"Airsoft" pellet guns for practice?

M

MatthewVanitas

New member
Greetings all,
Has anybody had any experience with the "Airsoft" pellet guns they're advertising these days? Apparently they shoot a relatively soft 6mm or so BB, and people play paintball-type matches with them indoors using only safety goggles for protection. Are these things at all accurate enough to plink around the house? It's a neat idea to have a little plastic airgun accurate enough to hit a playing card at 10 meters but won't damage the furnishings. Do those Airsoft pistols fit the bill? The fanpages devoted to them on the Net seem to indicate decent accuracy, but most of those pages seem written by folks with no actual firearm experience to compare them to. Any tips? Thanks all,
-LCpl Matthew Boris
 
First, let me clear up a couple of issues:

1. The BB's are not soft in anyway. They are hard plastic. While they do not have the density of metal BB's, they will penetrate aluminum cans and such (ie people) if fired with enough velocity.

2. People play games with them though safety is an issue. Velocity of these guns range from 250fps to over 500fps depending on use. While 250 fps is safe enough indoors at close range, 500 fps will penetrate clothes and skin at close ranges.

3. For those that aren't familiar, these are not the old airsoft type pistols that Daisy tried to introduce in the 80's. These are visually exact replicas made in Japan for gaming purposes and are often used here as movie props thanks to their high level of detail and realism. While this is fine in Japan where nobody can own firearms and paintball is considered too dangerous, in the US these guns ride a gray area due to their realism.

That said, the gas powered pistols are very cool. Most operate and dissasemble almost exactly like the real thing and, depending on the model and power source, the recoil can be more than that of a .22. High quality gas pistols will hit a playing card at 10 meters easily. I own one replicating a SV hi-cap 45 which I use as home practice for IPSC since the frame and magazine dimensions match the real deal and fit my competition gear perfectly. Even the trigger parts can be interchanged with the real SV modular trigger system parts. I highly recommend them whether for training, plinking, or whatever.
 
I have both, the old style that dasiey put out in the 80's, and the new one's from Japan. I only have the old style in pistols, and the new in the battery operated m-16a1. I use a card board box with a hole cut out of it and paper tacked infront of the hole. Put a towel, or something to absorb the hit in the box, and you can shoot all day long inside. I kind of miss the old style since you had casings to worry about, and ejecting shells. The tommy gun version worked like a pump action shot gun and was way cool. But the new one is fun too, just blast away in full auto is fun. They are accurate, or rather consistent. Since you really can't adjust sights on them, you have to know where they hit from point of aim, but you can get one holer's with them.
 
The new gas pistols are the way to go. High quality models from Western Arms do have metal, click adjustable sights ala Bomar which can be adjusted to match the point of aim.
 
These things sound great for playing in my garage. How much do they cost? Anybody know of any web sight for these guns?
 
www.tapco.com sells the cheap spring guns (you must rack the slide each time to compress a spring.) for 18 bucks. I have a UHC Beretta M9 that while it shoots slightly high, for 20 bucks it's great for plinking in a small space (my dormroom)

The gas guns run from 115 dollars for a Tokyo Marui M9 (an excellent cheap gun) to "**expletive** I could by the real thing for that much." A metal-bodied, trigger reworked, everything but the kitchen sink custom GBB from Den Trinity will run upwards of 1000.

The third type of airsoft gun is the AEG, which use batteries and motors to fire, and usually is a replica of a rifle or SMG.

www.redwolfairsoft.com

Redwolf is a great overseas mail order store. The advantage is dirt cheap prices and a great selection, but the trade off is some really steep shipping charges.

www.socalairsoft.com

A good place to find reviews, and learn about the hobby.

What exactly are you looking for in an airsoft gun anyway? (Something to play around with, paintball type games, serious IPSC practice, etc.)
 
To begin, heed ajw on these. They are not toys.
Now having said that, when Terri and I bought into our holster franchise we received approximately 30 of these to be used to mold leather holsters to guns. I "play" with them constantly. :o
As a rule if I am watching televsion, talking on the phone or what have you I have one in my hand (following all the safety rules). They are not overly accurate but they are great for training and safety reenforcement.
Ours are from various manufactures but one is inscribed with something that I get a kick out of.
It reads, "Do not aim at the beast". I know it is well meant and something is lost in the translation but I chuckle every time I read that. It is written on a 1911 relica.

------------------
Gunslinger

I was promised a Shortycicle and I want a Shortycicle!
 
There may be come confusion over which guns we're talking about here. If these are the battery-powered, fully-automatic airsoft's advertised in Cheaper Than Dirt's current mailer...I bought two of them. My boys love 'em. They are not powerful enough to penetrate skin, but they do sting pretty good at close range. I let my boys shoot each other, provided they're wearing eye protection and long-sleeved clothing. Probably the worst way in the world to teach gun handling! But way fun.

BTW, they are surprisingly accurate. With a 3-round burst, I can hit a quarter across the room more often than not. Yes, I play with them, too.
 
You let your boys shoot each other????
When I was a boy we had to use real BB guns!!
I guess today's youth is getting soft..LOL
 
My berreta clone is preatty fun, I use it when I cant get to the range or if i wanna practice while I have to do something on the computer. you can even buy spare mags and practice quick mag changes i'm sitting here shooting at the target i've got across the room and i'm drilling the bullseye with boring regularity. The ones from tapco are pretty good they even have an MP5 clone and cheaper than dirt has an M-16 clone at decent prices. One quick tip I've found that pages from a magazine make good targets (Leonardo Decaprio pics) from old magazines. Oh yea if youve got rodent problems they can take mice out trust me....
 
There is a difference between the mini-electrics (1:3 scale), which you see advertised for 20 bucks in Cheaper than dirt:
mini-m16.jpg

and the full on 1:1 replica AEGs(Automatic Electric Gun) used in paintball type games, or for people who want full auto but can't afford it:
m16a2_low.jpg


Also, there is a lot of crap out there. If you are going to buy Airsoft, go with Tokyo Marui for AEG's, and go with any of the Japaneese companies for Gas guns, being sure to avoid the Korean knock-off brands.
 
Yeah, you definitly get what you pay for when it comes to these bb guns. A lot of the things you see advertised in the US like at cheaper then dirt are cheap bb guns such as the spring cocked or AA battery powered models mentioned above. While the cheap stuff is good for the kids, they really do seem like toys compared to the higher quality airsoft stuff from japan like Rakekniven suggested. The battery powered guns from japan run off large nicad packs, look exactly like the real thing down to the trademarks, and you definitly don't want your kids shooting each other around the house with them. If you're at all curious about these, you owe it yourself to buy one because they are a blast! For 1/3 the price of a glock, you can buy one of these airsoft gas pistols which you'll end up using 10 times as often.
 
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