Lewis And Clark: First Airsoft Gun Enthusiasts in History?

Even though there was scant mention of it during their expedition, are explorers Lewis and Clark the world’s first Airsoft gun enthusiasts?

By: Ringo Bones

Even though there’s scent – even no mention – of it whatsoever, it has been witnessed by many Native American tribes that they have met that Lewis and Clark carried an Airsoft type guns as their main weapon for hunting during their expeditions. A Kentucky Hunting Rifle handmade by European gunsmiths who settled in Pennsylvania was deemed not good enough for use by Lewis and Clark even though Kentucky Hunting Rifles were widely used as sniping rifles during the American Revolutionary War. Given that resupply is difficult and black powder is not water proof – and can even be hygroscopic especially if sodium nitrate is used as an oxidizer – it is quite easy to understand why Lewis and Clark chose a pneumatic Airsoft type gun as a main hunting weapon during their expeditions.

The Lewis and Clark expedition began in January 1803 when the then US President Thomas Jefferson, in a confidential message to the US Congress, recommended an appropriation to explore Western America. The expedition was an attempt to find a route to the Pacific Ocean and to open new areas for United States fur traders whose former areas had been occupied by Native Americans removed beyond the Mississippi. It was to ascend the Missouri River to its source, cross the Continental Divide and descend the Columbia River to its mouth. President Jefferson’s secretary, Meriwether Lewis and Capt. William Clark were appointed to lead the expedition, which was organized in the summer of 1803.

 Starting from St. Louis back in May 14, 1804, they went up the Missouri River to the mouth of the Platte, reaching the present site of Bismark, which was near the camps of the Mandan Indians on November 2. There they wintered. Breaking camp in April 1805, they went to the mouth of the Yellowstone River, sighted the Rocky Mountains and discovered the three forks of the Missouri River, which they named Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin. Proceeding up the Jefferson fork, they crossed the Rocky Mountains in September and went down to the Columbia River, sighting the Pacific Ocean in November. After wintering on the coast, they started their return trip on March 23, 1806, arriving in St. Louis on September 23, 1806. The expedition increased the geographical knowledge of America and provided much needed descriptions of the Missouri and Columbia River valleys.

As witnessed by many Native American tribes that they’ve met and demonstrated the weapon to, Lewis and Clark used a pump action compressed air bb gun / pellet gun as their main weapon as they explore the then uncharted parts of America. The choice of an Airsoft type weapon makes sense given that resupply is difficult – even impossible – and black powder doesn’t work when wet. Demonstrating to every “friendly” Native American tribe that they’ve met, witnesses say that Lewis and Clark’s Airsoft bb gun had enough kinetic energy to bring down a good sized deer – comparable to that of a modern .30 caliber bolt action rifle?

Lithium Ion Batteries: Fire Hazard For Airsoft?

Despite their light weight – and therefore high power-to-weight ratio are lithium ion / lithium polymer batteries too hazardous for Airsoft use? 

By: Ringo Bones 

With the recent incidents of lithium ion batteries catching fire in the Boeing 787 Dreamliners used by JAL and ANA that lead to their grounding and investigation by the Federal Aviation Administration, many have wondered whether the use of lithium ion / lithium iron phosphate / lithium polymer / Li-Poly storage batteries too hazardous for Airsoft. After all, the compartment in which the Li-Poly battery is stowed in most typical Airsoft AEG weapons systems is surrounded by flammable plastic and burning plastic can cause serious injuries once it drips into unprotected skin. 

Believe it or not, it was in the remote controlled model plane / model helicopter and Airsoft gaming world that the inherent fire hazard of Li-Poly batteries were first observed. These types of batteries can easily build up excess hydrogen gas under less than ideal charge and discharge conditions. The hydrogen gas can usually catch fire when exposed to stray electrical sparks – which there are no shortage of which in remote controlled modeling and Airsoft use. And given its inherent fire hazard, why are lithium ion / Li-Poly batteries still the preferred batteries of choice for Airsoft use? 

Fire hazard or not, the secret of lithium ion / Li-Poly batteries success over nickel cadmium and nickel metal hydride rechargeable batteries is that lithium ion batteries have a lower internal resistance making them have a better power-to-weight ratio compared to nickel cadmium and nickel metal hydride batteries of similar milliampere-hour rating. A typical Airsoft AEG gun upgraded to a much stiffer spring to make its BB pellet muzzle velocity greater won’t function with a fully-charged nickel cadmium or a nickel metal hydride battery rated at 1,600 mA-Hour. And yet a Li-poly battery rated at 1,600 mA-Hour 11.1 volt Li-Poly battery can drive the gun without problems. 

