We have our likes, fears, pleasures, and woes. Still, there’s something about joining that friendly airsoft gun skirmish using my airsoft guns that I find exhilarating. This airsoft gun activity may be uncomfortable for many; yet can be a fantasy come true or at least good exercise for others.
WHAT IS AIRSOFT?
Airsoft is the label given to the sport and/or hobby of collecting 1:1 replicas of real firearms. Airsoft guns are considered non-lethal because the airsoft gun ammunition consists of soft BBs or pellets; typically larger than the BB’s sold in many local sporting goods stores.
Airsoft guns, whether they are airsoft rifles or pistols, can be manufactured as pure toys [made of mostly toy plastic) and not realistic in appearance or can be manufactured to pass for the real thing; having the weight, mechanisms, touch, etc. of the real firearm [i.e. colt 45, M16, AK47, etc]. The required bright orange tip found on all airsoft guns [required by US law and regulated by local state, county, city ordinances] and the actual airsoft gun propulsion system isolates airsoft guns from real guns.
Real guns fire a deadly propellant via a form of firing pin against an explosive. Airsoft guns fire a non-lethal propellant via a burst of air. The method used to generate that burst of air distinguishes airsoft gun operations [i.e. spring, gas or electric].
WHAT DOES AIRSOFT DO?
Airsoft gun history began in Japan around 1970. Possessing any type of firearm was illegal and punishable by Japan law. Yet, shooting a firearm was a personal urge.
The economic principle of ‘supply and demand’ surfaced in that where a demand exists, a supply will follow. Manufacturers introduced the airsoft guns that addressed the Japan demand for firearm usage, but without the lethal effects that Japanese law addressed. By the early 1990’s that supply reached the United States addressing our variation of demand. We wanted firearm usage, but without the expense and lethal affects that the real gun characterized. The Airsoft Gun industry gave Japan a boost in their economy and even a greater boost when those products reached export levels that included United States.
Since all airsoft guns fire a non-lethal propellant via a burst of air; airsoft players and collectors varied interests relative to the method used to generate that burst of air.
HOW DOES AIRSOFT WORK?
Three styles of airsoft guns have evolved since the early 1970’s and distinctive pellet fapellet brikett fabrikett methods that generate the burst of air. Each airsoft gun style carries positive and negative characteristics. These characteristic will appeal differently to the players who use airsoft guns.
The ‘SPRING’ airsoft guns are often the choice of airsoft guns used by the first time airsoft players. The start- up costs and the ease of operation are a definite advantage for the novice. As the name implies; the player simply cocks the spring before firing the airsoft gun. Whether an airsoft pistol, rifle, or automatic, the player cocks the spring, before firing the gun.
The ‘GAS’ airsoft guns were the next to enter the collections and skirmishes. The cost factors increased some, but so did the firing distance, realism in usage, and simplicity of operations. Built into the airsoft gun or the magazine for that airsoft gun is a gas powered storage system that, when triggered, will propel the BB or pellet from the gun’s barrel , empty a magazine as fast as you can pull the trigger, and (if the airsoft gun is a ‘gas-blowback’) allows for the recoil operation of the gun’s receiver.
The ‘ELECTRIC’ airsoft guns are the current pride and joy of those veteran to airsoft gun skirmishes and collections of dream guns (with the orange tips). What was unique to the radio controlled cars and aircrafts industries expanded to the airsoft gun industry. Built into these electric air soft pistols and rifles are motorized gear systems of air propulsion that utilize a battery powered source of energy. It can be a battery replacement system or a battery rechargeable system. This advanced operation increased the rate of fire (ROP) to a more realistic level of 600 – 900 rounds per minute (RPM). These airsoft guns can impersonate and support the fully automatic features of most AEG brands and truly give greater excitement to the airsoft players.
WHY DOES AIRSOFT WORK?
