Questions from a 17 year old
 

Hello gents, my name is Phil, and I am 17 years old. I live in Halton Hills in Ontario, and I enjoy airsofting.*

Before I begin my rant (so to speak), I want to let everybody know that just because I am under 18 does not mean I am a child or a "noob" (the only reason I posted this in this part of the forum is because I am new here, but not to airsoft). I am rather mature for my age. I am off to college next year, I just happen to be born later in the year (September 94').

About me and airsofting. I have been playing airsoft since I was a child (good old Clearsoft lol), and they have been my basis for getting into the sport. Recently I have moved up to the more expensive guns, as I currently own a KJW 1911 MEU, and a KJW M9, both purchased from the wonderful staff at BuyAirsoft.ca*

However (as you are all aware) they come with the tinted lower frame. I've always wanted a full metal handgun, but the metal/plastic are the only ones available to civilians. Until I found out that if you get A/V here, you have access to full metal weapons.*

Now since I'm not yet eighteen, that is not available to me. But once I turn 18, I would be interested. But my problem is, did I just waste my money on the guns at BuyAirsoft? I am assuming no, because what I had in mind is that I would replace the lower frame of my handguns with the metal ones. Are those available once you are A/V? If they are that would be excellent, as I already own my own GBB's, so all that would be required is to swap the tinted frame with a metal one.

Thank you Gentlemen.

All kinds of items and guns are available to people 18+ and Age Verified, just wait till your 18. In the mean time, get to know people and read articles in the General Sections.

Good luck!

If the guns work well its not a waste of money. It will cost you just as much or more for a metal frame than for a new full metal pistol. So the better option is either to sell them at a good discount or to keep em as back ups and just buy a new pistol if you have your sights set on FMU.

That makes sence, I mean I payed good money for them, so I will make the best use of them. Once I'm eighteen I can always sell them and get some good FM guns.

One a side note though, I found this site in Hong Kong that apprently seeks full out TM frames. Since TM and KJW are like clones, I thought these could work. However I'm kinda skeptical cause I've never heard of them before. Anybody had dealings with them before?

http://www.airsoftglobal.com/shop/in...ath=36_455_437

You can not import pistol frames as they are restricted items. That site is solid.

Take a look at what can and cannot be imported here.
I suggest you take the time and read all the FAQs and forum rules, and fill out your location information so the locals can help you out. As for airsoftglobal, it is an excellent site for non-restricted items.
If you want to play though, you might wanna pick up an AEG. Two gbb pistols isn't practical. I'd recommend you sell both pistols and save up for a decent AEG once you get AV'd.

Too bad lmao. I guess I'll wait until I'm 18, then see about getting full metal pistols.

Now I don't want to start a shit flinging contest, but is eighteen the recommended age, because I am mature for my age. It's rather anyoyying because alot of my friends are eighteen, but since I was born in September I'm not. Hell if I'm going to college next year I need to be mature. In fact I am even looking at a part time job so I can afford a vehicle which I'll need for college. Again I'm not complaining, just wondering. I had to rewrite this a number of times just so that there would be less risk of me being flamed :flame:

*points to his signature* rules :) this is my first year in airsoft and i've dropped around 5k into the sport so far....somethings i bought because i can and others i bought because i've spent 3-5 hours a day JUST reading these forums...its amazing how much info you can get from this site, yes there are aot of opinions but even more facts.

so i suggest you spend a coupe days reading the furms and you'll know more then any of the guys you probaby play with. i know i know alot of info some of the guys i play with have no clue about. which makes informed decisions about what gear/guns to buy and WHY to buy said gear/guns....but beware of opinions...stick to the facts

You'll experience quite a few problems trying to drop a KJ 1911 into a TM 1911 frame... There's SO much fitment work to be done...

You can play at whatever age hosts will allow you to attend games for most that's 18. But you will not be age verified before your 18th birthday regardless of maturity. And therefore unable to gain access to the AV sections and classifieds. Now show us how mature you really are by accepting this and following the forum rules. Then when you are really an adult we will welcome you with open arms.