The US Army’s Universal Camouflage Uniform: Useless in Afghanistan and in Airsoft?

Also known as the Advanced Combat Uniform, is the US Army’s Advanced Combat Uniform utterly useless as a primary camouflage battle dress uniform in the Afghan war theatre?

By: Ringo Bones

I’ve seen a growing number of Airsoft teams over the years adopting the US Army’s Universal Camouflage Uniform – also known as the Advanced Combat Uniform or ACU  – as their primary battle dress uniform for Airsoft gaming. But have they ever heard of the news that the ACU is utterly useless in the battle theatres of Afghanistan?

After 8 years and billions of dollars spent, the US Army back in June 2012 has just given up on an ambitious effort to clothe all of its frontline infantry soldiers in Afghanistan on the “universal camouflage pattern” even though it served them well in the urban combat theatres of Iraq since Operation Iraqi Freedom back in March 2003. According to frontline infantrymen who are recently and some who are still currently serving in Afghanistan, the Afghan terrain is primarily brown in hue and there is no brown whatsoever in the Advanced Combat Uniform (ACU) design.

Even though the ACU’s fractal geometry-based pattern looks very futuristic and very 21^st Century, I’ve seen it used as the cover art in various Gene Roddenberry novelizations on “futuristic” Sino-Indian War scenarios as far back as 1987. And the design might have been originally conceived on a mid-1980s era Cray YXP supercomputer inspired when IBM researcher Benoit B. Mandelbrot published The Fractal Geometry of Nature back in 1983. Given that the geometric structure of vegetation and rocks/geologic formations always seems to follow Mandelbrot’s fractal geometry - then it is safe to assume that the US Army’s newfangled Advanced Combat Uniform would perfectly blend in any “natural fractally-pattered environment”, right?

Sadly, this is where theoretical design needs some more tweaking for it to work in the real world of Mother Nature. US Army infantrymen serving in Afghanistan had cited that in their own first-hand experience, the ACU made them stand out in the background terrain of the Afghan war theatre – as in they are using a “clown-suit” as a battle dress uniform. And in my experience, the US Army’s Universal Camouflage Uniform / ACU in Airsoft gaming situations only works when your game-site is an urban one. Must be the reason why the ACU battle dress uniform pattern sells like hotcakes for Airsoft enthusiasts living in Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. 

The Airsoft Assassin?

Given that it is realistic looking enough to pass itself as a real gun, can an Airsoft weapons system be used for assassination purposes?

By: Ringo Bones

Just recently covered by the BBC, the Czech Republic president, Vaclav Klaus, just emerged unscathed after an “assassination attempt” via a replica Airsoft pistol. The would be assassin, a young Czech man dressed in woodland pattern camouflage BDU, managed to get close enough to President Klaus to unload 7 shots of 0.2 gram 6-mm plastic pellets at point-blank range. Whether the incident is due to a security failure of his bodyguards, the Czech president only made a nonchalant glance of renunciation at his security detail for this incident to happen. Though the Czech president was checked out later in a local hospital for mild bruises made by the belligerent point blank shot, can Airsoft weapons systems be used for assassination purposes?

Seasoned Airsoft gamers and enthusiasts already know that anything above 400 feet per second muzzle velocity can already be painful even if those 6-mm BB pellets weigh only 0.2 grams and are made of mineral-filled polypropylene. Given sufficient muzzle velocity and projectile mass increase, a typical Airsoft weapons system could potentially acquire a kinetic energy equivalent of its pellets akin to that of a bona fide firearm, but given that its spherical pellets have a disgraceful ballistic coefficient, its potential as an assassin’s tool is for close range only. Though the Bulgarian exiled dissident named Gyorgy Markov was assassinated via a ricin filled metal pellet fired from a modified umbrella which for all intents and purposes resembles that of a typical Airsoft weapons system.

According to the would be assassin of President Klaus, his shooting of the Czech president with an Airsoft pistol is a statement over the Klaus administration being deaf and blind over the concerns of the Czech citizenry over the issue of government corruption. Though we non-Czech citizens are still woefully ignorant on the extent of the average Czech citizenry’s critique and gripes on how President Vaclav Klaus ran his country, this novel “assassination attempt” via an Airsoft pistol as political statement makes for an interesting story, nonetheless. And more importantly, let’s hope that this unfortunate incident won’t make it illegal for the Czech Airsoft enthusiasts to continue to buy Airsoft guns and play Airsoft military simulation games.

Can Celebrity Members Help Your Airsoft Club?

It ads prestige and prestige does help, but could celebrity members of certain Airsoft clubs be akin to gilding an already overdressed lily?

