What is Airsoft?

Airsoft is a combat sport similar to Paintball in which participants eliminate opponents by hitting each other with (6 or sometimes 8 mm) plastic ball bearings (BB's - although BB stands for 'bullet ball' in reference to Airsoft), launched from airsoft guns, that can be powered by CO2, Green Gas, spring, or electrically powered gearboxes. Participants typically use varying types of weapons designed as replicas of real firearms, tactical gear, and accessories used by military and police organizations. In North America and Europe, there is a growing interest in airsoft.

Airsoft Guns

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, magazine capacity) or realism the player requires.

Airsoft guns have three broad classifications depending on their use in the game which in turn determines the pellets speed and energy generated. Besides the normal ranges or class, there are weapons designed for longer ranges, typically sniper rifles and shorter ranges (also called CQB|Close Quarter Battle and usually of 200 feet or less). CQB situations include close range confrontations such as "house entry" where maneuverability is more important than range or power. The airsoft guns used in these scenarios typically fire less than 360 Feet per second|fps to ensure safe operation. Some high-powered and well-upgraded airsoft sniper rifles can fire 6mm pellets at velocities of about 600 fps. Most airsoft guns typically fire 200-450 fps, since they are used outdoors for most operations, balancing good speed and range with energy generated.

Grenades & Grenade Launchers

Players can use grenades, grenade launchers,smoke grenades, mines, and M18A1 Claymore Antipersonnel Mine|claymores that utilize explosives (pyrotechnics). Most of these "pyro" devices are powered by a gas. The hand grenades have many faults and therefore not as popular or common as grenade launchers like the M203 grenade launcher|M203 which launches a large number of pellets or foam slug rounds using green gas. And while most players, if they do at all use grenade launchers, will simply use an underbarrel launcher such as the M203, some players purchase heavier support weapons such as replicas of the Heckler & Koch 69 40mm grenade launcher, or a CAW revolving launcher, which can hold up to 6 40mm gas powered pellet grenades, (the pellet capacity of each grenade varies by its producer, and specified use, though grenades by MadBull Airsoft have been known to be able to fire over 200 pellets in a single shot), and shoot them in a semi-automatic mode. By using the Caw launcher, support gunners can get off up to 1224 rounds of 6mm ammunition in about 3 seconds. Mines are not popular in some cases either, because most only produce a mushroom cloud when activated without actually firing pellets, but an equally large amount of mines do fire 6mm pellets in large masses, similar to an M203 launcher. The airsoft M18A1 Claymore Antipersonnel Mine|claymore mine are more expensive in some cases, but popular due to their effectiveness. Anti-tank weapons exist such as the M-72, but they are not common or popular due to their weight and greater expense. These are rarely used in casual play but can be implemented when playing on an official airsoft field.

Airsoft BB's & Projectiles

Most airsoft guns fire spherical plastic pellets ranging from 0.12 to 0.88 gramsin weight, though the most popular weights are between .20 and .25 grams. Heavier rounds are typically used for sniping, as they are more stable in flight and thus, more accurate at long range. While BB's may be heavier, it is not necessary to have the gun upgraded to a very high FPS level. The best way to increase the accuracy of a rifle is to adjust the hop-up to the point of where the bb flies as straight and as far as possible without curving upwards. Pellets are typically 6mm in diameter, though 8mm varieties exist for specialty weapons. Pellet quality is important, as malformed pellets could easily damage the barrel of the airsoft weapon and/or the hop up system.
 
 Paintball pellets are also available for airsoft guns, but are unpopular due to the incompatibility with hop up systems, as well as the potential damage they could cause if a pellet were to burst inside the gun. While airsoft pellets are often called BBs, the BB gunis so named because it originally fired BB-sized shotgunshot or metric ball bearings of .177 caliber (steel BBs are actually between .172 and .173 inches (4.5 mm) in diameter). The price of low grade pellets range from $3.50, for a container of about 5000, to around $10 USD, for a large tub of about 10,000. Higher grade pellets can cost as much as $10 USD for 2000 BBs. Most middle to high grade pellets come slightly lubricated with a silicone spray.