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Originally developed in China these fire-arm replicas look and feel like the real thing. The idea stemmed from China, where firearms had been eliminated in the civilian sector. This elimination caused many people who desired to collect firearms to seek a way to have replicas that closely resembled the original items. Airsoft guns were the answer to this desire for firearm replicas. These guns that use small round pellets have developed to the point they are standardized and produced in a limited number of calipers.

These weapons eventually were adapted to include guns that were powered by gas or battery and as these guns became more and more popular a sport developed. This sport simply known as airsoft is basically a big boy version of Cowboy and Indians or capture the flag. This hobby eventually traveled across the ocean to the United States and became popular there as well.

Airsoft guns are manufactured mostly in the orient as they were when they were first developed. Manufacturing companies for airsoft guns have sprouted up in China, Japan, Taiwan and other locations as a result of their ever growing popularity.

These carbon copy m16’s and other semi automatic rifles and pistols have been recently adopted by a large amount of police departments for the purpose of training their new recruits and providing refresher training to their current officers without having to use more expensive authentic weapons in training scenarios.

While they are a variety of methods of play with air soft guns, the one method of play that seems to have gained the most attention is known as MilSim, or military simulation play. This game is much as it sounds an elaborate reproduction of military war games, complete with radios, explosives and even rations. These well planned out scenarios can take several days to play out and require all players to be in exact uniforms.

These teams replicate real time experiences as close as possible. Often airsoft gun teams will use low capacity magazines that are identical to the actual magazines used on M4’s, M16’s and others. These games can last up to a few days, with teams remaining in the fields except in the case of an emergency.

While MilSim tends to be the most popular sport it is by far not the only sport. Unlike paint-ball, another popular war simulation game, Airsoft requires a player to uphold an honor system. In paint ball the paint pellets that are fired by the guns leave obvious paint markings on the players when they are hit. With airsoft guns, there is not this obvious marking and so the player must be honest about when they have been hit and where.

Due to the exactness of these guns some areas have restricted their use, such as large inner cities. In the United States these guns are required to contain orange markings that are permanent. So they can be quickly distinguished from authentic fire-arms.

There are many retailers on the market in most states. Air soft guns can be found at flea markets, malls and even sporting good stores. Another way to purchase these replicas is over the internet where there is a continual growth of companies that provide airsoft guns.