Airsoft Guns Vs BB Guns – What Are The Differences?

Airsoft guns are taking the world of hobby guns by storm. These replicas of the real thing are being used recreationally by people around the world who are fascinated by the world of firearms. Airsoft guns are designed for adults who want to play cowboys and Indians, cops and robbers or tactical war games, just for fun.

Many people are wary of airsoft technology, believing that playing with these types of replica weapons is the same as playing with higher power BB guns. There are some similarities, however, there are several distinct differences between the two types of guns. Here’s a quick overview of these two products that both dramatically look like real guns.

Firstly, airsoft guns are a relatively new type of gun having been developed just 30 years ago in Japan. Guns were not allowed in that country, despite the demand. So manufacturers developed a spring-firing type weapon, which evolved into a gas firing device. By the time these realistic guns, used strictly for recreational purposes, arrived in North America about 15 years go, an electric-firing model had been developed. These are also referred to as AEGs.

Conversely, BB guns have been used for over 100 years. They became quite popular in North American when publishers of the 1940’s western comic Red Ryder promoted BB guns as an advetising gimmick. BB guns are not used recreationally. They’re used to shoot targets and to hunt small animals such as squirrels and other rodents.

Airsoft guns shoot relatively harmless plastic pellets, which are 6mm in size. These pellets don’t cause any injuries. A BB, or small metal ball or pellet, fired from a BB gun can definitely do some damage. BB guns fire at 91 to 152. 4 meters per second which is much more powerful than an airsoft gun which fires, at most, 91 meters per second. BB guns are not to be used as a toy. They should be treated as a real weapon.

Similarities of the two guns include the firing mechanisms. Airsoft guns use either compressed gas, electricity or are powered by springs. BB guns are almost exclusively air or gas powered. Real guns use neither of these systems.

BB guns and airsoft guns look dramatically like real weapons. They look real, they feel real and they’re just as heavy as a real gun. To the untrained eye, they could certainly be mistaken for real guns, causing public panic should they be used in an incorrect or illegal manner. For that reaon, many countries including the U. S. Have insisted that airsoft guns have an orange tip, or blaze, at the end of the barrel. This could be a piece of neon orange plastic or paint that must not be removed.

Airsoft guns are different again from paintball guns, which are designed strictly for war-game purposes. Paintball guns are usually very simple and do not resemble real weapons. They do use compressed air or gas mounted externally on the gun and shoot plastic balls filled with paint. They break up and splatter on the victim upon impact. Shot at close range, paintballs can hurt and even cause bruising. Paintball guns require no identification to distinguish them from real guns.