Airsoft is a popular sport that primarily involves the use of replica weapons that look, feel, and weigh like their real counterparts. Airsoft pistols are loaded with 6mm biodegradable plastic pellets, although there are now some models that use 8mm pellets. These pellets are ejected through the barrel by the internal mechanical gears and springs found within every airsoft gun. So how does the internal mechanism of airsoft guns actually work?

There are basically three types of airsoft guns and these are the first generation spring powered guns, gas powered and the popular automatic electric guns, or AEGs, commonly seen in most airsoft games today. . Although these models may have different sets of gears and springs inside, the principle of how they eject the pellets is basically the same.

spring loaded pistol

The spring-loaded airsoft gun paved the way for the conceptualization of airsoft games where enthusiasts find in the activity a great method to keep the body and mind healthy. Spring-loaded pistols are single-shot-and-cocked, where the handler has to manually cock the gun after each pull of the trigger. The internal mechanism uses a tension spring that generates enough force to propel the pellet out of the barrel. When the handler cocks the gun, the magazine clip pushes a single plastic pellet into the firing position inside the rear of the barrel, where the force created by the tension spring ejects it out of the muzzle of the airsoft gun with velocities. up to 200 feet. per second.

gas gun

This particular airsoft gun works much the same as its predecessor above, except that you don’t have to manually cock it for the pellet to load. This airsoft gun is powered by compressed green gas and for a while was a favorite of most game enthusiasts. However, because this type of airsoft gun is expensive to operate, it was soon replaced by electric guns.

Automatic Electric Pistol or AEG

Perhaps the most common airsoft gun used by entrants today, automatic electric guns, or AEGs, are powered by rechargeable batteries that drive their internal electric motors, made up of assemblies of gears, pistons, and springs, to fire pellets at speeds up to seven hundred feet per second

The main mechanism of this airsoft gun is a gearbox, consisting of three gears driven by the motor, which compresses the piston assembly against a powerful spring. As soon as the trigger is pulled, the piston will release, spring-loaded through a cylinder and out of the gun barrel. Simultaneously, another pellet is loaded into the chamber and the same process is repeated. This process occurs quickly, allowing the gun to eject multiple buckshot with the pull of a trigger. Developed primarily in Japan, these types of weapons can fire anywhere from one hundred to six thousand rounds per minute, depending on your weapon’s configuration.