Saturday, December 20, 2008

Methods of Playing Airsoft: Learning the Game

by Alexander Malroy
There are several ways of playing Airsoft. The main objective to the game is to have fun and enjoy time with your opponents. Be the last one standing with these methods below.

The MilSim, short for Military simulation is a method of Airsoft playing game that blends military live-action role-playing scenarios. Each team is assigned tasks or missions to accomplish. They are provided with ample supply of ammunition (pellets), batteries, food or rations, gears, uniforms and other safety equipment. Sometimes, equipments such as headsets and radios are being provided; other times, players have the discretion to bring their own communication equipment.

Military simulation games regularly lasts a number of days depending on how large the mission and the planning is. Both teams should remain in the playing field during the duration of the game and should only return to the neutral area only in medical emergencies and any other related circumstances. In large scale military simulations such as the likes of BERGET in Sweden, where the MilSim lasts up to a week without breaks, players may use military vehicles, trucks and vans. Sometimes an armored personnel carrier and tanks were utilized.

In large-scale military simulations such as the likes of BERGET in Sweden, where the MilSim lasts up to a week without breaks, players may use military vehicles, trucks and vans. Sometimes an armored personnel carrier and tanks were utilized. The Skirmish Operations were the most popular type of play among the Airsoft gun enthusiasts.

Skirmishing is the most common and popular method of playing, as it is easy to conduct one in any wide and ample space where hiding and moving around is possible. Skirmishing also imitates real close quarter battles with heightened excitement using familiar scenarios such as urban settings or the challenging jungle set up for a more confrontational game playing.

Skirmishing is the most common and popular type of playing, as it is easy to conduct one in any wide and open space where hiding and moving around is possible. Skirmishing also imitates real close battles with heightened excitement using familiar scenarios such as urban settings or the challenging jungle theme set up for a more confrontational game playing. The Honor System is one system that relies on the honesty of the players during the game. The ability to admit if being hit is the key factor in this game, which unlike paintballs, plastic pellets have no way to indicate if a player had been hit. There are plastic pellets in the market today with paint on it but players don’t like to use them because of how ineffective they are and the damage it may cause to the actual gun itself.

Referees play a vital role in every game. Bullets fired from a distance sometimes are not being felt by a player mainly due to the action or just being distracted or running doggedly. Referees determine and decide the matter of hit or miss. However honest declaration, if hit, is highly encouraged because no one can really see the exact happenings of the game when played on the field. Simulation knife kills can be performed depending on the type of the game. This can be pulled off if a player taps an unaware opponent during the game. This method prevents an opponent from being accidentally shot at point-blank within close range as one is being surprised by the stealth.

The main essence of the game is that the players must enjoy and should not be destructive enough to hurt others. Remember, this is a game not the real war field!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Parents explain airsoft gun appearance

PENNSVILLE TWP. - The parents of a 14-year-old boy whose airsoft gun sparked a police investigation Tuesday at the Penn Beach Elementary School showed up at police headquarters here Wednesday, police said.

According to Lt. Bruce Maahs, the distraught couple felt they should alert authorities, who did not have any suspects in the case.

Maahs said there will be no charges filed, and that police just wanted citizens to be aware of the dangers these realistic-looking airsoft toys possess.

"Apparently his son and friends were playing in the area and left the airsoft gun on the school grounds," Maahs said. "The father was very concerned and sorry for any inconvenience he may have caused."

The airsoft gun, a Double Eagle M-85 Airsoft, was discovered on the playground along with a removable magazine. Maahs said in the wrong hands, such a toy could produce tragic results.

Teen accused of brandishing Airsoft gun in traffic incident

WEST JORDAN — A traffic dispute landed three teenage boys in hot water Wednesday night after one of them showed a airsoft handgun to a woman who had changed lanes in front of them.
The incident took place around 7:30 p.m. at about 9000 South and 4000 West.

"There was a traffic dispute and a boy in the backseat decided to take out an Airsoft gun and poked his head out the window to show the woman the gun," said West Jordan Police Sgt. Drew Sanders.

The woman wrote down the license plate number and called police with a good description of the PT Cruiser and the boys that were riding in it. Sanders said an officer was in the area and quickly stopped the boys.

