First airsoft primary weapon

[drewsparky]

Hi all

I've been searching around for a reasonably priced electric primary and wanted to start a thread to throw some ideas around and for anyone to offer advice. I like the AR15 pattern rifles but I'm open to anything reasonably priced and good value for money.

Here's a link to a KWA M4, don't be too hard on me if it's a really awful option.

http://shop.ehobbyasia.com/aeg/kwa-taiw ... en-ii.html

Thanks in advance for any advice you have to give me!

[DrDee]

The good news is there are a ton of companies that make decent M4 platforms. Most of the guys here will probably tell you to eventually aim to get a TM recoil-shock as they perform so well and are probably the best option for an AEG, but are quite expensive.
Meanwhile if you want more of an entry level M4 the main thing I would look for is making sure the brand/model isn't using too much in the way of proprietary parts, limiting your ability to repair any failures.
Generally every brand will have some pros and cons, nobody is perfect. I am more an AK platform user so my M4 experience is pretty limited. I have had a King Arms M4 and everything was standard so I had no issues with after market parts and the external quality was very nice.
Hopefully more members will let you now experiences with different brands, personally I have never played with a KWA AEG but the Taiwanese manufacturers seem to be a bit better than the Chinese at making AEGs.

[Flazzbog]

Yeah what DrDee said. The Tokyo Marui next gen recoil series is what a lot of us have but they are expensive. You should just have a browse around and post some more things you like the look of and we can comment on them.

As long as it takes a standard version 2 or 3 gearbox it shouldn't be too hard to replace any parts which turn out to be crap. The most important thing you'd want to swap out right away would be the hop unit and hop rubber in most guns.

[Merlin]

I know nothing about M4's so take the advice of Flazz and Dee above, do some research yourself via reviews on other forums too, as there will be more experience around the world with brands we see less of here and may open up some extra options for you.

Most importantly of all though, please bear in mind that the law changed a while back preventing importing any realistic looking firearms which includes airsoft weapons, without a permit issued by the police. This leaves you with 2 options, 1: buy from a reputable stockist in NZ or 2: Play a few games at a club (I recommend TAG!), if you like what you're doing, join the club (again, I recommend TAG!) and then with the assistance of the armourer you will be able to obtain an import permit.

Option 2 is, in my opinion, the best way forward. Airsoft can get expensive, and there are so many different ways to play, and different weapons to suit different styles. Everyone at TAG is super friendly and more than willing to talk about themselves, and their weapons, sometimes you can't shut them up. Most will let you try their guns too, giving you a really good idea where you'd like to spend your money. Obviously you've already narrowed the field somewhat with wanting an M4, but as I'm sure you're discovering, the M4 field is pretty wide.

TL:DR - To import an airsoft weapon you need a permit. Come out to TAG for a few games before doing anything else and decide from personal experience what you like and don't like.

[Eda]

Hey man. Good to see ya chuck a thread up!

I've not had any experience, nor known anyone, with KWA guns - however for the price that looks pretty decent. As mentioned above, generally as long as the gun is basically just a clone of Tokyo Marui you should be fine. As far as M4's go, if it states it's using a V2/Version 2 gearbox you're pretty safe.

The main non-Marui brand I see around is G&P. I know current and not-so-current TAG members have had them, and they're totally TM compatible as far as I'm aware. Take a look at this one: G&P SR15 CQB.

To clarify, the vast majority of other airsoft gun manufacturers copy Tokyo Marui's internal design and function, especially for M4 and AK platforms. Most upgrade parts are designed to work with Tokyo Marui guns. Therefor the more accurate the tolerances of the other gun manufacturer when reproducing the design, the better the compatibility with upgrade parts. You definitely get what you pay for in this case.

[drewsparky]

Thanks for the replies so far, they've all been helpful.

The main non-Marui brand I see around is G&P. I know current and not-so-current TAG members have had them, and they're totally TM compatible as far as I'm aware.

Did a bit more digging regarding KWA upgrading and compatibility with TM parts. Everyone says that they are solid as hell and good shooters out of the box. Some posts say they are harder to upgrade, but equally as many posts saying they are fine to upgrade as long as you 'know what you're doing' however there are one or two proprietary parts. Have been looking at reviews from seemingly decent YouTube channels and they seem to be overall impressed with the quality for the price you pay. So perhaps still a viable option.

Looked at the G&P range too and found this! http://shop.ehobbyasia.com/g-p-ball-aeg ... black.html
Seems like a similar benchmark for around the same price, I'll be looking up more about it over the weekend.

[Eda]

Depends what you want to go for in terms of M4; either military or civilian inspired. The G&P you linked above is definitely a civilian style rifle, which is still fine if that's what you're for. I personally prefer the more "standard" military look, eg the KWA you linked first is totally accurate.