Air pistols are fun for older children and teenagers alike. Often, even adults will enjoy being able to pummel their friends during an air gun match. But what kind of air pistol should I buy? Should I get an electric or spring loaded, or perhaps a gas pistol? Well, let's take a look at some of the advantages and disadvantages to getting a spring loaded pistol versus an electric pistol:

Spring Air Pistols Advantages

Buying a spring loaded pistol is probably the most common way that someone would begin to take an interest in air pistols. The advantage to this type of air pistol is:

Price
You can find spring loaded pistols for as little as $5, and on up to $20, $30, or more for the nicer, heavier, more realistic air pistols.
Reliability
With a spring loaded pistol, there are a lot less moving parts and things that may break down, thus the life span of this pistol could be longer.

Spring Air Pistols Disadvantages

When you are just starting out in the air pistol world, a spring air pistol is good. There are many pistols out there that look very realistic, offer good value, and shoot straight. But the disadvantages of the spring pistol are:

Manual Load
The simple fact of the matter is, when you are playing capture the flag, or some other air gun game, having to cock the pistol every time you want to fire is pretty annoying.
Look and Feel
Many of the cheaper models of spring pistols are plastic, and give the feeling of a lesser gun. Attention to detail is not as much a factor as in the higher priced guns, and they just “feel like a toy”. The more expensive pistols tend to be heavier, made of metal and look more like a real weapon, which means a lot to many air gun fans.

Overall, spring air pistols provide great value, good accuracy, nice velocity, and fun, especially for the younger kids. But as your child grows, they will want to get into more expensive air pistols, like electric and gas pistols. But while they are young, save money and go for the spring air pistol.