Airsoft Gun Games – Some Basics

Some background

These types of gun were developed back in the 1980’s in Japan. At the time a real gun was actually difficult to acquire so the airsoft gun was developed as an alternative option .38 special ammo  for those who were enthusiastic about guns.

So what are airsoft guns? They are non-lethal reproductions of real fire arms, either in the original size or a smaller version. They are divided into three types according to the way in which they are powered. The three groups are spring-powered, electric powered and gas powered. The first versions were spring-powered. Then came the electric powered guns and finally in the 1990’s we saw the growth of the gas-powered gun. Ammunition for these guns are plastic pellets varying size between 6mm and 8mm. These “bullets” or “bb’s” vary also in weight with the lightest being around 0.12 grams all the way up to 0.88 grams. Experts tend to use a bullet weighing around 0.2 or 0.25 grams as they are the best for accuracy and distance.

In the 1990’s fighting grounds developed where groups of gun enthusiasts could gather to indulge their interest in pretend “war games”. Here two people could fight each other or teams could compete with each other. As interest has grown in this “hobby” or “sport”, rules and game formats have developed along with the guns and gun accessories. Specially designated fight areas have also developed. Commentators suggest that airsoft gun games developed out of the paintball game.

Airsoft Game Formats

There are a number of game formats that you can be involved with including:

Prison Escape – here you are a prisoner and you have to try to escape with a few other prisoners down an escape tunnel.

Capture the Flag – two teams have their own flag that the other team is attempting to capture and take back to their base. Other games include – Stalkers, Manhunt and Last Player Standing.

The Rules