People use airsoft guns for many reasons and activities. For instance, some people shoot cans in their backyard, some hold airsoft wars against friends, and others join teams to participate in organized combat simulations. The purpose of your airsoft gun should be an important factor when purchasing one.

Speed and versatility are not necessary airsoft gun characteristics when simply shooting targets (also known as "plinking"). In fact, a cheap, low maintenance spring pistol will do just fine for this type of activity. You can get away with buying a pistol based on how attractive you find it when you're not using it for anything other than plinking.

Friendly games like skirmishes and backyard wars warrant airsoft guns that have a higher firing rate than spring pistols. For something like forty dollars, you can acquire a spring shotgun that will fire the pellets as fast as you can fire them, making them the most affordable purchase for this type of use.

The automatic electric gun (AEG) has an even faster firing rate than the shotgun and is relatively more expensive. The rounds per minute (RPM) of AEGs are comparable to those of actual assault rifles and can accommodate sniping as well as rapid fire. Aside from the actual gun being more expensive than other models, it can be costly using AEGs as you go through far more pellets in an average session.

If you want a high firing rate but it's not in your budget to buy an automatic electric gun, you can always go for the lower end LPEG (low-powered electric gun). This much cheaper airsoft gun still has a high firing rate; however it doesn't have the same feet per second (FPS) rates as AEGs do.

Airsoft guns start to get really expensive when you decide to join an airsoft team and participate in organized games. Not only do you need the best gun for your position, you also need to invest in the proper accessories and protective gear. The different positions on most airsoft teams are snipers, riflemen, support gunners, and grenadiers and affect the type of gun you'll needs. Sniper positions should acquire high quality airsoft rifles that shoot at least 400 feet per second and also need to have the optics required for long distance targets. On the other hand, those in riflemen positions are better off using precision AEGs with high capacity magazines.

A machine gun would be the ideal weapon for a support gunner; however an automatic electric gun with a box magazine addition works similarly and costs much less. The same is true for the grenadier position, though they also require a quality grenade launcher plus lots of grenades. In all circumstances, every position on an airsoft team should also have a gas pistol, which costs about seventy dollars alone.

Airsoft guns are not one of those one-size-fits-all products. Regardless of what you want an airsoft gun for, you need to be prepared in order to make a cost effective purchase.