A friend from work and his son came out with us a few weeks ago and used rental blasters for a few games. After they’d struggled with the rentals for long enough, I loaned them two of ours for the afternoon.
Fast forward to today, and I’m being asked for recommendations on what to buy, mission accomplished!
The dad is 6’2", so he’ll need a long or adjustable buttstock. His son is 11, and for reference, he found my daughter’s SLR ION with a 4.25" barrel a bit on the heavy side, but compact enough to suit him. I think a full-size metal M4 would be out of the question.
Wanting to make sure they have a good purchasing experience and stick with the hobby, and knowing how fussy some blasters can be, I’m trying to come up with a few solid recommendations.
Their budget is around $250–$400 per blaster ( I haven’t told him yet that he’ll also need a decent charger, two hop-ups, four batteries, and a couple of spare mags). He’ll probably wait to see what the Black Friday / Cyber Monday sales look like. Ideally, both of their blasters would use the same gearbox so he only has to learn one, and it’d be great if they shared the same magazines. Performance wise, something around 17–19 RPS and 300FPS.
The Cyma scar is also a good option …high fps to be had, with minimal mods.
Reliable gearbox, spares available, nice n light for game days.
G36 is also a stellar performer…and a bit different.
The E&C is also a good performer…300 fps out of the box.
They are meant to be a solid box…ask @RokSolid for his opinion …I’m sure he’s worked on them…
Highly recommend CYMA anything… solid blasters, decently built, not OTT pricewise either.
The CYMA blasters with metal V2 gearboxes I reckon are the pick of the bunch. I know Rok’s a big fan of 'em too. Average around 300FPS out of the box ( in my experience ) and last for ages. A few minimal upgrades and they’re up around 330-350FPS no problems.
For larger players the CYMA Sport M16A1 and M16A2 are a solid choice if you need a little more length of pull.
Don’t overlook some of the earlier gear too if you’re on a budget. A well sorted metal geared Jin Ming J10 ACR is a joy to skirmish with if you’re built like bigfoot. Nyon, sure… but rock solid. And not an A/R based jobbie.
There is work at the moment at AKgelblaster AU for black friday stuff.
All blasters will get a discount code or a discount!
The SLRs are awesome things with just a barrel and m90 spring will do all the things.
Metal gearbox too. And down the track can be very upgraded (see my video) or can be swapped to ldx expert and many other gearboxes very easily.
The gearbox is very basic, and comes apart easily / simple to work on.
I’m running a M95 on mine, and its doing 300 fps no probs.
A M100 would be ok for the nylon box… im happy with the 300fps for low stress and longevity.
Keep in mind it’s only a Gen 9 gearbox too… so unless you manage to find a MK Hybrid CNC gearbox secondhand you are kinda stuck with those limitations i.e. don’t go nuts on the piston spring. The Gen 9 boxes weren’t the most robust item and hsd a tendency to warp if you go shoving huge springs into them.
But keep it realistic and the ol’ ACRs are damn good for a newbie. Mine runs metal gears, upgraded airseal components and an M95 spring and easily hits between 310-325FPS on the chrono.
Great replies by everyone, I’ve sent the father & son duo the info and links. They’ll wait and see what the Black Friday sales come up with, good chance Akgelblasterau will be ontop of the list
I am trying to get some of those, and LDT Slim hopups too- they just squeeze on the inner barrel and squish to adjust.
Great blaster, still can’t wait to tinker with mine!
Good on you for wanting to give them a good purchasing experience to keep them into the hobby, thus growing it. I had that delimma when I ran a air rifle/rimfire club back in NZ. I made the mistake early on of advicing something cheap to start with but found that if the rifle was to cheap and could not hold its site from day to day it became an annoyance and lead to people dropping away from the sport. Luckily we purchased a couple of cheap Ruger 1022s for new member use until they decided on a rifle for them selves. But its hard giving recommendations as everyone has differing wants/needs. But I like the forward thinking of positive purchasing experience as you are 100% right on that helping to keepm them in the sport.
