suppression
- GBB sound suppression
- Mock suppressors and “accuracy”
Section IV – Sights, scopes, and lasers
- Mounting considerations
- The Scope/sight itself
a. General considerations
b. Let’s talk specifics, red dot sights
c. More specifics, “traditional” scopes
d. So, which one should I choose, red-dot or traditional?
- Protecting the Lens
- LASER devices
- Zeroing mistakes: aka “Help, I can’t get my sight to zero!”
- Where to shop?
Section V – “Shotguns”
Section VI – “Grenade Launchers”
Section VII – Understanding muzzle velocity/energy
Section VIII – BBs
Section IX – Gear
- A general word about gear for newbies
- Gear basics
a. The bare essentials – protection, hydration, and how to carry all that stuff
b. The same basics, but with a larger budget
c. The anchor and the weight bearer: the pistol-belt and the load-bearing suspenders
d. Holsters – you don’t stick a pistol in your pants crotch, so why would you stick it in a $15 POS holster?
e. The big one, EYE PROTECTION [Parents READ]
- Special considerations: low-light/night skirmish gear
a. Night vision gear
b. Flashlights
- Additional gear references and reading
Section X – Shopping advice [ Parents READ, especially “Legal concerns” section]
- Research first, buy later
- Who’s got the best prices?
- Which retailer can I trust?
- eBay or other auction and various private “classified” pages
- Legal concerns
a. Purchasing overseas and importing|
b. Ownership
Concluding notes
Post script (Special for Ohio airsoft hobbyists and players!)
Foreword – Why EVERYONE should SEARCH THE FORUMS :
Welcome to airsoft!

The first thing that I want to comment on is the absolute need for every newbie to do searches......

The problem with consistently answering the same set of questions is just that.
Eventually, it becomes boring to the one posting the answers -- and that boredom becomes laziness, and that laziness means that more than likely the information that's presented will get more and more truncated, more and more abbreviated (not necessarily more distilled).

Furthermore, any hobby will have turnover. It's unavoidable. We as human beings are awfully good at losing interest. And even the most dedicated hobbyists will, at times, simply meet upon situations outside their control which may take them away from that hobby, either for a while or, sadly, for good.

Either way, it represents a loss of knowledge.

Yes, new blood always brings with it new knowledge and new perspectives -- and new posts can help such new views prosper. But none of that makes up for what is lost. This is why we have books and texts. We've learned through the centuries that our knowledge must be documented so that it can be passed-down to the next generation. And although the various airsoft Forums are far from Shakespeare or Darwin, they are, nonetheless, a form of knowledge transfer, and every newbie owes it to himself or herself to try to learn as much as he/she can from these valuable databases.
In addition to this kind of personnel loss and rotation, we’re also plagued, as a digital information transfer society, with constant loss of data. It’s not like having a book that’s always on-reference at the Library of Congress; our material only exists in the digital bits and bytes that circulate on-line, and every once in a while, a lot of very valuable information is accidentally and unfortunately purged. A LOT of good information is now lost forever and will likely never be replaced (i.e. Wallace's PSG-1 "super huge battery" mod post on the hacker-destroyed old AirsoftOhio Forums, The Almighty’s picture and diagram-linked GBB magazine troubleshooting posts on X-Ring, Wallace’s and others' technical contributions to the running log I had kept on the old AirsoftOhio Forums regarding the CAW/MM Moscart shells).

I'm not so much disappointed for myself – certainly, I regret not having printed out some of those threads or copied them to my hard-drive for reference – but it’s not much of a loss to me as I still recall the discussions and data up in the pea that I call a brain. Instead, what I am most sad for is the loss of that information to the newbies – the loss of scores and scores of excellent posts that were made by members who are no longer posting or even in the hobby anymore.

With each "generation," it seems like we're trying to reinvent the wheel.

When I first got into the hobby, I literally spent a month reading through just about *_all_* of the past threads on the then popular (but now sadly totally defunct) AirsoftGuns.com d-boards, the again long-gone X-Ring d-boards, and the then-popular BlackRain7.com Forums. I soaked up as much as I can, figured out who would spew BS as soon as they got on the keyboard and whose words I could trust, and gradually increased my knowledge base.

Slow? Yes.

Painful? Yes.

