Airsoft Choices: The Meanest on the Block
You're interested in airsoft guns, and you're ready show off your commando skills. But first you need to know which is the best gun.
You're not going to find a definitive list of best airsoft guns. And the more you ask around the more questions and less answers you find.
Like all passionate hobbyists, airsoft enthusiasts are an opinionated lot, and their answers in regard to best equipment often coincides with what they own, not some published verifiable record.
So since you're faced with finding your own answers, you need to know some basics.
How Powerful is the Airsoft Gun?
We call this power muzzle velocity. Muzzle velocity is measured in feet per second (FPS). A less powerful airsoft pistol fires at around 100 FPS while a customized sniper rifle can fire at well over 500 FPS.
What is the Most Powerful of Airsoft Guns?
Knowing which particular airsoft gun is the most powerful is difficult because most serious airsoft enthusiast modify their guns with varying degrees of success.
Generally Airsoft sniper rifles fire at over 400 FPS even without modification.
Anyone interested in searching for a really powerful airsoft gun that's got a high muzzle velocity right out of the box can spend about thirty seconds searching online and find the Well MB04 G-22 Sniper Rifle rated at 600 FPS!
Coming up with the hundred and fifty bucks might take a little longer. 600 FPS is over half the muzzle velocity of a .22 caliber long rifle.
If you're wondering if a gun that already fires at 600 FPS can be modified to be even more powerful, before you ask, "can I" you might want to ask "should I?"
Most Powerful Legal Airsoft Gun?
That is a complicated question and one any responsible enthusiast should be careful in answering.
Each country, state, or province can set their own laws regarding airsoft use and ownership.
The best people to talk to are the airsoft owners in your local area.
How Far Can My Airsoft Gun Shoot?
We call this shooting distance range. An airsoft gun in good working order can have a range of 75 yards, and a powerful modified gun can have around double that range.
Again using the .22 caliber rifle as a frame of reference, a .22 hit at 100 yards is considered a good shot.
What Airsoft Propulsion Methods Will My Gun Use?
There are three main types of propulsion in airsoft guns. The simplest is the spring-loaded variety.
In the spring loaded variety the shooter pulls and releases the spring before each shot. This fills a chamber with compressed air and powers the airsoft BB.
Then there are the gas-operated Airsoft models. These models use compressed gas canisters just like paintball guns.
Finally there are the most recent and most popular, the automatic electric guns.. These models use a battery-powered electric motor to drive a piston that compresses the gas in the chamber.
How Much Will My Airsoft Gun(s) Cost?
You have no shortage of choices here. You can spend well over a thousand dollars on an airsoft gun or you can buy one for less than ten dollars.
Now that you know the basics, perhaps your final question before heading to your nearest retailer should be: how deep is my wallet?