All of the boys were 15, including the driver of the vehicle. Sanders said the driver was cited for not having a driver's license and the boy with the airsoft weapon could face a misdemeanor charge of using a weapon in a fight or a quarrel.

Friday, December 05, 2008

Maker of 'deadly' airsoft guns arrested in Japan

The 64-year-old president of a Tokyo-based replica airsoft gun manufacturing company was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of possessing lethal replica airsoft revolvers.

It is unusual for an airsoft gun manufacturer to be arrested for possession of his or her products.

According to the police, Yoshimoto Tanaka, president of Tanaka Works in Kita Ward, Tokyo, is suspected to have violated the Firearms and Swords Control Law by possessing 867 units of an allegedly deadly replica gun, the Casyopea model, on Oct. 7, when the MPD searched the company.

The Metropolitan Police Department suspects Tanaka manufactured and sold the products even though he was aware of their deadly nature.

An industrial group to which Tanaka Works belongs has refused to issue a safety certificate for the model due to its alleged hazardous nature.

In an experiment, the MPD found toy guns of the series can fire real bullets without any modification and are powerful enough to shoot the bullets through six four-millimeter-thick wooden boards.

"If the series is illegal, all other types of airsoft gun must be illegal," Tanaka told The Yomiuri Shimbun before being arrested.

Airsoft gun enthusiasts have been engaged in fierce debates on the Internet and elsewhere over the potential deadliness of the Casyopea since it was released in July.

The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry concluded four types of the model were subject to the law controlling the manufacture of firearms and other weapons.

The ministry ordered the industrial group and others to recall the products.

According to the MPD, about 2,000 of the toy guns have been put on the market, and about 500 have been recalled.

Thursday, December 04, 2008

Toy gun maker held over lethal models

Tokyo police on Tuesday arrested the president of Tanaka Works, a maker of toy guns, for allegedly possessing hundreds of "air soft" guns that are considered lethal weapons.

It is the first time police have served a warrant defining an unaltered toy air gun as a lethal weapon, they said. The warrant was served to Yoshimoto Tanaka, who heads the Kita Ward-based firm.

The air guns are Tanaka Works' Cassiopeia-brand revolvers, which went on sale in July. Police have been trying to recover about 1,950 of them that were put on the market.

The air guns are capable of shooting metal bullets and are as lethal as real handguns, the police said.

Tanaka Works sold them without undergoing voluntary checks by an industry body, the Air Soft Gun Kyokai.

Tanaka, 64, is suspected of possessing 867 Cassiopeia revolvers as of Oct. 7, when investigators raided the firm's head office, the police said.

In an interview with before his arrest, Tanaka said he does not understand why his company was searched, noting its products are made of plastic.

"We sold products that were a dream to buyers," he said.

Monday, December 01, 2008

ICS MP5 A4 Airsoft Rifle Sportline Quality Review

Product Summary: ICS MP5 A4 Sportline and Deepfire M120 Spring
Cost: $154.95 (AEG) and $11.95 (Spring) MSRP
Source: Airsplat
Gun Type: AEG
Average FPS: 335 (.2g bbs)
Max Effective Range: 140 ft
Pros:
Good fit and finish for a plastic body, useful rear sight assembly, excellent gearbox good long range accuracy selector switch is provides more tactile feedback than many, full metal magazines that cycled a large number of bbs.
Cons: Test model came with a bad spring and required replacement before max. FPS was achieved, the fire selector switch could have more positive click in.
Editor's opinion:
The ICS MP5 A4 Sportline was a mixed bag for us. The spring issue was a great dissapointment as this was the first ICS product we've tested. Based on our research ICS has an excellent reputation and thus, we have conlcuded that our model's malfunction was an isolated incident. Further, when the spring was replaced, the gun functioned flawlessly. We suspect that the gun may have been shipped from the factory with the spring inadvertently compressed, causing it to lose some of its tension by the time it reached our shop. Once the spring was swapped out this AEG performed well. We would give the gun slightly above average overall marks rating at a B- though it would have recieved an A grade but for the spring issue.
Final Grade: B-