I had always considered air soft guns to be for kids, rented an M-16 and it was accurate and seemed like the real thing. As these are not expensive, will they hold up over time as I suspect they are made of pot metal and not ordinance grade steel?

I had a Sig 226 Co2 BB pistol that had the slide blow back feature and it did not last very long, made of pot metal I suppose. As you cannot own a real handgun in England many of the guys there buy air guns and some of them also mentioned the blow back slide feature shortened the life of their pistols.

Any suggestions on what to buy if I go this route as it would be much cheaper to shoot in my house or backyard?

Thanks.

I think it all depends on just whose airsoft gun you purchase. Some are definitely more robust than others. But none are going to be made from ordnance steel or forged 7075 Aluminum. In my research, the green gas powered guns seemed the most “realistic” in function. With the ability to somewhat generate recoil, and not use 100+ round magazines. Good luck finding what you want though, I know that supply chain issues hit the airsoft market pretty good.

Not that I’m an expert, but my sons both have M4gery style electric airsoft carbines that they use during organized skirmishes through their school’s club. I was looking for something that would readily transfer operational skills over to an AR-15, but gave it up after running into dead end after dead end. But that was about 18 months ago.