Profitable? Definitely.
All the reading I did turned me away from un-necessary purchases, and helped me see what to do, and what not to do, under certain situations. They helped me understand how to go about making those tough first decisions as to what to buy. They told me who to buy from, and which shops to avoid.

By digging through all the old posts, you'll quickly come to see whose words you can trust, who writes stuff you have to kinda watch out for and take discount of, and who just plain spews crap.

That's important.
As a general word of advice, after having gone through college and graduate school, remember to taper your searches to be more and more broad after an initial focused search -- regardless of what search engine you're using or how specialized that engine might be (from Google and Dogpile to the smaller search engines that are found within each and every hobbyist Forum/d-board), the initial search should be focused, but a null result should prompt you to broaden your search parameters.

M.S.-ARC:
What do I mean?
Let’s say you wanted to look for potential trouble areas with a KSC Glock 18C that you’re looking to buy. So, to start with, I said you should go as narrow and as focused as you can – start with a specific search string, for example, search “KSC Glock 18C troubleshooting.” And now, as variations on the same theme, also search for “KSC Glock 18C trouble,” “KSC Glock 18C repair,” “KSC Glock 18C wrong,” etc.
But let’s say that this doesn’t return much – so you should loosen up your search criteria a bit – “KSC Glock 18C” is a good place to start. Also, what about “KSC G18C,” or even just the term “G18C.” Certainly those will return with a lot of results! Sure, you may have to do some digging after the results come up, but after you’re finished reading everything, I’d be willing to bet that you’d know more about the G18C than you ever thought possible!
That’s why doing a search is so important.
Pretty please, with sugar on top, do a search.
These tips should motivate you to get searches going on your questions – and hopefully also help you get some good search results. Trust me, the time you invest will be well worth it.

