Airsoft
Airsoft, also known as survival game is a team-based shooting game. The gameplay involves participants eliminating opposing players by shooting them with spherical plastic projectiles shot from airsoft guns. It is most popular in Japan.
Although similar to paintball in concept and gameplay, airsoft pellets do not leave visible markings on their target and hits are not always apparent, though the pellets can leave small bruises or welts on exposed skin, the game relies heavily on an honor system in which players who have been hit are expected to call themselves out of play in keeping with honesty, fairness and sportsmanship.
The airsoft guns used are mostly magazine-fed, with some having manual/battery motor-powered spring-piston pump power plants similar to Nerf Blasters, or pneumatically powered by replaceable compressed gas canisters. Many airsoft guns also have mounting platforms compatible with genuine firearm accessories, and most cosmetically resemble real firearms. This makes them popular for military simulation and historical reenactments. There are also professional gun safety and weapon manipulation training conducted with airsoft in some fields, such as law enforcement training, due to better safety and lower cost. The United States Coast Guard, for instance, officially adopted airsoft for training in 2018.
Airsoft gameplay varies in style and composition, but often ranges from action shooting to short organized live action role-playing scenarios, close quarters battle skirmishes, military simulations or historical reenactments. It is played in indoor courses or outdoor fields. Combat situations on the field may involve the use of genuine military tactics to achieve objectives set in each game. Participants may attempt to emulate the tactical equipment and accessories used by modern military and police organizations. A game is normally kept safe by trained professionals acting as supervisors and marshals.
Before gameplay, an airsoft gun's muzzle velocity is usually checked through a chronograph and usually measured in feet per second or joules, a measurement for kinetic energy. Some countries have a set velocity or muzzle energy restriction; guns shooting over the legal muzzle velocity can be confiscated. Some playing fields further restrict minimum engagement distances, requiring players to yell "Bang Bang!" or other verbal phrases in order to prevent shooting other players at close distances, which may cause injury.
In certain countries use of laser sights of any kind is illegal, including gun scopes with integrated lasers.
History
Airsoft originated from Japan in the early 1970s, when photographer Ichiro Nagata, an avid shooting enthusiast himself, thought about making model guns that shoot real projectiles that could not kill. These "guns" were trademarked as soft air guns, tailoring to the needs of shooting enthusiasts while conforming to Japan's strict weapons control laws. The name "soft air" referred to the compressed Freon-silicone oil mixture that was used as a propellant gas, which was significantly weaker than the canistered CO2| used in proper airguns. Originally designed for target shooting, the plastic balls used in these "soft air guns" can be shot at humans without causing injury due to the low muzzle energy. After toy car manufacturer Tokyo Marui introduced its revolutionary electric motor-gear box design, which allows sustainable rapid-fire using rechargeable batteries, soft air guns became popular for casual wargames, which the Japanese call survival games. Asahi Firearms was a model company from Japan who operated in the 1980s and 90s and was one of the early pioneers of the airsoft hobby.Airsoft guns spread to the United Kingdom in the late 1980s and early 1990s via a company called LS. They were sold in separate pieces and had to be assembled out of box before they were capable of shooting. These then became available to the rest of Europe and North America and rapidly gained popularity worldwide. Since the mid-1980s, airsoft has been adapted with a purely recreational application in mind, and the sport is enjoyed by all ages. Airsoft replicas are produced globally, with the majority being manufactured in East Asia. Many law enforcement agencies and military units within the United States now start using airsoft for force-on-force tactical training drills.
Equipment
The guns used in airsoft are typically classified as imitation firearms. They have a mechanism for shooting projectiles 6 mm or 8 mm in diameter.Airsoft guns are classified according to their operating principle, which can be spring-loaded, electric, or gas-powered, which may be referred to as Gas Blowback if including blowback features or alternatively Non-blowback if they do not. Some companies produce full replicas of counterpart grenade launchers which fire a projectile spray of pellets by use of a high-powered spring mechanism or a compressed gas propellant. There is also a type of airsoft gun that is powered by a single high-pressure air tank and a battery pack to power the internal FCU "Fire Control Unit" computer board. These guns are often known for their high and adjustable RPS or "Rounds Per Second" and durability. These HPA replicas are most often referred to as "PolarStars", although this refers to a popular brand of HPA engines and accessories.
