Airsoft Assault Rifles

To begin the Airsoft Assault Rifles page, I thought I would plagiarize the definition of assault rifle (real steel) found on the beloved Wikipedia.org website.

"The term assault rifle is a translation of the German word Sturmgewehr (literally meaning "storm rifle"), "storm" used synonymous with assault."

The name was coined by a guy who's name rhymes with Gaydolf Shitler "to describe the Maschinenpistole 44, subsequently re-christened Sturmgewehr 44, the firearm generally considered the first true assault rifle that served to popularize the concept.

The translation assault rifle gradually became the common term for similar firearms sharing the same technical definition as the StG 44. In a strict definition, a firearm must have at least the following characteristics to be considered an assault rifle:

* It must be an individual weapon with provision to fire from the shoulder (i.e. a buttstock);
* It must be capable of selective fire;
* It must have an intermediate-power cartridge: more power than a pistol but less than a standard rifle or battle rifle;
* Its ammunition must be supplied from a detachable magazine.

Rifles that meet most of these criteria, but not all, are technically not assault rifles despite frequently being considered as such. For example, semi-automatic-only rifles that share designs with assault rifles such as the AR-15 (which the M-16 rifle is based on) are not assault rifles, as they are not capable of switching to automatic fire and thus not selective fire. Belt-fed weapons (such as the M249 SAW) or rifles with fixed magazines are likewise not assault rifles because they do not have detachable box magazines.

The term "assault rifle" is often more loosely used for commercial or political reasons to include other types of arms, particularly arms that fall under a strict definition of the battle rifle, or semi-automatic variant of military rifles such as AR-15s.

The US Army defines assault rifles as 'short, compact, selective-fire weapons that fire a cartridge intermediate in power between submachinegun and rifle cartridges."

Airsoft assault rifles are generally classified as just about any AEG or GBB rifle that shoots less than 400 FPS. Generally speaking, anything over 400 FPS is generally classified as a DMR or Sniper Rifle.

While the general consensus in the Airsoft industry is to focus on the velocity that the rifle shoots, one could have all the velocity in the world, but if the rifle doesn't shoot where one aims it, thus unable to hit its intended target, all that power won't do one much good. So what I'm saying is, don't put all your focus into how hot your rifle shoots. Get it shooting straight, learn some tactics and learn to work with other players to accomplish an objective, THEN worry about how to get more range. Of course, there's also the very valid school of thought that you don't need much power because sound tactical movement will alleviate any real need for out-ranging your adversaries. I completely respect that. Out-smarting, out-maneuvering, and/or out-playing your opponents is extremely satisfying. Believe me. But to be honest, it's fairly difficult work and I don't really like to work hard all the time. I don't like to work hard at all, actually. I guess that's why I prefer Designated Marksman Rifles. But I digress.

So you might be wondering, what type of airsoft assault rifles are available that replicate the real steel models? Well I'll list off a few here for those of you that don't know everything.

AK series

FAMAS

FN SCAR series

HK G3 Series

HK G36 series

IMI Galil

M4 series

M14 series

M16 series

SA 58

Steyr AUG

This is by far, not a complete list. But it does contain many of the airsoft assault rifles you'd see on average fields.

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