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Airsoft guns are air or gas powered firearms that fire small spherical plastic pellets of either 6 mm or 8 mm diameter. They are used in the sport of Airsoft which is similar to Paintball.

Generally they are replicas (in appearance only) of real firearms, but occasionally also fictional firearms (e.g. the M41A Pulse Rifle from the Aliens films).

On occasion airsoft guns can be such perfect replicas that they break certain copyrights, most notably the trademarks of Colt or Heckler & Koch on Tokyo Marui weapons that disallows such trademarks to remain on the gun for import into the United States. Certain companies such as Classic Army or ICS have avoided this problem by licensing their replicas from the original manufacturers like ArmaLite or Olympic Arms.

Because airsoft guns are such good replicas they are often used as movie props.

While in essence the three types of airsoft guns, spring, gas, and electric, all work on the same principal of gas pressure being built up in a piston that forces a BB down the gun's barrel, each operation has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Misconceptions

Airsoft guns are classified as "toys." There are rumors - driven by the realistic look of the airsoft gun - that these "toys" can be modified to kill. There are also rumors that the Japanese Yakuza and Chinese Triad converted airsoft guns to fire real pistol cartridges, but are limited to a single shot.

It is however, impossible to convert or modify any airsoft replica to fire a real bullet due to the materials (mostly plastic), internal design (battery/gas powered) and construction that differ completely from real firearms.

Types

Spring powered

Spring-powered airsoft guns (often called "springers" or "spring guns") are single-shot devices that use potential energy stored in a spring to launch an airsoft pellet down the barrel of the gun. The user must cock a spring gun prior to each shot much as you would a real shotgun or bolt-action rifle. This is typically achieved by pulling back the slide (pistols) or bolt (rifles), which in turn compresses the spring and makes the gun ready to fire. Because of this, these guns are by definition incapable of automatic or semi-automatic fire.

While most electric guns also use springs for this, they are not considered to be in the same category as the single-shot spring-powered guns. Low-end spring guns tend to be much cheaper than their electric-powered equivalents due to their simplicity and cost of components (spring assembly, electric motor, battery, and battery charger) and thus are widely available. These guns are less suited for competition because they are at a disadvantage against automatic guns in close combat and do not provide enough accuracy and power for long-range uses. Some exceptions: higher-end spring-powered airsoft rifles can be quite expensive; these guns are typically suited for "marksman" applications in airsoft matches and can provide competitive muzzle velocities. Additionally, pump shotguns are sometimes used, especially in CQB (Close Quarters Battle). In colder weather, spring pistols may actually be the best possible backup gun, as gas pistols function very poorly (see below), and even the batteries on AEPs won't do too well in extremely cold weather.

This represents one of the major advantages of a spring powered airsoft gun, as it can be fired in any situation, without the need of an outside force. In a situation where the user is either out of gas or his/her batteries have died, it renders their selected weapon useless whereas one using a spring-powered weapon is not hindered by problems such as this. Also, while not often thought of or even considered, a spring gun may be completely immersed in water and still function with little or not effect on the weapon's performance. In the case of an electric or gas weapon, the concept would be unthinkable and would cause the obvious damage one would expect that water would cause, but in the case of a springer, the only real damage that the gun can suffer is possible rusting of metal parts which can be avoided by thoroughly drying the weapon.

The other major advantage that spring weapons hold over other powered airsoft guns is price. True AEGs can range from $200-$500 and high-end gas pistols can cost well over $120, each also requiring extra equipment; gas, batteries etc. Spring guns tend to not exceed $50 except in cases of high end "sniping" rifles and average out to be around $35-$55 in price. Most players start with a spring pistol as their first, which will usually cost about $20-$30. Because of their price spring's tend to act as "training guns" to bring new players to airsoft games and are considered the primary weapon of "backyard skirmishes." Almost all airsoft players at one point in their interest in the sport own a spring weapon, whether for it’s actual application or for the replica value as there are examples of certain firearms that only exist in airsoft renditions as spring weapons.

Traditionally, spring pistols or low quality rifle are used as low-end side arms, and high end sniper rifles used for marksman applications.

Gas powered
Gas-powered airsoft guns use pressurized gas to propel pellets. These guns are capable of automatic and semi-automatic operation. The most common gases used are propane (usually referred to as "green gas" by airsoft players) and HFC134a, HFC-22 and in modified guns "Red Gas" refrigerant. Less commonly used gases include CO2 and nitrogen/high pressure air. Another gas said to exist for use in gas powered airsoft guns is "black gas". However, it is unknown if this gas truly exists.

