Post by CantoXII on Jul 19, 2010 20:12:19 GMT -6
AEG Brand Breakdown
This thread is meant to serve as a general guide for AEG brand quality. Remember, these are brand specific generalizations. Every company makes the occasional uncharacteristically good or bad gun, so you need to look into any specific model that you're interested it. This can only serve as a rough guide.
If you have anything to add, reply to this thread, and either myself or another mod will check it for validity, edit it, and add it to this post. If you find that your reply was deleted but not added to this post, that's probably because it contained bad information. Don't cry, just learn more before trying to teach.
Now on to the good stuff!
These are listed in a rudimentary order of best to worst, although different people look for different aspects in a gun, so what's best for you might not be best for the next person. But this whole thread is about generalizing, so why not do a little more?
SystemA: The best of the best in the airsoft world. The technology that runs them is advanced far beyond that of any other AEG. The best example of this is that they have the only really reliable three round burst mechanism. The operation is controlled by electronics rather than a simple charge starting a mechanical process. It's the only AEG that does this. It's also the only true 1:1 replica. All other AEGs are just a bit wider than their real counter parts to fit the necessary mechanical parts. SystemAs offer the best performance out of the box, and the easiest adjustable velocity mechanism on the market. The price reflects the new technology and vast improvements over Marui based AEGs.
Tokyo Marui: Every AEG on the market worth looking that that isn't a SystemA is based on TM's technology. They were the first company in the AEG market, and remain the best for the airsoft player with an average sized wallet. TM is the only company that you can really be sure will give you a quality gun every time. Their lemon rate is ridiculously low for the industry. If you never open it up, any TM will last you for years on end (except their UZI, which is a complete waste of money, but hey, everybody has flops). Nearly 100% of the accessories, upgrades, and aftermarket parts available are designed specifically for Marui guns. Where you might have problems fitting some non-CA specific parts into a CA, pretty much everything will drop into a Marui.
There are two downfalls for TM, one perceived, and one actual. The perceived problem is that TM guns are plastic. While this is true, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Your average metal bodied gun, especially those in the same price range as TM use brittle pot metal. TM, however, uses high impact ABS plastic that will take a bit of abuse. A plastic gun doesn't necessarily mean a weak gun, and a lot of people forget that.
The second downfall for TM is that most models have some kind of flaw, usually with external parts. For example, the M16 series suffers from barrel wobble (though they fixed that with the version 2 M4), or the G36c selector switch gets loose and can fall out without regular tightening. The upshot to this is that TM guns have been the most popular on the market for years, so the fixes for any of these problems are all well known and well documented. It's rarely an expensive fix as well.
G&G and G&P: They're very similar in a lot of ways. Externally, they beat out any gun but the SystemAs. Internally, they're not too shabby either. Both are relative new comers to the AEG market, and both had kind of rocky starts. But shortly there after, both upped their quality control significantly. You still run a bit of a risk of getting a lemon, but it's a chance worth taking for a very solid gun. To this day, G&G is the only airsoft company to ever offer a full recall when they realized that they released a bad product. If you buy a G&G and a part breaks, they'll send you another part for just the cost of shipping. G&P doesn't offer this service as far as I'm aware.
Classic Army: CA has a very spotted history. For years, when there were only three AEG manufacturers on the market (TM, CA, and ICS), CA was known for putting out terrible guns. They looks decent, but regularly suffered catastrophic breakdowns and malfunctions. In the last couple years, they've really stepped up their quality control . They're still not as reliable or as long-term durable as a TM, but they've closed the gap significantly. Every now and then, CA has a flub and releases a batch of guns with sub-par gears, so you'll want to read up on them before you buy. If you see a lot of threads where CAs are malfunctioning with the same problem, it's probably a bad time to buy one. If not, you're probably alright. You'll end up replacing parts before you would on a TM, but it shouldn't be the next day, either. You are going to want to replace the hop up on the CA M15 out of the box. Their stock hop up unit and bucking are worthless.
STAR: I don't know too much about STAR. They're a relative new comer with a limited number of models. The only two guns that I really know jack about are the M249 and the L85. The M249 has problems with reliability. The L85 is an amazing replica worth the retail price and then some. So I suppose they're more hit and miss depending on the model? Somebody who deals with STARs more than I do ought to chime in. Same goes for VFC. I'd assume that VFC would fall right about here on the chart as well. Like STAR, they're more specialty guns.
Echo 1 and JG: They're the same thing, though the Echo 1 comes with a warranty, and they're nearly identical clones of TM guns. They're made with looser quality control practices and somewhat inferior materials. At they same time, they're cheaper. What a lot of people who start out with these don't realize is that while they might shoot well at first, they will crap out on you in a season or less. A TM or a good CA, G&G, or G&P will last you for years on end. These clones will not. After you buy one, you'll have to start replacing things like the tappet plate, wiring harness, trigger contact, bushings, gears, etc. Basically everything wears out faster. These guns are fine for new players trying to get their feet wet and experienced players who love to tinker with their guns. Jumprefusal is a great example here. I'm sure he has a big ass box full of spare parts at his place, so when the clones that he loves so much break down, he can spend a pleasant evening with a beer and a screw driver fixing them up.
ICS: They're still the bottom dweller of the original three. While they tried to be innovative (a two piece gearbox design that allows for easy velocity adjusting), they can't figure out how to make sure that every gun off the line fires. There are a few people who swear by their ICS guns, and that's because they got one of the few ICS models that actually works reliably. If you're lucky enough to get one of those, you'll enjoy it quite well. If you aren't lucky enough to get one, you'll hate it and feel like you wasted your money. There's a far greater chance that you'll be in the latter group with ICS than basically any other big name company.
Any other clone like Dboy, BE, A&K, UTG, CYMA, etc: You get less for the same money compared to an Echo 1 or JG. They'll be a little less reliable, a little less durable, require a little more work and a little more know how. They're going to have parts that need to be replaced out of the box. UTG, for example, is known for using bad wiring in their guns, and to function properly, it needs to be replaced. You might as well just buy an Echo1 instead of these.
- Courtesy of Knief; Team HellFish.
