Where to buy and what to buy

[Ghost Shadow]

Hey, I'm new to airsoft and have been looking around the forums a bit. I've found some mixed opinions on some websites that sell airsoft guns to canada and would like to know whether they are safe to buy from or not and if there are any better ones that I can order from.

The sites I have found are:
Shootsoft
Buyairsoft
Velocity Arms
CanadianAirgunSupply
Capital Airsoft (Albertaairsoft.com)

If there are any near by stores that would be great too.

I live in Alberta (Right near Red Deer)

Second is what brand name and style of gun is recommended?

As far as i have read TM and CA are the best names out there. Some other brands I have noticed that look pretty nice are SRC, JG and G&G.

I think I would prefer a close quarters rifle. Non of that sniping stuff (maybe if I get into the game a lot and want to spend the money for that.) Maybe an assault rifle. The Large Machine guns don't appeal to me too much and seem a little more expensive.

Any Opinions on this?

Also, what gear/gun upgrades are recommended for starting out?

Thanks a bunch.
Ghost

[R.I.T.Z]

well alot of people I've noticed have had issues with shoot soft and buyairsoft, though buyairsoft is under new managment (apparently C.A.S bought them out but don't quote me on that)

as for guns, if your looking for a good close quarters gun, look into the MP5 serries they're rather compact as well as the P90.

take a look at some of the models that interest you, personally i'd go with a M4 due to the fact its got alot of externals available, though that is my own opinion.

and now to play the same tune alot of people will. are you 18? get age verified and then scour the classifieds you'll fine a tonne of sweet guns.

[Blitzed]

Get AV'd and you'll be exposed to the Classifieds where you can find a variety of high-end brand name AEG's such as TM, Classic Army, KA, and anything else I've missed.

Let me be one the one's to say, dont ask where or how can I purchase an airsoft gun, in airsoft Canada forums without being AV'd or over the age of 18.

I've delt with Buyairsoft.ca and i got my gun within 5 days, no headaches what so ever. I dont suggest shootsoft since all i have heard are horror stories, many other airsoft canada members will same the same thing. You shouldnt have a problem with any other retailer, but if you are over the age of 18, 007 airsoft does have a good selection as well.

As for gear wise, there's many, many places to buy from. From oversea's at Ehobbyasia or EBairsoft, to down in the states like AirsoftGi, to right here at the ASC Mart or in the classifieds. I personally bought my vest as well as pouches from airsoft gi. But be aware if you are ordering from ASGI, you will have to pay an additional $40.00 when picking up your parcel on top of your already shipping charge, which i didnt know as ASGI did not inform me of this. Thats the only headache I had with them.

[juicy]

Buyairsoft, in my one experience of a number of GBB mags - wasn't nearly as bad as previous reports have stated. The "new management" seems to be doing a better job. There are a few kinks in the cart/in stock online store system still, but meh - it gets the job done.

[cerealmaniac]

i'd say getting AV'd is the best way to go. unless u really want a clear gun.

[Eien]

everyone gonna tell you to get av'ed. so do yourself a favor and do it. you wont regret it.

[NoGear]

Buyairsoft i bought two guns And got them within 4 days each when they were under the OLD management. If the new one is better then mabie.

For mags go to redwolf there shipping time is amaizing and there prices.

Oneshottactical is located in canada bought a vest from them nothing special and quality and price was what i expected.

if i had to do it over again*Baker jeff* capital airsoft would be a good place to buy location wise for you mabie 2 days max to get to your house.

You also need a nice pair of eye wear again capital airsoft
bdu anything with green and brown coulars
boots- anything with ankle support
Knee pads- 18$

nothing compares to the haven of armory within the classified for sure.

[L473ncy]

Contact the people at RATT (Red Deer Airsoft Assault Team) and they'll hook you up. I believe one of the staff members here lives in Red Deer so you should have no problem getting AV'ed.

Jeff Baker at Capital Airsoft rocks as does Ken from 007.

