Post by ZERO on May 4, 2023 15:32:45 GMT 1
Since you have made it this far, I suppose that I don't need to explain how airsoft is a team-oriented tactical wargame not unlike paintball. There might be a lot of things you have figured out at this point. long before you started reading this words. I will do my best to give you a quick rundown of things to consider and mistakes not to make. It's not rocket science, but there are some things you need to know before you start playing. With this out of the way, allow me to cut to the chase.
A very unfortunate item are protection goggles or glasses. No one really likes to wear them, as they obscure your view, fog up right when you encounter an enemy and just look like shit most of the time. This is the reason why many fresh players use masks or goggles made out of mesh. Take a good look at them. Good, now file them in your brain under "don't want".
Those are pure crap. Even if it's true that they will protect you from most BB hits, I don't think that "most" is something you would like to hear in one sentence with the words "eye", "protection" and " from injury". Whenever I tested one of those mesh things by shooting them a couple times point-blank, they failed. Every. Time....
You could argue that no one will shoot you in your face point-blank, but even if the mesh indeed happens to reflect the BB, you could still sustain eye-injury from tiny fragments of metal and paint from the coating on the "protective" surface.
Not all about mesh is bad however. Almost everyone i know uses mesh masks to protect his nose and teeth from incoming BBs. Although an airsoft BB could easily cause permanent damage to a tooth as well, I would argue, that if a BB would really penetrate the mesh (which seems to be much thicker on the mask I am recommending) it would unlike retain enough energy to hurt you seriously.
Most of my boys, including me, are using the "One Tigris" mesh mask, which you can find for around 20€. In terms of glasses, I personally prefer the "Swisseye Raptor", which comes with 3 lenses in different colors. The things I did to some of those lenses in order to test their durability are nothing short of attempted murder. Even shooting them with a high powered aursoft sniper rifle point-blank din't leave as much a a scratch. Since I deliberately tried to damage them and failed, I have absolute confidence in them, although I inspect them from time to time for structural damage. You can get them for about 40€ which seems steep, but it is truly the only investment in airsoft, where I am comfortable spending more money than might be neccessary. One downside however, is that they do not come with a headstrap, which keeps them from falling off your face while you are being shot at. I am using a strap that I made myself for the substantial material cost of 10 cents.
Don't get me wrong. There are very good airsoft goggles around that are probably better than mine. Maybe they fog up less, maybe they are significantly cheaper. I am recommending you those specific glasse because I am using them for years. If you prefer a different brand or model, just be sure to only buy glasses or goggles that are certified according to at least one following norms:
EN 166 FT
EN 166 B
MIL-DTL-43511D
MIL-PRF 32432 Class 2/2a
MIL PRF 31013
MIL PRF 32432 Class 1/1a
This is certainly not a complete list. If you want to know more before you buy a mask or goggles, take your question to the forums. Most airsoft players went through their share of protective gear and can share their experience with you.
First, you should know that whatever gun you are about to choose is at its core - sports equipment - and like any sports equipment it can be improved or at least fine-tuned to your expectations and demands a various amount of maintenance and care. If you are just starting to play airsoft, you will not be interested in what I have to say in this regard. Don't worry, I will not bore you with gears for now. I would rather just tell you what kinds of airsoft guns there are.
AEG - Automatic Electric Gun
This is probably the most widespread airsoft gun. A battery is powering an electric motor, which turns gears inside something called a gearbox. Within the gearbox, a piston compresses and releases a spring. When the resulting airflow accelerates the BB, it briefly touches a small rubber part, known as HopUp, which gives the BB an upward rotation. This rotation improves the range and precision of the airsoft gun.
AEG are pretty much the standard among airsoft rifles. They can be modified to do anything, between engaging a target at a very long range to small and fast CQB builds which chew through their magazine at 30 shots per second.
GBB - Gas BlowBack
Mostly used in airsoft pistols, but no stranger to rifles (called GBBR) either, this system generates the airflow from a tank of airsoft gas which is usually stored in magazines along with the BBs. They use no electricity at all. The downside is the high price of magazines and the fact that they perform badly in cold weather. Other models use CO2 gas for propulsion of the BB. Those perform better in the cold than GBB, but require to be fed with CO2 cartiges regularly. Blowback means, that the pistol or rifle has actual moving externals which simulate the operation of a real firearm as well a sort of recoil. GBBs usually have the neat feature of operating like the real thing. You would need to operate the slide and reloading might require the same process as in a real firearm.
