1) How come you never do anything on either Airsoft or Paintball? I would like to see your evaluation on which one is better.
Thank you Jason Nesbith.
Also requested by: John Manners; Ken Schmidt, Timothy Baldoon; Haik Buhami, and Leonard Richards.
2) Can you explain the Military's use of Laser Tag versus Paintball?
Thank you Larry Gunn.
Also requested by: Funky Foo Fighter, Pigeon Killer, and Grovin Daddy Bear.
Some Paintball Weapons and Accessories:
A popular sport by both Men and Women -
Typical Paintball Guns ...
Paintball Gun Parts ...
Mask -
Hopper -
Paintballs, various colors -
Paintball Target ...
Paintball Bruises -
Paintball Warning Sign -
Some Airsoft Weapons and Accessories:
Typical Airsoft Guns, they virtually look like the real thing ...
Mask -
Vest -
Airsoft Gun Ammo (pellets) ....
Airsoft, BB, and Pellet Gun Target Box by Crosman ....
Laser Tag:
Laser Tag can be defined into there basic categories ...
1) Professional use - Primarily by the Military.
2) Commercial Game use - Laser Tag centers where people come together and play at a store front located in a shopping center or mall.
3) Home use - Laser Tag equipment bought for home use. These can range from $30.00 to over $900.00.
Military Laser Tag -
Indoor Games ....
Upscale Laser Tag set that sells for around $900.00 ....
Answer:
This Forum is about Firearms and I did not want to deviate onto other items such as Paintball, Airsoft, Laser Tag, Pellet and BB Guns, Archery, etc.
However, I have received several request do something on the subject of Airsoft versus Paintball; and on Paintball versus Laser Tag.
For the record, I do not do either Paintball or Airsoft weapons, and haven't done Laser Tag since my children were young. I have tried Paintball a few times. I understand the worldwide following of these sports.
Originally Paintball guns primarily all looked the same. They are now being offered in a variety of firearm copied styles such as assault rifles. Paintball weapons vary in price and quality. Paintball basically is what the name implies, it shoots a colored ball that splats like paint on impact. The paintball comes in different colors and often times is competitive by teams. Competition is clear on target acquisition and successful shot because the Paintball shows up upon impact.
Airsoft shoots a BB type pellet, and impact in competition is more of an honor system because you cannot always tell if someone has been shot. Airsoft weapons are realistic in appearance and come in every form possible from handguns to assault rifles. An Airsoft weapon when sold almost always comes with either a red or orange tip on the front of the barrel to disguise it from a real firearm.
Caution: Do not remove the colored tip at the end of barrel. People have been shot by police because once the colored tip is removed they look so much like a real firearm the police often cannot tell the difference.
To end on argument, both airsoft and paintball are used by various law enforcement and military around the world for training, some use both, it just depends on that particular groups choice.
Airsoft - versus- Paintball, the Pros and Cons, History, Methodology:
Background:
Paintball
was founded in 1976 in the United States. The concept of paintball
was based on The Most Dangerous Game that came from Capture the Flag.
Airsoft
was founded in late 1970′s in Japan. This was in direct response to
firearm restriction laws imposed on the Japanese, which basically
states that no civilian may own firearms. Needless to say, demands
for firearms skyrocketed, but with the firearms ban, companies soon
began making replicas of famous firearms. Most notably assault rifles.
Evolution:
Paintball
- Although play style, rules, and safety regulations have changed
very little since its founding, paintball markers themselves have
gone though huge advancements in technology. They were originally
very simple, with their propulsion being an internal gas reservoir
with manual bolt action loading. This was then replaced with a pump
action. The major leap came in external High Pressure Air rigs and
automatic loading. Today, these are the standard among paintball
markers.
Airsoft
- Developed completely independently from paintball. However, Daisy
Outdoor Products, an American company most known for their pellet
guns, took Airsoft in its early stages to the USA, where it was slow
to catch on in part due to the popularity of Paintball. However,
Airsoft continued to thrive in Japan were Paintball was outlawed. The
simple spring loaded mechanisms of early Airsoft guns were soon
replaced by gearboxes. These gearbox mechanisms were driven by a
motor to turn a series of gears and pull back a spring loaded piston,
effectively creating an automatic Airsoft Gun. Today we have three
leaders in the Airsoft industry; Tokyo Marui, Maruzen, and Marushin.
