Japan gun ban

After the end of the Second World War, Japan with its new constitution regulates the possession of firearms for the civilian population following the armistice imposed by the Americans. The regulations are so strict that it is virtually impossible to to have a firearm at home and even less a weapon of war for the purpose of collection, including neutralized weapons, which are moreover the most expensive in the world, neutralization often costing 5 times the price of the weapon in herself. However, there is a strong demand on the part of collectors to own weapons, even if they are plastic, due to a lack of means or a lack of neutralized weapons. At the end of the 1960s, thanks to the Maruzen firm, which was a pioneer in the field, replicas of weapons cast in totally inert plastic appeared, especially for the collection. Sometimes these replicas were made of resin and metal with functional parts like the real ones. But to comply with the law, these replica weapons were designed and modified so that it was impossible to fire live ammunition.

The first functional replicas

Towards the mid-1970s and respecting Japanese laws, imposing the impossibility of transforming an object into a firearm, technicians and engineers began the transformation, even the manufacture, of these replicas of inert weapons into replicas of weapons that can fire non-hazardous projectiles, all using compressed air. The choice is then immediately on the balls of 6 millimeters. Due to Japanese law these "launchers" cannot develop more than 2 joules at the output of the barrel. In view of the enthusiasm of some for many of these "replica weapon launchers", which have the same functionalities as real weapons, games opposing 2 teams are emerging under the name of Survival Game or Wargame. The replicas then take the name of airsoft guns. Engineers who are still well known today come from this era, such as Tanio Kobayashi.

The problems of gas guns

The problem with vintage launchers was the size of the compressed air cylinders used to fire the replicas. Sometimes internal cylinders are made in the replicas or even the magazines, improving the realism. But the use of high pressure air requires a lot of seriousness and therefore reserves these replicas to a small group of enthusiasts. At the end of the 1980s, all airsoft replicas operated on low pressure gas (10 bars) or compressed air. The canisters (as of 2008) are no more than 5 cm and fit in the pistol grip and fire 250 rounds without breech recoil and 80 rounds with breech recoil for added realism. However, all this depends on the weight of the bolt (the heavier it is, the more energy and therefore gas it will take to bring it back) and thus varying the number of shots possible with a single charge of gas.

The arrival of electric replicas

In the 1980s, Tokyo Marui, a Japanese company then specializing in low-end model making, entered the airsoft sector by producing replica weapons using remote-controlled electric car technology. The compressed air is then supplied by a piston pushed by a spring, itself armed by a system of gears driven by an electric motor within a "gearbox". The energy needed to propel the balls is then drawn from an electric accumulator. The ease of use and maintenance of this type of replica is such that it is the main trigger for the success of the activity. Tokyo Marui began with the manufacture of the French FAMAS (replica much appreciated by part of the population of Japanese airsofters thanks to its futuristic look), and is a great success. Then quickly followed the range of M16A1 and M16 VN (Vietnam), then the CAR-15 and the XM 177E2 as well as the MP5 to then extend its product range to several dozen replicas.

In 1993, Tokyo Marui invented and patented the Hop-up. This system makes it possible to increase the range of the balls without increasing the output power of the latter. The system is based on the Magnus effect, discovered by the German physicist Heinrich Gustav Magnus (1802-1870), which makes it possible in particular to explain the effects of the ball in sport. The system allows, thanks to a piece of rubber to rub the ball at the time of its propulsion, and thus to make it turn on itself and like a topspin in tennis to make it "fly".

[Source: Wikipedia]