Guide: Airsoft Terms and Acronyms

[Moondog]

Airsoft Terms and Definitions
by Moondog, Sparticus and Snake


AEG – Automatic Electric Gun. These are full-size, high-quality electric airsoft guns. They use batteries and metal gearboxes to propel the bbs. Often quite expensive and more powerful than spring guns and gas handguns.

AEP - Automatic Electric Pistol. These are handguns powered by small batteries. More reliable and efficient than EBBs. Also more expensive.

AK - Stands for "Avtomat Kalashnikova". The Soviet assault rifle series stating with the AK47. The most prolific assault rifle design in the world. This particular reference usually stands for the well-known AK-47.

BB – Round 6mm plastic projectiles fired from airsoft guns. Originating from the term 'Ball Bearing' and similar in shape to the metal projectiles fired from airguns. Categorized by their weight. Example: .20gram, .25g, .30 grams, etc. The heavier the BB the more accurate, but the slower it will fly.

Camper - A player who sits in one location for a long period of time. Camping when on defense is considered good form, while camping while on the offensive is bad form. Exception is for snipers.

CA - Classic Army, a high-end Hong Kong AEG manufacturer. Their weapons have highly detailed full metal bodies.

Clip - See magazine

Clone - A term for a company or AEG mdel that is a copy/knock-off (often unlicensed) of a Tokyo Marui design. Originally a derogatory term for any mainland Chinese company (such as JG or CYMA) that made knock-off of TM, CA, G&G designs.

CQB - Stands for Close Quarters Battle. Usually conducted inside buildings (warehouses, offices, etc.)...Also referred to as "SWAT Style" combat. Interchangeable with CQC.

CQC - Stands for Close Quarter Combat. Interchangeable with the term CQB.


Deagle, DE - Slang for Desert Eagle, a large Israeli made .45 or .50 caliber pistol.

EBB - Electric Blow Back pistol. Electrically powered blow back handguns. Less powerful and reliable than GBBs and AEPs. Use AA batteries, as opposed to custom made AEP batteries.

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions. Usually a document explaining those questions.

Flank - To the side (left or right) of a position. Example: "4th Company ambushed the enemy flanks."

FPS – Feet Per Second. The velocity at which your bbs are leaving the barrel. The rest of the world uses MPS (meters per second.) Both systems equal the same muzzle velocity when the units are converted.

Hi-Capa – The Hi-Capa is a competition style 'high capacity' GBB handgun. There are many variations on the original Tokyo Marui version, with WA in the lead for quality, power, and reliability.

Hi-Cap - Or HiCap are High-capacity magazine which holds 200-600 rounds for an AEG and 30-40 in a handgun. Disliked by mil-sim players for its unrealism. AEG HiCaps store BB's in an internal hopper and are fed via a clockwork spring which must be wound via a wheel or key.

Hop-up - A device in many airsoft guns that imparts back-spin on BB's, so as to give them additional lift and distance. Adjustable hop-ups allow this effect to be adjusted for different BB weights.

Hooyah – An affirmative response typically used by US special ops groups. The exact meaning and origin are unknown, but the phrase was said to have been coined by the US Navy Seals. Not to be confused with “oorah”.

ICS – I Chih Shevan, a Taiwan high-end AEG manufacturer. Lower-detail metal bodies than Classic Army. Have highly modified internal gearboxes that differ from TM standard but have many innovations such as the first split gearbox and adjustable spring power.

JG – Jing Gong also known as 'Golden Bow', a mainland Chinese AEG maker known for making cheap knock-offs of TM AEG's. Also the maker of many AEG's sold by Echo-1. Since 2007 their reliability has improved and their raw performance now exceeds most other AEG makers. But their externals are of lower quality and detail than higher end AEG makers such as TM, CA and ICS.

King Arms, KA – A very popular manufacturer of aftermarket AEG and GBB accessories. Seemingly popular because of their low prices. Note, their quality is a bit less then other, more expensive after-market accessory manufacturers.

KJW – Stands for Kuan Ju Works. A manufacturer of mid-priced gas weapons including the infamous USP series and the inexpensive version of the M700 gas-powered sniper rifle. For those with a low budget, KJW is great, but the quality will suffer with the low price tag.

KSC – A Japan based manufacturer of extremely reliable gas-powered handguns. The prices are somewhat higher than other companies but the quality and reliability is somewhat higher as well. Their ABS plastic bodies are crisp and accurate, though using green gas is considered risky, due to their lack of metal slides.

KWA – The Taiwan based sister company of KSC. Prices are cheaper, but the internal quality is somewhat less than KSC. Most KWA handguns come stock with metal slides.

Loadout – Your gear…(i.e. what you carry during a skirmish.)

Low-Cap - A low-capacity magazine. Typically holds 30 rounds for an AEG and 15 rounds for a pistol.

LOS - Stands for Line of Sight.

LOF - Stands for Line of Fire.

LPEG – Low Price Electric Gun. Term for cheap guns (often under $70) that may appear to be AEG's but of much lower quality, performance and durability. Often with cheap plastic internal gearboxes and firing below 250fps.

G&P – Hong Kong high-end AEG and airsoft parts maker. Specializing in highly detailed M16/M4 variants.

G&G, Guay2 – Guay Guay is a high end Tiawanese AEG maker. Known for very detailed externals and being the first AEG maker to use 6.04mm tightbore barrels in all of their AEG's.

GBB – Gas Blow Back. These are gas-powered handguns who's slide 'blows back' when fired like real semi-auto pistols. See NBB.

Magazine/Mag – The part of a gun that holds the ammunition and feeds it into the firing chamber. In modern guns, the magazine is detachable. Often newbs use the term 'clip' incorrectly to refer to the Mag. A 'clip' is a device used to load bullets into a magazine.

