TM - unmatched reliability but needs a lot of work to get up to serious gaming level, usually not worth the money
CA - used to suck, now rock solid inside and out (used to have bad pistons but its been fixed in the new models)
ICS - split mechbox design for quick swap fps. Several non-standard parts, not recommended for a first time gun. Also known for stripping pistons because of split mechbox design (not because of misalignment but because the teeth between the gears and pistons don't mesh as closely as in a normal mechbox.)
G&P - god (full metal, full trades, reinforced everything in the mechbox stock)
G&G - *EDIT* G&G has recently gone through a huge update and all their newly produced guns are of a far better quality. They now use a harder metal and FAR better internals. The only thing I can fault them on is using 18awg wire like TM when CA and G&P use 16awg for higher current flow.
King Arms - fairly new on the complete gun market, have been making parts for years, I hear good things and also full metal but had to come by
STAR - no longer exists. Parent company of ARES decided to brand everything ARES and get rid of the STAR brandname.
Jing Gong (JG) - *EDIT* JG have also recently gone through a revamp and are now much better quality. They still aren't top of the heap but they are a lot better than before. They now also have several models that are full metal but often shoot 420fps out of the box so need to be downgraded.
ECHO1 - *EDIT* used to do all JG rebrands but have been making a lot of their own stuff. Its made in the JG factory overseas but has ECHO1 trades. They have started cloning TM guns directly instead of cloning clones. A lot of their more recent releases are also have metal receivers.
VFC - make some odd ball guns that no other companies do, I hear really good things about externals but hit or miss internals, sometimes crap
TOP - stay away from, requires a lengthy explanation but in general are incredibly high maintenance
SRC - Started making Cansoft guns recently. Years ago they where cheap full metal guns with garbage internals and after buying one of the new "gen3" guns I find they are slightly less crappy internally but my gun still broke within 500rnds out of the box. Some people have had good experiences so I guess I just got a lemon. Buyer beware, not guaranteed to get a good gun even if you buy new.
KSC - lots of proprietary parts that are next to impossible to replace if they break
CYMA - *EDIT* CYMA has raised their standards along with JG, ECHO1, and G&G. They now make far better quality guns, still not at the top but no longer China-crap
Magpul - *EDIT* Made in Hong Kong using US quality control standards. Really expensive but worth it if its what your after.
DBoys - *EDIT* Another company that improved a lot. Their guns are full metal though do use some cheaper materials than others. Internals still lack luster
Kart - cheap Chinese crap (sometimes ECHO1 guns are rebrands of KART, watch out. One known one is the ECHO1 EBR M14, its a KART clone and is crap.)
AGM - cheap Chinese crap (they make some WW2 guns no one else makes but internals are garbage, externals are barely adequate.)
KWA - good quality but often need to be downgraded out of the box; often come shooting 420+ fps
ARES - makes real steel guns and airsoft guns. STAR used to be their airsoft brand while ARES was their real steel. Now everything is marketed under ARES. They make some uncommon types of guns but uncommon means impossible to replace parts if certain things break. Known for clear polycarb mechboxes (good) and really weak motors (bad.)
LCT - don't know much, heard mediocre things
Avalon - good from what I've read online but I've never seen any in Canada
SystemA PTW - very expensive near perfect real firearm simulators, unmatched in that regard. HIGHLY overrated for actual airsoft gaming (its a training weapon for mil/LE, that doesn't mean its the ultimate airsoft gun.)

Cansoft:
ICS - clear plastic lowers, grey plastic uppers. They are not just plastic bodied ICS guns; they cheaped out on a lot of parts in them. If you really want swappable upper mechbox halves for changing fps sure, but are generally not the best option. Their MP5's are similarly cheaped out on so probably best to go with G&G since only ICS armalites have the split mechbox.

G&G - there are three grades of G&G Cansoft guns I know of. The first and cheapest has plastic receivers (clear lower and grey upper for armalites, clear upper and black lower for MP5's.) The second is the exact same but with a grey metal upper; this has a huge impact as a metal upper means far more rigidity of the front end (means no barrel wobble.) The third has the metal upper and clear plastic lower but has upgraded internals; most easily recognized by the fact that they have 8mm bearings in the mechbox instead of 6mm or 7mm.

