Last weekend I went playing airsoft with some friends and we were joined by our friend who is a newcomer to the world of airsoft. He bought the gun and wanted to take off an orange tip so he started asking us should he take it off and how to do it. If you were wondering the same, then the first thing you should know is why do airsoft guns have an orange tip?
As airsoft guns are pretty realistic replicas of real-life weapons, most Airsoft guns have an orange tip on the barrel for safety purposes as it helps distinguish them from real weapons. It is not illegal for gun owners to remove an orange tip but you must know that you’re doing it at your own risk. Without an orange tip it is very hard to tell the difference between an airsoft gun and a real firearm which could cause you a lot of problems, especially with law-enforcement officers. But this also depends on where you live as there are some parts of the world, like France, Bulgaria or Hong Kong, where an orange tip is not required.
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Why Is There An Orange Tip On Airsoft Guns?
Originating in Japan in the early 1970s, airsoft is a competitive team shooting sport similar to paintball where players engage in simulated gun combats. Airsoft guns are air-powered guns that shoot 6 or 8mm plastic round projectiles (called BBs) at a high speed.
Airsoft is legal in most parts of the world although there are some countries where airsoft is illegal (Australia) or banned (China). Most airsoft guns are realistic replicas of existing firearms so most countries where airsoft is legal, require bright markings on the guns, such as an orange tip so that they are easily distinguishable from real weapons. Distributors and sellers are forbidden to take the orange tip off, while you as an owner can take it off which is not recommended in most countries.
But note that there are some parts of the world, like Hong Kong, France, and Bulgaria, where it is not mandatory to have an orange tip.
When Did They Start Putting Orange Tips On Toy Guns?
Toy guns have been around for a long, long time, but modern history begins with the cap gun which entered the mainstream in the 1950s thanks to the popularity of western movies. The first BB gun was created in 1886 and scared parents because that gun actually worked.
Starting in the 1970s anti-gun activists requested the regulation or ban of the manufacture and sale of toy and BB guns as they claimed BB guns were dangerous and could cause serious injuries. But toy and BB guns didn’t come to focus of federal lawmakers until the late 1980s, when the Federal Imitation Gun Law was passed which required that manufacturers must modify their toy guns to make them look less realistic.
So, in October 1992, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued new regulations and the manufacture and sale of toy guns were prohibited unless they have clear markings that distinguish them from real weapons. From 1992 all toy guns must have an orange tip on their barrel or must be entirely brightly colored (white, bright red, orange, yellow, green, blue, pink, or purple).
Do I Have To Keep The Orange Tip On My Airsoft Gun? Is It Illegal To Remove Or Paint The Orange Tip From An Airsoft Gun?
In most countries the law requires airsoft gun manufacturers and sellers that they must put a minimum 6mm wide blaze orange tip on the gun barrel, to avoid confusion with real weapons.
But for you as an owner of an airsoft gun, it is not illegal or forbidden to remove an orange tip from an airsoft gun. There are no laws stating you can’t do this. Again this depends from country to county. For example in most countries in the United States, it is not illegal to remove or paint over the orange tip but it is illegal to remove the orange tip from an airsoft gun in California. And if you’re caught you’ll pay a hefty fine. So if you decide to remove or paint an orange tip first check the law in your country.
However, as I said earlier, for safety reasons it is not recommended to take the orange tip off as someone could confuse airsoft replica with a real gun.
Imagine a situation if a police officer sees you with an airsoft gun without an orange tip. A police officer would react like it is a real gun because he can’t distinguish your airsoft replica from a real firearm. I don’t know if you heard but there were several cases in the United States where people carrying or brandishing airsoft guns have been shot by law enforcement officers. Probably the most known is the case of Tamir Rice, a 12-year old boy, who was killed on 22 November 2014 by a police officer because he was pointing his airsoft replica without an orange tip at people.
What Are The Pros And Cons Of Removing The Orange Tip Of An Airsoft Gun?
If your country allows you to remove an orange tip and you decide to do so, please use it at the airsoft field or on your private property. Don’t brandish your airsoft gun in public especially if you remove an orange tip.
That being said, there are actually some pros of removing an orange tip of an airsoft gun, but also some cons.
Pros of Removing The Orange Tip of An Airsoft Gun
Let’s first take a look at what are the pros of removing an orange tip:
- It makes your replica look more realistic – your gun will definitely look better and more realistic if you remove an orange tip. Also, this adds to realism feel on the airsoft battlefield especially if you’re into MilSim where realism is of utmost importance.
- Better concealment – removing an orange tip allows your gun to more easily blend in with your environment. If you want to play stealthy or camouflage yourself you don’t want an orange tip ruining your concealment. Also, orange tips are surprisingly bright in a dark room, so if you are hiding somewhere you don’t want the tip on your gun giving away your position.
