Airsoft guns are replica weapons that are usually highly detailed. They are built for recreational purposes. The games they are involved in entail the opposing players attempting to shoot at each other as one would in a paintball match. Airsoft guns fire pellets, not real bullets, which can travel as fast as 260 mps.

The pellets are propelled by compressed gas or a spring loaded piston, or sometimes even an electric piston. They are usually made out of rubber or plastic. The gun can be fire manually or else by an electric motor or compressed gas, usually green gas, propane or Co2.

Airsoft guns are designed for people aged sixteen and over. With proper care they can be perfectly safe, although some safety concerns have arisen because of the airsoft guns. The pellets are almost always non-metallic and usually travel at to low a velocity to actually penetrate the skin. However, although metal pellets are banned on all Airsoft sites, they are still available from specialist stores. Some players even manufacture their own metal pellets.

Additionally, a plastic or rubber pellet could break the skin when fired at short distances, if a gun is upgraded to fire faster than 150 miles per second. A few sites will state that guns of this kind should not be used to play with, especially when they are upgraded in such a manner. There has also been a lot of concern over these guns being used during criminal activities.

During the 1990s there was a brief spate of robberies that involved the criminals using fake or replica guns in place of actual guns. The fakes were a lot easier to buy than real weapons, but could still be used to intimidate victims. To counter this, the American government has made it illegal to buy or sell airsoft guns that do not have an orange tip at the end of the barrel.

The origins of the airsoft gun go as far back as 1970s Japan. At this time it was illegal in Japan to own an actual firearm, so there was a demand for replicas. Some companies began to produce realistic spring loaded guns for public use. At first they fired a multitude of plastic and rubber projectiles. However, eventually they were standardized to either 6 mm or 8 mm. The spring loaded guns were eventually superceded by gas powered guns.

The pastime came to America in the 1990s. The first wave of Japanese guns on the open market would become known as “classic airsoft”. A decade later the next generation of airsoft guns became available. They were designed by the Tokyo Marui company and became known as the automatic electric gun. Japan had just started to go into recession when these products were launched. Japanese manufacturers began to collapse at an alarming rate, leaving only Tokyo Marui as the main manufacturer of airsoft.

Tokyo Marui worked to improve the accuracy of their guns and developed their advanced Hop up system. This system forms the basis of almost all of the modern airsoft guns. Tokyo Marui’s dominance was challenged in the early part of this decade by the Classic Army of Hong Kong. This company produced its own guns in direct competition to Tokyo Marui. Tokyo Marui has also been threatened by the growth of Chinese companies that produce cheap, entry level guns and supply them to the American market.

Author: Anthoy Carter enjoys the sport of airsoft and is very knowlegdeable about airsoft guns. Go to this website to find the best place to find airsoft guns.

Tags: Self Defence