Good news Phil. The area you live in ROCKS for airsoft. Tons of really awesome people to play with, and great games. Welcome and hope to you see you on the field.

I've seen some pretty experienced players do stupid noob stuff in terms of not observing safety, etc. We all make mistakes. You'll be judged a bit harsher, but if you do things like observe safety and call your hits, you'll be fine..

As long as you don't buy complete junk you'll be fine. A lot of the stuff on that site is actually pretty decent. For example, all the G&G stuff, no matter what anyone tells you, is absolutely fine, and you can maintain/fix/upgrade it for a long while. My advice if you want to feel super confident in your purchases, even if you did manage to get a dud, is to learn as much as you can about AEG gearboxes, maintenance, cleaning, troubleshooting, etc. Then pretty much anything you buy will be easy to get going even if it has issues at first. That's been my trajectory, and it's working for me. Good luck

I respect that and when I am 18, y'all better watch out lmao.

Anyway about AEG's, I am currently saving my money for this: https://www.buyairsoft.ca/rifles/ele...mando-max.html

The G&G M4 Commando MAX. G&G is probs one of the best brands avalible, and these are full metal to boot, plus with a RIS rail and a foregrip. Once I can afford it, I would get an ACOG scope, Tac Light, and red laser, and I would have a friggin sweet gun.

Just curious but is anyone else from Halton region?

You can get a better M4 for cheaper from the Age Verified retailers. Wait it out, it's worth it. Age Verification gets you into a whole new world of Airsoft, don't waste your money on overpriced stuff from BuyAirsoft.

Eww, no. stop.

That G&G is waaay overpriced, you'll see once you are AV'd that there are much better AEGs out there for better prices. BuyAirsoft is the shadiest of the shady when it comes to CDN retailers, so the less money you give them the better.

I wouldn't recommend that one. I'm not saying it's a waste of money but it's not effective use of your money.

Once you get AV'ed you'll see all the goodies you could imagine for sale. Sometimes gems pop up and you have to be quick to get them but you can get really good stuff at decent prices (at least when considering they're Canadian prices) if you have the patience.

Also, don't be so enthusiastic. It's great that you are but buy the gun first then attend a few games to get to know the gameplay and style you want before buying more stuff.

The way I started was I bought a gun off the classifieds when I was 18. I attended a few games with nothing more than my gun, a pair of goggles, a pair of hiking boots, and some flecktarn combats. After that I saw what other people had and what was effective then I bought accessories and stuff. Vests, pouches, mags, etc. Just remember you don't need to buy everything all at once. But you also don't need to buy things piece by piece either (cause shipping will kill you if you don't live near a place that you can get easy access to gear and accessories).

What I suggest is see what other players have and "lump" certain purchases to save on shipping. eg. Don't buy a vest, then some mag pouches, then some utility pouches, then a camelbak, then a holster. Buy those things all at once in manageable purchase sizes to save shipping costs.

Or you could wait until you get AV'd and buy a VFC. :D

In all seriousness I have shot a G&G M4 max before and I did like it, but I do believe that you could get something better for that price. I paid less than that with taxes and shipping included for my 416, which is a nicer rifle imo.

Well I guess me and my handguns will hold out until then :) I thought that since it was a G&G full metal would be that expensive, but I've always wondered how the US dealers can sell a full metal version of the same gun for practically half the cost.

But as far as BuyAirsoft goes, they are actually not shady, they are excellent in my perspective. When the postal thing was going on during the beginning of summer, I ordered the KJW meu from them, and since Canada Post wasn't an option at the time, they shipped through DHL. When the box got to my house, that's what it was; a box. The next three monthes were me and BuyAirsoft owner Nicholle working together to get the money back from DHL, but since there was no insurance on it, DHL kept bull shitting us about it being lost and whatever, then they gave us half the cost. Nicholle made up the difference, and gave me some free stuff like patches, deck of G&G cards etc. All in all BuyAirsoft couldn't have done better on their end. Maybe that's just my success story, but they earned my buisness, which got me to buy the M9 from them.

