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[IronTomato]

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[Nadaka]

My friends and I almost always use airsoftmegastore.com.

You can get a decent electric rifle in the $100 to $200 range, or a really good electric rifle in the $200 to $300 range.

Gas rifles tend to be slightly more expensive, and you have to be careful of what kind of system you get( CO2 VS Green Gas (Propane)) because magazines are not interchangeable. Gas magazines are more expensive, do not come in high capacity, and may leak compared to the magazines used for electric rifles.

Note that if you plan to participate in airsoft tournaments, familiarize yourself with the rules of the tournaments before you buy your gun/accessories. Many tournaments place an upper limit on the allowable FPS for guns or magazine capacity restrictions.

[Bdthemag]

You bought one at Walmart, which isn't really a great idea. Really, you can get a decent AK47 with fake wood for $100, or if you want full metal those usually are only $50 more. There's plenty of decent affordable guns, you're just not going to find them at a retail store.

[Zyxl]

Go to an actual airsoft community to ask. A fairly noob friendly one with quick replies is Airsoft Forum. Only requirement is that you to narrow down your "which gun" question into a "Which of these specific ones", so do some window shopping first.

I'm going to assume you are in the US because Walmart. Right. So advice:

-Firstly: Airsoft communities are filled with elitists. Not as bad as audiophiles, but they're there.

-I do not recommend spending much more than 180-200 USD on an AEG. The bare minimum used to be 250+ for an "entry-level" working gun, but clone companies have brought the market back down to (somewhat) reasonable prices. Anyone who tells you to buy something more expensive than 100-180$ is stuck living in the 1990s.

-There is very little wrong with "clone" airsoft guns. Anyone who tells you otherwise is an elitist. Designs have hardly changed in the last 20 years, and often the 300+$ "high end" model STILL has design flaws that can cause complete gearbox failure. The only "High End" models worth buying are innovative ones with new features and design improvements. IE KWA (But avoid metal piston heads if you can), ICS has a few cool models like an L85 with an adjustable spring and MP5's with split gearboxes, RealSword has externals like the name implies, etc etc.

-If you buy a clone, it will generally have better made parts than the 300+$ guns had 10 years ago (stronger gears, shells, motors, etc depends on make and model), and they are perfectly capable of performing just as well as any "high-end" gun. They just have all the design flaws from 10 years ago, and are assembled very sloppily. It's not hard to save 100's of dollars buying a "Clone" with real wood and steel and doing all the same modifications as you would with a "high-end" gun anyway.

-Look at JG (Jing Gong), CYMA, DBOYI/Kalash for a large array of many different decent clones. There are a LOT of clone manufacturers, and they've one by one started becoming "worthwhile" at different times. Those three broke into the "mid" price market earlier, and so they have a wider selection. There are a lot of other "clone" manufacturers with a handful of old or recent "hit" models that are worthwhile. Case in point, some of the newer BE (Both Elephant) stuff is getting good. Their Type 89 is supposed to be just as good if not better than the "high-end" Marui it's a clone of, AND it's a Version 8 with a mechanical burst fire. Another example is Galaxy always had an excellent MP5k, though recently CYMA started making MP5's that compete with "high-end" manufacturers.

-If you didn't get the hint: Don't spend too much as your first investment. Most clones will be competitive with all but the 1000$ custom DMR rifles when out in the field, and you can still have fun and kick ass if you're smart and work as a team. Don't be that guy that went out and bought a 500$ gun and expects to win because of it. The player is much more important than the gun, and the teamwork is more important than the player.

-If you aren't playing at a "real" field with people that have AEGs: Start with a single-shot pump action shotgun. Seriously. They are like 40$ tops and the best of the things you can find below 60$ for a new gun. They make excellent backup sidearms even when you have a fancy AEG. I haven't looked at these in many many years but check out UTG and TSD. You might get a good multi-shot for 60$.

-Use decent quality BB's of a LEAST 0.2g (NEVER less), 0.23 for over 300 FPS, 0.25 for 350+ FPS. What I remember as affordable and decent was TSD. Market has probably changed by now.

Here's a list of guns worth considering IMO, but there are many others and may even be better deals available now:
JG has the widest selection. Just look.
CYMA M14
CYMA AK (model 028 was the "first" worthwhile mid-tier gun. Any model number after 028 will be newer/sturdier)
CYMA MP5
DBOYI/Kalash AK (RK-01 and later)
BE Type 89
G&G's plastic line (High end manufacturer budget line) notably M4/M16
A&K notably M4/M16, SAW

I have not really been on top of the airsoft market in years, but that's just what I remember. Hope this helps.

[Sergius]

I've bought several chinese airsoft guns over the years, usually in the $3 range. I just use them till they break then I just throw them at people.

A friend once reassembled one of those and replaced the spring with one from a real gun. It made the little plastic bullets go thru metal plates from an old hard disk. Until it exploded, that is.

[IronTomato]

3 Dollars? For an airsoft gun?
What did they get for FPS, 10?

[Nadaka]

3 Dollars? For an airsoft gun?
What did they get for FPS, 10?

$3 isn't an impossible price for a manual spring gun shooting maybe 100fps, though $10 is more likely. I dont know of any electric or gas guns in that range though.

[IronTomato]

The one I got was also a manual spring gun. It had 140 FPS if I remember correctly, but I didn't care what it was for my first gun. But it was still $50.

[Sergius]

Like I said, cheap plastic chinese one.

No idea the FPS. It hurt a tiny bit on bare skin, but that's about it. Didn't shoot very straight either.