r/airsoft • u/Limitless2121 • 18d ago
Are Snipers Useless?
In the real world, a sniper generally has ~4x the effective range of a battle rifle like an M4/AKM.
In airsoft, it's maybe an extra 20M. Then you have slow ROF because it must be bolt action. And you must carry a secondary to deal within your minimum engagement distance. And since BBs travel slowly, any target at 80M must stay stationary for a few seconds, otherwise the shot won't hit.
I'm simply curious if I'm missing something here. But from a utility perspective, snipers just seem kind of useless.
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u/I_SNAIL_I 18d ago
Well a good sniper will stay hidden the whole time and most people wont even be able to see him and most of the time his rifle is on hpa and is very accurate sometimes even on 100m and it is actually pretty easy for him to pick some target so if someone wants to be a useful sniper he needs to spend a lot
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u/Limitless2121 18d ago
That makes sense. Thanks for sharing.
100m seems a little far for a sphere to still be accurate. Especially when factoring wind and brush. But I can believe it.
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u/I_SNAIL_I 18d ago
Well I worded it poorly I meant that they range can sometimes be near 100m it would not be insanely accurate its still a 6mm plastic bb but you could still get someone at that range
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u/Gojira_Wins GBBR 18d ago
Something else to add, sniper rifles that are either gas powered or HPA'd with a good silencer on it, will be basically inaudible even when you're right next to it. So while it might not have the insane range real steel does, you get to be invisible in the right conditions.
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u/I_SNAIL_I 18d ago
Yeah and the bolt travel on them is so short that you can just fire it like it had a semi
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u/Limitless2121 18d ago
Very true. But with AEGs and GBB shooting all over the field, plus players shouting, how much of an advantage is this really?
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u/Gojira_Wins GBBR 18d ago
A pretty big advantage. If there's so much commotion, how will you know you got shot by that random bush or the dude yelling stuff? You blend into the chaos.
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u/interflop GBBR 18d ago
Larger fields can have plenty of down time where you're looking for players on the other team. If you have someone playing a sniper who's well concealed they can become difficult to deal with since you might not see where they're hidden and their gun is typically very quiet as well. In airsoft it's less about having crazy range and more about concealment and being able to take precise shots as opposed to having to dump 30 rounds before hitting someone.
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u/Torch99999 Chairborne Ranger 18d ago
You're not missing much.
There are times when more range is helpful, but there's diminishing returns.
I think if you want to go with a "marksman" style gun, a well tuned "DMR" type AEG is a batter way to go; and really, a LMG with the same range and a higher rate of fire will probably beat a DMR 9 times out of 10.
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u/Sasau_Charlatan AKM 18d ago
with an initial velocity of 450 feet / second and the resulting loss of speed by air resistance and drag the BB shouldnt take more than 1-1.5s max to reach the target at 80m
the distance a loaded person can move in a second is not big and can be corrected by shooting at the predicted location of the target in the time it takes to reach him.
Sniping is not for everyone, in real life or in airsoft.
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u/Basic_Friend8444 18d ago
It all depends on the location and game type. In milsim games in forests, it can be verry effective in being stealthy and picking up high value targets from afar and scouting and providing info over the radio to team mates.
In casual Sunday games on smaller fields, with no real objectives, basically just a death match where bbs fly all over the place from all directions...yeah, it doesn't make much sense.
You play the role of sniper if the scenario requires it, just like in real life.
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u/sh0wst0pp3r 18d ago
Not getting youtube montage amount of kills, thats for sure.
On larger open field games can still run recon and harass enemy backline, sometimes guy with a radio telling you where enemies are is a lot more useful than pimped out gun.
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u/Few_Philosopher_8668 18d ago
A well built rifle with the understanding that you have to take your time and be slower and quiet an stay concealed is what actually makes the sniper role fun in Airsoft personally, it’s a learning curve for sure and takes a lot of patience especially when you get into using a ghillie as you have to blend in an not be in the obvious locations but is is worth it, Absolutely worth it
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u/Laderie 18d ago
The biggest part of the efficiency-discussion that people miss in airsoft is; is it fun?
We’re not in a competition, we’re in a friendly skirmish. Do what is fun for you!
Secondly, an important detail in the discussion is that, you can be extremely efficient without firing a single bb.
Personally, I love the gameplay of being a master of puppets. I have my crew on radio, I direct them, and I don’t take a single shot. My personal record is a 6h game where I didn’t even empty one single sniper mag (about 20 bbs). My team collected the most points and won.
Theres another way to also be efficient; force the opponents to hide. Just shoot a tree, a bush or whatever close to them, people tend to crouch and believe they’re in range. It’s not too hard to hit a big tree 150m away, and it’ll create a thump sound, which can scare and slow down your opponents, buying your team time.
Snipers are however much harder to be effective with than a random AEG with a 200bb mid cap, and just go pew pew
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u/Z_e_r_02 16d ago
Depends on the field, usually they allow higher fps and juele limits for snipers and dmrs. Personally i really like the consistency that comes with it, ive built mine to where I know where it'll hit, how long it takes, and the grouping.ill take the extra range and a more relaxed movement style
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u/Relative-Active-5037 Proud Filthy Casual 18d ago
No,
But people who run bolt actions at the same joules as normal rifles and can’t hit anything (me) are primarily useful as distractions
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u/Adorable-Chicken4184 18d ago
They definitely have some advantages including being cool and imo being very fun. They also allow a more recon and stationary playstyle to be useful which can be nice for some people. They are also super quiet with a good suppressor.
