Newbie FAQ UPDATED 6/12/03

[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.

[M.S.-ARC]

AEG upgrades are synergistic. The individual parts add together to make a better whole. However, just as these parts can work together to increase performance, their improper combination and installation can also work to totally wreck your AEG. Do you know exactly which parts work with what others? Do you know how to selectively increase torque or RPM? Are you even sure what spring to use with your planned upgrade? As a newbie, you have many other things to worry about – ranging from picking out a suitable GBB sidearm to picking out proper body-kit/gear. The last thing you need to further confuse yourself with is a crash-course in AEG tuning/upgrading. No amount of cramming will prepare you to undertake all the finer aspects of tuning your replica. Worry about upgrades some other time. Get your feet wet in the sport first.
E. Durability, reliability, and maintenance concerns
With that said, you’re now probably back to worrying about the durability/reliability of these models again. Once more, I’ll remind you that as TM AEGs, they all share approximately the same track records when it comes to these two factors.
Even though they share much in common, you should keep in mind that each model will differ slightly in certain mechanical performance, durability, reliability, and aesthetic areas. As such, you should either perform thorough searches on the Forums on AirsoftZone, the Forums on www.AirsoftPlayers.com, Arnie’s Airsoft (UK), the UKAN Forums, as well as at our own AirsoftOhio Forums to familiarize yourself with these special, model-dependent variables.
And again, I stress that you should DO YOUR OWN SEARCHES.
Why? Simple – depending on the players who post information as a response to your question for your sole source of information is plain lazy, not to mention dumb. Who’s to say that these people have actual experience with your chosen AEG? And even if they say they do, how do you know they’re not lying? Better yet, how can you possibly even be sure that they know what they’re talking about? And really, do the posts you receive truly reflect the status of the AEG, or are you just seeing a bunch of posts that, when totaled together, barely amount to enough cases for you to even begin to draw a conclusion? By DOING YOUR OWN SEARCHES, you will be able to see the complete picture – you’ll read about topics that you haven’t even thought about, and problems that perhaps no one else has even mentioned. Furthermore, you’ll get a “historical” perspective; you’ll get a feel for how many players are or have been satisfied with this AEG, and how many have had problems, as well as the extent of these problems, and if there have been any documented “cures.” To let go of such information is to chose to be ignorant, and to be so stupid will surely land you with an AEG that you’re not happy of once you receive it. Please, I beg of you, do your OWN searches before you spend your hard earned money to buy a replica.
One last item that you should keep in mind is that often, there’s a tremendous amount of production variability in even just one model line. For example, the infamous “chassis-flex” that plagues the TM H&K G3 SG/1 and the “barrel wobble” that similarly affects the TM Colt-series, while having been extensively documented by several players, has also been decidedly denied by others. Are these other players lying? No, they simply lucked out, and, for whatever reason, just received a better put together item off of the Tokyo Marui production line. It’s much the same as buying a car, or any other major piece of high-tech equipment. Sometimes, you luck out, and you get a piece that is drop-dead reliable; other times, your luck isn’t so great, and you wind up with a “lemon” that’s broken as soon as you take it out of the box. As with anything else that’s mass-produced, there’s a bit of production-line variability in quality of build to be expected with these AEGs.
And as for maintenance, simply follow what the Tokyo Marui manual that arrives with your AEG dictate. There’s enough English directions in there that you should EASILY be able to figure out what to do and when to do it. There is no secret here, the TM manual will teach you ALL that you need to know. Read it. It has English sub-text.
Get yourself a bottle of pure silicone spray or oil lubricant (AVOID any and all petroleum distillates [yes, some petroleum distillates are indeed safe for natural and artificial rubbers, but such products are very, very hard to find and/or, MORE importantly, are just about impossible make sure that they are indeed safe for use, as their “claims” might suggest] as it will harm your rubber seals/Hop bucking) – Team Associated Shock Oil, between 5 to 15 “grade” weight,” is an ideal lube/general purpose cleaner; you can easily obtain this item from any large hobby shop (it is used as the fill oil for scale-model remote-controlled car “RC-car” shock absorbers), and you’re set to go. There’s a bunch of information about maintenance and lubricants available on the various d-boards and Forums, and I again recommend that you turn to them for more complete information.
Basics aside, if you find yourself in serious trouble and you need to start learning about AEG internals, the following links will help:
http://www.airsoftplayers.com/manuals.asp - AirsoftPlayers’ list of true TM Technical Manuals for their AEGs. These are like those thick service-manuals that your mechanic has in his shop. These are much, much more detailed than the schematic that TM has given you in your owner’s manual, and are an invaluable asset for troubleshooting.
http://www.section6.fsnet.co.uk/aeg_upgrade.html - Section VI, a well-regarded group of enthusiasts and players in the UK , nicely put together this mechabox basic disassembly guide.
http://www.airsoftplayers.com/guides.asp - More mechabox tutorials, this time, from AirsoftPlayers.
Finally, look on AirsoftZone’s opening page. In the “Past Featured Articles” section, look at the style='font-size: 8.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>December 4, 1998 entry. It’s Skyfire’s (Francis Zhou) translation of the 1998 Airgun Custom Parts Catalog (Japan, Seibido Mook – now publishers of the ToyGun Tune Up File, the 2003 version, although it no longer contains the mechabox guide, has a complete disassembly guide of all TM AEGs plus several common GBBs, which is worth the price of purchase alone)

Section Two, GBBs:
General considerations, durability and reliability
Hate to break it to all of you like this, but there are NO 100% reliable gas-blowback (“GBB”) pistol replicas. That’s right, NONE – not even the fabled Western Arms marque. Trust me, even the best of this genre, the true thoroughbreds, are temperamental bitches.
Empirically, GBBs are simply more prone to operational failures than their respective AEG counterparts. The GBB’s cyclic action is inherently harmful to its parts, and, moreover, the necessary containment of pressurized gas makes them constantly vulnerable to leaks. Additionally, they are arguably more maintenance intensive, requiring a much more regular diet of lubricant oils as well as attention to other types of mechanical cleaning.
But, on the other hand, this argument can also be reversed.
Since I wrote the first draft of this FAQ nearly 3 years ago, I've come to have a different opinion about the GBB vs. AEG durability/reliability issue.
The way I see it now, it's actually what the individual player himself feels most comfortable maintaining and repairing that makes the most difference in this matter -- as it is often a *_PERCEIVED_* lack of durability/reliability when comparing one genre to the other that is at the root of this debate.
For example, those who have messed around with electrical components all their lives – upgrading computers – or have messed around with R/C cars and planes, for example, may think that an AEG is a snap to repair. At the same time, they may cringe in fear of the high-pressure gas-containment systems that comprise the average GBB. On the other hand, someone who may have started off with paintball and its pneumatic systems would obviously feel more comfortable working with the straightforward pneumatics of the GBBs – and at the same time, they may not be as comfortable shimming gears and splicing wires.
Nevertheless, it still remains that NO GBB is 100% reliable…..
As such, my recommendation? If you carry a GBB as a skirmish sidearm, you should carry at least one additional spare magazine – or carry another GBB or NBB (gas-non-blowback) or even a springer (spring piston powered, single-cocking per shot) pistol as a backup. In the military, they’ve got a saying: “two is one and one is none.” That’s what it means to have a “redundant” backup. That’s what you need with GBBs.
- The Hop issue
More so than with AEGs, GBBs often offer the choice between having an adjustable Hop, a “fixed” Hop, or no Hop at all.
What’s right for you?
Let’s discuss Hop first.
What is Hop?
Simply put, it is a method of introducing variable friction to the surface of the BB as the BB shoots past, thus inducing “backspin” on the ball. As with a lob in tennis, this carries the ball slightly farther than a comparably discharged ball without Hop/backspin.
In theory, the Hop effect exists only to increase range, and will not be detrimental, as a “spin” factor, to the overall expected “accuracy” of the BB downfield.

