Hi all!
Well, now we've discussed what airsoft is, let's take a look at the different kinds of airsoft guns that are available. In this post, we'll look at 4 types of airsoft guns - spring-powered airsoft guns, automatic electric guns (or AEGs), electric blowback guns (or EBBs for short), and gas guns (GBBR). I'll be doing a separate post on HPA airsoft guns!
Each type of gun on this list has different mechanisms and characteristics. This makes some airsoft guns more suited to game modes and environments than others and it also affects the price.
Spring Guns
So, spring-powered airsoft guns are exactly what the label says! They are powered by a spring mechanism that needs to be pumped or cocked. They don’t use any source of external power such as gas or batteries. This means spring-powered weapons are cheaper to run overall as there are no running costs except for BBs.
As for weapon classes, there are spring-powered shotguns, snipers, pistols, and rifles. The pistols and rifles in this category are usually entry-level and made from low-quality materials and offer a low FPS (think the types of cheap BB guns you can get on Skeggy market haha). However, spring-powered shotguns and sniper rifles, offer a completely different experience for the user, and a hell of a lot more fun too! Sniper rifles are high-powered and have an FPS of up to 500 FPS. The reason they are allowed such a high FPS is that they only fire one BB at a time over a long distance and they need that power for the BB to travel that distance (they also have a minimum engagement distance or MED). Spring-powered shotguns are a little different - they typically fire 3 to 6 BBs per shot (which makes them an effective weapon for CQB) but you can get single shot shotguns - these usually have an adjustable hop-up. Although spring-powered airsoft guns have the lowest rate of fire, they’re incredibly simple and easy to handle, perfect for beginner airsoft players.
Here are some examples of spring-powered rifles Extreme Airsoft has online:
Automatic Electric Guns (AEGs)
Next up on our list, are AEGs or Automatic Electric Guns. These are widely used throughout the community from beginners to seasoned players due to their ease and variety.
As the name suggests Automatic Electric Guns are powered by batteries. These airsoft guns usually have an FPS from 290fps (looking at you Tokyo Marui) up to 350fps. These airsoft guns have gearboxes, pistons, and adjustable hop-up systems at their hearts, to make sure they are accurate and reliable over short to mid-range distances. They usually have both semi-automatic and automatic firing modes.
Here are some of the AEGs I rate from Extreme Airsoft:
Electric Blowback Guns (EBBs)
Electric blowback guns are very similar to automatic electric guns (in the way that they both use batteries as their power source), but when firing they use a fake bolt that gives a little bit of recoil to make your experience more realistic. These are usually more expensive than a standard AEG but are great for a player looking for more realism.
Examples of Electric Blowback Guns from Extreme:
Gas Guns
Gas guns are generally powered by either: CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) in the form of small silver canisters or Green gas which is a mix of propane and silicon that is held in a reservoir in the mags.
Most airsoft pistols are powered by gas. Gas-powered airsoft guns sit in two distinct groups: blowback and non-blowback. Gas Blow Back (or GBB) guns give the user a realistic feel as it has more moving parts. The top slide or bolt carrier moves backward and forwards and loads a new round into the chamber with every squeeze of the trigger. Non-blowback guns don’t have the moving top slide/bolt carrier so do not give that realism.
Generally, gas guns have a lower magazine capacity than say an AEG, and this is because the gas is usually stored inside of the magazine in a reservoir.
Some gas blowback replicas from Extreme Airsoft I like:
CO2 airsoft guns work in the same way as green gas airsoft guns, but rather than having gas in a reservoir, they have a bulb of C02 to be inserted. CO2 is a higher pressure than green gas, so some C02 pistols have a higher FPS and need to be downgraded.
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Post is originally written for Extreme Airsoft
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