I’m curious about getting a higher-end airsoft for basement practice, but I don’t want to spend 130$ on something with a toy trigger.
I’m considering the WE brand gas guns, as they are metal, heavy, and have functioning slides, but I just don’t know if the trigger is similar to a real trigger, or feels substantially different. Also, cyclic rate might be an issue.
So, if any folks are familiar with both real and airsoft guns, what’s your impression of the trigger on the better models?
H.
Why waste money on airsoft when you can oozinate?
Interesting concept, but lacking verisimilitude.
H.
I have a crossman pellet rifle that cost me about $60 and all I know is that it’s fine for target practice and I have no idea whether the trigger is “toy” or not because I’ve never shot a gunpowder based firearm.
Anyway, I haven’t used it in a few months. I should go down tonight and shoot at my little groundhog targets.
Any airsoft gun is going to feel puny compared to the real thing, because it’s not going to go POP! instead of BANG! when you pull the trigger.
The airsoft guns I’ve fired have had very light trigger pulls, but that may be because they were owned by paintball players who are used to paintball markers with feather-light triggers (so that you can manually squeeze out 10-15 semi-auto shots a second).
So, what’s the trigger pull on the stock airsoft stuff that you get from the factory? I don’t know. Might be listed on the specs.
It’s not necessarily the weight, it’s the overall feel. Cheap gas guns use a spring-powered striker against a valve to release the gas, the spring being compressed by the trigger pull. So, the resistance stacks as the trigger is drawn back, then completely drops off. I’m looking for how well the trigger releases, stacks, stages, creeps, resets, and the length of throw.
The last winner of the Steel Challenge, which is pretty much the definitive speed-for-speed’s-sake competition, was a Japanese man who trained with Airsoft, so I know there are some quality ones out there, I’m just trying to figure out where the right price point lies.
H.
Me and a few friends are looking at starting with airsoft.
So many issues you have to know about and combat before you even purchase a working marker though…
We’re thinking about starting with simple guns and buy rifles at a latter stage, hopefully with some gear to make it “look” more authentic and thus become more fun. :-)
Speaking of Real guns vs Airsoft? … Very much doubt it, Softgun are plastic toys that look real…
Although I do recall my PMI3-Magnum Paintball gun having more of a ‘kick-back’ than a real H&K MP5, course the H&K MP5 felt like a childs toy after using the H&K G-3 so I might have been biassed against it…
instant0, the kind of airsoft guns i’ve seen have the same build quality as the original weapons. the glock airsoft is polymer, the beretta airsoft is metal, etc. They’re cosmetically exact replicas except for perhaps lacking the original manufacturer’s trademark stampings.
Everything I’ve ever seen and heard about quality airsoft has started with the words “Tokyo Marui”.
Someone on this board has got to be an avid airsoft sportsman. We know you’re out there. Speak up!
Why airsoft when you can paintball?
Edit: In reality, I hate paintball. I’ve only gone once, and it was an awful experience. I spent about 10 minutes hiding in a corner in this little makeshift roofless particle-board box, only to be discovered by an opponent, shot in the kneecaps five times, and abandoned for dead. Although the story changes every time I tell it — sometimes my adversary rips off my face shield and spits on my face; sometimes he also kicks me a few times for good measure — but he really did shoot me in the kneecaps and it was awful.
Airsoft guns are supposed to have the same build quality and nearly the same weight.
I used to work with the guy that runs this site:
Who has been a big airsoft guy. He’s a Plano police officer now.
— Alan
Derailment nearing . . .
The point is I’m looking for a close match in function for practicing IPSC in my basement, IPSC being real firearm competitions. Tokyo Mauri, from what I’ve seen, is middle-of-the-pack among the good guns, with the top being Western Arms. If the TM guns have good triggers and function reliably, fine, but it looks like WE is a better choice for affordable and realistic.
But . . . the whole point of this post is to determine whether the trigger is similar or not. You can practice with a gun that is off-weight by a few ounces, or has a smaller kick, but you gotta have a good trigger and decent accuracy, or the practice won’t yield any results.
H.
Wait, so you’re saying that all those videogames don’t help? smirk
Well, they’re handy in desensitizing me to violence (against cardboard and steel) but not so much in the accuracy area. IPSC hasn’t added an autoaim class yet.
H.
I wouldn’t expect airsoft guns to be accurate, Houngan. Most of these run off of CO2 cartridges, and CO2 changes density with temperature. Expanding gas cools, so the CO2 used in each shot is going to have a varying density, and this will change the exit velocity from shot to shot. You might go from 300fps to 310fps.
Also, the projectiles are BBs. Any deformation from the perfect sphere is going to give them lift and change the shot trajectory.
So, don’t kick yourself if your groupings aren’t as tight as you’d like. It’s not you, it’s the equipment.
Actually, a lot of Airsoft is either run on Batteries (AEG’s) or springs - gas weapons are usually pistols/SMG’s only. I don’t think it’s CO2 either, but I could be wrong there (it’s always referred to as HFC134a and HFC22)
Anyway, check out http://www.redwolfairsoft.com - Roger was right when you told you to look at Tokyo Mauri. Unfortunately, you’re not going to get the quality you want out of $120 purchase from my experience. There are some custom guns on that website that might be what you’re looking for, but they’re pricey.
Oh as for the BB’s deforming - you’re never supposed to use them more than once anyway, becuase of damage it could cause the weapon as well as the accuracy issue.
What’s the prognosis for pellets? I was under the impression that they were at least a little more accurate than BBs. Although I have a poor aim so it doesn’t really matter.
I assumed Hougan was looking at blowback pistols so he’d get some recoil from firing the thing.
Airsoft (as far as I know) doesn’t use pellets - only the 6mm plastic BB’s.
Roger: Ahhh fair enough. Even so, I think there’s at least one or two AEG’s that do the blowback thing.
I received my new airsoft pistol, the HFC Beretta Vertec today. As I feared, the trigger isn’t anything to get excited about, one long easy pull with no break detectable. Hopefully I can combine dryfiring with airsoft to get some good training out of it.
However, the accuracy is better than I hoped or needed. A few inches at 10m, which is exceptional for a liquid-gas cheap mechanism. I’m fairly excited about getting started. Now to set up the 2006 state championship course in my basement . . .
H.
As it turns out the propellant is generally propane, although they market it under different names and without the odorant so they can sell it for 4x as much. I bought a tank adaptor and am filling off of my blowtorch tank, works like a charm.
H.