[M.S.-ARC]

However, in practice – in the real world – Hop is not without slight detriment thereof. In so much as Hop introduces a simple additional variable to the overall system, it causes a degree of uncertainty to be added, and that, unfortunately, degrades overall “accuracy” a bit. But the trade-off here is a greatly extended effective range.
Think of the trade-off in this way:
You’re shooting an arrow at a close-by target. Pretty easy to hit the bull’s eye each and every time, right? Now, I’m going to move the target way, way back – so far back that you have to “arc” in your arrows. What happens? You can still hit the target, but it becomes much harder to hit the bull’s eye every time.
Same idea here. You trade range for ultimate precision and accuracy.
This is why most times, GBBs without Hop are limited only to close-to-medium range activities, such as BB-IPSC target shooting. For these sporting contests, ultimate precision at short range is the name of the game. As such, taking Hop away from these GBBs results in increased overall consistency of the shots at such ranges.
However, when you have a skirmish-use GBB, trust me, you’ll want to have Hop.
Why? Because you need the increase in effective range more than you need a precision tack-driver at close range.
This can be explained by the following very, very dramatic (but true) example.
The super-extended inner-barrel “6-inch” variant of the Western Arms ProKiller 2000, when paired with high-pressure Taiwanese “Green Gas,” can easily launch a 0.20 gram BB with close to 500 fps. muzzle velocity.
However, it is barely able to match the effective range of a standard-configuration WA SVI, which, with a barrel length some 120 mm shorter than the above ProKiller and with a muzzle velocity of only around 350 fps. with 0.20 gram BBs using the above gas, you’d expect would actually perform much worse than the ProKiller in terms of effective range.
Why is this the case? How can the much shorter and much less powerful standard SVI equal the effective range of the ProKiller 2000?
The standard SVI has Hop. Hop helps it carry the BB farther than just sheer muzzle velocity/energy ever can.
So remember the following rule:
BB-IPSC/target-shooting (short-to-medium range) – go with a non-Hop system for maximum precision and accuracy.
Skirmish – go with an adjustable or “fixed” Hop system to maximize effective range.
Remember, skirmish = Hop!
- So many choices, which one do I choose?
As there are many, many more brands of GBBs than AEGs, one is led to the inevitable question, right-away, of: “Which brand do I choose?”
This is absolutely impossible to say.
Within just about ANY of the GBB makers, from Taiwan , Japan , or otherwise, both good and bad can be found. Basing your decision on any one “brand name” is liable to land you in a world of trouble.
What does this mean for you, the buyer?
Again, you simply MUST do your own homework. With the abundance of different models out there from different makes, unless you are well educated in the specifics of the particular make/model you are interested in, you can pretty much be assured that you will not make the best decision. Grab a cup of coffee or a bottle of soda and a snack, and get ready to just READ. Use the same resources as I’ve cited above for the AEGs – the AirsoftZone Forums, the www.AirsoftPlayers.com Forums, Arnie’s Airsoft Forums, and the UKAN Forums contain a virtual treasure chest of information regarding just about all of the various GBBs out there. As with AEGs, if you choose to not read these posts, you’d again be choosing to be ignorant and stupid – not to mention lazy. You owe it to yourself to be an educated consumer, hobbyist, and player. Please use the search functions available on these Forums and d-boards, and educate yourself.
With that said, I realize that some of you are after certain specifics as newbies – and have put down the following two generalized references to help you get started.
One of the first questions asked is often this:
A. I want a cheap GBB, what’s out there?
The problem here is that you’re focused on only one thing – cost.
Now I realize that some of you may only be 14 or 15 years old, and may be holding down jobs like mowing lawns during the summer or babysitting or dog-watching during the winter. Doesn’t pay much, and the parents’ allowance isn’t exactly a windfall, either.
But there’s just some realities here that you cannot escape. And one of these is the fact that you simply need to invest some money in order to return with a quality product. In my opinion, you can have an affordable, but still skirmish-capable (in terms of durability, reliability, and performance) GBB by setting aside at least $150.
For this price you should be able to get any of the following (listed in no particular order):
Full-auto:
compact SMGs :
KSC or KWA Ingram/Cobray M11A1
select-fire machine pistols:
KSC Glock 18C (stock) or KWA Glock 18C (stock or upgraded)
Semi-auto pistols:
sub-compact
Tokyo Marui (TM) Glock 26
compact :
KSC Glock 19 ( Japan or Taiwan version)
Kuan Ju Works (KJW) USP Compact
full-sized :
KSC Glock 17 (stock or upgraded) and M9 Elite
KJW USP, USP Tactical, and M9
KWC “high-grade” M92FS “Super” heavyweight or “high grade” Desert Eagle
TM M9 and Tactical Master
Some you might find for a discount. For example, there are routinely very good on-line specials offered for many of these models, with prices dipping down into the $80 range. In this case, you can easily buy one of these replicas plus a few spare mags, which is necessary for skirmish play.
Regardless, this is what is absolutely necessary as a MINIMUM investment. Sure, you can find $30 GBBs, but trust me, more often than not, they’ll break before you’ve even run a handful of BBs through them, and most will return with unacceptable field performance.
But with that said, there are indeed some generalizations that can be made….
B. Some generalizations
Tanaka Works, hands-down, wins for their gas-operated, NBB revolvers. No one else even comes close in terms of cosmetic or functional refinement -- and definitely not power, durability, reliability, or efficiency/consistency.

Western Arms wins in the category of most upgradeable 1911/2011-series -- and thus also takes the crown for being the base platform for a custom pistol of that genre of either skirmish or race/competition (i.e. BB-IPSC) orientation. KSC takes the cake in terms of cosmetic refinement of their 1911/2011-line, though. Note here that the KSC, KWC, KWA, and Maruzen 1911-type GBBs are all non skirmish viable for various reasons (the first three are totally deficient in terms of replacement parts access, the last simply does not produce sufficient muzzle energ – skirmish 1911/2011? WAs are your only ticket).

KSC and TM shares the crown for having, IMHO, the best and most affordable M9/92FS-genre replicas, including durability/reliability and upgradeability in terms of a bang-for-the-dollar comparison (the TM replica wins out if affordability of upgrades is taken into consideration). If you have an unlimited bank account, go for the WA to gain superior cosmetics.

Best Desert Eagle .50 is a split between KWC and TM. The former has an almost bulletproof replica, provided that you don't get a lemon to start with -- the latter has one that is much more cosmetically refined (durability/reliability/performance must wait until there's been enough time spent with the new version to assess, which will come in a few months' time at the earliest, until then, such judgements with the new TM are premature).
For the H&K USP replicas, KJW is the one and only that provides sufficient access to aftermarket replacement and upgrade parts. It’s not pretty, and there are known problems with it, but it’s better than either the rather fragile (and now defunct) Tanaka (persistent magazine leak) as well as the impossible-to-get Maruzen/Tanio-Koba (for that very reason).

In the full-auto category, KSC/KWA blows everyone out of the water. The old KSC M93Rs were nifty, but rather unreliable and non-durable unless extensively (and expensively) upgraded -- however, initial impressions from very experienced and very trustworthy sources all point to the new KSC M93R II as being totally different, for the better, in this respect (judgement on the new M93R II in terms of durability/reliability is pending this summer [20003’s] skirmish season). But even beyond that, who can contest the class-dominance of the KSC/KWA Glock 18C or the Ingram/Cobray M11A1? And please don't try to drag the WA SVFs or the WA M11 into this picture, neither are nor were sufficiently durable or reliable enough for true skirmish use and abuse -- the former assessment comes directly out of Mobius Strip, who is perhaps the Western world's leading SVF guru, and the latter, well, I can attest to as I own the last-generation variant of the WA M11, full “Special Kit.” Maruzen's offerings come close, but durability is a worry, as it the lack of availability of upgrade parts. Oh, and I can't forget to mention the tank that is the TMP, either!
For sub-compacts, no-one can beat the TM Glock 26.

[M.S.-ARC]

Digicon in terms of NBBs, with Marushin's MAXI series trailing by a margin, although still worthy of mention. For a lower-priced piece, it's however near impossible to beat the TM H&K Mk23Mod0 SOCOM. Here, I should also note that the Digicon and Marushin MAXI series NBBs often produce dangerously high levels of muzzle energy/velocity, and is often NOT suited for skirmish use, particularly in the “pistol” fashion of the word in that close-range engagements may be very dangerous. The TM H&K Mk23Mod0 SOCOM would be a much better and totally safe choice.

Best “bang for the buck?” KJW -- all products; KWC -- specifically for their "high-grade" M92FS "Super" Heavyweight and Desert Eagle; KWA -- specifically for their Glock 18C and M11A1. None are particularly pretty or particularly refined, but they will be more than sufficient for the skirmish player on a budget. The KSC Glock 17 is also a sleeper.

Easiest to adjust Hop mechanism goes to KSC/KWA. However, Western Arms wins for having the most consistent -- if absolutely atrocious to adjust -- Hop mechanism.

