Airsoft vs. Paintball
First of all and most important the Law.
Both these sports are very good and it is a way of getting of your backside and playing your call of duty video games for real. But there is a legal side to these games and owning these guns you cannot go out into public with these guns or you will be arrested and you could have your expensive gun destroyed so all your equipment and guns should at all times be enclosed and concealed in a proper Gun carrying case and the only time you should take them out is on the playing field for Airsoft or PaintBall. If you wish to know more about the legalities of owning an Airsoft Gun please read from the following link.
There are many articles on the web comparing Airsoft and paintball. Most of them are opinionated. The bottom line is a preference; a matter of which you prefer. This article approaches this subject differently. This article will present facts with side-by-side comparison between the two sports, so that you can decide what you prefer for yourself.
Guns
Airsoft gun (photo on the left) resemble real guns. Paintball guns, generally, resembles the photo on the right. As matter of a fact, paintball guns are usually called paintball markers. In addition, a bottle for the paintballs at the top of the gun isn't shown. Also not shown is the CO2 bottle attached to the back of the marker at the bottom of the grip.
There are some paintball markers that resemble real guns. However, they are made for military training. You generally won't find them on a basic paintball field. Some less expensive replicas do exist, but they still have paintball bottles on top and have a CO2 attachment, either via the gas bottle directly or a tube to a off marker gas chamber.
Airsoft guns uses either gas or electricity. But in either case, there are no elements protruding from the gun to support these two types of propellents.
Pistols
The photo on the left shows an Airsoft Pistol, The Photo on the Right shows an Paintball Pistol. Both Resemble a Real Firearm. There are also many Paintball Pistols that have paint tubes that protrude on top of the gun
Ammunition
Airsoft BB's (in the left photo) are usually 6mm in size, composed of hard plastic, and weights around 0.2 grams. A pack of 5000 BB's costs around $15 at this writing.
Paintballs (in the right photo) are usually 0.68 caliber (17.3 mm). A box of 2000 paintballs cost around $40 as of this writing.
Paintball leaves a mark upon a hit, whereas airsoft doesn't. Although many players claim that airsoft is an honor system while paintball is not, the truth is that they are both honor systems. Sure, you can check yourself if you are hit with paint, but you are the one that is going to call yourself out.
Range
Most competitive airsoft guns shoot between 300 to 500 feet-per-second (FPS). That translates to an effective engagement distance of 100 to 200 feet. Some Airsoft sniper gun can hit 350 feet accurately.
Paintball markers generally shoots 300 FPS, with a paintball that is ten times heavier than airsoft BB's. It effective engagement distance of 80 to 100 feet. You can shoot them a little further by arching the bullet upward; the maximum distance is about 300 feet.
Safety
Airsoft BB's are dangerous to soft tissues. Therefore, to play Airsoft safely, you have to wear impact resistant goggles or a face mask (all players under the age of 18 have to wear a full face mark and is advised for all to wear one) On bare skin, Airsoft BB’s will sting and cause welts. Airsoft BB's are not safe to use inside a house. The BB's will penetrate or recochet the walls. They will shatter glass and ceramic. They an also knock out your teeth so a mouth guard is advised.
Paintball can also damage soft tissue, its heavy mass also creates welts on bare skin, You must wear full Face Masks at all times as showed above to prevent hurting sensitive areas from paint splashes. Paintballs will also shatter windows and it is advised not to play in your house as who wants to clean up all those paint splashes LOL. so always only play on a recognised Paintball field.
Propellant
Airsoft guns uses three types of propellant. The spring version does not use any consumables, other than the plastic 6mm BB's. You manually cock the spring back to shoot the BB's. The electric version uses rechargeable batteries. The gas version uses some form of gas.
Paintball markers uses compressed air to propel the paintballs. So there is an air tank attached to every paintball Gun. Some low-end paintball markers will use spring, but they are not competitive and are for younger players.
Consumables
In addition to the ammunition being consumables, both airsoft and paintballs uses gas that requires refilling. Paintball markers tends to use compressed air. Airsoft, on the other hand, uses all sorts of gas: green gas, red gas, propane, CO2, and compressed air.
In addition to Using Gas, Airsoft has an additional Power Source: Which is the Rechargeable Batteries. These Rechargeable Batteries allows you to power your Airsoft Gun over and over again without having to worry about the recurring stop and start to recharge your Gas and also in the recurring cost of buying more Gas compared to using a battery again and again. Eventually Batteries like all other things only have a life span and need to be changed and new ones bought and in some guns they can be very expensive But still the eventual cost of Batteries is lower than using Gas or CO2 for every Game Played,
Realism
And I must at this point applaud all the people at Incentive Designs for doing so much for Airsoft that I hope will take it down the road and we can Play Airsoft in a manor of a REAL SIM so the Players play with real Tactics that are used by the Military instead of the sprint and Spray games from a normal game, so Thank You To Jason, Andy, Kev, and any others I have forgotten to mention
There has been a big leap forward in Airsoft to make it more realistic with most Airsoft guns having a recoil system which make the gun feel and sound much more realistic. The Electric Recoil Guns sound crisp and sharp but dont rally have the blowback power that a Gas Blow Back or CO2 Blow Back gun has as they sound a lot louder and you can actually feel the power of the Gun in your shoulder. There is also a venture going ahead to make an Airsoft Gun More realistic in the form of what is called an MFG which is a replacement of the Flash Hider from the tip of your outer barrel and every time you shoot a BB it causes the MFG to make a bright Flash just like a real Gun does.
The Next Project on the Horizon from the same company is called the Rattle and what this is, is an electric powered sound box which will fit in either your for Grip or in a Peqbox which will hold a recorder and a speaker and you can put in a mini SD card which you have down loaded a WAV file of the real sound of the gun you are firing so every time you fire a BB you get the real Flash and the real sound of the gun you are using which will take Airsoft Right up to being like playing a Real Military operation as your opponents will see your flash and here you so you will have to use real military manoeuvres to stay out of your opponents sights.
Then at Night you have a Tracer BB which has been made up with a compound that illuminates the BB when it comes in contact with a very bright light like two strong LED lights so when the BB is Fired it Picks up a Charge from the LEDs which can be done by the New Magazine that has the tracer unit built into it which has been built by the Geniuses at INCENTIVE DESIGNS who Also invented the Power switch (The RATTLE) makes the sound of your real Gun would Make and you also have the Muzzle flash from the MFG and when the BB comes out of the barrel you can see it fly through the air in bitch black in various colours of yellow green white and some rare Red ones which are much more realistic.
There are also Silencers that have the Tracer unit built into it so it extends your Barrel and also lights up your BBs so they flash through the dark night air, during a Gaming Skirmish on an Airsoft Field of Play
SMG RATTLE By InCentive Designs
