Beginner at Airsoft War Games! Some questions and need advice!
 

Hi everyone,

I have been wanting to go into Airsoft for a LONG time. I used to own spring action and gas power pistols when I was a kid in asia, but recently I just got back into it. :)

First, I read lots on the web about if owning an Airsoft is legal. I know it was but some laws changed... Has there been any updates to that? Do I require any paper work? I am of legal age and wouldn't mind jumping through some hoops to make sure everything is alright.

So to start, I recently ordered a ICS M4 CQB with folding stock. I picked it because it looks different(there's tons of M4s and M16s out there I'm sure), and also because its lighter. Plus, I saw the metal folding stock sells for nearly $100, and most rifles come with crane stocks - so I thought why not I would get a folding one and maybe mod to another type of stock later, and would save on cost. :) Also a friend advised that in a war game some guns can tire you out if they are heavy, so I went with this pick because it shoots the same as other rifles in its class, but its light. Is this a pretty good pick? Please let me know any comments are welcome.

Also, I am thinking of buying a side arm as well. Maybe a Colt 1911 variant. Do people use side arms in War Games? Or are most battles mostly long ranged? Any comments on this matter would help. Personally, I love the thought of pulling a pistol instead of reloading in games, but not sure if this is a common thing. :)


That being said - also a question about war game meet ups - I am currently in a small group, but am wondering if I can meet up with groups here on this website for games? I am a casual player(not into cosplay) and a beginner and am in the GTA Toronto area.

First of all welcome, any advice you will need will be in the newbie FAQ but the best is still come to a game in person. You are in the GTA there will be a large game next week on the 18th at Flagraiders, it is hosted and attended by many vets in this game feel free to sign up and make an intro there will be lots of people willing to show you what you need IN PERSON (which BTW is a million time better than learning stuff from the web)

Agreed. Though you can learn some stuff through the internet it is better to learn in person. Then you will have the experience to extend your knowledge.

Legally, buying, selling or owning airsoft guns apart from the clear receiver cansoft models or the few makes and models that have been specifically allowed is grey-legal. Technically they're against the law but as long as you're responsible with them the police usually look the other way.

The one group that is seriously against airsoft guns is Canadian customs, so I really hope that when you say you ordered a gun, you did so from a site here in Canada. If you ordered it from overseas or down in the States then it is highly unlikely that you're going to receive it. Customs will seize it at the border and destroy it, and you'll be out the money you paid for it.

As to sidearms. That really depends. Some places will have cqb pistol games frequently, in some there are pistol target shooting organizations. But mostly, people have sidearms as last ditch backup weapons and they don't see a huge lot of use. The 1911 is a great weapon, I have one myself, a KJW model. The problem with 1911's though is the single stack mags have a smaller gas reservoir and so can't fire as many rounds as the guns with double stack mags. That only really effects the models with metal slides though. So if you're going to be using it frequently as a primary then I'd suggest a model with a abs slide like TM or WA. It's a bit of a hit on the realism but is more reliable. If all you want it for is a last ditch back up and the occasional pistol battle then a full metal model would be ok, just stay away from the WE's, they have a bad tendency to rip themselves to pieces.

yes of course. :)

I got mine here in canada at an airsoft store. :D

Yes I treat my AEG like a real gun - never point at anyone even when not loaded etc... I actually have 2 air pistols before long time ago and attended an firearms introductory session.

I will be sure to check out events more often thanks for welcoming me. :)

BTW - Anyone know if this grip is good? I am planning to get it for my rifle for even more "compact" design : King Arms AK Folding 5-Position Tactical Grip (Dark Earth)

Other people may say different, but I've never owned a King Arms product that I was happy with. The quality and reliability have never been what they should in my experience. I don't have experience with that particular item, but I've had mags, 40mm grenades, slings, and loaders from King Arms and none of them have worked right or lasted very long. My personal advice is find a similar item manufactured by someone else.

http://www.kingarms.com/productimage...tock-12-BK.jpg
Kings arm Galil Style AK folding side folder this stock fits over your existing tang so you don't need to cut anything.

orhttp://www.khmountain.com/airsoft/images/OY201.jpg

Romanian style AIMS stock this will require you to cut the stock tangs off to mount.