Mid-Cap - A mid-capacity magazine holding 50-160 round, which feeds BB's via a single spring and is not wound.

Mil-Sim - Military Simulation. It is a certain type of playing style that replicates real military tactics and load out style as closely as possible.

NBBs – Non-Blow Back. Gas powered pistols that unlike GBBs, the slide does not “blowback” when fired. Thus, they have minimal recoil and most often have a higher fps and higher reliability but lack the realistic feel of recoil.

Newbie - Slang for a new player or member. Sometimes spelled Noobie, Noob, or Newb, though when spelled “noob”, it is considered derogatory.

Operator – The official name for soldiers in the US Navy Seals and Delta Force. Stems from the need to have a special name without the pre-existing stereotypes of “agent” or “commando”.

Rambo - Someone who runs off to attack alone. Frowned upon by most players and most often shot first.

RealCap - See Low-Cap

ROE – Rules of Engagement. These are the rules that dictate when you may or may not fire or attack other players.

ROF – Rate of Fire. The number of BB's a weapon can fire in a second or a minute. Typical ROF for AEG's is 10-15rps (rounds per second).

Silencer – See Suppressor.

Skirmish – The most commonly used and most acceptable term for an airsoft battle.

Spec Ops – Stands for Special Operations. Typically used when referring to US Special Forces, Navy Seals, Delta Force, Rangers, or Force Recon detachments. Spec Ops teams work in small groups for a multitude of missions, often operating behind enemy lines and with absolute secrecy.

Speed loader – A tool that can hold several hundred bbs, and is used to quickly load magazines.

Suppressor – Often misinterpreted as “silencer”. In real guns, suppressors are most metal tubes attached to the muzzles of weapons to suppress the sound of fire. In airsoft they are cosmetic because most of the noise from an AEG comes from the gearbox and the body of the gun, not the barrel.

Specialist – The official title of US Army Rangers. Example: Specialist Charles Williams.

Springers – Inexpensive airsoft rifles and pistols that who's spring must be compressed by cocking the slide or pulling the charging handle/bolt. Not to be confused with bolt-action sniper rifles which are higher powered and more realistic
rifles firing as high as 500fps.

Stock – A term for unmodified or non-upgraded weapon. Or the name of the rear part of a rifle that sits into the shoulder when fired.

Tango – A term for an enemy. Example: “I’ve spotted 2 Tangos 200 feet from my position.”

Tightbore – Tight bore barrel. Inner barrels of airsoft guns that are smaller than the 'standard' barrel inner diamter of 6.08mm.

TM - Tokyo Marui. Japanese airsoft company and inventor of the AEG and parts designs that most other AEG makers copy. All of their guns are highly detailed and realistic but nearly all are made of ABS plastic. Limited to 300fps due to Japanese firearms laws. Prized for their reliability of their stock AEG's.

WA – Western Arms. Considered the Cadillac of GBB manufacturers. Their GBBs are top quality and their prices represent that. Most WA weapons cost upwards of $200.

WE – Wei-Tech, a GBB manufacturer comparable in quality to KJW. Their Hi-Capas are popular for their low price but high quality. However, there are currently many debates over the long term reliability of the WE hi-capa series, both metal and plastic.

[phridum]

I few discrepencies I noticed that may or may not need addressing:

CQB/CQC/MOUT - While it's perfectly acceptable for these terms to be interchangeable in the airsoft community, Close Quarters Battle is the term applied to the tactics of fighting in a single building. This is basically like SWAT style (though that is different as well. SWAT tactics are not a viable option in a warzone as they are designed around the preservation of life rather than the efficient elimination of it). Close Quarters Combat is more on the individual level than rather than the unit level CQB is at. I don't know how official it really is. I've only seen it used in airsoft, Blackhawk! gear advertisements, and MGS3. MOUT is a very fast and loose CQB applied to any urbanized terrain. So rolling up to a city, the Army uses MOUT tactics, as they break into small units to hit buildings, they are using CQB tactics, and when one of those guys does anything, like clear a doorway or kill a man, he's using CQC. Maybe. It's all good enough for airsoft, but then we can't be picky about the difference between a magazine and a clip either.

Hooyah - Navy; Hooah - Army/Air Force; Oorah - Marines. To the best of my knowledge, they are branch wide sayings, not specific to any community within the branch. Don't say it if you weren't in in that branch. If you were and you do say it outside of that environment, you're retarded.

Loadout - Many of our other coalition friends refer to this as "kit" as well. I prefer "kit" even myself, though get cross-eyed looks from co-workers. If you want to include it...

Specialist - Not proprietary to Rangers. Rangers special title is "Ranger". Specialist is a rank in the Army. It is E-4, and after completing "Corporal's Course", they are promoted to the next E-4 rank, Corporal.

[Night Angel]

Close Quarters Combat is more on the individual level than rather than the unit level CQB is at. I don't know how official it really is.

You're about 85% right, however CQC is focused more on violent action rather than task action. You are right when you say it is focused on an individual level, but it's more of one combatant fighting another combatant, or group of combatants. One man clearing a hallway is more of a smaller factor of CQB than it is a factor of CQC. If that individual combatant had encountered an enemy in said hallway and fought in open conflict then it would be considered CQC. But still only the open conflict would be CQC, the cleared hallway would still be an element of CQB. Also, CQC typically refers to unarmed combat, but also includes combat with handguns, submachine guns, and other small firearms. Hope this is helpful.

[DRK]

another discrepancy is for KSC and KWA.

KSC is a Japan located company , but KWA manufactures their products. KWA was the OEM for all their products, as well as for other companies products including their bb's.