Airsoft guns? the good the bad and the ugly

[Carpenters]

My two sons, now aged 18 and 16, had the guns and used the heck out of them for a year or so. Other than the gazillion plastic pellets all around, we had no problems. They wore eye protection--cool sunglasses--and played with a buddy with them for hours. I was reluctant to allow the guns, but it all turned out okay.

 

[Pigeon]

Airsoft guns don't have enough 'oomph' to kill a bird - or any animal. Are you sure they're not using BB's?

Yes, I'm positive.

 

[Tinijocaro]

Here's another thread I started on this subject a while ago:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2069153&highlight=airsoft+guns

I still haven't made a decision for my son yet.

 

[CathrynRose]

Yes, I'm positive.

Are they stuffing pebbles or something in them??

Liek I said - I was asked to be shot by one, so I knew what my son was playing with. And we were - I dunno.... 6 feet apart - and it hurt, but just for that millisecond it hit me.

If we were to be farther apart - the impact would even be less. KWIM?

 

[CathrynRose]

Here's another thread I started on this subject a while ago:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2069153&highlight=airsoft+guns

I still haven't made a decision for my son yet.

Do any of his friends have one?

Ask them to shoot you with one, Im serious. Because they're not that bad.

AND AGAIN - I'm not talking about metal pellets. Just the cheap plastic ones.

 

[LisaR]

Airsoft guns are basically realistic imitation firearms that fire ball bearings.

You can read more about them here:

http://arniesairsoft.co.uk/

Here in the UK, we have proliferation laws - before you can buy an airsoft weapon, be in spring or gas, blah blah blah, you need to obtain a licence, which you achieve by skirmishing and therefore renting an airsoft gun a number of times in a month. You can't just up and buy one - you need to demonstrate you are competent and clued up. Not perfect, but a step in the right direction.



Rich::

You are definitely talking about a different type of gun. The air soft guns that we use have plastic pellets.

Do any of his friends have one?

Ask them to shoot you with one, Im serious. Because they're not that bad.

AND AGAIN - I'm not talking about metal pellets. Just the cheap plastic ones.

I agree. I have been hit with these pellets from a distance and very close range. If you get hit on unprotected skin, it feels like a rubber band being snapped. My son plays air soft in shorts and a t-shirt and he is pretty wimpy. If it hurt that much, he would at least wear heavier clothes. Eye protection is a must.

I think some of you are talking about different types of guns. Air soft guns only use plastic pellets. They aren't rubber and they most definitely are not ball bearings.

 

[torinsmom]

I really can't believe that you could kill an animal(even as small as a bird) with the little plastic pellets that come out of an airsoft gun. You can shoot someone point blank and still just get a welt. I can't imagine someone getting within even 10 feet of a bird without them flying away, and the pellets would not be going very fast at that distance.

DS14 and his cousins love to play airsoft. My sister has 10 acres, and they run all around wearing goggles and hoodies to keep from getting stung. They like shooting at each other; I guess it is a testosterone thing, LOL

Marsha

 

[DisneyVillain]

Some of them do shoot hard enough to break a wing bone. The one time I shot one we were 100' from the targets, and some of the pellets were hitting the target hard enough to bounce all the way back to where we were. I expect that would be hard enough to kill a songbird if you were close.

 

[CathrynRose]

Some of them do shoot hard enough to break a wing bone. The one time I shot one we were 100' from the targets, and some of the pellets were hitting the target hard enough to bounce all the way back to where we were. I expect that would be hard enough to kill a songbird if you were close.

As a PP mentioned, these things are plastic. I don't think they'd go 100 feet!

There must be different kinds of these guns (or ammo) or something.

The ones we have (and I assume the OP was talking about) are not injury causing pellets and/or guns.

 

[LisaR]

Some of them do shoot hard enough to break a wing bone. The one time I shot one we were 100' from the targets, and some of the pellets were hitting the target hard enough to bounce all the way back to where we were. I expect that would be hard enough to kill a songbird if you were close.

If you used an air soft gun to shoot 100' away and have it bounce all the way back, you had to be using a CO2 powered gun. It can still shoot the plastic pellets but the CO2 gives it more power.

Everyone in our neighborhood has screened in pools. The kids will shoot the pellets into the screen. The first time I saw that I totally freaked until they showed me that they don't go through the screen. They simply bounce back a little and drop to the ground. I simply can't imagine the guns they use being strong enough to kill animals.

While we are on that subject, even if the guns were powerful enough to take out a bear, it doesn't mean the vast majority of kids would use it for that purpose. If a kid is evil enough and wants to kill animals, they don't need an air soft gun. Kids like that will use stones, sling shots or other means that I don't even want to think about.

 

[torinsmom]

As PPs said, those little plastic pellets are sure ugly and annoying when you see them all over the yard. If someone wants to make some money, they should invent camoflauge colored pellets that are biodegradable. I would definitely buy those!

Marsha

 

[Kies99]

Talking airsoft guns:

In the U.S., airsoft guns shoot small, solid plastic "pellets". Think a plastic version of a traditional BB.

There are three basic types of airsoft guns. The first is spring loaded. You have to **** the gun and pull the trigger for each shot. The second is electric. It uses a battery to work the spring so you don't need to **** it each time you fire. The third is gas (CO2). These work similar to a regular semi-automatic in that the gas works to cycle the rounds and **** the weapon. These guns are also made of a variety of materials from all plastic to all metal or metal/wood, just like originals.

While at a reasonable distance these may not hurt (or feel like a rubber-band snapping), these can all be "hopped-up" as well. What this does is increase the fire power. More firepower, more chance for pain. You have to think also that these are kids using them.

They can (and have) EASILY be mistaken for real thing. We had an incident here where cops drew their guns on some kids because the were in the woods playing and someone called the cops.

As for the orange tip they are to have, I have a bunch of these that I use for display. One has a strip of orange scotch-like tape wrapped around the barrel. Legal, but can be pulled right off. Another is a handgun and has an orange tip threaded onto the end. Guess what, the orange part is itself threaded to accept the "silencer" that came with it. Put the "silencer" on it and you have a very thin bit of orange showing. What do you think a kid would do? My bet would be remove the tape on the one and have the silencer on the other as it'll hide the orange and look cooler. In the heat of the moment, do you think a LEO will be able to tell?

And as for color of the gun itself, real firearms (to include handguns and rifles) are more and more having pink versions to entice the ladies to buy real firearms. Color is no longer a determining factor on whether a weapon is real or not.

To the OP...If you decide to let them have one, make it a spring gun and just have them follow some basic safety precautions and everything should be fine. I agree with others in that eye protection (a basic set of safety glasses) and adult supervision, at least until you are comfortable with him handling it, should be all you need.

 

[luvmy3]

My nephew has one and he left it on his dresser. I can't believe how real it looked and felt
He and his friends love them and I really don't see any harm in them, its a glorified version of what my 5 and 8 year old do when they play. I think the most important thing is to establish safety rules and make sure they are followed.

On the subject of killling animals. unfortuantly some kids will do whatever they can to torture and/or kill animals I don't think it matters if it was with an airsoft gun or something else. That is an issue with that kid, not the gun.

 

[lovesmurfs]

As PPs said, those little plastic pellets are sure ugly and annoying when you see them all over the yard. If someone wants to make some money, they should invent camoflauge colored pellets that are biodegradable. I would definitely buy those!

Marsha

They do make them. http://www.nextag.com/biodegradable-airsoft-bbs/products-html.