Blank Firing Pistols/Rifles in the airsoft field. Do they have a place?

[aribos]

Just a quick brain tickler.

What do you think to blank firer's on the field?

Personally I think yes sometimes they can be fun but my main thing is in airsoft we have so many service and ex-service men and women playing that the rapid fire of a pistol may trigger PTSD type side effects/flashbacks etc.

So lets talk about it.

Do you think they belong on an airsoft field? Are you an ex/current serving person or ever had PTSD that may of been triggered off by the bangs?

[Tariq182]

Re: Blank Firing Pistols/Rifles in the airsoft field. Do they have a place?

If there was a huge problem, BFGs would be banned at most sites.

Most of the sites i have played at though count "anything that goes BANG counts as a pyro and rules apply". So by firing a blank weapon would count under those rules as you fragging yourself...

[eyley]

Re: Blank Firing Pistols/Rifles in the airsoft field. Do they have a place?

For me this would further blur the lines between Airsoft, Milsim and modern day Re-enacting.

Would blank firers be used just for effect, or to fire BB's if so - could the FPS be regulated?

Not such a bad thing in my opinion but then again I'm not military, I've never been in a live firefight and I've not got PTSD.

Just my 2p.

[FireKnife]

Re: Blank Firing Pistols/Rifles in the airsoft field. Do they have a place?

It would be good if you had the marshals with them firing off a few rounds to simulate gunfire but really they can cause a bit of trouble depending on the design etc.

That is why they use flashpaper guns up close etc,

As for the ex-service person thing I doubt it but then surely the sight of a gun or some pyro might have the same affect anyway.

'FireKnife'

[loki7491]

Re: Blank Firing Pistols/Rifles in the airsoft field. Do they have a place?

If there were any serving / ex-service persons suffering from PTSD, I think they should think twice before paying money to enter into a war like scenario that could potentially trigger a relapse.

It would be quite selfish of them if they knew about their condition as it could ruin the day / event for others.

Blank firers do add to a bit of the ambiance and general feel of the firefight but ultimately pointless. Some people struggle to acknowledge a BB strike, trying to convince them the would have been hit had the gun fired anything will be a blood nightmare!

[silasloki]

Re: Blank Firing Pistols/Rifles in the airsoft field. Do they have a place?

Blank firing guns would be pointless in airsoft, same as turning up to a go-cart race with no engine in your vehicle...

As for PTSD, you're stepping into dangerous territory idly talking about that. I say 'idly' because if you want to understand it, there are specialists who can educate you, and sufferers who may be willing to share their experiences, but.....that's them talking and you listening. I'd hazard a guess that most people who would respond to this thread are neither a specialist on the subject or a sufferer of PTSD, so can say nothing to really shed light on the subject.

[bobthebuilder]

Re: Blank Firing Pistols/Rifles in the airsoft field. Do they have a place?

For me this would further blur the lines between Airsoft, Milsim and modern day Re-enacting.

Would blank firers be used just for effect, or to fire BB's if so - could the FPS be regulated?

Not such a bad thing in my opinion but then again I'm not military, I've never been in a live firefight and I've not got PTSD.

Just my 2p.

Using them to fire BBs would be a massive no-no. At that point (regardless of power) the gun would be considered a "firearm" by the law, and so would be subject to all the restrictions that come with that.

Personally, I can't see the point for the average player. Might come in handy in certain role-play heavy scenarios to set the scene, but in that case, I'd suggest that it would be under careful choreographed scenarios, with marshals, site staff or specially selected and briefed players using them, rather than random players using them as they see fit. Only other use might be for marshals as a signal (for example to signal the start of the game) but for that, I'd suggest an air horn is a better choice.

[Mickydoos]

Re: Blank Firing Pistols/Rifles in the airsoft field. Do they have a place?

I think if marshals used them for effect then that would be quite cool.

However I think it would be a bad idea giving any Joe Bloggs one.