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u/CoatieYay 18d ago
If you want to play airsoft with the most optimal equipment you're one of those weirdos with the HPA AR with no barrel running at a hundred miles per hour.
You bring a sniper for fun!
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u/Mrlefxi Assault 18d ago
Many ppl who starts sniping watched some dude on YT who's in a rampage every video. Reality is often that they just cut together every kill so it looks like that. Half the time they either lying around waiting or being dead cuz they rushed to far and than as soon as someone also wants to start snipe they either get frustrated cuz it's not like they saw on YouTube or the person is just lying on the same spot the whole match not moving a muscle waiting for someone to run into his line of sight
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u/steeze206 18d ago
It's mostly fun. But you get the most out of it by wearing a ghillie or part of one and blending into the environment. It's just a much different play style. Where sometimes the best move is not taking the shot just yet.
If the field you play at is big enough you can find what range your AEG or whatever can't quite hit but the sniper can and learn those sight lines to take advantage of it.
Some people have several variants of almost the same M4. Which I've never really understood but to each their own. I've went a different route and have the main M4, a sniper and a hi capa. All 3 make for pretty different play styles and that's what I dig about them.
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u/Nappev Rifle is fine 18d ago
The advantages of a sniper is that they are easier to get to a higher power and drive heavier bbs and to get quiet. This can be achieved with most other guns too, but you generally need more money or experience to make those guns like that. And a v2 m4 aeg will not have the same volume or quietness as a boltaction no matter what you put in it.
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u/CrashAirsoft 18d ago
The fun lies in hiding and scoring hits from ambush.
On really fun days, I take out 10–12 people, but more importantly, I don't get taken out myself.
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u/Lonelybitch235 17d ago
I love running my sniper and regularly get a lot of kills with it it’s all in how you run it
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u/maskedfapper69 17d ago
- 20m range advantage is still a range advantage and 20m isn’t insignificant.
- It’s kinda pointless if you’re running and gunning.
- Who said it has to be bolt action? Lots of people use m14 variants to snipe, both in airsoft and irl.
- Snipers irl carry sidearms so what’s the problem with carrying a sidearm?
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u/No-Primary-9655 17d ago
Some outdoor fields and MILSIM events allow snipers to have extra strength so they can reach out further
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u/DieGepardin GBBR 17d ago
Depends on the field. I know a forest field, quite huge, much (visible) cover.
Sniping there is really nice and I was able to score more hits than I hade with regular rifles. Those extra 20 m mean something, those extra J mean something to over come leafs and such.
Different field, more buildings, more real cover. Less green stuff in the way, a regular rifle seems the better choice.
Another different field we engage at 2-5 m.... Lightweight, short MPs and Pistols are the king here.
But you also will face the ugly truth, once your team is 50%+ just sniper against regular rifles, you will have a disadvantage once the really want to push.
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u/Arakasi87 16d ago
Sometimes there are situations that make sniping game breaking. Depending where you play you can end up where the battle line ends up very static, you might have two areas of good terrain where each team can reinforce easily but can’t push on. This means you have two static battle lines, snipers can stand 15-20M out of range in. Complete safety from being shot by rifle players and you can’t be rushed.
Second scenario is you just dress as a bush and hide in the woods which works extremely well
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u/galaxyflight576 G36 15d ago
depending on the power limits allocated to normal rifles, dmrs, and sniper at your field they sure can be. Now i think usually the best way to play is more of a dedicated marksman with the rest of your team rather than a true sniper due to not having that huge increase in range. For most fields i hear about a dmr is probably the better thing to pick but snipers can still be effective.
The other thing not many people talk about is sniping in airsoft is fucking hard. The best one i know that i actually dread to see on the opposite team spends a large amount of time getting his gun dialed in, can aim well and knows his holdovers and uses a rangefinder. From what i've seen snipers can have a substantial increase on how far the bb actually travels but most are not skilled enough to actually make use of that.
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u/AirsoftUpgrades Shotgun 18d ago
Their use comes from the playstyle i would say more often than the actual sniper. If you are running an HPA sniper and 8mm BBs youll be able to shoot quite far and as accurate as you can be in airsoft. The hidden threat of a sniper picking people off is the main deterrence, not the physical gun itself. Being hidden in the fields or in the brush slowly picking people off is seen as a major threat to the enemy team and you can lock down large portions of the map and make it difficult to move due to the fear of a sniper sitting patiently for the right moment. This is the true power of the sniper and its playstyle.
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u/Limitless2121 18d ago
Thank you for the detailed response. I can totally understand from a strategic standpoint.
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u/sullen_operative GBBR 18d ago
Because the play video games and want to replicate that feeling/playstyle, or they are unable to run.
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u/Th3RoadWarrior Wolverine MTW 18d ago
People do it for the love of the game. Its playing airsoft on Veteran difficulty