[lurkingknight]

cm raider, no etu. Their mosfet is crap.

Skip everything else if that's where your budget is, I don't find the g&gs worth more than the raider is.

a few upgrades on the raider make it a pretty reasonable budget gun to start. It has good off the shelf parts compatibility when things start breaking.

For a bit more money than the g&gs you can start getting into the vfc VR16 series which is a much better gun externally and internally. There are brands in between, but keeping things simple, you buy the raider, you can choose to throw a few upgrades into it and it will last a few years, or just ride it out till the gearbox shell cracks. All g&gs have this fault. The simple upgrades like cylinder head, sorbo pad and piston with steel tooth rack will make it reasonably reliable and prevent the gearbox from cracking. Add a robust mosfet like a irls 3034 based unit, even a gate unit is better than the stock g&g I think, but the 3034 is pretty cheap if you can find someone to make one for you. If you choose not to install a mosfet, you will probably get 2 years out of the contacts before they need replacing.

The vfc will shoot out of the box until you strip the piston or burn the contacts. VFCs take most important aftermarket upgrades very easily, are easy to work on and hold value much better than g&gs. They are also very easy to upgrade towards the high end performers vs a g&g where you will always worry about the gearbox shell, or if you buy a toptech, the blowback will shred the piston or cause some other issue or it just takes way too long to work on that stupid gearbox. (I've worked on too many already)