The first ever gas powered airsoft gun are commonly referred to as 'classic' guns, owing to their age. These guns were most commonly powered by liquid propellants such as R-12 (Which was marketed by the Japanese as FLON-12 or brand name Freon-12) freon feed system with a majority of the configurations containing two tanks, one containing the R-12 and one used as an expansion tank, and the gun itself. R-12 was commonly used in car air conditioning systems. It is also illegal in some state and parts of the world because it is not environmentally friendly. Later users modified these old guns to be powered by regulated CO2 canisters or nitrogen/high pressure air bottles to increase power and consistency. However, these guns have largely been superseded by the newer and more versatile AEGs, or automatic electric guns. One of the reasons for this is because the most commonly available propellant, R-12, is costly. Additionally, at high flow rates, liquid propellants tend to cool down, eventually freezing. As cooldown progresses, the rate of fire gradually decreases until the gun ceases operation. The user would then be forced to wait for the propellant to warm up again. CO2 is not affected as badly by this tendency, and nitrogen/high pressure air is immune to it. Furthermore, if liquid propellant is introduced into the gun's mechanism, rubber parts can freeze and eventually damage the gun.

Gas power tends to be used in airsoft pistols where size constraints make electric-powered mechanisms impractical. Other instances where gas is favored are where adjustable velocities are required or where a blowback feature is desired. A blowback feature is a mechanism which cycles a slide or bolt to better simulate a real firearm's operation. Because of the mechanical complexities involved with distributing and regulating gas, these guns have largely given way to electric guns for less specialized applications, however, they still remain a favorite amongst airsofters and no competitive airsoft game is ever complete without a 'pistols-only' match.

Along with using gas to power guns, it is also applied for use in replica grenades. These grenades are both projectiles, fired from a grenade launcher such as the M203 or GP-25, or throw able. The shells work on the system of an internal piston, filled with gas. Either a series of BBs or in some cases a rubber or soft foam head is seated in or on top of the shell. When the pressure is released the projectile(s) are shot from the launcher sent downrange.

In the case of the throw able grenades, inside the grenade there is a similar piston to the one used in the shells, but is on a literal "timer" that allows the user to clear the area of effect. BBs or powder act as the projectile in the case of these grenades. Currently both types of grenades are not very common, but with innovations in design they are becoming a much more promising concept and may soon become part of an airsofter's stock arsenal.

Electric powered

Electric-powered airsoft guns typically use a rechargeable battery to drive an electric motor, which cycles an internal piston/spring assembly in order to launch pellets. Automatic and semi-automatic operation is possible which gives these guns the popular name "automatic electric guns" or AEGs. These guns often attain muzzle velocities of 200 to 400 ft/s (60 to 120 m/s) and rates of fire of between 300 and 1000 rounds per minute. They are the most commonly used and widely available type of airsoft gun.

These type of guns were developed in Japan and the Japanese company of Tokyo Marui dominates the market. In a Tokyo Marui AEG, the motor drives a series of 3 gears mounted inside a gearbox. The gears then compress a piston assembly against a spring. Once the piston is released, the spring drives it forward through the cylinder to push a pellet into the chamber, through the barrel, and forward from the muzzle. Many manufacturers have now more or less replicated this basic model, adding reinforced parts or minor improvements.

These weapons are powered primarily by nickel cadmium (NiCad) or nickel metal hydride (NiMH) with varying voltages and milliampere hours ratings. The most common battery is an 8.4 V large battery (usually about 2400 mA•h.) Also available are 8.4 V "mini" batteries, which generally have 600 mA•h capacities. Voltages for large batteries range from 7.2 V, all the way up to 12 V. The rule of thumb usually is the higher the mAh, the longer the battery lasts while the higher voltage, the higher rate of fire (RoF).

External modifications, such as metal bodies and reinforced plastics that make AEGs look and feel even more realistic, have become very popular. AEG manufacturers such as Classic Army (Yick Fung) produce replicas that are visually nearly identical to their real counterparts, boasting metal bodies and stronger furnishings. Most AEGs produced as of late are designed to be as visually realistic as possible.

The two most common AEGs fielded by players are the AR-15 series (M16 rifle, M4 carbine, etc.; sometimes referred to as the Armalite or Colt series) and the Heckler & Koch MP5 series, because parts for repairs or modifications/customization are commonly available. Also popular are the AK or Kalashnikov and FAMAS and more recently the Heckler & Koch G36 and even more recently, the springfield M14.