A typical airsoft gun is noticeably lighter than its "real steel" counterpart due to the use of aluminum alloy and plastic materials, though some have added weights in them for a more realistic feel. Japan has specific rules about producing airsoft guns with metal parts, while newer guns, especially those made in Taiwan and Mainland China, have both internal and external parts that are metallic. Smoke caps, as well as noise amplifiers, are available for certain airsoft guns to add realism.
Gas handgun magazines usually contain 10 to 30 pellets in a standard-capacity magazine; however, some are high-capacity magazines and can hold 50 rounds or more. In the case of AEG rifles, magazines come in either real-capacity, low-capacity, mid-capacity, or high-capacity. These magazines have spring followers like in BB guns. The high-cap magazines often have a ratchet wheel that can be wound up periodically to force pellets up from the holding chamber of the magazine to the feeding chute. Due to loose pellets in the reservoir, they often make a rattling noise when running or walking. Some airsoft guns have a battery-powered box or drum magazine that holds thousands of pellets, but these are usually only used and allowed on LMGs type replicas.
It is common for owners to "tech" their guns. The majority of gearboxes are made to Tokyo Marui specifications and have aftermarket upgrade parts available commercially. Some gearboxes are proprietary in design. It is also possible to perform DIY modifications.
Hop-up
The "hop-up" system, which is installed in most stock airsoft rifles and pistols, is used to increase effective ranges by putting backspin on the pellets. The Magnus effect causes the pellets to experience more lift as they are shot, counteracting against gravity. A small rubber nub protrudes into the top of the barrel through a small hole, and it catches the top of the pellet as it moves past. Adjusting the hop-up makes the nub more or less protrude into the barrel, so that backspin is increased or reduced. Ideally, the hop-up should be adjusted so that the pellets fly as far as possible in a straight line without curving upward too far or dropping too quickly. Hop-Up does decrease the muzzle velocity. Ease and location of adjustment vary by gun design; some equipment provides a control that can be adjusted quickly during gameplay, while others may require partial disassembly. For example, a common location for Hop-Up adjustment is where the ejection port would be on a real firearm, which allows the machine to be covered while still allowing quick access to adjust the Hop-Up.Customization
Some players customize their airsoft guns, either to improve performance or for purely aesthetic reasons. Additions include scopes, fore-grips, and flashlights, red dot sights being the most commonly used. Red dot sights are used to help aim, fore-grips are used to get a better grip on the airsoft gun, and flashlights are used to illuminate dark areas and/or to blind opponents.Even though in certain countries lasers are illegal, they are popular attachments in the U.S. and Europe. Laser sights are more for their appearance than any practical effect, largely because they must be weak enough not to carry a risk of damaging another player's eyesight, which rules out using any laser powerful enough to produce a visible dot on the target in sunlight.
Also available are "mock suppressors/silencers". These resemble the actual firearm accessory that dampens sound. Since Airsoft does not use combustibles for propulsion these usually serve no function. Although there are models that function to "light up" a glow-in-the-dark BB using UV light similar to a tracer round.
Projectile
Most airsoft guns fire round plastic pellets, usually white, but Tracers are common as well. The pellets mostly range from 0.12 to 0.48 g. However, the most popular weights for AEGs and GBB* are 0.20 g to 0.32 g. Heavier rounds are typically used in long-range and sniper applications since they are more stable in flight and less easily deflected by wind.The pellets, which are called BBs, are usually bought in bags or bottles of 2,000 to 5,000, but other sizes are available, such as a 250,000 round package of tournament grade BBs. Biodegradable BBs are a fraction more expensive than non-bio counterparts, but many fields require them. BBs are typically 5.95mm ±0.01 mm in diameter.
Ballistics
| g | |
| ft/s | |
| Energy | J |
Due to the low muzzle energy and poor sectional density, the pain an airsoft pellet causes on skin impact is about the same as getting pinched. As a reference value, a standard 0.20 gram 6 mm pellet, which is the most common size and weight, traveling at has of kinetic energy.
