I am thinking of getting my 14 year old nephew an air soft gun or guns for Christmas. It looks like there are some really cool ones now that closely resemble military weapons, even having fairly rapid rates of fire.

I know next to nothing about air soft guns. My only experience with them was when one of my friend's kids were into them for a few years, years ago. Last Summer, we found a blue pellet from one, in our backyard, that's probably 6 years old.

Are air soft guns accurate enough to be good for teaching a kid to shoot?

Do the new biodegradable pellets really degrade?

How safe are they?

What are some good makes and models of air soft guns?

Are the rapid fire, battery powered guns more fun?

Keith

an air rifle is a better tool for teaching marksmanship

the round 6mm plastic bbs aren't the most accurate , wind takes them, if they were good for accuracy and flat shooting they would be too damaging to shoot them at each other.

yes some are incredibly realistic , I was at Vortex headquarters recently they put their optics on very realistic looking and feeling AR-15 rifles you basically have to be holding it to see it is not an actual AR

and no a cop can not tell that it is not real gun from even a few feet

there is a local store in Janesville WI that sells them some very nice and realistic feeling ones , I have looked at them because my son was interested I never found the need to buy one. my son had a few of the low dollar ones when he was younger

there are a few young guys at the store that could probably answer all your questions about the guns themselves https://www.plahnsoutdoor.com/contact might be worth giving them a call


if he is 14 I would consider teaching him to shoot a real gun and take him to the range start with a 22lr and work up as he gains proficiency
let the experience , time with you and ammo be the gift.

I've done it, it is fun.
That being said, I don't know how wise it is to have kids shooting these realistic "guns" at each other. Yeah, I know, we used to play cowboys and Indians all the time. But sad to say, that was in a different era. Kid's minds are in a completely different mode in this day and age.

I favor paint ball as a shooting at each other game , the balls actually are bio degradable and in short time, you can see the hit . the guns don't look like firearms , you generally go to a field and play or have a field out of public view to hold your games.

They sting but not as bad as paintballs. I won a really nice AR style airport gun about 5 years ago and it’s pretty awesome. Functions exactly like and AR and is even metal like and AR. Since it’s almost identical, it’s the perfect thing to use to teach my kid how to use an AR safely. He’s a dead shot with it. Perfect gun to teach a kid gun safety with.

There a lot of fun, especially if his friends get one to. Set up courses just like paintball. Make sure to get him safety goggles for the sport if you go this route. Same safety rules as with firearms until you enter game play.

Yes affected by video game mentality and lack of consequences mode. Etc...

Also the general publics bias against guns mode

I second teaching the kids about a .pellet gun, and then .22 for small game...progressing to a rifle ND big game over any set up that teaches to point guns at others which shows them its a "Game" because it's not Now a dsys.

I think everyone that is against kids shooting paintballs and airsoft at each other are pretty off base. Airsoft guns cause just as much violent crime as video games. Bad parenting and horrible home lives cause violent kids. Those kids are gonna be degenerates whether or not they shot plastic bbs at other kids. Maybe the other kids might learn to be fast enough with their own piece when they are adults, to save someone or themselves from the bad kids that grew up.

We All have our theories ^^^ Very many factors in raising Good kids
I raised 4 ...

But The world is different Now, we didn't have the media's mouth against Us or Neighbors that see things with bias

All that can bring even a good kid into a Circus.

We have to Teach, but avoid.... sad but true in 2021

These topics are all opinion. There is no real answer. The world always has had problems and always will. All one can do is try their best.