=LPEG
= Some cheaper and lowered powered AEGs are called low powered electric guns (LPEGs) to distinguish them from the original, more expensive and more powerful AEGs even though their mechanical/electrical design and operation is similar and are not to be confused Mini Electrics (described below). Originally they were only of novelty value, often regarded below springers due to their cheap building materials and extremely poor performance (attributed to velocities under 100 ft/s).

Some companies - like UTG with their popular MP5 and AK47 models - have improved their quality to such an extent that some models are now considered simply as mid ranged AEGs that are more affordable but still effective.

Since spring action guns that can notably outperform the true low end LPEGs and can be found at comparable prices, they are generally considered to be better choices.

=AEP
= Automatic Electric Pistols (AEP) was first introduced by the Tokyo Marui company with their Glock-18C (followed later by a Beretta 93R model). They were the first handguns to incorporate an electric powered system, capable of full-automatic operation.

In cold weather, they are considered better sidearms than gas powered pistol, because batteries are not as badly affected by very cold weather. Gases like CO2 and green gas are stored in liquid form and require heat in order to turn into a gaseous form. A gas pistol in 10°F will usually only get one to two usable shots from a full magazine.

Because the AEP technology is relatively new, the velocity of the pellets is considered slow for airsoft play. The velocity of the AEP is usually between 200 to 225 ft/s. However, the advanced hop up units on these new guns tend to compensate for the low power and can produce an effective range comparable to those of an AEG.

An AEP differs from what is commonly known as an "Electric Blow Back" or "EBB" in that the mechanical operation of an EBB attempts to simulate of the "blow back" in the slide experienced in a real pistol or Gas Blow Back (GBB). An AEP, however, has a fixed slide where there is no external movement by the slide during operation. At present, Marui Glock 18C is the only EBB pistol which provides full-auto fire power. Like all other Marui EBBs, it is marketed towards beginners and thus has a lower power, using four AAA batteries.

The latest AEP style gun is the Marui replica of the Heckler & Koch MP7. It is considerably larger than either of the other guns, but uses the same system and is therfor classified as an AEP not an AEG. It is slightly more powerful than the others and is a suitable choice for CQB (Close Quarter Battle) games due to its small size and decent barrel length relative to its size.

=Mini Electrics
= Recently, the company UHC, well known for its spring guns, began manufacturing a range of electric guns in miniature size that fire only full automatic. They differ from LPEGs in that they are not replicas of real firearms, being miniturised version of real fireams - sometimes also in clear plastic - suitable for playing indoors or in neighborhoods where a real looking gun is unacceptable. They have a small ammo capacity (50 or so rounds), but they have good range and functional hop-up. Even among experienced airsofters, they are great for impromptu games and for kids. They have become very popular in recent years, and are now being imitated by the Taiwanese company HFC, which are still functional but less sturdy. These “minis” as they are referred to, are not a viable option in games against AEGs since their small ammo capability and short range would be a huge disadvantage.

BB Guns

This pneumatic gun is usually powered by a compressed gas, an electric revolution, or a spring. Most BB guns are shaped like normal guns but can look like toys. BB guns are never used in airsoft skirmishes, because they fire at an unsafe velocity, despite sharing a similar design to some airsoft pistols. Some BB guns have reservoirs to store ammunition, some are breechloaders, and still others are muzzleloaders.

The name of the gun is due to the original ammunition it used, which came from the lead shot used in a shotgun shell. "BB" (0.18 inch) was the size between "B" and "BBB"; modern rounds are made of non-toxic steel, plastic or copper, and are usually .177 caliber (4.5 mm).

Some also use shaped pieces of lead called pellets. These vary widely in shape, but generally have a flared back end for stability in flight and either a sharp point or blunt tip.

Two well-known American manufacturers of BB guns are Crosman and Daisy Outdoor Products.