But if I can get better guns once I'm AV from the classified, then I know where my money stands lol

What they meant about Buyairsoft is that they inflate the prices on guns, well pretty much everything else as well, that should be a lot cheaper just because they know that they will get un-AV'd youngsters paying any amount just because that's one of the few places that they(i.e. their parents) can actually buy airsoft guns.

Most places won't let you use lasers for obvious safety reasons. A PEQ-15 sure makes your gun look more tacticool, but it wouldn't be practical for games.

Wow that's a crying shame. But that is a good point on getting the kids to shop there, I'm actually surprised I hadn't thought before. But I didn't know anything about AV, so those were perfect at the time. Well I certainly wont be buying anything big from them again. But I have two pistols, and they will serve me until next September. Then I can sell em and get the real stuff. But I've kinda grown attached to these, so maybe I would be able to find some full metal frames. Thanks for that insight.

Thats a good point too. They have a tac light that is 35 lumes bright for about $90, but a real one is like 130 lumes, for that same price!

In my opinion the best deal going right now on a high end airsoft rifle in Canada is the King Arms M4 for about $350 - 360 from several sources. At least one or two of those sources will open up to you once you have your AV, and one other is elsewhere but I can't say yet (though feel free to badger me about this when you have your AV).

It's a full metal rifle and has solid internals and you can basically take it all the way to the moon (just as far as any other high end brand like G&P, VFC, etc) in terms of upgrades and improvements, replace nearly everything visually from front to back, compatible with tons of parts (some of which are super affordable like the SHS parts, which is just a rebrand of King Arms anyway).

But yeah... I will echo the same sentiments as some of the other very wise people in this thread... The #1 advice that everyone is telling you in case you cannot read between the lines (and you're going to college so get ready to do a lot of that): Whatever you do, don't just buy from the site with the pretty pictures in a moment of rushed excitement.

We just had a newcomer on the forum in here a week or two ago that blew over 600 bucks on a rifle of a brand which will be tricky to upgrade and is somewhat incompatible with other brands and isn't even all that respected of a brand... And the crazy thing is he did it after asking for advice and then ignored it. From what I could tell he just couldn't wait to run to the local Paintball supply shop (mistake #1) to get a rifle for "the upcoming game" (mistake #2).. etc..

That's still just a real shame that I spent a good amount of money on those two weapons, plus ammo and accessories. I did endup getting some good stuff tho like dual shoulder holsters and pro grade BB's, but I should have waited until I was 18 to get the real stuff. Man if only I had known I wouldn't have given them a dime! Colossal facepalm

Its a simple thing here. Read. Drop the opinions you have right now of airsoft and what you think you know. Or what you want to be right.

Read
Learn

Ask with an open mind. All to often we have players on here that ask an opinion or question, then spend the next few pages getting annoyed at others due to not listening when they asked.

Your 17. You may be mature. Sure your going to collage but you dont need to be mature for that and you'll figure that out in the next few years.

Like I said before. Keep your mind open to this stuff. Dont figure you know everything now or just have that little "ya ok..." attitude inside your head. You'll last alot longer and enjoy this addiction far more :D

KJW pistols, even with a plastic lower, are actually pretty good and durable guns, you just paid much more for them than what they are worth (AV retailers sell most full metal KJW pistols for $150 to $200). Paint the lower frame black and use them, they are good. If they break, fixing them is cheap and parts for these pistols (except for the lower frame) are among the easiest to find (more on that when you get age verified).

Yes, before I got AV'd, I had cansoft guns. G&G M4 SOPMOD and KJW Hi-Capa with clear lower receiver/frame. I disassembled the guns and sprayed them with krylon.
http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/6...intedm4ras.jpg
http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/2038/img00013v.jpg
http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/9091/img0006nl.jpg

From photos, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Nonetheless, when I got AV'd, I sold them for an Umarex/VFC HK416 and a Tokyo Marui Glock 17. I loved my previous guns - probably just as much as you love your current handguns, but TRUST ME! The wait is WELL worth it.

