Welcome to Airsoft Megastore's "Everything Airsoft" Guide, a highly recommended reading that may answer a lot of your questions about airsoft: the sport, the guns, and most importantly, taking care of your airsoft guns to get the most out of all of your airsoft guns.

The Basics

• Spring airsoft guns, which come in the majority of Airsoft Megastore "LOTS" on Ebay and Airsoft Megastore "Signature Packages" on our website, also known as "cock and shoot" airsoft guns, can ONLY BE COCKED ONCE before shooting out ONE BB. Cocking the airsoft rifle or pistol MORE than once will cause jamming and most likely major internal damage, which will effectively void any warranties associated with the gun(s), both implied and written.
• Airsoft guns are illegal to wield in public areas. Avoid doing this at all costs, as legal and physical consequences can and will occur as a direct result of doing so.
• Abuse and misuse of an airsoft gun (improper operation, either with wrong bbs, wrong charge time for batteries, or wrongful bb-loading techniques) will void any and all warranties, both expressed and implied, associated with your airsoft gun(s).
• Always wear proper protection when playing with airsoft guns, on or off the field. The bare minimum should be eye goggles or a protective face mask.
• Keep your airsoft gun on safe mode and keep your finger off and away from the trigger when not using an airsoft gun.
• Do not attempt to fix or disassemble your airsoft gun. Improper work done to an airsoft gun can cause permanent damage to the gun, along with a voided warranty.
• Airsoft guns have MANY moving parts and undergo constant and even excessive wear and tear during gameplay. No airsoft gun is "invincible" and all airsoft gun parts (internal/external) eventually will have to be replaced. The duration that they last is ultimately up to how well the gun is cared for/treated and how often the gun is maintained.
• Adjusting hop-up is something that takes patience and a bit of trial and error. Significantly changing the hop-up dial, either in one direction or the other, and then using the gun thereafter without test firing it may cause a bb jam, which in most cases voids the gun's warranty if it causes the gun to break.

Your Airsoft Ammunition - 6mm BBs

• Airsoft guns are designed to shoot with seamless 6mm airsoft bbs. Generally, the rule is to use 0.12g seamless airsoft bbs with spring-action airsoft guns (often called "springers") and with plastic gearbox airsoft entry-level automatic electric guns (AEGs). Use 0.20g seamless airsoft bbs with metal gearbox airsoft electric rifles (AEGs), gas airsoft pistols/rifles, and stronger airsoft spring/bolt action sniper rifles. 0.25g and heavier seamless airsoft bbs are for use mostly in airsoft gas sniper rifles, airsoft bolt action sniper rifles, and more powerful metal gearbox airsoft electric automatic guns (AEGs).
• Always make sure to clear your airsoft gun of BBs before storing away, as there may often be an extra bb or two left in the hop-up chamber for airsoft electric guns, that may cause the gun to jam on its next use.
• Do not use any bbs that have been dropped on the ground or have been stored in the open without a bag or bottle, as they may have collected dust and may jam your airsoft gun.

Airsoft Gun Magazines - The Different Types and Proper Operation

• Most of the airsoft guns used in an airsoft game, rifles with metal gearboxes, come with high capacity magazines that feature a wind-up gear at the bottom of the magazine that winds the BBs in the BB reservoir of the magazine up and into the magazine well or feed. To load a high capacity magazine, first open the trap door of the magazine and fill the bbs to the top of the bb reservoir (a common mistake is to force the bbs directly into the feed nozzle, which damages the magazine; do NOT jam the bbs down the magazine feed). A high capacity magazine MUST be filled to capacity in order to function at optimum performance. Next, wind the gear wheel at the bottom of the magazine until you feel pressure and the wheel begins to make clicking noises. This signifies that bbs from the reservoir have filled the magazine feed to capacity. Continue to repeat the past step in order to keep a constant feed of bbs into your airsoft rifle as you fire them out. Your magazine is NOT a high capacity magazine unless specifically stated.
• Spring airsoft guns come with various types of magazines. Spring pistols usually come with the standard "push 'n' load" magazine, where bbs are loaded from the opening at the top of the magazine, one by one. This is simple and straight forward. Most spring airsoft rifles come with airsoft magazines that have a reservoir. These magazines are loaded by pouring bbs into the reservoir through the trap door on top of the magazine, then pulling the magazine feed's spring loaded piece all the way down to the end of the feed, and then shaking the magazine horizontally so that the bbs from the reservoir can roll into the magazine feed. Spring airsoft shotguns are either loaded via a push'n'load magazine, or are loaded via a top-grafity feed (both are simple and straight forward).
• Gas airsoft pistols are loaded via a push 'n' load magazine, as with most gas airsoft rifles.

Batteries & Charging Your Battery

• Batteries are very sensitive and can influentially affect the performance of your airsoft electric gun (AEG). The standard charge time for a battery varies by the battery size (MAH) of the battery itself and also the MAH rating of the charger that it comes with (standard chargers need to be timed accurately, as they do not stop charging when the battery is full because they don't come with the chip that tells them to do so, as in more advanced smart chargers). The general rule for charging a battery is to charge the battery for X hours, where X is the number you get after dividing the MAH of the battery by the MAH of the charger (found on the charger's sticker). Voltage (7.2V, 8.4V, 9.6V, etc doesn't make a difference for charge time). For example: an 8.4V standard 1400 MAH mini battery comes with a 250 MAH rated charger. CHARGE THIS PARTICULAR COMBO for: 1400 divided by 250 = 5.6 hours, or approximately 5 and a half hours.
• There are many different types of batteries that come with the airsoft electric guns that we sell. For rifles with a PEQ Battery Box, please install the battery in the box, and then attach the box onto the rail system in order to allow for proper function. For guns that come with a nun-chuck style crane stock battery, please carefully install the crane stock battery into the rear crane stock. For larger size batteries that fit into a solid rear stock, please also carefully open the rear stock typically by opening the door on the back of the stock in order to fit the battery inside the stock. For all other handguard-fitted batteries, please install the battery inside the handguard carefully to avoid damage.
• Generally, the higher the battery voltage, the higher the stress it places on the gun's internals and the higher the risk of wear and tear on the internals of your airsoft gun.
• Contrary to popular belief, upgrading your battery voltage MAINLY increases your airsoft gun's ROF (rate of fire, or amount of BBs it is able to fire per second/minute), and minimally (in most cases) increases FPS (feet per second, or power of your gun). In some cases, FPS is not affected at all by the voltage rating of your battery.
• After playing with your airsoft electric gun (AEG), it is highly recommended to discharge your airsoft battery, either by using a discharger or by using up all of the remaining power.