Chairsofting: on gunmanship and why I wish there was more of it

[CacklingHawk]

Another day, another essay on the hobby I love. Last time I talked about what I felt an optimal airsoft loadout should consist of. This time around, I want to talk about the way that I wish airsoft was played for your entertainment and/or discussion. Disclaimer: The following essay may sound, at times, like a lot of Magpul Dynamics wank. This is not intentional, even if the author does indeed worship at the feet of Haley and Costa, Prophets of The Thumb-Forward Grip.

I may have finally crossed the line of taking this hobby too seriously.

Here's a short primer. I was a paintball player before I was an airsofter--Canada, my home country, has an incredibly exclusive airsoft scene for various reasons. Coming over to airsoft in the UK, the thing I miss the most about paintball is how much more gun handling matters in paintball.

People who haven't played both may not know this, but airsoft guns shoot further and are more accurate than paintball guns by a long shot--add to it the much cheaper and more reliable ammunition, more ergonomic weapon designs, AND full-auto fire, and you've got a winning formula. Airsoft guns simply perform better at every price and user level.

This has the effect on airsoft the same effect that reliable, accurate, powerful long range weaponry do to real infantry warfare--cover, concealment, and defensive positioning are simply much much stronger elements in airsoft than it is in paintball. Perhaps, with the stronger emphasis on simulation, this is appropriate. However, one can't deny that it sort of...de-emphasizes skills involved in handling the gun itself. Let's call it "gunmanship".

So why do I want more gunmanship? Because that's where the difference lies between proficiency and art, between going through the paces and honing a skill. It's the difference between a commuter and a Le Mans driver. The less reliable and powerful a weapon is, the more demand there is on the user to know the ins and outs of it, to work with it and around it and use it to its maximum potential. Airsoft is a unique sport in that winning & losing a game is frequently the least important part of the experience, so honing individual skill in an honorable, sportsman-like fashion should be the primary objective of every game. Way I see it, it's simply not rewarded in airsoft like it should be.

When your opponent works a gun that is hard pressed to range 30 meters, when the shots fly slow and scatters easily, when even if the shots reach you they may not break and therefore produce a proper "hit", when he is thinking about how every pull of the trigger is literally a 10p coin--when all of these things are true, as they are in paintball, you can pull off some very, very ninja moves. There simply aren't as many such opportunities in airsoft, when two guys with half-decent AEGs sitting in a bush can theoretically stay dry for days. As long as people take the hits, anyway. Urban and CQB games alleviate some complaints (good reflexes are rewarded nicely) but exacerbate the rest; the more doorways and windows and nooks and crannies there are to fire out of, the more a day becomes "So, you come here often?", or worse, "which team has brought more pyros?". Curse you RAF building planners for not accommodating a game played by grown-ass men with toy guns!

How long does it take for me to do a reload while retaining my non-disposable mags? How quickly can I swap shooting hands to present a smaller target on my weak side? How quickly can I pop out of cover for accurate snap shots while minimizing my silhouette? How good am I at suppressing multiple targets with a stable shooting body while duckwalking as fast as I can? Have I ever dived? Do I even lift?

It's not like these things don't matter, they just do not matter nearly as much as they do in paintball. It's not uncommon for me to fumble an entire 30 seconds or more on one mag, sitting comfortably behind an impervious short wall, before casually ambushing the guy that just entered visual range. It's almost too easy. Second disclaimer: I do not know ANY dedicated milsim players, so I'd love for a few to chime in here about whether or not they drill with their weapons and whether they feel a significant improvement in their usage & effectiveness. I want to say that this is not a call to everybody to swap to blowing BBs out of straws at each other to accentuate their Gun Fu. But the guys running around with springer shotguns, they might be onto something there.

People play airsoft for a vast list of very different reasons, but I'm guessing everybody has an idea of how they wish the game was played. My ideal vision of airsoft--non milsim airsoft, anyway--is teams of lean, mean, hyena-like bastards, running and jumping, kneesliding into cover, vaulting over short walls like young punks who haven't got arthritis. Guys who've practiced a smooth corner turn hundreds of times off the field, swapping shooting hands with ease as they Magpul from cover to cover, just seriously pulling some Mont'Ka stuff on unsuspecting defenders.

