The History of Airsoft Guns – Past to Present

October 14th, 2009

The sport of airsoft was originally created in Japan, as were the original airsoft guns. One of the mains reasons for this is because in Japan, guns (especially pistols) are illegal to even own for almost everyone; and even shotguns are near impossible to own in a lot of  cases.

When airsoft rifles/guns were first created in Japan, it was originally meant as a means to give the people something they could own and hold, that looked and felt just like a real firearm. For this reason, most of the airsoft guns were made as replicas of real guns, and looked and felt extremely realistic. The types of airsoft guns created ranged from cheap airsoft rifles (plastic) to expensive (and powerful) gas airsoft rifles.

Since these electric airsoft rifles (and pistols) could only fire non-lethal, plastic airsoft pellets, they were perfectly legal to own and operate by anyone. This is due to the fact that they are not at all capable of ever firing any real, live round, or even metal BBs or lead pellets.

Shortly after airsoft guns came about in the country of Japan, the actual sport of airsoft began, which quickly became very popular in other countries, such as Europe, Great Britain, and then the United States, among other places. The electric and gas airsoft guns quickly became a huge hit, and it seemed as though everyone wanted to own their own airsoft gun.

Now airsoft is played by people of all sexes and age groups, and there are many different types of games. The types of airsoft games played range anywhere from small skirmishes, to full blown tactical group battles. Sometimes airsoft guns are even used for historical re-enactments too. The possibilities were virtually endless it seemed.

In many cases airsoft rifles are even used for many different types of military and police training exercises. Most commonly the automatic electric airsoft rifles are used for military training purposes. In most cases a small handful of airsoft guns are used for this, which are the airsoft ak-47, the airsoft-m16, and the M14 airsoft sniper rifles.

The tactical gear used for airsoft games is quite diverse. Some of the common items and accessories used in airsoft are: camo face paint, protective airsoft vests, airsoft masks, throat mics, and much, much more. The sky is pretty much the limit when it comes to airsoft gear and what you can get.

Airsoft is an easy sport to learn, and can be played by virtually anyone, of practically any age group (within reason of course). Also, the cost of playing airsoft is generally a great deal lower than other comparable sports, such as paintball, for example. This is mostly due to how much cheaper the plastic airsoft pellets are than paintballs, among other factors as well.

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Buying Airsoft Rifles On The Internet – What To Look For

September 23rd, 2009

As the sport of airsoft becomes more and more popular (especially with the introduction of airsoft sniper rifles), more and more ecommerce websites selling airsoft guns have made their way onto the internet. But you may want to be careful (and do the proper research) before you go ahead and buy from one of these sites.

What are the most important factors to consider when purchasing an airsoft gun online? Well, first of all, it is a good idea to check their shipping policy. Many online airsoft rifle shops dont even ship the gun out for literally 3-5 days or so, and on top of that, they usually ship UPS or FEDEX ground, which can take up to 6 business days AFTER they ship the item!

Just as important, is their policy for returning broken or defective airsoft guns. For example, are they willing to replace a defective gun, and if so, how long do you have to send the gun back? And who pays for the shipping costs involved with returning a broken gun? Basically if a website doesnt offer at least a 10 day return/replacement policy for broken or defective guns, then it is highly recommended that you find a different website to buy from.

The main reason why this is an important factor is because a lot of the electric airsoft guns (and airsoft sniper rifles) are manufactured in China, where quality control seems to be a bit lacking, especially with certain manufacturers.

However, there are certain brands that dont generally have many issues at all, in which case the return policy wouldnt be as critical. But there are a few brands that are KNOWN to have a fair amount of problems, and those brands are: WELL, AGM, and Jing Gong (JG). Also, be especially cautious about buying airsoft sniper rifles, as those tend to have the most issues for some reason.

As far as prices go, pretty much all of the airsoft rifle stores are priced fairly competitively. However, watch out for the occasional website that jacks their prices up to ridiculous amounts. Just do a fair amount of shopping around, and then choose the site which has reasonable prices AND a good shipping/return policy.

It isnt too hard to find a good online airsoft retailer if you do a bit of searching on google, but there are 3 known sites that have been tried and proven, and offer great prices and exceptional service. Those 3 sites are: Airsplat, Pyramydair, and AirsoftGI. For the most part you will find that Pyramydair and Airsplat have the best prices around, but AirsoftGI has great prices too, and they offer excellent customer service as well.