Then I guess I was a bit hasty. I'm mean it's not like I 100% hate my guns, I love them! And to get rid of them now would be a waste. Plus your right I could take them apart, which I did before so that I could learn what goes on inside, and spray paint the frames. Any body know where they sell Krylon paint?

I originally bought a cansoft M4 from ICS. I was always happy with it but recently I gave it a metal upper and lower receiver. I'm much happier with the metal. In the end it cost me more to buy cansoft and then upgrade it to full metal, so if I could do it again I'd get metal from the start.

paint stores
Canadian Tire

Btw, what are "pro upgrade BB's"?

Haha I meant Pro Grade BB's.

okay, so what are "pro grade BB's" then? never heard of them! who makes them?

the standards here are BB Bastards. yes there are some others that are comparable but nothing beats local, Canadian, and here when you want them.

not low end, not high end. the standard and just the best!

https://www.buyairsoft.ca/consumable...0-2g-bb-s.html
They are excellent quality, and 100% spherical. Or are they no better than Crappy Tire?

contact renegade) or go to http://www.bbbastard.com/

I wont even begin to explain how bad canadian tire BBs are....I think there is a character limit per post and we would run out of room.

Welcome Kuji, you have no idea how refreshing it is to have a newcomer that doesn't whine and bitch after asking a question. There were several bans due to noobs asking a question, didn't like the answer and went on a forum rant. Like mentioned before, keep an open mind and absorb all the information given. Keep your pistols and give them a coat of black paint. Save up from now until your 18th birthday, and pick up a nice AEG from the classified for your present. :)

Oh I think I do. I've seen what happens when someone goes too far. But to all do not worry I will not be one of those people, I will respect the community, and when I'm 18, I'll see y'all out at the fields!

Anyway about spray painting, I want to know if it is legal? I would only use it on my property, and the neighbors are all friends so they don't care what we do in our backyard. Obviously I'm not going to go waving it around in public, but as long as it is in your own backyard, it's legal right? Sorry this might have been asked already, but I can't seem to find it. Ha I'm getting old :D

not sure about the legalities of it, but as long as you exercise responsibility you'll be fine. no one's gonna give you flak for spray painting your gun. Just make sure that when/if you sell it, you let people know its been spray painted.

So it's ones of those gray areas eh? How could I found out 100%?

First thing I found on google was this existing thread.

no issues that I know. many people paint their plastic/metal guns.

...as long as you're not making it more realistic to use in an unlawful act...

As long as you use the spray paint as the manufacturer intended for, and not some MacGyver doo hicky, you should be ok. Just make sure no one sees your gun before or after painted. Last thing you want is your freshly painted black gun, gets mistaken by your neighbours as a real one. Out of sight, out of mind.

I hope you live on a farm.... you know it's usually illegal (bylaw violation) for people to discharge "air guns" (umbrella term covering paintball, pellet rifles, etc.) within city limits except in prescribed areas zoned for such use. That said don't worry about it if your neighbours are cool since you need someone to actually call up bylaw enforcement (ie. those people who have nothing better to do than ruin your fun like that lady who called me out on using power tools after 4 in the afternoon....) and usually bylaw enforcement focuses on the downtown core.

As for the painting, it "should" be legal but there's no law saying that you're allowed or not allowed to once it's in Canada and in your hands.

As for BB's I've found Matrix BB's to be pretty good (I'm 99% sure they're Airsoft Elite rebrands). Obviously not as good as say BBBastard, or Madbull but they're good. Other pretty good companies I've had experience with include Excel, Airsoft Elite, and Metal Tech (now discontinued but I know they used to rebrand Airsoft Elites).

