Getting Started With Airsoft - Part 1

I see the question all the time, literally multiple times a week, “What gun should I get,” or “Is this gun good for a beginner…”

People all the time want to get into airsoft, but when you finally take the plunge and jump in to a retail website, the amount of information that accosts you can be overwhelming. It is logical to search out advice from people who have been playing for a while.

My hope today is to help out those who are searching for how to start with airsoft, as well as giving those who are asked a good way to look at helping others start up. Here are the things you need to know when getting started with Airsoft.

First thing’s first: know WHERE you want to be.

It’s a good idea to understand what airsoft is and to decide before hand where you want to end up. If you want to have a gun to pelt your buddies with as a prank, then you probably don’t need to worry about all the expensive gear and upgrades. Conversely, If you want to one day head to the tournament you heard about in Austria with the best gun you can get and a really cool loadout, you should probably do your research and find out what is available instead of jumping in blind.

Note that this is not absolutely necessary, but it is quite crucial if you don’t want to end up wasting a buttload of money while you build your kit by buying the wrong items or things you will just end up replacing.

Second: know WHAT you want to be.

Here I’m talking about your specific loadout. What kind of player do you expect yourself to be? Each person has a specific role on the [well planned] battlefield. Each of those roles has a specific gun. I’ll delve into what each of those roles should be later in some detail, but for now, you should decide what kind of role you would like to play.

Do you see yourself laying in some brush for an hour or two just popping shots at anybody that comes into view so they cannot come down a specific path? You might be a sniper. This requires patience both on and off the field, and quite a bit of time and money to make the right rifle.

Are you the guy who runs in quickly and slips up behind the enemies before they can respond? You might be a point man. This requires quick reaction times and a good tactical sense, as well as the ability to make split-second decisions without second-guessing yourself.

Does it sound awesome to you to sit at the top of a hill with a five-thousand round drum and spray at anybody that comes into sight? You might be a gunner. This role can be a lot of fun at times, but know that your big heavy saw might get in the way if you decide to head into a town.

There are a few other roles, but I think that get’s the point across fine. Like I said, I will cover the roles and how they relate to each other on a later date. For now, let’s stick with beginners. What kind of gun you want to eventually have determines what kind of gun you will buy first.

Let me just say that I started with a clear springer from the local department store and worked my way up over time. I wasted a lot of money and time over the years getting to where I am. My hope is that the next section will help you not make the same mistakes.

I’ll have to get to that in my next post. It should only be a day or two before I have it ready. Thank you all for the support. See you next time.