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In the airsoft world, shotguns come in a variety of operational types, each offering their own unique advantages. From the rugged budget simplicity of spring-powered models to the buttery-smooth operation of gas-powered variants, there's a shotgun to suit every preference and scenario. This article will delve into the differences between spring-powered, gas-powered, semi-automatic, and shell-ejecting shotguns, weighing their pros and cons to help you decide which model best suits your spray-and-pray needs. Each model has its niche that it excels in best, and through our careful examination of each one hopefully you’ll have a solid idea of which type would fit best in your hands. Let’s dive right on in!
Spring Shotguns
Starting off with the most economical option, we have the world of spring-powered tri-shot shotguns! With most models coming in under the $100 price point, these simple pump-actions are the perfect budget option for anyone looking to test the shotgun-waters without completely diving in headfirst. Despite what their price tag may suggest, these still fire at a perfectly fieldable FPS for most airsoft fields. Each BB leaves the barrel at a solid 300 feet per second with some fixed hopup applied to push the range even further. Just looking for a super-budget viable option for your local indoor field? These might just work!
The CYMA Tri-Shot pictured above uses any Tokyo Marui/CYMA spec 30rd airsoft shotgun shells. Simply press the button in front of the trigger guard and a hatch will open up for shell entry. Press the button again and the inserted cartridge will eject.
As a spring operated platform, “pumping” the shotgun both chambers BBs from the shell and primes the internal spring to propel the BBs with. No other power source is needed! While this design is incredibly simple, repeatedly racking back a full-powered airsoft spring can become tiring. If you’re interested in picking one of these shotguns up, I tend to recommend the variants with a stock for the extra leverage they provide when pumping. Unless you have herculean arm strength for lightning fast follow-up shots, racking these springers can be rather slow when compared to the smooth action of gas operated models. Thenagain, those premium models are still more than 2x the price of these! The “pump” is much larger than its corresponding real-steel design for extra durability and grip, though this might turn away some more realism-centered players. With many variants available from CYMA, there’s an ideal spring shotgun out there for everyone. These make awesome beater guns and are solid choices if you just want something to fill out an arsenal with. In their uniquely low price range, there are few other options I recommend more! Check out some of these unique models!
Gas Shotguns
Looking to step up your pump action game a tad? Spring shotguns may provide the same ballpark of velocity and ballistic performance, but racking back that heavy spring every shot can slow down an experience that is ideally fast paced and reflexive. How does a satisfyingly smooth lightweight pump mixed with the option for six rounds per shot instead of three sound?
Welcome to the world of gas shotguns! If you’re looking for the most streamlined performance oriented shotgun on the airsoft market, look no further than these slick pump-action performers! By utilizing gas as the power source, the only operation priming the shotgun performs is resetting the trigger and loading the next few BBs. This allows the pump to be racked incredibly quickly, granting improved ease of use and significantly faster follow up shots. Additionally, these shotguns can be slam-fired for even faster follow up shots. Pair that with six shots fired off per trigger pull and you have a platform capable of reigning supreme at indoor arenas!
These shotguns store their gas in the stock, resulting in different models having different operational gas volumes. On average, you can expect about 45 full power blasts with these shotguns before the gas begins to deplete. The full stock iterations will carry the most, the stockless ones the least, and the buffer-tube oriented ones somewhere in between. Keep the length of your airsoft skirmishes in mind when deciding which shotgun to pick up! It might not be the best idea to use the stockless one as a primary for a 30 minute outdoor game.
These shotguns are highly effective in their expected role, but I likely wouldn’t recommend them if you’re trying to launch BBs more than 100 feet. For some, the necessity of having to keep these loaded with gas can be a hassle. Springers may be a better option if you want your platform as functionally simple as possible. In terms of raw engagement effectiveness however, very few platforms are nearly as threatening as a gas operated shotgun. Thinking about being the scourge of indoor airsoft? Pick up one of these CQB monsters at Evike.com!
Shell Ejecting Shotguns
While the aforementioned excel at providing a functional pump-action experience for airsofters, they might not scratch a more detail oriented user’s itch of shell ejection features. Shell manipulation is a pretty significant aspect of real-steel shotgun use that the shotguns mentioned above ignore in favor of simplicity and ease of use. Though airsoft has yet to see any recoil included in pump action shotguns, there are quite a few unique platforms that have managed to integrate such shell ejecting features. Let’s take a look!
This is the pinnacle of airsoft training shotguns. The APS CAM870 shotguns utilize the same shell-loading mechanism a real steel shotgun would, providing the most immersive shotgun simulation available in the airsoft world. Similar to real buckshot, the shells hold around 12 BBs each. Each shot sends a shower of BBs down range at your opponent. Follow it up with a rack of the pump, and it’ll eject the spent casing and send a new one into battery. Now that’s realism!
As cool as this shotgun is, I’ve personally never seen one fielded at an actual airsoft field. Not only is it one of the pricier options on the airsoft market, but it’s quite tedious to load and burns through ammo quite quickly in an actual match. There is a dedicated following of users out there, but its playstyle generally isn’t for the more casual of airsoft players. Do you have what it takes to be a CAM870 user?
Curious about some other shell-ejecting shotgun variants? Here are a few honorable mentions I’ll give a quick note about!
Automatic Airsoft Shotguns
Automatic shotguns are absolutely devastating. Chambering three BBs at a time to be shot with accuracy is a mechanically difficult feat to engineer, but some brands have pulled this off spectacularly. These shotguns trade away their pump-action goodness for raw firepower, making them a potent threat on the airsoft battlefield. The tradeoff? It depends on which one you get! Let’s take a look at a few of these powerhouses to see which one might fit best in your airsoft arsenal!
If you’re looking for the most straightforward platform to get into the automatic shotgun world with, the SGR12 would be my top suggestion. Born from a collaboration between EMG and CYMA, this SGR12 takes inspiration from Tokyo Marui’s classic AES design and improves upon it to create a tri-shot airsoft system worthy of the modern airsoft climate’s high performance standards. Fascinatingly, each barrel on this AES has it’s own individual hop-up unit that allows you adjust the backspin applied to each BB individually. As a result, you can push the range on this shotgun a little farther than you can with a traditional pump action. The power this thing holds doesn’t come without a cost, however. Its complex engineering results in some noticeable bulk, making it quite the hefty beast to lug around. If you got the arms and are itching for a primary to lay down some hellfire with, the EMG SGR12 might just be perfect for you!
Behold! The hottest new gas-blowback in the airsoft world! Just about every GBB forum out there has had their eye on the Tokyo Marui Saiga-12, as never before has tri-shot functionality been done in a GBB system. As a matter of fact, this is the first time a shotgun in the airsoft world has had a recoil mechanism integrated into it. Every pull of the trigger not only sends an accurate barrage of BBs (thanks to Tokyo Marui’s amazing hopup magic) down range at your opponent, but only sends a reasonable amount of recoil back into your shoulder as the functional bolt reciprocates. Though its firepower is impressive, its low capacity gas-blowback mags will force you to stay conservative with your shots. That is, unless you pick up some of the ludicrously high capacity 90 round magazines soon to release for it!
Diverse in its options and popular in its use, the airsoft shotgun world is constantly innovating to find new ways to bring multi-shot action to your next skirmish. These platforms have evolved substantially over the past few years, only making them more viable and thus more prevalent as a close quarters primary. How do you feel about airsoft shotguns at your local airsoft field? Thinking of giving them a spin? Pick up a shotgun from Evike.com today to have a blast with a blast on your next day at the field!