Cold weather resistance goes to the proprietary-n.l.s. fitted current-generation Western Arms double-stacker 2011-type replicas.
But again, as you can see, this is very, very generalized information, and in no way covers all of your potential purchases. As such, in order to make good decisions, you’ll have to have some basic knowledge under your belt.
C. That question that always pop up: KSC and KWA, what’s the deal?
KSC Japan , KSC Taiwan, and KWA – what does all this mean?

First of all, I believe that if something works, then it's fine, it doesn't matter what trademark is on it or not. As such, the KSC/KWA M11, KSC/KWA Glock 18C, as well as the KSC Taiwan and KSC Japan S&W Performance Center M945 are practically the same, to me, in terms performance -- including durability and reliability. The only differences are cosmetic, if that.

Overall:

Currently, all speculation regarding the supposed link between KSC and KWA are based only on circumstantial evidence, at-best.

Even what Jinxx and myself found nearly 2 years ago, a "Made in Taiwan" etching under a faux trademark panel on our respective fully-trademarked, supposedly KSC, Glock 18Cs is, at best, only circumstantially representative of such arguments of the two companies having supposed ties.

The truth is, no official word of any such links have come from either companies.
No official shipping manifests or any type of duty documents have ever been provided to further reinforce or deny such claims. No hard, concrete proof has ever been offered, one way or the other.

All of the current "proof/evidence" has been from a "he-said/she-said" type of Internet media hysteria. “X or Y heard it from A or B retailer or reseller.” Or “A or B reseller/retailer hearing it from their Q or Z Hong Kong/Taiwan ‘supplier/wholesaler.’”
That's all the “proof” that you're going to get.

Is this supposed "proof" good enough?

My simple answer is no, it is not.

Remember back in the late 90's, when many US retailers were INSISTING that KWA M9s were "import friendly" WA Perfect Versions? Well, I dispelled that myth by going directly to the source -- Western Arms not only officially denied any such connections, but even provided proof of their having taken up legal action against KWA for copyright and patent infringements.

After I blew the top on that story, these retailers claimed that "their suppliers" said the KWAs were "import friendly" WAs -- much like what is said today of the link between KSC and KWA, is it not?

The truth of the matter is that we currently have no solid proof, one way or the other, regarding entire KSC/KWA relationship.

And with the way that the Far-Eastern marketplace is dominated by illicit and illegal clones and copies of all sorts of goods, we simply cannot take anything for-granted, as per my tale of WA/KWA above.

Until someone provides me with absolutely irrefutable proof, I will remain a skeptic, and I encourage the same from all of you.

As for whether if the KSC and KWA goods are actually one and the same, aside from this "claim" issue above, again, we're forced into a situation of conflict.

There have been VERY, VERY, VERY well-respected hobbyists on both sides of the fence. After having inspected the goods, there have been those who have said that they've seen distinct differences not only in design, but also in materials construct between the items from either company -- but there also have been similarly respected hobbyists who insist that the items are identical.

Again, if nothing else, this is once more simple cause for being cautious in saying anything at all about the supposed link between KSC and KWA.

---

What does this all mean?

To me, actually, not a lot.....

Why?

Well, if one replica works as well as the other in terms of performance, durability, and reliability, then what's to worry about?

The KSC M11 and KWA M11 practically have the same durability and reliability track-record (and with KWA's second-generation metal-bolt factory-OEM piece, this factor swings decidedly in favor of KWA, does it not? -- and to wit, why would KWA have such an item, but KSC not?); and the same goes for the Glock 18Cs (in this case, the latter-generation KSC product have a reinforced slide, but the KWAs do not, although the KWAs are supposedly also slightly more durable ...again, strange, is it not?).

[ Note, at the same time, watch out for the KWA M9's, they're still not up to par in terms of durability or reliability -- the KSC Elites are much better in both respects -- again, strange for a set of companies that's supposedly sharing one bed, is it not? ]

As long as you can tell which item suits your needs (i.e. trademarks, durability, etc.), I currently see no problem with purchasing from either.....

But until further proof, I'll still consider them separate makes, and again, I urge you to do the same.
- Knowledge Base
One sincere advice that I have for all newbies is to also become familiar with the various technical aspects behind the entire GBB genre.
A good place to start would be to become conversant about the various types of propellant gasses available.
A. Gas type
Please read my “Gas Primer,” found both on the AirsoftZone hobbyist discussion Forums (http://vettaserv.pct.net/aszone/forums/message.cfm?topic_id=533&forum_id=11#538420 - this URL is liable to change, if you can’t find it, simply log in to AirsoftZone, search for the term “Gas Primer” under the “Topics” criteria, turn the search date parameter back to “Last Year” to cover that length of time, set the search for only the “Gas Guns” Forum, you’ll easily find the post then) and the AirsoftPlayers Forums (http://www.airsoftplayers.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=177&SearchTerms=gas,primer).
PLEASE carefully and thoroughly read through the entire contents of this guide. I actually would prefer that you use the AirsoftZone version, as the ensuing discussions there are much more complete, and offer the beginner an excellent overall perspective on what to expect. Focus specifically on these AirsoftZone replies to my original “Gas Primer” post:
1. my 10:30 PM July 28, 2000 reply
2. MrWhite’s question at 11:36 PM October 08, 2000 and my reply to that question on 10:09 PM October 09, 2000
3. my 11:16 AM April 08, 2001 reply
4. my 07:29 PM July 01, 2001 reply
So now you know what the gasses are – let’s now learn…..

[M.S.-ARC]

B. How to fill your GBB magazines
Once you have a good understanding of the basics of airsoft gasses, move on to this excellent post on the UKAN Forums:
http://forums.ukairsoft.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=47714 - Meh-lindi’s initial 5 posts on that thread are absolutely excellent.
There, focus especially on the basics of GBB magazine filling technique. To this end, I will supplement with my own input here.

Let's first work to understand how the fill mechanism and the magazine fill valve work.

At the bottom of the magazine is where you typically fill the reservoir with propellant gas.

Here, this incoming gas fill valve is held closed by springs that seal it against its surrounding seals (no pun intended). This is the default position, and a tight closure seal is required for the gas reservoir to remain pressurized.

During a fill, what you're doing is essentially jamming the gas bottle -- which if you'll notice its nozzle is also spring-loaded -- against this fill valve, depressing the gas valve against its spring so as to open it for gas transfer; and at the same time also depressing the spring-seal assembly that otherwise seals close the bottle's fill nozzle so that it opens, thus allowing the liquid-gas dual-phase propellant to properly flow "down" and into the mag's reservoir.

You must be sure that you are bearing down hard enough on the twin assemblies that you are opening BOTH the nozzle of the gas canister, as well as the magazine bottom incoming fill port/valve.

So now you're filling, but how do you know when the mag is "full?"

Well, without X-ray vision, you pretty much can't see through the mag's aluminum body, right?

Think about being blindfolded and being asked to pour yourself a glass of water, and to make sure that you've got it to the brim.

What do you do?

You keep pouring until the glass overflows, right? That pretty much means that when you stop, your glass will be full, right?

Same idea here.

It's also the same idea for filling many stickshift/ manual gearbox or other transaxle fluids, you fill until a bit dribbles out of the fill/drain hole, and then stop -- it's "full by overflow."

=)

So, with the magazine fill, you simply keep going until it overflows -- that's full.

What will that be like?

During your normal fill, because of imprecise alignment angles between the fill nozzle and the mag's fill nipple, you'll notice a bit of spill of the liquid/gas coming out of its junction point, right? That's normal. Depending on the precise magazine, the mag valve's design, and the precise bottle nozzle -- and most importantly, your own "skill" at accomplishing proper fills -- you'll get varying amount of such spillage.

When you're full-up, this small spill will become a huge backward spurt. Trust me, you'll know. To demonstrate what this will be like, simply invert your fill bottle over a hardcover book, as though you are going to fill it with gas, and press down.

Now, many retailers and some hobbyists will recommend that you fill "no more than X seconds" or use other such "counting" procedures during your fill.

That simply does not work.

Think about filling your car's gas tank versus that of a truck's. Pretty large difference in fill time, right? Same goes for having different sized magazine gas reservoirs -- while it may well only take a nominal 3-4 seconds to fill your standard-capacity (BB-capacity, that is) G18C magazine, it can take upwards of 15 seconds to completely fill an extended 50-round M11 SMG magazine full of gas.

