Guns for the Newbie; Gas rifles.

Go for an AEG MP40
It covers all bases to get started.

You can spread your wings later for more specialist guns

As Gordon has said a MP40 is always a good starting weapon for German, for a low cost gun they are also quite reliable. If however you like the look of a rifle but dont want gas and dont yet feel up to doing a Dboys conversion , another possibility is a M14 aeg. OK its post war but looks similar to the G43, SVT40 and Garand. Some small cosmetic work can make the front end look more like a G43. As its a wood stocked rifle I think just about every organiser allows it at events and generally they perform better than a mp40..

+1 for the M14. As Tim says, pretty much universally accepted, can be modded with relative simplicity or complexity to look more like other rifles, works well in a 'single shot' game scenario, is a reliable and effective AEG.

I'd rather be in, or organise, a game full of unmoddified M14s than a field full of more cosmetically accurate MP40s, Thompsons, Stens or MP44s. And yes, I have 'em all and love them, but as a first and only gun I'd go for the M14.

Plus you can use it for Nam games and if you whack it onto full auto (or slap a scope on) and you can compete with the blatters at an open day should it take your fancy.

there is the new player in the gas kar98 field the pps kar98k , its a tanaka clone with a power adjustment built in (most tanaka's are too hot for close skirmish) i'm planning on getting one soon but from what i can tell it's getting good review's and delivered from rsof £240 plus tax

A lot depends on your playing style.
I loved the authenticity of a rifle but really disliked eventing with one. A spot-on impression with an anachronistic gun would also irk me, so I'd prefer a MP40 over a M14, but it's all good solid advice.

Yay for the M14

i have 2 cyma ones
a un modded socom a
nd a shoot and scoot modded garand'ified one
they rule

Thank you all for replying. A lot of sensible stuff to think about.

The M14 is an interesting option; but like BedsnHerts said, going to the trouble of getting all the kit and then having a non period gun would feel a bit of a let down.

The MP40, in hindsight, seems a very good shout. Eminently affordable, and the one I had at Hell's Highway was pretty handy, albeit, it locked up a few times on semi-auto. Seems a sensible way to go to begin with before moving on.

I'd also looked at the ICS M1 Garand as an option (is the G&G one out yet?) not to mention the STG 44, though the latter seems to have issues regarding high FPS out of the box, and as a poor old humble newbie, downgrading it is a recipe for a fecked up gun at the moment. I've got a garage with tools coming out of my ears, sanders et all, but wouldn't feel confident at the moment dismantling, upgrading and re-assembling kit. I've had enough trouble doing that with my bike.

Cheers all.

.......... The MP40, in hindsight, seems a very good shout. Eminently affordable, and the one I had at Hell's Highway was pretty handy, albeit, it locked up a few times on semi-auto. Seems a sensible way to go to begin with before moving on .................

.......... And if you go down the Brit/Para route at a later stage, you can get yourself a Sten and share mags & (lipo) batts

I'm a new start German myself and having examined all the options the MP40 seems to be the place to start.
I was keen to start with a rifle too but you have to remember that there will be a minimum engagement range on any gas rifle meaning you'd have to buy a pistol too, and it'd be unusable in a CQB environment.
The STG is a great gun from what I've heard but many games won't allow it if they're trying to portray an early war scene, not to mention the need to have it downgraded.
The MP40 on the other hand will fit any German impression for any stage of the war and it's still a perfectly skirmishable weapon for both large woodland sites and CQB scenarios.

Best of luck whatever you pick up.

Some good information here.

I'm currently pondering getting my first rifle in the newyear, I've already got an MP40 for if I need something that will fit anywhere and use low/mid caps, an Stg that I'm getting in a bit better shape (though the bugger is heavy to run about with when attacking), and my non-WW2 gun an MP5 for general use and thrashing at walk ons against people toting highcaps.

Part of me wants to hold out for a spring rifle just so I have something which is pretty much sure to work short of something totally breaking and won't have issues in the winter like a gas one but it seems that when it comes to WW2 spring rifles they are very small production runs or even made to order so the prices are pretty high.

An option I'd been considering was a VSR 10 with a wood stock as that seems to be something I could possibly get away with as a non-military rifle especially for militia/resistance type load outs. Obviously it isn't an issue at random walk ons but does that kind of thing usually fly at all at WW2 events?

The M14 isn't something which I had considered so certainly going to have a bit more of a look at those.

There has never been a WWII game where a wood/wood effect rifle has not been allowed, to my knowledge. I for one have no intention of not allowing them.

'massive' modern sniper rifles with a scope wrapped in hessian look a bit naff to be honest, but straight wood effect rifles, especially the M14, has never jarred or looked out of place.

I am in agreement with Chomley in regards to the M14 as a good starter gun and, as the person who runs the rifles events, between an M14 using low ammo mags and a pukker tanaka K98 firing at 499.99 fps I would definitely prefer the former.

MP40 it is... for now.

Though I've put the Brit Airborne on hold for a while. G.I it is for allied impression... my mates (I swear I actually have some), fancy giving that a go.

Which opens the door to the Garand as well.

Again, thank you ever so much for all your advice. I thoroughly appreciate it.

I started in WWII with an MP40 even though I have never played as German. It is accepted as a likely captured weapon for British, US and Soviet.
I do prefer rifles more and am very happy with the S&S No.4 I have. I have also built a VSR clone based SMLE though not having the skills of Dadio I have struggled to get it to feed from the magazine. I borrowed an M14 Garand conversion for one of Wladek's games and found it a delight to use. It did have a tendency to switch to full auto after extended use on semi. Like your experience with the rented MP40 most of the AEG gearboxes do not seem to cope with too much use out of full auto.

Hmm, I'm a little bit overwhelmed by the posibilities now.

A VSR g-spec is around £220 but is a pretty solid rifle and a good base gun for upgrades, and a wood stock designed for it can have a fair range of possible prices but I'd assume £100 minimum.

That is already taking me up close to some of the actual WW2 rifles avaliable, and more than the S&S kit sets.

I am also going for the German look as a new started. I already decided to go for the MP40 but it looks to be difficult to get hold of them.
Any idea were to best buy them? And I understand I have to register to do so, if I buy it online. Can that be done online?
If there are so many joing the German side, maybe we should buy them together and try to get a discount.

these are pretty cheap and i use them a lot for both complete guns and parts.[link]http://www.rsov.com/product.php?langId=1&currencyId=4&manufacturerId=10&prodId=1242&cateId=131[/link]
£129 delivered , you'l get import tax as well, maybe another £20.or there's one for sale second hand on this forum' for sale section going for £150, of course you need the usual UKARA or AFRA membership to be able to get them legally.

A clone VSR11 makes a reasonable conversion and is extremely simple to do with a couple of bits of wood for handguards. It`s got built in iron sights so no need to fabricate any as on some of the VSR`s.
This one started out as a 2 tone, knocked up the handguards in about 3 hours using hand tools, a couple of strips of bicycle inner tube to hold them in place, a fake cleaning rod glued in, then added a fake wood effect by spraying in red primer and brushing on mahogany stain, and touching up various bits with black model paint. Added a fake mag held on by two self tapping screws so I can go down the German or Russian route. Not perfect but ok for the 10 feet rule and it cost a grand total of about £120. Don`t have to worry about batteries anymore, and the weather doesn`t affect it.