Guide: AEG Brands

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Guide: AEG Brands

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AEG Brands
by Moondog
Copied from Airsoft 101

The following is a brief list of popular AEG makers with brief comment about their reputation. It is by no means definative or complete as there are dozens more makers in Asia and more are finding distribution in the US every month. This is a primer and we recommend you do you're own research.

The Established Brands in Asia
We recommend these established makers who make models starting at $250 and up. While more expensive than the clones, they have been around for years and their reliablity has been proven by thousands of players worldwide. 9 out of 10 experienced players will tell you that you're better off saving your money for one of these as your first AEG.

Tokyo Marui (TM)
The GOLD STANDARD. They invented the AEG in 1992; the FAMAS F1. They feature high quality control, dependability and detail. Almost all the other makers copy TM's designs or try to make their parts compatible with TM. Designed for the Japanese domestic market, which has a maximum 1 Joule (~303fps) legal limit.

Classic Army (CA)
Based in Hong Kong, one of the first AEG makers to specialize in highly detailed, high quality exernals. Their MP5's, M15's, G3's, AK's etc. come with stock with metal bodies. Their AUG and G36's come with fiber reinforced nylon bodies (like the real guns). In the 1990's one of the first AEG's to come pre-reinforced with high speed motors, upgraded gears, etc. Since 2005, the quality of their internals have largely been superseded by cheaper mainland AEG's.

ICS (I Chih Shivan Co.)
Based in Taiwan many of their AEG's come with metal external bodies and is the only member of the Big 3 that offer their stock AEG's with +350fps springs. Some of their parts improve on TM's designs and are not TM compatible.

G&G (Guay and Guay)
Taiwan manufacturer specializing in excellent pre-upgraded, TM compatible, V2 based AEG's (ie. M16, MP5) with high-quality full-metal bodies, tightbore barrles. Expanded into the entry level market with sub $250 "Sportline" models with ABS bodies.

G&P
Based in Hong Kong, they specialize in making excellent pre-upgraded M-16's, M249's and M14's with high-quality full-metal bodies with full trades. Like CA, they feature 7mm gearboxes but with 350fps, M110 class springs.

ARES/STAR
Based in Hong Kong, specializes in ultra detailed replicas and some of the most expensive. Ares manufactured AEG's for STAR but now sells directly under their brand name. The first maker of airsoft M249s, L86s, PPSH, BAR, TAR21 and other unique models.

KWA/KSC
Taiwan based maker originally known for their GBB pistols and now specially upgraded AEGs. They started with a G36C and M4 that feature 8mm bearing gearboxes with upgraded internals. Not known for realistic externals details. KSC is the Japanese sister company of KWA owned by the same family. KSC specializes in developing gas gun designs for both companies.

SYSTEMA
Japanese brand that specialized in high-end after market upgrade parts for Tokyo Marui AEG's. They're recently created their PTW (Personal Training Weapon) line of M4/M16's designed for the military and law-enforcement. The most expensive AEG's at over $1300/ea.


CLONES and AEG's under $200
2007 was the watershed year for many mainland Chinese clone makers. Previously Clone AEG's were substandard AEG's sometimes called LPEG's. Many of these newest models appear to be almost perfect copies, though long-term reliablity issues are unknown. Here are some of the more popular clone makers:

Matrix
Matrix is Evike.com's house brand and the name it uses for AEG's and products it buys directly from the manufacturers in China.

JG (Jing Gong)
In 2006 the US Company Echo-1 contracted the Chinese manufacturer JG to create an upgaded copy of the TM MP5 and M4 shooting at +350fps stock. JG now sells these ugpraded AEG's to other importers under their own brand name. The newest JG M4 product line offers stock guns shooting upwards of +400fps.

ECHO-1
A Los Angeles based company started by airsoft enthusiasts. They custom contract manufacturers such as Jing Gong, CYMA, and AGM to create their line of AEG's. They were instrumental in creating US field ready stock AEG's firing +350fps.

CYMA
CYMA mostly known for their LPEG's and cheap springers, they were one of the first clone makers to make a decent versions of AK47 and MP5's, though with non-TM-compatible hop-up systems which made upgrades problematic. Their newest models are TM compatible and feature much better build quality. CYMA has recently specialized on building a range of good quality AK's models.

A&K
A&K was one of the first clone makers to come out with a copy of TM's S-Sytem M4. Featuring 300-350fps stock gearboxes, they suffered from early quality issues. More recent versions seem to be more reliable. They were one of the first to offer clones of M249 SAW's and SR25's counter-sniper rifles.

Cybergun/SoftAir
SoftAir is the US subsidiary of the French company Cybergun. Cybergun licenses real steel brands such as Taurus, Smith and Wessen, and SigSaur and sells airsoft guns bearing these trademarks (legally) made by Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers such as CYMA, KWA and others.

Umarex
German owned BB/airgun maker with the exclusive license to sell airsoft guns with the from H&K, Styer, and Beretta trademarks in the US. Like Cybergun, the AEGs and GBBs are made by Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers such as Ares, KWA and others.

UTG
UTG is the tactical/airsoft brand of Leapers USA. They contract DE, CYMA and AGM to build their AEGs. UTG guarantees their AEG for 30 days and can easily be contacted in the US.

DE (Double-Eagle)
DE is the only clone maker of the UMP and a number of other AEG's. Their sub 300fps gearboxes make them ideal for CQB. DE makes a half-decent AK Beta though their LPEG quality G36 and SL8 should be avoided.

BOYi/DBoys/Kalash
D-Boys is the new brand name for the LPEG maker BOYI which made kids versions of airsoft guns in Asia. Like CYMA, JLS and JG they had a poor reputation intiailly due to the cheap kids guns and clones they first made. But their new D-Boys line features good copies of TM's M4. Though not as high quality as JG. BOYI also makes excellent AK's under their Kalash brand.

AGM
Contract manufacturer for Echo-1, Classic Army and others, they feature well made M14's, P90's and the H&K416 among others.

JLS
Best known for making cheap Electric Blowback Pistols (EBB). JLS recently came out with surprisingly good versions of the new U.S. Special Forces assualt rifle, the SCAR. Not an exact copy of the TM/CA SCAR and is not as ruggedly built but much cheaper, though its long term reliability is unknown.

WELL
Well was an maker of LPEGs and cheap springers. They featured cheap externals and unreliable gearboxes. They have released improved models of their M4 variants but their quality and compatibility falls below that of JG, DBoys and others. Apart from their MP7, it's not a brand I recommend.

BE (Both Elephant)
A maker of LPEGs that has since upgraded to metal gearbox clones, many of their AEG's still suffer from thin plastic bodies and TM incompatibility issues. Avoid.


Read about other brands on Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ai ... ufacturers
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