There are some brands that aren't on this list, rule of thumb is if they are from mainland China or Taiwan, then they are crap. Otherwise it could be good could be crap, if in doubt ask.

My recommendations for a first time player:
-Classic Army anything (except M14's, stick with TM for that)
-full metal JG

Any of these can be found on ASC once you are AV'ed and most Cansoft guns tend to be overpriced for what you get.

Of FPS:
I am very much against people having a gun above 350fps before they have played at least 2-3 games. I and many others have been shot point blank in the face, balls, throat, etc. by new players who panic shoot with a 399fps gun, it leaves scars, can chip teeth, break bones in the hands, etc. If the new player has played paintball for a while or are in the police, army, etc. then they probably have the experience not to panic shoot. But if you have never done anything like airsoft before I really recommend staying at or under 350fps (when outdoors, 300fps indoors) until you get some games under your belt. Always remember, 400fps is not a goal, its a limit. New players will often complain about being underpowered and they NEED a 400fps gun just to compete with more experienced players. Trust me, if a vet with a 250fps gun went up against a noob with a 400fps gun, the vet will still win. Its how you play, not what you play with. If you're BB's aren't penetrating through light brush well, you are using BB's that are too light. If the wind is blowing your BB's off course, your BB's are too light. If your BB's drop off way before someone who is shooting back your hopup is not set right and/or your BB's are too light. A player in Ottawa who no longer plays said it best: "I would rather use foul language then 0.20g BB's." Minimum even in a stock TM gun should be 0.25g, 0.28g tend to give the best results for your moneys worth but are harder to come by (only made by BB Bastard and Madbull, both of which are great manufacturers.) 0.20g BB's are just used to chrony and even then they don't need to be; if you are using .25's, add 30-40fps to whatever result the chrony says to get the equivalent to .20's, if using .28's add 50-60fps. Remember that even though the fps is lower, the muzzle energy is the same and the momentum is actually higher and momentum is more relevant to how well BB's resist the wind, penetrate brush, and how much they hurt than muzzle energy or fps.

Also I unlocked the topic so anyone can post questions but please don't post unless you have a question or an answer, I kinda want this thread to be direct and to the point, not filled with banter and one word responses.

---------------------------------

First post is at max length so adding this here:
The new full black airsoft guns brought into Canada by "TheSaint" on ASC and sold at mach1airsoft (they are expanding so may start popping up all over the place) are not standard stock guns. In order to import them they are upgraded to 430fps and downgraded once they cross into Canada (its an importation loop hole but not just anyone can use it, point is its still risky to import on your own.) As a result of this preupgrading they have some other internal parts that are better than stock for the same brands but its not 100% known what is upgraded in them. The VFC's they import are supposed to have rock solid internals compared to normal VFC guns which though are high quality are not always the best for high fps (kinda like TM internals.) Not sure on their other brands.

Great article. Which companies make the best internal parts ( hop up, inner barrel, mechbox, etc)?

That all varies greatly depending on what you are looking for. The "best" is often the best at a specific type of build.