NBB - Non Blowback
Virtually the same thing as a GBB, but with no external operating receiver or bolt. They are usually cheaper than GBBs. Also more reliable.
EBB - Electric BlowBack
Actually an AEG feature. Like a GBB, it simulates movement of parts, but instead of gas, it uses the power from its battery. EBB started to be reliable and perform as good as normal AEGs only very recently. For now it remains a niche feature.
S-AEG
If you, for whatever reason, are planning to take your airsoft gun to Germany, pay attention;
In Germany all Airsoft guns, which generate more power than a peashooter, are classified as a firearm (!). Privately owned firearms can not be fully-automatic by law. Therefore airsoft guns with a power over 0,5 Joule, can only shoot semi-auto and are called S-AEG.
Furthermore they require to be marked with the "5 im Fünfeck" - a stamp on the gun's body that certifies that this semi-automatic. "firearm" is legal to be owned privately.
To sum it up: If you have an airsoft gun with power over 0,5 Joule and is fully automatic OR has no stamp, you are in possession of an illegal firearm.
Springer
The cheapest and simplest form of airsoft, where you pull back an operating part in order to generate air pressure, which is being released when you pull the trigger. That means click-clack after every shot.
What sounds absolutely horrific, actually works pretty well if you are using a springer pump-action shotgun, or a springer bolt-action sniper rifle. Your favourite youtube airsoft snipers are actually all using springers.
Now for your gun model. Now this is the most fun part and i absolutely won't take this fun from you by dictating or even proposing any specific model. I woul recommend that you go to one of the big internet stores and just look around. Before you fall in love with a specific model however, just google it and see what people are saying about it.
Back when I was starting to play airsoft, I didn't do that. So I went and bought a super sexy Steyr Aug A3 and all accessoires I thought were cool. This gun never saw an airsoft field, because It had so many issues to even make it out of my workshop. Had I conducted some proper research, I would have gotten myself something that actually works. The good news is, that in the end i used my first airsoft gun for parts and now have a Steyr AUG that actually works.
Years later, when I was smarter and already started to modify my guns, I wanted to buy an Fn Fal, cause I reeeeally like those, but thanks to some research I found out that there are practically no available magazines for it, so I scrapped that Idea and saved a fortune.
In any case, once you have found a, or better a couple guns you like, hop on the forums and ask around. Maybe someone here is selling his barely-used rifle for half the price and it happens to be exactly that tactical M4 you were looking for. Or maybe someone knows that that certain internet shop in Italy is having a SALE on Reflex optics.
Whatever you need, always get an opinion from the community. There are many things you are not considering, because you never thought about them. In love with John Wick's Glock? Did some research? Found a replica closely resembling a Taran Tactical JW2 Combat master? Got it all figured out? All reviews say buy? Then you will be very grateful to learn, that some other bloke on the forums already thought about buying the same thing, but then figured in the last moment, that he will never be able to get a holster for this thing, unless he orders it from the US for 350$. So he is cursed to carry the fancy TTI JW2 G32 with a Docter 2 IPSC sight in his fuckin' pants. John Wick my ass.
Conclusion: Talk before you buy.
Now this, is to be honest, a very inconvenient truth. I would like to be able to say that most airsofters come for the gun and stay for the fun, but unfortunately, this is rarely the case. A lot of guys I met in my day just quit airsoft before they properly started. Sometimes they just find out that airsoft is not for them. Other times life just gets in the way. Some just get frustrated by people within the community (yeah, we got a bunch of idiots alright). So over the years I lost a lot of good guys to other things than airsoft. I'm sure they have their reasons and a respect these. The majority of those guys remain my close friends and I am very grateful that for a while, we shared one more common interest. The ones that stayed on our hobby horse ride however, are just nothing short of awesome. Sometimes, when my alarm rings at fuck o' clock and i realize that in 2 hours I'll be lying in a puddle while someone will be shooting me in the head with little plastic balls, I am strongly considering staying at home and watch Netflix, but then I remember how much fun I had last time when I was playing war with my friends, so I grab my bag and go play. And 2 hours later, lying in the puddle, being hit in the head, I had absolutely 0 regrets. Thing is, in order to have fun playing airsoft, you have to play airsoft. There is nothing more to it.
1.)
