[BWJfEkOB]

Down to Belgium for the day - played a mixture of woodland and CQB airsoft. Before this session I had my G36 upgraded to a full 1 joule of power (the maximum allowed for organised events). There were about 30 people at this session (a mixture of 1st timers with rental gear provided, and those of us with our own kit and weapons). Gave me a chance to use my camo gear from my time in the army some years ago.

Playing with upgraded weapons was great - we took out people who thought they were safely out of range. Talk about a few suprised faces. [rofl]

In a CQB section one guy got shot in the head from close range - result was a 15cm bruise and a fair bit of blood. Needless to say he was not happy with the chap that shot him so close.

Also did some hilarious sneaky stuff - going prone to flank a group of two snipers and taking them out from the side without being spotted.

My muscles are bloody killing me today though! [surrender] I think I might be getting too old for this crap. [rofl]



For those that are interested, this is the weapon I have - now upgraded to double the power from stock.

http://www.softairsektor.de/product_...G608-5MG-.html

And this one will probably be my next purchase, as soon as I can find somewhere in Europe that stocks the bloody thing:

http://www.wolfarmouries.co.uk/airso...oduct&id=ICS85

[njfeedd3w]

sounds like fun.. they don't have that around here unfortunately

[SweetCaroline]

Playing with upgraded weapons was great - we took out people who thought they were safely out of range. Talk about a few suprised faces. [rofl]

In a CQB section one guy got shot in the head from close range - result was a 15cm bruise and a fair bit of blood. Needless to say he was not happy with the chap that shot him so close.

Also did some hilarious sneaky stuff - going prone to flank a group of two snipers and taking them out from the side without being spotted.

See - it makes you violent, it teaches you how to kill, it lets you handle weapons that look real and desensitizes you to horrors of gun violence, and someone got hurt.

Airsoft must be banned, and possession of airsoft paraphernalia should be equated to possession of assault firearms under the law.



P.S. (spoiler) True story - in NYC, the law makes no distinction between airsoft and firearms. Possession of a $100 KWA glock will theoretically land you in jail on a firearms felony for 5-10... maximum security prison too - with murderers and kiddie rapists

[SantaClaus]

dude, that looks like a lot of fun!!
________
Lovely Wendie99

[eFDMBwKH]

A bunch of people that I work with are really into Airsoft. I will have to go out with them at some point. I don't know much about the hardware that is out there but it seems there are tons of options.

[imporrilk]

So did you manage to shoot the guy who gave you the Black eye ? [rofl]

[TeksPaisimi]

Airsoft is fun but I find myself to be more partial to Paintball.

[Sleedyhex]

Airsoft is fun but I find myself to be more partial to Paintball.

can someone explain the difference? I've never heard of airsoft. looks cool.

[ambientambien]

I find myself to be much more drawn to shooting real guns; either at paper targets or cute fuzzy woodland creatures.

For some reason, every time I think of Airsoft, the following picture comes to mind... On the shooting forums I hang out on, discussing Airsoft will get you shamed out of... if not flat-out banned. Same goes with the ppl I shoot with IRL. [yes]

[imporrilk]

can someone explain the difference? I've never heard of airsoft. looks cool.

Airsoft uses accurately modelled Real world weapons, usually made from High Impact plastic with some metal parts, in some cases all metal or plastic.

They either operate from Gas or electric motors, much like the electric motor and battery in a RC model.

In paintball they fire quite large diameter paintballs thatare propelled from the gun by a gas discharge, where as in Airsoft, you can either fire small 5mm plastic or metal balls or in some cases 5mm paintballs, that are propelled from the barrel either by the discharge of a gas, normally CO2 (used to be Freon like in your fridge before it was banned cos of the damage to the ozone layer), Or the electric models use a piston like an air rifle that propels the ball from the barrel.

Spring loaded firing guns are the budget of the budget range too (c0ck the gun before every shot).

IMO electric can feel better because there is some recoil, especially on full auto, with the piston going backwards and forwards at full speed.

I can understand what LM is trying to get at, but in all honesty, the feeling of the weapon and the tactics involved in Airsoft are not much removed from running around shooting at people in the Army, the only thing is with Airsoft, you all get to go home safely at the end of the day/night.

[Sleedyhex]

thanks.[thumbup]

so airsoft leaves a mark like paintball? so you can tell someone's been hit?