Between Pyramydair and Airsplat, in many cases Airsplat will have the lower price tag. However, Pyramydair tends to have faster customer service (and you wont have to wait on hold very long when you call them). Also, Pyramydair is located in Ohio, while Airsplat is in California. This can greatly affect shipping time, depending on where you live, since both sites generally ship via UPS ground.

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Airsoft Rifles VS Paintball Guns

September 23rd, 2009

It is safe to say that almost everyone knows that paintball guns shoot paintballs, while airsoft rifles shoot plastic airsoft BBs. But the biggest differences between the 2 different types of guns, is what is inside of them. Each gun has its strong points and its weak points.

For example, all paintball guns use either regular compressed air or compressed c02, while the electric (AEG) airsoft guns use a battery, an electric motor, and a gear box. Most of the electric airsoft guns are anything from airsoft AK-47 rifles to airsoft M249 machine guns, all of which fire very quickly.

The internals of an automatic electric airsoft gun are very interesting indeed. They have a small motor inside that turns a series of gears. The gears cock back a large spring/plunger, which compresses air within an air tight chamber when it is released. Once the air in the chamber reaches a certain pressure, it opens a release valve, which then allows the air to push out the plastic airsoft BB. This is all done repeatedly, and at a very fast pace, which is why electric airsoft guns can fire off about 10-15 shots per second.

Also, there are a couple other types of airsoft guns, most notably the airsoft sniper rifles, which are single shot, manually cocked airsoft guns. These types of airsoft rifles are slightly similar to the automatic electric airsoft guns, but are single shot guns that need to be cocked for every shot. Also, they have no gears inside. While airsoft sniper rifles may be less exciting to fire than an electric airsoft M249 SAW machine gun, they do have a very high velocity, and are very accurate.

Virtually all of the paintball guns operate in the same manner; they have an air tank that needs to be filled with either compressed air or compressed C02. Nowadays most of the paintball guns use C02, as it is more powerful and lasts longer than regular compressed air. Also, pretty much all of the paintball guns are semi automatic, which can be kind of boring compared to a fully automatic airsoft AK-47, or an airsoft M249 SAW machine gun, and so on. And since they use compressed air/C02, they need to have their air tanks refilled fairly often.

As far as the actual airsoft and paintball games go, they are both pretty similar. However, the main difference is the fact that paintballs leave an obvious mark when you hit an opponent, while the plastic BBs that airsoft guns shoot leave no visible mark. You have to literally feel the airsoft BB hit you in order to tell if you have been shot while playing airsoft.

Also, the tactics for both paintball and airsoft are virtually the same. Both types of games use the same exact type of terrain, which sometimes features tactical bunkers, towers, buildings, and so on. Paintball and airsoft are both safe to play in doors and out, as airsoft and paintball guns both shoot about the same distance, and at about the same FPS (feet per second).

So what does it boil down to? Well, if you like the idea of firing off 14+ shots per second at your foes, then I would highly recommend that you give airsoft a try. But if you like the thought of leaving a nice big (and obvious) spot of paint on your opponent, then it sounds like paintball is the game for you. However, paintballs are very expensive compared to plastic airsoft BBs, so that is another factor to take into consideration as well.

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The Basics of Airsoft

September 2nd, 2009

Airsoft is much like paintball, but no visible mark is left when you hit an opponent. This is because airsoft is played with guns that shoot small plastic 6mm BBs. All airsoft guns propel their plastic BBs from compressed air, but the air can be compressed in many different ways.

For example, the automatic electric airsoft guns (also known as AEGs) compress their air using an electric powered gearbox, which pulls back a spring plunger. Then there is the airsoft sniper rifles, which are single shot spring airsoft guns (they need to be manually cocked for each shot). Lastly, some airsoft rifles are powered by compressed C02 and or propane gas.

The actual airsoft games themselves don’t cost very much to play, but the airsoft guns can be pretty expensive, depending on what you want. Generally the spring powered airsoft guns (IE: the airsoft sniper rifles) are the cheapest, while the electric ones (AEG’s) are more expensive. Lastly, the gas powered airsoft rifles are usually the more expensive than spring and electric airsoft rifles.

The places where the airsoft battles take place usually feature tactical things like bunkers, buildings, towers, trenches, and more. This is much like the types areas that the military uses for their training and simulation purposes. Due to this fact, strategy plays a vital role in being a successful airsoft player.

