Airsoft the New Paintball

For those of you in debate over throwing paint or throwing BBs.  Many paintballers are making the “switch” today for a multitude of reasons, but a lot of those reasons have to do with cost and just what they are wanting out of their sport. Here are the pros and cons of the two sports Airsoft and Paintball, and how they connect and where they are going.

Are you a milsim player?

Airsoft is the most beneficial platform for playing a milsim, or military simulation games of force on force combat. The biggest reason for this is because all airsoft guns are an exact one to one ratio to the real version of the guns. This allows for simulation and gun use to be the most realistic, not to mention that with the Electric Blow Back(EBB) giving the feel of a gun being fired each round you need to get back on target and Gas Blow Back(GBB) airsoft guns of today you can even do full water submersion. This creates a very real environment for a Military simulation, though paintball does these simulations you can only be so close to the real version with the way the guns use propellant. Paintball is restricted by the gas, and the ammo feeding systems which only allows realism so far as paintball guns are normally cumbersome with the hopper and gas tanks, even if it is a hose system to a backpack. Airsoft the new Paintball  just letting you do more with the guns, though there is a missing factor between these two gun types.

Hit Calling

“When you get hit, how can you tell?” Paintball is a very straight forward sport of force on force combat, you get hit by a paintball and the paint marks you out. Though Airsoft doesn’t have the markers of Paintball, it also doesn’t have any of the mess either. The rules of Paintball might have a more bulletproof solution to cheating but, there is always cheating in anything that is competitive. So there’s people avoiding being called out by wiping off paint or the ball not breaking on contact and not calling out, is  a way to avoid being outed in Paintball. While Airsoft has a more honorable need to calling out hits, these BBs are very easy to know when your hit. Airsoft the New Paintball, not only do airsoft guns shot more accurately at further distances than a paintball gun, but they also shoot much faster putting out more rounds. So typically in Airsoft when there is ranged shot there is more than one BB that will hit you, because of the accuracy and rate of fire on Airsoft guns. Airsoft hits are easily called, and are most commonly refereed at larger national events to eliminate all cheating.

Recreation, paying too much?

Airsoft is a sport that has many areas of play, but by far the most common is recreational airsofters, just a bunch of guys reliving the childhood game of guns. Luckily, Airsoft the New Paintball, is inexpensive for everyone to play at the highest level. Not only are Airsoft guns more inexpensive than paintball guns, but the ammo that you feed them with is four times more expensive than Airsoft. So in Airsoft you get four times more play than Paintball does! The ammo is a reoccurring cost, that can be a burden, but not quite as much as buying a competitive Paintball gun. With all the awesome technology that paintball guns have, there is a cost to being competitive that is much higher than Airsoft. Airsoft guns are very affordable even for the most expensive high quality competitive airsoft gun, you are paying much less than you ever would in Paintball. Not to mention that you have less gun cleaning and maintenance in Airsoft than in Paintball, just adding up to Airsoft getting quite literally more bang for your buck. More playing means more fun for more people, more often, no matter a milsim player, zombie hunter or just recreational player you can afford all the competitive guns and the ammo to go use them making Airsoft the New Paintball.

Let’s all just Pwn!

Both Airsoft and Paintball are a ways to play force on force combat, to enjoy the camaraderie of the guys we play with and against, as well as playing and having a great time doing it. The times are changing as many players make the switch to Airsoft, but even Airsoft the New Paintball needs to recognize that we all are throwing either paint or BBs, playing one of the most awesome sports.

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