Airsoft Testing

By Jerry Kunzman
As many people know, I am a fan of a Airsoft guns.  They fire 6mm plastic BBs.  They can be fired at people in the same way paintball is played.  Some guns put out more power than others.  I wanted to do some comparisons, and rather than dragging out the chronograph, I decided to test the "sting factor" in order to judge power.  Some are spring powered, some are gas powered, and some are battery powered (AEG).
Here's the arsenal I will be testing.
This is an expensive copy of an M16.  It's about $320 + charger, battery, etc. = about $400. (AEG).  Brand is Tokyo Marui, model SR-16.  It has semi-auto and full auto capabilities.
This is a powerful gas powered gun.  It's a copy of Clock G18C which runs about $120.  It has semi-auto and full auto capabilities.
This is the new Heckler and Koch G36 AEG which was $120 (thus skeptical of it's power).  Brand is JG.  It has semi-auto and full auto capabilities.
This is about as cheap as they get.  It's a spring powered gun (means hand cocking it for every shot).  It's a copy of a Heckler and Koch USP P8.  UHC brand.  $20.
I will test the G18C gas powered gun with the original Green Gas (clever way to hide the fact that it's really an HFC Freon!).  This is made for these guns.  Recently the industry started making adapters to use propane.  Neither gas ignites.  It's simply just the pressure.
The results appear below.  CAUTION- not for girls or cry babies!
The test material was my left arm.  From left to right: Tokyo Marui.M16 AEG, KWA G18C with Green Gas, KWA G18C with Propane, JG G36 AEG, and the UHC Spring gun.  The results speak for themselves.

My conclusion: Don't shoot your arm... it hurts!   Ok, actually the surprise was the cheap(er) G36 rifle.  I was amazed at the power right out of the box.  Now, to beef up the gears and swap to a larger battery for more POWER!