Eyes are nice
We've all been there. One way or another, you got interested in airsoft. Maybe a friend took you along for a game and lend you his old gun. Maybe you watched some airsofter on youtube and got hooked. Either way, if you are anything like us, you have a very clear image of what kind of stuff you want. So you probably already spent some time on your local airsoft shop's website and fell for a gun that you always liked since you watched [insert 80s action movie]. Now let me tell you something, chances are, that you will waste 100% of your money you are about to invest in your new hobby. The problem with airsoft is, that there is a very big variation when it comes to quality and performance of gear, be it an airsoft gun or load bearing equipment. Sadly, the difference in quality can rarely be predicted by looking at the price. Also sadly, sometimes bad quality extends to even such vital equipment as protective gear. Before we talk about guns, I would like to make you aware of how very very bad some of this "safety" equipment is.Eyes are nice
A very unfortunate item are protection goggles or glasses. No one really likes to wear them, as they obscure your view, fog up right when you encounter an enemy and just look like shit most of the time. This is the reason why many fresh players use masks or goggles made out of mesh. Take a good look at them. Good, now file them in your brain under "don't want".
Those are pure crap. Even if it's true that they will protect you from most BB hits, I don't think that "most" is something you would like to hear in one sentence with the words "eye", "protection" and " from injury". Whenever I tested one of those mesh things by shooting them a couple times point-blank, they failed. Every. Time....
You could argue that no one will shoot you in your face point-blank, but even if the mesh indeed happens to reflect the BB, you could still sustain eye-injury from tiny fragments of metal and paint from the coating on the "protective" surface.
Not all about mesh is bad however. Almost everyone i know uses mesh masks to protect his nose and teeth from incoming BBs. Although an airsoft BB could easily cause permanent damage to a tooth as well, I would argue, that if a BB would really penetrate the mesh (which seems to be much thicker on the mask I am recommending) it would unlike retain enough energy to hurt you seriously.
Most of my boys, including me, are using the "One Tigris" mesh mask, which you can find for around 20€. In terms of glasses, I personally prefer the "Swisseye Raptor", which comes with 3 lenses in different colors. The things I did to some of those lenses in order to test their durability are nothing short of attempted murder. Even shooting them with a high powered aursoft sniper rifle point-blank din't leave as much a a scratch. Since I deliberately tried to damage them and failed, I have absolute confidence in them, although I inspect them from time to time for structural damage. You can get them for about 40€ which seems steep, but it is truly the only investment in airsoft, where I am comfortable spending more money than might be neccessary. One downside however, is that they do not come with a headstrap, which keeps them from falling off your face while you are being shot at. I am using a strap that I made myself for the substantial material cost of 10 cents.
Don't get me wrong. There are very good airsoft goggles around that are probably better than mine. Maybe they fog up less, maybe they are significantly cheaper. I am recommending you those specific glasse because I am using them for years. If you prefer a different brand or model, just be sure to only buy glasses or goggles that are certified according to at least one following norms:
EN 166 FT
EN 166 B
MIL-DTL-43511D
MIL-PRF 32432 Class 2/2a
MIL PRF 31013
MIL PRF 32432 Class 1/1a
This is certainly not a complete list. If you want to know more before you buy a mask or goggles, take your question to the forums. Most airsoft players went through their share of protective gear and can share their experience with you.
2.)
Gun talkin' time
Thank you for reading the tedious (but neccessary) part about protective equipment. Now it's about to get interesting because we will talk about your airsoft gun. Gun talkin' time
First, you should know that whatever gun you are about to choose is at its core - sports equipment - and like any sports equipment it can be improved or at least fine-tuned to your expectations and demands a various amount of maintenance and care. If you are just starting to play airsoft, you will not be interested in what I have to say in this regard. Don't worry, I will not bore you with gears for now. I would rather just tell you what kinds of airsoft guns there are.
AEG - Automatic Electric Gun
This is probably the most widespread airsoft gun. A battery is powering an electric motor, which turns gears inside something called a gearbox. Within the gearbox, a piston compresses and releases a spring. When the resulting airflow accelerates the BB, it briefly touches a small rubber part, known as HopUp, which gives the BB an upward rotation. This rotation improves the range and precision of the airsoft gun.
AEG are pretty much the standard among airsoft rifles. They can be modified to do anything, between engaging a target at a very long range to small and fast CQB builds which chew through their magazine at 30 shots per second.
GBB - Gas BlowBack
Mostly used in airsoft pistols, but no stranger to rifles (called GBBR) either, this system generates the airflow from a tank of airsoft gas which is usually stored in magazines along with the BBs. They use no electricity at all. The downside is the high price of magazines and the fact that they perform badly in cold weather. Other models use CO2 gas for propulsion of the BB. Those perform better in the cold than GBB, but require to be fed with CO2 cartiges regularly. Blowback means, that the pistol or rifle has actual moving externals which simulate the operation of a real firearm as well a sort of recoil. GBBs usually have the neat feature of operating like the real thing. You would need to operate the slide and reloading might require the same process as in a real firearm.
