Welcome to the airsoft world son.
Youll soon have the bug and want the big boys guns....expensive, but worth it.
I have a G3 SG1 as my weapon of choice and i am waiting on the G363 to be released.
Does airsoft hurt more than paintball? Err to put it bluntly, yes!
I have had many many bruises. and trust me you do NOT want to be hit by someone who owns the PSG1.
Ive had one hit my mask and it cracked it. Ive since bought a much tougher and cooler looking one. Oh yeah, it knocked me sideways and i had a headache after it. All in good fun though.
The quality of the guns depend on the price and where you get them from.
http://www.airsoftdynamics.com is my personal home for guns as its UK based.
the guns have a good realistic feel to them, theyre basically just like the real things except they dont fire bullets. The police would shoot you if they saw you with one, even in the UK. my G3 SG1 has a strong plastic shell, but for the ultra realism there is a metal body available to buy.
For certain guns you can upgrade the gears so they fire faster, and you can have the barrels ground and stuff to make them more accurate, there are loads of add ons for them. tracer flash, silencers, holsters, slings, ammo pouches, tool kits, wide range of masks, and if youre loaded, you can buy a chaingun for about £2000 and a dune buggy thing to mount the chain gun onto. Untimate airsofting!
Word of advice, if you ever go to an arena, where people have big guns, wear shin pads, and never expose your crotch for too long.
Although admittadly, there is nothing nicer than seeing your target go down in a wail of agonising screams that haunt the battlefield.
And then getting a caution from the martial advising you to watch your aim next time...
I beleive there is an m-1 einfield or springfield or whatever the heck the US army world war 2 rifle was called. its not in full production yet but the prototypes are confrimed to have the *ping* sound when ammo runs out.