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.

Spring shotguns and automatic electric guns are good airsoft guns for activities like backyard wars because they both have high rates of fire. Spring shotguns will release pellets as fast as you can pump the gun and are relatively inexpensive.

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.

It’s going to cost you a lot more money to join an airsoft team than if you are to hold friendly backyard battles. This is because performance relies pretty heavily on the quality of the airsoft gun being used, warranting team players to invest in the best equipment and accessories for their position. Airsoft teams consist of snipers, riflemen, grenadiers, and support shooters, all of which require different equipment. High capacity AEGs are the airsoft gun of choice for those in riflemen positions while those who prefer sniping generally have high precision sniper rifles with an FPS of 400 feet or more plus the optics needed for distance shooting.

If you want to be a support gunner, you can decide on a machine gun or an AEG with a box magazine to hold more pellets, which is the cheaper of the two. The AEG is a good choice for grenadiers as well, though this position also requires a grenade launcher and lots of grenades. The equipment needed for both support gunning and grenadier positions are more expensive than sniping or being a rifleman. In any case, all positions would benefit from having a gas pistol on them as well.

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.