I’m doing an NCR Trooper cosplay and what I’ve noticed is that buying an M16A1 airsoft gun and some brown paint for the furniture is WAYYYYY cheaper than buying a non-functioning prop. Like, the website I saw listed an M1 Carbine Airsoft gun as 250 dollars but the prop version is over 1000. What gives?
As an airsofter the only two reasons I can think of are
1.airsoft weapons aren’t “perfect” replicas. Whilst I can’t tell the difference, a history or weapons nerd might be able to and it would ruin immersion.
2.airsoft weapons generally lack moving parts. When I fire my rifle, nothing happens except a pellet flies out. A replica might need to eject a pretend cartridge or have some form of recoil if its being used for a movie for instance?
Other than that, I have no idea.
Also, it seems insane to me that airsoft weapons need an orange tip in the USA, a country that famously makes it easy to own a real gun.
Given the prevalence of real guns, wouldn’t you want a defining feature? So, if you, hypothetically, see a bunch of teenagers running through the woods with “guns” you don’t call the police. (May or may not have happened to me in my youth.)
Fair, but then theres nothing stopping a criminal painting the tip of a real gun orange as well.
It isnt a stretch to imagine cops being trained not to treat guns as harmless toys just because they have bright colours on them