What’s The Difference Between Airsoft Guns And BB Guns?
Hobby gun enthusiasts are wild about airsoft guns. These strictly recreational guns look like real firearms, from hand guns to semi-automatic rifles. They are sold only to people 18 years of age and older who want realistic firearms to play a variety of games, just for the fun of it. Some don’t even play with their guns – they’re serious collectors who are simply fascinated by firearms.
Airsoft hand guns, rifles and semi-automatic weapons are so life-like that people who don’t understand their use confuse them with the more dangerous BB gun. There are quite a few similarities between the two, however there are profound differences between airsoft guns and BB guns, too. Here’s an abbreviated breakdown of the two types of life-like guns.
Firstly, airsoft guns are a relatively new type of gun having been developed just 30 years ago in Japan. Guns were not allowed in that country, despite the demand. So manufacturers developed a spring-firing type weapon, which evolved into a gas firing device. By the time these realistic guns, used strictly for recreational purposes, arrived in North America about 15 years go, an electric-firing model had been developed. These are also referred to as AEGs.
BB guns, on the other hand, have been in use for more than a century. Initially developed and used in Europe, BB guns became popular as a promotional product for the comic Red Ryder in the 1940s. With more power and greater range, BB guns are used for target practice or for killing small animals such as rodents and pesky birds.
BB guns shoot round metal balls, or BBs or other types of small, metal pellets. Airsoft guns, on the other hand, shoot only plastic pellets, typically 6mm in size and larger than BBs. Since BB guns fire with significantly more power, they are more dangerous and can cause bodily harm. They fire at 91 to 152. 4 meters per second, compared with airsoft firing power of just 55 to 91 meters per second. That’s not enough to cause serious harm to someone.
Similarities of the two guns include the firing mechanisms. Airsoft guns use either compressed gas, electricity or are powered by springs. BB guns are almost exclusively air or gas powered. Real guns use neither of these systems.
Airsoft weaponry and BB guns are deliberately manufactured to resemble the look of real guns and to feel like a real weapon when grasped. An unsuspecting person could easily mistake a BB gun or an airsoft gun for a lethal weapon. Fortunately, by law, an airsoft gun must be sold with a bright orange blaze at the end of the barrel to help identify it. This bright orange identifier is mandatory. Real guns do not have a neon orange tip.
As a closing note, airsoft guns are not the same as their messy cousin: paintball guns. Frequently, a paintball facility will offer airsoft as an alternate activity but the two guns are very different. Paintball guns don’t look like real weapons. They are very simple in design, with a canister filled with gas or air mounted on top of the gun. A paintball gun shoots paintballs, which are larger than airsoft pellets and full of paint that explodes on impact. If fired at close range, a victim of a paintball shot may experience pain and bruising. These types of guns are rarely confused with authentic guns.
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