By: Ringo Bones

Most - if not all - Airsoft clubs always dream of having a bunch of Hollywood action heroes du jour as part of their Airsoft team, I mean who wouldn't. But is there a danger of having famous celebrities and/or public figures as bona fide members turning your Airsoft club/group into something akin to gilding an already overdressed lily?

Rumor has it that there's an Airsoft club out there who already has porn star Madison Scott as a bona fide member, but this particular Airsoft club has yet to make headlines - yet. And Madison Scott is an action hero of a different sort - if you know what I mean.

Still-relevant Hollywood action heroes and even has-been Hollywood action stars seem like a better bet as "celebrity" Airsoft club members. But are Hollywood action Heroes better off establishing their own Airsoft club / military simulation gaming outfit in the first place?

DIY Airsoft Weapons Systems Repair Service?

If you and your friends’ Airsoft guns had gone walkies more than once, isn’t it time to start your own Airsoft gun repair service?

By: Ringo Bones

How many times did you and your friends’ Airsoft weapons systems – i.e. Airsoft replica guns – gone walkies and needed fixing? If its one too many, then maybe it is already high time to put up your very own Airsoft weapons systems repair service. The good news is you don’t even have to be a techie to learn to be one – although knowledge of fairly complex mechanical systems – like wind-up mechanical watches and first-hand knowledge on how rough, gun wise, a typical Airsoft gaming session can get surely helps.

Surprisingly, you can learn everything with determination in just two weeks tops! And some technical and vocational colleges in the Philippines - I even know of two here in Cebu - are now offering courses on how to repair and maintain Airsoft weapons systems for a modest fee. And unlike real gun stores and repair shops, you don’t even need a government license to establish an Airsoft gun repair service at home. You can even adjust your business hours and workload to suit your schedule. A basic good to high-quality tool kit like analog VOM multimeter screwdrivers etc. – if you buy all of them – seldom exceeds 5,000 pesos in total costs.

In the Airsoft repair biz, your target market could be any Airsoft gaming enthusiast with a broken Airsoft gun. Start with our own broken units to gain proficiency. Once you have familiarized yourself and mastered the repair process and can operate quickly, you can now make your services available to other people, like starting with your Airsoft teammates before progressing to other Airsoft enthusiasts from other affiliated teams.

Most Airsoft repair shops charge 200 to 500 pesos as a service fee to troubleshoot a malfunctioning Airsoft gun. This amount varies if the malfunctioning unit needs replacement parts. And another way to maximize the revenue earning power of your Airsoft weapons systems start-up repair shop is to sell Airsoft related accessories, like 6-mm plastic BBs, lithium polymer batteries to power the guns, lithium polymer battery charging units, wiring connectors, etc.

The Mainland Chinese Rare Earth Monopoly: Bad for Airsoft?

Even though Beijing had resumed exports of rare earth metals to Japan, is Mainland China’s monopoly of the global rare earth metals industry detrimental to the world of Airsoft in the long run?


By: Ringo Bones


The Airsoft gaming world and the rare earth metals global commodities market doesn’t seem to have any links at first, but if you’re a seasoned Airsoft gamer and/ or gun collector, those compact yet powerful electric motors – i.e. the hi-power motor - found in Airsoft weapons systems of the automatic electric gun persuasion is very dependent on powerful rare earth metal based permanent magnets found in their powerful ultra-compact electric motors. Those samarium cobalt and neodymium boron iron magnets in those electric motors are more than likely sourced in Mainland China.

When it comes as an OEM supplier of electric motors, it seems like the Mainland China too has a virtual monopoly on AEG Airsoft guns – i.e. the one that uses electric motors and lithium batteries. Though the diplomatic spat between Beijing and Tokyo may have now calmed and since November 24, 2010 Beijing has resumed rare earth metal exports to Japan, there are other “mitigating” circumstances on why Mainland China’s virtual monopoly of the global rare earth metal industry might not be good for the Airsoft gaming world in the long run.

Given that back in November 25, 2010, Mainland China has plans to set-up 120 fission-type nuclear reactors to minimize its carbon footprint – i.e. moving away from coal-fired power plants. If ever these nuclear power plants come on-line, it is very likely that all rare earth metals mined and processed by China will be used domestically’ As in dysprosium and holmium burnable poisons and the magnetic relays of the nuclear reactors’ safety systems.

Not to mention the latest Wikileaks revelation of the Beijing government “wishing” for a North and South Korean unification where the Seoul government running the show. With all of these geopolitical risk and uncertainty factors taken into account, rare earth metal prices in the global market will skyrocket and those Airsoft electric motors will probably skyrocket in price too. Even the most basic Kalashnikov Airsoft gun is currently way more expensive than a real Kalashnikov – when compared to what a real Kalashnikov back in1999 costs.