These guys would get shot. A lot. They would get lit right the f&!k up. But they'd also pull off some very, very John Woo moments. They shall be venerated as the gods of weekend warriors, and they shall make for a hell of a GoPro highlight reel.

Thanks for reading!

[Caldymoose]

Re: Chairsofting: on gunmanship and why I wish there was more of it

an interesting read...i can see where your coming from as well. We can always hope for more out of your game days, better control of your guns and, as you describe it "gunmanship", but so long as there are people there who haven't the faintest idea how to hold a weapon properly (im talking correct grips and hand locations and such, not Which end do the things come out of??) then there will always be people that just dont look as if they know what they are doing, and for some people, that does put them off a slight bit.
IMO, this sport is played by a wide variety of people, from the new kids who want to re-enact Call of Duty, to the absolute hard core Mil Sim guys who have shelled out several thousands of pounds on kit to mimic every detail of their favourite real world operators. Thats a huge player range, with every kind of guy in between.

[psychow]

Re: Chairsofting: on gunmanship and why I wish there was more of it

Good read and i share your POV. I chuckled when i got to "Do i even lift"

[Boo-Sabum Ben]

Re: Chairsofting: on gunmanship and why I wish there was more of it

gas guns for the win.

[dave38x]

Re: Chairsofting: on gunmanship and why I wish there was more of it

I chuckled at many points in this (Do i even lift, Mont'ka *40k inside reference hi-five* being two prime examples) - this is something that is very close to my own heart. This is certainly one of the "airsoft fetishes" that I subscribe to, although I call it "Weapons Manipulation" - because it sounds like something the prophets Costa and Haley (Tight groupings be forever theirs) would say.

I enjoy this side of the hobby immensely - my glock gets very heavily drilled, drawing, holstering, firing off hand, rapid mag changes, one handed mag changes, primary-sidearm and sidearm-primary transitions, all of that. There is less of it that can be done with an AEG, but I still do it (Quick mag changes - I've yet to work out a way to change a battery that looks at all like it belongs on a magpul dynamics DVD).

The result is that on the odd time I have had to quick draw my pistol and fire it in a game or had a mag vent and had to problem-solve (and then got a kill), the result is sometimes incredulity or congratulations that I just did what I did and pulled it off, which is what makes it incredibly worth it.

[psirus101]

Re: Chairsofting: on gunmanship and why I wish there was more of it

I chuckled at many points in this (Do i even lift, Mont'ka *40k inside reference hi-five* being two prime examples) - this is something that is very close to my own heart. This is certainly one of the "airsoft fetishes" that I subscribe to, although I call it "Weapons Manipulation" - because it sounds like something the prophets Costa and Haley (Tight groupings be forever theirs) would say.

I enjoy this side of the hobby immensely - my glock gets very heavily drilled, drawing, holstering, firing off hand, rapid mag changes, one handed mag changes, primary-sidearm and sidearm-primary transitions, all of that. There is less of it that can be done with an AEG, but I still do it (Quick mag changes - I've yet to work out a way to change a battery that looks at all like it belongs on a magpul dynamics DVD).

The result is that on the odd time I have had to quick draw my pistol and fire it in a game or had a mag vent and had to problem-solve (and then got a kill), the result is sometimes incredulity or congratulations that I just did what I did and pulled it off, which is what makes it incredibly worth it.

This is ridiculously close to exactly what I what thinking myself except for the humorous veneration of Costa and Haley, swap the glock for either my 226 or Desert warrior and lastly I didn't think about swapping batteries... . Call me weird but a sweet mag change is as good as a sweet kill.

[Lt. Macka]

Re: Chairsofting: on gunmanship and why I wish there was more of it

You are indeed taking it too seriously. I use a toy gun to shoot plastic balls at people.

