What counts as a pistol in your opinion?

[KenIchikawa]

Other than the obvious it being a pistol.

Would a small SMG be considered a pistol say a VZ61 skorpion? Or an Mp5k or a MAC10/11?

In particular one of my mp5k is old and knackered but still useful in CQB it does 235fps and I'm not too bothered to fix it and I use it like a fat pistol. While AEPs have 250fps sort of level.

Your opinions?

[sparrowhawk]

Re: What counts as a pistol in your opinion?

Most of these are called machine gun pistols

[Bryan Mills]

Re: What counts as a pistol in your opinion?

Pistols and subs are generally categorised by the cartridge they fire.

In real steel terms its down to range and kinetic energy.

There are of course exceptions to this rule but as a generalisation 9mm hand gun ammo is used is subs. It hits a bit harder, goes a bit further, stays a bit more accurate because of the increased barrel length, but you are not goint to hit a man at 300m

MP5
MP7
MP9

All are considerer "Machine Pistols"

I suppose to make it very simple would be:
Is it easily concealable?
Is it accurate or particularly useful beyond 50m?
Could you kill a man at 300m?

Actual calibre doesnt matter, but the cartridge its fired from.

[W0lf]

Re: What counts as a pistol in your opinion?

By American gun law, a pistol is a firearm that cannot be shouldered and has a pistol grip. In America, an AK 47 with no stock is a pistol. For me personally for airsoft, it's anything without a stock and is capable of semi auto. It can do full auto too, but must have semi. The reasoning because if you are a sniper and have a med you need a lower powered sidearm. Lots of sites also have semi only rules indoors. Having an auto only side arm and a sniper would render you incapable of going in certain areas

[Boo-Sabum Ben]

Re: What counts as a pistol in your opinion?

I'd just go with what the manufacturer lists it as...

[tackle]

Re: What counts as a pistol in your opinion?

If it looks like a duck & quacks like a duck

[Apurturesci]

Re: What counts as a pistol in your opinion?

Pistols and subs are generally categorised by the cartridge they fire.

In real steel terms its down to range and kinetic energy.

There are of course exceptions to this rule but as a generalisation 9mm hand gun ammo is used is subs. It hits a bit harder, goes a bit further, stays a bit more accurate because of the increased barrel length, but you are not goint to hit a man at 300m

MP5
MP7
MP9

All are considerer "Machine Pistols"

I suppose to make it very simple would be:
Is it easily concealable?
Is it accurate or particularly useful beyond 50m?
Could you kill a man at 300m?

Actual calibre doesnt matter, but the cartridge its fired from.

Not sure I agree with most of that, I would say it more down to size and how it's fired rather than power or range. The MP5 is 9x19, so is the MP9, but the MP9 being more compact would probably be classified by most as a machine pistol whereas the MP5 is the archetypal submachine gun. I think that the best definition of a machine pistol is a fully auto or select-fire pistol-calibre firearm that can be fired effectively without being shouldered, even though some can be fired from the shoulder. Most machine pistols can be fired one-handed. If it's designed for fire from the shoulder it's a submachine gun. The MP7 is a typical machine pistol in all but chambering - it's a PDW due to the rifle-like cartridge (not considered a pistol calibre).

As for the original question, those are examples of machine pistols. I think if they were equipped with stocks then they cannot be considered pistols, if not then they are comparable to pistols if used in semi-auto. I think an MP5k with a short mag and semi-auto only is quite comparable to a pistol, I think you'd actually be at a bit of a disadvantage due to the bulk and poor ergonomics compared to a proper handgun. You could always buy an SP89 style foregrip to make it look more like a pistol.

[W0lf]

Re: What counts as a pistol in your opinion?

Just to be a dick, what's an FN5-7 classed as then?

[Window81]

Re: What counts as a pistol in your opinion?

Hi W0lf, not sure I follow, surely it's a pistol unless I am thinking of something completely different?

[W0lf]

Re: What counts as a pistol in your opinion?

It fires the 5.7x28mm which is like a tiny rifle round. Looks like a stubby 5.56mm. Same with the mp7. That fires a 4.5mm which is a similar thing. Light weight, high velocity round. For the record, it's a pistol. Just pointing out that the bullet it fires doesn't really determine what it is.

[KenIchikawa]

Re: What counts as a pistol in your opinion?

Entertaining but I was more about what counts as an airsoft pistol for say pistol only games.

A site I went to has a pistol only area shooting into and out of. Several people went there and sniped others with pistols.

I had a borrowed VZ61 and my buddy had an MP5K. We wondered if we could make the case that they were effectively pistols rather than rifles or SMG.

[Plumber]

Re: What counts as a pistol in your opinion?

Entertaining but I was more about what counts as an airsoft pistol for say pistol only games.

A site I went to has a pistol only area shooting into and out of. Several people went there and sniped others with pistols.

I had a borrowed VZ61 and my buddy had an MP5K. We wondered if we could make the case that they were effectively pistols rather than rifles or SMG.

idd say all depends on whos running the site and what there veiws are , might say yea or on semi auto only or no , my view on it would be pistol only game means , your normal pistol semi auto {or selected to semi } only pistol, as i know you can get full auto glocks and probably others but otherwise it wouldnt be much different then a few poeple running around with full auto aeg's with low cap mags, got to draw the line somewhere otherwise whats the point , might aswell run a regular game and let people use want they want ..

[W0lf]

Re: What counts as a pistol in your opinion?

Pistol only games then actual pistols. The option of a hi-cap for an mp5k or an aeg's consistency would make things incredibly one sided

[Boo-Sabum Ben]

Re: What counts as a pistol in your opinion?

I do love these threads where people ask us to validate their trying to get around weapon specific rules. Where's the AA12 shotgun thread?

An MP5K and a VZ61 are literally textbook definitions of submachine guns.

[tackle]

Re: What counts as a pistol in your opinion?

Agree with Ben, one of my old play sites (fort amhurst) used to occasionally throw in a pistol only game midway through the day, which was a giggle for an hour or so.
But that was in the early days, as the site became more popular a new "breed" of player began appearing, all very gung ho with hicaps & box mags, but when the organisers, who hadn't done it for quite a while, announced mid gameday "lets run a short pistol only game", I saw players hiding their pistols in their kitbags & pleading "I've only got an aeg, can I run that on single shot", I shit you not, quite literally bottling it.
For me a pistol is an essential bit of kit, everybody should have one as a backup to a primary, not try to reason that their smg is only a bit bigger than a pistol so therefore should be allowed, I call BS on that.