The history of Airsoft
Airsoft started in Japan during the early 1980s, when ownership of guns by citizens was made illegal. Since they did not have access to real gun, the demand for replica firearms grew. It is from this demand that airsoft surfaced. At first the replicas were made by private hobbyists, and they were made to fire plastic pellets instead of live ammunition. As the replicas became more common on the Japanese market, Japanese companies caught on and started producing them on a larger scale. After they caught on in Japan, exportation to other countries in the region started. As a result airsoft guns became more popular in the Phillipines, Hong Kong, Korea, and Taiwan. The trend soon caught on and spread to the rest of the world, including Europe, North America, and the UK. Airsoft guns started out as spring powered guns, where they had to be cocked before each shot. Eventually Japan developed the guns further, and they evolved into fully automatic gas and battery powered airsoft w