Section One, AEGs:
- General info., TM, CA, ICS/AE, Academy/Y&P
Typically, you’ll want to know about Tokyo Marui, or “TM,” Automatic Electric Guns – “ AEGs.”
This FAQ is limited in scope mainly to the “factory stock, OEM” TM models, and does NOT cover any newer (as of June 2003, the submission date of this article) models.
Also note that I do NOT know anything about the Korean-made models (i.e. Academy), and as such, I am unable to comment on them personally. However, fellow enthusiast and friend Tom Cruz (aka icruztn of AirsoftZone) of the well respected airsoft skirmish club/team The Virginia Rangers, had the following to say about these AEGs:
re : Academy guns
From a collector's viewpoint (i.e., you never intend to skirmish) these [author note: Academy, aka “ACX” AEGs) are not terrible guns. They do shoot, they have a very pleasant rate of fire (50 rounds in under 3 seconds) and they come in packages that pretty much give you everything you need to play with them (the one I got came with 2 standards, 2 hicaps, battery and charger). However there are serious drawbacks to purchasing an Academy gun. Upgrades are scarce to non-exist[e] nt (some retailers claim to be able to upgrade ACX guns with Tokyo Marui parts, but I have not tried one for myself [author note: the now-defunct AirsoftToys once upgraded/overhauled a Y&P/ACX FAMAS AEG for a local player, and their words, and I quote, is that they “will never do this again” due to the complexities of jury rigging necessary]), muzzle velocity is laughable (chrono'd around 180 fps with a .2g BB...that's enough to sail a .12g BB about 50 feet...if you're lucky), and their construction is almost entirely plastic (which means they are prone to breakage). In short, no one who is even considering playing a game should consider an Academy gun. The only people who should think about one are people with money to burn on a gun that can't shoot farther than 50 feet. If that sounds like you ..send me an email, and let's discuss giving ME some of that money :)
Furthermore, my knowledge is also relatively limited with respect to the popular, and quite highly-regarded Taiwanese/Hong-Kong made AEGs – namely, those made by ICS/Airsoft Elite (“ICS/AE”) and Classic Army (“CA”). For information regarding these pieces, I would highly recommend that you take the time to read the past posts about these pieces that are floating around on the various Forums/d-boards (keep in mind that there have been several iterations of these models that have been introduced).
What I will say with regard to these “pre-upgraded” ISC/AE and CA (now also associated with ArmaLite) is that in my opinion, they are only suited for the experienced player who has no problems opening up the mechabox of the AEG for repairs and upgrades, and who is looking to get a good bargain on a metal-bodied AEG.
Why?
First, their final assembly quality control doesn’t seem to be as tight as that of TM AEGs. Factory-faults and resultant premature breakdowns are rather more commonly reported for the ICS/AE and CA AEGs (the ArmaLite AEGs, as of this point, are too new to judge) than for the higher-quality TM AEGs.
Second, think of an upgraded AEG as a race-car. It performs at a higher level, but that’s because it is much more highly tuned and highly stressed. The reason why these race-cars are essentially torn down and rebuilt after each race is because of these very stresses – it makes the entire system less durable and reliable over time, so such rebuilds are necessary; otherwise, the risk for the car to blow an engine or throw its transmission at the next race is just too great. This simple mechanical law also applies to airsoft AEGs. Higher the stress, the more chances of breakdown. As such, with these “pre-upgraded” AEGs, unless you are comfortable servicing and repairing them, you should avoid them until a time when you’ve got such experience under your belt.
Yes, they’re very tempting because they supposedly perform better and also have attractive metal bodies – but trust me, all that won’t do you any good when you’ve got a broken AEG in your hands. Resist temptation.
- So, back to the topic, stock/OEM Tokyo Marui AEGs
Basically, ALL, that’s right, all Tokyo Marui AEGs share the same durability/reliability characteristics as one another – and furthermore, they all share the same typical performance characteristics based on a very few set of variables.
A. Motor type
Motor type is one of the major factors that will affect rate-of-fire (ROF). Honestly, while there are some differences in ROF performance based on motor type, unless you are doing a back-to-back or side-to-side comparison between two differently equipped AEGs, or are testing specifically for this variable (i.e. holding all other factors constant and “bench” testing the AEGs in a laboratory situation/setup), you’re NOT likely going to notice a difference. Let’s put it this way. ANY of these AEGs are capable of spitting out a near constant stream of BBs at upwards of 800 rounds per minute. And if that’s not enough for you to hose/suppress your target and keep their heads down, then you’d best spend the $3000 to get a The Q Project/PPP M134 Vulcan Minigun….. Of course, there are advantages to be had for having a higher ROF, but really, field-use during skirmishes, you more than likely will NOT notice this factor as based on application to the three motor types. And sure, when upgrading, this particular factor may be of some concern, but as a newbie, really, you shouldn’t be worried about upgrading, anyway (more on this later).
This is supported by what icruztn reports here:
re : Motor type
The EG 700 and the EG 1000 are near indistinguishable from each other in stock form. Only when upgraded springs and batteries are used does one begin to notice a difference. If we want to talk about opinions (and this is some hardcore gamer tech here), I prefer the EG700, especially in guns with anything less than a standard sized battery. I even swapped an EG700 into my M4. Why? The no-load current draw of the 700 is 2.3A, while the no-load draw for the EG1000 is 2.8A. This infers that the EG1000 does indeed have a greater ROF, but at the same time, the EG700 is going to draw less current than the EG700 while providing ROF that is very close to the 1000. Thus, smaller batteries will last longer given an EG700 motor rather than an EG1000.
This, of course, leads us nicely to the second variable….
B. Battery type, size, and capacity
Aside from how long your AEG will get juice to power its internals, this is also one of the determinants of ROF. Very, very basically speaking, the larger the battery, the longer it will last, and the higher the ROF provided. And what I mean by “large” isn’t necessarily a measure of the physical size of the battery, but rather, both its voltage (V) and capacity ( mAh, or milliamphours) – details about this set of factors and its impact on durability and ROF can be found in the various d-board and forums on-line, just search around.
V, or voltage, is what drives your AEG’s motor. Think about voltage as how wide you’d open the throttle when you give the car gas – more throttle (increasing voltage) means you’re spurring-on your car; less throttle (lower voltage), you spin the motor slower. While an AEG will function on 7.2V, the nominal voltage for operation of TM AEGs is 8.4V. At 1.2V per cell, you’ll see that this means you’ll need a 7-cell pack. With 8.4V, you can rest assured that you’ll have more than sufficient juice to run your stock TM AEG at its utmost potential. So, what about increasing voltage? You do see a lot of up-voltage battery packs out there – 9.6V, 10.8V, or even the tremendous 12V battery packs. These will increase your ROF, but without proper precautions, especially with the latter two, you’re like to do some damage to your internals. So, in a word, just stay with the 8.4V packs – there’s really no need to increase your power until you start upgrading the internals of your AEG, which, as a newbie, you shouldn’t be upgrading your AEG anyway (again, more later)…..