This logic further presents itself as fill times will vary depending on the pressure of the gas you're using, it's residual driving pressure in the fill canister, the ambient temperature and the specific temperatures of both your mag and the fill bottle, your skill/proficiency (in terms of side-waste), etc. and so-on. There's just no way anyone can tell you, for sure, that X magazine will take Y seconds to fill up.

And furthermore, "overpressure" or "blowing out your seal" RARELY, if EVER happens during the initial fill process. Think of it this way, the gas has its own pressure-temperature gradient, right? That serves as a consistent driving force as you fill the mag. And as the mag approaches "full," its internal pressure-volume relationship is going to closely mimic that of the fill bottle's, right? So in essence, your fill is self-terminating. Overpressure almost never happens from improper initial fills, so again, this blows the "never fill your mag for more than X seconds" theory completely out of the water, right?

Simple science and logic.

The only exception to this rule is that with KJW magazines, you really do have to count seconds of fill time – this is because KJW magazines’ fill valves utilize a special seal within its outer diameter that makes the transfer near air-tight. Therefore, there would be no spillage, and by that, no “spurt back” or overflow to indicate that you’re full. Usually, about 4 to 5 seconds will give you a “full” fill with the KJW USP and M9 magazines.
C. Additional knowledge – mag maintenance, fill adaptors, and GBB cyclic function
While you’re at it, you should also check out these links:
http://www.airsoftplayers.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=11484 - AirsoftPlayers Forum post regarding care issues for your GBB magazine. Specifically note my 05/25/2003 10:56:38 original post and my 05/26/2003 10:11:38 reply to xevilforce and Kage_genin’s questions immediately preceding.
http://qphreak.iwarp.com/airsoft/butane.htm - Adaptors for “duster gas” canisters, fashioned out of butane lighter refill canister adaptors, from the respected Kevlarman.
http://www.virginiarangers.com/pictures/GBB-dustermod/dustermod.html - Yet another adaptor idea, this time from the guys at The Virginia Rangers – a highly respected skirmish team/club on the east-coast.
http://www.dentrinity.com/Topics/magna.htm - From the DEN Trinity commercial website. Discusses the basics of the WA GBB cycle, however, it also is an excellent overall cycle reference that will allow you to understand the basics of any GBBs function.
D. More knowledge – GBB general maintenance
For general maintenance on GBBs, reference the silicone oil cited in the above AEG section. Typically, while most “true” airsoft gasses (again, if you don’t know what I’m talking about, please reference my “Gas Primer” post) such as those marketed by various Japanese and Taiwanese airsoft manufacturers (i.e. Tokyo Marui, Western Arms, HFC, UHC, “Top Gas/Toy Jack”) contains a very small percentage of silicone lubricant, the content is NOT sufficient to effect lubrication and cleaning of the GBB – it’s only there to serve as an extra dose of “protection” during normal use/cycling of the pistol’s mechanical components. You MUST perform routine oil lubrication as well as cleaning with supplemental silicone oil to effect complete and proper protection of your replica.
Apply anything from 5 to 35 grade/weight silicone oil to any area specified in the GBB’s manual. Again, I know that it’s most likely in Chinese or Japanese, but still, there should be enough figures and illustrations to point you in the right direction, should you read carefully. Additionally, make sure you apply the lubricant to any area of the GBB’s internals that may make frictional contact with each other – such as the contact points between the slide and the frame, etc – also, a thin layer should be applied to any and all rubber components. Furthermore, the lubricant, especially of lower viscosity, such as 5 to 10 weight, can easily be used as a cleaning solvent for the bore of the barrel and even as a general cleaning solution .
One item of note is that with the lower weight oils, should you use them in warmer weather, they may “run” excessively. A heavier grade weight, such as between 20 and 35 weight, or even a silicone “grease,” may confer more protection to the slide/frame frictional interfaces. However, keep in mind that such high-viscosity oils or grease may cause “binding” should it start to solidify under extreme-cold conditions. So, as you can see, you must use your own best judgment to select the proper lubricant grade. An IMPORTANT side note is that furthermore, under NO circumstances should you use such viscous oils/grease as a barrel cleaning solvent – you’ll have a very hard time getting your barrel bore and Hop cleared of residual excess oil/grease!!!!
The final item to note is that should you desire to use “substitute” airsoft gasses, such as “computer duster gasses,” you will need to supplement the “dry” gas with a bit of the low weight grade silicone oil to effect lubrication of the magazine and its various seals. The process is well documented in the “Gas Primer.”
In short, This is VERY easily done by dropping one or two drops of silicone oil (or spraying a small amount) directly onto the incoming gas fill nipple at the bottom of the magazine, and subsequently immediately introducing fill gas into the magazine as typical of gas fills.
This process forces the lubricant present at the opening of the nipple into the magazine, and causes sufficient atomization of the lubricant oil into the magazine gas reservoir, which is then spread throughout the GBB during discharge -- just as with "true" proprietary airsoft gasses.

[M.S.-ARC]

There's nothing wrong with simply spraying or dropping in a bit of silicone oil at the incoming gas fill port at the bottom of your magazine immediately prior to each fill as I've suggested. If anything, when done properly, it will most likely actually introduce much more than the small percentage of lubricant actually present in the proprietary airsoft gasses. You can even "test" this by visualizing the thin layer of lubricant that forms on the surface of the rubber gas route packing at its exit point at the top of the magazine; it will be as lubricated as with use of true airsoft gasses.
- Remembering that the retailers don’t always have your best interests in-mind
Again, I must emphasize that each GBB, regardless of brand of make, is an individual onto itself. Each individual GBB will have specific performance, durability, reliability, and gas-efficiency characteristics that are unique to that pistol itself, and cannot be generalized to include any other replica pistol. So instead of asking about comparisons in various posts and such, simply sit down, search, and read as much as you can about the replicas that you’re interested in – it’s the only sure way to go.
One important item to note about GBB’s is that regardless of what many retailers may say about their supposed durability – i.e. “x or y model can take a or b gas, straight out of the box” – NO GBB IS IMMUNE TO THE GENERAL LAWS OF MECHANICAL OBJECTS. This means that the more you stress the system, in this case, the GBB, with “higher-powered” gasses, the more likely it is that you will experience some kind of catastrophic mechanical breakage of a critical component, and for sure, you will experience increased wear and tear as compared to a counterpart GBB that’s been treated only to exclusive use of the “lower-powered” gasses.
If you are having a hard time believing me, just think of it this way: race cars.
These things are tuned to provide the most performance with commensurately the most stress placed on their parts – and while they are reliable enough and durable enough for the span of the race, they routinely get full engine and other critical items replaced, many, many times per season due to excessive wear on critical components. Furthermore, they are also much more prone to having a breakdown than our everyday commuter cars. Another example? Think of the “higher-powered” gasses as “nitrous” for your GBB. Sure, you can run your car on nitrous all the time, but I’d be willing to bet that sooner rather than later, you’re going to blow your engine. So please, unless you are a “power hog” and are willing to deal with the consequences of having a broken GBB due to use of the “more powerful” gasses, just stick with HFC134a or the other lower-powered alternatives. Don’t come crying to me later – ‘cause I’ll just say “I told you so!”

Section Three – Mock suppressors (“silencers”)
- AEG Sound Suppression
I've often been sighted on-line lamenting the state of our relative lack of airsoft knowledge -- true objective knowledge -- as Western enthusiasts. After having a look at some of the Japanese airsoft-hobby print magazines, it's quite easy to see that we truly lag behind their objective understanding of "performance," through true objective testing and organized data, by about 5 to 10 years.

And sadly, this applies to the tremendous hype generated about "suppressing" or "silencing" an AEG as well.....at this point, we Western hobbyists have only anecdotal tales and empiric evidence to go on, but it looks like our Far-Eastern brothers have already tired of such guess work and rumor, and decided to take things to the next level.

An article in the a past issue of the Japanese hobbyist magazine Arms (May 2003, issue number 179) detailed a laboratory-test of sound suppression for the P90.

Of course, I could not read Japanese (remember, I'm Chinese!) -- but hey, the graphs and pictures are easy enough to interpret regardless!

For this tech article about "silencing" the P90, they used an aftermarket mock suppressor (looked to be a KSC Knight's Armament Corp. suppressor for the KSC Mk23 Mod0 SOCOM GBB) and even stuffed the mechabox area full of rubber chips and also cotton padding. They also sealed, using tape and even plastics, various "holes" in the mechabox assembly that could emit noise before re-installing the mechabox and supplementing the suppression with the above-cited rubber and cotton insulation.

