The Meaning of Life........
Entry posted by Guest ·
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Ok, well it's been almost a fortnight since I asked Arnie for and received approval for blog space. And what do I have to show?
nada,
zilch,
squat,
bupkiss
Now I could blather on about how it's not even my fault- that the two times that I sat down and put pen to paper...er uh fingers to keyboard, that great mysterious cloud that seems to be shadowing Arnies that makes the website vanish in mid-upload and forever delete posts before they arrive safely at their forum destination is to blame- and while that is certainly true, the reality is, I had nothing to say that was interesting enough to rewrite and resubmit when the 'Page Cannot Be Displayed' spasm passed.
Now, since this will be my inaugural blog post I would like to get a few housekeeping items out of the way- First up: Apologies-
To anyone that I may have offended in the past week, Handsome Pete, Rapier, et al, mea culpa- sorry- my bad- no offence- I may have meant what I said, but I didn't mean to offend.
(anyone else that wasn't named.....no, I bloody well meant what I said! 
)
With that out of the way, what am I on about you ask? I'll tell you.
In reading and commenting on various topics and threads today in between unsuccessfully trying to stand up for some friends from the Pacific Northwest, and trying to assist a member in search of a "Full Metal, Semi-Automatic Gas Rifle", I stumbled upon the Airsoft News thread regarding the Escort M60. Interesting stuff- the mere thought of a blow-back 'recoil' '60 well,....brings me to the verge of becoming emotional 
I honestly expected this to become a full-on geek fest with drooling and sputtering and men acting like giddy schoolgirls.
I couldn't have been more wrong. So I went back and re-read the thread a few times to make sure I was understanding what was taking place. In short it seems that the community is divided in two on this issue- The issue being:
AEG Vs. Classic/Escort
And as I considered the comments by the members, the light went on over my head- "Here is my first blog"
So now that I have set the stage somewhat- I would like to present an editorial and question- This is a participation event.
I am going to write some things that are opinions of mine based on observation- However, these are simply my opinions based on my understanding and experience- the question part comes in by the reader reading and responding with their opinions/feelings- that way I can learn and a dialogue for understanding the issue can take place.
Right then-
In reading the thread about the Escort M60 along with the other guns being made and marketed by Escort and SniperX I was honestly surprised at some of the responses. As I mentioned earlier, there really seemed to be two, divergent opinions of these weapons and the technology itself voiced by the participants. And in trying to reconcile in my walnut-sized brain why it would be that folks could have such contentious and disparate views of the same subject (Airsoft), what began to dawn on me is that there really and truly are two different kinds of Airsoftinista (ok, that's my word and I'm trying to get it to stick ok? 
) out there.
Let's call them Type 'A' and Type 'B'-
-Type 'A' prefers AEG's and the 'kill'
-Type 'B' prefers Classics and the 'experience'
What do I mean by that? well, just as stated- by reading the posts in that one thread, a picture of 'Airsoftinus Modernus' began to emerge- Read it for yourself and tell me if you don't agree that the 'reading between the lines' tells you that the camp promoting the Escort system and all that goes with that seem way more interested in the experience and the folks queuing up on the opposite side seem more involved with the business of projectiles and the 'hunt'. It could just be me though 
It appeared that the language used by the AEG supporters tended to revolve around the reliability of AEG's and their inherent ability to shoot something at somebody- while the Escort/Classic crew spoke of the grins and smiles across their faces simply from the act of shooting the gun- BB's coming out the pointy end seemed (at least to this reporter) to be secondary.
While I am sure that the Classic/Escort camp would certainly say that shooting BB's is very important- the language that is used still refers back to the 'grin factor' of feeling the gun rock back and forth, the sounds, and the realism of a blow-back operation involved with these types of Airsoft weapons, whereas the AEG folks really just focus on reliability, ease of use, and well...the ability to shoot someone. In addition, I have really only observed somewhat negative comments regarding Classic Airsoft guns from the AEG group- "But it doesn't shoot reliably" or "Why lug around the pain-in-the-*albartroth* air bottle when you can just change a battery...and then shoot someone" I don't think I have ever heard "I'll never buy an AEG because it only shoots BB's" Why is that I wonder?
Speaking for myself, my Replica weapon obsession started at an early age- and based on the popularity of the so-called "Gun Culture" across the world, this seems to be a basic human trait. (discussion of violence in todays society is for another blog 
) I grew up in the 70's- and while we had plenty of Gun Toys back then, from metal six-shooter cap guns to real steel BB/Pellet rifles and pistols, we did not enjoy the quantity and certainly not the quality of product that we have today. I began 'collecting' Japanese replicas, MGC's and Marushin's around the late 70's early 80's but those were the PFC cartridge guns- didn't shoot anything but made noise and would cycle the action to simulate a real gun. And I distinctly remember thinking that it couldn't really get any better than this- I mean, I wanted more models, and certainly realistic and accurate replicas- but I never expected, even in America, 'Land of the Free and home of the NRA' that one day I would be worrying about FPS and the range my gun had- all I was concerned about was getting guns that I had been reading about in the WWII history books, or in Guns Digest, or stories from veteran relatives.
So for me at least, this whole hobby is about, well, no other way to say it but "Playing with Guns"- The more realistic and accurate (both visually and operationally) the better- But I have to say that the ability to expel a projectile is secondary. If I owned an Escort M60, it would only be a happy bonus that it actually shoots something (or someone ). For me, the ability to set it up, have it look like the real deal and chug along like a washing machine kicking and coughing is the fulfillment of a hundred afternoons fantasies as a kid.
Now having said that, I full well understand that for some, and a great many of the members of Arnies and a thousand other Airsoft forums across the planet- the whole point of Airsoft is....well similarly, no other way to say it but....."Shooting Someone"
So that brings me to the 'participation' part- My hypothesis as stated is that there are fundamentally two types of Airsoft fan. Those that want a gun to be as close as possible to its real-steel counterpart in visual accuracy and operation- shooting is secondary- And those that want a gun to shoot reliably and accurately, while realistic function and visual correctness are secondary.
How do you feel? Is this an accurate depiction of the issue? What am I missing or overlooking? and why do you Airsoft? The ability to mock hunt and kill, or the ability to enjoy realistic weapons?
Slainte!
-G
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