-M4/16 hopup unit the best in my experience is the King Arms with the o-rings for extra airseal, can boost your gun by 50fps in some cases. After that it doesn't really matter as long as its a metal one piece hopup. Prometheus tend to be a lot more expensive but I don't notice a performance difference when comparing it to SystemA or G&P.
-The best inner barrels would be PDI 6.01mm but they are 3x the price of Prometheus 6.03mm, both are stainless steel, and the performance difference is tiny. Prometheus 6.03's are still significantly better than Madbull or other companies 6.03mm inner barrels. Going from a Madbull 6.03 to a Prometheus 6.03 in an M4 raised the fps by 30 and significantly increased the accuracy.
-The best gears for general use are often said to be TM and indeed for anything 450fps or less they last forever. There are "better" gears as in torque up or high speed gears but often aren't as universally compatible with as many other parts as TM. Prometheus and SystemA make the highest performance gears in my experience. There is a custom shop in the US that CNC's their gears from tool steel but then you are talking $200 just for a set of gears.
-The best pistons in my experience are Prometheus hard type but many people swear by TM and they are second in my books.
-The strongest mechbox shell is a moot point as it only really matters with ver.2. Anything higher than that can handle 450+fps even a stock TM without a problem. I have seen a SystemA mechbox shell crack after less than 1000rnds with a 400fps setup during the summer (so the cold cannot be blamed.) The strongest mechbox I know of is a G&P ver.2 mechbox but its not a huge increase from anything else. As for complete mechboxes that you buy already assembled and tested SystemA are lauded as being the best but the one I bought blew out a bearing in under 2000rnds and it was a 320fps mechbox at that.
-For motors the highest performance is a SystemA Magnum but its also the most expensive and is known for shattering pinion gears since its brittle even though its super hard steel. The 007 motors from Ken are very good in my experience (I tested them for him) but the best bang for your buck performance wise is a G&P M140 torque type. Reliability of course goes to TM, either an EG700 or EG1000 but they are average performers.
-cylinders, cylinder heads, piston heads, nozzles I go with Modify as they have incredible airseal for a very good price. I have had bad experience with SystemA airseal parts leaking air and reducing the fps and Prometheus tends to be so-so (except their nozzles, they are awesome.)
-a polycarb tappet plate is a polycarb tappet plate. I have never noticed a difference between SystemA, Prometheus, King Arms, and several others. I have had nylon/ABS ones break on me though (stock TM, cheap Chinese clones, most stock mechboxes.)
-a metal bearing spring guide is a metal bearing spring guide. I have tried a dozen different brands with no difference in performance. Same goes for bushings.
-stay away from bearings, period. They blow out at random and even the most expensive ones will not last as long as good solid metal bushings.
-I have lately been having HORRIBLE problems with trigger switches. Doesn't seem to matter the brand except for one, G&P. I have had multiple TM, SystemA, Guarder, and many stock trigger switches randomly die for no reason and no matter what I do I cannot find a problem with them. But I install a G&P and the gun works fine even after tens of thousands of rounds.
-Springs I use Prometheus, Modify, or Madbull. The Madbull ones tend to be a little more powerful than a spring with the same rating from Prometheus or Modify.

What do you think of this one by any chance.. CAS Version G&G M4 Carbine ADVANCED on the 007 website. http://www.007airsoft.com/products/htm/aeg-gg-m16.htm Just cuz I don't see any points on your list about CAS guns.

Is it easy for someone to change or upgrade their guns by themselves or should it be done by someone with more experience? Have you ever had trouble upgrading/modifying a G&G gun.

Thanks for your time..

Daemon

Old G&G guns where crap, the Cansoft ones are pretty good. To quote Hooch; "if you can change the oil in your car you can open an AEG." That's not to say its easy, there is a learning curve, and its probably best to learn under the watchful eye of an experienced person the first couple times you do it. If you are quite technically inclined you can go over to <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.mechbox.com/">http://www.mechbox.com/</a><!-- m --> and watch the videos a couple times and it quite clearly shows all the important details. They make it look really easy when it can be a bit tricky but there are only a few rare AEG's that I would call "difficult" to work on.

CAS guns are rebranded G&G guns with metal uppers and clear lowers with different trades. Many people say the CAS guns are higher quality but keep in mind G&G has at least 3 different levels of quality for their products and most retailers don't really differentiate. I know of no difference between the top quality G&G Cansoft guns and CAS guns. Generally the easiest way to tell the top quality line of G&G guns is that they come stock with 8mm bearings.

One other note only because I noticed Testtube sold one in the classified section a little while ago.....
Swiss Arms Sig552 is NOT, I REPEAT NOT a rebrand of JG. They are far inferior and can snap in half quite easily. Many people on ASC will say its just a rebrand but IT IS IN NO WAY A REBRAND. I have worked on both guns and the JG version is far better in pretty much every regard. One way to tell which one you have is the Swiss Arms Sig 552 does not come with a top scope rail, the JG does.