Components

The various internal components of airsoft guns can usually be replaced or upgraded. The following is a short list of commonly referred to parts. Not all of these parts apply to all airsoft types (spring and gas-powered guns don't use batteries, for example).
  • Barrel - Serves the same purpose as in real firearms: guides the pellet and maintains the stream of pressure behind it. Upgraded versions are of a tighter bore, sometimes as close to exactly 6 mm as .02 mm.
  • Battery - Powers the motor that moves the spring assembly. These are typically NiCad rechargeable batteries but may also be NiMH. There is also a growing trend towards Lithium Polymer batteries, which have the advantage of high capacity and high discharge packaged in cells of a smaller dimension. In an airsoft gun that contains upgraded internals a larger, more powerful battery maybe required, either in higher voltage and/or mAh.
  • Gearbox - Typically a metal housing that contains a gear assembly that transfers the electric motor's drive to the air piston assembly. Sometimes referred to as "Mechbox." There are many versions in existence, the difference referring to the receiver that it is inside, i.e. the Mechbox of a P90 is going to be very different from that of a M4A1. In the case of Mid-Ranged AEG's or LPEG's, the Mechbox is typically plastic instead of metal, and hence does not react to upgrades as well and can wear out and break eventually from simple use of the weapon.
  • Hop-up - A small rubber bucking that applies a backspin to the pellets to improve range and accuracy. The level of hop-up is adjustable on many models of airsoft guns. The hop-up adjustment can be mostly found on the ejection port of the guns on most AEGs.
  • Electric motor - Used to provide rotational energy to turn the gearset in AEG's, ultimately compressing the spring and firing the weapon. Aside from the standard, default motor that comes with stock AEG's, upgraded high-torque or high-speed motors exist to create either a stronger spring pull or a faster spring pull, respectively.
  • Gearset - Airsoft guns contain a set of 5 gears used to fire the weapon. The first gear, the pinion gear, is located on the tip of the motor. The immediate gear it connects to is the bevel gear. The bevel gear connects to the spur gear, which, in turn, connects to the sector gear. The sector gear has a set of half teeth, which pulls and releases the final gear, which is a rack gear. The rack gear is the piston assembly, which displaces the air from the cylinder assembly through the nozzle in order to fire the projectile.
  • Air nozzle - A plastic or metal piece that connects the hop-up assembly to the air piston. This too can be upgraded and can, although argued among "airsmiths," have a significant effect on weapon performance.
  • Spring - Spring and electric guns both use springs to propel the pellets. The stronger the spring, the more powerful a gun will be, but rate of fire will decrease with the spring's stiffness increasing. In AEG's springs rarely exceed 190% of a stock gun's spring, but a spring-powered sniper may extend as far as 300%.
  • Valve - high-flow valves are often added to gas guns to increase power (although on blow back guns these usually need to be coupled with a metal slide upgrade, as the high-flow valve increases blow back power as well as bb velocity and will break a plastic slide)

Sights

Optical sights are fairly common for use on rifles; mostly red dot sights for short-range use, and telescopic sights for longer-range use. These range from inexpensive sights designed for use on BB guns and .22 rifles, to mid-range sights, usually inexpensive replicas of actual rifle sights (such as replicas of the famous M68 Aimpoint), to actual sights designed for use on rifles, including the EOTech Sights, and the Trijicon ACOG TA01NSN. Most of these sights are mounted on a MIL-STD-1913 Rail.

Magazines

Magazines are realistic looking replicas of real firearm's magazines and as such are made of the same materials like stamped metal or high impact plastic occasionally also featuring markings and/or engravings that match or mimic their real counterparts.

Gas blowback magazines are usually made out of thicker metal, since they contain compressed gas, and not just pellets. They are designed to be similar in weight to a fully loaded magazine from a real firearm.

Airsoft Magazines are divided into the following classes according to the number of pellets they hold:

Standard

These type of magazines aren't classified according to their capacity (in some cases up to 300 rounds), but by the fact that they are the standard unmodified magazines originally included with the weapon itself. They are normally loaded by inserting BBs down a shaft compressing a spring held inside.

Standard magazines offer quiet operation (no rattle or manual winding of high-capacity magazines) and are sometimes the only alternative available for certain airsoft gun models. They are also useful to help players limit their ammunition consumption.

Standard magazines almost only come with Tokyo Marui guns whereas some companies like Classic Army or ICS supply high-capacity magazines with their guns. However, most magazines will not feed every single pellet, making magazines not feed 2-3 pellets at the end of the magazine.

Medium capacity (Mid-Cap)

This is a loose category used to describe a standard type of magazine that has been modified to hold more rounds - usually between 100 and 200.

Mechanically they still function like a standard magazine and as such keep the advantage of quiet operation over high-capacity magazines (that also require a winding mechanism), but minimize the disadvantage of a standard magazine's lower number of rounds.

High capacity (Hi-Cap)

This terms is used for all magazines with capacities in excess of 250 pellets (some up to 20,000) and can be one of two types, manual or battery controlled.

With both types a toothed wheel is rotated to bring pellets from a reservoir, along a track and up into a channel into the gun. With one type this gear is turned manually while in the other a pressure sensitive pad is used to operate a battery powered electrical motor to perform the same function.

These magazines are almost exclusively used in AEG type of guns and the obvious advantages is the greater number of rounds, which can be especially useful for automatic fire. The disadvantage is that the loose pellets can rattle and the noise could betray a players position to other competitors.