Result?

53 db. of noise at 50 meters.

Absolute noise reduction at around 35 meters went from a high of 82 db., stock, to -- get this, 80 db. with all of the sound-suppressant.

Not much difference at all, huh?

The true effect shown with their test was apparently from a much greater discrepancy in the frequency of the sounds emitted. This was also documented in graphical form from their testing equipment. The spectrum analysis changed towards a much lower frequency with the sound-suppressing measures installed, with reductions in the higher-frequency noises registered.

This would pretty much confirm the fact that these "suppression" methods would do very little good for our airsoft replicas in terms of having an OBJECTIVE noise-level suppression -- and instead, that it is our subjective inability to pinpoint the altered muzzle discharge noises (frequency change), combined with most likely a re-routing/re-directing of the muzzle discharge noises to be emitted along a different axis (i.e. instead of directly down-range, now more dispersed to either side due to the fact that the mock suppressor is "canning" the barrel), as the TRUE reasons why suppressors "work" for airsoft replicas.

Again, I'm not making this up -- this is from the latest issue of Arms magazine, a hard-core Japanese airsoft enthusiast magazine. Got problems with these findings? Go take it up with them!

What does this all mean for you?

Well, if you are really up-close and personal outdoors, or if you are indoors at all (with highly sound-reflective walls, furniture, etc.), you might as well discount any supposed advantage you have. The objective level of true noise reduction is just insufficient.

Rather, it is outdoors, at-range, where the alteration of the tone and direction of your "suppressed" replica's sound output that will truly give you a tactical advantage.

Use your advantage to GET close, but once you're there, as with much of everything that's airsoft, it is "violence of action" that's going to take the day.
- GBB sound suppression
Most airsoft GBB replicas will have aftermarket products designed to allow them attach aftermarket mock suppressors.

However, they will not affect much at all of your overall noise signature.

Why?

Do this simple test with your GBB - any GBB.

First, gas-up your GBB.

DO NOT, I repeat, do *_- NOT -_* load with BBs.

Instead only "gas-fire" the replica, placing the slide "ejection port" cut out next to your ear. Trigger off a round.

If your ear isn't ringing, I'll print out this FAQ and eat it.

Unless you can physically "lock" your slide and keep it from cycling, you'll get that gas-output noise from the magazine main outlet area right next-to/within the "ejection port/breech" each and every time, whether you have a mock suppressor on the muzzle or not.

If you want a truly "sound suppressed" gas-operated replica, look towards the purchase of a NBB as your starting platform.

GBBs just won't do it. Physically impossible.

[M.S.-ARC]

It'll look good on a GBB, and again, just about any GBB will have some kind of aftermarket attachment available, but it will not function as a true suppressor.
- Mock suppressors and “accuracy”
Search around a bit, and you’ll undoubtedly find references, discussions, and questions about the ability of a mock suppressor to add to the effective range of a replica – be it GBB or AEG – in that it adds either range and/or “accuracy” at-range.
Is this possible?
Certainly, but let’s examine this in closer detail.
If you’ll recall from our discussions above, the main determinant, holding all other factors to be equal (same Hop engagement, same BBs used, same spring or gas propellant used), that affects effective range is inner barrel length.
The longer the inner barrel (very important: within certain technical limits) the better the overall effective range.
So, then, if we extended an inner barrel actually though the bore of the mock suppressor, in essence using the mock suppressor as a place to cosmetically hide and to physically protect an inner barrel extension for our new barrel setup, we’ll have an excellent way to extend the inner barrel, right?
And that’s precisely how you would seek to gain better accuracy from the use of a mock suppressor.
However, there are also some precautions.
If the inner barrel ends before the muzzle opening of the mock suppressor, you must absolutely make sure that the path through which the freely-exiting BB takes through the bore of the mock suppressor is clear of any interference. If you’ve got some foam padding or some washers in there to try to absorb some of the muzzle noise, be sure that your exiting BBs won’t come into contact with it – if they do, you’ll get deflection of the BB from its intended flight path, and that will spell disaster for your replica’s accuracy.
Second, also remember that much of what’s gained through a barrel-extension is done so because of the extra time the BB spends in the bore of the inner barrel. Thus, if you have a secondary inner barrel in the bore of the mock suppressor which screws on and attaches to the primary inner barrel (such as the current KSC M93R II mock suppressor unit or the KSC KAC SOCOM mock suppressor unit for the KSC H&K Mk23Mod0 SOCOM GBB), the “gap” between the primary and secondary inner barrels can also introduce a bit of variance. And however small that may be, it can also negatively impact final overall accuracy.
Section Four – Sights, scopes, and lasers
- Mounting considerations
First thing to decide is how to mount your chosen optic – it is also the easiest to sort out, as it is totally up to you to decide. Your personal preference.

Some things to consider as you make this decision include whether your facial/eye protection will let you get a good cheek-weld to the buttstock. This is particularly important if your mounting rail is close or along the same vertical plane as your cheekrest. The best example of this is to think of the TM KAC SR-16, whose flat-top receiver sits directly in-line with the buttstock. This is as opposed to the setup of the TM H&K G3 SG/1, for which a distinct “riser” over by the cheek is needed to raise your eye in-line with a scope mounted to the receiver. Together with this consideration is the actual height of the mount and/or the rings, which you should carefully consider so that you can achieve proper eye-alignment and still have good cheek weld. For example, a too-tall set of rings will result in you having to lift your face off the buttstock (which may be advantageous depending on your facial/eye-protection preference above), while a setup that is too short in profile may cause an impossibly low cheek-weld. Remember that some of this will have to do with the scope’s objective lens and/or eyepiece bell housing – the larger this housing, the more clearance you must factor in.
Another factor to consider as well is whether or not you'd want to keep the stock "ironsights" in-place as a close-range or backup-use sight. Often, you can purchase scope mounts or rings that allow you to sight-through via specialized cut-outs, should you desire such as setup.
- The Scope/sight itself
A. General considerations
First thing to consider is the scope housing (main body tube) size, which is usually listed directly on the product spec's page. If not, then ask this of your seller/retailer.

This, as you know, is critical to meet the requirements of the particular mount RINGS that you've chosen.

For airsoft use, most mount ring BASES will be 20mm, aka Weaver, aka Picatinny RIS/RAS. The RINGS themselves will usually be either of 1 inch or 30mm diameter, depending on the scope tube size we are speaking of here.

Either 30mm or 1-inch versions are fine, but you will find that the 30mm tube diameter is much more common with higher-end items, and thus both the scope and its rings will be much more expensive. 1-inch rings can be had much more readily, and also will tend to be much, much cheaper.
Also consider the following:

(1) A larger objective diameter is excellent as it both lets in more light as well as allows for a larger downfield view (FOV), thus decreasing "tunnel vision" (whereby the shooter is so focused on the picture that’s within the tube of his sight/scope that he/she completely loses total field-awareness) – but it also drastically increases your chances of incoming BBs causing damage to your optics’ lens( es). Consider the question of how to protect your scope before you buy (to be addressed later in detail).

(2) Eye relief.

This is one of those factors that should also be listed in the spec's. Again, if not, ASK your retailer/seller.

You'll want something with AT LEAST 3-inches worth of eye relief. This is because of typical US gaming requirements by clubs, teams, fields, and events to wear full-sealing goggles.

Eye relief is the distance from your exit pupil (in other words, your eye) to the eyepiece lens. As such, when you're wearing eye-protection, especially goggles, you'll want to insure there's enough space to accommodate this.

And no, don't think that because your goggle is only one-inch "deep" that you can get a 1.5 or even 2-inch eye-relief scope. Since you're not able to literally get in that close, with one item butting up right adjacent to the next, you'll need more eye relief than you think.

Think of 3 inches as a minimum.
(3) Consider your magnification needs as based on your muzzle energy/velocity. For a 400 fps. with 0.20 gram BB setup, you'll only need 3x to 6x magnification to be "effective" in an airsoft "sharpshooting/sniping" sense. Anything above 6x, and you're looking at using that for "spotting" or otherwise scanning downfield for recon. Even up to 550 fps. with 0.20 gram BBs, 6x to 9x is more than sufficient, and even then, the higher magnifications are much more useful for scanning the length of the playing field in a scout format more than it is useful being an actual aiming aid, as your magnification factor can often exceed the consistency of your BB.
Optical aiming aids can be had in several different forms -- from red-dot sights to the more "traditional" optical scopes.

