Types of Airsoft Guns, Components and Pellets
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Airsoft Guns
The guns used in Airsoft are typically replicas of real firearms. Airsoft guns can be divided into three groups by what powers them: spring powered, electric powered, and gas-powered.
Spring Powered
Spring-powered Airsoft guns (often called "Springer's" or "spring guns") are single-shot devices that use potential energy stored in a spring to launch an Airsoft pellet down the barrel of the gun. The user must cock a spring gun prior to each shot much like you would a real shotgun or bolt-action rifle. This is typically achieved by pulling back the slide (pistols) or bolt (rifles), which in turn compresses the spring and makes the gun ready to fire. Because of this these guns are incapable of automatic or semi-automatic fire.
While most electric guns also use springs for this they are not considered to be in the same category as the single-shot spring-powered guns. Low-end spring guns tend to be much cheaper than their electric-powered equivalents due to their simplicity and cost of components (spring assembly vs. spring assembly, electric motor, battery, and battery charger) and thus are widely available. These guns are less suited for competition because they are at a disadvantage against automatic guns in close combat and don't provide enough accuracy and power for long-range uses. Higher-end spring-powered Airsoft rifles can be quite expensive; these guns are typically suited for "sniper" applications in Airsoft matches and can provide competitive muzzle velocities.
Gas Powered
Gas-powered Airsoft guns use pressurized gas to propel pellets. These guns are capable of automatic and semi-automatic operation. The most common gas used is propane (usually referred to as "green gas" by Airsoft players). Less commonly used gases include CO2 and nitrogen.
Gas power tends to be used in Airsoft pistols where size constraints make electric-powered mechanisms impractical. Other instances where gas is favored are where adjustable velocities are required or where a blow-back feature is desired. A blow-back feature is a mechanism which cycles a slide or bolt to better simulate a real firearm's operation. Because of the mechanical complexities involved with distributing and regulating gas these guns have largely given way to electric guns for less specialized applications.
Electric Powered
Tokyo Marui MP5-SD5 AEG
Electric-powered Airsoft guns typically use a bank of rechargeable batteries to drive an electric motor, which cycles an internal piston/spring assembly in order to launch pellets. Automatic and semi-automatic operation is possible which gives these guns the popular name "automatic electric guns" or AEG's. These guns often attain muzzle velocities of 200-300 feet per second and fire rates of 300-700 rounds per minute and are by far the most common and widely available Airsoft guns in serious competition use today.
These guns were originally developed in Japan, and the Japanese model giant Tokyo Marui dominates the market today with many quality models. In a Marui AEG, the motor drives a series of 3 gears mounted inside a gearbox. The gears then compress a piston assembly against a spring. Once the piston is released, the spring drives it forward through the cylinder to push a pellet into the chamber, through the barrel, and forward from the muzzle. Many manufacturers have now more or less replicated this basic model, adding reinforced parts or minor improvements.
Components
The various internal components of Airsoft guns can usually be replaced or upgraded. The following is a short list of commonly referred to parts. Not all of these parts apply to all Airsoft types (spring-powered guns don't use batteries, for example).
Barrel - Serves the same purpose as in real firearms: guides the pellet and also maintains gas pressure behind it.
Battery - Powers the motor that moves the spring assembly. These are typically NiCad rechargeable batteries but may also be NiMH.
Gearbox - A gear assembly that transfers the electric motor's drive to the spring assembly.
Hop-up - A small detente that applies a backspin to the pellets to improve ballistics.
Electric motor - Used to provide energy to cock the springs in AEG's.
Nozzle - A plastic or metal piece that connects the barrel to the air piston.
Spring - Spring and electric guns both use springs to propel the pellets. The stronger the springs generally the more powerful the gun will be.
Airsoft Pellets
Some 6mm plastic Airsoft pellets
Airsoft pellets (often referred to as "BB's", short for "ball bearing" or "big ball" in reference to smaller shotgun shot) are typically made of plastic and are almost always 6mm spheres. Pellets of a given size come in different weights ranging from 0.12g to 0.43g. In addition to standard plastic pellets, starch-based biodegradable, metal coated, graphite coated (often used by snipers), and steel pellets are also available. Pellets other than 6mm, 0.12g, 0.20g, or 0.25g plastic or biodegradable pellets are not commonly used.
Glow-in-the-dark tracer pellets are also used in conjunction with a special device that charges the pellets up prior to firing so that they are luminescent in flight for use during nocturnal operations.
There have also been guns made which shoot spherical pellets. The best known of these is the Asahi "Blade Bullet", which are now extremely difficult to find and quite expensive to buy. These were designed to be shot from the short-lived Asahi M700 and M40 premium grade rifles, which were produced in 1993. Compatibility with other Airsoft guns is highly limited, especially due to their inability to be used with hop-up features.
Paint pellets are available but are incompatible with guns with hop-up features as the hop-up will break the pellet in the gun. Paint is very unpopular with Airsofters because it tends to stain gear and clothes.
Pellet weights and their usage
0.12g - Used by some gas and spring weapons. High velocity and low stability.
0.15g - Same uses as 0.12 g.
0.20g - Standard weight for most weapons. AEG's uses these or slightly heavier pellets.
0.22g - Western Arms pellets for their gas blowback pistol series. Uncommon.
0.23g - Heavier pellets for AEG's.
0.25g - Heaviest weight for standard AEG's, blowback and spring guns.
0.29g - Maruzen’s pellets for their APS series. Uncommon.
0.30g - Standard weight for most sniper rifles.
0.36g - Heavier pellets for sniper rifles. Very slow but high stability.
0.43g - For the highest level of upgrades in spring and gas sniper rifles.
Pellet Ballistics
Pellet velocity vs. energy vs. weight
The pellet velocity of automatic electric guns is determined in large part by the tension of their main spring and so there tends to be a stratification of values. The most common Airsoft velocity limits are between 300 to 400 ft/s (90 to 120 m/s) for AEGs and 400 to 500 ft/s (120 to 150 m/s) for single shot guns (sniper rifles). Here are some common levels of Airsoft gun pellet velocity.
Unit equivalents
Pellet velocity
76
84
85
91
100
107
115
122
137
152
168
(m/s)
250
275
280
300
328
350
377
400
450
500
550
(ft/s)
Weight
0,12g
0,35
0,42
0,44
0,50
0,60
0,68
0,79
0,89
1,13
1,39
1,69
0,15g
0,44
0,53
0,55
0,63
0,75
0,85
0,99
1,11
1,41
1,74
2,11
0,20g
0,58
0,70
0,73
0,84
1,00
1,14
1,32
1,49
1,88
2,32
2,81
0,23g
0,67
0,81
0,84
0,96
1,15
1,31
1,52
1,71
2,16
2,67
3,23
Energy
0,25g
0,73
0,88
0,91
1,05
1,25
1,42
1,65
1,86
2,35
2,90
3,51
(joules)
0,30g
0,87
1,05
1,09
1,25
1,50
1,71
1,98
2,23
2,82
3,48
4,22
0,36g
1,05
1,26
1,31
1,51
1,80
2,05
2,38
2,68
3,39
4,18
5,06
0,43g
1,25
1,51
1,57
1,80
2,15
2,45
2,84
3,20
4,04
4,99
6,04
3,00g
8,71
10,54
10,93
12,54
14,99
notes:
3.00 g is the typical weight for a paintball pellet. This weight is for comparison purposes only and is not used on Airsoft. Higher energy but different collisions read Elastic collisions (Airsoft) and Inelastic collision (paintball) topics for further information.
1 m/s = 3.281 ft/s
1 ft/s = 0.3048 m/s
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