A Rear side folding stock shortens AKs alot but require work to re-wire to take a battery from the top.

I wrote this up a while ago with the new player in mind...New Players

There's lots of places in and around Toronto to play. Watch the Ontario Games section and sign up. TTAC3 is a great place to start.

To answer your concerns here let me say this, King Arms AEG is by far best one out of the box but if you want to use 40mm grenades use only madbulls xm108 or the xm204 hp series by far the best one in the market (trust me on this I owned over 40 of them).
as for slings go for the blackhawk or magpuls and loaders go for the marui ones as the KA even the ones that comes with their galil aeg sucks, the plastic tabs inside will break first. In Airsoft you get what you pay some items are better to just buy the real thing.

I've found most all of those "x-position grips" to be shit. Same with any of the "bipod vertgrips". Craptastic.

Just buy a fixed vert grip (stubby, long, etc) or go without one. The magpul angled grip is solid...but I don't like the feel of it. Some guys that have them say it takes getting used to.

Hi guys,

Thanks for the feed back.

I got the grip for like $20, so its not too bad.. You are right, it doesn't feel "SOLID"... I kinda sways forward a bit, but, overall its ok - for now... As for the solid grips... I saw the Magpul angled grip... Maybe I'll get that one too for compact designs.

Also - I live in an apartment... It is hard to setup a target at home to practice, and at least get my rifle's sight zeroed... Are there any shooting ranges I can goto for airsoft?? Or is it pretty much "your own backyard" kinda deal... Any suggestions? I think I know how to setup a target - With a good sized fully closed cardboard box with extra cardboard padding behind, and stuff lots of crumbled newspaper stuffing inside. Correct me if I am wrong.


I was able to drop by Army Issue in Mississauga to do age verification today, so I'll be age verified soon. :)

I live in an apartment as well so I sympathize, but I would very much advise against taking your airsoft gun out into your backyard unless there is absolutely no chance of your neighbours seeing you. The last thing you need is someone calling the police because they saw you with what looks like a real assault weapon.

Congrats on getting AV'ed, once you have access to the Classifieds you have much more options for buying and selling stuff.

Thanks Kuro. :)

Yes I understand, I don't mean literally "in your backyard"... ;) what I meant was in your home or basement - as in your own space. I have a friend that lives in a house I am thinking of going over to his basement to tune out the rifle. There was actually a post about someone getting AEG taken away by cops because they were shooting their AEGs in the woods on here... I remember reading it... ;) I thought it was very irresponsible. AEGs can do serious harm to people without protection.

Speaking about verification... I think I am going to call the AV place tomorrow, I think I made a mistake telling the person my user name on AirsoftCanada, I think I told them "Teriases" with a capital T instead of "teriases".... -_-

How long does this process take...? I think the person said 1wk? Didn't hear it properly....

AV is a face to face deal not over the phone, but typically ittakes 1-3 weeks for the change to take effect

Pus, I think he means he's gonna phone Army Issue and correct the spelling on his username as he said he went to army issues in a previous post.

I'd also reccomend TTAC3, it's a great place and it's a solid place to learn airsoft from, Brian, the man who runs the place is a standup guy, safety first and foremost but as long as you follow the rules he lays down at the beggining of the night, you're guaranteed to have fun! I attend TTAC3 when I can so if you ever go, I look forward to seeing you at games, TTAC3 or elsewhere.

Yea I was there in person, I just don't remember if I had made a mistake telling them my user name...