M.S.-ARC:
Now, what about how long your battery lasts? Well, this is a function of the mAh value. The larger the mAh value, the longer the battery will last. Typically, your 600 mAh batteries will last anywhere from 400 to 900 rounds. Why such a big range? Batteries are very sensitive to temperature, and the lower the ambient temperature, the shorter your battery will last. For example, the worst I’ve seen is a 8.4V 600 mAh “mini” pack that only managed to last 200 rounds before needing a recharge – but that’s at a temperature of near 40 deg. F. Pretty darned cold! With a 1700 or higher mAh capacity battery, you can pretty much assume that you’re going to be able to crank out over 1200 BBs.
Note also that how long a battery pack lasts is highly influenced by player usage of the battery as well, icruztn had the following to say:
re : Battery life
Almost as important as temperature is the playing style of the person shooting the gun. I have noticed that players who continually fire long full auto bursts get FAR less life out of their batteries than those who keep their fires shorter. I witnessed a player drain a 9.6V 1700mah battery in about 1000 rounds, whereas I can keep my 9.6V 1700mah pack running for most of the day (1500+ rounds). So I would add that in considering the battery size of the gun, a prospective player should realize that a heavy trigger finger is almost as bad as playing in the cold when it comes to battery life.
In other words, it’s much the same again as driving a race-car. Putting the hammer down all the time will waste fuel, and you might not be going all that much faster, either – have a bit of restraint, and you’ll be rewarded with increased gas-efficiency. In this case, ease off the trigger, and your battery will last longer.
There are many battery pack sizes. There’s the flat “mini” along with its other 2/3 A-cell type sisters, the “stick” or “AK”-type, as well as the many custom-shaped packs designed for increased capacity that fit into “stock” locations. There are even more that are configured as 2/3 AA or ¾ AA, or AA-sized custom-configured/shaped packs that can cram into some seriously contorted spaces. On the other hand, there are the “large” or “standard” sized “Sub-C” type cell packs, too. With these “Sub-Cs” physically being much larger than the “minis,” many newbies often wonder if the physically larger battery packs will provide better performance. Again, as with motor types, unless you are specifically controlling to test for this “size” variable, you’ll likely NOT notice a difference either in overall capacity or ROF when comparing a “large” battery with a “mini” that BOTH HAVE THE SAME VOLTAGE AND MAH values.
What does all this technical mumbo-jumbo mean?
Basically, if you’re considering a solid-stock AEG variant over its retractable or folding-stock variant solely based on the type of battery -- “large” vs. “mini” – you actually don’t have to worry that much, and you can toss that consideration right out the window . AA-sized NiCd cells are now easily and readily available with up to 1700 mAh capacity, and there are custom shaped/configured “mini” packs for use in many applications as well. Furthermore, there are plenty of accessories and modifications on the market that allow you to relocate and replace your smaller packs with larger ones. With such setups, even the retractable-stock AEGs (which forces the battery to reside up front in the forend/foregrip/handguard of the SMG/carbine) can have as much electrical power as their full-stock counterparts that use “large” packs. As such, unless you are seeking the ultimate in battery capacity (i.e. 2400 or 3000 mAh, which are, so far, only available with the Sub-Cs in NiCd and NiMH format, respectively), you can rest assured that your performance, overall, between your smaller and a similarly rated larger pack will be nearly equal. You no longer have to decide on your choice of AEG’s based on their battery capacities.
Also, this question inevitably comes up – “Can I run my stock-OEM unmodified TM AEG on a 9.6V pack?”
Answer:
Think of this as grafting in a turbocharger or supercharger to you car.

Think about it -- it's unavoidable and incontrovertible physical law that a higher-stressed system will wear more, right?

As such, you will undoubtedly shorten the usable lifespan of the replica, but exactly how much damage you will cause is something that no-one can predict.

