What is an Airsoft Gun?

Airsoft guns are highly realistic replica toy guns used in airsoft sports designed to safely shoot 6mm plastic BBs at other players without risk of serious injury. Entry-level guns can shoot up to 30 feet while high-end models can shoot 200 feet and beyond, airsoft guns are designed for gaming with fellow players in military simulations, elimination games, survival games, capture the flag, and many more, similar to paintball without the messy paint. There is a vast library of different airsoft guns to choose from, ranging from historical lever action rifles to sci-fi guns featured in our favorite videogames but airsoft guns are mainly classified according to their power source and methods of propulsion. These include:

Spring airsoft guns are the easiest to use and least expensive to buy, they are operated by manually pulling back the bolt or slide to cock the gun before each shot. They require no external input of gas or batteries to function making them cheap and easy to use; however they lack the speed and power to be competitive in games against gas or electric guns.

Electric airsoft guns also known as AEGs for rifles or AEPs for pistols offer ease of use, consistent performance and reliability that can last an entire day. AEG/AEPs are powered by airsoft batteries and use a motor, gears and spring to drive a piston to propel the airsoft BB pellets out of the gun. While electric guns may not offer the most realistic shooting experience compared to more popular gas blowback guns, electric guns require less maintenance in game and offer consistent performance regardless of temperature making them ideal for newer shooters.

Gas airsoft guns are powered by compressed airsoft gas delivered through the gun’s magazine or reservoir and are powered by either green gas or CO2, they can shoot either semi-auto or full-auto and can be either have a non-blowback (NBB) or gas blowback (GBB) style of action.

NBB guns like the Tokyo Marui Mk23 SOCOM are gas powered but do not feature the reciprocating bolts and slides of GBBs. Whilst lacking realism, NBBs are very gas efficient as no gas is used to move any parts, this also means NBBs tend to shoot harder than equivalent guns as 100% of the gas is used to propel the bb. One distinct advantage of NBBs is that due to a lack of moving parts, they tend to be far quieter than GBBs and useful for players who prefer to use stealth in game.

GBBs are by far the more popular variant of gas gun because they are much more fun to shoot. Gas blowback airsoft guns have bolts or slides that will cycle back and forth automatically on each trigger pull, greatly increasing the realism of firing the gun. The realism is further enhanced if the moving part in question is made of a heavier material as the recoil sensation can be quite pronounced, especially if the gun can accept higher pressure gasses.

Where to buy the best airsoft guns?

Here at eHobby we have a wide range of cool airsoft guns of different types and brands ranging from AEGs like the KRYTAC War Sport LVOA-C to the GBB Tokyo Marui M4 MWS series. It is also important to note that finding out what gun is best for you is dependent on a combination of assessing you preference for the gun’s shooting performance, reliability, internal and external build quality, value and collectability.

How much are airsoft guns?

Airsoft guns can have a significant price range determined by a number of factors including construction materials, R&D and production quantity. The price can also be affected by your personal preferences as the more power, accuracy, durability and realism you want, the more the gun will cost. The brand of the airsoft gun can also be a significant factor on a gun’s cost, high end brands with licenses such as Umarex, Cybergun, and ASG will cost remarkably more than brands that tend to make unlicensed clones.

What is the fastest shooting airsoft gun?

The fastest shooting airsoft guns are arguably HPA rifles, their external air supply together with an advanced fire control system allows them to achieve rates of fire that cannot be possible with other propulsion methods. However, gas airsoft guns like the KSC M11, Umarex Glock 18c and Action Army AAP-01 also have very fast rates of fire due to their light moving parts. There are several rapid firing electric guns too; the Tokyo Marui High Cycle series are designed for rapid fire out of the box, though it is possible to upgrade your AEG to achieve such high rates of fire with aftermarket parts.