- Attachments – this is probably the biggest reason people are removing orange tips from their airsoft guns. Many airsoft rifles and pistols come with 14mm threads that are hidden under the orange tip which is used to put attachments on your gun. So if you want to put some attachments on your airsoft gun, like mock suppressors, sound amplifiers, or tracer units, you must remove an orange tip.
Cons of Removing The Orange Tip of An Airsoft Gun
And now let’s take a look at some of the cons of removing an orange tip:
- Safety / Confusion – as I already said orange tip is there for a reason as it helps distinguish airsoft guns from a real weapons. If you remove an orange tip, it can lead to many potentially dangerous situations, especially with law enforcement officers.
- Warranty – if you remove an orange tip most airsoft retailers will refuse to repair or replace a gun, even if it’s still under warranty.
- Potential damage to the gun – on most airsoft guns it’s fairly easy to remove it, but on some guns, it can be much more complicated which could damage the barrel and threads of your gun.
How Do I Remove Orange Tip From Airsoft Gun?
Before removing an orange tip from your gun, first, you must determine how is tip attached to your gun. There are three ways they can be attached to your airsoft gun – allen screw, pin, and glue.
Take a look at flash hider and if you see a single allen screw only, you are lucky. Take the screw out with allen key and then screw off the tip with plier or wrench counterclockwise.
If you see a pin on flash hider than the process is a little more complicated. A pin can be combined with the screw or with the glue. First, you need to remove a bit of plastic around the pin before you can take pin out. After that, you can proceed with removing an orange tip.
And if an orange tip on your gun is glued, there are a few ways to remove it from an airsoft gun and it actually depends on what kind of tip you have. Airsoft gun tips can be plastic and metal.
How To Remove Plastic Tip From An Airsoft Gun?
You have to be careful when removing the plastic tip from your gun as it can easily break leaving the inside portion of the tip stuck inside the gun.
So to remove it properly you first need to warm the glue that’s inside the barrel. The best way to do this is to put a barrel in hot water for a few minutes. You can also use an open fire but I advise against it as you can damage your gun if exposed to extreme heat. So once the glue is heated take a tool like pliers and wiggle the tip in all directions to get it out of the barrel.
How To Remove Metal Tip From An Airsoft Gun?
Metal tips are much easier to remove than plastic ones. As they are metal they can’t break like plastic ones so you don’t have to be careful like when removing the plastic tip. So to remove metal tip just grab pliers and unscrew it from the gun.
Can I Attach Orange Tip Back To The Airsoft Gun? Can I Get Replacement Tip For Airsoft Gun?
If you still have a metal tip for your gun and didn’t break anything while removing it, you can put it back on your gun. And if you lost it or break it, it seems you can get a replacement orange tip. I did a research on this subject but to be honest I didn’t found much information. But I found that some retailers, like Airsoft Megastore and Evike are selling these replacement orange tips but make sure with them that these tips will fit your airsoft replica.
If you detached orange tip or bought it like that, and you’re worried, the other way to solve this problem is to spray the tip of the barrel with orange spray.
Can I Just Paint The Orange Tip On An Airsoft Gun?
So if you decided that you want to get rid of that ugly orange tip but don’t want to remove it completely to avoid losing a warranty or damaging your gun, you can simply paint the orange tip. But there are two ways to do this, one will still result in warranty loss while the other won’t.
Paint The Orange Tip On An Airsoft Gun With Spray Paint
The first and the easiest method is to buy spray paint. But keep in mind, while you can’t damage your gun using this method, you’ll probably lose warranty if you just paint over the orange tip. If that doesn’t bother you keep reading. Otherwise, skip to the next section.
Before painting, make sure to protect the parts of the barrel and replica you’re not going to paint. You can tape the barrel and use the newspaper to cover the rest of your gun. Besides spray paint, I suggest that you get a clear coat also as it protects the primary paint so it doesn’t get scratched easily. So, protect your replica, carefully spray paint the orange tip and then apply a clear coat for protection.
Paint The Orange Tip On An Airsoft Gun With Rubber Coating
Another way to paint the orange tip on your replica is to use a rubber coating product, like PlastiDip. PlastiDip is an air-dry, rubber coating that is flexible, insulating, non-slip, and durable but most important it is peelable. That means that you can just peel away the rubber paint if you need to take a gun to your seller, and you’ll still have an original orange tip on your replica. If you don’t want to lose a warranty for your replica than this method is better than spray paint.
Conclusion
Orange tip on an airsoft gun is there for a reason so maybe you should think twice before removing it especially if you live in a country where it is forbidden to remove it. But you must understand that owning and handling an airsoft gun requires maturity and responsibility. So orange tip or no orange tip never carry your airsoft weapon without a case or take it out in the public because it is very easy to confuse it with real gun especially if you remove the tip.
And if you decide to do it, use your airsoft gun only on dedicated airsoft fields or on your private property. If you’re not sure should you take tip off or don’t want to remove it permanently, you can paint the tip with black color or put black tape over the orange tip when playing on the airsoft field and remove the tape when you finish playing on an airsoft field.