TTAC3... That's cool I was actually looking at the FACT website the other day. I saw videos of the place looks amazing. :) I live in Mississauga I would have to make time to goto the place tho. :(

ahh I see, my bad thought u called for AV :) +1 on the TTAC3 part too, I was there Friday night and it was some really intense cqb action, always watching your six as you never know who is gonna sneak up on you, teamwork really plays a big part in that environment.

Friday was awesome!

Except for when I got shot in the face after the game was over.

Wait that was fun too.

@ Shatter

BOOM! HEADSHOT!

jk... hehe :P

But yes, I was excited when I saw the info on FACT. If I have the time I will drop by FACT for sure. I read and saw lots of short clips on CQB combat tactics before, such as what position to hold your pistol(vs. what you see on T.V. holding pistol pointing up with both hands tucked against the side of your chest... sigh.. ;) ) when you are at a corner, etc etc...

Also, been interested in defensive parts of Systema(only defensive parts against guns or knives pointing at you). Hope I can properly learn it someday. :(

Again, so much to do and so little time.. I have a young one now, and parent-hood drains your free time faster then a vampire at a blood bank... hahah... ;)


P.S - for TTAC3, and practical shooting courses, which GBB pistol is the best? My personal fav and what I am planning to get is the 1911 MEU, a few people on here have advised its accurate and a pistol with a nice build. But I was also looking at the M9 IA version(if I'm not mistaken, with the bottom 20mm rail)... Also, friend recommended the Glock 27, which is small and easy to pull from my cross-draw holster. Any recommendations? What are most of you guys using? Choices choices....

Tm hicapa is thes best, 1911 mags will have u gassing up more often between games I find

also, tons of nice doodads to put on it too :)

we do something at TTAC3 called CAPS which is like IPSC style shooting, the most popular pistol in use is the TM Hicapa 5.1 that says something.

HiCapa...

I seen it before, this is the 1911 variant right? I don't think its for sale any longer in Canada... Or at least legally?

****Actually, I have kind of an urgent question...****

I was just looking at my rifle just now close up in detail. Looking at the semi-clear plastic main body parts of my ICS M4 CQB, I found some(maybe 4-5) "fractures" or "scratch"..

I am not sure how to describe this. They're not really cracks per-say, as these "fractures" doesn't go right thru the plastic(plastics crack kind of like glass, at least that's what I think?), but they are kind of like scratches, some are very short(like less then 4mm) but one is pretty long(like more then 4cm). One of these "fractures" or scratch curves too in kind of an "S" pattern too... Is this normal?

I know plastic don't have the same density and durability as metal... But these worries me. I just got this rifle for 4 days so far, I haven't even used it yet(today was suppose to be my first game, but due to family matters I was not able to attend). I have just been modding the gun and putting my grip and sights on it. Any ideas? I will try to post some pictures ASAP...

Pictures posted below(they're not the best, but should give you an idea what I am saying) :
http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/...s/th_084-1.jpg

http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/...s/th_085-1.jpg

http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/...ses/th_084.jpg

just wanted to say welcome to the game, im fairly new myself, im actually running a fairly similar setup, Velocity Arms V733-F (m4 CQB) is my gun, i love the colt 1911 a few of my team mates use them, i just picked one up myself breaking it in next Sunday, yes some games use sidearms like stated before, when I play we usually play with gun hits, so basically if my M4 gets hit by a BB I switch out to my side arm. as far as air soft in your back yard... not such a good idea, what i do when i borrow a bolt action, or use a scope/change hop up for conditions, I ask who ever is running the field if there is an area where i can shoot just to site in, their usually is if not you can always take some time to do it just before the game starts once your in position.
I have also setup boxes to shoot at (lots and lots of card board in cased) just to make sure nothing happens

Hi bigman,

what up heheh nice nice... yea I like guns that look special if you know what I mean. Thats why I picked the CQB cuz the barrel is smaller.

I have an EO tech sight, so should be pretty easy to zero the sights(I think?). I guess I can do that at the actual game, but like to get ready before hand that's all. :)

As for my question in my last post, does your gun have these "scratches" or "fractures" Bigman? Check to pictures let me know... I don't know if this is a manufacture defect? Or is it just how the plastic is?

