Today I'm going to speak a little bit about Airsoft and what it actually is, also the bare minimum for a safe game.
Airsoft is a modern combat sport or recreational hobby in which participants eliminate opponents by hitting each other with spherical non-metallic projectiles launched from a compressed-air gun powered by gas, manual spring-load, or electrically powered gearbox.
Airsoft participants organize meetings at dedicated Airsoft battlefields often manipulated to provide walls, bunkers, trenches, buildings, and other similar man-made field enhancements to offer realism analogous to real war environments.
Airsoft games vary greatly in style and composition depending on location, budget, and quantity of participants but often range from short-term skirmishes (3v3), organized scenarios (green v red), military simulations (aka MilSim), or quasi historical reenactments.
Combat situations on the battlefield often involve the use of common military tactics to achieve the objectives set in each game. These games are usually organized and run by a group or team of players themselves that act as marshals or referees for this particular game. Participants typically use varying types of non-lethal weaponry designed as replicas of real firearms, tactical gear, and accessories used by modern military and police organizations.
Let’s break this down to the brass tax, Airsoft is considered a war game by many and people tend to believe that it glorifies battle and lessens the sacrifice of our young men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. That’s pure crap, the ultimate price is what allows us to play and write about thing like this, it called Freedom.
Ok that’s enough of the political stuff.
What is needed for a game of Airsoft?
Well a short list:
A friend who doesn't mind getting shot and whom you don't mind shooting either.
Full Seal Goggles or even a protective Paintball Mask. As far as gear goes, this is the most important item you will ever own, don't skimp on them, and don't cut corners. You can buy ballistic goggles, DO NOT USE shop glasses or safety glasses as these are not rated for ballistic safety.
Boots/Footwear: Aside from the goggles, this is the second most important piece of gear. If you sprain an ankle or spend the day in soggy boots you will be miserable. Modern tactical or military boots are great; they are tested and tried under the worse of conditions. You won't come close to pushing these pieces of gear to their limit.
The guns used in Airsoft are typically replicas of real firearms, except that they have a mechanism for pushing out projectiles 6 mm or 8 mm in diameter. An example would be the Classic ArmyM15A4 which is a replica of the M4 assault rifle. Airsoft guns are considered replicas of real firearms but not all replicas are Airsoft guns; some replicas don't have a firing mechanism while others, such as the Real Action Markers, may have a different mechanism and shoot non-Airsoft types of projectiles.
Airsoft guns are classified according to their operating principle which can be either: spring, electric, or gas-powered. An airsoft gun is selected according to the level of performance (battery life, range, rate of fire, accuracy, reliability, customization, magazine capacity, size, and weight) or realism the player requires. Early-generation airsoft guns were mostly "springers." Single action airsoft guns are almost always semi-auto and never auto. Second-generation airsoft guns had gas-powered mechanisms that required either an internal "Flon" (CFC) gas reservoir or an external a high-pressure CO2 chamber. AEGs (automatic electric guns, such as assault rifles) are the most commonly produced type now used and have high-capacity rechargeable batteries to operate plastic or metal gearboxes that displace air to propel the BBs.
Most airsoft pistols which are gas-powered use environmentally safe "green gas", Green gas is just propane gas with a hint of perfume and sometimes "lubricant" and produces a realistic blowback recoil effect when fired. Recently Airsoft manufacturers have begun producing propane adapters that screw directly onto camping grade propane tanks, allowing players to power their gas guns on pure propane. This has proved to be a cheaper alternative to "green gas". Each pistol magazine contains a small storage gas cylinder with enough power to propel the 30+ BB projectiles also housed in the magazine. Thus a player can realistically load, fire, and unload an airsoft pistol with similar realism as a "real steel" semi-automatic pistol. A few early-production AEPs (Airsoft Electric Pistols) have been released but these suffer from weaker BB velocities because of the difficulty of fitting a small-enough motor in the housing of a pistol, although the range is sometimes greater than a gas pistol because ft/s can equal drag. AEP's often have a higher rate of fire than their gas counterparts.
Most early airsoft guns were often completely of ABS plastic except for some internal moving parts. Newer guns, especially those made in China, have metal barrels, receivers, gearboxes, gun sights, and other external parts. A typical airsoft gun is noticeably lighter than its "real steel" counterpart due to the use of aluminum, alloy, and plastic components. Thus, lower quality airsoft guns tend to get scratched, damaged, or broken easily from rough handling. When fired, certain airsoft guns have a weak vibration and a much softer whirring sound, without any strong recoil, bright muzzle flash, concussive noise, or smell of burnt propellant as those produced by real firearms, although there are smoke caps available for certain airsoft guns for added realism.
Carrying additional backup firearms is a habit during long-duration scenarios that would prevent the player from going back to the safe zone to replace a defective gun. Each gun would need its supply of magazines and batteries or gas canisters. Gas hand gun magazines range from a capacity of 15-30 bbs. In the case of AEG rifles magazines come in either standard (equivalent to the capacity of it's real steel counterpart. These are often used in MilSim for added realism), low-capacity (low caps: 40-80 BBs), mid-capacity (mid caps: 80-150 BBs), or high-capacity (high caps: 200-500+ BBs). These magazines are spring loaded; the high-cap magazines often have a ratchet wheel that can be wound up periodically to force BBs up the magazine feed chute, but due to their length and weight these magazines usually don't fit perfectly in the gun's magazine well, often make a rattling noise when running or walking. Some airsoft guns have electric-powered box or drum magazines that hold thousands of BBs (sometimes up to 5000). Also, pistols and rifles may have metal weights in them for a more realistic feel, effect, and balance.
There is a ton of information out there about Airsoft Guns, this little overview is to help a first time Airsofter make an informed decision about what to spend their hard earned money on. Airsoft is about 1/5 the price of Paintball but requires more of an upfront investment as many Airsoft fields don't carry rentals.
You are just about ready, the last thing you need to do is get some BB's. I personally prefer the bio-degradable ones, but you can choose from my different brands/types.
DON'T USE METAL/STEEL bb's.
Most airsoft guns use .20 or .25 gram BB's.
The last thing you need for a fun day of airsoft is a place to actually shoot. There are a bunch of paintball places that allow Airsoft after hours or at designated times, there are also a ton of websites out there to organize private games.
DO NOT USE "Open or Abandoned Land" If you play a game of outlaw or renegade airsoft you are more likely to get in trouble and cause a black eye for the sport as a whole. With the climate of the world today, someone seeing a couple people armed with assault weapons, sneaking around the old abandoned mill will bring the SWAT team.
If you are looking for a place to hold games look for private land and get permission from the owner in writing. Also you can visit your country or town clerk and see if there is state or municipal land you can use to play on, this might involve a small fee, but it’s better to be safe than sorry in this case.
That's all you really need for a day fun, shooting your friends. We will discuss more about the specifics in later issues and will also include reviews of equipment, formation of teams, national events, and much more.
