Airsoft is a modern combat sport or recreational hobby in which participants eliminate opponents by hitting each other or hitting assign paper target or poppers, with spherical non-metallic pellets launched from a compressed-air gun (or Soft Air gun) powered by gas, manual spring-load, or an electrically-powered gearbox. Airsoft guns themselves, are legal in many parts of the world, but not in all countries. Some countries have specific restrictions such as maximum muzzle energy, rules against using the trademarks of real firearms, and special marking requirements (such as brightly colored barrel tips).
What is an Airsoft Guns?
Air guns are a rifle or pistol which fires projectiles by means of compressed air or other gas, which in contrast to a firearm which uses an explosion or combustion of a propellant. Most air guns use metallic projectiles as ammunition. There are two type of projectile commonly use by air guns known as Metal Ball Bearing (Metal Bb’s) and Pellets.
Air guns designed to shoot metal Bb’s projectiles called BB guns. Modern day BB guns usually have a smoothbore barrel, with a bore diameter and caliber of 0.177 inches (4.5 mm) which approximately at the same size of Birdshot pellet; those are usually used for bird hunting.
Air guns that only use non-metallic Bb’s projectiles are further classified as airsoft guns. Airsoft guns are also commonly referred to as BB guns guns, as they also shoot Bb’s projectiles through a smoothbore barrel. However, airsoft Bb’s are 6 mm in diameter (0.24 inches), made of plastic or other non-metallic materials, and are designed specifically to be non-lethal.
Airsoft History
The Idea of Airsoft Guns
Air guns represent the oldest pneumatic technology, having existed since the 15th century. At that time, they had compelling advantages over the primitive firearms of the day. Air guns could be fired in wet weather and rain and with greater rapidity than muzzle-loading guns. Moreover, they were quieter than a firearm of similar caliber, had no muzzle flash, and were completely smokeless, thus not disclosing the shooter's position. Black powder muskets of the 18th and 19th century produced huge volumes of dense smoke when fired, a disadvantage compared to air rifles.
Mechanism of Girandoni military repeating air rifle. AT REST. This, and all following drawings, are scale drawings by Geoffrey Baker, based on two British specimens and cooperative information and images of the Beeman Girandoni air rifle from Robert Beeman and Ernie Cowan. Images reproduced courtesy of Geoffrey Baker and Colin Currie.
At the time, airguns posed a serious alternative to powder weapons. Although much more expensive, they were generally far superior. Robust air reservoirs had evolved with increasing technology, thereby improving the charge capacity while minimizing any possibility of bursting. Similarly, improvements in valve designs began to create well sealed chambers.
During this period, France, Austria and other nations had special sniper detachments using air rifles. A shot from this air gun could penetrate a one-inch wooden board at a hundred paces, an effect roughly equal to that of a modern 9 mm or .45" caliber pistol. Around 1820, the Japanese inventor Kunitomo Ikkansai developed various manufacturing methods for guns, and also created an air gun based on the study of Western knowledge ("rangaku") acquired from the Dutch in Dejima.
an Air rife shooting competitions
During the 1890s, air rifles were used in Birmingham, England for competitive target shooting. Matches were held in public houses, which sponsored shooting teams. Prizes for the winning team, were paid for by the losing team. The sport became so popular that just after the turn of the 19th century, a National Air Rifle Association was created. In some countries, air guns are still classified as firearms, and as such it may be illegal to discharge them in residential areas. Air guns can be highly accurate and are used in target shooting events at the Olympic Games, governed by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF).
Daisy is best known for their inexpensive youth BB guns, modeled after lever action rifles.
In late-1950s East Asia, specifically Japan where firearms were difficult or impossible to obtain due to local laws. A large number of American toy guns (air guns / BB guns, cap guns), were exported to Japan because Japanese customers were becoming interested in guns through European and American movies. The popularity of American toy guns was increasing even as customers were not satisfied with the realism of these guns. Model Gun Corporation (MGC) customize the imported models gun (blank firing guns – Cap Guns) to more realistic appearance and later manufacture the guns in Japan rather than obtain them from foreign sources. All of these model guns were full metal as at that time there were no regulations for manufacturing and selling model guns in Japan. This continued during through the 1960s until in the early 1970s first model gun regulation was established by Japanese police. This regulation prohibited black and silver metal bodies and allowed only white or gold bodies to be used. Because of the new regulation, interest and demand for model guns started to decline in Japan.
Among the first airsoft manufacturers were long-standing toy companies such as Masudaya, Fujimi, and Matsushiro. These companies decided it would be a good (and profitable) idea to market BB guns that could be safely shot at others in a similar manner to paintball guns, which were also becoming popular at that time. These guns were spring-powered, single-shot weapons and were often very crude in nature. Many used odd, proprietary ammunition, such as the 7 mm "Long Range" ammo some Masudaya guns used, or the soft rubber ammo used in TradeMark's guns. Eventually, it was realized that a standard-size round BB would be cheaper and more efficient to produce.
Around 1985, several Japanese airsoft companies began developing guns using the BV, or "Bullet Valve" system. BV used a direct flow of gas from an external tank, usually CO2 or compressed air, to power a mechanism which allowed the guns to fire in a fully automatic mode. Later models also included semi-automatic mode. Some people added "booster tanks," empty air bottles to add to the effect of the air rig. These setups were generally called Flon Rigs.
Companies like JAC and Asahi Firearms led this revolution with Maruzen updating many of their old spring guns with the BV system as well. Asahi and JAC, whom often worked in conjunction with each other, developed airsoft versions of many guns, such as the British Sterling and the M60 machine gun. Other notable guns were Asahi's German MG-34 and their version of the very rare Walther 2000. JAC made many new guns like the Thompson, BAR, and M3 Grease Gun.
Other companies, such as Kokusai, MGC, Toy-Tec, and FTC also made many guns with the BV system.
In the early to mid-1990s, Tokyo Marui produced airsoft guns powered solely by electric-power motor driven air compressors. This compact air compressing system, in which Tokyo Marui dubbed "AEG", was first implemented in their first production electric powered automatic replica, the FAMAS F1. Tokyo Marui's original design ushered in a new era of airsoft guns. Instead of using external air systems to power airsoft replicas, the Tokyo Marui AEG concept pioneered the use of self-providing electric powered air power. Their groundbreaking AEG system is still in wide use today, and it has been copied numerous times through the years by many other airsoft gun manufacturers. This year mark the downfall of airsoft gun that uses the gas system. Gas rifles and pistols do not fare well in colder temperatures while electric and spring type weapons do much better. Also the external tank is seen negatively by many groups of airsofters as it looks unrealistic and heavy. Another problem faced by gas airsoft is the legal controversy; many of the gas rifles were internally similar to the patented real versions of the weapons. This caused legal battles which caused problems with importation in certain countries like the United States. Because the AEG piston is cycled by a motor and not run off gas from the barrel, AEGs does not have the same legal problems when it comes to patents. Today most gas pistols and rifles are produced with agreements with the real weapons companies like ArmaLite and Olympic Arms to produce replicas for airsoft.
Airsoft is still today most popular in several Asian regions, such as Japan, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, and to a certain extent, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The vast majority of airsoft guns, accessories, and after market upgrade parts are also manufactured in these countries.
There is also a growing interest in North America and Europe, especially in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Spain, Poland, Lithuania, Portugal, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Italy, Belgium (which is also visited by Dutch players, as the game is illegal in the Netherlands), and Denmark.
Refference:
The Daisy Airgun Museum http://www.daisymuseum.com
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