NBB - Non Blowback
Virtually the same thing as a GBB, but with no external operating receiver or bolt. They are usually cheaper than GBBs. Also more reliable.
EBB - Electric BlowBack
Actually an AEG feature. Like a GBB, it simulates movement of parts, but instead of gas, it uses the power from its battery. EBB started to be reliable and perform as good as normal AEGs only very recently. For now it remains a niche feature.
S-AEG
If you, for whatever reason, are planning to take your airsoft gun to Germany, pay attention;
In Germany all Airsoft guns, which generate more power than a peashooter, are classified as a firearm (!). Privately owned firearms can not be fully-automatic by law. Therefore airsoft guns with a power over 0,5 Joule, can only shoot semi-auto and are called S-AEG.
Furthermore they require to be marked with the "5 im Fünfeck" - a stamp on the gun's body that certifies that this semi-automatic. "firearm" is legal to be owned privately.
To sum it up: If you have an airsoft gun with power over 0,5 Joule and is fully automatic OR has no stamp, you are in possession of an illegal firearm.
Springer
The cheapest and simplest form of airsoft, where you pull back an operating part in order to generate air pressure, which is being released when you pull the trigger. That means click-clack after every shot.
What sounds absolutely horrific, actually works pretty well if you are using a springer pump-action shotgun, or a springer bolt-action sniper rifle. Your favourite youtube airsoft snipers are actually all using springers.
Now for your gun model. Now this is the most fun part and i absolutely won't take this fun from you by dictating or even proposing any specific model. I woul recommend that you go to one of the big internet stores and just look around. Before you fall in love with a specific model however, just google it and see what people are saying about it.
Back when I was starting to play airsoft, I didn't do that. So I went and bought a super sexy Steyr Aug A3 and all accessoires I thought were cool. This gun never saw an airsoft field, because It had so many issues to even make it out of my workshop. Had I conducted some proper research, I would have gotten myself something that actually works. The good news is, that in the end i used my first airsoft gun for parts and now have a Steyr AUG that actually works.
Years later, when I was smarter and already started to modify my guns, I wanted to buy an Fn Fal, cause I reeeeally like those, but thanks to some research I found out that there are practically no available magazines for it, so I scrapped that Idea and saved a fortune.
In any case, once you have found a, or better a couple guns you like, hop on the forums and ask around. Maybe someone here is selling his barely-used rifle for half the price and it happens to be exactly that tactical M4 you were looking for. Or maybe someone knows that that certain internet shop in Italy is having a SALE on Reflex optics.
Whatever you need, always get an opinion from the community. There are many things you are not considering, because you never thought about them. In love with John Wick's Glock? Did some research? Found a replica closely resembling a Taran Tactical JW2 Combat master? Got it all figured out? All reviews say buy? Then you will be very grateful to learn, that some other bloke on the forums already thought about buying the same thing, but then figured in the last moment, that he will never be able to get a holster for this thing, unless he orders it from the US for 350$. So he is cursed to carry the fancy TTI JW2 G32 with a Docter 2 IPSC sight in his fuckin' pants. John Wick my ass.
Conclusion: Talk before you buy.
3.)
Come out and play
Now this, is to be honest, a very inconvenient truth. I would like to be able to say that most airsofters come for the gun and stay for the fun, but unfortunately, this is rarely the case. A lot of guys I met in my day just quit airsoft before they properly started. Sometimes they just find out that airsoft is not for them. Other times life just gets in the way. Some just get frustrated by people within the community (yeah, we got a bunch of idiots alright). So over the years I lost a lot of good guys to other things than airsoft. I'm sure they have their reasons and a respect these. The majority of those guys remain my close friends and I am very grateful that for a while, we shared one more common interest. The ones that stayed on our hobby horse ride however, are just nothing short of awesome. Sometimes, when my alarm rings at fuck o' clock and i realize that in 2 hours I'll be lying in a puddle while someone will be shooting me in the head with little plastic balls, I am strongly considering staying at home and watch Netflix, but then I remember how much fun I had last time when I was playing war with my friends, so I grab my bag and go play. And 2 hours later, lying in the puddle, being hit in the head, I had absolutely 0 regrets. Thing is, in order to have fun playing airsoft, you have to play airsoft. There is nothing more to it.