Will you destroy your stock mechabox in a day? Maybe, if something internal wasn't assembled to-spec at the factory, that definitely can happen in that short an amount of time. Will you have a problem in two weeks, two months, or after two years? All unknown.

Remember, for any upgraded system, you're running an increased risk.
Stock OEM TM AEGs only need 8.4V to run at their optimally designed ROF. More juice is not necessary.
And finally, the question of whether or not you need a fuse or if you should take it out – IMHO, keep the fuse.
Why?
Remember, just as your house, car, or even your battery charger has a fuse to protect it as a last-line defense against overload -- the fuse is your AEG's last line of defense.

Certainly, motors are cheap, but what about having to switch out the entire geartrain? What about having to change-out and re-solder fried wiring? What if the spike burns out your circuitboard?

The removal of the fuse is basically a "high-end" upgrade. You will get SLIGHTLY less resistance, provided that everything else is done right -- but just like that F1 race-car that’s running on the edge with few fail-safe systems, when something goes wrong, something goes wrong big time.

This is one of those modifications that can gain you a fraction more performance, but trades-off hugely in terms of overall reliability.
Also, some will make the argument that removing the fuse prevents against a primary fuse failure (read: the fuse being the item that malfunctions, with nothing else wrong with your AEG) from shutting down your day’s worth of gaming – but exactly how many times do you think that a fuse just pops on its own, without something in the wiring or motor, geartrain, or other such systems actually being the primary cause? And do you think that you know enough about your AEG to know the difference between a primary or secondary failure? Big problem, isn’t it? That’s why you should keep the fuse. Sure, if the fuse fails during a game, you might not have an AEG until you can get back to the safe-area/base-camp to install your replacement fuse (and all good players will carry a small packet of fuses with them, your local automotive store will have nice hard carry-packs in-stock), but being forced to use your sidearm is still better than trashing your AEG, right?

Is it worth it? That's up to you to decide. Just remember what you're trading off, and what you intend to receive in return, as well as how the ratio of the two is reflected.
Finally, recently, we’ve seen the move towards higher and higher mAh capacity packs – often packs which are NiMH in construct, that offer anywhere between 20 to 50% increased mAh capacities than their NiCd counterparts.
The question is whether or not these batteries are “worth it” for the newbie player.
IMHO, no, they’re not.
The problem with NiMH cells, in their current (as of June, 2003) state of development and their current usage really limits their potential usefulness and in exchange places heavy demands on the newbie.
Most apparent is that their cost is also typically 20-50% higher than the NiCd cells that they replace. But of more concern is the fact that they require special charging considerations as well as can, depending on the size of the cells and their particular application to different AEG internal setups, bring with them many more considerations than what I believe that newbie players should be forced to deal with.
Current-day NiCd’s are only bothersome in that they need to be properly discharged after use – to a value of 1.1V per cell – to prevent “memory.” Even then, field rapid recharges will not cause much harm to these cells even without such discharges – truly making such discharge cycles only maintenance concerns that need to be addressed once every few charge-discharge cycles. Aside from this factor, their charging and recharging considerations are few to be had. With such ease-of-care, and truly the ability “custom” configured packs to fit nearly every battery need and bring mAh capacity to a high enough value as to be comparable to “larger” cells, I honestly believe that for the beginner, starting out on NiCd packs is the way to go.
Once you’ve become a bit more experienced, and better understand the ins-and-outs of taking care of NiMH packs as well as understand how they may best benefit you in terms of usage and deployment, I think that only then is their added-cost worth the trade-off.

M.S.-ARC:
For more overall/general battery information, I highly recommend that you take the time to read through these linked articles:
http://www.blackrain7.com/faqs/battfaq.html - An excellent beginner’s intro, courtesy of BlackRain7.com – a highly respected west-coast enthusiast and player informational website.
http://www.technick.net/public/code/index.php?load_page=http%3A//www.technick.net/public/code/cp_dpage.php%3Faiocp_dp%3Dguide_bpw2_00_toc - Thanks to Wallace of AirsoftOhio (a long-time friend, very well-respected enthusiast and dedicated skirmish player) for pointing this one out to me! This is an EXCELLENT reference, written in “English” for players of all levels to understand.
http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/battery/oem/chem/niccad/index.html
http://www.panasonic.com/industrial/battery/oem/chem/nicmet/index.html
- Both of these are commercial links from Panasonic, but still offers considerable and easy to digest information for “The Everyday Joe.” It covers both NiCd and the NiMH types. Adobe Acrobat required for download.
http://www.repairfaq.org/ELE/F_Battery.html - Directly off of the RepairFAQ guides. This stuff is written by NASA scientists and MIT professors and grads – a most excellent technical discussion. I guaranty that once you’ve read through this document, you’ll be a total expert!
The third and final variable to consider in your AEG purchase is inner barrel length. This is the ONLY variable you’ll need to consider with respect to:
C. Accuracy and range
The AEGs can be sub-divided in many forms based on their overall body structure as much one can do with their real-steel counterparts. However, a more accurate organization would be according to each AEG’s inner barrel length. Pretty much, the inner barrel length of the AEGs also fall conveniently into those very same categories as their real-steel counterparts. Therefore, they can be grouped into the following:
Compact sub-machine guns: H&K MP5K and PDW
SMGs : the rest of the H&K MP5 Series, IMI Uzi
Carbines: H&K G3 MC51 and G36C, FN P90, Colt M4A1, M4RIS, M733and SR16
Full-sized rifles (with or without folding stocks)/Bullpups/Semi-auto only sniper rifle
If you are interested in a particular model, check the inner barrel length on the page of vital statistics provided on the AirsoftZone.com “Gun Database.” (http://vettaserv.pct.net/aszone/gun_database.cfm)
As such, what are their respective accuracy and ranges?
At 30-40 feet, in an windless indoor range, all of these AEGs are capable of hitting a 1 inch tall by ½ inch wide target, repeatedly, with the help of an auxiliary sighting device (i.e. scope, laser, etc – as it is really very, very hard to see such a small target at that range, much less align it with ironsights).
This is pretty impressive, isn’t it?
Now, what about range? Well, rather than absolute range (how far the BB travels), I like to speak of this in terms of “effective range.” I consider effective range to be the ability of an AEG, loaded with 0.20 gram BBs and with the HopUp properly adjusted, to hit a moving, man-sized target, center-mass (i.e. as during a skirmish game). As I’ve said before, the best determinant of range on stock AEG’s is internal barrel length. Therefore, the following generalization can be made:
Compact SMGs: 60-70 ft.
SMGs : 70-80 ft.
Carbines 80-100 ft.
Full-sized rifles/Bullpups/SA sniper rifle (PSG-1): 100-120 ft.
So, as you can see, there’s not one AEG here that’s not suitable for CQB/CQC-type play, in terms of effective range (although to tote a full-sized assault rifle in CQB will surely be a feat simply due to the physical length of the rifle). Furthermore, even though there’s quite a bit of difference in the effective range between the SMGs and the full-sized rifles, you’ll note that such differences are not so tremendous as to make the SMG use too greatly disadvantaged in even open outdoor skirmishes – if a player is aggressive enough and can move smartly, a distance of 20 to 40 ft isn’t all that much of a tactical advantage.
So……….
Where does all this lead to in terms of your decision?
Simple, just about every one of these AEG’s perform similarly, especially when matched in their own sub-categories. Does that put you into even more of a dilemma? It really shouldn’t.
Basically, focus on what your needs are first. Do you want a small, maneuverable piece for close-in CQB work? Simple, get one of the smaller AEGs. Are you only 5’2” tall and are blessed with short arms? Fine, one of the smaller AEGs will do you well, too – and you’d not only look ridiculous with the meter-long SG-1, you’ll find that it would be awkward for you to handle! What if you’re a tall, lanky guy who’s looking only to play outdoor games? The full-sized rifles will do you just nicely. Not only will you be able to handle each just fine, thanks to those lanky arms – but you’ll also be able to use the additional range to good effect outdoors.
With that decision made, move on to the particular replica that cosmetically/ aesthetically pleases you the most. Are you looking for a long-gun with a long inner barrel, but are tired of the classic looks of most assault rifles? Fine, go for one of the bullpups. Do you dislike the M4A1 as it seems that everyone and their brother has one? That’s OK, too – just take the G36 instead.
Of course, the possible upgrade paths should be of some concerns as well , but again, as a newbie, this should be the LAST thing on your mind.
With that said…..
D. Upgrade concerns
Here’s what Kenny, aka 888 on AirsoftPlayers and Arnie’s Airsoft , UK – a good friend of mine and a old-timer of the hobby and skirmish game of airsoft – had to say:
I'm sure you notice that almost every newbie that gets into this sport want to start off with a fully upgraded AEG. Hard not to since this seems to be the big trend nowadays. I must admit I too after field playing with guys with maxed out guns, I wanted to have something that would hold up as well. Unfortunately, I went at it the wrong way and tore apart my gun with upgraded parts not knowing exactly what I was doing. Lucky for me, Inferno style='font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana;font-style:normal'> [another well-known and very well-respected airsoft enthusiast ] helped me out NOT by cleaning up my mess for me, but by walking me through the correct process. So now, I have a better idea of how my internals work, and can troubleshoot minor problems. I have also learned that from the moment you take apart your mechbox, your durability of the gun goes WAY DOWN, even if you don't change anything. The higher the upgrade, the more often you'll end up taking apart your gun to fix whatever.
So, back to the original topic, ANY AEG with ANY upgrade will be prone to failure in a very accelerated time span . So what’s a newbie going to do when his first AEG that’s been upgraded fails? Most likely panic and asked every Tom, Dick and Harry what to do, how to do it, and even more likely post all kinds of troubleshooting questions on the board without even reading first. I have seen firsthand many of my friends who are new to airsoft go through this situation. Many have actually been so "bummed out" that they haven't even given the sport a chance and have given up. Of course you know that even a stock AEG will fail after a given amount of time. However, I think that time span is long enough to give the player more than enough time to really feel out the sport, and will give the player enough experience and information to strip down the gun when it is really needed. I personally think this is the best way in getting every penny’s worth out of your small investment in a really big hobby.

M.S.-ARC:
My personal take on upgrades.
First, I am definitely NOT the man to talk to regarding upgrading your airsoft replicas. I have performed very, very few internal upgrades on AEGs. This is definitely NOT my area!
However, as an experienced scientist by trade as well as an experienced airsoft hobbyist who owns and routinely maintains my own modest collection of 5 AEGs of various configurations and levels of upgrade, I am familiar with simple mechanical systems, as well as the basics of the “why’s and how’s” of the upgrade and modification of AEGs.
One of the concepts that everyone should remember is that the more you increase a system's performance, the more you will decrease its overall durability. The more you run your machine on the ragged edge, the more likely it is that it will experience failure from being pushed so hard. Inevitably, when you upgrade for performance, you will likely stand to lose a bit of durability and reliability.
As a newbie with likely only one AEG, the failure of such an upgraded piece will effectively put you out of the game, with no chance for a quick return . And if you're at a multi-day event for which you've traveled hundreds of miles for, this could indeed spell disaster. As such, having a stock AEG that has a known average durability and liability for failure, rather than having that factor being an "unknown" with an upgraded piece, will surely serve to somewhat settle your heart, not to mention improve your odds of not suffering such breakdowns. Additionally, once you have accumulated other, possibly upgraded AEGs to your growing arsenal, this first-purchase, internally stock AEG will still be a trusty "backup" piece, which is always nice to have at hand.
I always pack with me a stock, non-upgraded AEG to take to games. It’s good insurance.
Furthermore, as a newbie, you should really take the time to first allow you to get your heading in the sport prior to plunking down the dough for expensive upgrades. Unless you play through several game-days with your new stock AEG, you're not going to really have a feel for how well it really performs or have a good idea of *exactly* and *realistically* what an upgraded AEG is capable, or not capable, of doing (here, it's simply best to ask players with upgraded pieces to kindly let you "test" their replica at the range – this way, you'll get first-hand experience).
Finally, what many newbies do not realize when they first start out is that many teams, clubs, fields, and events impose strict limits with regards to velocity/hit-energy due to safety concerns. If you outright purchase an upgraded AEG that shoots a blistering 450 fps. with 0.25 gram BBs, but all the events that you are interested in attending only allow 350 fps. with 0.20 fps, then you've just wasted a lot of money; as well as caused yourself undue trouble .
For example, at a past multi-day skirmish that I attended, limits of 300 fps. were placed on SMGs and carbine replicas, with 350 being allowed for assault-rifles, and a top end of 385 for single-shot "sniper rifles." All this with 0.25 gram BBs. Imagine if you showed up for this event, after having driven hundreds of miles, with a brand-spanking-new MP5 that cranked out 400 fps. with 0.25 gram BBs, and was then not allowed to play because your replica was unsafe – talk about disappointment, right?!
As such, if you MUST have initial upgrades, check with your local team, club, or field – or look on the various d-board/Forums that you frequent for posts regarding velocity/hit-energy limits that have been set for PAST games/events in your area, or for those events that you plan to attend.
Honestly, I implore you, I *beg* of you to purchase your first AEG in factory-stock, non-upgraded form with regards to internals for the above mentioned factors.
But if you’re still intent on making upgrades, well, here’s something to chew on…it’s from Wallace:
I agree that upgraded internal puts more load on the gearbox, and then with higher capacity battery the increased speed would further stress the gearbox. What I want to convey is that stock internal, contrary to popular believe, is even more likely to sustain damage then upgraded internal.