Both have limitations as well as advantages, however, you can typically obtain well-equipped models (which address airsoft needs) of either genre for well less than $100.

[M.S.-ARC]

B. Let’s talk specifics, red dot sights

Red-dot sights typically offer only low-magnification (2x multiplier) or no magnification (which, given even airsoft "sniper" engagement distances, is typically sufficient for use). Although variable-magnification models are available (such as the Leupold MkVI CQ/T), they are often only available for a dear premium (the aforementioned Leupold has an MSRP in the $650 to $750 range, within the US).

For this lack of magnification, in-trade, the red-dot sights will usually offer larger down-range field-of-view (important as it helps [1] avoid "tunnel-vision," and [2] aids in faster target acquisition) and unlimited eye-relief.

Disadvantages include the previously mentioned low/no magnification, as well as a possibility that even with high-powered models, the "red dot" itself may be drowned ("washed out") by bright ambient lighting and projection over a brightly colored target. Usually, this is minimized by electrically very high-dot-intensity models or, on the other hand, ironically NON-electrically powered models which amplify ambient light (but in areas where ambient light is low, and the sight is not powered, these sights will then be, of course, inoperable; again, a trade-off -- this is actually the reason why Trijicon recently implemented their TriPower or TX30 model, which offers electrical-power backup for these particular cases of wash-out). The OEG, or "Occluded Eye Gunsite," which will be covered below in more detail, is yet another way to bypass this wash-out issue, and with most standard "tubular" shaped red-dot sights, the use of an OPAQUE flip-up scope cover can render the sight into OEG-use, by literally covering the objective with its non-see-through cap.

The larger objective lens area that can typically be found on these sighting devices as compared to traditional optical scopes may contribute to a lager chance of receiving damage from incoming rounds - but of course, the larger the lens, the "better" the overall view down-field (and of course you will tend to pay more for models with larger objectives, which will wrap this argument around in that it will cost you more money should it be damaged).

Finally, parallax error is often more of a concern with red-dot sights than with traditional scopes, especially on the lower-priced red-dot sights -- however, proper usage will just about eliminate this problem, and as we tend to engage targets at much closer range than would real-steel, this subject is of minor import, anyway.

One special word of caution on red-dot scopes is that a sub-genre of these scopes, the occluded-eye sight (i.e. Armson OEG), may not be suited for use with all players. It relies on a simple optical principle that, for some players, due to their particular anatomy or physiology, simply does not work. If you are interested in these sights, which offer extremely fast target acquisition and the ability to "sight-through" an item that may be blocking the immediate front of the sight itself (i.e. another supplemental sighting device, such as a bi-level scope mount), and also virtually eliminates wash-out concern, then I strongly urge you to first try out these "OEG"-type sights before you purchase. Fortunately, though, the vast majority of players have no problems resolving the dot apparent on *standard* (i.e. non-OEG-type) red-dot sights.
Yet another sub-genre of red-dot sights are "reflex" sights.

Unlike the classification with the OEG-type sights, however, the use of the term "reflex" is much more based on semantics.

Typically, its usage is limited to red-dot sights that offer a single stand-alone lens assembly, unlike our more traditional concept of "scopes" in their tubular shape, which has both an objective lens and an eyepiece lens.

Although it is typically easier for your eye-brain to resolve and acquire in a more speedy manner a down-field target with the single-lens "reflex" setup due to subjectively less perceived overall blockage/narrowing of the sight-picture from its free-standing single-lens (and thus single "frame") assembly, this should *-NOT-* be too, too much of a concern as the proper use of red-dot sight systems should have you using a "both eyes open" technique, thus reducing ANY red-dot type sight, regardless of semantic classification, into a sight you can use upon your “reflexes.”

Sights like the OK(O) Reflex (which is what is being cloned by Umarex and is marketed as various G&P/G&G/Walther/Maruzen/PSA "Reflex" sights), items from C-More, the ATN Ultrasight and Digital Ultrasight, Trijicon Reflex, MeproLight Reflex, and Mojji Reflex are what is typically regarded as "reflex" type red-dot sights and are among the best known. But again, compare anything outside of their physical construct/setup, and functionally, you'll see that they're just as much the same old "red-dot" type sights as any other.

[M.S.-ARC]

Also, remember that dot intensity will greatly affect your perception of the dot as well. There's a reason why multiple intensities are offered, and it is not only so that you can see the dot in bright surroundings, but is ALSO VERY IMPORTANT in that this feature allows you to set the sight to a low-enough setting in dimmer ambient conditions so that you will not receive excess glare from the dot, which can cause the dot to visually "blur" and make your shots less accurate.
Finally, this is something that all of the top IPSC shooters, even Brian Enos, have said – if you’re using a red-dot sight, there’s virtually no reason for you to be focusing on the actual dot itself. When you’re looking at the target, because your eyes are naturally focused on it, there’s no way you’re going to also be able to focus on the dot itself, therefore, it automatically seems a bit “blurry.” But in-use, that blur should not matter, as once the dot is superimposed over the target, you should be on-target, assuming that you’ve judged your range and leading considerations properly and correctly. Now, this may see a bit un-natural to ironsight shooters, but this is the proper way to use red-dot sights. And as such, that slight “blur” of the dot that you’re complaining about in your red-dot unit? Don’t even worry about it.
C. More specifics, “traditional” scopes
Even when it comes to just having a scope, debates will rage as to whether so much or so little magnification is "needed" or is "nice to have." To wit, we've got the 1.5x of the "Military" model TM AUG being cited by many of its users as being near-perfect for airsoft engagements, but yet, others prefer still either no magnification or even higher.
And similarly, with the red-dot sight, we can also sit here and argue for days as to what kind is most suited for use - and whether if some magnification is good.

Just remember this sentence:
There's no right or wrong here -- it's all personal preference.

In my opinion, with "traditional" optical scopes, you run into the problem of perhaps having too much magnification for airsoft needs. Typically, players will purchase scopes made for air-guns or shotguns, as they both offer lower magnification values. More often, however, you'll find that players will purchase scopes with variable power objectives. This allows the player to utilize a low zoom/magnification factor for normal sighting ( 2x to 4x), with the option to crank up the magnification to offer "zoom" of far-away, and often much out-of-rage, targets (9x to12x).
Even at 400 fps. with 0.20 gram BBs, 6-9x is essentially all that you will EVER need to "self-spot" your shots at-range (150-200 ft. downrange). Usually, anything higher than 6x is typically considered non-useful for any type of "assault" role, and is instead reserved more for either the ultra-high energy/velocity "snipers/sharpshooters" or is used instead as a "spotting" scope as I’ve mentioned above, which can come in handy for recon on larger fields.

Eye-relief is a further limitation with traditional scopes as our game requires eye protection that's oftentimes bulky – making it hard to achieve the required relief distance from the end of the eyepiece to your eye (usually, as I’ve cited above, anything with a relief under 3 inches makes for more difficult sighting than ideal in skirmish situations). As such, make absolutely sure that your scope offers proper eye-relief -- the website or catalog you're ordering from should have this critical figure listed in/on their specs page or product description.

Finally, if you decide to go with a model that has a small objective, you will likely experience greatly reduced FOV, which not only increases your risk for "tunnel vision," but can also make target acquisition and tracking quite a bit slower in comparison. Of course, as with red-dot sights, the larger the objective, the greater the amount of money you'll need to spend – and also remember that the larger lenses also mean greater area for incoming BBs to hit and damage, again, a trade-off.
Finally, a word on "illuminated reticule riflescopes," which use electricity/light-amplification mechanisms to help light up the crosshairs.

This does *_not_* mean that you're getting effective "night vision" If anything, the illuminated reticule will work AGAINST your natural physiologic night vision, and make things even worse (as it will be lighting up the foreground of the view, with the background still being pitch black).

Such scopes are only effective during the rather more well-lighted hours of late dawn and early dusk, where it helps bring contrast between the scope's crosshairs and the more subtle background under those specific conditions.

Want to use a scope at night? You'll either have to have a powerful light (SureFire is among the leaders in low-light sniping both in terms of supplying specific-task hardware as well as offering training in this respect for LE/military applications) or will have to have TRUE night-vision/thermal equipment. Otherwise, you're just lying to yourself. [We’ll discuss night-vision basics in the “Gear” section.]


