Reddit reviews The Airsoft Bible: Book of Tactics: (Volume 2)

Here's an info-dump post I made a couple of months back, with some other relevant stuff tacked on:

>Get your gear from eBay or from army surplus shops. You can get British surplus molle vests and plate carriers, often with a full set of pouches, for about £30-40 if you take the time to shop around. I've also seen basic surplus chest rigs, which are also pretty good, go for about £15. They're all the real deal; not much else compares in terms of build quality, longevity, coolness and - for what you get - price. You would be barking mad to get anything else, in my opinion. I have a surplus vest and camelback; it's the mutt's nuts.

>eBay is also a good place to get UBACS (super comfortable combat shirt), trousers and gun sights of most kinds (though Amazon is sometimes better for sights). Get mags, holsters and other miscellaneous bits of gear from here. When you start to feel the upgrade itch, get parts from eBay or here. Get crap to stick on the outside of your gun from here. Get eye protection from here. Get batteries from here.

>Get guns, masks and airsoft-specific gear from from here, here, here and here.

>Get ammo and gas from your local site, if their prices are reasonable. If you know for sure that you'll be playing often, ask them if they'll cut you a bulk deal on ammo.

A bog-standard M4 combat machine is a good place to start. It's light, durable, cheap and easy to maintain and repair. Most of the sites I linked above should have several. They go for about £130-160, depending on model and where you get it. Generally with airsoft guns, you get what you pay for. More expensive guns tend to be made to better tolerances from stronger materials and with cleverer engineering that saves you some effort; but cheap guns can still be perfectly good, reliable workhorses. You can't go wrong with anything made by G&G or ICS, especially their more expensive stuff.

snakebitey has already covered UKARA. No matter how tempting it may be to rush out and buy a gun right now, waiting to get a UKARA number is something you'll thank yourself for in the long run. Other than that, you should only need to start worrying about other legislation if you do something incredibly dense, like taking it out in a public place. Keep it in a bag if you're not at home or at a field. You can get specialist gun bags, but guitar bags work equally well and are considerably cheaper, especially if you get a gun that's quite long.

Some pro tips:

Before you buy any specific gun - say, a Cyma AK - borrow it off someone else and play a round with it, if at all possible. It might look good on paper, but you might find yourself hating it in the flesh.

If you're playing outdoors, don't wear black all over. The army uses camo for a reason. The reason is that black sticks out like a sore thumb.

Not covering the lower half of your face with a solid (or mesh) mask is inviting the loss of a tooth. Using nothing but shooting glasses is, IMO, inviting the loss of teeth and eyes.

Only buy what you know you need, rather than what you want.

Buy a camelbak. Seriously. And remember to use it.

Wear good boots or your ankles and feet will be ruined.

Use mid-cap magazines and red dot sights. You don't need a magnifying sight.

Read this if you want to learn something about tactics.

Be cool. Don't be a twat.