Redneck Dumping Pit
Today I loaded a backpack full of toy guns and ammunition and hiked out into the wilds of Beverly. A couple of buddies and I went to the local illegal dump site in the woods, where we set up aluminum cans and tested the airsoft arsenal out. We shot about 600 rounds of ammunition and I learned quite a bit.
The AEG pistols have a reasonable, steady rate of fire at full auto, but these weapons at their current power (I figure about 150 fps)are clearly defensive weapons. In the open air, their range and accuracy are severely limited, with the bb's often taking a wicked curve after 40 feet. These weapons are meant to be used at close range and are no substitute for higher-powered rifles or smgs (more on this later). As far as I can tell, there's no way to adjust the hop-up on any of 'em, but they're not really powerful enough for it to make a huge difference anyways. At around 20-30 feet away, these pistols really come into their own. We could all reliably plink cans at 30 feet, and the slower projectile speed and 15-round magazine means that it's pretty easy to track your shots in midair and just direct the stream of fire. About $10 each.
The spring shotgun was noticeably more powerful than the pistols, with about a 50-foot range before the bb's lost all accuracy. I don't know if it was a property of the gun itself or what, but a lot of the shots from this gun corkscrewed severely in midair. People using shotguns in game are going to want to get in fairly close anyways, to make sure they can effectively use the Shotgun special rule. About $20.
The Cyma G36 replica, made entirely of plastic, turned out to be (as I suspected) a bit of a dud. It looks cool, and the rate of fire is okay, but it makes pellets spit and misfire in nearly random directions. It's got about the same range of one of the pistols, but was laughably inaccurate. Good thing it holds 40 rounds per magazine... you'll need 'em all to hit anything more than 30 feet away. Oh well... we'll just give this one to cannon fodder, I suppose. What do you expect for a $30 gun with a plastic gearbox?
The belle of the ball at the target range was the Well R-4 MP7 replica, with a metal gearbox and housing. This thing just completely outperformed every other gun available. The rate of fire was terrifying, and it was dead accurate at 60 feet. I strongly recommend this handy little SMG, with the collapsible stock and foregrip that give some nice stability for long-range shots. It was $80, and the metal gearbox in a gun seems to make all the difference in the world.
The AEG pistols have a reasonable, steady rate of fire at full auto, but these weapons at their current power (I figure about 150 fps)are clearly defensive weapons. In the open air, their range and accuracy are severely limited, with the bb's often taking a wicked curve after 40 feet. These weapons are meant to be used at close range and are no substitute for higher-powered rifles or smgs (more on this later). As far as I can tell, there's no way to adjust the hop-up on any of 'em, but they're not really powerful enough for it to make a huge difference anyways. At around 20-30 feet away, these pistols really come into their own. We could all reliably plink cans at 30 feet, and the slower projectile speed and 15-round magazine means that it's pretty easy to track your shots in midair and just direct the stream of fire. About $10 each.
The spring shotgun was noticeably more powerful than the pistols, with about a 50-foot range before the bb's lost all accuracy. I don't know if it was a property of the gun itself or what, but a lot of the shots from this gun corkscrewed severely in midair. People using shotguns in game are going to want to get in fairly close anyways, to make sure they can effectively use the Shotgun special rule. About $20.
The Cyma G36 replica, made entirely of plastic, turned out to be (as I suspected) a bit of a dud. It looks cool, and the rate of fire is okay, but it makes pellets spit and misfire in nearly random directions. It's got about the same range of one of the pistols, but was laughably inaccurate. Good thing it holds 40 rounds per magazine... you'll need 'em all to hit anything more than 30 feet away. Oh well... we'll just give this one to cannon fodder, I suppose. What do you expect for a $30 gun with a plastic gearbox?
The belle of the ball at the target range was the Well R-4 MP7 replica, with a metal gearbox and housing. This thing just completely outperformed every other gun available. The rate of fire was terrifying, and it was dead accurate at 60 feet. I strongly recommend this handy little SMG, with the collapsible stock and foregrip that give some nice stability for long-range shots. It was $80, and the metal gearbox in a gun seems to make all the difference in the world.