[imporrilk]

thanks.[thumbup]

so airsoft leaves a mark like paintball? so you can tell someone's been hit?

Not sure if Chris was using Airsoft paintballs, but generally the only mark plastic or metal balls leave is the bruise from how close to the shooter you were.

I remember years ago someone said getting hit with a paintball was like getting hit with a squash ball at full speed (if you don't know what squash is, its the game where they whack a small rubber ball against a wall and the competitor has to hit it back at the wall right after the other persons shot).

In paintball they generally wear full face masks or at least a mouth mask and goggles, In Airsoft Safety glasses are a must.

I've seen someone hit in the mouth with a paintball and although the paint is generally water based, it took ages for the guy to get his tongue clean (2 bottles of mouthwash I believe), Also one game in Airsoft, some guy had stopped behind a tree for a cigarette and got sniped and lost a front tooth, cos the sniper deliberately shot him in the mouth, the shooter got banned not much after that, after a good kicking too.

Playing either game is ACE at night, people running around with NVG and you can see the flash of thunderflashes going off and sometimes people getting shot to f*ck cos they thought it was a good idea to stick a laser on their gun, people just lead the laser back to the shooter and BAM everyone targets the shooter.

NVG and IR eye safe lasers are the best for Night time games, does sort of take the fun out of bumbling around in the darkness and falling into holes etc.

[BWJfEkOB]

We shoot with the biodegradable plastic non-paint rounds. They sting when you get hit - and won't usually leave a mark at medium range, but certainly will at close range (as per the guy that got hit on the head in my original post!)

The main reasons why I prefer airsoft to paintball:

- Its not "run and gun" like paintball.
- More emphasis on teamwork and tactics.
- Accurately modelled weapons, which are also suprisingly accurate when shooting.
- The good quality weapons are made out of the same materials as their real-life counterparts (mixture of metal parts and plastic / resin cover-parts).

Many militaries use airsoft weapons as a training aid. When I was in the military most of our training exercises where with "real" weapons, using blank-rounds (meaning you get a noise, but nothing else). We relied on directing staff to assess the contact and decide who was a "casualty". With airsoft you get to see the results of your shots (i.e you actually hit people with something).

One downside of airsoft (and also paintball for that matter) is the range. With upgraded (1 joule) weapons, you can hit targets accurately out to about 80m, with a maximum effective range of maybe 100-125m depending on wind conditions. At 30-50m you are pretty bloody accurate, assuming you have a decent weapon.

The other downside is that because the rounds are not filled with paint, you see no visible indication that you've hit someone (except at closer ranges of course people tend to jump about like a stuck pig when they get hit!). This means that skirmishes rely on honesty - with people owning up when they've been hit. The main problem comes with first-timers / rental gear people, who often don't indicate a hit, even when you can see the bloody rounds pinging off them. Causes a few arguments sometimes.

One of the main reasons I purchased my own gear is that you can then join organised sessions for 20 euro a time, instead of 70-80 euro if you have to rent weapons and gear. Even with my weapon costing 200 euro, you'll recover that cost in savings soon enough. The advantage of having your own weapon is that you know its well maintained, and you know what its capable of (reliability, range, accuracy etc).

I understand what LM is getting at with respect to "real" shooting - however people must remember that unlike the US - in most european countries it is almost impossible to own a real weapon (even a pistol) just for range shooting etc. Activites like airsoft are therefore the "next best thing". Even airsoft is subject to very strict regulation. We have to play in Belgium for example, as the guns are illegal to own and transport in The Netherlands. We keep our gear in a lock-up just across the border in Belgium, as transporting then in The Netherlands by car is too risky. In the event that you got randomly stopped by the police in The Netherlands you'd be arrested, fined, and have your gear destroyed.

[BWJfEkOB]

So did you manage to shoot the guy who gave you the Black eye ? [rofl]

I always have black eyes - one of the side-effects of working a stressful job for too many hours a week. The strong lighting in that photo does not help though!

[Sleedyhex]

good description, chris. makes me want to try it now, instead of paintball.

I get dark under my eyes sometimes now too, because I have nerve damage in back and get terrible nights sleep. there is actually a decent remedy. there are products like "re'vive" which moisturize the dark circles and they go away. they're in the women's makeup section[rofl]