The 12 Best Airsoft Terms You Should Know
- Airsoft – A type of air gun which fires 6mm Plastic BBs.
- AEG – Auto Electric Gun
- BBs – Ammunition for airsoft guns.
- Blow Back – Slide shoots back whenever a shot is fired.
- High Capacity (AKA Hi Cap) Magazine – Magazine for airsoft guns which holds a large number of BBs.
- CQB – lose Quarters Battle
- Gear Box – Gears connected to the motor of an electric airsoft gun.
- Hop-Up – Adjust the backspin put on the airsoft BB.
- FPS – Feet Per Second
- Pistol Grip – Any gun which is has a pistol style grip.
- Pump-Action – hand-grip is pumped to load gun for firing.
- R.I.S. – Rail Integration System
Airsoft – A type of air gun which fires 6mm Plastic BBs. Also referred to as “soft air” guns. Most airsoft guns are made to resemble real fire arms and are often used for training purposes. Airsoft games are held around the world and the sport is becoming more and more popular.
AEG – Auto Electric Gun. See above in “Types of Guns”
BBs – 6mm Plastic BBs are used as ammunition for airsoft guns. They come in several different grades which are separated by weight. 0.12g BBs weigh 0.12 grams each, 0.20g BBs weigh 0.20 grams each and so on. Heavier BBs are generally only used for more powerful guns.
Blow Back – A feature in many airsoft pistols which makes the slide shoot back whenever a shot is fired. This is to add realism making you feel the “kick” that you would feel if you were firing a real firearm.
High Capacity (AKA Hi Cap) Magazine – A type of magazine for airsoft guns which holds a large number of BBs. A small wheel at the bottom of the magazine is turned to force more BBs into the firing mechanism of the airsoft gun. This type of magazine allows the user to carry many round with very in just a few magazines. The drawback is that the magazine needs to be wound up every 30-70 shots.
CQB – Stands for “Close Quarters Battle” and is a type of fighting in which the combatants are fighting in very close range. In airsoft this term refers to airsoft guns which are meant for close quarters airsoft games. Typically these guns have a high rate of fire and are shorter to allow better maneuverability. Most CQB fields enfore a limit of around 350 FPS with 0.20g BBs, so if you plan on playing CQB this is an important factor to keep in mind.
Gear Box – The sequence of gears connected to the motor of an electric airsoft gun. They take the rotational energy provided by the motor and transfer it to the spring mechanism which fires the BBs. This is an integral part of every AEG, the higher quality the gear box the higher quality the gun.
Hop-Up – A feature in most airsoft guns which allows the user to adjust the backspin put on the BB as it exits the rifle. The backspin allows the BBs to fly straighter and farther.
FPS – Stands for “Feet Per Second” and is the velocity at which BBs exit the gun. The FPS refers to how powerful an airsoft gun is. The higher the FPS rating of a gun the more energy the BB has as it exits the barrel. To keep things simple, FPS is usually measured with a 0.20g BBs. This makes it easier to compare the FPS of different types of guns. Heavier BBs will lower the FPS but usually increase accuracy.
Pistol Grip – Any gun which is has a pistol style grip.
Pump-Action – Refers to a shotgun style airsoft gun in which the hand-grip is pumped back and forth in order to load the spring and ready the gun for firing. The gun needs to be pumped before each shot.
R.I.S. – Rail Integration System. Airsoft guns with R.I.S have a system of rails mounted on the front of the gun. These rails allow the airsoft gun to be customized with a variety of different accessories. These accessories include sights, scopes, lasers, grenade launchers, and special grips.
