What is Airsoft?

Airsoft is a military simulation game using very realistic electric, gas or spring powered weaponary. Most of the better quality weapons are made completely from metal. The basic concept of Airsoft is similar to paintball, but the games are more tactical and more realistic.

Airsoft relies on the honesty and intergity of the players to make it work. Unlike paintball there is no 'marking' when a player gets hit. On recieving a hit a player is expected to announce that he/she has taken a hit and remove themself from the game. Most games involve resurrection and the 'dead' player can rejoin the game after following the resurrection rules for that game.

Airsoft is a non-contact sport that is as safe as any other organised sport and certainly safer than paintball. Airsoft rules, as enforced by almost all skirmish sites, impose a 330 fps velocity limit. This limit ensures that the energy of the projectile, or bb, is around 1 joule. Studies have shown that at 1 joule a bb is unlikely to break the skin or cause serious injury. Except to an eye ! For this reason eye protection is mandatory at all airsoft skirmish events. A bb hit on the skin will mostly leave a small red welt. The exception is a hit on the face or on skin that directly covers bone eg. skull. These may draw blood and smart for about 5 to 10 minutes. Full face protection is recommended (and enforced for players under the age of 18) but left to the personal preference of adult players.

Even with all the safety and game rules - what can be more fun or as satisfying as shooting a live person who has every intention of shooting you first! And you get to do it without actually harming anyone.

The UK Law on Air Guns

We are not lawers nor do we pretend to be.
Our understanding of the law is:

• It is an offence for people aged 14-17 to carry an airgun or airgun ammunition in a public place, even if it is in a secure cover, unless they are accompanied by an adult aged 21 or over.
• It is an offence to carry an airgun in a public place without lawful authority or reasonable excuse i.e. going to/from a skirmish site.
• There is no ban on airguns which use capsules of compressed carbon dioxide or compressed air chambers which are an intergal part of the gun.
• It is an offence for anyone to fire airgun pellets or bb beyond the boundaries of private land on which they have permission to shoot.

• Under the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003, it is an arrestable offence to carry an imitation firearm in a public place without permission, whether or not it is capable of discharging a shot or bullet.
• Carrying an air weapon in public, loaded or not, is also an offence. The maximum penalty is 6 months imprisonment.
• If the police are called, they have to react as if the firearm is real, anyone brandishing any type of gun, real or not, is putting themselves in DANGER.