Airsoft Guns Are Powered By Different Sources

By Anthony Carter

Springs, electricity, and gas are the driving forces behind the various airsoft guns on today's market. These realistically designed firearms are produced in a variety of styles; pistols, machine guns, rifles, and shot guns. Even though these guns resemble real firearms, they are only able to fire projectiles that are 6-8mm in diameter. Below, we are going to tell you more about these guns...

When purchasing an airsoft firearm, many considerations need to be taken into account. These aspects include; the rate of fire, the life of the battery, the size of the gun itself, and even the holding capacity of the magazine. Alternative features that are also kept in mind are possibly the weight, reliability, range, how realistic it is, and customization.

Spring Airsoft Guns - "Springers" were the first firearms produced in the airsoft variety. These were only able to fire one projectile at a time and needed to be re-cocked each time the person wanted to fire a BB.

Electric Force - Automatic Electric Airsoft Guns, also known as AEGs, tend to be the most common ones used today. They are powered by batteries that are rechargeable, which are in control of the gearbox inside. This internal gearbox is what fires the projectiles out from the gun. Early airsoft pistols lacked a small enough motor to actually fit properly in the housing, which caused weak BB velocities. The firing range of these AEGs was greater than gas pistols.

Gas Powered -The type of airsoft firearms that followed after spring powered were actually gas-powered that had either an external or an internal gas chamber. The internal reservoirs were CFC gas and the external ones used highly pressurized carbon dioxide. This type of gun is actually increasing in popularity, due to them becoming more and more realistic looking.

They have also become more accessible because of their increase in quality and have changed to using "green gas". This environmentally friendly gas is propane mixed with small quantities of silicon lubricant and perfume.

Once "green gas" was being used to propel the rounds from magazines and the quality of these guns had increased, they became more accessible. This new type of gas was created to be more environmentally friendly, compared to the CFC and the carbon dioxide gases previously used. Green gas is made by mixing propane with some perfume and lubricant, but there are adapters available today that allow the use of regular propane for cheaper projectile propulsion.

The typical magazine holds enough gas to fire over 30 projectiles from its magazine. This feature, plus the way the gun can be loaded and unloaded, adds to the realism of this airsoft firearm. Magazines on these gas models usually hold around 10-20 rounds. High-capacity magazines, which hold over 50 rounds, are also available.

Many early models of airsoft guns were made from ABS plastic, except for a few internal parts requiring movement. New models from Taiwan and China have external and internal metal parts. With the use of aluminum and plastic, many airsoft firearms will look realistic but be much lighter to carry. - 29956

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