Why do we prefer a GBBR or an HPA rifle these days? Or even a pistol? The humble electric or AEG gets a lot of stick but I still think it’s by far the best platform. In response to a conversation at Chemical Airsoft in Manchester last week, let’s talk guns…

Ahh, electric powered adult toys. We love them. Except in Airsoft, that love is dwindling as we move (I’m not saying forwards) towards other power sources. Well, sniper rifles and sniper sidearms aside, all my guns are electric. And with good reason. I just don’t see the advantages to the other two propellants that others see. And it’s not because I’m drunk.

The AEG is where it all started with Tokyo Marui back in the 1970’s. And despite a few experiments with gas, it remained the mainstay of the Airsoft arsenal until very recently. Most players probably start out with one because they’re cheap and fairly simple to keep running – you just charge the battery between game days. If you remember to, of course. The thing I think that gets to most people is the noise, once famously described in an Airsoft magazine as sounding like an angry sewing machine.

Despite the increase in rainbow coloured guns, cat ears, novelty gun accessories, Amazon fancy dress outfits, and people rolling handguards in glitter…the modern player apparently likes realism. And the AEG, even with a blowback function, just doesn’t deliver that as well as a gas gun.

bUt ReCoiL

Ah, recoil. Although you’re firing plastic balls at people, recoil lets you pretend a bit more. Now I’m going to apply this to electric recoil systems, gas, HPA if it exists, and even pistols that fling the slide back. Recoil feels fun, and I understand fun despite the fact that I take most game days very seriously, even with a hangover. It does add a lot to the experience, but…

This is Airsoft. We’re trying to keep our shots as accurate as possible, blowing air down a metal tube that should be as stable as possible, which is why we have barrel spacers and monolith uppers. Having a gun that’s jumping up and down and shaking like a naked man in the Arctic is going to throw shots off all over the place. Good for show in the car park, not so good when there’s a player at a window that you need to absolutely nail on the next shot because he’s wiped most of your team out. Why do we buy expensive barrel upgrades for smoother BB flight and then opt for a recoil gun? It makes no sense. Am I the only one thinking that?

GIMME FUEL, GIMME FIRE

Give me that which I desire. And it isn’t having to lug a metal tank around with me that I need to refill often. That applies to both HPA and gas platforms. I know many of you only go for a couple of hours on a weekday evening, so this maybe applies less, but if you do bigger games, you want that space in your rig for things that matter, like ammo, radios, pyro etc.

Fuel is a big factor for longer games, especially in more remote places, both for your gun and for yourself. HPA users I see driving around trying to find places to get tanks refilled, which seems like a lot of hassle and petrol and I have no idea what you do 24hrs into a milsim when that runs out. Gas canisters are quite big, although lightweight, and quickly eat up pack space. By comparison, I can run batteries for a week in the same space that a single M4 mag takes up in my kit.

Gas guns in the UK encounter a whole host of problems with our varied climate, especially in winter where many shit themselves and vent the gas because it’s too cold. It’s a constant game of finding the right coloured gas for the right temperature to maintain the right FPS because of gas expansion rates, and then a few prayers for consistency (note the rarity of gas sniper rifles). Each different gas type delivers different FPS which can then change during the course of the day and requires a lot of messing around with hop adjustments. AND THEN you have to go and keep buying gas, over and over again. More and more gas, every time you want to go play. Another issue with gas guns is not using them, and having to empty the gas before heading home which seems a bit of a waste.

Oh, and those incidents with gas canisters exploding in warm weather in people’s cars…it’s not a myth.

“It’s more powerful”, said the HPA user. Well, no. We’re all still subject to the same power limits; you’re just finding other ways to blow the bb out. I know there are still a few HPA wankers (I can call them that) who try to adjust the dial once through chrono and run hot during games to balance out the fact they have to carry a tank and run around without that hosepipe catching on things and disconnecting at a bad time, but you’d find life much easier with an AEG. Assuming they’re more powerful is nonsense, nor do they add any magic sprinkles to the BB.

And then there’s cost. I know some players just like to show off with their £2000 builds that give them zero extra skills in the same way some people pay £500 for a pair of shoes, which presumably makes them walk better.

I’ve just popped open a web browser and gone shopping for a classic M4, because I’m a classy guy. It’s currently £599 for a gas Colt 609. Which is nice, but for £600 I could buy an electric M4A1, and a Mk12 SPR, and an XM177, and an M16A4 with M203 grenade launcher, for the same price. And have a wall full of guns and enough projects to keep me busy until Christmas.

More guns = More good.

I will admit that I do like the way gas guns break down like the real thing, not that I particularly want to of course as they’re more useful assembled, and you can buy real steel parts for extra cool points at the BBQ afterwards. But the humble AEG just delivers so much more for much less, and doesn’t get you labelled an HPA wanker (in the UK. For any readers outside the UK, which is around 50,000 of you, I’d love to hear what terms you use just for a bit of variation to my pre-game safe zone wanders).

AEG for me will always be the answer because it just works in all conditions and it’s easy to just carry a spare battery and swap out when needed. Sure, it doesn’t sound as good as the real thing but then again, it isn’t the real thing and no amount of gas and fake muzzle flash devices is going to change that. It’s stable, reliable, it’s cheap and it makes the sport accessible to more new players.

So when you meet a new player on site and tell them electric guns are shit and they’ll need to fork out for a GBBR like everyone else, just take a moment to consider that actually, they’re not. You just paid more to have the same fun. And once you’ve got some more experience under your belt, you’ll go back to AEG.

They all do…