Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Airsoft Guns - A Unique History

By Anthony Carter

Today one of the most popular forms of recreation is the use of airsoft guns. The market has evolved rather quickly for these neat little toys even though they haven't been around that long. You may be wondering however, just what is an airsoft gun?

In simple terms, an airsoft gun is an exact copy of the real thing. The exception is that they fire plastic pellets, not bullets and use compressed gas. CO2 cartridges are the most commonly used form of compressed gas, but some gun models operate using electrical motors or springs. 6mm plastic pellets travel through this toy with a muzzle velocity of somewhere between 30 to 250 meters per second.

This information should not mislead you though, if used with metal based ammunition these toys can still cause a lot of harm. You should always use the recommended plastic pellets to prevent injury since they are pretty safe and won't break the skin. 16 years or older is the recommended age for use with some states going above this and restricting the age you can enter a tournament to 18. Never let children younger then the recommended age play with these gun replicas and especially not without supervision.

Airsoft guns date back to around 1970 when they were invented in Japan. The reason at the time was because real firearms were illegal. This didn't stop people from wanting to carry them though. As a resolution to this problem people started making replicas of the real weapons they were not aloud to have. Rubber ball shaped pellets were originally used but 6mm and 8mm size pellets became standard quickly. Not to long after that the gas powered airsoft gun came to be.

In the 1990's this fun toy wandered over to North America and changed how we viewed recreational fun forever. Once North American's added their knowledge to the mix we ended up with what we know these gun replicas as today.

Cheap versions of the toy forced the United States to crack down on import regulations of the item and even today each one must be painted with a very bright orange tip before import. This is mainly as a safety precaution because of the similarities to real weapons.

Because some of these models are so accurate to their real life counter parts, intellectual property laws have became a problem from some of the manufacturing companies. Most of these companies are Japanese based and the United States restricts imports of certain models they feel are too life like for use here.

Do airsoft guns sound fun yet? They should because they definitely are. Whole families are enjoying this recreational activity together and some others using it as a way to relieve stress. You can easily find a tournament at any given time somewhere in some state. Winter weather does not hinder fanatics from having a little pellet action fun. This is definitely a sport one should look in to if they are looking for fast paced action without a high safety risk.

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