D. So, which one should I choose, red-dot or traditional?

As to which of these devices is "better?" - well, that's up to you to decide. I can tell you the advantages and disadvantages of each, but I cannot tell you what will be the right choice for you, individually. You must make that decision for yourself, based on your own personal preferences and your specific needs.

- Protecting the Lens

Regardless of which option you choose, you should think about possible damage that may occur to the delicate optics of these sights should they be hit by an incoming BB discharged from your opponents.

To shield your expensive optical lenses from damage, it's best to purchase a pair of inexpensive (less than $5 per pair, if you look in the right places) "scope covers." Several types, such as the Butler Creek "Blizzard" caps, are available with a clear lens-cap, which allows you to sight through the protective cover, with the option of removing such protection when you decide to try for more accurate shots (removes a bit of parallax error induced by having the frame of the cover superimposed over the sight-picture). These are available from just about *_ANY_* Stateside firearms accessories retailer, hunting-supplies retailer, or tactical equipment retailer, and even often from airsoft retailers. While the clear lenses on the Blizzard caps can be shattered by a point-blank shot with a 0.20 gram BB traveling at a bare 280 fps., it will significantly disperse the initial shock energy, acting like a “sacrificial” lens unit, thereby physically saving your underlying lens from damage.
You can also very easily purchase lexan, plexiglass, or other clear plastic sheeting for very reasonable prices from any major home-improvement retailer in the US, such as Lowes or Home Depot

Basic plasticworking techniques of cutting and heating/bending the plastic will allow you to make these items into perfectly viable lens shields that are in the vein of the FreedomArt lens protector, with your only additional task in figuring out how to properly attach the shield to your sight/scope.

Also, airsoft-specific “lens shields" such as the FreedomArt Lens Protectors, available in a variety of sizes and easily trimmed with a craft-knife (i.e. "Xacto Knife"), can offer even more sturdy protection, also at a reasonable price. The FreedomArt lens protectors can often be found through high-end US retailers, and definitely can be "special ordered" through them – alternatively, they’re almost always on-call at any of the larger HK retailers.
Their measurements, each, are:

Large -

6.5 cm wide at widest point

6.7 cm tall, plus another 1 cm for the base
1,5 cm “deep” (I'll explain more about this later)

Medium -

5 cm wide at widest point

5.7 cm tall, plus another 1 cm for the base

1.5 cm "deep"

Small -

3.5 cm wide at widest point

4.7 cm tall, plus another 1 cm for the base

1.5 cm "deep"

The "depth," if you'll notice from pictures of this product that you can find on-line, is how the "L" shape at the BASE of each unit is configured. You can thus have two different mounting methods, with the "L" facing "in" towards the sight, or with the "L" facing “out.” This offers you two choices as to how closely you can mount the lens protector to the actual lens of the sight/scope.
A similar product is also offered by Just and ICS, both of which are Taiwanese airsoft marques. They each basically consist of an L-shaped hard-mount secured to the circumference of the scope via a single “Zip Tie” – the shield, which covers the lens, then screws into this secured mount.
A final alternative is the Tenebraex Kill-Flash (note that there are now several different clone/imitation makes, each with its own individual fitting requirements). You will often see this device affixed to the objective lens of the scopes that grace high-end real-steel tactical law-enforcement sniper-rifles or military field-use AimPoint Comp-series red-dot sights. Their main purpose is to eliminate reflections from the lens of the optics that they cover – as effective field concealment. The Kill-Flash accomplishes this by superimposing a fine honeycomb network of baffles over the lens, which when viewed through the optics from your end, is practically invisible (much like those cool one-way windows on city busses that seem opaque, but are actually not). With the Kill-Flash devices, you can also expect a damaged Kill-Flash, with an "embedded" BB in its honeycomb, but again, what's important, your optics, will be saved behind it. It’s also a “sacrificial lens.”

[M.S.-ARC]

- LASER devices

LASER aiming devices are yet another option. Many would argue that it is one of the most efficient and quickest for target-acquisition. However, there are several practical disadvantages, the most important of which is possible eye-damage to your fellow players – which can even happen with very short-interval eye-exposure, especially if you are using higher-powered lasers.

As such, you MUST exercise care and discretion in the use of these devices. Avoid, as much as possible, shining the sight into other players' eyes, especially if they do not have goggles on (even with goggles, you should take care NOT to do this) or if they are using a magnified optical scope on their replicas (DO NOT purposely shine your laser into anyone’s magnified optical scopes/sights!). Also, ask for the agreement of other players to your use of such devices – and abide by their wishes.
Secondly, most laser-sighting modules do not generate enough light amplification energy to be used in outdoor daylight situations. Sunlight is particularly overpowering - and those units that generate enough power to overcome such situations are likely VERY unsafe for gaming use, as they pose EXTRA dangers in terms of potential eye damage due to their incredible power output. Similar dangers of being extremely eye-hazardous applies to various IR laser designators (used in conjunction with night-vision devices) as well, and should be completely avoided in gaming use (unless they are specifically rated as eye-safe).
Third, with lasersights, you MUST find a mounting solution for them that is sufficiently rigid so that they will not “wobble.” The mount must itself maintain the laser in-alignment and zero’ed at all times (this is easy, just be sure that your mount holds on to your lasersight unit tight, and without wobble), as well as, more importantly, you must make sure that the area to which the mount is attached must be free of variance, too.
What does this latter consideration mean?
For example, with my old MC51 setup, I had a Beamshot 1000x lasersight clamped to my FIRST Enlarged Foregrip via a Beamshot proprietary mount. The mount was very secure, and attached my laser to the foregrip without any noticeable wobble or other such variance. However, what was troublesome was that the foregrip itself would wobble a bit on the body of the AEG – and that this, in turn, would throw off my lasersight’s zero.
Remember that not only must your mount be secure, but the area to which you’ve attached the mount must be secure as well. Think about it this way. You reach out with your hand to grab a glass. That glass is now secure, right? But what if you had a broken ARM or dislocated SHOULDER? – the glass is no longer “secure,” right? Same idea here!
What this translates to most often is that various trigger-guard fitted “adaptors” for pistols are NOT of sufficient “rigidity” to serve as proper lasersight mounts. Stuff them into a holster or accidentally knock into them during your draw, and you’ve got an off-zero sighting system. Instead, look for hard-mounts that attach to your replica pistol’s integrated under-frame RIS/RAS system for a solid lock.
With mounts on long-arms, or even an SMG, look for hard-points on the replica’s body that will not wobble or change its alignment with respect to your barrel assembly. Various airsoft and real-steel mounting options exist for such items, and are available either as proprietary mounts, such as the Classic Army imitation/clone Weaver/Picatinny RIS/RAS full-sized Glock mount for their replica SureFire L72 or the ICS MC74A mount adaptor, or can be as common as specific or even generic “scope rings” or “barrel clamp” devices, such as that is demonstrated here: http://www.lasersale.com/catalog/display_item.asp?id=1570 -- or can even be a dual laser and light mount system as is seen here: http://www.pages2go.com/lmt/order.htm.
[ For more discussion on mounts, please see the “Flashlights” division within the “Gear” section, Section IX.. ]

Finally, with lasersights, zeroing can be of particular concern, even real-steel zeroing with lasers requires great skill and patience, and doing so for airsoft, in terms of divergence, etc., will take even greater patience and time to perfect.
Speaking of zeroing…let’s talk about this a little bit –
- Zeroing mistakes: aka “Help, I can’t get my sight to zero!”
I will not cover the basics of “how to zero” a sight/scope here. For this, you can find much better guides on-line than anything which I can describe. Fire up your favorite search engine, such as Google or Dogpile, and have at-it.
However, what I will talk about a bit is precisely the above scenario, which I’ve seen many airsoft hobbyists run into in the past – the call for “help, I can’t get my scope/sight to zero!”
More often than not, this can be traced back to the following:
That you simply need to back up, and re-zero.

You're too close. At, say, a favorite “indoor” zero distance of 10 to 20 ft. (i.e. in your bedroom, away from the complaints of your parents), unless your sight and barrel axes are within a few millimeters of each other, you'll *- ALWAYS -* net a separation/divergence and not be able to achieve zero.
Why?

I want you to actually do this experiment. Actually do it, not to just think about it.......

Take out a piece of paper. Draw a perfectly horizontal line down the middle of the page.

Now measure two inches above that line, and mark that. Draw a perpendicular straight up from your original horizontal, keep the two-inch "height" mark intact and noted, however. Designate this two-inch height marking as point S.