To further clarify, lets classify gearbox failures in two categories – anticipated and unanticipated. Anticipated failure is normally stress/wear induced, such as worn out teeth, weakened springs, aged motors, etc. These can cause additional damages such as stripped gears if worn parts are not timely replaced. Unanticipated failures refer to unexpected, catastrophic damages, which can be caused by poor workmanship, misalignment, excessive force or out-of-spec impact, etc. The later part can damage a brand-new gearbox, and is generally the most feared.

That being said, upgraded gearbox will increase the chance of anticipated failure (i.e. shorter interval of each failure). As you’ve already mentioned, stiffer spring and higher speed puts more load and stress on each component of the gearbox, which causes them to worn faster. However, when professionally installed and properly maintained, upgrading the gearbox should NOT increase the possibility of unanticipated failures. All the upgrade components are designed to work together in such high-stressed environment, that although they require more frequent maintenance or replacement, they shouldn’t “quit” all-of-a-sudden during skirmish. That’s why I think upgraded gearboxes can provide the same durability (or dependability) as stock gearboxes.

A good analogy would be turbo charging your car’s engine. We all know that a turbo charger generally shorten the life of your engine as it induces more stress (anticipated failure). However, if not installed properly you could over-boost your engine hence toasting it (unanticipated failure). On the other hand, turbo charging your engine also requires certain prerequisite, such as upgraded exhaust and intake to allow sufficient airflow, and revised engine management or even additional fuel pumps / injectors to maintain proper air/fuel ratio. However, if you simply bolt on a turbo charger to a fully stock engine, without lowering the compression ratio and additional fuel delivery the engine will run too lean and likely overheat, causing catastrophic failure. This is exactly what a higher capacity battery can do to a stock AEG.

When gears are turning too fast, the gearbox can fail not because of rapid worn out, but something far more violent. When the force exerted on piston/gear teeth exceeds their specification, you could actually snap the teeth off the gears by running it too fast. Wear and tear can also cause the same to happen, but they usually appear gradually. Hence upgraded gearbox with stiffer spring can prevent these unanticipated failures by slowing down the gears, or even by replacing stock gear set with hi-torque gears (they are both stronger and cause the piston to draw back slower).

In short, stock internals are more “durable” because of their lesser stress, but not necessary more “forgiving” when excessive force (in this case hi-voltage hi-capacity battery) is applied. I hope it make better sense this time
Now, Wallace makes a very good point here, but remember – he speaks of proper upgrading versus improper or otherwise sub-optimal upgrading. But unfortunately, as a newbie, your knowledge about the complex inner workings of AEGs (as well as your relative inability to decipher the varying truths and lies of the many conflicting posts out there on the Forums/d-boards) will enhance your chances of NOT performing acceptably installed or otherwise correct upgrades. I am not saying this to belittle newbies, to degrade newbies in any way – I’m simply stating the fact that the relative inexperience of newbies with regard to general knowledge in this area will more than likely cause them harm, and that such problems can indeed be avoided easily by just being content with their new AEG in stock, unmodified, out-of-the-box, OEM format, and giving themselves a bit more time to learn the intricacies of the such replicas before making the jump into tackling the ultra-technical areas.

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