For me a good game is one in which I don't take a round in the eyes/ teeth/ balls. Have a good laugh with the other players and can go home with a sweaty smile on my face. Ideally with a few kills and a game victory or two.


I'm not an "operator" jeez, I've got far more important things to do in life than practice turning round corners and switching shooting hands.... Bitch please.

I'm off to have a sugary tea now.

Andy

[Saltyyy]

Re: Chairsofting: on gunmanship and why I wish there was more of it

You're not taking it too seriously.

That's the amazing thing about airsoft, you can take it at seriously, or as loose as you want!

If you want someone running around with a full EOD suit carrying a 240B, go for it!

If you want a highly trained MilSim team who like to follow procedures down to the footstep, then go for it!

As long as you're following the rules and having fun, then it doesn't matter.

Personally, I prefer realism, my main pet peeve is people holding Armalites by the magazine in non-tight areas. But hey, if it's comfy for you, then who am I to complain?

[HunterAndy]

Re: Chairsofting: on gunmanship and why I wish there was more of it

I whole heartedly agree with your ideals. Being in my 20s I think I can do this but when I was in my teens I was far more concerned with not getting hit than making all these proper assaults. Now I have a bit more confidence I feel that I can play in this manner. I think a lot of it can be linked with a common trait among airsofters.

That being- so many of us are, at times guilty, of the 'no you go in first' attitude and finding no one in the group willing to inject some pace and enthusiasm into the game, and a certain type that makes any other person think 'yes I want some of that too'. Most of my favourite air soft memories have been a direct result of the latter and a huge dose of adrenaline to boost.

If I've deviated too much from the topic too much then I'll add a further comment more close to home. I think that you tend to learn far more about how you handle your guns in these short few tens of seconds & moments than you would in a whole day trudging around in the backgrounds. Other ability to reflect on what's wrong and remedies for the future, should a similar scenario arise, are surefire ways of helping the average softer gain that bit of versatility you describe.

Pretty deep stuff ino, my bad

[dave38x]

Re: Chairsofting: on gunmanship and why I wish there was more of it

Psirus - agreed!

[Coz]

Re: Chairsofting: on gunmanship and why I wish there was more of it

Holds gun like a super sniper pro......Cries when wind blows his BB off course.

[Lt. Macka]

Re: Chairsofting: on gunmanship and why I wish there was more of it

Holds gun like a super sniper pro......Cries when wind blows his BB off course.

Hahahaha.

[jonny lovegrove]

Re: Chairsofting: on gunmanship and why I wish there was more of it

i dont get the whole magpul dynamics thing, and hate costa with a passion [Scorpion? wtf...] (haley is a bit more down to earth though, and even had a chat with him on facebook about handling.)
but tbh in airsoft after a while you adapt and make your own style. such as myself using an m16 in CQB, and being the first one through the doors ect. there's only so much that drills can do as you arent under that much pressure like when youre actually skirmishing. but when im bored i do fart around practicing mag changes and whatnot.

[Mister Zsasz]

Re: Chairsofting: on gunmanship and why I wish there was more of it

Im not gonna lie, while i dont take airsoft super-duper GMR serious, i have practiced some weapon handling, getting the feel of where the rifle sits, quick-swapping from primary to secondary, making sure i can mag change without having to continuously look down, just so its more confortable on the actual game days. Ive watched some of the Magpul tactical carbine stuff, and while its not a bible for me by any stretch, it did impart some interesting methods of handling.

[meddy]

Meh as fun as it is doing james bond moves about works buildings and around the house i fine just learning in cqb if you crouch real low in door ways you tend to kill everything unlesd they pyro/moscsrt the hell out of you lol. Out in woodland just learning to move slower and figuout how branches move and sound when you pass them helpes imensley with stelth. Heck i sonetimes piss bout stalking my dog in the woods now though she normaly wins lol. But for mag change practice meh shoot fall back to cover if you can reload then you proberly die as soon as you break cover lol. If only we lived in a disposable airsoft mid/lowcap magazine world ;p but nope we need to use them again an muck and mags just dont mix... nither does concreat :3