General Overview of Upgrades and Links for the newbies

[Merchant]

3/22/10
The Noob’s Guide to Airsoft

I wrote this because if someone had told me this when I first got interested it would have saved me a lot of time and money.

You get what you pay for. This applies to 9/10 aspects of life and if I have learned anything in airsoft it is that. You will ALWAYS get what you pay for in airsoft.

I’ve taken apart all the rifles I have owned and I’ve had mostly sad experiences, but after looking at many articles (the links to them will be at the bottom of the page) I have finally learned how to build a rifle properly.

My main goal in airsoft (after going through many replicas) I decided was to get the most performance out of my rifle as possible. A new rifle will not perform nearly as well as one that has been properly upgraded.

Setting goals or certain performances you would like to meat in your build is a suggested. It gives you a good idea of where you want to go, what to expect, and what upgrade parts you will need.

So, from the start, I would say buy a quality rifle! It’s that simple. You want your gear to last long, look good, and perform well? Start with quality. Don’t add quality parts to crap.


List of clone rifles I have owned:

Galaxy MP5k
Galaxy MP5 PDW
A&K SR-25
JG Bar-10 (2)
TSD L96

List of high quality rifles:

CA AR-10
CA AR-15
TM P90 TR
TM MP7 A1
TM G-spec


As you can see I have owned a number of rifles. Many of the clones I have owned players would consider to be the more high quality ones, but they don’t compare to my CA’s and TM’s.

If you do choose to go with a clone just to test the sport out, that is perfectly fine, but if you are looking for a weapon built for longevity and performance, a high quality rifle is a must.

Which rifle you choose is up to you, there are many models out there, they all have pro’s and cons, but in the end they can all be modified to get generally the same performance.

Once you have your weapon’s platform chosen out, I personally would take the extra step to see if I could find a real steal or airsoft version to hold it and see what it feels like.

-Note: if you choose something like a P90, MP5, or PDW you may feel like you’re running around with a lil toy as opposed to a nice big rifle, as I did with my P90. On another note they are a lot lighter and can usually be moded to get fairly nice performance.

When you’re solid on the model and make of the rifle, buy it. Now a stock rifle will generally be shooting 135 feet to 160 or so. Personally I would find a place where you can lay down a tape and get an EXACT reading on how far it is shooting and what the grouping is like. This will tell you what parts you want to install/upgrade.

Check the first link at the bottom of the post for a good list of AEG upgrades.

My example:

You can feel free to skip this part; this is one of my experiences.

Not long ago I purchased a Classic Army M-15 ’09 version. When I got it and measured its range it was hitting 135’ max on a human size target.

I had an Element plastic hop up chamber lying around, which I immediately installed along with a Madbull blue hop up bucking. This immediately extended my range to 165 feet. I still wasn’t quiet satisfied with my range so I ordered a Prometheus soft bucking which extended my range even further to approximately 200 feet. The accuracy is still shaky ( I attribute that to the barrel) but for now it is fine with me.

Lesson: Quality in, quality out. I started with a good base rifle, put high quality upgrade parts in and I got very nice performance.

Back to Guide

If you don’t know how to install upgrades, then you may take your rifle to a local gunsmith and he can install them for you.

I personally learned off of a couple of broken UTG MP5 AEG’s and a lot of youtube vides, written guides, and mechbox.com.

Whether you choose to upgrade yourself or have a gunsmith install the parts it is equally important that you are putting in quality.

Note: Experienced gunsmiths may be able to achieve good performance with lesser quality parts, but it takes time and a lot of experience.

As for AEG’s that is it. There are some links on the bottom like how to build a DMR and many springer/sniper guides.

Spring Sniper Rifles:

As you can see from my list of rifle that I have owned there was a number of spring bolt action rifles.

IF YOU ARE NEW TO AIRSOFT: Don’t buy a spring bolt for your first rifle! You will enjoy the sport a lot more if your first rifle is and AEG. If you feel you are up for a challenge, have money to spare, and don’t mind not being apart of the main action, then go ahead for a bolt.

Once again, quality is something I will hammer here as well.

I have owned 3 “cloneâ€

[Merchant]

Links:

AEG:

http://www.airsoftforum.com/board/Art-Upgrades-t137203.html

http://airsoftsniper.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=aeg&action=display&thread=1291&page=1

Bolt:

http://www.airsoftforum.com/board/lofiversion/index.php/t147197.html

http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/index.php?topic=88662.0 (Check Noobie's sig for links to his other guides)

http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/index.php?topic=86978.0

http://www.airsoftretreat.com/forums/index.php?topic=82742.0

http://mysite.verizon.net/res0cvsb/NOOBIES/NOOBIES%20Airsoft.htm (Noobies home page)

http://www.airsoftforum.com/board/Upgraded-Cylinder-Head-t87014.html