By Elizabeth A popular question, especially for beginners is “does airsoft hurt?”
I remember my first airsoft gun. I was young and impressionable, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever.
I wanted to show it off to all my friends, and of course, use it in a game. So we set up a match, and I was having a blast until I got hit. It hurt! A lot!
Now, looking back, I can see that I was probably hit in a sensitive spot or something, but at the time I was convinced that airsoft guns were just painful.
And honestly, even now there are some people who will say that airsoft guns hurt more than paintball guns. But is this really true?
To figure out if airsoft guns hurt more than paintball guns, we need to understand how each one works.
How Do Airsoft Guns Work
Airsoft guns fire small plastic pellets using either compressed gas or a spring-loaded mechanism. The pellets are usually around 6mm in diameter and weight 0.12 grams
The thing that makes airsoft guns different from paintball guns is that they don’t use a lot of force to fire the pellet. In fact, most airsoft guns have a muzzle velocity (the speed of the pellet as it leaves the gun) of around 300 feet per second
Do Paintball Guns Hurt?
In contrast, paintball guns have a muzzle velocity of around 400 feet per second. So, on paper at least, it seems like airsoft guns should hurt less than paintball guns.
But does this actually hold true in practice? Let’s take a look at some real-world examples.
Real-World Examples
One study looked at the effect of different types of airsoft guns on human skin. The study found that all the airsoft guns tested caused some degree of pain, but that the amount of pain was largely dependent on the type of gun
For example, guns that used compressed gas tended to cause more pain than those that used a spring-loaded mechanism. This is likely because the compressed gas guns fired the pellets at a higher velocity
Interestingly, the study also found that the kind of pellet also made a difference.
Heavier pellets (0.20 grams) caused more pain than lighter pellets (0.12 grams)
So, it seems like there are a few factors that affect how much pain an airsoft gun can cause. But what about paintball guns?
Paintball Guns vs Airsoft Guns
Unfortunately, there aren’t many studies on the effect of paintball guns on human skin. However, anecdotally, it seems that paintball guns do cause more pain than airsoft guns
This makes sense when you think about it, as paintballs are larger than airsoft pellets and are fired at a higher velocity
So, if you’re trying to decide between airsoft and paintball, and you’re worried about the pain factor, then airsoft might be the better option for you.
Of course, this is just based on anecdotal evidence and there is no scientific proof that one is better than the other. It’s also worth noting that pain tolerance is different for everyone, so what might be painless for one person could be painful for someone else
At the end of the day, it’s up to you to decide which is better for you. If you’re worried about pain, then airsoft might be the better option!