Im wondering if anyone knows about the canadian KWA m4 s system. Looks pretty solid but would like some further recommendation. Also, one of my friends is wondering about the canadian kjw m9 beretta or canadian kjw's in general. Would be awesome if anyone could help me out. Thanks.

I wasn't aware KWA made Cansoft guns but they probably have the same internals are normal KWA meaning it will probably need to be downgraded out of the box. As for KJW GBB's they are known to have leaky mags and not be 100% compatible with any other brand even though they are generally TM clones. Several people have bought KJW guns that are supposed to be TM clones but TM mags don't work in them well or at all. Depending on what type of handgun you are looking for there are different brands that are better at different types.

Generally:
Glock's, Beretta's - KSC
SIG's, 1911's, hicappa's - TM
Revolvers - Tanaka

You will find good and bad reviews for every gun from every brand but generally these are the companies best at those types. There is a pistol thread around here somewhere that I wrote a while ago.

Downgraded? BAH.. with the new field rules its A OK! lol.. j/k.. yeah a spring change only on the KWA will work fine.. Mind you if you remove the Control Bar you have a semi auto rifle lol.

lol, hmm. That all sounds like quite the pain in the ass! Im still very much a beginner with all of this, im just looking for a good gun out of the box that would be reliable, always love m4's but not with handguard, has to be rails ...if anyone's got a suggestion for a good m4 let me know . As for the pistol my friend was also pretty torn between the kjw m9 and the kwa usp, wondering what some of you would rather. And would the kwa gbb need to be downgraded too?

For a good M4 go with TM, Get yoursefl AVed and theres a retailer or two that sell them.

TM has to be one of the worst options for an M4. It needs a new mechbox shell, a few new internals, and an entire new exterior to be rigid and solid. They develop barrel wobble, the tabs can break off, the buffer tube can break the lower receiver, it shoots 280fps out of the box and the mechbox can crack with even 360fps upgrades.

To get a TM to be solid on the exterior and reliable interior with ~350fps you need:
-metal body
-outer barrel
-inner barrel
-one piece hopup
-metal bushings
-new spring
-bearing spring guide
-airseal nozzle
-pistol grip

Overall you are looking at ~$500 if you are lucky, possibly ~$750 in parts if you want to go with higher quality on top of the original $450-600 price tag. If instead of got a CA M4 you need to do absolutely nothing to it to make it sturdy and reliable at 350fps since it comes that way and only costs ~$600 brand new.

The metal body on the TM is arguable as you can make the gun rigid without it with the right RIS. But to get it to ~350fps you will still be looking at a minimum of $250-300 on top of the initial price.

@Hazard
I doubt they will let brand new players on a field at the 450fps semi-only limit. If they do, I wont be there to get a face full of bleeders.

A couple updates for upgrade parts:

-Pro-Win hopups for AK's and G36's are awesome
-The Madbull ultimate hopup for armalites is supposed to be amazing and can have a built in tracer unit
-You can order made in USA CNC'ed ver.2 mechbox shells from a better than aircraft grade aluminum (proprietary material, trade secret.) They run ~$200 and are hard to find, the red CNC'ed mechbox shells from ebaybanned are supposed to be garbage
-There are rumours of a Russian company forging and CNC-finishing ver.2 mechbox shells out of STEEL. I have no idea what the price would be but it would be indestructible in terms of airsoft
-Deep Fire parts are cheap and easy to find but tend to be crap or near crap

so you would suggest a classic army m4 to be solid out of the box? I would much rather pay the $600 than have to upgrade stuff because i dont know a whole lot about internals yet. Im sure i will over time but its not something i want to have to worry about messing with when i get my first aeg.

I had two CA M-15 A4's and they were both great rifles.....
One Full length that I got from Lutnit and a CQB length I got from Airsoft Canada used....

I only started to have issues my second season in with the CQB after about 10,000 rounds went through her.

A nice tight bore barrel in there and you should be fine! Maybe a new hop up too depending how they are making those now a days?