[L473ncy]

If you have some mechanical aptitude then you could do:

Kraken + shims and regrease don't touch anything else and it will perform admirably.

If you want something OOTB that will generally work (ie. medium lemon rate) then you're looking at the upper end of your $300 budget.

If you can get ~$350-500+ then I highly suggest something in the mid-upper end. They have a low lemon rate and generally are great out of the box.

You don't need a $1000 budget to start BUT you need to be able to spend $1000 over a year (maybe a year and a half). I spent $500 getting my first setup then a year later I was probably down $800-900 with airsoft spending (NB: I started in 2008, I just hung around the forums for a few years before jumping in which is why my join date is 04).