From Paintball to the Darkside
 

First I'd like to say hello to everyone and that I'm new to the airsoft world, as you can tell from the title I do come from the paintball background. I have been researching for weeks now on what gun to get I have tried renting a gun from my local field ICS M4 (hated it) I would like to get something around the 300-400$ mark a little more if its worth it but I wanna make sure I get the best deal any suggestions on where I should look? I watch EpicAirsoftHD reviews along with scoutthedoggie and others.

Best advice I can give you is to get AV, age verified. Once your AV a world of opportunities and advice will open. Until then we cant tell you where to shop for the best price.

At 300-400 you can get a good quality airsoft but not much better then that ICS M4 (unless it was in bad shape).

The first thing I (along with many others) would suggest is you get Age Verified. Once you meet up with an AV Rep and prove you're over 18, you'll get access to Retailers and the Classifieds where you'll be able to get any gun you want.
Most rental guns will be some kind of M4/MP5/AK variant. I also suggest you continue attending games as you can get an idea of the different type of rifles/SMGs/pistols out there. Ask nicely and people will even let you handle theirs to see how it weighs and feels.
I think the first step for you is to try out what type of model you like/feel comfortable with. Go down to a local store and ask around as well. Personally I started with a G36 as I liked how it looked and it felt more comfy.
Once you've got a type of gun figured out, it'll be much easier for us to recommend brands and availability (AV required)

Ok thanks man I appreciate the advice I really do hope I didnt insult someone with title just trying to get a laugh. I'll probably end up pushing my price range to be around 500 if I'm being honest with myself selling all my vids and ps3 to get into this:D

Ya I dont think I'll have a hard time getting AV as my sister BF is sponsered at the local field and I'm willing to bet that they are on these forums was feeling a F2000 the other day now that is nice and my sister BF has a G36 but he seems to be having issues with it I believe its an aries make (sorry if I didn't spell that correctly)

Hey Smodes, you should come out to my game at Flagswipe on Friday evening on the 22nd. Flagswipe can rent you a King Arms M4 for $15. It will be a great way to meet some more of the guys from the London Airsoft community. PM me for more details on the game. We will also be able to get you Age Verified at the game on the 22nd since we have an AV'er attending.

The dark side? Come on, you just left it and coming into the light now :P

For the gun, if you browse quite a bit you'll notice that at the moment the most discussed brand for starter, and having a great quality/price ratio is the King Arms M4. There are a few specials out there at the moment and the price is low given the quality (around 300$, even lower most of the time). This give you a bit more dough to spend on eye protection, bdu, vest and what not (don't forget battery and good charger too)

I'd say follow Sticks' advice and try out the King Arms, I love mine. Like other said, at 3-400$ you won't get *much* better than the ICS you tried, and in my opinion I think the King Arms is better. Others with more experience having tried both brand might chime in, I'm biased :P

Welcome to the bright side of war games! :D

The advantage of the G36 is that it really allows for easier and quicker spring changes so you can really be close to the fps caps on tje fields you play.

At least the G36 i looked at at forest city could do that.

King arms full metal M4 is my advice. Im just starting out as well and of the two guns i bought it actually cost less but shot better out of the box.

Welcome to airsoft. As mentioned make sure you leave room in the budget for the other things you will need besides a gun. Vest, charger, camo, extra mags, knee pads etc. All these extras can add up so if you can buy these used you'll save a lot. Thanks for making a mature and respectful entry into airsoft. I thought the title was funny.

You can grab a King Arms full metal M4 for about $240 now.

Get AV'd and go play!

gun choice is so personal... if you're not completely constrained by budget then you can find just about every famous gun from the last 30 years. With an emphasis on m4/16 variants and AKs.

It's all up to what you like. Remember most guns short or long can and will shoot roughly the same distances as long it's of reasonable quality. (ie not walmart junk) So barrel length is not as much a concern for accuracy. Just consider size of battery pack (and where it goes on the gun), availability of magazines and ease of carry of those magazines.