The role that you play in the airsoft games (or scenarios) generally depends on what type of airsoft gun you have. Airsoft snipers use powerful airsoft sniper rifles, while those who like to move around more (and get more action) use automatic electric airsoft rifles (also known as AEG airsoft guns). The most popular electric guns are the airsoft AK-47, airsoft M4, airsoft M16, and even airsoft M249 SAW rifles (which are used for heavy support).

What type of game (scenario) you play will usually depend on the location, along with how many players there are. Usually if there arent very many players, short airsoft skirmishes will be the games of choice. However, in more organized situations, players will often do anything from military simulations to actual historical reenactments (such as World War I, and so on).

The rules of airsoft are pretty simple and straightforward. Much like paintball, if you get hit, you are expected to yell “I’m hit” (and raise your gun up in the air). Also, since the plastic airsoft BBs leave no visible marks, it is expected that players follow an honor system, and admit to being hit. Even if you are certain that you have hit your opponent, calling out the fact that you have hit the opponent is generally frowned upon.

Generally you will simply shoot your opponent in order to get a kill, but those who like to have mercy on their opponents can sneak up behind them and tap them on the back (when possible). This is also known as a knife kill, and is much less painful than shooting your opponent at point blank range. Believe it or not, it can actually be quite painful to get hit by a plastic BB, especially at close range.

Again, airsoft games are extremely realistic, and the airsoft guns look and feel very realistic as well. Airsoft is a highly respected sport, and is even used by the military for training purposes. Airsoft generally requires a good deal of strategy and team work, much like many other types of sports.

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The Differences Between Spring and Gas Airsoft Sniper Rifles

August 26th, 2009

For the most part spring and gas powered airsoft sniper rifles both offer the same performance. However, there are definitely some pretty big differences between the 2 types of guns that you should know about. For example, you will never need any additional power source in order to fire a spring airsoft sniper rifle, but you will always need to purchase gas in order to fire a gas powered airsoft sniper rifle.

Also, another difference between spring and gas powered airsoft rifles is the fact that gas airsoft sniper rifles can sometimes be affected by temperature (for example if it is really cold out). Spring airsoft rifles always perform exactly the same no matter what the temperature is, since they are powered by a spring rather than gas. The discharge rate of gas is generally slower when it is cold, which means that your gun may shoot a bit slower if it is really cold outside.

If you are looking to save money, then it is likely that you will want to go with a spring airsoft sniper rifle, since the gas powered ones tend to cost significantly more. In fact, gas airsoft rifles almost always cost about $50-$100 more than spring airsoft rifles. And again, you will need to keep buying gas for a gas powered airsoft gun, which makes them all the more expensive. With a spring airsoft sniper rifle the only thing that you will ever have to buy is the airsoft BBs that it shoots.

As far as looks go, both versions (spring and gas) of the sniper rifles look pretty much identical, other than the magazines. The reason that the magazines dont look the same is because the gas airsoft rifles actually store their gas in the magazine, while the magazines for the spring airsoft rifles store nothing other than the airsoft BBs.

Literally every spring airsoft sniper rifle is a single shot (usually bolt action) gun, which also holds true for most of the gas powered airsoft sniper rifles as well. However, some of the gas powered airsoft sniper rifles are semi-automatic, which is a huge benefit that spring powered airsoft guns will never be able to offer (since you have to cock back a spring for each shot).

When it comes to actual performance, generally gas powered airsoft sniper rifles shoot at a slightly higher velocity VS the spring powered ones. On average gas airsoft rifles shoot about 50-100 FPS faster than spring airsoft rifles. Also, it is much easier to cock a gas powered rifle since there is no heavy spring to pull back.

Accuracy is exactly the same between spring and gas powered airsoft sniper rifles. However, in some cases you may want to use heavier airsoft BBs for gas powered airsoft guns, due to the fact that they usually shoot a littler faster than spring airsoft guns (and the faster your airsoft gun shoots, the heavier the BB that you will have to use in order to maintain consistent accuracy).

When it comes time to decide whether to go with a gas powered or spring powered airsoft sniper rifle, just remember that each one has its strengths and weaknesses. If you want a semi-automatic airsoft sniper rifle, then you will have to go with gas powered one. If you want to save money, and never want to worry about buying gas, then go with a spring powered sniper rifle.

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