# Airsoft pistol! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 30, 2007, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airsoft-pistol/431732 "2007-12-30T20:46:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airsoft-pistol/431732/1 "2007-12-30T20:46:18Z")
Today I was shopping for a birthday gift for my mother and came across a cheap Smith and Wesson airsoft pistol at a sporting goods store. Impulsively, I purchased it. It’s a nice solid gun, it looks exactly like a real pistol. (So it will be staying in my room exclusively.) It came with a target covered in this sticky gel-pad, which the pellets stick onto and then can be caught in a tray and re-used. I placed the target about 30 feet away. Having never fired a handgun before, only rifles and shotguns, i was surprised at how well I was able to hit the target. Using the sight-irons, I consistently hit the bull’s eye with the 6mm plastic pellets. How similar is the accuracy of one of these airsoft guns to a real handgun? It would be nice to get a real handgun some day and target-shoot, but there’s no shooting range in my town. The sporting-goods store also had an airsoft AK-47 which was very heavy and solid and cost hundreds of dollars. It was labeled as a “competition” rifle. Are there really airsoft competitions? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airsoft-pistol/431732/2 "2007-12-30T21:18:07Z")
[I have one of these](http://www.precisionairsoft.com/item723.htm). 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airsoft-pistol/431732/3 "2007-12-30T21:44:43Z")
That is pretty badass. I’m assuming it’s automatic, then? It is really annoying to have to cock the pistol after each shot. I wish I had a semi-automatic airsoft pistol - how much would a good one cost me? Also, reloading the clips is a huge pain in the ass. You have to hold down a little lever and manually push the pellets, one after another, down the slot in the clip. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airsoft-pistol/431732/4 "2007-12-30T21:47:31Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Today I was shopping for a birthday gift for my mother and came across a cheap Smith and Wesson airsoft pistol … [/QUOTE] Your mother is obviously an interesting person. When I shop for my mother I rarely find myself in reach of much that’s made by Smith & Wesson. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airsoft-pistol/431732/5 "2007-12-30T21:57:09Z")
I’m not familiar with the revolvers. I assume they just work on spring pressure from cocking? The MP5 has a 200 rd mag. Basically you just pour the BBs into the top. There’s a roller on the bottom that winds a spring to push them up. Unfortunately mine isn’t working. I need to get a new one (or two). The MP5 is automatic. It will also shoot semiautomatically. As far as how much a semiauto pistol runs, it looks like a Marui starts at about $129. (The MP5 is a Classic Army. I read somewhere that they’re ‘upgraded Maruis’.) [Here](http://www.precisionairsoft.com/cat7_1.htm) are some Marui pistols. If you _really_ want to see something badass, [check this Beretta M93R out](http://www.modelguns-worldwide.com/m93r.htm). Be sure to check out the [video](http://www.modelguns-worldwide.com/Videos/M93RProto.wmv). 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airsoft-pistol/431732/6 "2007-12-30T22:42:09Z")
No, it’s not a revolver, it’s a regular 1911-style pistol. It looks more or less like [this one](http://www.great-lakes.org/graphics-2/Smith&Wesson/rev-10-16-06/1911-Rail-ScBk-R.jpg) (but without some of the modifications in that picture.) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airsoft-pistol/431732/7 "2007-12-30T22:44:21Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] No, it’s not a revolver, it’s a regular 1911-style pistol. It looks more or less like [this one](http://www.great-lakes.org/graphics-2/Smith&Wesson/rev-10-16-06/1911-Rail-ScBk-R.jpg) (but without some of the modifications in that picture.) [/QUOTE] Oh, sorry. I’ve recently picked up a couple of S&Ws and they’re revolvers, so I just assumed. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airsoft-pistol/431732/8 "2007-12-30T22:50:52Z")
That Beretta is really nice. Are the really hardcore airsoft enthusiasts (the type who would use such a complicated weapon) basically people who wish to have the thrill of firing a real weapon but are restricted by their property, lack of a firing range, or simply don’t want the risk of accidentally injuring someone else? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2007, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airsoft-pistol/431732/9 "2007-12-30T22:57:45Z")
The Beretta is actually a blank gun, rather than an airsoft. (And an expensive one at that. About $3 a round!) I bought the MP5 as a movie prop. A little CGI and some audio and it would work. It’s fun for blowing the heads off of dandelions, and a lot cheaper than a real gun. Sure, I’d think about getting a machine gun if they were allowed in this state. But there’s a lot of paperwork, they can cost five figures, and the stimulate the economy too much. (i.e., I’d be buying thousands and thousands of dollars in ammunition.) I can take the MP5 out in the back yard and have fun with it, and all it costs is a little electricity and some plastic BBs.