[SHÖCK]

Drive down to Calgary to visit Ken @ 007 airsoft (www.007airsoft.com) or up to Edmonton to see Jeff @ Capital Airsoft.

Ken @ 007 is the one who started importing most of this stuff in the first place so he'll have stock before Capital Airsoft gets any if they are out of stock.

The local Calgary forum's are: www.jocairsoft.com, www.coalitionairsoft.com, and edmonton is www.edmontonairsoft.net and red deer is raat.hyperboards.com

[Kuro_Neko]

Manufacturer is generally more important then the style. Generally all airsoft aeg's work the same so how it looks like outside is up to you. Though the advice in the Airsoft Newbie Buying Guide about styles is good. Generally ak47, m16/m4 or mp5 are good starter gun styles due to the availability of accessories and upgrades. If close quarters is what you're looking for, I'd suggest an m4 or an mp5.

As to stores: 007, Capital and Velocity are all solid as is airsoftparts.ca. They'll all require that you're 18+ just the same as this site does though.

Now to the manufacturers:

For $200, the best you could manage is Aftermath stuff. Both the Broxa (full stock MP5) and the Kraken (AK47) are decent bargain basement guns, about $160 or so each. Stay away from Aftermath's Kirenex or Knight (both M4 variants) and the Lycaon (collapsible stock MP5) though, not a good rep.

If you're willing to go up to $300 you could get a JG. Yeah JG's are China clones but they're getting quite respectable nowadays. JG's M4 runs about $290. You could get one of the G&G cansoft (clear receiver) M4's for about $340. G&G is the cheapest of the midgrade guns. $400-$450 would get you an ICS which is a higher end midgrade gun. $500-$600 would get you a G&P, there's some debate on whether this is the lowest of the higrade guns or if it should rank higher. Either way they make nice guns.

If you can afford it, highgrade guns such as Tokyo Marui or Classic Army are the way to go. They're going to run you $600-$700. Though if the M4/M16 style is what you want then I'd recommend staying away from stock TM's, the barrel wobble and creaking are pretty bad on the stock TM M4/M16's (yes the new TM M4/M16's have fixed this problem, but the bulk of the ones in country are the old ones so best to just avoid them for now).

I did extensive research and settled on the Tactical Carbine version of the Classic Army M15A4 (basically a full stock m4) as my first gun. If an Armalite is what you're looking for then I think it's the best of all possible versions. You have the shortened M4 carbine barrel, which makes you less likely to smack your barrel off something when turning quickly, combined with the full stock which houses a large battery. Small batteries don't have near the run time of a large battery, not to mention that the reinforced slip ring (the ring that keeps the fore-grip on) is really stong. While this is mostly a good thing and a big step up over CA's previous M15 versions, it makes changing small batteries in the field very difficult if not impossible.

CA's M15A4 series in general is a big step up over their previous versions and as far as stock armalites go they're probably the best. All metal where the real steel version is, the plastic parts where the real steal version is plastic are made of high quality enhanced nylon fiber rather then abs for great texture and feel. Classic Army has a deal with Armalite so you get all the proper markings. Plus that deal also goes to show the quality of the manufacture, Armalite wouldn't put their name on a shoddy product.

Internally the gearbox is reinforced metal and all the gears are metal as well. It fires hotter stock then Tokyo Marui's as well, firing at 300-320 fps where your average TM only fires 280-300 fps.

All in all this is a great starter gun if you can afford it. Because it's all metal you don't have to worry nearly as much about breaking it and you won't get any of the wobble or creaking that is infamous in stock TM M4/M16's. Unfortunately affording it is the biggest problem, they're not cheap. For reference I got my CA M15A4 from the classifieds, upgraded with a bunch of Systema internals to fire 390fps, for $600 shipped which was a great price.

