I think that these are great training tools, but I have been leary to buy one because I have seen them form about $20 up to $300. It seems like there is a wide range of quality. Any one know what the good brands are?
It depends on what kind of gun you are looking for. Some guns are only made by a single company (ex. Tokarev), but most comanies will be making some kind of Beretta, glock, Colt 1911 look a like.
Western Arms (Japan) is possibly one of the best regarded comanies. most of their products are with licenced logos, so they will look almost exactly like the real stuff. they are also some of the most expensive airsoft guns (~$200).
KSC and Tokyo Marui (sp?) are two other Japanese companies that also offer very high quality product, though some of their guns have no licenced logos, so you will have "KSC" insted of "P. Beretta" on the grips, etc., but the gun would operate much like the real ones in terms of controls levers, locking mechanism, etc.
I tend to stay away from Taiwanese stuff (HFC, KWA, KJ Works). These are cheaper, but they definitely fall short when compred to more expensive stuff. For example I bought a full metal HFC beretta 92 clone. though it was metal it did not have a functional de-cocker, and some weld seams on the frame were visible. i still like my KSC much better from realism, aesthetics point of view. the Taiwanese partner of KSC (KWA) is also lower quality than the Japanese KSC, though the internals are identical.
If i were to buy another AirSoft gun, I'd rake the money and go for Western arms if they make what I want ( and they do Beretta cougar).
Here is a site with many reviews on AirSoft Guns
http://snowman.ascuk.net/reviews.htm
At some point this gets almost as expensive as buyng real guns (Makarov, CZ52, and some others go for ~$200)
I hope that helps.
Alexi