The Guide to Airsoft

here's a complete beginners guide to airsofting. this will help you decide what guns to get, what body armor to wear, and weather you should cheat or not.

first, you need to get some equipment. you can get the safety glasses at your local sporting goods store, or at www.airgundepot.com.(same goes for the gun). allot of people say that it's good to wear body armor, that is something you should decide by weather you can take getting shot with an airsoftgun at point blank range or not. another thing you should think about while deciding, is the power of the guns yourre going to be using (anything above 315fps would sting like hell for most people). i'd suggest going in a t-shirt and levi's cause if you wear something that completley blocks the impact of the shot, you're pretty much taking out half the fun.

face masks are another thing you should consider, they completely protect the face and ears. protecting your eyes is mandatory and protecting your face is not, but after you get shot in the face once you won't want to experience it again.

iv already talked about the body armor and where to get it but now it's time for the guns. the picture at the bottom is a perfect example of two types of side-arms. the walther(bottom left) is an accurate gun with a medium firing rate. some models(like mine) also come with an extra bb compartment in the back of the clip. the glock (upper right) is a gun with an automatic firing rate that has bad accuracy. i don't think there are any full auto models that have a two-compartment clip, but it already has a decent capacity of 30-50 bb's (depending on the model). those are just two examples of side-arms, there are many more models but those are pretty much the main categories.

those models are either electric or gas powered (green gas or CO2). spring guns can have a different clip size, accuracy, and velocity, but they all have the same firing rate.

now it's time to pick your primary gun. there are many categories of primary guns: AEG's, shotguns, rifles, machine pistols, switchables. ETC....... AEG's are mostly assault rifles and they're automatic, and have decent accuracy and ammo capacity. Shotguns have a low ammo capacity, a scattered accuracy, and fire several bb's in one shot. rifles have a low ammo capacity but high and distant accuracy. machine pistols have a bad accuracy and a high ammo capacity. with switchables (DROZD), you get the best of both worlds. they can switch from a rifle to an assault rifle and to a pistol. if you have one of those, you probably won't even need a sidearm.

recommended guns

AEG's - Aftermath makes some of the most durable and powerful AEG's.

Shotguns - crosman makes allot of nice Shotguns, especially the stingers.

Rifles - TSD makes allot of good rifles, and many of them come with scopes.

Machine Pistols - i don't know many brands who make machine pistols, but umarex makes a good T-11

switchables - the DROZD is an airsoft gun that goes from a pistol to an SMG and to a rifle (if you add the stock and extended barrel). the DROZD also comes in a bb gun version>

after you got the equipment, and you have chosen your body armor it's time to practice(i wouldn't recommend going into a shootout with no experience). get some empty cans and set them on a box, then just start shooting. first start at a distance of 10 feet, then 15, 20, and so on. another thing to practice is reloading. if a spring pistol is one of your guns, then practice putting the clip into the gun then cocking the slide. if your using an AEG or CO2 gun, then just practice putting in clip. when you're comfortable with you're shooting skills you should find an opponent(s) and have a shoot out. do it in an area where you can't hit someone who isn't in the game.

the one thing that you shouldn't do is cheat. the whole point of airsofting is to have fun, it it just ruins the whole game for everyone. oh, and camping is considered a cheat. for those people who don't know what that is, camping is when you hide behind something and wait for someone to walk by, then you shoot them.

clips - having more than one clip will give you a big advantage. the less time it takes you to load the gun, the better. having more then one clip isn't the only thing you can do to make reloading faster, you can also get high capacity clips, get speed loaders, and practice reloading the gun.

laser and scopes - having those types of things on your gun will give you an advantage. a laser will work well for both pistols and rifles. if you have a laser on your gun you won't have to use the sights to aim, the gun will hit wherever the dot is. scopes will work great with rifles, but not so well with pistols. if your gonna put a scope on your gun, make sure it can shoot at a distance. scopes are made for hitting targets that are far away and if your gun can't shoot far, then the scope is pointless.

backup guns - it's always good to carry small guns as backup (if your side arm runs out or jams). small guns are baby glocks ppk's short barrel revolvers etc.

1. never point an airsoftgun at your face weather it's loaded or not, because a bb can get lodged in the barrel and cause the gun to fire.

2. never fire an airsoftgun in the air because when the bb falls back down, it can take someones eye out.

3. when loading in a CO2 cartridge, keep your fingers and face away from the nozzle, because escaping gas is cold enough to cause frostbite.

4. never heat a CO2 cartridge over 120F.

5. don't aim at anything you don't intend to shoot.