Lol hicapas are as legal as ANY other airsoft gun out there, don't listen to the safesoft/cansoft/legal for civilians BS

get AV'd and you will be able to get any gun you want, all it takes is money

and yes the hicapa is a 1911/2011 variant

Ah nice... I been asking about it for a while and most local dealers advised they no longer carry it. :) I love the special colored grips, and the all metal external and internal build... *drool*

Pusangani, did you take a quick look at the pictures I uploaded? What do you think? I just wrote an email to the store owner where I got the rifle. I'll let you guys know what's up tomorrow.

I wouldn't worry about those, they don't look major at all, did it come that way?

Hey man,

Yea it did... I only got this rifle like 4 days ago.

Like I said, when I run my nails over it, I don't feel a crack there. Its smooth. Maybe just the plastic eh?

I took a few picture of my baby... heheh. Thought share with you all.

http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/...pecial/011.jpg
http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/...pecial/018.jpg
http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/...pecial/007.jpg
http://i1008.photobucket.com/albums/...pecial/005.jpg

yeh prolly, if it bothers u just take it back for an exchange or something

Yea I hope it wouldn't be a problem.

Sigh... I'd have to take off all the mods -_-. Such a chore.. heheh :confused:

I have a 1911 and I love it, but if you're planing on using your pistol frequently as a primary or using it for CAPS style target shooting then go with the hicapa. The hicapa is basically a doublestack version of the 1911. I went with the 1911 specifically because I have small hands and find guns with double stack mags don't fit my hands well. If you're interesting in tricking out your pistol then you should definitely go with the hicapa, the bulk of pistol upgrades out there are all for the hicapa. And get a TM hicapa if you do get one, since all the upgrades are for TM. Yeah, other pistols are TM compatible, but that's not quite the same.

The M9 is a good solid sidearm. If all you want is a good sidearm and backup weapon then the M9 is a great choice. They're fairly common as well, so you'll be able to get one for a decent price.

Glocks in airsoft are like Glocks in real steel, functional, reliable weapons. But in my mind Glocks just don't have any soul. If you're one of those people that like glocks then go for it, if not go with the 1911, Hicapa or M9.

Another thing that concerns alot of people when it comes to pistols is full metal or not. ABS is more efficient, and all the higher quality manufacturers tend to only produce in ABS. But for those that only want a pistol as a sidearm, well full metal just looks and feels so much nicer, generally better kick as well. The downsides to full metal are they use more gas to move the heavier slide (this is particularly a concern in singlestack guns like the 1911) and generally cause more wear on the parts.

Upgrading the higher quality abs guns to full metal is possible but very expensive. It usually easily doubles the cost of the weapon if not more. Illusion is the guy to talk to about pistol upgrades. There's a couple of guys, Illusion included who sometimes build and sell upgraded pistols, frequently in full metal. But you're looking at a price tag of $700-$1300.

The brand names you generally want to keep an eye out for are TM or WA for the higher quality abs pistols, particularly TM. And KJW for reasonably priced, reasonable quality full metal guns. Stay away from WE's, they have a bad tendency to rip themselves to pieces quite quickly. Don't bother with the cansoft hybrids (clear or smoked abs receivers), wait till your AV goes through and get a full black pistol out of the classifieds or ASC retailers.

Don't ever forget, you get exactly what you pay for in airsoft.
Try to stick to the mainstream brands, TM, CA, G&P, and G&G. ICS is okay, but they like to do their own thing, like STAR, which means a lot of mainstream parts on the market aren't compatible.
Don't ever buy Chinese guns lol
And If your looking for a good pistol, either a Marui 1911 or P226. They're tanks!

I know what you meant, but being totally nitpicky, Classic Army is a Chinese company.

My KJW glock works great though.

What about real sword lol

There are always exceptions haha.