Real capacity (Low-Cap)

Real-Caps, or Low-Caps are exactly what they sound like. In operation they are identical to standard magazines, but they carry the same amount of ammunition that the real version of the magazine can carry, which is often much less than the standard magazine, e.g. an M-16 Real-Cap will hold 30 rounds instead of 68 of a standard magazine.

These tend to be used solely by those wanting the most realistic MILSIM games. Again they offer the stealth of no rattling rounds, but their main use is for the realistic qualities.

Performance

Airsoft guns shoot 0.2 g BBs at velocities from 100 ft/s (30 m/s) for a low-end spring pistol, to 550 ft/s (170 m/s) and beyond for heavily-upgraded customized sniper rifles. Most non-upgraded AEG's using the Tokyo Marui system are in the middle, producing velocities from 270 to 300 ft/s (80 to 90 m/s), but upgrades to the internal components can increase the pellet velocity significantly.

Internal modifications revolve around increasing the rate of fire and the velocity of the pellets. The rate of fire is increased by using a battery with a voltage of 9.6 volts or higher and high speed ratio gears. The velocity of the pellets is increased by installing a stronger spring. As with any modification, an upgrade on one internal part means the other internal components might have to be upgraded as well.

If done by a professional, most guns take upgrades quite well, often changing the weapons performance enough that the user is compelled to continue upgrading. There are however certain guns that not only are hard to upgrade, but shouldn’t be. Airsoft guns made by ICS Olympic Arms are noted to be very well made and very reliable in stock form, but when a user attempts to do even minor upgrades, such as a higher-pressure spring, the rest of the AEG can break. Also, Mid-Ranged AEG's and LPEG's don't take to upgrades well. While it is becoming a common thing for people to attempt to upgrade the newer, better made Mid-Ranged AEG's such as the UTG MP5 or CSI XM8, the nature of the cheap plastics, and in the case of the CSI XM8's plastic gearbox, these weapons do not take upgrades well and can damage the gun. If one does feel the need to attempt an upgrade on one of these lower-end AEG's it is only suggested that the piston head, piston, and possibly the spring are replaced. In any case though, upgrades can alter the performance of any airsoft gun if done correctly and is something that every airsofter should at least look into to if he/she plans to use it in a real competition.

Airsoft guns commonly come with mounts on which you can add external accessories. Some common upgrades added are flashlights, scopes, lasers etc. Since some airsoft guns have the exact external frame as real guns you can use these external upgrades meant for real guns. This is not the case going the other way. In no way can an airsoft rifle be modified to shoot real ammunition. In most cases, scopes and flashlights have little effect on the performance of the airsoft gun itself, rather the user's ability to use their gun effectively in different situations. In most cases these types of add-ons are more for ascetics rather than performance.

Airsoft gun care

Barrels should be cleaned after every extended use especially in sandy environments. After playing airsoft, you should fire two to three shots in semi-automatic mode to decompress the gearbox spring. Empty the magazine in order to preserve the strength of the magazine spring. For guns with Hop-Up, you should turn off your Hop-Up if you are not planning to use your gun within two to three days so that it will not expand your O-Ring to make the Hop-Up not work as well and eventually snap. It is also smart to spray a non-corrosive silicon spray into the gun barrel and hop-up chamber from time to time, as suggested in most AEG and other airsoft gun manuals.

Magazines for gas guns should be left pressurized so that all of the internals stay functional. If the gas used has silicon lubricant in it, then further lubrication usually isn't necessary; if not, a drop or two on the internals will do. Enough gas should be stored in the magazine to last, at most 5 shots, and at minimum, 2 shots.

Some longtime airsoft gun owners complain about their gun's paint either scratching or wearing off. While in most situations its a bad idea to do "touch ups," if a full repainting is needed it is suggested that you use spray paint, preferably an enamel paint, and that it is a flat. More an more airsoft online stores are offering custom paint jobs as well and for guns that have seen many skirmishes this can be a very good way of returning it to its original glory.

Another important part of gun care, specifically in the case of AEG's, is using the correct battery. A too strong or too weak battery can severally damage your gun's motor, gears, and piston. Too weak of a battery wont be able to pull back the spring enough and you’ll put strain on your motor. Too strong of a battery and you run the risk of stripping gear teeth or piston teeth. It is highly recommended that you clarify, if you’re not sure, what the appropriate battery voltage is, depending on what, if any, upgrades your gun contains.

See also

Airsoft related

Other air powered guns

Manufacturers

External links

Manufacturers

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Airsoft guns".

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