Airsoft weapons are not real guns, however, to the naked eye you can hardly tell them from the real thing. The guns; rifles and handguns are same size replicas, made from either plastic or metal, they all shoot plastic pellets.
An Airsoft spring operated revolver is one of the three types available. Although the types look the same, the way the pellet is fired is different. The guns use spring, gas or electric power to fire the projectile. The gas and electric guns can fire on full automatic or semi-automatic, this is not the case with an Airsoft spring revolver, it can only fire one shot and then it has to be re-cocked before the next shot can be fired.
To operate the spring fired version of an Airsoft revolver, the operator has to re-cock it by pulling back on the slide or the bolt; this compresses the spring and makes it ready to fire again. The spring version of any Airsoft gun is the least expensive of the three methods of propulsion and they are readily available in a wide range of styles. These single shot weapons are of little use when the participants in an Airsoft battle do close combat, but they do have their place for those just taking up the sport. Although there are very expensive weapons available, these are usually purchased once the participant is hooked on the sport.
Once the participant moves on and wishes to upgrade from an entry level Airsoft spring revolver, there are gas operated and electric operated models available. Whereas the spring operated gun must be re-cocked before it can fire another round, the gas and electric models do not, they can perform automatically as they have a continual source of energy to fire the pellet. The gas version commonly uses propane as the source of energy, these gas fired guns use a gas blowback arrangement, the gas that fires the pellet is the same gas that pulls the slide back to cock again.
The electric Airsoft revolver is gaining ground among enthusiasts of the sport. It is a recent development compared to the sport itself, the sport started to become popular in the 1970s and the electric powered weapons were introduced late in the 1990s.