Rules
and Regulations:
The
general rules of Paintball and Airsoft are very similar. You get hit
by a BB or Paintball, call yourself out, then return to restart, and
continue the fight.
Paintball
- Requires a full seal face mask. FPS (Feet per second, basically the
speed) is generally limited to 280 FPS for recreational Paintball and
290 FPS for tournaments. Finally, Paintball markers are usually
restricted to semi- automatic.
Airsoft
- Doesn’t require a full seal face mask. Only full seal goggles.
FPS limits are 400 for automatics and 500 for spring guns (a.k.a.
sniper rifles).
Pain (getting hit with either Paintball or Airsoft):
While
both activities deliver some pain, a major debate between Airsoft
users and Paintball is about the level of pain. Paintballers usually
claim that Paintball hurts more, because it is a larger ball. This is
highly contentious due to the fact that full automatics are not allowed in Paintball but are in fact the norm with Airsoft.
Note: See pictures above of bruises sustained in both Paintball and Airsoft and decide for yourself.
One
must understand that because Paintball is semi automatic, it is much
harder to land successive shots on target. Less Paintballs on target
equals less pain. Also, Paintballs splatter on their targets,
dissipating some of its energy over a wider area, which means less
pain.
Airsoft
is a solid BB which means a smaller area is hit, unlike Paintball,
where it can dissipate to a larger area. Also, the fact that fully
automatics are allowed means a lot of BB’s can be landed on a
target in a shorter amount of time.
Firing
Cap - Paintball markers rarely exceed 20 shots per second. However,
Airsoft guns can easily exceed 20 shots per second, and can go up to
60 with some custom tech work.
Trying
to say that one hurts more than the other is absurd because it
depends on where you get hit and how many times, and how much padding
(layers of clothing) you have on, if any.
Realism:
This
is the part when Airsoft and Paintball really split. No matter how
much anyone loves their sport, there is no denying that Airsoft is
much more realistic.
Case
and Point:
Super
realistic Airsoft guns can be found as cheap as 300.00 dollars
simulating every feature of an assault rifle, except for its ability
to fire real bullets.
For
Paintball guns to achieve a similar level of realism you are looking
at all kinds of aftermarket parts and possibly some custom work.
Use
as training:
There
is a common misconception that the U.S. military uses Paintball Guns
as a training tool. They use something called simulation. It’s
basically a Paintball loaded into a live cartridge such as a 9mm round. This hurts way
more than any normal Paintball or Airsoft marker. They do use
paintballs but they do not use Paintball markers. They use modified
M16 standard issue assault rifles. Paintball is used by the police
but not to the extent of Airsoft. Airsoft is cheaper, more realistic,
and that is the reason why law enforcement is getting away from
Paintball and substituting Airsoft as training tools.
Paintball
is still used in riot and crowd control situations. Most law
enforcement use pepper spray for this application.
Operation:
Airsoft
weapons can operate on either electric (battery) or gas.
Paintball
weapons operate on Carbon Dioxide (CO2), or Compressed Air and
sometimes Nitrogen Gas.
=> So after interviewing people that I know and trust who do both Paintball and Airsoft, I have included a topic page, comments as always are welcome. Below is a Youtube Video whereby, Paintball versus Airsoft, is explained ....
Youtube Video #1: Target Practice with a Paintball Gun ....
Youtube Video #2: Target Practice with a Paintball Gun ....
Laser Tag is a team or individual sport where players attempt to score points by 'Tagging' their opponents generally with an infrared emitting beam. The laser sets off an alarm that beeps when you have been targeted successfully (killed). The advantage of Laser Tag is any age can play and it is painless.
Professional style Laser Tag Equipment is used by the military. It generally fits onto the weapon assigned to the individual soldier or marine.
Youtube Video: Laser Tag Explained and Demonstrated ...
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