Calculating the kinetic energy of an airsoft projectile is important for ensuring player safety. While a projectile’s ability to cause injury or penetrate a surface technically depends on energy density—that is, the kinetic energy divided by the impact area—this variable is nearly constant in airsoft, as most BBs have standardized diameters of 6 mm or 8 mm. As a result, the primary factor affecting the potential for injury or penetration is simply the kinetic energy of the BB. Despite this, safety limits in airsoft are often expressed solely in FPS, which fails to account for variations in BB mass. Heavier BBs, even at the same FPS, can carry more kinetic energy, a situation sometimes referred to in airsoft as "joule creep."
The kinetic energy formula is:
where is the mass in kilograms and is the speed in meters per second.
Different regions vary in the velocity airsoft guns are allowed to shoot at. In the United States, velocity differs from the type of gameplay field. Close Quarter Battle arenas typically regulate velocity on airsoft guns at around. For outdoor fields, velocity is usually regulated by the type of gun. With a standard pellet, fully automatic Airsoft Electric Guns are often set at less than, semi-automatic DMR-style AEGs at, and bolt-action sniper rifles at.
The maximum effective range of field-legal airsoft guns is around with a highly upgraded sniper rifle replica. Most airsoft guns used for field play will have an effective range of around, depending on the intended gameplay role. Most Airsoft guns are capable of shooting from, although it is also possible to purchase upgraded internals that will enable the gun to shoot up to or higher. In California, a common limit for CQB is. In Ireland, Italy and Japan the muzzle energy limit for airsoft guns is 1 joule no matter what the type of gameplay. In the UK, the law allows weapons locked to semi-automatic and bolt-action rifles to fire up to 2.5 joules. Any weapon "which is capable of discharging two or more missiles successively without repeated pressure on the trigger" is limited, by law, at 1.3 joules. Northern Ireland has a maximum velocity of with 0.20 g pellets, without regard to the type of equipment. In Sweden, the legal limitations of airsoft guns caps the energy limit at 10 joules for manual guns, and 3 joules for semi- and fully automatic guns.
The ballistics of spring- or electrically powered airsoft guns differ from real firearms in that a longer barrel will not always result in better accuracy. The "sweet spot" for barrel length in a spring/electric powered airsoft gun is around, beyond which added barrel length will not improve accuracy. In any case, barrel quality, velocity consistency, and hopup quality/design are more important factors with regard to accuracy. Added barrel length will result in slightly increased velocity if the cylinder size and compression are appropriate for the barrel length. For example, a gun with a large cylinder and a long barrel will shoot slightly harder than a gun with a small cylinder and a short barrel. This rule will apply even for barrels longer than, if there is enough cylinder volume and air compression to propel the pellet through the barrel. However, the resulting velocity increase will be hardly noticeable. The only considerable advantage of using a longer inner barrel in an AEG or spring-powered gun is that it generally will make the gun quieter due to the weakened muzzle pop.
In gas-powered guns, added barrel length can result in increased velocity and accuracy to a degree. Tighter-bore barrels will increase velocity because there will be less space between the pellet and the barrel for the air to escape through. Most stock airsoft guns have bore barrels, but best performance is usually seen with "tightbore" barrels, which are in diameter. However, the tighter the bore, the more likely the chance of a pellet jam, and subsequently, tightbores need to be cleaned and lubricated regularly. It is generally agreed upon that a high-quality 6.01-6.02 mm barrel will provide the highest muzzle velocity, while a good-quality 6.03 mm or 6.05 mm barrel will provide the best compromise between power, accuracy and ease of maintenance. The actual accuracy difference between tightbore sizes is debatable and usually outweighed by bore consistency. Although, with the newfound popularity with HPA guns, the debate has been opened that barrels with a larger diameter could provide a more accurate shot. Due to the higher volume of air surrounding the pellet it negates the chance of the pellet coming into contact with the barrel, throwing the pellet's trajectory off, similar to a musket, in how the bullet slams about before leaving the barrel.