On the whole PTSD thing, I would've thought airsoft in general could be bad for sufferers, not just pyrotechnics and blank firing firearms. I dunno, I'm not an expert.

[Chevaliernoir]

Re: Blank Firing Pistols/Rifles in the airsoft field. Do they have a place?

to create effect maybe every now and again for a special event for example. Other than that they seem pretty pointless in airsoft to me as if they followed pyro rules you would just be taking yourself out and you would have to be in the same room as the enemy and have time to pull the trigger so you'd mayswell pull the pin out of a bfg and run at the enemy. Would be fun to watch though

[Stealthkiller]

Re: Blank Firing Pistols/Rifles in the airsoft field. Do they have a place?

Would be ok for starting a race but not really much use in an Airsoft environment . We have pyro , smokes for effects , can't see the point of a blank firer

[TomFahey]

Re: Blank Firing Pistols/Rifles in the airsoft field. Do they have a place?

I quite like the american military training system, which combines blank-firing weapons with lasers and receivers - if you could combine that with a special vest that's on the market (it cost about £50 if I remember correctly) designed for FPS games that uses a haptic mechanism of some kind to simulate being hit by a bullet, I think you'd have a pretty realistic system for milsim.

Edit: It's called "third space vest".

[loki7491]

Re: Blank Firing Pistols/Rifles in the airsoft field. Do they have a place?

The British have been using that system for years. It is more akin to laser quest than it is to airsoft and is VERY open to fiddling the system. The system we use has little emitters to produce a "hit bubble" and each weapon system has it's own signature so the hit bubble knows what it has been hit by.

We turned a GPMG into a Challenger tank with a quick software fiddle and ended up with a belt fed Challenger!

The kit is bulky, and not particularly ergonomic either.... In fact it is a royal pain in the arse.... Not to mention REALLY EXPENSIVE.

Airsoft should stick to what it is good at..... Firing plastic balls at each other.

[TomFahey]

Re: Blank Firing Pistols/Rifles in the airsoft field. Do they have a place?

The British have been using that system for years. It is more akin to laser quest than it is to airsoft and is VERY open to fiddling the system. The system we use has little emitters to produce a "hit bubble" and each weapon system has it's own signature so the hit bubble knows what it has been hit by.

We turned a GPMG into a Challenger tank with a quick software fiddle and ended up with a belt fed Challenger!

The kit is bulky, and not particularly ergonomic either.... In fact it is a royal pain in the arse.... Not to mention REALLY EXPENSIVE.

Airsoft should stick to what it is good at..... Firing plastic balls at each other.

Ah, fair enough - laser tags systems work though, I mean, obviously, it hasn't in your experience, but I know commercially available laser tag systems are very simple, cheap and compact - the American system for example, had the emitter just mounted on the rifle and it was very small and compact.

Yeah, you're right, this isn't entirely relevant, just thought I'd mention it as an example of something different - although, having said that, G&G were looking at introducing a similar system with the M.I.T silencer unit - something that I, personally, thought was a great idea.

[BigAl]

Re: Blank Firing Pistols/Rifles in the airsoft field. Do they have a place?

So this makes two threads running on this forum discussing this dum idea.

1. It's airsoft not re enactment (even milsim).
2. What is the point? A blank firer up close in place of a bang rule can cause serious burns / hearing damage.
3. If it is used for some sort of kill, well I wouldn't accept it, unless a projectile hits me its not a hit ( except grenades ).
4. It has been said it adds to the atmosphere. In fact pyro's do a far better job and up close a blank fire weapon would detract from it ( 99% of legal Bf's are top venting ), from a distance it's just another bang.

Gameplay would be better served by spending your money on airsoft weapons and pyro.

[Rich]

Re: Blank Firing Pistols/Rifles in the airsoft field. Do they have a place?

Please see the Blank Firer thread on the Weekender section for our stance on blank firers & the NAE

Thanks,

Rich