No actually I don't live on a farm, I live in the suburbs. We have a fairly big backyard with a monster belowground pool. As far as discharging in the backyard, if the neighbors weren't cool with it, I wouldn't be doing in there. The neighbors on the left actually own some air rifles (yeah I said air rifles) and they are always blasting stuff off their shed. Neighbors on the left are cool, as they know I have guns. I've been shooting airsoft guns in our backyard for years lol

Ok, two quick bits of info.

First, there is legislation in Ontario against the acquisition of airguns by minors:
http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/bills/bil...gePrintId=1054

Second, the bylaw in your city prohibiting the use of airguns within your city limits:
http://www.haltonhills.ca/bylaws/pdf/1994-0074.pdf

You might have a permissive relation with your neighbors but a call from anyone passing by is going to land you in trouble.

You're looking at a fine and probable confiscation, and you expose yourself to a world of hurt under various federal firearm acts.

Right I understand. My rents made the purchase, and I payed them the total cost. It worked out pretty nice actually. Second, everybody on my street knows me and that I have airsoft guns, but it is impossible to see into my backyard.
But I understand the concern. If somebody did end up caring enough to call the PO-lice, I'm pretty sure the cops gonna think its a real gun. So how can I enjoy airsoft on my property?

Simple, you don't. Argue all you want the bylaw I quoted is the black on white proof that you are breaking municipal law with a device that is flirting with many non-quoted federal provisions.

You can't loophole your way out of that. It's kind of like asking how to have a meth lab tolerated.

Alright thank you. So the best place is at the field. I probs should have known that.

18 wont be too far away! I also remember the wait. Hopefully i'll see you on the field then at a big event.

Look foward to seeing you too mate!

You could also shoot in your basement I suppose. A little work and you can make your own shooting range haha. Just make sure you make a BB trap so you don't have BBs all over your basement.

The noise that people hear in your garage is just a nailgun right? Don't you have an interest in hobby carpentry. ;)

Also you didn't pay back your parents for the airgun, you paid them back for an unrelated loan they gave you.

Remember out of sight, out of mind. I'm not condoning that you use the gun at all within city limits, you're only going to use it at a summer cottage or family friend's farm under parental supervision of course. But I do support you practicing your carpentry hobby in your windowless basement and/or windowless garage under the supervision of your parents. Where no passers by could see you or be hurt by a stray flying nail that might come out of your "nailgun" by accident right.

Don't forget safety glasses, sometimes those nails come back at you! Theres some good 'nail' target trap designs on the forums.

As a matter of fact our house is a backsplit, so we have a huge crawlspace. I use to do target practice with my springers down there lol. Plus my pop happens to be a home renovator, and if a "nail gun" is louder than its air compresser, I'll eat my hat! But hell, at least I can write my name on the wall with nails :D

I have a fairly large basement and shoot down there. I have different rooms and set up sticky targets around, had some fun nights with those :P

So about this whole painting thing. I think what I am going to do is ask my friend who is a fraud detective for York Regional Police. After all, he is a cop, so he would be best to ask. I just want to do the right thing is all. Can anybody think of what I should say so it doesn't come off like I wanna go rob someone? Again I just wanna do right. :)

Just because you're a police officer or detective doesn't mean that you know every single law in the books. Also if he's smart he'll never say anything on the record or put anything in writing (it could cost him his job even if he tells you the right info).

The clear thing is only to placate CBSA. After that it becomes the RCMP's responsibility. In fact, if you rob a store with a clear gun the crown will treat it as if it were a real firearm and recommend charges accordingly. It doesn't matter if it's pink, or clear, or black or whatever.

For now if you don't want trouble just keep it clear, hell you're not going to use it until you're 18 anyways right? You're only using your "pneumatic power tools" in your basement under parental supervision.

Yes that's true.
Well if the old lady living across the street can hear my nail gun in our concrete surrounded crawlspace, then fuck it lmao :D

17? Yeah, you're a kid.

But enjoy the ride, it should be the best time of your life. No job, no responsibilities, no money worries. Only school and study.