FEATURE
THE COLOURS OF AIRSOFT
THE COLOURS
OF AIRSOFT
AROUND THE GLOBE THERE ARE MANY “COLOURS” THAT COME INTO PLAY FOR NUMEROUS REASONS BOTH
LEGAL AND PERSONAL, AND BILL TAKES A STEP BACK TO CONSIDER WHETHER OR NOT “BLACK GUNS MATTER” OR
IF SOMETHING MORE RAINBOW-LIKE REALLY HAS A PLACE ON THE SKIRMISH FIELD!
N
ot so long ago I witnessed a whole
discussion going on in one of
the international airsoft groups I
belong to, focussing on the fact that our
airsoft brothers and sisters in Portugal
need to have their AEGs and GBBs
brightly painted (and I mean dayglo!) at
least 5cm back from the tip of the muzzle,
with the butt or stock the same, and not
having them like this may result in a really
hefty fine!
Those players involved weathered the
generally light-hearted banter around this
subject with good grace, but it really got
me to thinking about colours of airsoft
guns. In the UK beginner players often
start their “airsoft life” with what we call
a “two tone” where a large proportion of
their chosen platform is coloured, usually
blue or green, to differentiate it from a
real firearm. When I lived in the USA we
had the “blaze orange muzzle”, although
this was swiftly removed and replaced
when it came to game time (and then re-
fitted after). I’ve even seen players arrive
at their first game with clear plastic AEGs.
And let’s not forget that, in the “real
world” the universally accepted colour
for training is blue and I’ve even seen
some fabulous airsoft replicas done out
for “simunitions” using blue barrels,
magazines and parts - and this in some
real “gear junkie” MilSim groups where
everything has to be correct, correct,
correct right down to the brand of your
bootlaces!
Many fields are (quite rightly) accepting
of the whole “bright colours” thing,
as it is often a legal part of ownership
or indeed a legal way for players to get
started. However, I also know of fields
who have a strict “No Two-Tone” policy
as this “spoils immersion” and whilst I
can accept this in relation to a MilSim
event, for a general day of skirmishing
does it really matter? Is this a simple rule
to “keep things real”, or is it snobbery
and elitism? The fact is we can all choose
which fields and sites we play at, so we’ll
vote with our feet depending on which
way your personal cookie crumbles.
I do appreciate whole-heartedly that
many, including myself, want our replicas
to look as real as possible and the thought
of having to spray my classic AKM or
L1A1 SLR is a horrifying one but when I
was researching my review of the Noveske
Infidel this month, another thought struck
me. One of the colours that the real
Noveske rifle is finished in, is what started
out life as a custom Cerakote colour,
namely “Bazooka Green”, a mid-green
that is also quite “bright”.
Whilst I was at SHOT earlier this year
I checked out both the EMG Noveske
replicas, as well as the real thing and they
kind of grew on me. I also visited other
stands like those of Black Rain Ordnance
(Oh my… that BRO “Terminator”! I need
to build it as an airsoft rifle!!!), UTG and
Timber Creek Outdoors, where colour was
most definitely the order of the day!
So, if real firearms manufacturers
are delighting in all the colours of the
rainbow and producing rifles and carbines
with striking designs and even graphics,
is this not something that we should be
looking at for airsoft? Again, I totally
understand that in some countries one of
the central tenets of ownership is that we
will use our airsoft bb-slingers as part of
“a military or law enforcement scenario”
and you could rightly ask if brightly
finished pistols, rifle, carbines and the rest
have a justifiable place given this.
I would say that from a “military”
perspective not and even “LE” would
be pushing things somewhat. However,
as a shooter and an airsofter I actually
like the “colour” thing; even if we are
lucky enough to be members of a team,
ultimately we are all individuals and
therefore your platform of choice might
“…IF REAL FIREARMS MANUFACTURERS ARE DELIGHTING IN ALL THE COLOURS OF
THE RAINBOW AND PRODUCING RIFLES AND CARBINES WITH STRIKING DESIGNS AND
EVEN GRAPHICS, IS THIS NOT SOMETHING THAT WE SHOULD BE LOOKING AT FOR
AIRSOFT?”
70
APRIL 2020