What makes a good airsoft gun? This is a very important question because it should be a question you ask before you buy every single airsoft gun. If the gun you are looking at can’t satisfy most of the answers to that question, then you shouldn’t buy it. So again, we ask what makes a good airsoft gun.
Reliability
As with any weapon, reliability and ease of use is one of the most important aspects of a good airsoft gun. Simply put, if it doesn’t fire when you pull the trigger, you have a problem. In the real world, this is a matter of life and death, but in airsoft it can make the difference between you taking down your opponent or losing the game for your team. A good real world example of reliability and ease of use is the AK-47. No matter what happens, short of being melted by a nuclear blast or run over by a tank, the AK-47 will keep firing. It is also an extremely simple and easy to use weapon. And that is why it is the most widely used weapon in the world today.
Although reliability is an important aspect to look at with any airsoft gun (or weapon, for that matter), it is most important when it comes to airsoft pistols. Generally speaking, your pistol should be your side arm, a supplement to your main weapon. Whenever you actually have to use it, you already have a problem, because it generally means that your rifle is out of ammo and you are in close quarters battle with an opponent. No matter what situation you are in, your pistol must be ready and able to fire reliably or you’re toast.
Another important factor in a gun’s reliability is its maintenance time. The more reliable a gun is, the less time it is not shooting, and the less time you have to spend fixing it to correct a problem. No one likes to waste their time fixing a gun jam or reseating the barrel to make it shoot accurately. And if it breaks down during normal testing, you can be sure it will break down on the battlefield.
The bottom line is that the more reliable your airsoft guns are, the more likely you are to return home victorious instead of paying for the other team’s drinks.
Accuracy
Another important trait of a good airsoft gun is its accuracy. You can have an airsoft rifle that shoots 1000 rounds per minute, but if you can’t put those rounds on target you are wasting not only ammo but money. Although it is important to note that accuracy does depend mostly on the shooter, every gun has a certain level of accuracy. This is especially true when comparing the M-16/M-4 series of rifles to the AK-47 in real life. The M-16 is designed for accuracy whereas the AK-47 is geared more to the “spray and prey” shooter. Whenever an M-16 is put up against the AK-47 with two equally trained shooters at any distance beyond close quarters, bet on the M-16 every time.
A good airsoft gun is extremely accurate; you should be able to point it at a target, fire, and hit that target relatively easily. This has to do with a few things. The first is the length and quality of the barrel. Obviously a rile is more accurate than a pistol, and a sniper rifle is more accurate than a normal airsoft rifle. In these cases, barrel length and quality has a lot to do with the end result. Another factor in accuracy is the muzzle velocity. The faster that the projectile moves through the air, the less time it spends traveling to the target, and the effects of outside forces are diminished. This results in an increase in accuracy.
The greater your accuracy; the greater your chances of hitting your target. In a combat environment (or on the airsoft field), this becomes extremely important. If you have an accurate airsoft rifle, you will see a significant improvement on how well you do during a game. It will help you to take out opponents faster and with less expenditure of ammunition, resulting in a better chance that you will win the game.
Range
Although not important in close quarters combat, range becomes a major factor in a good airsoft gun when you are engaging a target in an open area. Although your eyes can easily see an opponent from a significant distance away, many airsoft guns simply don’t have the range to hit that target. Finding a gun that can shoot a decent distance is an important factor in finding a good airsoft gun.
The distance that an airsoft gun can shoot is an important factor because it allows you to engage and hit targets before they can engage you. It is a general rule in combat that whoever gets off the first shot is the one who will leave the battlefield victorious. Being able to shoot farther gives you that chance to take the first shot.
In general, range follows accuracy. Like accuracy, range usually favors the gun with the higher muzzle velocity. It also usually favors the gun with the longer barrel. However, this doesn’t mean that only a sniper rifle can have a great range. There are certainly weapons that have a long barrel in a short package. One of the most widely known airsoft examples of this is the Cybergun FAMAS electric airsoft rifle. This weapon, based off of its real world counterpart, makes use of a bullpup design to fit a full length barrel into a shortened package.
Rate of Fire
Although not as important as some of the other factors, the rate of fire is still very important when it comes to making a good airsoft gun. Rate of fire refers to how many rounds a gun can put downrange in a minute. This is important because the more rounds that go downrange, the better chance of hitting your target. A classic real world example is the US military. In actual full-blown combat conditions, US ground forces generally achieve a hit percentage of less than 10% (meaning that only 1 in 10 shots hits the target), but they still hit most of their targets because of the sheer volume of fire going downrange.
When applied to airsoft, one type of gun stands head and shoulders about the rest. Electronically powered airsoft guns definitely have the advantage when it comes to rate of fire. At the other end of the scale, spring powered airsoft guns are generally considered to have the lowest rate of fire. The average airsoft user is going to want a weapon that can shoot very fast and increase their chances of hitting the target.
The Price
The last characteristic of a good airsoft gun is the price. A good airsoft gun will not be the cheapest one available, but many of the mid-range priced guns do an excellent job. Once again, we are drawn to a perfect real world illustration of this concept: The AK-47. When outfitting their militaries, many countries want something that is going to do the job effectively without sacrificing quality or costing too much money. And that is why so many have chosen the AK-47, which governments can sometimes purchase for less than $60.
In the world of airsoft, however, a well priced gun that will deliver can generally be found for around $150. This is not to say that a gun that costs less will do the job worse or a more expensive gun will do the job better; most airsoft guns will still fire a plastic BB no matter what you paid for them. But, as in most things, you get what you pay for.
So What Does Make a Good Airsoft Gun?
As we have seen, a good airsoft gun has the right combination of reliability and ease of use, accuracy, range, rate of fire, and price. Generally speaking, the ideal airsoft gun will shoot every time you pull the trigger, be easy to use, hit any target you shoot at no matter what the range, have the ability to drown the enemy in a storm of bullets, and be affordable. Every person has their different preferences when it comes to the mix of these factors, but you can be sure that there is an airsoft gun out there for everyone.
For more information regarding electric airsoft guns check out the blog on electric-airsoft-guns.net
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