My family has tons of fun shooting each other with airsoft. All guns are required to come with orange tips and we have a few homemade covers we've made for hiding while "sniping" but we don't use them much since by the time you spot the little orange tip its usually too late lol. I do cover mine with my hand while moving to a new hide. We have a good number of options colt a1m4s, colt pistols, a m9sberg pump shotgun, The Boy is our sniper with his high end rifle and full auto pistol. We also have a bunch of cheap-o rack-n-pop pistols. Grandma and grandpa even have an ar style gun they play with. We've had many friends and neighbors join in the games. I do not believe it can make killers out of good people. Before we start every time, everyone walks the perimeter and we have a brief safety refresher about having guns loaded out of bounds, rules of gun safety, and what to say if you see something that needs to stop the game. If safety is called anyone who hears it must also call safety loudly 3 times, remove their magazine and clear the weapon then proceed to the rondezvous point and we find out what's going on. Usually its something like a neighbor's dog has come on the course or someone's glasses fogged to bad to see and since you are not allowed to remove them during play you call safety. Anyhow my point being if everyone knows gun safety and the rules of engagement it only teaches how to respond safely while under stress which I think is an important lesson not just for gun safety but life in general.

Some games get pretty exciting if you get separated and surrounded. Such a rush of fun and fear. Might try to get a game going soon.


The Boy and Grandma

Are air soft guns accurate enough to be good for teaching a kid to shoot? Not really

Do the new biodegradable pellets really degrade? Yes in a year or two

How safe are they? As safe as the user. At minimum safety goggles but a full face cover is best to avoid tears and chipped teeth.

What are some good makes and models of air soft guns? I like the colt A1M4 but really any that take a standard magazine are good. As an example sig Sauer mags only fit their guns and are very expensive to replace or buy extra. you'll go through a few mags in a battle if allowing full auto. We usually keep our matches to semiautomatic. Its fun to get hit with one bb not so much to get sprayed lol

Are the rapid fire, battery powered guns more fun? 100% YES

Use eye protection with all air guns. Even a BB will bounce back and hit you in the face. I know for a fact. My dad drew a bird on a barn door for me to practice. I kept getting closer and closer until I could hit the bird. A BB bounced back off that barn door and struck me in the eye. Was sore for a few days but no other damage was done, fortunately.

Thanks to everyone who responded. You gave me some good information.

I have also been considering an air rifle like Pete suggested.

Trap Setter's battles look like great fun.

My nephew is over 2400 miles away in Washington, so I don't get to see him much. He's come here before and done very good shooting my crossbow, hitting my archery target deer every time in the kill zone out of 15 shots. Neither my brother or his wife hunt. I would like to encourage my nephew to try hunting. All 3 of their properties have deer and one has elk as well. They have occasional bears and mountain lions too.

I'm going to call my brother and ask which he thinks is more appropriate, air soft or an air rifle.

Keith

I think calling your brother is the best idea to see what he is comfortable with/appropriate.

I am not against air soft games or paintball games at all but it takes the appropriate place to play and is made much more fun by having a group of people to play with.

an air soft or a paintball gun with no game and no one to play with turns into boredom and mischief.

it sounds like they have some property with some space , going into your original question we had no idea if he was a burbs kid , near you or half way across the country.


bored burbs kids with a air soft or paint ball gun have caused much mischief and I think that was some concern in some of the recommendations or concerns weighed in.

bored kids here cause a lot of property damage with what seems to have been a semi automatic pellet or bb gun this fall , a lot of windows shot , they would stay just outside of town where police response time is fast and just in the county sometimes only by a 100 yards . don't think they ever caught them. so finding out what your brother things is good.

Paint ball is was a blast , I am sure air soft battles are a lot of fun also , all of them are not legal to fire in most any city or village , back to you have to have the place to play.

air rifle especially one that could take small game might be a gateway to hunting for your nephew if he has the properties to hunt , most places don't require minor kids of land owners to purchase any small game license.

I don't like blurring the lines of gun vs toy

air soft and paint ball are some gun but then a toy at the same time. so you treat it like a gun until you hit the play field and every one has their goggles on then the game begins.

a supervised game in a designated space is different than ad-hock running through the neighborhood having a battle around non players

the nice thing about air rifles is that it is an individual sport and you can hunt as well as learn marksmanship.