As you can probably tell, I'm a big fan of Classic Army. One thing to keep in mind about Classic Army is they now have two lines, a proline and a sportline. Originally they were easy to tell apart because the proline had the metal body and the sportline had a plastic body but recently CA has been releasing their sportlines with metal bodies. The price tag should still allow you to easily tell the difference, the sportline being $300-400ish and the proline never being cheaper then $500, usually more like $600 or more but it's still something to keep in mind. All the pros that I went over above were regarding the proline model. The sportline model has cheaper everything internally and externally.

There's alot of people that will expound the virtues of G&P as well. And I'll admit the externals of G&P are very nice, easily on par with CA, in some cases better. The reason why I don't say G&P over CA though is much the same reason why people weren't big fans of CA up until a few years ago: their quality control for the internals is not the greatest. That means a fair number of lemons. CA got a handle on this a few years ago and they've been making great strides in terms of their rep ever since, but G&P isn't quite there yet. This is simply my personal opinion and there are many people that would likely disagree with me, but it's something to keep in mind. ICS is about a cheap a gun as you can go and still get full metal out of the box, I haven't read alot about this manufacturer but needless to say it's not in the same league as CA or G&P. It's what someone on a budget but determined to get full metal would aim for. TM, due to Japanese law, are almost all abs plastic and fire alittle cooler then many guns but their internal reliablity is incredible. They will literally last for decades if left stock.

One of the perks of going with an M16/M4 variant is that mags are dead easy to come by and dirt cheap. You can get Star brand mags for like $5 a mag or less, plastic yeah but sturdy none the less (Star is also the only brand that makes realcaps too). Metal mags will run you a fair bit more, $15 to $30 a mag. There's no real reason to go with metal over plastic for mags except looks/realism. Though of course if you're going to go hicap then you might as well get metal ones. As to Brands, TM and CA make good mags. I've heard pretty good stuff about MAG brand mags as well. King Arms not so much, especially for M4/M16 mags. Star is always a good affordable fallback too.

Some people say you need to shell out for batteries, mags, camo, chargers and ammo in the begining. Most of that isn't necessary right off the hop. The stock battery will do you for awhile. Most of the guns come with a hicap (high capacity (300-600 rounds)) mag that will also do for awhile. I do agree that a good charger would be a sound initial investment, but not a total requirement, especially if you plan to get a good battery down the road and don't care if the cheap wall charger fries your stock battery. Camo isn't really required in the beginning either, just some dark clothes. Ammo, yeah obviously a requirement but even good ammo (BB Bastard) only costs $10 for two thousand rounds.

So truely, all you really need to start is the gun, a bag or two of ammo and good eye protection (which will run you between $30 and $50). That said, if you can afford it then it all helps. Camo would cost about $100, a chest rig or vest would cost another $100. A good loadout of mags, even the cheap Star mags, are going to cost at least $50. A good charger is at least another $50, with another $50 for a good battery. A sidearm is another thing that people like to have but isn't really necessary. A decent sidearm would cost you between $250 and $350.

Sidearms aren't really required right away so if you're on a limited budget then hold off on the sidearm for now. If you have the budget for it then what you want in a sidearm depends on two factors (besides cost of course) whether or not full metal is a must and exactly what model you're partial to. Certain manufacturers tend to make certain models better then others. If full metal is a must then the best choice that isn't going to cost you an arm and a leg is probably KJW, especially for the M9 which they do very well. You'll see alot of WE's around, they're cheap and full metal but tend to have problems, especially their 1911 models. KJW has a rep of having mag problems, but I have two KJW pistols and I haven't had any trouble with my mags. If full metal isn't a must then WA or TM would be very good choices.

My Classic Army M15A4 Tactical Carbine without external addons:


My baby, CA M15A4 Tactical Carbine with m203 grenade launcher, red dot sight and taclight:

[Ghost Shadow]

Thanks a lot guys.

I'll be sure to get AV'ed as soon as I can. I can't yet because of age.

I think I'll go for an MP5 when I do get a gun and will be sure to look out for the recommended brand names.

Thanks again.
Ghost