Airsoft Guns

[Rebel62]

Any of you own any Airsoft Guns? My son fired some at a friends house yesterday and now he's all over me to get him one.

I did a google search for any issues with these guns. I can't seem to find anything dangerous with them. They actually appear to be safer than BB or pellet guns.

Any experiences, positive or negative would be appreciated.

[AustinsCE]

Originally posted by Rebel62
My son fired some at a friends house

Hey, there you go. Shoot the house, you cant miss

My friend has the fully automatic rifle and yeah they're safe. I guess they have tournaments and stuff just like paintball, but cleaner, and probably safer still. And more fun. They're kinda cool, because, at least the one I used, has an electric motor and batteries are easier to change than gas, IMHO.

[Walrus]

Airsofts are fun, and relatively safe, with proper precautions. They fire projectiles (plastic BBs of 6mm dia) at up to 400fps, so eye protection is a must.

My sons have several, and I enjoy shooting them as well. I made an indoor range in the basemant to catch the BBs which prevents them from being all over the house. Besides, caught and recovered can be used again...

The target I made was a 2x2 frame,on legs, with a leg of pantyhose as a funnel. The paper targets attach to the front of the frame, and the hose act as a net to snag the projectiles. The kids can print out any type of picture to use as a target (like doom, Max Payne, etc) from their computers (I have even scanned small-bore rifle targets to print). The pistols are kinda accurate at 15-20 feet surprisingly. The rifles are even moreso!

I have read that paintballs can be bought for airsoft products. The crosman auto pistol my one son has is batery powered and has a powered slide to mimic the slide on a real pistol.

Cool Hobby, if used responsibly (and can teach youngsters respect and proper firearm techniques).

Enjoy!

[420SEL]

I've got one - a glock - I picked up in Korea back in 95. They were all over the place there back then. Every little kid between the ages of 5 and 10 were running all over the place with them. Mostly handguns, but some M-16's and MP5s. I still have mine, but it never leaves the house. Up here it is an offence to point a handgun at a person, and that includes replicas, even if they don't fire plastic BBs. Add that to the fact that mine doesn't have a bright red or orange tip and that I really don't want to get blown away by a cop who thinks it's real (you'd have to be within about 5 feet to tell its not), or have the cops called by a nervous neighbour I mainly keep mine in the closet. My wife got tired of finding little plastic BBs all over the place. I really really regret not having brought home my MP5 from Korea, but I was sure airport security would freak if they had x-rayed by luggage so I left it, but the Glock got through in the checked bag.

I don't know if you can get them in the states or not, but in Korea they had different coloured BBs, and I swear the green ones went farther and faster than the white or blue ones.

They loads of fun. My friends and I used to run through the back alleys of Seoul shooting each other in the early hours of the morning, and the reason I originally bought one was that all the kids in my apartment block had them and they used to shoot at me everyday on my way home from work. You should have seen their faces the day I came home and pulled the MP5 out of my bag and got a little revenge on them. They really don't even sting much through clothing unless you get hit from a few feet away, but I still wouldn't want to take one in the eye. I have seen some of these kids get some nasty welts off their friends with them.

[Ara T.]

They're safe as long as you use eye protection when you're playing around with your buddies.

[Rebel62]

Thanks all - they sound pretty safe. what would you say the minimum age would be? My son has 2 Red Riders that he can only fire with me around. We target shot in the backyard. He has also fired his grandfather's .22 Winchester. So he is pretty good with guns.

[Ara T.]

Sounds like to me that he can handle the responsibility. How old is he? If he's pretty young though you can bet that his peers won't be like him.

[KylePavao]

A gas Operated Tokyo Marui SIG P228

A battery operated Tokyo Marui FN FAL

and a spring Tokyo Marui HK USP MK23


Safe, and only stings a bit. The FAL gets going at like 380 FPS, so it hurts at anything closer than 8 ft.

[Rebel62]

Originally Posted by Ara T.

Sounds like to me that he can handle the responsibility. How old is he? If he's pretty young though you can bet that his peers won't be like him.

He's 10 but he's also pretty responsible. We shoot the Red Riders in the backyard a few weekends a month, so he's in tune to gun safety. His friend that turned him onto Airsoft is also 10.

[Rebel62]

Oh, I saw an article that these guns are used for police trainings, so it must be pretty realistic. Also, at the entry level they apear to be very inexpensive. I'm wondering if that's just to get you involved and then move up to the high prices gas and electric versions?

[diametricalbenz]

I picked up my first airsofts in Hong Kong in 1990....that was fun getting two plastic SMG's through customs

The best ones are Japanese made. The fit and finish on some are equal or better than actual firearms. They can't own guns in Japan or in HK so they had a market for nearly perfect pistols, rifles, shotguns, and SMG's. There are Taiwanese ones and Chinese ones made. The pistols run about $20-30 for the single shot spring pistols all the way up to $3000 for a electric rechargeable scuba tank compressed air powered minigun The nicest airsoft rifles you can get are electric ones that run about $3-400 M4, AK, FAL, Thompson M1 etc. Gas ones are easier to use and don't have the electric motor whining but they're expensive to maintain and the gas supply is scarce. One alternative is to use a garden sprayer (as I did) as a air tank but that requires frequent charging and makes portability an issue.

The cheaper pistols are all plastic. The nicer pistols and rifles are available online in small quantities that mimic real firearms with actual zinc weights to simulate the balance of real firearms. Those are actually handy because they are an excellent training tool. I have an airsoft Glock that I have been practicing with for 10+ years. I hadn't fired a real Glock up until then but I did fire one at a range one day and shot amazingly well due to being accustomed to the grip angle and so forth.

Keep in mind that the barrel tolerances of these guns isn't that great. It's a plastic 6mm BB in an often smoothbore barrel. I have some rifled barrels although it really doesn't seem to do much. The pellets corkscrew beyond 20 feet anyhow. They're a lot of fun especially the automatics and you don't make enough noise to make your neighbors suspicious of you.

[Rebel62]

Diametricalbenz:
Thanks for the info - I'm thinkling it may be OK to pick a couple of the up - thanks again

[Hatterasguy]

My friend Joe (handle is W140 S600) has a Japanese made G36. It is so cool! It looks just like the real thing down to the markings! His friend is in the military and has fired real G36's. He says it feels and handles just like an unloaded one. Some of the exterior parts are actual G36 parts.

Just be careful these things look just like real guns! I almost bought and AK47 but I cheaped out.

[Rebel62]

I just went on EBay and there are Airsoft guns all over the place - 60 pages worth!! Many with really low starting bids - not 1 single ad with a bid? All with grande shipping charges - $24+. Sounds like a scam - you know - if it's too good to be true....

Anyone buy one of these guns on EBay? Many said they are 1:1 scale. Or should I just head over to Bass Pro and pay retail+.

Many of these ads state paintball or 6mm BBs can be used? I'm only looking for 6mm, does it matter? Thanks in advance for your help - you've all been very informative

[Ara T.]

Be very careful of what you buy...a lot of airsoft stuff is pure cheap crap. If your son is starting on a spring powered gun, get him a japanese brand (Tokyo Marui). If he's starting with a gas gun, get him either a KSC or a Tokyo Marui. If he's going all the way for an electric, get him a Tokyo Marui.

As you can see I was way into this stuff a couple years ago before I got my driver's license and my car