Auto Amazon Links: No products found. http_request_failed: A valid URL was not provided. URL: https://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?SearchIndex=All&multipageCount=20&Operation=GetResults&Keywords=B079VLFD7D&multipageStart=0&InstanceId=0&TemplateId=MobileSearchResults&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US Cache: AAL_852b42e944e28ceb9c7fffacdade2c79
Auto Amazon Links: No products found. http_request_failed: A valid URL was not provided. URL: https://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?SearchIndex=All&multipageCount=20&Operation=GetResults&Keywords=B078P2MSD8&multipageStart=0&InstanceId=0&TemplateId=MobileSearchResults&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US Cache: AAL_466c18a5cbe05228e9e8f84d3afcee3d
Auto Amazon Links: No products found. http_request_failed: A valid URL was not provided. URL: https://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?SearchIndex=All&multipageCount=20&Operation=GetResults&Keywords=B07FT2LLLK&multipageStart=0&InstanceId=0&TemplateId=MobileSearchResults&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US Cache: AAL_598f8408f434f19c9c9984e40091042c
Auto Amazon Links: No products found. http_request_failed: A valid URL was not provided. URL: https://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?SearchIndex=All&multipageCount=20&Operation=GetResults&Keywords=B00EWK00FY&multipageStart=0&InstanceId=0&TemplateId=MobileSearchResults&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US Cache: AAL_e415c94c5b8b3c133f5b23c28f749804
Auto Amazon Links: No products found. http_request_failed: A valid URL was not provided. URL: https://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?SearchIndex=All&multipageCount=20&Operation=GetResults&Keywords=B00C1P4UUI&multipageStart=0&InstanceId=0&TemplateId=MobileSearchResults&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US Cache: AAL_45cb1fdc966b052e5a0e2e13f127bf74
Auto Amazon Links: No products found. http_request_failed: A valid URL was not provided. URL: https://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?SearchIndex=All&multipageCount=20&Operation=GetResults&Keywords=B01LX6OTUB&multipageStart=0&InstanceId=0&TemplateId=MobileSearchResults&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US Cache: AAL_6066b300ff97277043711e234a1eef13
Auto Amazon Links: No products found. http_request_failed: A valid URL was not provided. URL: https://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?SearchIndex=All&multipageCount=20&Operation=GetResults&Keywords=B00IVKAY3Y&multipageStart=0&InstanceId=0&TemplateId=MobileSearchResults&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US Cache: AAL_25fc0a040e0a034eb05e9f9717bb3173
Auto Amazon Links: No products found. http_request_failed: A valid URL was not provided. URL: https://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?SearchIndex=All&multipageCount=20&Operation=GetResults&Keywords=B07R3FR9J8&multipageStart=0&InstanceId=0&TemplateId=MobileSearchResults&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US Cache: AAL_8949263efb49748e0dd8164c9c30a875
Auto Amazon Links: No products found. http_request_failed: A valid URL was not provided. URL: https://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?SearchIndex=All&multipageCount=20&Operation=GetResults&Keywords=B01MQS74AT&multipageStart=0&InstanceId=0&TemplateId=MobileSearchResults&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US Cache: AAL_04630b6579c44f4802110a3b08314a7e
Auto Amazon Links: No products found. http_request_failed: A valid URL was not provided. URL: https://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?SearchIndex=All&multipageCount=20&Operation=GetResults&Keywords=B001L21VCW&multipageStart=0&InstanceId=0&TemplateId=MobileSearchResults&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US Cache: AAL_a2a6004402491e76c650cfb7702e618f
Auto Amazon Links: No products found. http_request_failed: A valid URL was not provided. URL: https://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?SearchIndex=All&multipageCount=20&Operation=GetResults&Keywords=B00C87XZ5U&multipageStart=0&InstanceId=0&TemplateId=MobileSearchResults&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US Cache: AAL_b1a6e7f652b7267f89ebfde2ae2bb68b
Auto Amazon Links: No products found. http_request_failed: A valid URL was not provided. URL: https://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?SearchIndex=All&multipageCount=20&Operation=GetResults&Keywords=B00BLQZZDY&multipageStart=0&InstanceId=0&TemplateId=MobileSearchResults&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US Cache: AAL_4831d8a19741fb0fb244029641828390
Auto Amazon Links: No products found. http_request_failed: A valid URL was not provided. URL: https://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?SearchIndex=All&multipageCount=20&Operation=GetResults&Keywords=B01DLSAN68&multipageStart=0&InstanceId=0&TemplateId=MobileSearchResults&ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US Cache: AAL_b501e6ed5d64f440484c7ee9bdf78609