What is Airsoft?
Airsoft in adventure sport similar to paintball, only instead of using paint guns, Airsoft players use AEGs (Automatic Electric Guns) and Gas powered guns. Airsoft guns fire a small plastic pellets at ranges up to 100-150 feet. While there are many types of games that can be played they tend to revolve around two concepts Skirmishes and Milsim. Skirmishes are elimination games. Two or more teams are formed and various matches are played. Emphasis is on speed and quick play. Milsims (Military Simulations) are really what sets Airsoft apart as an adventure sport. In Milsim, the gaming is scenario driven, with more complex games involving branching story lines and lasting up to 12 and 24 hours! Emphasis in these games is on endurance, planning, and sound strategy. Milsim is really what attracts most players to Airsoft! Most regular PQAC events combine elements from Skirmishes and Milsim. Usually quick scenarios are played out, and players are eliminated as they are hit.
Airsoft is a broad term that refers to the sport/game of airsoft and the toy weapons used in the sport. Although there are many types of airsoft guns, all of them share certain characteristics. All airsoft guns shoot 6mm or 8mm (rarely) plastic bbs, and are designed to replicate real firearms. Most airsoft guns are made in 1:1 scale, meaning that they are the exact size of the real firearm they mimic. Airsoft guns are commonly used as part of a sport or game played similarly to paintball or laser tag.
AirSoft has a relatively short history. It was first designed and marketed in the United States about 30 years ago by a major gun company and was conceptualized as a new approach in BB gun applications. In place of the utilitarian air gun designed for hunting, AirSoft was created with a purely recreational application in mind. Enjoyed by people who target practice or indoor plinking with friends who are not concerned about the high power hunting application of a BB or pellet gun, and just want to have fun. This is exactly where AirSoft fits. AirSoft’s design centers on a unique propulsion system utilizing a small amount of air to accurately shoot a lightweight BB. It produces a lower impact energy with a less damaging projectile that is accurate enough to be FUN, but without the in inherent lethal capabilities of traditional BB Guns! As AirSoft has evolved, manufacturers added another important feature which drew hobbyists and collectors alike, to the sport. By modeling AirSoft after w
Airsoft is a sport…a game…and a training tool. Airsoft is also a hobby for enthusiasts to collect and display, or simply have fun with. Airsoft guns are used all over the world for target shooting, firearms training instructors, class III-weapons enthusiasts, motion-picture studios, and most commonly, for tactical and military simulation war games.
What you see in our on-line stores are not real guns, but are realistic BB firing replicas called airsoft. To understand what airsoft is, it is important to understand what it is not. Airsoft is different from the traditional BB guns common in Europe and in the United States, which often fire 0.177 caliber metal BBs (round or pellet shaded) at speeds of 350fps to 1,000fps. Power is usually by way of C02 cartridges or through hand-cocking air power. Some of these BB guns resemble real weapons in their general shape. But in almost all cases, they are modified somewhat in terms of details or in the way their switches function. They will also never carry the trademarks or names of their real counterparts. As such, close inspection will always allow you to distinguish between a BB gun and a real gun. BB guns can be used for sport shooting or hunting, but are not suited for indoor shooting or war-gaming due to their high power. These BB guns are incapable of shooting full auto.
