Air Soft Guns - Everything You Need to Know
The sport of air soft has been all the rage the previous few years, and its own growth shows no signs of slowing anytime soon. But don't let the name of the sport fool you. Get more information at speeds that may easily cause serious injury. If you are looking to find out about air soft, or you're a skilled player searching for a review, this article covers the basics of the gear and safety protocol.
The popularity of the activity likely is due to how realistic the guns and scenarios are. Virtually all air soft guns are modeled following a real gun model (known as "real steel"), modeling even the reloading mechanism and weight. Players typically wear camouflage and interact as teams to win the game. Like paintball, when someone gets hit they're out of your game, either until a fresh game starts or until a predetermined period of time has passed.
Air Soft Guns and Equipment
There are three main forms of systems an air soft gun may use to shoot a BB. Electric powered guns, or AEGs (automatic electric guns), work with a battery pack to power the shooting mechanism in the gun. These guns are by far the most popular and, given their typically top quality, probably the most expensive of the three types. One benefit of AEGs is that spare batteries are smaller and lighter than spare gas canisters, so carrying backup power in the field is simpler.
Gas powered guns operate on a similar system to that of all paintball guns. A gas canister, either attached to the gun with a hose or physically attached to the gun, pressurizes gas that is released to propel the BB out of your barrel of the air soft gun. One neat feature that's becoming more popular with gas-powered guns is call blowback. Right after the gun shoots the BB, a small amount of gas is used to power the reload mechanism. While this uses more gas, it greatly increases the speed at which one can fire in succession.
Spring-loaded guns are perhaps the least popular, simply because they usually do not feature semi- or fully-automatic capabilities. The spring must be recocked each time after firing, obviously decreasing the rapid succession firing capabilities of a player.
Click here ought to be the primary concern of anyone using an air soft gun in any situation. Six millimeter BBs traveling at a huge selection of feet per second will hurt when they hit you - they are able to cause more serious damage if they hit unexposed skin or the eyes. Obviously, ALWAYS wear eye protection (preferably whole face masks) when playing air soft or when you are near air soft guns. Covering unexposed skin, including your hands, neck, and head, will also help reduce the risk of injury.
While you "play" air soft, air soft guns aren't toys. Exactly the same precautions taken with real steel should be followed with air soft guns as well. While this is not a comprehensive list, following the safety guidelines below will let you stay safe.
o First of all, always treat the gun as if it were loaded. Given the BBs small size, it really is markedly harder to tell if an air soft gun is loaded than it really is to determine in case a real gun, which uses bigger ammunition, is loaded.
o Use the gun's safety while you are not actively deploying it. After removing the safety, you need to keep your finger from the trigger guard until right before you are ready to shoot. This can help minimize "friendly fire" incidents and keep everyone safer.
o Never point the air soft gun at something you are not likely to shoot. This goes for once the gun is loaded or not.
o Never store your air soft gun loaded. Double and triple check to make certain the gun is completely unloaded before storing it, and always store ammunition separate from the gun.
Your final note on safety: one disadvantage to the air soft gun's looking such as a real gun is that police officers and others usually cannot tell the difference between the two. There have been several incidents where an air soft gun was mistaken for a real gun, and terrible things have happened due to mistake. Only use your air soft gun in controlled environments, and when it is possible that someone may see you and confuse your gun for a genuine one, the great thing to do is to contact the local police agency and inform them what you are really doing.
Air soft could be fun, exciting, and intense. Given the type of the sport, it is also dangerous, no matter how careful you're, injury may be sustained. However, following a guidelines outlined in user manuals and this article, the likelihood of your getting hurt can be greatly reduced.