Now, from the intersection of those two lines (your original horizontal and now your perpendicular, measure out six inches along the horizontal. Mark and connect with the two-inch height to make a right triangle. Designate the apex you've just drawn (at the 6-inch measure) as point T.

Think of point S as where your sight is, the horizontal line as the your barrel bore, and point T as your target.

This illustrates to you a system in which, at 6 inches distance, the sight axis and barrel bore intersect to hit target T.

Now, raise your index finger, imagine it to be your fellow skirmish "enemy," and put it over point T for a "center-mass" shot -- say, between the first and second knuckle.

I want you to now move your finger, keeping its relative same "center mass" location, TOWARDS point S (the shorter leg of the right triangle, in other words).

What happens?

You'll see that your point-of-aim, the line extending from S to T, starts to shift "up" while your barrel bore axis remains the same, right?

You're effectively seeing this in the real-world with your current sighting-in procedure.

You're so close that no amount of sight adjustment or Hop adjustment (more on this in just a second) will help. It's a physical impossibility to co-align the barrel bore with your sight bore so far above.

However, when you back away to, say, 35 ft., or even 55 ft., you'll now easily see that you can precisely "zero" your sight/scope.

Remember, "zeroing" is only good for the set distance where you've established the "zero" -- at any other distance, various ballistics and even, as you can see in your own example above, the physical constraints of the sighting-system can come into play.
Now, the Hop consideration is precisely why I finalize "zero" at the range, on the day of the event/game. Because various factors will cause you to alter your Hop setting, it is nearly impossible to "zero" your sights without first determining exactly what your BB flight-path will be.

Thus, your first objective at-home is to achieve sufficient horizontal-axis (i.e. windage) zero. Getting a decent vertical-axis (elevation) zero is next.

Once you get to the range on your game day, set your Hop with your gaming-use BBs so that your effective range is "optimized." Now, and only now, finalize your elevation setting on the sight/scope and set "zero" at your desired distance.

[M.S.-ARC]

- Where to shop?

For some of the better deals on various optics, I would recommend that you start your search at the following sites:

www.cheaperthandirt.com
www.tapco.com
www.cabelas.com
www.sportsmansguide.com
www.natchezss.com
www.swfa.com

All of these US-based discounters and retailers offer excellent deals on scopes and various sighting accessories – but as always, I highly recommend that you shop around for the best deal. As with shopping for your AEG or GBB, the different Internet retailers will often have very different prices on the same product, and you can never predict when one retailer will run a special sale.

Should you be interested in something that's a bit more exotic, consider starting your search here:

http://dmoz.org/Recreation/Guns/Accessories/Optics/

And finally, for those of you who REALLY are interested in obtaining any kind of sighting optics, I highly encourage you to read the following post:

http://vettaserv.pct.net/aszone/forums/message.cfm?topic_id=5100&forum_id=14#56192

Section Five – “Shotguns”:
There are two basic airsoft shotgun replica types to choose from – I’ve narrowed down your choices to these two as I feel that other variants, from other “lesser” brands, do not offer sufficient durability, reliability, and/or performance for suitable skirmish-field use .
First, there’s the spring-cocking/spring-powered variant from Tokyo Marui. These replicas use a near-coaxial tri-inner-barrel design that is configured so that the three BBs that are simultaneously discharged with each trigger pull will hit nearly the same focused area at the same time.
Second, there’s the Maruzen gas-operated replicas – these are either fed either through a “magazine” or are fed via mock “shotshells” that must be individually loaded with BBs, cycled, and ejected per shot. Shooting anywhere from 3 to 10 BBs per shot through a single inner barrel, these items offer much more “spread” than with the TMs – and furthermore, are also quite a bit weaker in terms of muzzle energy/velocity, and thus deliver shots that are shorter-ranged. There are also Maruzen shotgun replicas that are spring powered, which deliver less BBs per shot to-target.
Now, your foremost consideration with regard to shotgun replicas is that you'll have to make some decisions as to your playing style.

If you're looking for a replica that's suited for outdoor use, where you likely need a good effective range (at least that of stock Tokyo Marui AEGs) and minimal spread of the BBs (so as to effect accurate shots at-range), then the Maruzen gas-operated versions are simply NOT for you.

In the above case, the Tokyo Marui shotgun replicas, either the M3 or the SPAS, will fit your bill much better.

However, if you're looking for a short range area-saturation item, then the Maruzen is your ticket. With the TM shotguns, their tri-inner-barrel design, while offering superb individual BB flight trajectory (which translates into stock AEG-level effective range) really effectively minimize BB-shot spread as to make it, for all practical purposes, non-existent. Sure, it's great to use outdoors, where the triple-shot on what is essentially one center location will help penetrate thick undergrowth and thus effectively increase your chances of scoring an elimination, but without spread, you don't really get the "shotgun effect."

With the Maruzen M870, even at a range of 10-15 ft., with use of HFC134a gas and six to seven 0.20 gram BBs, the spread of the BBs will literally fill a 2-ft. diameter circle.

Combine that with a muzzle velocity that's likely in the range of 150 to 180 fps. (for each BB) with such a load, and you get an item that is perfectly suited for indoor CQB "corner clearing" or "door breaching," as the multiple low-velocity projectiles will saturate a decently large area, while the low-velocity will virtually guaranty that your opponent will not be hurt by the massive number of BBs traveling his way.

With use of Taiwanese "Green Gasses" or other higher-powered gasses, at a range of 15 ft, all 6 to 7 BBs from the Maruzen will hit an area no bigger than 3 inches in diameter. Back up to 30 ft. in such a situation, and you will see an impact radius of more than 3 FEET in diameter. And as most BBs tend to fall within the 25 to 30 ft. area, with only a few making it all the way out to the 30 ft. mark, best effective-range with this piece, when using a load of 6 to 7 0.20 gram BBs and Taiwanese "Green Gas," is likely somewhere just over 25 ft. At that range, maximal shot patterning can be expected.

The full-sized M1100, with its extended inner-barrel, can easily push this range out to well beyond 40 ft., with some hobbyists reporting an effective range of nearly 60 ft.

Meanwhile, with a TM M3 or SPAS 12, you can expect a tight, almost spot-on shot out to well in excess of 80 ft.
Figure out this difference – what it is that you are seeking, how you wish, exactly, for your “shotgun” replica to perform, and you’ll instinctively make the right purchase choice. Don’t lie to yourself, thinking that you can use the TM M3 to fulfill the Maruzen M1100’s job and to meet the latter’s performance parameters just because you like the way the M3 looks will land you in a big mess. This is about how each item truly performs, figure out what you want, and you’ll be happy. Lie to yourself about this, and I can guaranty that you’ll be putting the replica up for sale on eBay the very next day.

Section Six – “Grenade Launchers”:
The reason why I decided to place this section after the shotgun replicas is simple.
Basically, you can think of the Tokyo Marui spring-cocking M203 grenade launcher replicas as simply a mechanical carbon-copy of their shotgun replicas.
And similarly, you can think of the SunProject gas-operated M203 unit as a much larger Maruzen gas-operated shotgun.
Simple, right?
Well, the technical considerations for their use is much the same as well.
Because of the tri-inner-barrel design, as an area-saturation piece, the TM absolutely fails. However, as its internal construct is the same as any of the TM shotties, it is a completely and truly devastatingly effective skirmish piece given the expressed purpose of effecting precision shots (since it co-aligns with the AEG's main barrel, this can be easily achieved) at-distance.

The SunProject, regardless of which shell is chosen, is totally ineffective in providing precision long-range shots, and is only useful as an area-saturation piece -- and even then, only at closer ranges.

To debate the effectiveness of each piece as an absolute – without context as to how it is to be employed – is virtually impossible; that's akin to comparing a TM spring-powered shotgun to a gas-powered Maruzen without first considering the all important question of why or how you plan to use it.

Their expressed purposes are different, and instead of me telling you which one you should purchase, it should be your decision based on YOUR specific usage needs.
Now, with the Tokyo Marui M203, its expressed purpose is easy to determine – it is designed to be used by those who want to place accurate long-range shots as a viable backup to their “co-axial” primary AEG.
With the SunProject, this is a bit harder to decipher, because there are quite a number of different “cartridges” available for its use. Here, I think that one of the most complete and best presentations comes from Stinger, a well-known and well-respected American hobbyist who currently resides in Japan – the author of the well-known and well-read Rising Sun Recon airsoft news report: