Airsoft guns were origins of the created in the 1970s in order to simulate the actual look and feel of the original, is it because in Asian countries owning a real firearm was illegal. This type of gun has evolved over time and several improvements and fired mechanisms have been added in order to provide a more realistic experience.

According to the fire mechanism airsoft replicas can be classified as electric, gas powered or spring. Today we're going to focus of the features of guns with Spring-based fire mechanisms. With those which use springs in order to accelerate a projectile are often referred to as the first generation of airsoft weapons, this mechanism is very simple but have the downside of almost never been being semi auto and never automatic, so using this type of airsoft gun on a real battle simulation may not be the best choice.

The second generation of weapons has a gas-based fire mechanism but because of the complexity of it the prices tend to be higher when compared with those weapons which use springs.

Today we can find almost any type of airsoft replicas that use Spring-based mechanisms, some of the models are:

-- The M30P which has a scope, a silencer and a laser
-- The P813A1 that works at 250 fps has a very realistic finish which includes a blue eliminator, laser, scope and a silencer.
-- The M280 is an incredible replica that works at 200 fps and uses 6 mm BBs
-- The M1481 also referred to as the Black Panther works at 150 fps and is an 8 inch pistol

Most airsoft guns are made of ABS plastic but there are others that feature actual metal in order to re-create the real look and feel of the weapon they were intended to resemble.

Regardless of the model that you choose it is important to remember that the first generation is based on springs, this system can effectively lowered the price on expensive replicas that may be even more expensive according to their shooting mechanism.