Airsoft

[M4sherman]

So myself and some of my family (cousins and brother) were talking about getting into airsoft as we have access to 500+ acres of woodland and an urge to shoot each other with little plastic BB's, But first I would like to get a little information.

First what are some durable brands of airsoft guns (prefer them to be American made).

Second question do they make Bio-degradable BB's?

Third what is some general advice on shooting family members with little plastic BB's

[jonlisha]

Don't know much about air soft but have you thought of paintball? Kind of biodegradable, and you can prove you hit them =)

[Dolomite_supafly]

I would forget about American made, most of the high quality guns come from overseas. They have gottne so realistic that most parts from the real guns will interchange.

I never really got into them but have researched as well as bought a number of them for my son and his friends to use.

There was even a few that have been banned from importation by the ATF. The fire controls were close enough to a real MG that they were afraid someone could swap lowers and have a MG. I called BS then looked up the inards and there were exactly like a real M16. The bolts cycled as well as locked back on an empty magazine just like a real gun. If I remember correctly those were above the cost of most real semi auto AR's.

You need to figure out now whether you want gas guns or electric gun. I have messed with both. Gas guns are good because you never have to spend time charging anything. They also tend to have a higher FPS than battery guns. Battery guns are better because they are cheaper to run. Battery guns can be made to shoot as fast as gas guns but it takes some upgrades.

I will say this, you are going to spend close to what a real gun costs to get a high quality airsoft shooter. They do make BB's that are biodegradeable. If you wind up with some that aren't they work well mixed in with tumbling media used to clean brass.

I would call Airsoft Knoxville and talk to them. I have known some of the people who run it for 10 years now. I knew some of them before they opened the shop and they are good people.

Airsoft Knoxville - Sporting Goods - Knoxville, TN | Facebook

Dolomite

[Lumber_Jack]

+1 on the Amreican made comebt by Dolomite. I don't know if you can find one.

That aside KWA is a good brand. We bought my 17yo brother-in-law an M4 and a 1911 airsoft pistol. They have been great and function flawlessly. They are about $250 for the rifle and $200 for the pistol (I think) there are less expensive models but just like real guns, you get what you pay for.

Yes they do make biodegradable BBs

I would google search airsoft and look at the top sites to get a ln idea of cost.

A couple of things rifles use batteries and cycle in semi and full auto just like a real gun.

Pistols on the other hand are much different. they come in Springer, which means you cycle the slide by hand after ever shot, or blowback which uses either Green Gas or Co2 to cycle like a normal gun. Springers are cheap but not much fun to shoot. Green Gas is the best but most will run you over $100.

Here is a good site to browse through.

http://www.trinityairsoft.com/

I will say this, shooting the full auto airsoft gun is fun!

Edited September 26, 2011 by Lumber_Jack

[Murgatroy]

I don't actually think there are any American manufacturers of Airsoft guns.

I bought a slew of guns for my crew several years ago at work for a team building exercise.

Airsoft is huge in Japan and other countries where guns are outlawed, and as such, they have gotten good at making them.

Biodegradable ammo exists, they cost a bit more than the plastic ones, but they are still reasonable.

There are many different brands out there, but most of them are clones of the two top brands, Tokyo Marui and Classic Army. If you don't buy one of the top brands, make sure they are compatible, as most of the accessories will be as well, and cheaper.

Airsoft isn't cheap though, not for the good stuff. The $40 guns you see don't have any power or accuracy. If you want something decent you are in the $200 range really quick. And the price goes up quick. Gas is better than electric, electric is better than spring.

The guys at Knoxville Airsoft are good, I think they recently changed their name to Parafrog though. They get a lot of their stuff through Airsoft Atlanta. I have gotten a lot of my stuff from Airplat.com.

[bigwakes]

I have an Echo1 Platinum edition. It shoots about 390 FPS out of the box. Most Airsoft fields have a limit of 425 FPS for AEGs (automatic electric gun) and that's what you want to look for in a rifle. If you buy a Classic Army or Tokyo Mauri you will be forced to upgrade the internals to get it up to speed. Most of the CA and TMs shoot around 300 or less FPS because Japanese field limits are much lower than in the U.S. KWA and Echo1 have the best quality and decent out of the box FPS combination. JG gives up a lot on quality, but they are probably the best budget ($120 or so) high FPS out of the box gun. I would find a field and play a few games with rented gear to decide what you want to buy. If you have a real AR15 than an M4 Airsoft gun makes sense but they do tend to be more expensive than say an MP5 or less popular model.

[M4sherman]

Cool info so far. I think at first I will try to find a good used one if possible as they pop up on craigslist occasionally while I think everyone else will probably endup with walmart specials .

So what would yall suggest as a sub $200 AK 74 style rifle?

[Genphlux]

Hey man, I wasn't sure if you've been there yet or not but the guys at http://www.tnairsoft.com are based in Memphis and set up games pretty regularly. I haven't been active in a while but I'm in the Memphis area and used to play all the time. It's a lot of fun.

[Guest capt usa]

I have a UTG L96 Sniper rifle that only cost $150 off the net. It's a spring powered bolt action that is extremly accurate. I shoot a 25g BB which will shoot around 450 feet per second and can easily hit a human size target out to 100 yards (in a light wind). You can get upgrade kits which will improve the accuracy and velocity. I have owned both full auto and single shots and have found this rifle to be my favorite to compete with.

[M4sherman]

Well I picked up an AEG off of Craigslist Saturday and I must say that it was A:Fun and B: a Better Workout than my IST. The main reason for the workout was that me and another guy on my team decided to run around the other teams flank (10 acre field) every match to attack the lazy campers from behind . very fun day and definitely a nice break from the seriousness of real firearm matches.

Also I was impressed by how well made some of these air-rifles are as the one I was using looked, felt and handled very much like a real A-15

[Guest coldblackwind]

Cool info so far. I think at first I will try to find a good used one if possible as they pop up on craigslist occasionally while I think everyone else will probably endup with walmart specials .

So what would yall suggest as a sub $200 AK 74 style rifle?

I see you got one, but as for ak74 I looked into airsoft a while ago but couldn't find anyone to play. I seem to recall echo 1 makes a decent looking ak for something like $120.

[TN Outlaw]

me my dad and brother and a bunch of other family have airsoft wars like 1 time a month with like 10 people there it is awesome i have a JG m16a3 i had it upgraded it shoots around 450 Fps

[M4sherman]

Mine is a UTG AR-15 with a 10" barrel and quad rail....weight close to ten friggen pounds

[Rishu Madaan]

Take a look on http://airsoftnut.com/

[Moped]

Wow!  This may be the oldest thread Ive seen resurrected!